Xia Yuan Jie and Full Frost Moon

 

Today is Xia Yuan Jie (pronounced "Shaw you-an Jee-a") -- Lower Primordial Festival -- a Chinese festival that falls on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month, usually the full moon of November. It’s the third of a trio of Taoist holidays that honor three Taoist gods, called the Three Great Emperor Officials:

• Tian-Guan, the Heaven Official, gives happiness, and rules over the first 6 months of the year (the yang part), beginning  on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, at the Lantern Festival.
• Di-Guan, the Earth Official, forgives sins and guilt, and rules over the next 3 months (the yin part), beginning on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, at the Ghost Festival.
• Shui-Guan, the Water Official, rules over the last 3 months of the year (also yin), starting today.

And tonight we see the Full Frost Moon, called that because now is when the first hoarfrost might appear - that white frost that makes walking crunchy, and that requires scraping of windshields. Frost is a reminder that winter is coming, and we all need to finish our outdoor chores and close up the storm windows.

This moon is also known as the Alangitapi moon - the Moving-Inside-for-Winter moon, by the Kalapuya people of my valley.

We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon. But today it's time to CELEBRATE! 

Agenda:
1. Read "Wake Up Grateful"

2. Take a vision walk
3. Celebrate abundance

4. Hold the world in the light

5. Plant paper white bulbs

1. Read "Wake Up Grateful":

I've been reading this book by Kristi Nelson (2020), with the sub-title "The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted". She explains how she met Brother David Steindl-Rast, and eventually began to work with him on The Network for Grateful Living website, and that this book is a guidebook based on Brother David's teachings.

Chapter 1 is Gratefulness: Gratitude for the Great Fullness of Life. She describes a deep kind of gratitude that "helps you embrace the entirety of your experience." She is not suggesting that we try to feel grateful for suffering, but that we "learn to feel grateful in every moment, and better able to recognize and seize opportunities for learning, insight, love, and action in the midst of our challenges."

Gratefulness is an activator. "The more we are in touch with the great fullness of life, the more we can respond with great fullness of heart." 

This is a message I want to carry with me aways, in order to feel hope and courage.

2. Take a vision walk:

The full moon shines a bright light on everything, and I might experience intuitive and creative breakthroughs. I might be shocked by the clarity of my insights. I might see some ugliness - the full moon illuminates all the things I've left in the shadows, some heavy truths and some embarrassing mistakes.

Today I will settle into silence and access my intuitive mind - my connection to the Creator and the Inner Guide - by putting myself into a relaxed, trance-like state, and seeking a leading of the spirit. I call on the Spirit of Light to guide me, bring me clarity and open my eyes.

What abundance do I want for myself and for the world? 

If I could open any door to abundance, what would I see? What is on my bucket list for this lifetime?

How can I expand my vision of what's possible? What steps can I take towards abundance? 

How do I express my gratitude to people, the earth, and to God? 

What has filled me with Light?

 

3. Celebrate abundance:
My theme this month has been Abundance and Gratitude: Abundance is like a gentle wind of blessings blowing with determination into your life. The wind is all the fortunate influences that shape your life - friends, family, society, and also outside forces and situations. Abundance blows steadily, and over time will influence and shape you. You need to maintain integrity and awareness to avoid being swayed or blown in the wrong direction, but you will achieve the greatest success by yielding to prospects brought on the wind.

I've been finding ways to invite abundance into my life, and into the world, by cultivating an abundance consciousness; that is, I acknowledge the blessings I have already, find ways to express my gratitude, get clear about what blessings I want to see for the world, and challenge myself to help to create them, because if I can truly believe that there’s enough for everybody, I will find ways to make it so.

Today I remind myself of my intentions for the month, and then celebrate how far I've come, give thanks for the lessons learned and the blessings received, and reaffirm this theme for the next two weeks.

Each month I choose a different way to celebrate the full moon, and I am ready to celebrate abundance today in these ways:

1. Post a blog on the "Testimony of Gratitude"

2. Prune and mulch our raspberries, and harvest rhubarb

3. Plant paperwhite bulbs with my grandson

 

4. Hold the world in the light:

Shui-Guan's full title is The Great Emperor Water Official of Pervasive Yin of Lower Primordial & Tertiary Grade Who Eliminates Distress. Today is considered to be his birthday, and is also the day when he visits the Mortal World to do inspections and release blessings.

Shui-Guan checks on the seas, rivers, streams, and the wind and rain, but he also has the task of eliminating our "unnecessary" distresses, dangers, and misfortunes -- if he sees it is best to do so. 

Taoists hold ceremonies to pay respect to Shui-Guan today, praying for good fortune and for disasters to be diverted. They will light 49 lamps or candles for 3 days hoping that this light energy will catch Shui-guan's attention.

I will light a candle tonight for all the people in distress today, praying that they receive a blessing of peace and generosity.

5. Plant Paper-white Bulbs:

Today I will plant Paper-white bulbs to bloom to (hopefully) indoors at Christmas (about 4-6 weeks).

(I usually plant these at the at the November new moon - a dark time of the year and month, when we retreat inward, like the bulbs in the ground - but the timing was off this year, so we will plant them now!

Supplies: Paper-white bulbs, a bowl, pebbles and rocks, newspapers, and a paper bag

1. Collect pretty rocks and glass pebbles of different sizes, and clean them.

2.  Fill a bowl partway with the rocks and nestle the bulbs on top, close together but not touching each other, with their tips just below the rim of the bowl.

3. Add water to the bowl, up to the bottom of the bulbs. 

4. Wrap the bowl in newspapers, and a paper bag, and put it in a dark, cold place, like the cellar or refrigerator.

5. Water the bulbs every week if needed, and check for top growth.

6. When the roots begin to take hold and the shoots are 2 to 4 inches tall, take the bowl into a cool room with indirect light.

7. When the leaves are well formed and the flower buds are showing, move the bowl to a warm, brightly lit room to encourage the buds to open.

As we grow in grace, we learn to trust the nurturing darkness. Like the bulbs in the ground and all of nature in the winter, let your energy gradually grow within you so it may be born anew when the time is right.