Moon Magic: September, Spider Web On The Ground At Dawn

Moon Magic – September is a month full of harvesting and we start to see the first signs of autumn. We still get warm sunny days but the morning and evening air carries the chill of fall with it. September also brings the autumn equinox; a time of change. Mother Earth is making her final push of the summer to provide her bounty before the balance shifts at the equinox.

A month of hearth and home so the Kitchen Witch is in full force! Cooking, baking and canning all to fill the store cupboards for the winter ahead.

The harvest is being brought in, just as the plants are sending out their seeds for the cycle of life to begin again.

September is a pivotal point where we say our thank yous to summer and start to make preparation for the coming winter, it is a transitional month.

september moon magic

Correspondences

Herbs: copal, fennel, rye, wheat, valerian, skullcap

Colours: brown, yellow green, yellow

Stones: peridot, chrysolite, citrine

Trees: hazel, larch, bay

Animals: snake, jackal, ibis, sparrow

Sign: Virgo

Deities: Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Nephthys, Freyja, Ch’ang-O, Thoth

Magical energies

Rest after labour; balance of light and dark. Organise. De-clutter. Reap what you have sown. Clean and straighten up physical, mental, emotional and spiritual clutter – have an autumn clean. Take stock of your life in general and any projects you have been working with. Check your daily routine and make sure you have a decent work/home/you time balance. This is a perfect time to make adjustments. Let go of things that no longer serve you. Give gratitude for what you have and then ask for re-balance or re-fuelling or increasing. Pay it forward to.

Names

Harvest moon – because in the Northern hemisphere that is exactly what is happening in this month! Also called: Wine moon (sounds like an excuse to party), singing moon, Haligmonath – from the Anglo-Saxon calendar, an old English word meaning ‘holy month’ considered holy perhaps because of all the bounty we receive from Mother Earth, Witumanoth (wood month), fruit moon, barley moon, moon when deer paw the earth, corn moon, and spider web on the ground at dawn moon.

Chinese Moon Festival

The Chinese Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month according to the Chinese lunar calendar (mid to end September, sometimes the beginning of October).

The ancient Chinese recognized that the movement of the moon related to the changes in season and thereby agricultural production. This is their festival to say thank you to the moon and celebrate the harvest.

On the day of the festival families gather to offer sacrifices to the moon (not human ones), they eat moon cakes and send blessings to the family and friends that live elsewhere. The day is also filled with dancing dragons, lanterns and lions. Personally, I don’t think you can ever get enough dancing dragons.

Moon cakes are round to symbolize family, happiness and longevity. It is more of a cookie than a cake and has various fillings inside and patterns on top. The traditional filling is; five kernels, lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, jujube paste and egg yolk. But more modern twists have been added such as shredded coconut, orange, olive seeds and even savoury versions filled with sausage meat.

Ancient Greece

In Greek mythology September heralds the return of the goddess Persephone to the underworld to be with Hades, her husband.

Australia

Of course, for Australia September is the beginning of spring.

Japan

Higan is a week of services for Buddhist followers in Japan. The spend time over the equinox remembering those that have passed over and visit their graves to clean and decorate them. The word higan means ‘other shore’ and relates to the spirits of the dead.

Christianity

Michaelmas is the feast of Michael and All Angels and falls on 29th September.

Pagan

Mabon is a modern pagan term referring to the autumn equinox. Usually somewhere around 20/21/22nd September. It celebrates the harvest and the onset of autumn.

India

Ananta Chaturthi is the last day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. It is the tenth day after Ganesh Chaturthi which falls on the 14th day of the sixth month of the Hindu calendar. Statues of the Hindu god Ganesha will have been set up in the home and on the last day they are taken to the local water (ocean, river, lake) and immersed. This ends the ten-day long festival in honour of Ganesh and Lord Vishnu to bring prosperity and wealth. Ganesha Chaturthi celebrates the birth/rebirth of Lord Ganesha. It was on this day that Lord Shiva fixed the head of a baby elephant to Ganesha and gave him rebirth. Usually the festival starts at the end of August and finishes ten days later in September.

1st September is the festival of Radha-An (one of Laskshmi’s incarnations) – her body was dressed with flowers and jewellery and then worshipped.

Worldwide

In 2014 a worldwide celebration began in honour of the goddess and her followers. It is now held annually on the first Sunday of September every year. Events are held across the globe.