A Super Moon, a Lunar Eclipse and an Equinox walk into a bar… get it? There is a punch line in there somewhere. This September’s Full Moon lunar events are very rare. The Full Moon is centered within a trifecta of auspicious celestial happenings. Occurring once again at the Moon’s perigee, making it the third in a series of super Moons, the full Moon will also undergo a lunar eclipse when the Earth veils her from the light of the Sun. As if that isn’t propitious enough for you, this full super Moon eclipse all goes down within the time of the annual Equinox, which is one of three natural harvest holidays. All of this activity will be held within the sacred constellation of Aries for the duration. Third super Moon, second harvest holiday, first zodiac sign. You do the math… it’s a countdown to launch you into higher consciousness with a raw shot of the wisdom that comes from true balance.

That’s three major symbolic happenings. The last time such a confluence occurred was in 1982 and there were just five instances of it in the 20th century. September’s Moon, while it is a Harvest Moon, it’s anciently known as the Singing Moon and is synced up in the Northern Hemisphere with the Fall Equinox known as Mabon. Equinox literally means, "equal night” and it is about balance in it’s totality. A lunar eclipse occurring on a full moon is also about the balance of light and dark. Balance, equilibrium, homeostasis, birth & death, wax on & wax off, struggle & surrender, love & hate, smoking & yoga, static & dynamic, fill in the blank here with your own plights at maintaining balance.

Ultimately the singing moon is the resonant sound that your activities from the broad light of the long days of summer will leave lingering in the air. It is to this melodic tone that the pendulum shifts again to a larger fraction of the day being filled with darkness. This darkness is literally the Yin to the lighter day’s Yang. Utilize this gentle quiet time to go inside, cap off your synopses with rosehips, read the story of your life as indulgently as if it were the Sunday times by a crackling fire with a perfect coffee and nowhere to go, write a haiku, bring back the memories of your dreams in the dark morning as you stir. Remember, darkness is not the absence of light… it’s it’s own thing Baby and it is opulent.

The tilting sun queues leaves to change color in preparation for the coming Winter. Nature’s players are literally risking life and limb in attempts to propagate more life. Fish swim upstream to spawn and die, leaves brown and fall to the ground so the trees and plants can slip into a dreamy hibernation, squirrels attempt perilous feats to find and store as much resources as they can, the only new growth are mushrooms the harbingers of death, many species make a dangerous migration that their families have made since the beginning of their time. Balance, death, resonance, introversion, harvest and the subsequent gratitude we feel from the bounty we have received to support our own migration in to winter are all aspects of Mabon.

Now is the time to Harvest the results of seeds you planted in the Spring as nourishment and conjure the courage and purpose of Aries to transition into the dark part of the year. It’s no mere coincidence that we stand on the teetering edge of balance for this transition; it’s designed to be done with sharp awareness and the full engagement that balance demands. Now do you get it?

Words by Jamie Leigh Fish
Full Moon artwork by Garek Jon Druss

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