Last Sunday I watched the moonrise over my town. It was a mighty full moon. Powerful. It shone its golden brilliance as it rose over the rooftops. Quite surprising as typically I'd expect to see a silvery sheen from the moon. On this night it was truly golden like the sun. A memorable and breathtakingly awesome sight.
Prior to the moon's appearance I'd been digging over the allotment preparing for spring and seedling planting to come. On a patch nearby two older guys had dug out a new seating area, shaped a willow arbor as a back-rest, built a small fire and smudged their new site with sage - they then sat down to drum in the new moon. Classical behaviours to be found in this part of the country. Nothing out of the ordinary, two very welcoming souls. Before heading home we visited bringing two heart shaped stones as gifts for their new seating shrine and sat a while talking about the land and the rising moon.
The full moon was super powerful this month. My sleep was fitful over the days of its arrival and passing. My dreams vivid and intense. I'd awake and glance out the darkened window until I caught a sight of the glistening moon hanging up high as it arced the night sky. It had a real magnetic pull. Drawing my attention and locking my gaze. I imagine if I didn't look away quickly I would easily become transfixed.
The moon is so often a strong icon and object of identification. We point up at the moon in all its splendour. Due to it's size and position there's no confusing this ball of atoms with other stars or planets orbiting above us. We write poems and stories about the moon. I have fond memories of walking my nephew round the garden in the dusk of evening and with enormous fun and excitement we'd point up at the sky shouting 'where's the man in the moon?' It's such a magical mesmerising symbol in the sky. The moon is the moon. There is no other. There are many planets and stars glistening in the night sky, yet we orbit only one sun and one moon orbits Earth.
I, like many of us, know the names to label such phenomenon in our lives. I can point at the moon to draw attention to it ... but my pointed finger is not to be confused with the actual moon. The word for moon is not to be confused with what the moon is. Would the moon exist if there wasn't a name for it or someone to see it?
Why am I getting all philosophical ... because it is too easy to place the importance on the message, the logos, the word rather than the phenomenon or the experience itself. Being a part of something, feeling connected, being in relationship is the link between the being and the doing. You can't have one without the other. To separate them is an artifice that serves to disconnect us from ourselves, one another and ultimately the whole. It is in the distraction of the finger pointing that we become wrapped up in labels, words and concepts forgetting that it's all an illusion. It may hold the appearance of reality and yet it should not be confused with the real deal - the life of living, loving and experiencing the oneness and inseparability of everything.
