Here is the waxing crescent moon sinking back into the branches of the tall pines. The crescent moon rises at mid morning and sets just after sunset. Her time of maximum power occurs at the midpoint of rising and setting, around 3:00PM. The Crescent moon phase lasts from three and a half days to the seventh day after the New moon. The moon’s power is now gathering strength. We are dealing with a stronger energy here than at the New Moon, with a shorter time for manifestation at the Full Moon. This is an excellent time for energizing new projects. I used this time to create some new bath and body oils for the Winter holidays.
In the twilight time, deer are on the move. They are hard to spot in the fading light, but the practiced ear can hear the dried leaves rustle in a cadence that identifies the moving animal as a deer rather than some other mammal. At times they will come quite close to the house to browse on the tender twigs of Red Osier Dogwood. The gentle does and yearlings are the members of the deer clan that we see most often. The stag, with his sharp hooves and rack of antlers, remains hidden in the deeper reaches of the forest. As an aspect of the Horned One, he rules this time of year. When the cold winds blow and howl through the bare branches, when rain and sleet and snow fly sideways through the chill, the Wild Hunt is abroad in the land.
The Wheel of the Year is turning, ever turning. In late November light is still disappearing from the landscape. Samhain is past, Thanksgiving has passed, and every afternoon dark falls earlier and the night lasts longer. It is 25 days until the light will begin to grow once more. Lately I find myself chanting Starhawk's chant, "Hold on, hold on. Through the darkness until the dawn."
One way to hold on through the darkness is to hang an evergreen wreath on the door. People have decorated their homes during the dark winter with evergreens since ancient times. When most of Nature has died back and taken on a shade of brown or gray, cedar, spruce, pine and other evergreens remind us that Mother Earth is still a living being. The green landscape will return in time. A circular wreath reinforces the idea that Nature is a "Magical Ring", as Shawna Carol sings on the CD Vows: A Songwriter's Sketchbook.
Be not afraid, Nature is near
She will not leave you to die in your fear.
She has her way, her ebb and her flow
and you will be carried along as you go.
You who have cried out in anger and pain,
You who have often found someone to blame,
You who can seem so imprisoned in shame,
You will be comforted, call out Her name.
Trust in the Mother and learn of her ways.
She is a circle, a circle of days
and She will bring winter and winter bring spring.
Ah, trust in the Mother, Her magical ring.