Looking to the Moon
Posted on 18th February 2025 at 10:54
Hello and welcome to February’s blog, yesterday evening I stood and gazed at the moon, an almost full moon, the storm moon. Did you know that the ancient Celts living in Britain called it the storm moon, also the Ice moon or wolf moon?
I often take a moment in life’s business to pause and go and stare at the full moon. It is a way to connect to our ancestors, the idea that I am standing gazing at a moon which they once did is quite amazing.
I often wonder why they called them the names that they did and why did they give the different full moons names. We know that they used the moon in its various phases to help them keep note of the passage of time, but how?
Well, it turns out that archaeologists found tally sticks which were dated to the palaeolithic age, that’s about 3.3 million years ago through till about 11,650 years ago. These tally sticks were their way of marking off the days of each month. They used the different phases of the moon to help them, to save you working out how many phases there are, I will tell you, there are 8 phases of the moon.
Also did you know that the word month that we use has its roots in the moon, it is from the word moon we get month. For our ancestors each month was 29.5 days long. Our modern calendar has been padded out and altered slightly to ensure it ties in with the fact that it takes 365 days to complete the solar year.
Our ancestors named the moon often related to something that was happening so the Storm or Ice moon because this was the season of the storms and ice. Another common name was the Hunger moon, for this is the time of year when nothing was growing and supplies would be running low, so people were hungry.
The names tend to vary from one ancient group to another. In Britain as each group comes to live here, they bring their names and customs with them, these often merge to create something new. Some of the other names for this full moon were Snow Moon and Quickening Moon.
By whatever name we call each full moon, it is important to remember the influence it has on our lives even now. Did you know that the moon is like a mirror, reflecting the light of the sun. It was seen that the moon represented the shadow or dark side of the sun’s light, therefore we are still seeing the suns light even when it is not visible to us. The ancients believed that in the same way as we need a mirror to see our own faces the moon is symbolic of looking into our souls.
Have you ever wondered why the ancients saw the moon as having a woman as a goddess, she reflected the three phases of woman, new, full and old. Some said she was an old crone because she had passed through the phases of maiden or young, the mother gaining wisdom and finally as the old crone with all the knowledge age can bring. For this she was both venerated and feared.
The moon is associated with water and its flow, we see this in the flow in and out of the tides, the depth of the oceans, and linked with that the winds and weather. Also, for a woman her period of the month is also linked to the cycle of the moon. Our ancestors believed that even the water in our bodies was influenced by the moon. When you consider our bodies are made up of 70% water, it is no wonder that many people are affected by the phases of the moon.
Perhaps it would be useful to monitor your body and see how it is affected. You could then predict good and bad times for certain activities.
Some trials have shown that people’s quality of sleep can be affected by the moon, also slight changes in cardiovascular conditions as well as bipolar disorder.
I do not know the full story and as the famous quote said by Hamlet, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” There is much out there that we do not understand and sometimes it required a bit of blind faith. I think it is great that there are things we don’t understand, it keeps alive our childlike state of awe and wonder, if we let it.
In the meantime, get out there and stare at the moon and connect with your ancestors.
Thanks for joining me this month, if having stared at the moon you would like to change your life visit my website and check out my new online resource – 14 Steps to Natural Wellness. Also, if you haven’t done so why not join me for my weekly Podcasts where my three passions come together.
Remember to walk softly upon the earth.
Goodbye for now.
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