There is a common misconception that Wiccans worship the full moon.\u00a0 Simply put, that\u2019s pony poop.\u00a0 We worship at the time of the full moon and we use the moon and its phases as a religious symbol, a spiritual metaphor.\u00a0 Let me explain:<\/p>\n
For Wiccans, there are two sort of \u2018generic\u2019 deities, the god and the goddess.\u00a0 Another way of stating it is that there are projective (sometimes called \u2018positive\u2019) and receptive (sometimes called \u2018negative\u2019) forces from which the universe is derived.\u00a0 The god (projective, positive, etc.) is said to be the one that produces the energy, while the goddess (receptive, negative, etc.) takes it and shapes it into everything we call the universe.\u00a0 Since this follows the roles that males and females use for production of new life, it is easy to remember and a natural metaphor for our cosmology.\u00a0 This is an oversimplification for these are complex spiritual concepts, but for our purposes let\u2019s keep it uncomplicated.<\/p>\n
This model of energy exchange is reproduced in the sun (projective) and the moon (receptive).\u00a0 These two celestial bodies serve many other purposes within our general spiritual framework, most notably they are our calendar and timepieces.\u00a0 Our relationship to the sun goes through four distinct phases which we call the seasons and the moon also goes through four easily distinguished stages.\u00a0 The cycle of the solar seasons is seen reproduced in the new, first quarter, full, and last quarter moon phases.\u00a0 Our mythology of the birth, growth, adult, and waning years of life being played out in the seasons is compressed into each lunar month thirteen times a year.\u00a0 This celestial reminder of some of our most important spiritual concepts is an extremely valuable metaphor.\u00a0 Like all metaphors, it can produce many corollaries that expand our understanding of the underlying meaning of the concepts involved.<\/p>\n
By ascribing a male (or masculine\/projective, etc.) identity to the sun and a female (feminine\/receptive, etc.) one to the moon, we include these objects in our cosmic model in a wonderfully instructive and (if you\u2019ll pardon the obvious pun) illuminating way.\u00a0 Since it is simplicity itself to look into the sky and figure out what part of this spiritual model can be most comfortably focused on, it\u2019s easy to see why we use these two bodies in our worship.\u00a0 We don\u2019t actually worship the sun or the moon; we worship what they represent in our cosmology.\u00a0 They are symbolic of our spiritual perspective.<\/p>\n
The fact that the lunar cycle (28\u00bc days) is also the usual human female\u2019s estrus cycle, the connection to the feminine or goddess image is perfect for our purposes.\u00a0 There is, by the way, some scientific speculation about how moonlight seems to have an effect on women\u2019s fertility cycle.\u00a0 It may also be connected to the tidal effects of the moon\u2026 that is, something to do with gravity.\u00a0 Whatever the connection, it is serendipitous, fits in nicely with our spiritual model, and adds to the power of the symbol for us.<\/p>\n
As logical as this connection may seem to us, it isn\u2019t universal.\u00a0 In some religions, for example, the moon is designated as male.\u00a0 The reasoning behind our use of the moon in our spiritual practices is arbitrary and should not be considered as \u2018proof\u2019 of anything.\u00a0 However, incorporating it into our cosmology opens up many correlations.<\/p>\n
Take, for example, the current relationship between the earth, moon, and sun.\u00a0 Probably the most obvious is the one mentioned before: the light of the sun is reflected from the surface of the moon.\u00a0 The standard symbolic meaning is that the energy of the male is given to the female and is shaped into what we see manifested in the night sky.\u00a0 Certainly it is the most visible object in the heavens at night and we even can use it as a crude clock.\u00a0 But when you throw in some knowledge of how light is reflected, you come up with an even more wonderful analogy.\u00a0 Without going too deep into the properties of light, let\u2019s just think of light as a particle\u2026 the photon.\u00a0 When a photon (say, one from the sun) hits the surface of the moon, it doesn\u2019t \u2018bounce\u2019 off the moon\u2019s surface material.\u00a0 It gets absorbed.\u00a0 How does that happen? you might ask.\u00a0 Well, remember that we\u2019re talking about something on the sub-atomic level here.\u00a0 The Newtonian rules of gross matter don\u2019t apply here in the same way they do in the world of our senses.\u00a0 Anyway, the \u2018particle\u2019 of the photon speeds through space and \u2018hits\u2019 an atom on the moon\u2019s surface.\u00a0 This excites the atom (they\u2019re easily excited, sort of like giving sugar to a two year old).\u00a0 And for an instant, the structure of the atom is slightly changed.\u00a0 Then, because the atom can\u2019t hold the extra energy, it kicks out a photon of its own.\u00a0 That\u2019s right; the original photon isn\u2019t the one that is reflected from the atom on the moon\u2019s surface.\u00a0 It\u2019s a new photon, one with the signature of the atom that kicked it out.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the moon doesn\u2019t look like a giant mirror of the sun.\u00a0 What we see as lighter and darker shades and colors of the moon is all because of the fact that the photons that come to our eyes from the moon\u2019s surface are unique to the atoms on the moon.<\/p>\n
Think about it for a minute:\u00a0 The light from the moon isn\u2019t the same light that came to it from the sun.\u00a0 The light we see is because of the light from the sun but not the same light.\u00a0 Like the way females take the life seed from the male and use it to energize their own eggs (and produce new life), the moon takes the energy from the sun and produces new light for us to see.\u00a0 This tidbit of knowledge is more than symbolic; it is a lesson in how the universe works\u2026 which makes it all the more useful as a model for us.\u00a0 Such things can be used to support our cosmological view and reasons for using the moon as a focus point for our worship.\u00a0 They do not in any way \u2018prove\u2019 our model as \u2018right\u2019 or even better than other spiritual practices, only as something that is splendidly useful for us.<\/p>\n
Also consider how the moon almost exactly cuts out the light of the sun during an eclipse.\u00a0 Wow, what a coincidence, eh?\u00a0 Well, not precisely.\u00a0 We now know that the moon is slowly moving away from us at the rate of a few inches per decade.\u00a0 That means that at some point in the future the moon will be too \u2018small\u2019 to blot out all of the sun during eclipses.\u00a0 And, at some point in the past, the moon was \u2018too big\u2019 to make that perfect fit we see during an eclipse.\u00a0 But, as long as humans have been around to watch this phenomenal event, the moon has been pretty much the right size to our eyes to produce what undoubtedly was considered by primitive humans as a \u2018sign\u2019 of something pretty important.\u00a0 Even to our more scientifically sophisticated \u2018modern\u2019 selves, the event elicits some powerful visceral reactions.<\/p>\n
Actually, when you think about it, any moon can do that.\u00a0 It just depends on how near or far away it is from the viewer.\u00a0 The moon could be as small as an inch across and do that if it wasn\u2019t much more than a few inches from our eyes (try it with a golf ball).\u00a0 That our moon does it at this time in the history of hominids on this planet is probably just a coincidence.\u00a0 But, if you\u2019re like most people, you can\u2019t quite shake the feeling that it is a grand example of the beauty and wonder of the universe and the moon\u2019s place in our lives.\u00a0 It\u2019s very easy to think that it\u2019s part of the \u2018Big Plan\u2019 of the gods to keep us interested and entertained.\u00a0 And it does do that, right?<\/p>\n
One last thing about the moon and our worship practices before this ends:\u00a0 We\u2019ve said that we use the moon (and don\u2019t forget we use other things, too) as an object that is a handy metaphor in our worship.\u00a0 But what does it mean to \u2018worship\u2019?<\/p>\n
We worship what our hearts desire.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t desire the moon.\u00a0 It\u2019s far too much acreage to maintain, the commute is way too far, and it\u2019s definitely a \u2018fixer-upper\u2019.\u00a0 But we do worship the things it symbolizes for us.\u00a0 The fact that we wear jewelry that represents the moon is only our way of reminding us of the special place that symbol holds in our hearts; it is no more than that.\u00a0 We hold religious services at the time of the full moon because of that.\u00a0 It is also convenient to worship when the moon is full because we most often prefer to worship out of doors.\u00a0 Since our practices have in the past (and, sadly, even now) been labeled as evil or sacrilegious (in the eyes of people who just have to have their religious ways), we often will conduct our rights in secluded places\u2026 away from their prying eyes\u2026 some place \u2018wild and alone\u2019 that may be difficult to get to in the dark.\u00a0 The light of a full moon is well suited for us to find our way without lanterns or flashlights giving away our route or location.<\/p>\n
Our ways are not difficult to understand.\u00a0 What we do and how we choose to model our world around symbols and religious constructs that help us become better human beings may be different than other religions, but they are the same way those people operate within their own spirituality.\u00a0 They use different symbols and models but they most often come to the same conclusions about what it all means.\u00a0 When confronted by any who insist they have The Truth and use their beliefs to justify their meanness and cruelty, it is far too easy to react with our own bestial natures (everybody\u2019s got them).\u00a0 Of course we need to defend ourselves if necessary.\u00a0 But if you can, try to remember that our ways may seem just as difficult to understand to them as theirs do to us.\u00a0 We are better than the ferocious beast that lurks in each of us.\u00a0 So are they.\u00a0 If you really think it\u2019ll do any good, you might try explaining your ways to them, but don\u2019t think you will persuade them or \u2018convert\u2019 them.\u00a0 Be satisfied that you have a spiritual model that works for you.\u00a0 Worship the ideals and principles that your spirituality hold sacred\u2026 always.<\/p>\n
And come the next full moon, say a little thank-you to the powers that be for such a marvelous symbol floating overhead.\u00a0 Be glad for the reminder that all energies need to be transformed by love before they can be of the most use.\u00a0 And if somebody says we worship the moon, you can always turn to them and say, \u201cPony poop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is a common misconception that Wiccans worship the full moon.\u00a0 Simply put, that\u2019s pony poop.\u00a0 We worship at the time of the full moon and we use the moon and its phases as a religious symbol, a spiritual metaphor.\u00a0 Let me explain: For Wiccans, there are two sort of \u2018generic\u2019 deities, the god and the goddess.\u00a0 Another way of stating it is that there are projective (sometimes called \u2018positive\u2019) and receptive (sometimes called \u2018negative\u2019) forces from which the universe is derived.\u00a0 The god (projective, positive, etc.) is said to be the one that produces the energy, while the goddess (receptive, negative, etc.) takes it and shapes it into everything we call the universe.\u00a0 Since this follows the roles that males and females use for production of new life, it is easy to remember and a natural metaphor for our cosmology.\u00a0 This is an oversimplification for these are complex spiritual concepts, but for our purposes let\u2019s keep it uncomplicated. This model of energy exchange is reproduced in the sun (projective) and the moon (receptive).\u00a0 These two celestial bodies serve many other purposes within our general spiritual framework, most notably they are our calendar and timepieces.\u00a0 Our relationship to the sun goes through four distinct phases which we call the seasons and the moon also goes through four easily distinguished stages.\u00a0 The cycle of the solar seasons is seen reproduced in the new, first quarter, full, and last quarter moon phases.\u00a0 Our mythology of the birth, growth, adult, and waning years of life being played out in the seasons is compressed into each lunar month thirteen times a year.\u00a0 This celestial reminder of some of our most important spiritual concepts is an extremely valuable metaphor.\u00a0 Like all metaphors, it can produce many corollaries that expand our understanding of the underlying meaning of the concepts involved. By ascribing a male (or masculine\/projective, etc.) identity to the sun and a female (feminine\/receptive, etc.) one to the moon, we include these objects in our cosmic model in a wonderfully instructive and (if you\u2019ll pardon the obvious pun) illuminating way.\u00a0 Since it is simplicity itself to look into the sky and figure out what part of this spiritual model can be most comfortably focused on, it\u2019s easy to see why we use these two bodies in our worship.\u00a0 We don\u2019t actually worship the sun or the moon; we worship what they represent in our cosmology.\u00a0 They are symbolic of our spiritual perspective. The fact that the lunar cycle (28\u00bc days) is also the usual human female\u2019s estrus cycle, the connection to the feminine or goddess image is perfect for our purposes.\u00a0 There is, by the way, some scientific speculation about how moonlight seems to have an effect on women\u2019s fertility cycle.\u00a0 It may also be connected to the tidal effects of the moon\u2026 that is, something to do with gravity.\u00a0 Whatever the connection, it is serendipitous, fits in nicely with our spiritual model, and adds to the power of the symbol for us. As logical as this connection may seem to us, it isn\u2019t universal.\u00a0 In some religions, for example, the moon is designated as male.\u00a0 The reasoning behind our use of the moon in our spiritual practices is arbitrary and should not be considered as \u2018proof\u2019 of anything.\u00a0 However, incorporating it into our cosmology opens up many correlations. Take, for example, the current relationship between the earth, moon, and sun.\u00a0 Probably the most obvious is the one mentioned before: the light of the sun is reflected from the surface of the moon.\u00a0 The standard symbolic meaning is that the energy of the male is given to the female and is shaped into what we see manifested in the night sky.\u00a0 Certainly it is the most visible object in the heavens at night and we even can use it as a crude clock.\u00a0 But when you throw in some knowledge of how light is reflected, you come up with an even more wonderful analogy.\u00a0 Without going too deep into the properties of light, let\u2019s just think of light as a particle\u2026 the photon.\u00a0 When a photon (say, one from the sun) hits the surface of the moon, it doesn\u2019t \u2018bounce\u2019 off the moon\u2019s surface material.\u00a0 It gets absorbed.\u00a0 How does that happen? you might ask.\u00a0 Well, remember that we\u2019re talking about something on the sub-atomic level here.\u00a0 The Newtonian rules of gross matter don\u2019t apply here in the same way they do in the world of our senses.\u00a0 Anyway, the \u2018particle\u2019 of the photon speeds through space and \u2018hits\u2019 an atom on the moon\u2019s surface.\u00a0 This excites the atom (they\u2019re easily excited, sort of like giving sugar to a two year old).\u00a0 And for an instant, the structure of the atom is slightly changed.\u00a0 Then, because the atom can\u2019t hold the extra energy, it kicks out a photon of its own.\u00a0 That\u2019s right; the original photon isn\u2019t the one that is reflected from the atom on the moon\u2019s surface.\u00a0 It\u2019s a new photon, one with the signature of the atom that kicked it out.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the moon doesn\u2019t look like a giant mirror of the sun.\u00a0 What we see as lighter and darker shades and colors of the moon is all because of the fact that the photons that come to our eyes from the moon\u2019s surface are unique to the atoms on the moon. Think about it for a minute:\u00a0 The light from the moon isn\u2019t the same light that came to it from the sun.\u00a0 The light we see is because of the light from the sun but not the same light.\u00a0 Like the way females take the life seed from the male and use it to energize their own eggs (and produce new life), the moon takes the energy from the sun and produces new light for us to see.\u00a0 This tidbit of knowledge is more than symbolic; it is a lesson in how the universe works\u2026 which makes it all the more useful as a model for us.\u00a0 Such things can be used to support our cosmological view and reasons for using the moon as a focus point for our worship.\u00a0 They do not in any way \u2018prove\u2019 our model as \u2018right\u2019 or even better than other spiritual practices, only as something that is splendidly useful for us. Also consider how the moon almost exactly cuts out the light of the sun during an eclipse.\u00a0 Wow, what a coincidence, eh?\u00a0 Well, not precisely.\u00a0 We now know that the moon is slowly moving away from us at the rate of a few inches per decade.\u00a0 That means that at some point in the future the moon will be too \u2018small\u2019 to blot out all of the sun during eclipses.\u00a0 And, at some point in the past, the moon was \u2018too big\u2019 to make that perfect fit we see during an eclipse.\u00a0 But, as long as humans have been around to watch this phenomenal event, the moon has been pretty much the right size to our eyes to produce what undoubtedly was considered by primitive humans as a \u2018sign\u2019 of something pretty important.\u00a0 Even to our more scientifically sophisticated \u2018modern\u2019 selves, the event elicits some powerful visceral reactions. Actually, when you think about it, any moon can do that.\u00a0 It just depends on how near or far away it is from the viewer.\u00a0 The moon could be as small as an inch across and do that if it wasn\u2019t much more than a few inches from our eyes (try it with a golf ball).\u00a0 That our moon does it at this time in the history of hominids on this planet is probably just a coincidence.\u00a0 But, if you\u2019re like most people, you can\u2019t quite shake the feeling that it is a grand example of the beauty and wonder of the universe and the moon\u2019s place in our lives.\u00a0 It\u2019s very easy to think that it\u2019s part of the \u2018Big Plan\u2019 of the gods to keep us interested and entertained.\u00a0 And it does do that, right? One last thing about the moon and our worship practices before this ends:\u00a0 We\u2019ve said that we use the moon (and don\u2019t forget we use other things, too) as an object that is a handy metaphor in our worship.\u00a0 But what does it mean to \u2018worship\u2019? We worship what our hearts desire. We don\u2019t desire the moon.\u00a0 It\u2019s far too much acreage to maintain, the commute is way too far, and it\u2019s definitely a \u2018fixer-upper\u2019.\u00a0 But we do worship the things it symbolizes for us.\u00a0 The fact that we wear jewelry that represents the moon is only our way of reminding us of the special place that symbol holds in our hearts; it is no more than that.\u00a0 We hold religious services at the time of the full moon because of that.\u00a0 It is also convenient to worship when the moon is full because we most often prefer to worship out of doors.\u00a0 Since our practices have in the past (and, sadly, even now) been labeled as evil or sacrilegious (in the eyes of people who just have to have their religious ways), we often will conduct our rights in secluded places\u2026 away from their prying eyes\u2026 some place \u2018wild and alone\u2019 that may be difficult to get to in the dark.\u00a0 The light of a full moon is well suited for us to find our way without lanterns or flashlights giving away our route or location. Our ways are not difficult to understand.\u00a0 What we do and how we choose to model our world around symbols and religious constructs that help us become better human beings may be different than other religions, but they are the same way those people operate within their own spirituality.\u00a0 They use different symbols and models but they most often come to the same conclusions about what it all means.\u00a0 When confronted by any who insist they have The Truth and use their beliefs to justify their meanness and cruelty, it is far too easy to react with our own bestial natures (everybody\u2019s got them).\u00a0 Of course we need to defend ourselves if necessary.\u00a0 But if you can, try to remember that our ways may seem just as difficult to understand to them as theirs do to us.\u00a0 We are better than the ferocious beast that lurks in each of us.\u00a0 So are they.\u00a0 If you really think it\u2019ll do any good, you might try explaining your ways to them, but don\u2019t think you will persuade them or \u2018convert\u2019 them.\u00a0 Be satisfied that you have a spiritual model that works for you.\u00a0 Worship the ideals and principles that your spirituality hold sacred\u2026 always. And come the next full moon, say a little thank-you to the powers that be for such a marvelous symbol floating overhead.\u00a0 Be glad for the reminder that all energies need to be transformed by love before they can be of the most use.\u00a0 And if somebody says we worship the moon, you can always turn to them and say, \u201cPony poop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}