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| "Moonflower" by yours truly. |
"Queer things happen in the garden in May. Little faces forgotten appear, and plants thought to be dead suddenly wave a green hand to confound you." -- W. E . Johns
Ah, the Moon of May. This year, May's full Moon has been proclaimed a "Super Moon." This means that the Moon will be both at Her fullest & within Her nearest possible proximity to Earth (perigree) at 9:36 pm MST. This is the closest She has been since last March & the closest She will be until 2014. Make sure you go rub elbows with Her this night. We can expect very high ocean tides & She may appear brighter & larger-than-life from your particular Earthly vantage point. Since this Esbat also happens to coincide with Cinco de Mayo, I'm thinking offerings should involve Mexican chocolate...
From what I gather, May's Full Moon is most often called "Flower Moon" or "Milk Moon." I waffled about which to use this time, but since we are having an unseasonably warm Spring, I opted for "Flower Moon," in honour of all the burgeoning blooms here in our bioregion. Beautiful.
Bealtaine blooms in the rock garden.
However, there are a great many more names for this Moon, ranging from clever to curious. Normally, I like to get into detail about these Moon-ish monikers, but I need to accept my limitations right now. (Next year I can obsessively explain the lot of them. Maybe.) This time, in lieu of explaining the origin / background for each & every one, I've decided to make a list. Humans love lists & I am into love this month. So let the Lunar listing begin! Go ahead & pick the favourite for your bioregion:
May's Full Moon, So Many (Clever & Curious) Names: A List.
- Flower Moon (as previously mentioned), Blossom Moon, Budding Moon, Pink Moon (see also April)
- Milk Moon (as previously mentioned)
- Corn Moon, Planting Moon, Planting Corn Moon, Hoeing Corn Moon, Field Maker Moon
- When the Horses Get Fat Moon, When the Ponies Shed Their Shaggy Hair Moon
- Idle Moon, Moon of Waiting
- Hare Moon
- Green Grass Moon, Moon of the Green Leaves
- Bright Moon
- Dryad Moon
- Frog Moon, When Frogs Return Moon
- Mulberry Moon, Strawberry Moon
- Moon Before Pregnancy (!)
There are many, many more, but if I add too many, the list will become onerous & unwieldy. We want to love the list, so I shall cease & desist before I ruin it. I promise to offer some background information regarding these names next May. In the meantime, you can always browse around some of my sources, such as the Farmers' Almanac, WWUP, NASA, FAandPP & SPACE to read more names & find some backstory on your own. Of course, you can also just inagurate a name for the May Moon that reflects your own homeland & tradition.
Choosing a tarot deck from my own small collection was difficult this time because what I would really like to use here is The Victorian Flower Oracle by Baba Studio/Magic Realist Press. Maybe next year.
In lieu of the beautiful & apropos Victorian Flower Oracle, I have opted for a charming, whimsical deck: The Fairy Tarot, published by Lo Scarabeo in Torino, Italy. This deck is rife with faerie folk & includes a clever little fairy "history" of the deck. The deck bears the suits of traditional German playing cards: hearts, bells, acorns & leaves. There also a few non-traditional elements in the major arcana: card 0 is the Elf, VII, the Dryad, X, the Oread, XIV, the Sylph, XV, the Troll & XVII, the Naiad. This is an artful deck & I have the feeling it has a great deal of depth. Someday, perhaps when I am retired, I will find time to really give it the time & attention it deserves. In the meantime, I will just get it out to look at the pretty pictures... humans love pictures.
I chose The Fairy Tarot for May because I find that the imagery of its Moon card, "La Luna," conjures thoughts of spring, youth & the sweetness of blooming love. The same goes for this month's Esbat poetry. I wish for big, blossoming, beaming, bodacious love to every being in this world, wherever they may find it.
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| XVII La Luna, from The Fairy Tarot |
I chose The Fairy Tarot for May because I find that the imagery of its Moon card, "La Luna," conjures thoughts of spring, youth & the sweetness of blooming love. The same goes for this month's Esbat poetry. I wish for big, blossoming, beaming, bodacious love to every being in this world, wherever they may find it.
The Young May Moon by Thomas Moore
The young May moon is beaming, love.
The glow-worm's lamp is gleaming, love.
How sweet to rove,
Through Morna's grove,
When the drowsy world is dreaming, love!
Then awake! -- the heavens look bright, my dear,
'Tis never too late for delight, my dear,
And the best of all ways
To lengthen our days
Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear!
Blessings to you this Esbat my friends... & especially to you, my faraway love.
4 comments:
Moon Blessings my friend :)
May you and your faraway love get to look at the May moon at the same time and feel each other's energies ;-)
Thank you my friend & my thoughts are with you... I am told by the Hub that there will be no viewing of the Lady in your neck of the woods, but a consolation prize might be found at Bosco's. Hope She touches you through song tonight. ;)
Thank you my sexy, dark & bloody wordsmith friend. ;)
She may not be within view up there, confounded by that midnight Sun, but I know he is gazing in spirit. I hope that you & the Piano Man have had some time to gaze at each other in Her light tonight as well.
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