Hunter's Moon

A Full Moon rising can be a dramatic celestial sight,
and Full Moons can have many names.

Today, October 14, 2008 is the day of the October full moon. Some said that in future, the name would be changed to "Alien Landing Moon". But of course, there was no proof that so-called alien space ships landed on earth on this day in history, 2008. Darn. I think I was hoping that a big ship would land in my front yard and take me out of my life. But when I think about it, I guess I really wouldn't want that. I think I actually like my life too much and I really feel that I want to stick around to see how humanity as a whole handles this evolving to a new level. What will we become when all is said and done?

That all said, my intent for the post was to honor the Grandmother Moon, and give some notes about the names that are given to this full moon.

In many traditions, the October full moon is known as the "Hunters" or "Blood" Moon and is so named from the hunting practice of riding over the stubble of reaped grain fields pursuing foxes, deer or other night animals, by the light of the moon. This moon is defined as the first full moon following the Harvest Moon.

The Harvest Moon is always the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox. If the Harvest Moon occurs in October, the September full Moon is usually called the Corn Moon.

Names of Full Moons, by tradition

Colonial America Hunter's Moon
Celtic - Harvest Moon
Medieval English Blood Moon
CHinese Kindly Moon
Neo Pagan Blood Moon

American Indian
Cherokee Harvest Moon
Choctah Blackberry Moon
Dakota Sioux Moon When Quilling is Done

In other traditions, the October full moon may also be known as Full Travel Moon, Full Dying Grass Moon.

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonnames.htm
http://fiddlinowlssquaredance.org/moonnames.html

Prayer for Peace

Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today . . .
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace . . .

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join me
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world . . .

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one.
by John Lennon, 1971

*** See Imagine Peace Tower
dedicated by Yoko Ono on October 9, 2007,
which would have been John's 67th birthday.
Happy birthday, John, wherever you are.
Thanks for the memories. ***

A Prayer for the Fall

Great Spirit, Mother Earth,
Powers of the four directions,
My allies, my medicine animal, my ancestors,
And those who love me,
Be here with me now, and hear my prayer.

Beyond the landscapes of ordinary life
Lie dimensions of higher consciousness
And perfected reality.
Somewhere in your dimension, oh Great Spirit,
The Great Mother opens her arms
And receives our spirit shields,
Which spin for all eternity.
This earthly life is a gift from you, Great Mother.
I honor your presence in my life, Great Spirit,
And your gift of eternal life.
I know that my spirit shield is in need of balance,
That in this lifetime I have the opportunity
To tear away the veil of ignorance
And walk the earth in my sacred androgynous form,
Balance equally between
The male and female energies,
Within myself and within the cosmos.

I will manifest within this lifetime my true destiny
By finding the hidden passions
That live within my heart and my soul,
Those hidden passions for truth,
For harmony and balance and goodness,
That live within me.
I will not be afraid to look at
The dark side of my being.
That dark side is my instinctual nature,
Which I have denied in some way in my life.
To repress who I really am is to live a lie,
And to live my life through the eyes of others,
Not through my own eyes.
I pledge, Great Mother, to take responsibility
For who I am in this life,
For my weaknesses and my strengths.
I pledge to walk the path
as a spiritual warrior of heart.

As I see the many mirrors I have created
Around me in my life,
I will not be afraid to look in them.
And I will realize that no matter what reflection I see,
It is the reflection of some aspect of you, Great Spirit,
And for that I will love all that I see.

To take my power in this lifetime
Is to understand that I am made of power, and
That power is the reflection of you, Great Spirit.
I understand that the first lesson of power is
That we are alone in the struggle
toward enlightenment.

I also understand that the last lesson of power is
That we are indeed all one.
You are my light and my love and my way,
Oh Great Spirit,
And I honor you all the days of my life. Ho!
From Prayers for the Seasons of Life
by Lynn V. Andrews

More good news

Bently Biofuels opens on Buckeye
Bently Biofuels Outpost is Nevada’s first full-sized alternative fuel station and LEED-certified convenience store opened in Minden Tuesday. With solar panels and skylights, bamboo shelving and biofuels, the idea was to "take a Whole Foods market, and shrink it down to the size of a 7-Eleven.”

A working monument of American innovation opened off Buckeye Road in Minden, Nevada on Tuesday.
Read More...

Gathering Harvest

Fall is a season of reckoning, a time when all that you have sown and all that has blossomed is now to be reaped. It is a time of gathering, a time of great beauty, and a time of change and letting go. So often we are terrified of change (especially when it comes in the form of perceived financial crises), not only because of the mystery of the unknown but because change implies letting go of what we do know and what we have always held as a kind of security in our lives. Even bad habits can provide a kind of security.

So fall is a time to pray for understanding and for strength to reap what serves you and to discard what holds you back from you enlightenment and your true power in the world. You have chosen your arrow in the spring. You have pulled back the bow, you have set the arrow, and you have even chosen the target. In summer, the time when your arrow makes its flight and reaches its mark, you blossomed. In the fall you are in a time of reckoning.

In some of the ancient languages of the world, the word sin, when translated, means "missing the mark." It signifies losing the opportunity you had, because once you sow the seed, and once that seed blossoms, you must then reap what you deserve, what is yours. In the fall, you are pulling in all of your energies and thoughts that have been scattered outward throughout the year. Collect them in, like sheep gathering back to the fold. Then let go of what is no longer essential to your life process, whatever misses the mark for you. Let go of whatever no longer serves your highest good.

During the fall, may you find strength to be all that you are. May you reap all the abundance of the universe that is meant for you.

Until next time,
Enjoy your harvest.

Sybil

Prayers

Prayer -- Every word we speak and every thought we think. We are always praying.

I have come to the realization that I simply need to practice mindfulness in my daily living. Be more conscious of what I speak and what I think and of the prayers that I send forth. To that end, I have gone looking for specific, directed prayers that I can post in a highly visible location so that I can see them each day to remind me to focus on mindfulness. I need a new one every day so that my mind does not get bored and block / blank the prayers out. I have previously used The Great Invocation, and today I located a copy of what is known as "The Lord's Prayer" that was translated directly from Ancient Aramaic by by Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos. I love this. It seems to flow more natural and invoke a feeling of love, peace and well-being in me. I hope you may find something here that you can use as a guide in any time of need.

In reading the book, Prayers of the Cosmos, I learned that the closing word of most Christian prayers'amen' literally translates to

Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being.)

WOW.

Lords Prayer, from the original Aramaic
as translated by Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos

O Birther! Father - Mother of the Cosmos
Focus your light within us - make it useful.
Create your reign of unity now-
through our fiery hearts and willing hands
Help us love beyond our ideals
and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.
Animate the earth within us: we then
feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.
Untangle the knots within
so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.
Don't let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.
Out of you, the astonishing fire,
Returning light and sound to the cosmos.

Amen.

The sky is faling! The sky is falling!

Today, as I read the news, I read about more bank failures, gas shortages in Atlanta, more foreclosures, gas prices are outrageous, the Dow Jones plummets 777 -- the biggest drop ever, stocks are down, a terrorist sprays gas into a church, the government refuses a bail out (that is bad news how?), and the list goes on and on and on ad-nauseaum. And the talking heads only tell us how bad it is and how worse it is going to get.

Don't you just get sick and tired of it all? Don't you just wish the "talking heads" would just stop with all the bad news, for just one day, and give us some good news? Well, I do. I'm tire of it. Someone told me that one person can make a difference. So I went looking for good news...

In my hometown:
Good news #1: Gas prices in my area are down to $3.53 a gallon, from a high of $4.49 last week, that is a 96 cent decrease in a week! That is mighty good news! I can fill my tank and buy oil for the engine for less than $50 today. Woo-Hoo!

Washington D.C.
Good news #2: The Congress listened to the people, for once, and voted against a bailout of the private banking buccaneers (A ruthless speculator.). I have a bail-out plan -- make the CEO and other officers of those banks pay back the billions they collected in bonuses while engaging in their ruthless speculation. Then allow the banks to go out of business -- one less leech in the pond. Now, declare Jubilee, allow every home loan owned by those defunct banks to be "paid in full" and send the deed to the homeowner. And if the investors don't like it, let them take on the debt of the bank, and pay off the loans for the beleaguered homeowners. As part of the deal, make it so that there can be no other loan on that home as long as the "deeded owner" owns it, other than for emergency repairs to the home, and then only at 3% interest.

Personally, I can't think of anything that would put more money into the economy than to have people know that they are not going to end up homeless. If I didn't have to pay for housing, I would buy a new car, new furniture, new clothes, take a cruise, save for college, hire a tutor, etc. Many of my friends and acquaintances tell me they would do the same.

Transportation
Good News #3: The next piece of good news that I found was this one from The Good News Network:

Boeing last week joined Virgin Atlantic and eight other major air carriers, along with Honeywell's energy arm, in an organized effort to develop new sustainable aviation fuels that will lower carbon emissions and free the airlines from the grip of high oil prices.

WOOO-HOO. Lets hope that project goes forward quickly. To my mind, we can't lower carbon emissions quick enough.

Hero
Good News #5:

Eighteenth century viola that was left in a cab has been returned by the driver to the owner. Woo-Hoo! I hope he was justly rewarded!

Globally - Goodwill
Good News #6:

The Hamas rulers of Gaza said on Sunday they released five leaders of the rival Fatah faction as well as 30 other prisoners ahead of celebrations marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"We are releasing these men as we hope the leaders in the West Bank will do the same for the Hamas prisoners," a spokesman for the Islamist movement told AFP.

I send prayers of peace and love to both groups that this release will also open talks of peaceful co-existence between the two groups.

OK. I think that is just about all the good news we Americans can handle at one sitting. Don't want to get too sappy here. Go out and find your own good news and report it here in comments.

Until next time,
Sybil
The Cosmic Catalyst