November

November: The Snow Moon


The rise of the Snow Moon signals the wane of warmth and sunlight, and
heralds the coming of the dark months of the year. Mother Earth yawns and
stretches. She's tired from all the planting, growing, and harvesting, and
prepares to take a long and well-deserved nap. As She settles in, all of
Nature follows suit. Even the snow acts in kind. It covers Her with flakes,
providing an isolative blanket that keeps Her snug in Her bed, and shields
Her from the harsh cold of Winter.


We begin to slow down, too. With the Earth at rest, we spend more time
indoors. We finish projects and tie up loose ends. We relax and regroup. We
contemplate the goodness of the Earth and the fertile abundance She shares
with us. We count our blessings. They are many and we are thankful.


Snow Moon Ideas:


* Dress in black, purple, navy blue, and other dark colors to honor the
sleeping period of the Earth.


* Use purple candles and burn Full Moon Incense (recipe follows).
Alternatively, burn Mugwort or Patchouli incense.


* Decorate the Altar with onions, garlic, and other vegetables that grow
beneath the ground. Use a child's sheet or coverlet as the Altar cloth

.
* Asperge the Circle with camphor-soaked water. (A bit of Mentholatum
dissolved in hot water, then set aside to cool works well in a pinch.)


* Sing a lullaby to the Earth to bring Her peaceful dreams. Try something to
the tune of "Brahms' Lullaby," like:


Mother Earth, get some rest
Peaceful dreams while You're sleeping
Gain new strength, for the springtime's
Work will shortly come.


* Make a list of all the people who have done something nice for you in the
last year. Reflect upon how they've changed your life. Make plans to do
something nice for them in reciprocation.


* Make a charm to help tie up loose ends on any projects pending completion.
Just place three cloves of garlic and a piece of clear quartz crystal in a
cloth bag, and chant something like:


Bulbs that grow beneath the ground
Bulbs that grow so white and round
Help me put (name the projects one by one) to bed
Completing their circle in my head
Quartz crystal, do your stuff as well
As I do will, now start this spell.


Place the bag in front of the Altar candles and leave it until the candles
burn completely down. Then place the bag under your bed to work while you
sleep.


Full Moon Incense:
Anise, Lavender, Rosemary
Burn on charcoal in your Censer.



November


Fall Place dried rosemary in the bed linen to encourage faithfulness.
Complete an evening's repast with the Elizabethan aphrodesiac treat of the
herb sea holly boiled in sugar; it was prized because it enhanced the
seductive lure of mermaids.


Think twice before disturbing an elder tree as the act would rattle the
venerated gift of Mother Earth and fill her with wrath, and bad luck would
surely follow. Include ivy, sacred to Bacchus, god of wine and revelry, in
rituals prior to celebratory gatherings as ivy symbolizes immortality.


NOVEMBER DATES:


1st - Aquarian Tabernacle Church established in the United States, 1979. All
Saints' Day.
2nd - Circle Sanctuary buys land for nature preserve, 1983.
3rd - Petronella de Meath, servant of Lady Alice Kyteler, is executed in the
first recorded Witch burning in Ireland, 1324.
4th - Fourth witchcraft bull issued by Pope John XXII, 1330.
5th - Guy Fawkes plots to blow up House of Lords, 1605; celebration of
Fawkes' death (Guy Fawkes' Night) merges with Halloween tradition in England
General Election Day.
6th - Ramadan begins. 8th - Sentencing of the Witches of Zugarramurdi, 1610.
Bessie Dunlop condemned for fraternizing with the elfin court, Scotland,
1576. Samhain cross-quarter day (Sun reaches 15 degrees Scorpio).
9th - Birthday of Carl Sagan, astronomer and author.
11th - Veterans Day.
15th - Aquarian Tabernacle Church established in Canada, 1993. Death of
Albertus Magnus, a ceremonial magician who allegedly discovered the
philosopher' s stone.
17th - Birthday of Israel Regardie, occultist and member of the OTO, 1907.
18th - Aleister Crowley initiated in to the Golden Dawn as Frater Perdurabo,
1898.
19th - Birthday of Theodore Parker Mills, Pagan teacher and elder, born 1924
Full Moon - Mourning Moon. Lunar Eclipse, 8:46 pm 27 degrees Taurus 33'.
20th - Church of All Worlds incorporates in Australia, 1992.
22nd - Birthday of Roger Bacon, 1561. Stewart and Janet Farrar begin their
own Alexandrian coven, 1970. Sun enters Sagittarius.
23rd - Birthday of Lady Tamara von Forslun, founder of the Church of Wicca
and the Aquarian Tabernacle Church in Australia. Raymond Buckland initiated
by Gerald Gardner's High Priestess Lady Olwen, 1963.
24th - Celtic Tree Month of Reed ends.
25th - Edward Kelly's death is noted in the diary of Dr. John Dee, 1595.
Celtic Tree Month of Elder begins.
26th - Paracelsus the Swiss alchemist born, 1493.
28th - Thanksgiving Day.
30th - Henge of Keltria, the largest Celtic-Neopagan Druid organization in
the U.S., is incorporated as a non-profit organization, 1995. Birthday of
Oberon Zell, Church of All Worlds, 1942.
The Farmer´s Almanac has this to say about our moon this month:

"This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon."

Reading through the various Native American moon names for November, references to frost, freezing, cold, snow, and the onset of winter dominate the list. References to beavers, however, don´t exists.


There was mention a couple references to Thanksgiving - like the Potawatomi name "Month of the turkey and feast" and the Eastern Comanche name "Thanking moon". Not knowing anything about Potawatomi or Comanche culture, I can only make assumptions about the coincidence of an indigenous name for the November moon that sounds like it references the invasive culture’s holiday. Despite what you may feel about the story/mythology of the so-called "First Thanksgiving" (1, 2, 3) the fact that the November moon comes on the heels of the Harvest Moon and the Hunting Moon makes this a likely time (coupled with the oncoming winter) for feasting and celebration. Plus the dominance of the "holiday season" in our current culture makes me think that even after the collapses of civilization that feasting and giving thanks for harvest and hunt will probably continue during the time of the November moon.


Other non-frost/cold/ freezing/ snow/winter- related names for the November moon on the list of Native American moon names include:

Trading Moon (Cherokee)
Harvest or Hunting Moon (Eastern Cherokee)
Deer Rutting Moon (Cheyenne)
Moon When the Water Is Black with Leaves (Creek)
Month of the Fledgling Hawk (Hopi)
Geese-Going Moon (Kiowa)
Time of Much Poverty (Mohawk)
Long Moon (Shawnee)
Moon of the Falling Leaves (Sioux)
Moon When All Is Gathered In (Tewa Pueblo)
Scraping Moon (Tlingit)
Little Bear´s Moon (Winnebago)




Poems

The Green Man
by Deirdre Stuart

I was on a hill one day watching all the winter grey, there I met the
strangest man,
He said "Call me a fool that's what I am;
But I've got magic I can bring the flowers back make the birds all sing;
I'll bring the light back to the land; I'm the Green Man. The Green
Man."

I said, "where' ve you been my friend, the greyness never seems to end;
The winter's been so long and cold, I feel I'm getting ever old".
He said "I've been sleeping beneath the snow gaining strengh while the
winds did blow;
So I can bring light to your land I'm the Green Man. The Green Man".
Green Man bring the colors back to the land;
Green Man, You're the Green Man, The Green Man.

Can you see the Green Man, rising from his winter sleep?
I can see the Green Man awakening, awakening.
Just then he smiled and he turned around, wonders lay before me on the
ground,
All the land had seemed to change, all the colors rearranged.
He said, "All this color doesn't mean a thing unless there's a winter
before a spring;
Take a good look at your land------I' m the Green Man. The Green Man".

Green Man, bring the colors back to the land.
Green Man, You're the Green Man. The Green Man.
Green Man, bring the colors back to the land.
Green Man, You're the Green Man. The Green Man.

The Green Man.


The Mystery of the Green Man

The Face in the Leaves is face stares down at us from the roofs ,
pillars and doorways of our great cathedrals and churches, he appears on
second century Roman columns in Turkey and in Jain temples in Rajasthan.
He is found all over England, some parts of Wales and Scotland and a few
rare places in Ireland.

On the continent he has been seen and noted in Germany, France, Italy,
Holland and is said to be found in Spain, Hungary and Poland. India and
Malaysia have their own Green Man and though he doesn't seem to appear
in Native American traditions he can be seen in his modern role as a
bringer of fortune on the walls of banks in New York and Chicago.

His roots may go back to the shadow hunters who painted the caves of
Lascaux and Altimira and may climb through history, in one of his
manifestations through Robin Hood and the Morris Dances of Old England
to be chiselled in wood and stone even to this day by men and women who
no longer know his story but sense that something old and strong and
tremendously important lies behind his leafy mask.

One of the earliest English epic poems Gawain and The Green Knight may
refer to yet another manifestation of the Green Man as the God that dies
and is reborn. He is the Green Man, Jack in the Green, the Old Man of
the Woods, Green George and many other things to many other men but one
common theme runs through all the disparate images and myths, death and
rebirth and the Green that is all life.

© Mike Harding