Moon Culture

 

Paschal Moon

This year, Ramadan, Passover and Easter all converged in April. How did that happen? It has to do with the moon. Our moon. The presence in the sky that almost all of us can take in and admire. So, perhaps it is not a surprise that human observances might be based on how the moon appears to us at certain times. It is my understanding that the Islamic calendar is lunar based. A new month begins with the crescent moon in the morning sky. Since this calendar is exclusively based on the phases of the moon, the observance of Ramadan is a 'moveable' month which takes place at all times of the 'solar' year. Meanwhile, the Jewish calendar is also lunar based. Passover begins at the full moon. It also takes place in the Spring, so a hybrid sort of calendar is employed to time this observance of liberation from slavery. Easter takes place during Passover, and thus it has a similar timing--although not exactly the same as the Orthodox can be a week or several later (I'm not sure about this timing!)

New Moon

Looking East, the Chinese new year is called the Lunar New Year. That calendar is also moon based, so there is a range of dates for the new year to start. This is usually sometime from mid-January to mid-February. The new year begins with the new moon. 

Indigenous cultures of North America (of course, this continent was not called that by the original peoples) named the moons. The moons were named according to an important seasonal element critical to human survival such as Planting Moon and Harvest Moon; but also Fast Waterflow Moon and Drying-Up Moon. 

The moon helps humans to understand the seasons and years and the phases of the moon have a continual effect on our lives. Farmers and fishermen alike consult the moon for the timing of their forays into field and sea. Tides are influenced by the moon and farmers look to the phases of the moon to plan crop cultivation.  And we know full moons are blamed for all sorts of things!

The sun is such an obvious influence on our lives. It determines night and day and the seasons. We celebrate the solstices and equinoxes; the height of light and the return of light and the balancing points in-between. We have a general idea of where the sun will rise and set in our location at various times of the year. The moon is more subtle, since it is reflecting the sun's light. At one point, I thought I had figured out the path of the moon in just a yearly cycle only to realize the next year that it was definitely not the same. It seemed very mysterious. Then I looked it up and found out the the moon's path repeats every 18.6 years--kind of a long time to keep track! It also strikes me as a bit sad that even a long life includes only 4 or 5 moon path cycles. 

What I love most about the moon is that it is the embodiment of relationship. It reflects the sun and so its position between the Earth and the sun affects its illumination and our viewing. The Moon is held by the Earth's gravity and yet exerts its own pull on the Earth to guide the tides and more. It is a complex relationship story which takes 18.6 years to tell--and even then, the telling will be different for each trip. No wonder we humans look to the moon to help us express the journey of our lives. And perhaps to know that we might not be the big Sun, but we can still make our own beautiful contributions.

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On a/the Saturday of Ramadan, Passover and Holy Week, as I was waiting, I made this musical offering to the season. I imagine feeling the energy of the full moon. Please click here to see the video.

Viriditas--What Makes Your Sap Rise?

Spring Beauties, watercolor and pastel

 It is the primavera season when the veil of green spreads over the land and the urge to grow or bloom begins to suggest itself. I felt this on my recent visit to the Netherlands where I feasted my eyes on abundant crocus and daffodil blooms and enjoyed the fresh look of Delft Blue. But, I can't help it even more since coming home and feeling the greening of the landscape. It is somewhat like years past, but with its own twist this year. 

      

Eternal Ephemeral, watercolor and pastel

This vivacious, irrepressible feeling is what I think about when I consider the 12th century Abbess, Hildegard of Bingen's concept of viriditas--her word for a greening that comes from God--a most desirable state of being. I envision this phenomenon as being rather like the sap rising in maple trees as they warm in Spring. Viriditas manifests itself in me most reliably in this season. It has always been so, but I felt the green growing most acutely for about a decade when Fay Moore, my colorful pastel mentor, would come to town in time for the Keeneland Spring Meet and the Kentucky Derby to teach an assorted gathering of could be artists the joys of seeing and creating. The creative endeavors of the days long workshop were sublimely in tune with the fresh season. I would leave early in the morning with the slants of sunlight backlighting tender greens and blooms beyond the garage and enter a world where the possibilities for beauty seemed endless. Everyone had their own view and Fay helped us put it down on paper. More about this here.

Now, I am older and I find that the quality of my viriditas is mellowing. It is still something that must be received. The Dutch trip helped me to see this. The Dutch Lawns were ebullient and fresh, perhaps nuanced by being cultivated before becoming naturalized. Perhaps I am becoming naturalized after being cultivated in the first place by a decade of Fay Moore inspiration, my art community and my harp community. The Vermeer exhibit at the Rijks Museum also clarified my perspective: I am a small point on which the whole world and beyond can gently illuminate. The prevalence of the Delft Blue aesthetic added another element to my idea of viriditas. It may be blue, but, as I reflected on a walk at Ashland Estate after my return home, the Delft Blue sensibility represented a kind of cozy clarity that seems particularly useful at this point in my life. I even came up with a Haiku for this:

Cozy clarity

blue sky, Redbud, Spring Beauties

at home on the lawn

Perhaps not as rambunctious as an earlier viriditas. It is simpler, calmer and a bit more polished, curated, tended. But there is still growth and it is still Spring!!

Dutch Lawn, Delft Blue, watercolor and pastel

Would you like to explore your viriditas? I made a video for you