Full Frost Moon and Xia Yuan Jie

 

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.

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! The full moon is a time of fruitfulness, creativity, and completion, and also strong (sometimes overwhelming) emotion. This month I feel energetic and motivated, and also disappointed and sad, and I want to acknowledge and embrace the whole spectrum of my emotions.

Today I will celebrate how far I've come and give thanks for the lessons learned and the blessings received.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. Celebrate abundance

3. Make a Thanksgiving card

4. Cook the pumpkins
5. Hold the world in the light

November Waxing Gibbous Moon

Photo by Alan Gillespie

The waxing gibbous moon is the not-quite-full moon: Waxing means getting larger, and gibbous means humped or protuberant. This phase of the moon has the high-energy that provides a push towards completion. 

In four days, at the full Frost moon, we will turn again towards the yin time of inner activity, so I make an effort in these next few days to finish my tasks that require greater physical effort. 

The waxing gibbous moon is a time for reevaluation, refinements, and creativity.

Agenda:

1. Journal queries

2. Creative visualization

Martinstag and First Quarter Moon

Martinstag, November 11, is the day of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of beggars, soldiers, and conscientious objectors.

Martin was born in Hungary in 316 A.D. As a teenager, he joined the Roman army, becoming a soldier like his father, and traveled to what is now Italy and France.

The most famous legend of St. Martin is of his time as a soldier: One snowy winter evening, Martin and the other soldiers were returning on horseback to Amiens. A freezing beggar was sitting at the city gate. Martin didn't have any money or food to give him, so he used his sword to cut his heavy red soldier’s cloak in half, and gave half to the beggar. That night Martin dreamt that Jesus thanked him for giving Him his cloak. This dream convinced Martin to become a Christian and be baptized. 

Martin remained in the army for two more years, but then he decided that his faith prohibited him from fighting, and he was jailed as a coward. He was eventually released from prison and from military service, and went on to become the bishop of Tours in France. He died peacefully on November 8, 397 A.D., and was buried on November 11, among the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint.

Originally Martinstag was celebrated only in the Catholic areas of Germany, Austria, Flanders, Netherlands, and Portugal, but it has now spread to Protestant areas as well.

Tonight is also the First Quarter Moon. We are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

Agenda:

1. Journal queries
2. Gift list brainstorm
3. Make a lantern
4. Bake Weckmänner (Bun Men)

Waxing Crescent Moon of Early November

Photo by Alan Gillespie

Now the young moon is waxing, getting larger every day. As the sun increases its illumination on the Moon, our energy is growing as well. In these next days of the waxing crescent moon, I will give attention to my growing energy, take first steps towards my intentions, and find my motivation to follow through with persistent action.

Agenda:

1. Create inner synergy

2. Mindfulness practice

1. Create inner synergy:

Today, at the waxing crescent, I prepare to act on my priorities. I often choose one task or project to focus on and build energy as the moon waxes. "Inner synergy" is when your body, mind, spirit, and heart are all cooperating to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. 

Today I decided to give attention to my kitchen pantry shelves, and I:

1. Engaged my mind by visualizing the shelves tidy and clean, with fresh foods in new glass jars, and I made a list of shelf organizers and storage jars I might like.
2. Engaged my heart by writing about the lovely way my husband and I share the cooking tasks now, and reminded myself that I would need to engage his help in the planning. When that "teamwork" insight caused me a slight panic, I had a quick Love Meditation and sent the "pink light of love" to both of us.
3. Engaged my spirit by writing out the mantra "Feed Our Eyes", which I posted on the pantry; I will pause to center myself and read it several times a day for the next few days.
4. Engaged my body by measuring the shelves, and scheduling a trip to buy jars and a sliding shelf.

2. Mindfulness practice:
The first step towards giving full effort to my priorities is attention; I want to remember my deepest, most essential, most passionate reasons for acting on my intentions, every day, and hold my intentions with gentle awareness all day long.

This morning I reviewed my intentions, and turned them into shorthand mantras. My top three intentions today are to: 

• Express myself.
• Feed our eyes (pantry plans).
• Rain walk / Toddler adventure.

Diwali and New Kindly Moon

Today is the start of the Hindu Festival of Diwali, which falls on the new moon of late October or early November, and lasts for five days. Diwali is the festival of good luck and prosperity- one of the most important festivals of the year for Hindus. On Diwali, people wear new clothes, clean and decorate their homes, go to fairs with music, dancing, fireworks, jugglers and snake charmers, and give gifts to each other.

And tonight is the night of the new moon. The Chinese call this tenth new moon the Kindly Moon. In China, this is the season for winter crop planting, and this month brings the first “little snow” which gently (and kindly) moistens the winter wheat seedlings. We don't have snow yet, but we've had some heavy rains. 

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new.

1. Pick a theme

2. Start an Abundance Journal

3. Goals and intentions

4. New moon altar and meditation

5. Blessings Walk

6. Creativity practice

7. Make diya lamps

8. Puja for prosperity

9. Make almond katli

The Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead- Dia de los Muertos - is a holiday observed in Mexico on November 2. It’s a family time for remembering and honoring dead friends and relatives - a period when the souls of the dead can return for a visit. It’s celebrated with humor, not sadness.

Agenda:
1. Set up an ofrenda
2. Make paper banners
3. Make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
4. Make skeletons
5. Make sugar skulls