Moon Medicine

by Meredith Heller | Posted 6/4/22 | Updated 3/24/24

When was the last time you walked outside at night, looked up, and felt inspired by the moon's beauty?

One of the many things I love about the moon is that she's always changing, waxing or waning on her cyclic journey as she circles in the sky, orbiting the earth. She gives me permission to cycle too. To know that sometimes I'm full of energy, and sometimes I'm empty. Sometimes I'm bright and other times dark. Whatever phase I'm going through is welcome; it's part of my journey.

Some people feel the pull of the moon on their mood. Often during a full moon, I have crazy creative energy and I stay up all night writing poems or playing my guitar, while on other full moons all I can do is sleep and sleep. Are you influenced by the moon? Does your energy wax or wane in sync with the moon's phases?

The moon is muse to many. Medicine to others. Grandmother Moon to many Native Americans. Moon mythology and ceremony are integral to every culture on earth, especially those of the indigenous peoples. The moon generates the tides with its gravitational pull. The twenty-eight-day moon cycle correlates to women's menstruation cycles. Many women ovulate on the full moon and bleed on the new moon.

New moon is often seen as a time to start a project, whereas full moon is the harvest time when we reap what we've sown during the past month's cycle. What about the dark side of the moon? People used to fear the dark shadow side, equating it with the unconscious, the blind spot in which repressed aspects of ourselves are hidden from us. Some say the shadow side is where our secret gardens of taboo grow. Sounds like wild territory to me; let's go! Let's sniff out the metaphor on the shadow side.

I invite you to consider the dark side of the moon and the dark phase of your own cycle as a time of deep connection with yourself, a time when you slow down and listen inside. A time to draw replenishment from rest, quietude, and solitude, and to allow beingness rather than doingness.

In my experience, we need both sides of our nature in order to be whole, or we burn out. I believe it is in this dark phase of the moon and our personal dark cycle that we let go of our shape, surrender to a state of goo like the caterpillar, and from this fertile darkness, emerge anew with dark and beautiful wings, glistening with the wisdom and power of our wholeness.

Invitation to Write

INVITATION: Go outside and look up at the moon tonight. What phase is she in? Is she waxing or waning? Draw inspiration from the glow, shape, direction, and color of the moon. Consider how the moon's cycles of waxing and waning possibly influence your own cycles of light and dark, fullness and emptiness.

JUST WRITE! Write about your connection with the moon. Are you aware of any influence it has on your energy? Are you in sync with the cycles of the moon? Do you feel wild and full of life on the full moon or drained and empty? Does the new moon inspire a new project? Write about moon medicine and what it heals in you and others. Write about the song or story you imagine hearing from the moon.

Write about how the moon inspires you and helps you to feel connected to the wonder of life as you walk home at night, the moonlight silvering your skin.

Examples

Moonlight — Lila, 11
Always keep a moonflower near
wear it on a golden chain
and you'll be safe forever.
Touch its sparkling silver petals
and you'll never be sick again.
Make some moonflower tea
mix in a spoonful of stardust
and you'll never be lonely.
Make a moon charm
from moonlight sparkles.
Keep it in your pocket
use it as a wishing stone
and watch all your dreams come true.
Listen to the stories the moon tells
keep them safe
wear them on a charm bracelet
and you'll surely be happy forever.

Dark Side — Lila, 11
I have been to the dark side of the moon
chasing the idea of something unattainable
something smoky
something dark
something that sings an eerie song
unlike anything you have ever heard before.

I have been to the dark side of the moon
chasing a memory I want to forget
chasing the thought of nothing and everything
I have been to the dark side of the moon.

Next: Mandalas & Talismans

Meredith Heller is a poet, singer-songwriter, avid nature lover, and educator who leads writing workshops and wellness retreats. ....