December's Full Moon Concealed

There was a full moon somewhere up there last night, and as it was the last full moon of 2005, Cassie and I spent a few chilly moments outside in the garden watching for it to come into view, but (alas) the first heavy snowfall of the season was on its way, and the night skies were full of cloud - there was no moon to be seen.

The thirteen moons of the calendar year wear many different names, faces and personalities, according to the culture one cleaves to, where one lives and what the seasonal activities of one's native place are at any given time, but there are common threads or themes to lunar lore, and the moon's names provide one with much food for thought about the nature of community, hearth and connection. The names in use among the diverse northern cultures speak eloquently of timeless rhythms and the natural calendar of the seasons, of Springtime and green things springing from the earth, of planting and sowing, of harvesting, hunting and gathering, of rest, hibernation and regeneration.

December's moon falls at a dark time of year and often precedes the Winter Solstice, so in my mind it will always be either the Long Nights Moon or the Moon Before Yule. It makes me happy to think that when January's full moon arrives, daylight hours will be lengthening again and we will be on our way to Spring and warmth, but we will be making our slow and careful way through deep snow and high winds, and we have a long way to go. . . .