Tuesday, August 30, 2016

dark moon

Today is a dark moon. It's time to stir the cosmic pot...it's not too late to add our longings, visions and dreams and it's not too late to season the mix with tears and laughter. We stir and mix and stir some more...crying until we laugh and laughing until we cry. Things are happening in the invisible world now and in a few days' time when the next moon round begins, what we need most will hopefully reveal itself.


Weaving rounds with the eldest sprite -- I left mine on the cardboard but she took hers off and it instantly morphed into the shape of a bowl, perfect for holding one crystal. All four sprites were here that day and each one got a tiny polished crystal. I want to be a nana who gives magic.


Beets, beets, and more beets. I usually saute the tender greens with garlic and onion and serve them up with red wine vinegar. My method for the roots is to drizzle a little olive oil over whole unpeeled beetroots, season with salt and pepper, and bake in a covered pot at 350 degrees for 40-60 minutes. I'm going to try freezing these after they cool down. Thinking it would be nice to have them at Yule with some creamy goat cheese.


Continuing the practice of returning plant material to Mother Earth, unusable tops go right back to where they grew. Hecate is the Greek Goddess of the Dark Moon, the night, and the shortening days of Autumn. She is also the Goddess of composting and transformation so I seek to align with her wisdom, especially at this time of year.

Mysteries of the Dark Moon by Demetra George: Composting materials are Hecate's gift of fertility from the underworld. From death and decomposition come the fertile substance that ensures and vitalizes new life. In her emanation as age, change, deterioration, decay and death, she finds the seeds for new life in the composting heap of decomposing forms.


Some little holders made with wire.  After tearing off the paper to be shredded and recycled, the wire spiral from notebooks can be wound into a ball. Any wire works, even a copper light string gone bad. I have to say that writing daily morning pages (The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron) uses up a lot of notebooks.


Flowers from the garden undergoing transformation for potpourri-making. In a few days they will be unrecognizable but still very beautiful.


Future bird seed -- cut sunflower heads drying.


Datura, Datura sp., moon flowers open up at night (and overcast mornings) and exude a heavenly fragrance. This year I am planning to collect and dry some seed pods. Datura is a sacred plant in some cultures but for the most part feared in ours because of its potent and potentially poisonous qualities. Since it grows and blooms in my garden so prolifically, I feel called to find a use for datura. Maybe what I'll find is that it is here to simply shine.


Soon a new round of the moon's cycle will begin and I'll feel motivated to start new projects and other extrovertive activity, but for now I just want to sink into the night. I love walking around the garden as soon as it gets dark. The dogs are in their element, of course, in the darkness and I try to follow their lead. I'm taking photos in the dark. I'm inhaling the exhalation of as many datura moon flowers as I can. I'm barefoot. Listening to night sounds, watching for movement. And stirring some more.

Shining of moon flowers to you. xx



19 comments:

  1. wonderful images. lucky sprites to grow up receiving magic.

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  2. Oh, what a wonderful Nana you must be! I'd forgotten how much I love your moon flowers til I see them here again. Love the little dolly :) How on earth did you find such a perfect flower match!!

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  3. What a beautiful post. I love Daturas. The first time I saw them was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I vaguely remember the Anazazi or Hopi Indians did something with them. The weavings with the sprites is a wonderful idea. Love the idea of being a Nana that gives magic. Speaking of giving magic, your Lunaria seeds have produced many silvery moons for me to enjoy and pass onto others. Plants are now growing around the town, shimmering in the moonlight. Thank you. (I purchased a Chinese Lantern plant last year and combine the two for an all year display.) xoxo

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  4. Datura, how delightful!
    Never heard of them at all, but how sad they are so poisonous.
    Maybe if I had afew in a tub out of reach of kids, cats and dogs .... Worth considering for the joy of seeing them flower in the darkness!

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  5. I so enjoy all your posts, Peggy. I ordered the book mentioned here, and am looking forward to reading it. Also..... I love my moon flowers, and they spread, or vine out more and more each year. Question: how will you turn your flowers into potpourri? I guess I could just google the answer. I still have a few hanging on that are a bit spent, but would be nice to try this.
    xo'dulcy

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  6. She is wisdom of the moon
    she is the soil. Her seed
    engenders all the seasons

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  7. Il y a beaucoup de sagesse et de calme dans vos posts. Un petit bonjour de France.

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  8. Deanna, thank you. I wish I was also a nana who bakes cookies and such, but I'm just not.

    Nancy, ha, that flower match wasn't intentional. It's just a vinyl table covering on an old patio table and I set the basket on it to take a photo. In this case, the photo looks better than the real thing! Thank you.

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  9. Jeannie, thanks so much. I love knowing that about the lunaria -- silvery moons -- shimmering in the moonlight -- spreading the love! I have never grown Chinese Lantern, if it grows there, it should manage here too, right? :)

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  10. Lyn, if you'd like some seeds, let me know!

    I have always had both pets and little kids around my datura which mostly grows along the front sidewalk with many passers-by. One day a car drove up and a kid ran out to pick a pod. And someone once set up their tripod to take photos. Another woman stood and sketched for a while.

    They aren't going to want to eat the pod either because it's very prickly and too big. The leaves aren't appealing in the least. The bloom makes it all worthwhile!

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  11. Dulcy, thanks so much. They are definitely sprawlers, aren't they? They reach for heat so I do a lot of trimming to keep them off the hot south-facing sidewalk. And these seem to just reseed every year -- don't think they are growing off a previous year's root stock but I'll watch for that next year. You are probably in a warmer zone than us, we are zone 5....? For the potpourri, I'll probably wing it but I know for sure I will not use orris root powder as a fixative, only shredded, or another fixative material completely. The powder acts as a film over the color and then it's all for naught. So I'll decide on some essential oils, add them to a fixative, and keep it all in a jar or plastic bag for a week or so. Then add the scented fixative to the dried flower material and keep that in a jar or plastic bag for a longer time. Until it seems right. I'm no expert though. :)

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  12. DILOU, you wrote "There is much wisdom and calm in your posts. Greetings from France."

    I thank you so much. I love knowing that you visited me here.

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  13. Peggy~ And I like knowing what DILOU said! Thanks for the translation of the beautiful comment :)

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  14. you are such an inspiration! without even trying, you must be a nana with magic... it is in your bones!

    I'm curious about the Daily Pages (I, too, do this practice). Why are you ripping the paper out of the notebook when you are done?

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  15. Dee, thank you! Yes, when a notebook is filled, I tear out the pages for recycling, I don't want to keep them, don't reread them, and don't want anyone else to either!....I feel like I am free to write whatever I want knowing that. If I have a revelation or creative idea, I just transfer it to another notebook. Do you keep yours? Interesting how many people do this, isn't it? I started in 2010 and it changed my life.

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  16. I am happy that I found you here...

    Thank you, for this lovely blog.

    Luna Crone

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  17. I have never felt free to write, whatever I wanted to, because of not wanting someone else to read it. Your way, solves this. Thank you!

    Luna Crone

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  18. Luna Crone, thanks for visiting. Yes, I felt the same way about writing personal things down...sometimes I tear up pages immediately after writing them if my words have come out especially raw. I believe that releasing all those thoughts, images, feelings, and words bottled up inside us creates space for magic to flow. And shredding & recycling is a display of release for transformation as well!

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