The moon, with its repeating cycles of waxing and waning, became a symbol to the ancients for the birth, growth, death, and renewal of all life forms. However, they had a very different attitude about the decreasing dark moon, which they associated with death, destruction, and the forces of evil. In the alternation of the moon’s waxing and waning phases, later peoples saw the increasing phases of the moon’s growing light as beneficial, bringing life and growth. Plutarch wrote, For the waxing moon is of good intent, but the waning moon brings sickness and death. But after thousands of years, humanity forgot this truth and began to fear the power in the waning dark moon. The earliest peoples understood that the power of life lay in the darkness of the moon. Dark has the connotation of muddy, clouded, or in this case, hidden.Ī literal translation of this book’s title could be read, The secret rites of the hidden period of the month, which, in fact, is the essence of what this book is about: a specific aspect of life cycles, the dark period, which is symbolized here, as the dark phase of the moon. The word moon goes back to the Indo-European root me-, and in its extended and suffixed forms men-, men-en-, men-s-, men-ot- has the meaning of month (an ancient and universal measure of time, with the celestial body that measures it). The word mystery comes from the Middle English misterie or mysteries, from the Latin mysterium, and from the Greek musterion, or secret rites from mustes, one initiated into secret rites. The title of this book has not been arbitrarily chosen. If we are fortunate, what we discover can help us to release our fears of the dark. Mysteries of the Dark Moon will seek to uncover the secret of the moon’s mysterious dark phase through exploring the mythical, psychological, and spiritual symbolism of the lunar darkness. Who is this lady of the moon, and what gifts does she shine down upon earth creatures? And when, each month, she disappears altogether for several days, what does she conceal behind her dark time, her most secret time? Each night she appears robed in a different garment, which hints at the mysteries surrounding both her luminous and shadowy displays. The moon, Queen of the Night in all her silvery splendor, reaches out to us as she glides across the black, moonlit skies. O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the west Wane, be at rest.
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the east Shine, be increased The story that the moon tells is of birth, growth, fullness, decay, disappearance, with rebirth and growth again. To She Who Glides the Silver Crescent Moon BoatĤ Nyx, Goddess of Night, and the Daughters of Nightħ The Dark Goddess as the Muse of Menstruation and MenopauseĨ The Initiation Mysteries of Demeter and Persephoneĩ The Healing Power of the Lunar Darkness
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