Unit Three
WIND TOSSED MOON
(February – March)
Moon: Wind Tossed
This moon I call Wind Tossed Moon, for it is the time when the winds come joy-riding through the valley, bringing icy cold yet cleansing rain, or biting sleet. Yet what spirits are most obviously present, guiding the energies of this moon cycle, in your environment? Find out what other names people and traditions use for this moon, and choose your own name, one that reflects your environment and your own nature.
Festival: Equinox
During this moon, we are building up towards the Spring Equinox. If you are still watching where the sun rises and sets, you’ll find its position changes every day. In the last half of this moon, it leaps along the horizon: feel how that speed of change is beginning to be reflected in the landscape.
As the equinox draws closer, be aware of what that force of change is bringing to you, to those around you, to the landscape within which you live. Spend time considering how this moontide would have been for your ancestors, of 100 years ago, 500 years ago, three thousand years ago and more.
Season: Spring
Spring is now pouring through in a rush of change. Watch out for the significant moments that yell to you about how the season is truly alive. The scent of the wind will be different, bringing a sweetness of new growth and hope. Can you tell how far away the rain is by the smell of it in the wind, the shifting ions lifting its scent? Work on that skill through the course of the moontide.
What difference does it make to you to be most acutely aware of how the environment is changing?
Perception: Touch
Touch is the perception to work on through this moon. As the waking world stretches, touch it, physically.
Wake your nerves by bringing a consciousness to the simple task of remembering or finding out what the world around you feels like: rock, sand, rough crystal, polished gems, bark of oak and cherry, sanded wood, tender new growth, petals, rain water, moving water, apples, potatoes, kale, broccoli, papaya pips … even the darkness of the night’s air. Allow your own soul to wake with it, exploring the world around you.
Spend time in the dark, or blind folded (with support if needed), experiencing the world of touch without the benefit of vision. What more do you discover about your environment and yourself?
Element: Wind
The element to work with during this moon is air, but now that air is moving through the environment, as wind. Be conscious of the slightest movements of the breeze. What does the wind bring with it? Does it make you or others (notably children) unsettled or vitalized? Do you flinch with stormy winds? Explore what it is like to dance and sing in the wind: celebrate its force, finding ways to move with it. Feel it touch you, exploring your body. Watch how it explores your house, the forest, the water. What is the wind seeking?
In deep Druidry, we would speak of what is held within its ‘song’; what do you think that means?
Humanity: Siblings
Brothers and sisters are the key relationships of this moontide. They are often the bringers of the first and most furious change in our own lives, and as you honour the winds of change, consider your siblings. If you have no brothers or sisters, who have taken their roles in your life, playing beside you as key support and competitor? How have the currents of your lives pushed and pulled against each other, influencing and affecting the individual journeys?
What would it take to improve those relationships now? Do it.
Environment: First Light
Some link the ash to this moon, but this correspondence doesn’t clearly reflect in the landscape of my home, where at this time the ash is still quietly sleeping, albeit with last year’s seed-keys rustling in the winds of the bare canopy.
What tree or trees can you feel most strongly now, and which plants are making the most of the extra hours of light, especially now while the canopy above is still bare? How does the extra light affect the birds? Who is beginning to nest at this time? What of the other fauna? Who is awake and alive and pouring energy through your environment? How does their energy feel beside yours?
Self: Change
Exploration is an important part of this moon’s cycle, for the environment around us is reaching out, beginning to stretch, filled with hope, finding and feeling the edges. At this time, when you come across a limitation, challenge it. Explore other ways past it, into it, through it. This is especially important with those edges and barriers that have been in place for a long time. How many of these are now just habit, limitations that you assume to be there because they were before?
It is easy to remain in stasis, afraid of new growth. Yet Druidry is a spirituality from an island environment that is in constant change : every day, every hour, the weather changes, the light adjusting, the winds, plants, people, all reacting, responding, changing. In this way, Druidry is a religious or spiritual tradition based upon the magical powers of change. What does this mean and what is its value? Is there a god of change, or who are the gods of change? How can we revere them, and why would we want to? Let the changing of nature teach you, guiding your own process of change and growth.
Creativity: Sharing the Tale
You have given the story as an offering back to the muse, the source of inspiration, and now is the time to share it with others. Spend all the time you need to prepare, then gather together a few friends, people you know. Share food and news, laughter and support, and when you are ready still the gathering for the telling of the tale.
Making prayers to those who gave your the tale, who inspired and have guided you to feel its blood and breath, be conscious of the wild wind – and let your voice open. Remember that the tale is now a part of you. Give it to those who hear it so it touches their souls.
Ethics: Respect
Consider the word ‘respect’. What right do we have to change others?
When we are in doubt ourselves or not concerned as to another’s action, it is easy enough to retain flexibility, but what about when we are sure we are right? Consider issues such as the way someone eats, or treats their children, how much they smoke or drink. When is it respectful to work towards altering another’s mind or course? Can it ever be entirely ethical to focus on influencing another’s life? What about giving healing, and in particular when someone is unable to give consent? How does this connect with the tradition of magic?
Explore these ideas, alone and in discussion with others. Break yourself open in this regard to see more clearly your own behaviour.
Review:
In the last few days of the moontide, when the moon is dark, consider what you have achieved through the cycle. What have you learned, changed, understood, and given in exchange?