You’d have thought it was the 4th of July the way people were gathering on the shore of the great lake Gitchee Gumee, some with coolers and lawn chairs, kids and dogs in tow, each claiming their spot — waiting for the viewing as if waiting for the fireworks. But what we awaited was far more spectacular – the “once in a very blue moon”[i] — the second full moon in a calendar month, but also a “super moon” – so named because at this time when it is closest to the earth in its orbit it appears larger than usual. Super moons happen a few times a year – the next one will be in September -- and blue moons happen every two to three years, but super blue moons are rare. This one was probably the last in my lifetime since the next one will occur fourteen years from now in 2037.
My husband and our dog, as well as our son’s dog, aptly named Luna, made our way to the lake, finding our spot on the ancient grandfather rocks, joining the other moon gazers. A feeling of community celebration arose with the moon as we strangers to each other together watched the first light of rising moon with shared anticipation and appreciation. The “blue moon” in fact appeared red as it came up through the hazy atmosphere, but as it rose higher in the sky, just as in the lyrics to the song, “Blue Moon,” the moon turned to gold, casting its golden glow across the waters. As it rose, it seemed to grow even larger, rounder, brighter.
I imagined that people up and down the shore of this great lake were gathering to watch the super blue moon rise, and people all over the country, and perhaps the world, doing the same. Whenever I found myself getting homesick during the time I lived in England, I’d look up at the moon and know that the same moon was shining on the people I loved back home. The moon connects us all. Indeed, now, a few days later, friends from all over are posting photos of this magnificent sight. Roxanne Ornelas, one of the Lake Superior Nibi walkers[ii] who have been circumnavigating the lake the entire month of August to honor it and pray for the its health, posted this: “Last night several of we water walkers went to the shore of Lake Superior for a full moon ceremony. We watched as the moon first appeared in the far-off distance as a glimmer on the water. We were all struck speechless and stood still in awe of the vision before us. We watched in silence as the moon slowly rose and spread Her glorious light onto the water.”[iii]
Her glorious light. As poet Marge Piercy wrote, “The moon is always female.” The connection of women and the moon is strong. As Robin Wall Kimmerer says in relating “The Words That Come Before Else,” “We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the nighttime sky. She is the leader of women all over the world. . . . “ (Braiding Sweetgrass, 113). In cultures around the world, the moon has been celebrated as grandmother, mother, goddess, and protector of women – the Greek Artemis, the Dinka Abuk, the Zulu iNyang, the Celtic Cerridwen, the Chinese Chang’e, the Aztec Coyolxauhqu, the Roman Luna, the Thracian Bendis, to name just a few. Women around the world celebrate the moon in full moon ceremonies and new moon ceremonies. The stages of women’s lives – maiden, mother, and crone – have also been linked to the stages of the moon – waxing, full, and waning. The moon has long been associated with the female and femininity due to the strong correlation between the lunar cycles and women’s menstrual cycles – hence the common root, mensis, for our words for “month,” “moon,” and “menstruation,” the last known among the indigenous peoples of North America as “moon time.” Is this concurrence of women’s cycles and the moon’s cycles really just coincidence? It is a striking association – the pull of the moon on the waters of the world, on the wombs of women. Is it any wonder women have long felt so connected to the moon?
Which has made me ponder, do men feel the same connection to the moon? Do bi and trans folk? I have felt that connection so keenly, especially when my cycles and the moon’s were so in sync. It feels much more a spiritual connection than a purely physical one. I have made pacts with the moon, sought her wisdom, felt her blessing and her protection.
It seems we all feel the enchantment of moonlight. So many songs have been written in the moon’s honor. My brother and his wife love to tell how they can fill a long car ride singing moon songs without repetition – “Moon River,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “Moon Shadow,” “Harvest Moon,” “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” “On Moonlight Bay,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Dancing in the Moonlight,” and of course, “Blue Moon.”
Kimmerer continues the prayer of gratitude, “By her changing face we measure time . . . ” (Braiding Sweetgrass, 114). Perhaps in ways of which we may be unaware, we orient ourselves to the waxing and waning crescent, quarter, half, gibbous, and full moon, checking the night skies and our calendars for the current and upcoming phases. The Gregorian calendar, created in 1582 and now used as the standard measure of time throughout the world, is a solar calendar, based on the revolution of the earth around the sun. But many ancient and indigenous cultures have instead used lunar calendars based on the cycles of the moon’s phases. Among the Anishinaabe, the indigenous peoples of the land on which I dwell, who base their calendar on the thirteen moons of a year, the blue moon would not exist. Instead, each moon is named for the phenological changes of that season -- the sugarbush moon, the strawberry moon, the falling leaves moon. What those of us who use the Gregorian calendar know as August is for the Anishinaabe Manoominii Giizhis, or ricing moon. It is the time of harvesting manoomin, wild rice, the grain that is the center of the Anishinaabe story of migration – to travel to the place where the food grows on the water – and the heart of their cultural and spiritual traditions.
How different life on this planet would be without the moon -- its rhythms, its welcomed light on a winter’s night, its friendly face smiling down upon us when full and its crescent enchanting us when it has just begun or is soon to leave. Moreover, without the moon’s gravitational pull, which keeps the earth’s axis at a steady 23.4 °, the earth would lose its balance. It would wobble, sometimes pointing straight up and down, eliminating the seasons, and sometimes lying on its side, making the poles extremely hot and the equator freezing cold. Most of what we know of life on earth -- plants, animals, seasons, ocean tides, human existence -- would not have been possible without this bit of earth, split off from us billions of years ago, that we know as the moon.
On the night of the super blue moon we gathered in awe[iv] and in reverent gratitude for this celestial orb that reflects the sun back to us when the daylight has dimmed, governs our oceans and tides, inspires celebration and song, prevents us from gyrating wildly through our orbit around the sun, and ironically, keeps us grounded. What Roxanne Ornelas said of the Nibi walkers was true of all of us who were drawn that night to watch the moon rise -- “We were all struck speechless and stood still in awe.” The relation of the moon to us earthlings is awe-inspiring indeed. Is it any wonder we are moon worshipers.
Sources
How does the Moon affect the Earth? | Institute of Physics (iop.org)
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. 2013. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Minneapolis: Milkweed Press.
Piercy, Marge. 1981. The Moon Is Always Female. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
[i] “Once In a Very Blue Moon,” Gene Levine and Pat Alger, first introduced by Nanci Griffith on her album Once In A Very Blue Moon, 1985.
[ii] The Nibi (Water) Walks, founded by Sharon Day, are Indigenous-led ceremonies to pray for the water. As they say, every step is in prayer and gratitude for water, our life-giving force. For more information visit www.nibiwalk.org. The Lake Superior Nibi Walk began in Cedar, Wisconsin on August 1st of this year. The walkers walked thirty to forty miles a day around the great lake, completing their walk on September 3rd.
[iii] (20+) Lake Superior Nibi Walk | Facebook
[iv] For more on our need for experiences of awe, see my blog post of April 20, 2023: Vastness — Beth Bartlett Duluth