Welcome And Why The Moon Matters

Hello friends, and welcome to episode two of Darkness and Light. I'm your host, Wendy Rule, and this is a podcast about myth, Magic, and nature. In this episode, we are going to be tuning into the cycles of the Moon. We'll explore the way she moves through her phases and her relationship with the Sun and the Earth. We'll explore why learning to work consciously with the moon can bring so much balance and clarity and depth into our lives. I truly love the Moon, I really do. I never cease to be amazed or uplifted when I witness her move through her phases, that first glimpse as she crests the eastern horizon at sunset when she's full, or that gorgeous, slender sliver of the new moon in the twilight sky, that sense of hope and return, or half lit like she is now, in her waning third quarter, appearing in the daytime sky. All of it it just feels truly mystical and magical. The phases of the Moon, her cycles, are really the anchor of this podcast as we move between waxing and waning. We'll always reference what the Moon is doing, whether she's waning like she is now, whether she's waxing, whether she's near the Full Moon or waning toward the Dark Moon. It aligns us with the energies of the moment. And really that that's what I'm wanting to do with Darkness and Light,, to help us to tune in to nature, to be in alignment with the flow, and part of that flow is the Moon and her phases. So these changes that she moves through of darkness and light, they mirror our own changes of darkness and light. So yeah, right now we have a beautiful waning Moon. She is on her third quarter. So half-lit, three-quarters of the way around her cycle from New Moon to Full Moon and to Dark Moon. So she's three-quarters of the way around that. So we call this the Third Quarter Moon, even though she's half-lit. And she is moving, and I say she, and I'll explain why a little later on. She is moving toward the Aries dark moon on Friday, the 17th of April, so about a week and a bit away. So every night from here until the Dark Moon, we will witness her getting smaller and smaller and smaller until she disappears altogether. And I think actually witnessing, looking at, noticing the Moon is an act of magic in itself. I believe that observation is a form of ritual. When we take the time to observe the world around us, it puts us in connection with nature. We see the interconnections of everything. That's what brings us into the flow. Taking the time to deeply notice. And that's what I love to do with the Moon. I have an ongoing and ever-changing relationship with the Moon. I consider it a friendship of sorts. And like every friendship, it's always it's always changing. And the more that I put into this relationship, the more I get back, like any relationship. So I love to always be learning, exploring, experiencing, and spending time with the Moon. Honoring the lunar cycles and witnessing those changes of the Moon is a big part of modern Paganism and Witchcraft, and I'm aware that there will be some of you who are listening and tuning into this episode that are already very well versed in the cycles of the Moon. But I think we can never stop learning. So maybe there's something in this episode that will speak to you personally. Maybe it will bring awareness or remind you of something that you may have tuned out of. Maybe it will simply remind you to pick up your practice again and honor the moon as she moves through her cycles. Or maybe this is entirely new to you to build a conscious ritual practice and awareness anchored in the moon and her cycles. And that's fine. Whatever your personal level of experience or connection with the Moon is, you're welcome here. We're learning and growing together. Darkness and Light is a circle of equals held in the container of that beautiful Lady Moon. In our journey with the Moon in this episode, as we dedicate a whole episode to her, I'm going to get right back to basics and start with the simple fact that we have two beautiful luminaries in our sky. The Sun and the Moon. One rules the day and the other the night. They're equally beautiful but different. The Sun is gorgeous and golden. Sometimes it feels very welcoming that touch of warm sun on our skin. Sometimes there's too much Sun. It can feel overwhelming. Only occasionally can we gaze at the bright disk of the Sun when he's first rising in the east, setting in the west. Then our Lady Moon, softer and more gentle. We can meditate into her. Sometimes the Sun can feel quite dangerous, but never the Moon. She's always welcoming. The Sun stays constant. The Sun is reliably a round, beautiful disk. Only on those rare occasions of solar eclipses do we witness the Sun changing shape, but the Moon changes shape all the time. She is in a constant state of flux, growing and diminishing, waxing and waning. Her light is strange and otherworldly. They can bring illusion and confusion, but the Sun's light is clear, the Sun clarifies. Both are equally gorgeous, equally necessary, just like darkness and light. And just a little suggestion for any listeners who are experiencing this podcast for the first time, I'm gonna suggest that you go back to episode one after you've listened to this one, because the first episode outlines the core philosophy behind this podcast, that darkness and light are equally necessary, equally beautiful, equally sacred. So I think that yeah, it's worth a listen just so that you are absolutely sure where I'm coming from with this, and then that will kind of provide a bit of a blueprint and a map for the entire darkness and light journey. So, okay, onward with this episode now. So we have these two luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, and they both, from our perspective here on Earth, appear to be about the same size. We might take this for granted. As earthlings, we witness this beautiful cosmic dance, and it's like, oh, there's the Sun and there's the Moon, how lovely. But this is actually a miracle that they appear the same size. The Sun's diameter is about four hundred times bigger than the Moon's. But the Sun is about four hundred times further away from us. So this means that the Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size in our sky. We know from good old science that the Sun is very, very big, and by comparison the moon very small, and yet this miracle, this relationship of size and distance makes them appear to be the same size, so much so our Moon can actually eclipse the Sun, can turn day to night. This is to me amazing. This is a beautiful cosmic dance that we've found ourselves in between Earth and Sun and Moon. So Earth has this one gorgeous satellite, our Moon. And as far as satellites go, in our solar system at least, the relationship between the size of our Moon and Earth, our satellite, our Moon is really big. It's the biggest moon in our solar system in relation to the size of the host planet. The Moon's diameter is about a quarter of the Earth's diameter, 27%. Even the biggest moons of the gas giants in our solar system are only about between four and six percent of the diameter of their planets. Ours is twenty-seven percent. So Earth and Moon have a strong effect upon each other. They're in this symbiotic relationship. When we tune in to the cycles of the Moon and the phases of the Moon, when we witness that monthly cycle from birth, growth to the peak of the fall, to a disseminating phase, to death and disappearance, and then back to rebirth. As we tune in to each of those points throughout that cycle, it brings rhythm and meaning to our own lives, and it helps us tune in to the actual energy that is happening on the planet because the Moon has a huge effect on Earth. The tides, of course, are obvious. That big size of our satellite in relation to us to Earth means that the Moon's gravity is actually drawing the waters of the ocean closer to her, creating tides, this pulse as she moves around the earth, drawing the waters of earth toward her. And you know, she's actually drawing everything toward her, just the water is being fluid, is more receptive to that. Creating the tides and this rhythm of wax and wane across our planet. And life on Earth responds to this change. Animals and plants, they tune into this rhythm. We know about sea turtles, for example, once a year around the Dark Moon, one mass synchronized nesting event in Costa Rica. We know about these occurrences that align with a phase of the Moon. There's a worm called the Palolo worm in the South Pacific that on two specific mornings, in October or November, so once a year and always just after the Third Quarter Moon, there's this mass spawning event. Coral on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia similarly have these spawning events that align with the moon. Some studies have shown that in trees the tiny fluctuations in the diameter of trunks or in the sap flow that aligns with the tides. So, yeah, life on Earth is responding to our Lady Moon. Why wouldn't we? We're life on Earth. When we bring our consciousness to those phases that are they're happening regardless of whether we tune in or not. It's not esoteric to notice that there's a Full Moon or a Dark Moon. It's practical. It's happening whether or not we tune in. It's nature. But when we do tune in, then we can adjust our behavior to be in sync with the phase of the Moon. Before the use of artificial light, of electricity, the phase that the Moon was in would have a very direct effect upon nighttime activity, human nighttime activity. Whether or not you could safely walk between villages on a Full Moon, yes, on a Dark Moon, no. Have you ever tried walking through a forest on a Dark Moon? It's really dark. And then a Full Moon, once your eyes adjust, is pretty good light. It makes all the difference. So right now, the moon at her third quarter, she's waning, getting smaller and smaller each evening. So this is a really good time for also releasing and letting go, for shedding the old. And when she's waxing, when she starts growing again, well, that's a time for growth in our own lives, for activity, for calling more of things. So in a way, tuning into the phases and cycles of the Moon is kind of like tilting our sails to catch the wind to lead us in the direction that we wish to go. If we're wanting increase in our lives, then tap into that energy in the waxing Moon. If we need to be releasing and letting go, then the waning Moon is the right time for that. And it's just about being in alignment, like all life on Earth is in alignment with the phases of the Moon. So it's not just the size and the brightness of the Moon that changes throughout those phases. It's not just how much of her is revealed, but also how much of the night she inhabits as she moves through her phases. So that new crescent rises just after sunrise, and we don't get to see her until the Sun has set below the horizon and she follows him shortly after sunset. So a thin sliver for just a thin sliver of the night. Then she waxes to the half-lit Moon the first quarter and she's rising around noon. So by the time the Sun sets we have half the Moon for half the night, the first part of the night. Then the Full Moon we have that full gorgeous light, which is really pretty bright. You can see sharp shadows with a Full Moon. The Full Moon for the full night. And the last quarter, the third quarter where we are now, our Moon is going to be rising around midnight or so. We'll have half the Moon for half the night. The second half of the night. Then as she continues waning, we have the old crescent in the secret wee small hours of the morning until the Sun rises and we can no longer see her. And then a couple of days later she disappears altogether. So yeah, not only does her shape change, but also how much of the night we actually get to spend with her. Shone over the earliest humans. Every single human activity. Going back millions of years, it's been that same Moon. Shone over the earliest artists, placing their handprints inside caves in ancient Australia. Carving the Goddess of WIllendorf twenty five thousand years ago. That Moon shone over Stonehenge when it was first raised, the building of the pyramids, the eruption of Vesuvius. Our Moon has been there through every era, all ages. The changes of fashion she's witnessed Renaissance artists in Florence in their brocades and velvets, Victorian gas lit streets, corsets and finery. She was there in the twenties jazz age, the sixties mini skirts and seventies flares and magnificent eighties Gothic culture. She's here with us now. She's connected to every single age and era of the human journey. Everything that we've created has been witnessed by that same Moon. We can gaze on her now and know that she holds those stories of ancestor of all life on Earth. She's been there witnessing. It's little wonder that every culture has mythologized and created stories about our Moon. In some cultures, the Moon is considered a god. In others, a goddess. In Norse mythology, the Moon is male and the Sun is female. In ancient Sumer, the Moon God was called Nanna or Sin, and he was Inanna's father. And in Greek myth, the Moon is female and the Sun male. The moon is Selene. She's aligned with Artemis and Hekate. So there's no right or wrong here. But there so often is a sense of difference that one is considered male, the other female. One is God, one is Goddess. And I think the presence of these two beautiful luminaries remind us of this equality between God and Goddess, male and female. To me, the Moon is Goddess. She's La dy Moon. And I feel her energy as sister, as grandmother, as mother, as daughter. And that's my personal relationship. Maybe it's because I'm a woman that I find comfort in witnessing her changes and her reliability within those changes too. That she's always changing, that it's at a reliable pulse, regulated, moving through her cycles of darkness and light. We can trust in that constant change, that things don't have to be fixed to feel safe and reliable, that we can find that reliability in change itself. There's a wonderful pagan author called Star hawk, and she has a beautiful saying in her book, The Spiral Dance. She's talking about nature. And she says this. "She changes everythiung she touches, And everything she touches changes". I just think that is so beautiful and such a great reminder that nature is always in flux, and we see that so clearly with our Moon. So yeah, to me she's Lady Moon, might be something different to you. Of course, there's that amazing alignment with the lunar cycle and the female human reproductive cycle. That the menstrual cycle aligns strongly with the cycle of the Moon, both about a month each. I think the fact that the moon changes shape as well. Sometimes she's very slender in that gorgeous first crescent in the twilight sky, and sometimes she's round and full with a big pregnant belly. And that's a very female thing. I've been pregnant, I'll have a kid, I've been through that. It was crazy watching my body go through those rapid changes, losing a sense of balance, as my belly grew bigger and bigger. And the Moon was really comforting and reassuring during all that that this change is is completely natural, it's normal. And aging as well. Going through these cycles of change in our body, the Moon says, Yep, that's what we do. We're part of nature, we change. So, yeah, I am going to be referring to our Moon as a Lady Moon and as Goddess, and just know that that's me. That's what works for me, and it might work for you too, and if it doesn't, that's okay. Our beautiful golden Sun creates difference across the planet, creates polarity, day and night, winter and summer. This sense of opposite, of separation in a way. But the Moon creates unity. The cycles of the moon, the lunar phases are the same all over the Earth. If it's Full Moon, it's Full Moon everywhere. If it's Dark Moon, it's Dark Moon everywhere. Whether you are listening to this in the Southern Hemisphere or the Northern Hemisphere, we are all sharing a Third Quarter Moon, if you're listening to this on the day that it's released. But whenever you're listening to this, whatever phase of the Moon is occurring when you're tuning in, the whole world is sharing that phase with you. And that's why I love to work with the Moon so strongly and why, because I travel a lot as a musician, why she has created an anchor for me. No matter if I'm jumping from Summer to Winter, that Moon maintains a sense of flow, a sense of rhythm that I can tune into. I find that extremely grounding and extremely reassuring. I love to gaze at a Full Moon here in New Mexico and know that my loved ones are seeing the same Full Moon back in Australia. There's this sense of connection, of container. I love that . I'd like to take a moment to go over the mechanics of what makes those different phases of the Moon. I think it's really important to know this stuff. I think that knowing the science of what we're witnessing in nature just adds to the wonder and the mystery. Science and magic aren't separate. I think knowing how things operate, how they work, just increases wonder and awe. So the Moon is gravitationally locked to the Earth. She turns on her axis at exactly the same rate that she circles us, that she orbits Earth. And this means that the same face of the Moon, the same side of the Moon, is always looking towards our planet. So we only ever see half of the Moon. And colloquially, the other half is referred to as the dark side of the Moon because we never see it. But really, a better term is far side of the Moon because that side of the Moon also receives sunlight. At certain times, half the Moon is always lit. Those phases that we witness from Earth are determined by how much of the face of the Moon that's turned towards us is receiving sunlight, but half the Moon is always receiving sunlight. The Moon really has two different cycles. It takes twenty-seven days for the Moon to orbit the Earth, but it takes twenty nine and a half days for her to complete her cycle from Dark Moon, waxing to the Full,, waning again to the Dark. The difference comes from the fact that while the Moon is orbiting Earth, Earth itself is moving around the Sun. So it's a nice example of how the Moon's rhythm is really a dance between three celestial bodies, Earth, Moon, and Sun. So I am just going to go into two of these phases and explain what is going on. The Full Moon and the Dark Moon. And just to be clear, I use the term Dark Moon for that moment when the Sun and the Moon are at exactly the same point in the sky. In astrological terms, we'd say they are conjunct. I call that Dark Moon. You'll often hear exactly that same phase called New Moon, but I use the term Dark Moon because she's disappeared for about three days around that time. And I reserve the term New Moon for when I see that first new crescent. It feels new to me. So when you hear me say Dark Moon, you might know that same phase as New Moon. Okay, a Full Moon occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. The side of the Moon that faces Earth is receiving the full blast of sunlight, shining right across with Earth in the middle, right across and shining on the face of our beautiful Lady Moon. So we get to see her complete beautiful round circle. And sometimes that alignment is so exact that the Sun casts its light and Earth actually gets in the way, and Earth casts a shadow then across the face of the moon. And that's what we witnessed last month with the lunar eclipse. So Earth in between Sun and Moon is a Full Moon. And that means that the Moon and the Sun are 180 degrees opposite each other. And if you're into astrology, that means that on a Full Moon, the Moon is always going to be in the opposite sign from the Sun. If the Sun is in Scorpio, the Full Moon during that time will be in Taurus. If the Sun is in Aries, the Full Moon at that time will be in Libra, like it was recently. So on a Dark Moon, the Moon is in between the Sun and the Earth. The side of the Moon, the face of Mthe oon that is turned towards Earth, always the same side of the Moon, isn't receiving any sunlight. It's the other half of her that's lit, the far side of the Moon, the dark side of the Moon. So it's still Full Moon, just on the side that we can't see. So that's Dark Moon. With the Moon in between the Earth and the Sun, and sometimes that alignment is so exact that the Moon moves across the face of the Sun. And that's when we get a ESolar clipse from our view here on Earth. And because on a Dark Moon, the Moon and the Sun are hanging out in the same section of sky, that means they're always in the same astrological sign. So the Moon is now waning toward the dark moon. Well, the Sun is now in Aries. That means this Dark Moon has to be in Aries. There's this concentration of energy. Years ago, when I was teaching an online class on the moon's phases, I created a video of how these phases work. And I'll just put that in the show notes. It's up on YouTube, and it might help you visualize exactly what's going on. And also then I can explain those other phases: the crescent, the gibbous, the disseminating, first quarter, etc. We'll be going through all those phases at some point in this podcast. But yeah, you might like to check that out if you'd like a more visual reminder of how those phases work. Before we do our tarot for this episode, let's do a little meditation, tune in to the right here and the right now. And as we've been journeying with the beautiful energies of the Moon, let's begin by taking our awareness to her. Just feel that her presence. Whether you're listening to this in daytime or nighttime, know that our Lady Moon is circling our planet. As sister, as mother, as grandmother, as friend. Taking a moment just to be aware of your breath. Settling into the right here and the right now. Taking a moment simply to be. And we'll just see what does the universe want us to be aware of right now? What might be helpful for us to bear in mind and thinking about what we might need to let go of to help bring balance and peace and harmony into our lives right now. Okay, I'm going with this. Let's see what is on the top, okay? Oh, it's a sad card. It's the Three of Swords, and it is a very beautiful card, but it does denote sorrow, and I mean we would have to be pretty closed off from the world right now not to be feeling sorrow in the state of things. We should be feeling that. It has a heart, a red heart, classic kind of heart shape, and it's got three swords in it, and there's a stormy grey sky behind it. And yeah, these three swords stabbing this heart. So it's a pretty strong image of heart ache and grief. But I also think it holds a very powerful gift, this card, and it is that gift of having an open heart, of being brave enough to feel, of not switching off. On the one hand, I think this card for us this week is saying, be brave enough to feel, don't click off, but remember we did ask the cards what we need to let go of. It's important to find balance between how much we're willing to be open to witnessing and experiencing others' pain or others' hardship, but also remembering to nurture our own little hearts, to be kind and gentle to ourselves. Maybe you're hurting right now for a very personal reason, something that only relates to you and isn't about this crazy world at the moment. Well, this card is reminding you, yes, it's appropriate to feel, but we also need to know when to let that grief go. And we did ask the universe what we're letting go of. So maybe this is saying it's time, it's time to let go of some of that pain you've been holding on to. Or if it's a more collective message, if you're tapping into the sorrow of the world, I think the reminder is don't get drawn down by this. Don't get so weighed down by the collective sorrow and grief of our world that you lose yourself, that you forget there's also joy. There's also happiness, there's also love. So finding that balance, not closing off our hearts, but also remembering to protect ourselves a little too. And if you are personally going through a hard time right now, I'm sending you some love and reminding you that, you know, this too will pass. Like everything, like our Moon, that's what she teaches us. Everything is transient, is in a state of change. Sometimes when we're going through these hard times, it can feel like how could this ever change? But at will, there are 78 cards in this deck, and uh only this one has these swords through the heart in this way. There's plenty of other aspects to the human experience, but right now we're our attention's called to this. So in my last episode, I spoke about my Patreon community and how the time and resources that I spend creating this podcast, it's my wonderful Patreon community, that allow me to do this, and that there will never be ads. And that's because this is an immersive podcast. I see every episode as kind of like a ritual. We're in it together. Experience. Together what's happening on the sky, on Earth. So I don't want that flow broken by ads, so it's my Patreon community who help me. But one of the ways that I'll be offering back via my Patreon community, every week I do a video called Magic Monday. I do this every single week, and I have for years and years. And in this video, I talk about what's happening in Earth and sky in my own life, and pull a tarot card and then usually sing a song based on that tarot card. But what I think might be interesting is each alternate Monday, the Monday that follows the release of this podcast, I'm going to go further into the card that we do during the podcast. So my next Magic Monday, on this coming Monday, if you're listening to this on the day that it's released, I will further explore the Three of Swords card and the nature of grief and of heartache, both personal and collective, and how we can navigate those difficult times. So you might like to tune into that. You'll find the Patreon links in the show notes. And one final thing before we go. As it is the waning moon and it's all about letting go, I'm going to share with you just the simplest little spell. That is probably the spell that I do most often. Is very simply just writing down what you want to release, and then uh getting a little saucepan or a cauldron, whatever you have on hand that's safe to burn things, get a candle, get this little piece of paper, light it on fire with the candle, drop it into the saucepan, and just consciously witness that fire burning away what you no longer need. And this is an Aries dark moon that we're coming up to, and Aries is a fire sign. So it's going to be perfect for doing some of this releasing work. And with this card that we drew, this Three of Swords, that releasing might be around releasing some of the pain in your own heart. Or it might be releasing the messed up state of our world at the moment that is causing so many people hardship. The two can work together, getting rid of the dross, letting go of what we no longer need, of what no longer serves us, and doing that courageously because Ares is that strong, courageous sign that reminds us of our right to be just who we are, of the strength of our own selfhood. I am gonna sign off there. I look forward to meeting you back here in two weeks' time for the next episode of Darkness and Light, and we are going to be exploring the Wheel of the Year, and particularly the upcoming festivals of Beltaine in the Northern Hemisphere and Samhain in the Southern. So until then, Blessed Be.