{"id":1286,"date":"2010-08-01T10:09:07","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T16:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2010-08-01T10:09:07","modified_gmt":"2010-08-01T16:09:07","slug":"harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it\u2019s beauty. It struck me that we were not losing light. It was not being diminished. It was being harvested.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although I\u2019ve tried not to invest too much meaning in the waning and waxing phases of the moon, I have felt their influence particularly strongly this year. Perhaps it\u2019s the economy, but the waning of the moon just seems to be a tougher time for me. I\u2019ve felt it was my perspective more than the moon itself but how do I change my perspective? I was at a loss. The symbolism associated with the moon is old, simple and elegant.<\/p>\n

Then staring up at the moon hanging over a cow pasture on Lughnasadh Eve it struck me that the light that had been sown during the waxing of the moon, matured and ripened with the fullness of the moon, was now being gathered in a bit at a time, in the order it was planted. Instead of viewing this as a season of loss I should be considering this a period of gain. This is when the light I have tended and nurtured in my own life becomes gathered back into me.<\/p>\n

Of course, the reverse is also true. The waning moon is a time for sowing that which is dark, hidden, secretive, occult and chthonic, which matures and ripens in the dark, starry blackness of the new moon, and harvested during the waxing moon. Instead of a single cycle of give and take, it is the ebb and flow of two energies, working in harmony with one another. Instead of waxing and waning, try different names for the cycles:<\/p>\n

\n

Life and Death
\nBeauty and Strength
\nYouth and Age
\nPower and Compassion
\nLove and Duty
\nPride and Humility
\nYin and Yang
\nDesire and Fear
\nGiving and Receiving
\nMirth and Reverence
\nRight and Left
\nOutward and Inward<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s an interesting way to look at it, isn\u2019t it? Not only does it remove the illusion of loss, for we are merely swaying back and forth between two energies which are never lost to us, but deepens our perspective of the moon. The moon has not changed. It waxes and wanes, spends it\u2019s nights dancing between darkness and light. Yet now I have new songs by which to enjoy that dance.<\/p>\n

I really like this idea and I am so grateful the Lughnasadh Eve moon gave it to me. I\u2019m going to sit with it for awhile. Maybe I\u2019ll assign a set of polarities to each moon of the year. Either way, it\u2019s a lovely way for me to focus on the energies of the harvest every time I look up into the night sky.<\/p>\n

I hope your Lughnasadh\/Lammas\/First Fruits weekend if fabulous! The Wild Hunt has a nice post on the holiday with links to other blogs<\/a> and the latest A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast has some lovely holiday music<\/a>, as does the \u201c13 Songs\u201d post<\/a> and video playlist on the Pagan Portal<\/a> here on Patheos.<\/p>\n

May your harvest come in abundant, safe and with the blessings of the season!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it\u2019s beauty. It struck me that we were not losing light. It was not being diminished. It was being harvested. Although I\u2019ve tried not to invest too much meaning in the waning and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,45,57,61,62],"tags":[763,812,993,1061,1140,1285,2719,1885,1893],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-myth","category-paganism","category-symbols","category-wicca","category-witchcraft","tag-harvest","tag-holiday","tag-lammas","tag-lughnasadh","tag-moon","tag-pagan","tag-symbols","tag-waning","tag-waxing"],"yoast_head":"\nHarvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PANTHEON\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/files\/2010\/08\/40522809nULuyl_fs.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/\",\"name\":\"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\"},\"description\":\"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\",\"name\":\"PANTHEON\",\"description\":\"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\",\"name\":\"Star Foster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Star Foster\"},\"description\":\"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon","description":"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon","og_description":"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/","og_site_name":"PANTHEON","article_published_time":"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/files\/2010\/08\/40522809nULuyl_fs.jpg"}],"author":"Star Foster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Star Foster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/","name":"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-01T16:09:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d"},"description":"Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it's beauty. It struck me","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2010\/08\/harvesting-the-light-the-waning-lughnasadh-moon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harvesting the Light: The Waning Lughnasadh Moon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/","name":"PANTHEON","description":"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d","name":"Star Foster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Star Foster"},"description":"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}