As we enter this Halloween and All Saints Day/Day of the Dead weekend, we will be greeted with a rare full moon—the Blue Hunter’s Halloween Moon—coupled with the end of Daylight Savings time. What a lot to occur in one weekend, especially in the context of an ongoing global pandemic and the final days of the U.S. election. It feels worthy of a little extra attention.
I love the moon and appreciate how it marks time in the sky with its many phases. It brings a smile to my heart when I see it and I find myself a little sad when the clouds cover it from view in the evenings. Full moons tend to bring extra excitement for me and I find some of the most significant memories in my life (happy and sad) have been marked by a full moon. Of course stories abound about the full moon, like mythical werewolves and the more human phenomenon that suggests there are more visits to the emergency room (ER) on the full moon, so I wanted to look at what the latest science reveals (and speculate on just how dangerous this weekend could be😉).
After doing a scan of the latest peer-reviewed research over the past six years, I am happy to report that there have been consistent findings that the full moon DOES NOT correspond to higher ER visits or strokes. There have been multiple studies that suggest the full moon impacts sleep though.
I was grateful the science did not reveal a connection to heightened ER visits as I imagine relaying that information could exacerbate fear and possibly lead to even further increases of ER visits and other alarming phenomena. That something so beautiful, romantic and sacred could be viewed as dangerous would be sad to me (perhaps like solar eclipses were once viewed).
Then I came across a “Full Moon Rising” article in Yoga Journal. The following lines stood out and seemed to be the perfect invitation for ways we can respond to this weekend’s events:
“In shamanic teachings, every spiritual act we perform is a ceremony. When we recognize the sacredness of each moment, miracles happen… Creating sacred ceremonies during seasonal and lunar transitions helps us navigate changes within and without. It is important to celebrate the sunrise, sunset, new and full moon, and seasonal changes as connected rather than separate (Ingerman, 2008).”
It can seem scary to enter a weekend with a rare full blue moon (see Stardate link for full info) coupled with Halloween and a death focus during a pandemic and crazy political strife. It could be easy to fear others and the state of the world right now. It could also be easy to fall into despair, angst and hopelessness.
Instead, what if you enter this weekend by helping to lift up with world with your light? How about expanding your heart and Soul as broad as the full moon and as vast as the continuum between this world and the next. Try to let go of all fears, narratives and disbeliefs while embracing total love, total trust, and total forgiveness. Perhaps if we all do this, we will be surprised by the sprouts of love that emerge from the seeds we plant this rare Blue Hunter’s Halloween Moon. What a marvelous treat that would be.
Photo by Myraims-Fotos on Pixabay
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