Elembivios, Weodmōnaþ, Blue Corn, The Salmon

 

Photo by James Wheeler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-dock-414612/

Blue moon you saw me standing alone

Without a dream in my heart

Without a love of my own

Time to get to the moon names this upcoming "moonth."

For the Gauls, we are beginning Elembivios "the many-sided Month,"  That is one translation anyway, there are others.  One that is somewhat relevent  is the "Month of Claiming" associated with the grain harvest.  Our grove has chosen to honor Nantosuelta. Her name translates to "winding river," and those can have many sides?  Her iconography often pairs her with Sucellos, suggesting a link with fertility, and also has ravens.  Personally, I see her in a similar light as the Morrigan, mostly because of the ravens, but there's nothing in the lore; it's just my personal inpsiration.  At our Druid moon rite, we "dancing the flow," of life, of the river, of whatever.  Our grove is also sponsoring a festival during this month, and so the nightly drum/dance circle will be dedicated to her.  

(Sucellos is the "Good Striker" who in addition to a mallet, carries a cask of ale made from barley...keep in mind for a bit.) 

The Anglo-Saxons called this Weodmōnaþ "weed/Grass month" and it brings with it, to me, imagery of the grasses or grains that grow so quickly this month.  Every time it rains here there's a burst of growth in both the things I've planted and those "opportunists" that find their way in too.   If I were growing grain this year, I'd be really excited to see it grow so large and that would indicate a good harvest approaches.

(Jumping back to Gaul, Sucello is seen as a god of agriculture, among other things, and one can't make fermented beverages out of barley unless there is enough barley to be fermented!)

Heading to Kondratiev's lunar cycle, he attaches this moon to this line in the song of Amergin "I am a salmon in the pool."  The Salmon eat the nuts dropping from the hazel tree, and thus ingest the widsom from that tree.  One meaning of Coll (the hazel tree) in the Ogham is "wisdom."  But another theme is the gathering in of said wisdom. Just as the grain is harvested, and gathered in.

Finally, let's address the "blue moon." Modern definitions of blue moons state that it is the second full moon in a calendar month. BUT, that was not the original meaning. Blue moons were the FOURTH full moon in a SEASON.  According to my calendar, we have had three full moons since Summer Solstice on June 21:   July 3, August 1, and August 30. The NEXT full moon falls AFTER the Fall Equinox.  By my calendar using that definition, we do NOT have a blue moon this year.  

So, if you choose to go that way, then this would be the Corn Moon, named because, yes, time to harvest the corn (or... sometimes the Barley moon....see above parenthetical about Sucellos).

For this moon then, what do you need to gather in to get through the winter?  How might you best 'go with the flow' (which I actually saw in a pop-psychology advice column about combating depression)?