~~~Many thanks to Barbara for the use of her photos.
It has been a very long time since I have even thought of writing a post about the full moon, I have been arguing with myself about whether or not I could even find anything new to say. I didn't sleep much l so I spent my time watching the moon illuminate the very cold, long and dark night It was necessary to keep adding fuel to the stoker to keep this ancient house from going just as cold as the night. After nearly 40 years I have grown used to that. Silence is welcome , drowsing on the the sofa,until I start to feel my toes getting cold and know it is time to resupply the hungry old monster of a stoker that dwells in the basement.
Remarkable how many thoughts are silenced by the days sunlight and din. Looking out over the snow covered woods, clearly visible in the light of the full moon wondering if long ago someone looked out across the same scene and took a measure of relief in knowing that the days would soon get longer, even though for at least for the next month or so the week sunlight wouldn't provide much warmth. " Hunger Moon, Storm Moon, Mourning Moon, Snow Moon, Cold Moon,. Snow Moon or Snowshoe Moon, are among the traditional names for this moon, but I prefer the Long Slumbers Moon. or the Long Night Moon, and of course the Moon Before Yule.
This full Moon might also be called the Full Solstice Moon. December 14th marks the Winter Solstice on the Julian Calendar. Also the date of Luminia Mundi. Over the last few years since I first wrote about it, I have learned that it probably originated somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, or may-be Scotland, Colonial America, Medieval England or perhaps Ethiopia or WWII era Italy and Finland. In most instances it has no consistent name, but since it encompasses Christmas lights as well as candle and lantern light, I wonder just how old a tradition it is. Celebrations all start and end on the same dates, could they be all that different??? I don't know. And it has been a part of my family's celebration for at least 3 generations.
At dusk every night beginning on Dec 14th a candle is lit and placed either in a container outdoors or a window to guide the 3 Kings and other pilgrims or travelers to the manger in Bethlehem, The light is kept lit every night up to and including Jan 5th. It also signals the beginning of the Christmas Season and the appropriate night to begin turning on one's Christmas display, one variations is that the display is left on all night on Christmas Eve and turned out at noon on Christmas day.
Peacefully watching the sun illuminate the fields with a soft rosy light, my toes all toasty warm, I began to wonder if this wan't a variation of of Advent?
Could it have been a story someone's great grandmother told?
A story from some obscure book?
Was it a parable in light?
The more I search for the answer the less I really want to know it.
I just want to look forward to the glow of my candle in a globe,
come to think of it on a snowy night it sure looks like the full moon
