Dear MoonwRiters September 2006

"When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service ofmy vision—then it becomes less andless important whether I am afraid."—Audre Lorde

Moon wRites is on Thurday 5th October 2006 at 7pmFull Moon is on Saturday 7th October 2006 at 3.14am and Eleventh LunationIvy Moon, Moon Of Resilience and Buoyancy The Ivy Moon, which covers the period from the end of September to late October is also the Moon of Buoyancy. This concerns our capacity to see the best in everything and to keep our spirits high at all times.

This Moon is perhaps the most fecund and resilient time in nature when the last heady days of the Autumn sunshine prolong the beauty of the season before the onset of winter. The essence of this moon is health and recovering health before we are in the crisis.

This includes mental health and depression.Colours Deep Forest GreenScents - Roman Chamomile, Jasmine, Patchouli, Orris, Peppermint, Hyacinth. Marjoram, Lavender, Grapefruit, Sandalwood and Rosewood.Lunar Herb - Sage, Clary Sage, FennelNumber - 11 The Master NumberSeasonal CelebrationSaturday September 23rd was the Autumn Equinox.

In the Northern Hemisphere the earth has completed its germination, growing and harvest season’s and is now preparing for the dying season. For a brief time, light and day are of equal length, then the nights begin to lengthen. This is the time of the final Harvest. On Equinox we give bountiful thanks knowing that every living creature must give in to this cycle.Create an Autumn Equinox Altar. Place a pomegranate onto the altar to remind you of the time of Persephone’s journey into the Underworld.October 6th is the Moon Cake Festival.

In China at the time of the Autumn Equinox, the Moon cake Festival is a big celebration. This is because the Moon is said to be at her fullest and roundest. Moon cakes of lotus paste and egg yoke are eaten. Lanterns are given to children and friends and lantern processions are held.

You should be able to buy Moon cakes at any Chinese grocery.October 7th is the Full Moon.October 9th is Feast day of Felicitas, Goddess of good luck. Contemplate where in your life you want more luck. Place a symbol of what you want and desire on your altar and invoke Felicitas on this day to open the pathway for you.New Lunar month begins on Sunday 22nd October 2006. This is the realm of the Great Mother, of other consciousness.

In the Tarot corresponds to the mystery. Spirit binds the elements together in the alchemical change which brings wholeness.Pomegranate Writing Exercise from Fruitflesh by Gayle Brandeiss(Extract quoted below taken from Cooking Like a Goddess by Cait Johnson)Pomegranates are magical fruit, not only because of their link with Persephone and her annual stay in the underworld, but because of even older associations with the womb, the sacred chalice of life.

Red and lumpy, its globular shape is certainly womblike. Its waxy smooth skin, when dried, will become tough and leathery. It has a jagged crown at its top, filled with tiny golden, straw like fibers with round-tipped heads.With a sharp knife, cut a vulva-shape gently through the surface of your pomegranate’s skin – a curved diamond-shape with tips pointing up and down. Carefully peel off the skin inside this shape.

The inner skin is yellowish white; it clings to the seeds like a caul around a newborn baby. When the outer skin is peeled away, the vivid seeds are exposed. Take time to appreciate the beauty of this female symbol which you have uncovered and which the pomegranate embodies. Really look at the seeds: notice their translucence, their granet colour, (the word garnet comes from the word granatum), the Latin word for Pomegranate.

If you cut one, it bleeds. It has a subtle scent. How would you describe it?Now pry one seed gently from its socket and taste it, (in just this way did Persephone taste her first seed in Hades). Its outer flesh is cool and sweet, but the inner seed is hard and bitter. It is certainly both sweet and bitter to a woman in our culture today.

In what other ways can you describe the lesson of the seeds for yourself? If you count out five more seeds and eat them, think of them as your tickets to the inner world, the deep, underground wisdom that the outer world of frantic busyness often makes us forget. You have become Persephone in your choice to go deeper.We will be working and writing with Pomegranates in this month’s class.In writing we also become Persephone, each of us exploring our own fertile darkness, bringing it to the light with our words. Each seed is a rich story we carry inside us, waiting to spill its lasting colour.

__________________________________
When This Month’s Moon wRites class is Thursday 5th October 7.00pm – 9.00pmFull Moon is on Saturday 7th October 2006 Where To Find UsThe classes are based at Streatham Friends Meeting House, Redlands Way, Roupell Park Estate, SW2, 3LU. Class Fee - £20 per workshops.Concessions available.Travel DirectionsThe most direct route is via Brixton.

Come out of the station and turn left. Take a bus no 159, 109, 333, 59, 45 or 118 from the bus stops outside Woolworth’s and Barclays bank. The buses head up Brixton Hill. Press the bell for the sixth bus stop, which is a request stop.

"Fear is good. Fear tells us what we have to do. The more scared we are of a work or calling,the more sure we can be that we have to do it."- Steven Pressfield