The Man in the Moon

To understand the weight of the moon, one must understand humanity. Humanity makes sense of the world through symbols and interactions. So it’s no surprise that the moon is part of our system of archetypes, it’s embedded not only in our culture but our species. Every culture has looked up and seen the moon, and people long before us, and long after us will see the moon too. They will think of us, and they will think of what we thought. The poets love the moon, because of this, and because of other things-- poets are just an artistic way of saying people-- people love the moon. I think that understanding the moon comes most easily out of witchcraft. Witchcraft, as it happens, is just humanity observing its own symbolic interactions. The moon represents us, but more specifically, femininity. She has come to represent feminine qualities that may well transcend humanity such as emotion, comfort, beauty, and mystery. Of course one doesn’t have to be a woman to resonate with the feminine energies of the moon, as every good witch should know: everything is a balance of masculine and feminine energies.

"Even if one is not a witch, it could be useful to contemplate the symbolism of the moon, and it’s many phases."

The moon has its phases, which we also relate to. I am writing this a day away from the third quarter moon. This is the phase of getting rid of that which does not serve you. That statement is general on purpose, it means to get rid of anything not serving you on the physical or energetic plane. Then it will be the Dark moon, which is three days before the new moon. The dark moon asks us to sit and think, to meditate. Next, it will be the new moon, which is ripe for setting new intentions, and manifesting new beginnings. After that is the first quarter moon which celebrates action and going forward in life. When spell work is concerned this is time for attraction spells and spellwork that takes time to build. Finally is the full moon, which is the time for harvesting endeavors. In traditional Wicca, the moon is seen as the goddess, in which she has three phases: the maiden, the mother, and the crone. The crone is wise and associated with the waning period, and meditation as well as banishing. The mother is associated with fertility, be it of the mind, body, spirit, or field, and is associated with the full moon. The maiden is associated with new beginnings and the waxing cycle. Even if one is not a witch, it could be useful to contemplate the symbolism of the moon, and it’s many phases.

In astrology, the moon talks about a person’s inner world, as well as their emotional body. Whatever constellation the moon is in talks about the essence of that person’s emotional identity. If someone has their moon in Leo they might love being the spotlight and highly value self-expression. If someone has their moon in Cancer they might be quite sensitive and emotional. The moon in astrology is also a guiding orb to find one’s own purpose in life through the north node. The person we spoke about before, with the Leo moon, might then have their north node in Scorpio. The life lessons of Scorpio have to do with the occult and mysticism. The person’s Leo moon being placed in the fifth house will say that their art will guide them to a magical place. It’s fitting that the moon might communicate someone’s emotional identity because the moon itself is the emotional identity of the humanity that looks upon it. It is the perpetual subject of art from many different societies. People even associate the full moon with high emotions and crime, though scientifically that has never been proven. It just communicates how symbolically embedded the moon is with human emotion.

"Magic is essentially willing something into existence, and art is mental alchemy: turning nothing into something."

To me, there is little difference between art and magic. Magic is essentially willing something into existence, and art is mental alchemy: turning nothing into something. Both art and magic use symbolism as their main guide into channeling energy, emotion, and meaning into something. In fact, we can say that the meaning of something is imperative for making art as well as magic. The purpose of art and magic, all the same, is to understand our identity as an individual as well as a society. Society is just a reflection of many individuals, society doesn’t actually physically exist. It only exists because we will it to. The moon is no different, it is just a rock orbiting the earth, reflecting the sun. The moon is only significant because of its reflection, its face. Because the moon is also just a reflection of humanity.

The very possibility of something coming out of nothing reminds us of ourselves, we woke up one day, having never remembered going to sleep; we will go to sleep one day, and never again wake up. Yet the moon still rises up out of the ocean, and it always will. The moon reflects the sun’s light, but really, the moon is a mirror that reflects humanity. We see our own faces in the moon. That is why we create art, and that is why we also create magic. That’s why humanity has projected all of their hopes and fears onto the moon, harvesting their fields by her light, and sitting on rooftops talking to her at night. So is it any wonder that poets love the moon as they do?