82: SWEET LITTLE VICTORIES
SUN 13 OCT 22.07 - Mooning Monthly on the hunt for an enduring win/win....
Happy Hunter's Moon dear Mooners
This time of year in the Northern Hemisphere is traditionally one of preparation for the winter months ahead. This full moon is also known as the Blood Moon, not because of any rosy, lunar eclipse visual effects but because, back in the hunter/gatherer day, this was when the fully fattened beasts of the land were hunted or slaughtered and everyone was wading knee deep in the red stuff. Meat was preserved and stored along with the final harvest of fruits and grains. In these modern days of more cossetted material realities, we may choose to celebrate this weekend's Aries Full Moon with a lamb shank from our local Supermarket meat counter rather than kill and butcher the sheep ourselves.
Aries, ironically represented by the ram, is often depicted as the leader of the Zodiac: a brave free thinker, confident and creative whilst coping with a legendary lack of patience. Despite not dealing well with the mundane and repetitive aspects of life, Aries is usually a winner. Even with the odds stacked against it, Aries will find an imaginative way - through fair means or foul - to come out on top.
This Aries Full Moon therefore, might be more than a little feisty in its approach to getting what it wants. Those caught under its moonlit influence might be shocked by the lengths they will go to have their say and get their way. We need to be aware that this weekend we could be operating at our very selfish best. We won't have to travel more than a couple of steps on our inner journey to uncover our truly narcissistic motives. The "Me, Me, Me" mantra will rarely have been chanted louder in the temples of modern living.
This weekend, in order to avoid a bloodbath of self interest featuring lovers, family and friends, the trick will be to hunt down and cater for the genuine needs of others as we make provision for a winter of mutual welfare in which all may thrive. Fellow Mooner, the good ol' Dalai Lama, has something pertinent to say on the matter:
My advice is that if you must be selfish, be wisely selfish. Wise people serve others sincerely, putting the needs of others above their own. Ultimately you will be happier. The kind of selfishness that provokes fighting, killing, stealing, using harsh words, forgetting other people’s welfare will only result in your own loss.
At full moon, the high tides of emotion wash over us all. Full moons are consequently deemed good times to consciously allow those tides to cleanse our systems of the toxic emotional baggage we tend to pick up over time. This Aries Full Moon is no different and offers a keen opportunity to hunt down and triumph over our own habitually defeatist narratives of 'poor me,' or 'I'm not worthy,' by focusing on what we can do to bring positive change to the lives of others.
This week saw the publication of yet another, comprehensive report about the decimation of wildlife in the UK (article link here). The State of Nature report, produced by a coalition of more than 70 wildlife organisations and government conservation agencies, found that populations of the UK’s most important wildlife have plummeted by an average of 60% since 1970. A quarter of UK mammals and nearly half of the birds assessed are at risk of extinction. When plants, insects and fungi are added, one in seven of the 8,400 UK species assessed are at risk of being completely lost, with 133 already gone since 1500.
This week sees the timely resumption of direct action by Extinction Rebellion in many major cities across the globe. In London, traffic has once again been brought to a standstill as peaceful protestors continue to make their case for immediate political action to address climate change. The protestors are facing increasingly stringent policing (article link here) with high rates of arrest. They wear their precious right to peaceful protest as a badge of honour and our hearts here at Mooning HQ go out to theirs. They are the underrated, brave hunters stalking a better day on behalf of those who, rather incredibly, still don't seem to give a fuck about the implications of their actions upon the rest of the planet.
Under this courageous Aries Full Moon, there are victories to be won by collective endeavour over individual self-interest. As Mooners, can we find meaningful, immediate ways to realise our intent to make the world a better place for all by becoming more conscious of our thoughts, words and actions? In short, can we stop thinking and acting foolishly, even when it appears to not be in our immediate self interest? Here's his holiness, Lhamo Thondup again:
It is important that when pursing our own self-interest we should be “wise selfish” and not “foolish selfish”. Being foolish selfish means pursuing our own interests in a narrow, shortsighted way. Being wise selfish means taking a broader view and recognizing that our own long-term individual interest lies in the welfare of everyone. Being wise selfish means being compassionate.
A delegation from Mooning HQ is currently being mobilised to join the Extinction Rebellion direct action in London under the Aries Full Moon this weekend. Boris Johnson, currently masquerading as the UK prime minister, has insultingly labelled these valliant activists as "uncooperative crusties." Hundreds of professionals: doctors, lawyers, artists, scientists, teachers and well turned out grandparents, some in their eighties, rightly took exception to the tar of his bombastic brush. ("We're not crusties" article here.)
Non co-operation is the point of course Boris. If one does not support the political and economic systems that are messing with the planet's natural equilibrium, one retains the right to personally withdraw co-operation from their continued administration. Whether one chooses to wear one's hair in a dishevelled blonde pudding bowl or carefully tended dreadlocks is merely a matter of personal choice. This would be an apt lunar phase in which to purge our global society of its consumerist planetary canibalism but, as always, real change starts at home where we always have the jurisdiction and responsibility to effect immediate positive change.
Here's a plan:
- Continue this lunar month's intent to buy nothing new (our last New Moon blog here) - If making purchases, only buy stuff that you actually need - cut out the unnecessary crap and plastic. - Drink tap water - preferably filtered, on health grounds. - Fast for 24 hours one day in the next fortnight . You can drink as much water as you like and it's easy enough to do on a day when you haven't got too much planned. Go gently of course and if you feel remotely wobbly during the day just relent, eat something light and simple and don't beat yourself up over it. The health benefits of intermittent fasting or simply restricting the hours of the day in which one is allowed to eat are now widely recognised by science (Medical journal article here) and in eating less we decrease our demands on the food industry. Win/win. - Go to the Extinction Rebellion website (link here) and see if there is anything you can helpfully do to rebel.
Under this Aries infused, brave Hunter's Moon, let's rise above our selfish motives and align with a wiser selfishness that seeks the welfare of all. Eventually we may come to realise, it is the victory we all seek and the ultimate win/win.
A final quote from his holiness, the Noddy Holder:
Happy hunting all you sweet sinners
All you losers, all you winners
Find your own peace of mind
This Girl, Slade 1974
Cum on feel the noize dear rebel Mooners With love 'til next time
