Lunaracy - Becoming Familiar with Myths and Magicks of the Moon

One of the benefits of being part of a pagan spirit oriented group again is the exploration. Sometimes we travel spiritual paths I walked a long time ago, or believe myself to be quite familiar with, but as a somewhat defacto "guide" for many members of the group, I find myself looking more deeply at the landscape than I had previously. Other times, like this month's readings, I find myself on paths I have never explored or have only given a cursory glances to before heading in other directions.

This month we are walking the ethereal pathways of the moon. Our guidebooks are Praise to the Moon: Magick & Myth of the Lunar Cycle by Elen Hawke, and Moon Magick: Myth & Magic, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells by D.J. Conway. Like the books on charms, amulets and talismans we read last month, I am finding that it was extremely wise to have two (or more) sources to draw upon. I like both books, but for very different reasons. Praise to the Moon is by far the more scholarly (on a purely academic level) work. Elen Hawke's writing is clean, intelligent, and very polished in both content and presentation. She presents the moon from as many vantage points as possible, not only culturally but ranging from phases of the moon to lunar events. Though she provides suggestions for, and examples of, moon based rituals and spellwork, her focus is on the metaphysical and mythological influences and not the specifics for the spells or rituals. Elen Hawke provides the reader with as broad a theoretical framework as possible and leaves the details to the readers' individual explorations.

Moon Magick, by contrast, is far more a cookbook than a treatise on lunar metaphysics. D.J. Conway has always written her books at a far more earthly level than Hawke. Conway's language is more like the conversation you'd have with friends in the family room than that of intellectuals at the coffee shop. This is a mixed blessing as her language makes the material more accessible to the average person, but can frustrate more advanced practitioners because it seems too "basic". I look at Conway's books in the same light as books written by Julia Child -- the information is good, solid, and easily accessible... it won't make you an expert, but you'll be able to confidently anticipate a lot of very successful results from your efforts.

Conway organizes her material by tying the moons to the months, while Hawke breaks her primary organization between the lunar cycle, lunar events, and astrological/methaphysical correspondences. Conway provides recipes, formula for spells, and lists of corresponding tools, plants, minerals, and such. Hawke provides example rituals, themes for spellwork, and archetypal correspondences. Utilizing them in concert provides a very comfortable, and very solid, framework within which one can establish one's own relationship to (including rituals, magickal practices, and worship) to the moon and its cycles.

Reading up on the moon I once again see how "out of sync" I've allowed myself to become. As with so many things in my life, I need to "just do it" and get better.