These articles are simply about the energies of each moon of the year. I wrote and published all of these in a long article years ago. Today I’m going to share them here, one by one, each month. These teachings/philosophies are from my Native American mentor who guided me through my childhood and taught me a great deal about this world and his people. I met him when I was 9 winters of age, and he began teaching me a year later when he was 86 winters of age. He was of the Munsee Lenni Lenape.
In December I will post two entries because there are not 12 moons in a year, but 13 full moons.
Each year has 13 moons, not 12.
Each moon is about 28 days long, but not exactly.
Since the calendar doesn’t add up, a Leap Year is inserted every 4 years to balance the scales.
Wow, here we are on the eve of August and I’m just getting around to posting about the July moon! Well better a bit late than never, as the saying goes.
My childhood Native American mentor’s people didn’t call the July moon the Heat Moon or Lightning Moon for nothing! June was the Flower Blooming Moon and July is the Heat Moon, also called the Lightning Moon.
This moon’s name is quite obvious I think. Summer is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere and that means the Sun is as close as we ever see. More sun rays, and more light, equals more heat. Of course, this time of year is also well known for Storms that create both thunder and lightning.
What does the July Moon hold in its summer’s grip then? Both Heat and Lightning. So what do both have in common? FIRE! This is the Moon of Fire, the season of fire, and the time of fire. We must remember that the environments and ecosystems rely on opposites to create the dynamic movement within their intricate webs to create and sustain life. Here we have 4 unique seasons, each supported by a dominant and subordinate element that play upon one another. Other places have only 2 seasons, like many regions of Africa, which have a dry and a wet season, again opposite elements.
Summer is the time of Fire. The sun is highest, closest and so the air is hotter than it is in the other seasons. The time of day connected to summer is 11 am to 1 pm. The organ connected to summer is the heart, the main fire organ within the body. Of course, the power of summer comes from the depth of its opposite, winter. It’s the same as how we treat our bodies during summer will determine their internal strength in the winter.
Winter is cold and dark, the opposite of summer. The kidneys belong to winter. It is no surprise then, the well-known medical fact that the heart and kidneys have a very deep and necessary connection and “communication” path between them. They both directly rely upon one another to function properly and maintain balance. Medical science has seen that when the heart is too hot the kidneys dry up and become imbalanced. Likewise, when the kidneys are dry they overheat and this aggravates the heat in the heart. The heat of the heart is the only heat in the body that is supposed to descend rather than ascend. Heart heat is supposed to sink to the kidneys and nourish them. Kidneys like to be warm. Cold kidneys in the winter equal a sick body. The heart likes to be cool, even though it is a fire organ. You see, opposites supporting one another.
Heart heat is supposed to descend and literally “steam” the energy of the kidneys with then rise into the body nourishing other organs. Summer/Fire supporting winter and Winter/Water supporting Fire. Fire gives water life and movement and water tempers fire and allows it to be nurturing rather than destructive.
In summer when there is too much fire and not enough water, everything dries up, and much dies. In winter when there is not enough fire the water freezes and becomes unusable to life around, which is also frozen.
But what is the Medicine of the Heat/Lighting Moon? The above is the physical dynamics. The Medicine goes right along with the Fire element, Creativity.
Well, that’s pretty simple. This is the moon in which to embrace fully the creative source and creative outlets from within. This is a time to bring the ideas (lightning) into physical manifestation (fire). Fire creates light and heat which is necessary for life on the physical side of existence. But for creativity to birth and expand into the physical there has to be inspiration and ideas first.
We don’t create unless we first have an idea or a flash of inspiration. This is the Medicine of Lightning, inspiration, an instance of genuine and pure Knowing. Non-physical before physical. The physical comes out of, is birthed from the non-physical. Picture a dark cloudy night. You can see nothing the darkness is so thick. Then out of nowhere a blinding flash of white light, lightning! For an instant, you can see, but it’s so quick your physical eyes can only capture a vague and unconvincing image of what lies before you. But that is enough for the mind to start generating ideas. You begin to imagine and think. The movement has been set in motion.
This is the moon in which we can honor, embrace and tap into the creative forces of inspiration, both within us and from the world around us. Inspiration comes through the electricity (lightning) of the brain, creativity comes through the heart (fire) and the strength and continence to pursue and manifest the creative energy comes through the kidneys (water). Snow is the purity of winter and lightning is the purity of summer.
Now you can ponder it, put it all together and feel how it directly touches and pertains to your personal life. Then after it reflects inward on both a physical and non-physical level, hopefully, you will see the awareness expand outward and encompass all around you, the world, and the universe.
In December I will post two entries because there are not 12 moons in a year, but 13 full moons.
Each year has 13 moons, not 12.
Each moon is about 28 days long, but not exactly.
Since the calendar doesn’t add up, a Leap Year is inserted every 4 years to balance the scales.
Wow, here we are on the eve of August and I’m just getting around to posting about the July moon! Well better a bit late than never, as the saying goes.
My childhood Native American mentor’s people didn’t call the July moon the Heat Moon or Lightning Moon for nothing! June was the Flower Blooming Moon and July is the Heat Moon, also called the Lightning Moon.
This moon’s name is quite obvious I think. Summer is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere and that means the Sun is as close as we ever see. More sun rays, and more light, equals more heat. Of course, this time of year is also well known for Storms that create both thunder and lightning.
What does the July Moon hold in its summer’s grip then? Both Heat and Lightning. So what do both have in common? FIRE! This is the Moon of Fire, the season of fire, and the time of fire. We must remember that the environments and ecosystems rely on opposites to create the dynamic movement within their intricate webs to create and sustain life. Here we have 4 unique seasons, each supported by a dominant and subordinate element that play upon one another. Other places have only 2 seasons, like many regions of Africa, which have a dry and a wet season, again opposite elements.
Summer is the time of Fire. The sun is highest, closest and so the air is hotter than it is in the other seasons. The time of day connected to summer is 11 am to 1 pm. The organ connected to summer is the heart, the main fire organ within the body. Of course, the power of summer comes from the depth of its opposite, winter. It’s the same as how we treat our bodies during summer will determine their internal strength in the winter.
Winter is cold and dark, the opposite of summer. The kidneys belong to winter. It is no surprise then, the well-known medical fact that the heart and kidneys have a very deep and necessary connection and “communication” path between them. They both directly rely upon one another to function properly and maintain balance. Medical science has seen that when the heart is too hot the kidneys dry up and become imbalanced. Likewise, when the kidneys are dry they overheat and this aggravates the heat in the heart. The heat of the heart is the only heat in the body that is supposed to descend rather than ascend. Heart heat is supposed to sink to the kidneys and nourish them. Kidneys like to be warm. Cold kidneys in the winter equal a sick body. The heart likes to be cool, even though it is a fire organ. You see, opposites supporting one another.
Heart heat is supposed to descend and literally “steam” the energy of the kidneys with then rise into the body nourishing other organs. Summer/Fire supporting winter and Winter/Water supporting Fire. Fire gives water life and movement and water tempers fire and allows it to be nurturing rather than destructive.
In summer when there is too much fire and not enough water, everything dries up, and much dies. In winter when there is not enough fire the water freezes and becomes unusable to life around, which is also frozen.
But what is the Medicine of the Heat/Lighting Moon? The above is the physical dynamics. The Medicine goes right along with the Fire element, Creativity.
Well, that’s pretty simple. This is the moon in which to embrace fully the creative source and creative outlets from within. This is a time to bring the ideas (lightning) into physical manifestation (fire). Fire creates light and heat which is necessary for life on the physical side of existence. But for creativity to birth and expand into the physical there has to be inspiration and ideas first.
We don’t create unless we first have an idea or a flash of inspiration. This is the Medicine of Lightning, inspiration, an instance of genuine and pure Knowing. Non-physical before physical. The physical comes out of, is birthed from the non-physical. Picture a dark cloudy night. You can see nothing the darkness is so thick. Then out of nowhere a blinding flash of white light, lightning! For an instant, you can see, but it’s so quick your physical eyes can only capture a vague and unconvincing image of what lies before you. But that is enough for the mind to start generating ideas. You begin to imagine and think. The movement has been set in motion.
This is the moon in which we can honor, embrace and tap into the creative forces of inspiration, both within us and from the world around us. Inspiration comes through the electricity (lightning) of the brain, creativity comes through the heart (fire) and the strength and continence to pursue and manifest the creative energy comes through the kidneys (water). Snow is the purity of winter and lightning is the purity of summer.
Now you can ponder it, put it all together and feel how it directly touches and pertains to your personal life. Then after it reflects inward on both a physical and non-physical level, hopefully, you will see the awareness expand outward and encompass all around you, the world, and the universe.
