Shine On, Harvest Moon Blessings
MADE BY ME, DO NOT TAKE!
Also Known As: Singing Moon, Wine Moon, Mulberry Moon, Nut Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Moon When the Calves Grow Hair, Raven Moon, Haligmonath (Holy Month), Witumanoth (Wood Month), Rue Moon, Moon When Deer Paw the Earth, Generous Moon
Element: Earth
Nature Spirits: trooping faeries
Herbs: copal, fennel, rye, wheat, valerian, skullcap, witch hazel
Colors: brown, yellow-green, yellow
Flowers: narcissus, lily
Scents: storax, mastic, gardenia, bergamot
Stones: peridot, olivine, chrysolite, citrine, bloodstone
Trees: hazel, larch, bay, hawthorn
Animals: snake, jackal
Birds: ibis, sparrow
Deities: Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Nephthys, Freya, Ch'ang-O, Thoth, Bridget, Vesta
Power Flow: rest after labor; balance of Light and Dark. Organize. Clean and straighten up physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual clutter.
THE ABOVE WAS EXCERPTED FROM MOON MAGICK BY DJ CONWAY
Mantra (By Yasmine Galenorn excerpted from The Witches' Datebook): I give thanks for the blessings in my life.
Info on This Moon From About Dot Com: September brings us the Harvest Moon, sometimes referred to as the Wine Moon or the Singing Moon. This is the time of year when the last of the crops are being gathered from the fields and stored for the winter. There's a chill in the air, and the earth is slowly beginning its move towards dormancy as the sun pulls away from us.
This is a month of hearth and home. Spend some time preparing your environment for the upcoming chilly months. If you don't already have one, set up a hearth or kitchen altar for those times when you're cooking, baking and canning. Use this time to clear out clutter -- both physical and emotional -- before you have to spend the long winter days inside.
BY THE BOOKS
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft by Denise Zimmerman and Katherine A. Gleason
Also known as the Barley or Hunter's Moon, the Harvest Moon is a time of protection, prosperity, and abundance. This is the time of year when the grains are being harvested, and it is a good time for magick involving your prosperity, abundance, and the nurturing of others. If you have had a long illness, this is the time to finally come back to work. The energy of the Harvest Moon will help along any magick that is geared to bring you or someone else abundance.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism by Carl McColman
SEPTEMBER (Harvest Moon)-- Thanksgiving, acknowledge abundance, share with those in need.
The Craft - A Witch's Book of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison
Name: Wine or Harvest Moon
Cakes & Ale: graham crackers with peanut butter and grape juice
Colors: purple and lavender
Altar Decor: flowering herbs and fruit, purple and lavender candles
Incense sage, allspice, mugwort
Esbat Purpose: Celebrate the rising to fullness during the harvest
Try Drawing the Circle With: a branch from a fruit-bearing tree or shrub
Witch's Brew: Good Spells for Peace of Mind by Witch Bree
September has the beloved Harvest Moon, a time to be grateful and to reap what we've sown.
Witches Datebook by Yasmine Galenorn [adapted by me]
September, with Mabon, bring a period of transition to the less active, more internal part of the year. This month our Moon ritual focuses on celebration and sharing.
Gather friends together if you can, and have each person bring food to donate to your local food bank. Create a colorful altar with gourds, apples, and bottles of port and sherry. Cast a circle and invoke the Gods. Place all the donated food in the center of the circle and join hands. Say:
Gods of the silver Moon, Gods of the golden Sun,
Join our rites this harvest night, in joy let Your will be done.
Bless this food we've gathered here for those in want and need.
As we walk the ancient paths let our hearts reflect our every deed.
After you've blessed the food, drink a toast to the season, the Gods, and each other. Share a potluck dinner and then distribute the donations to the charities of your choice.
Witches Datebook (2003) by Edain McCoy
Because the Vine Moon bridges the Autumn Equinox and takes us into the dark time of the year, the vine has many associations with looking inward, including looking deep inside ourselves to find where creativity lives.
For this creativity ritual, you will need a small length of vine and some grape juice or wine. Under the light of the Vine Moon, empower them as talismans of your highest creative self.
Allow the light of the Moon to reflect off the wine's surface as you say:
Blessed be the fruit of the vine,
Now makes a cup of inspiring wine;
Fill my soul with creative desire,
Flow through me with inspiration's fire.
Drink the wine and feel it flow through you with the warmth of creative inspiration. Keep the vine as a talisman of creative energy.
Witches Datebook (2004) by Edain McCoy
The Vine Moon heralds the harvest of fruits: apples, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, pears, grapes, and peaches. Some of these are made into jams and jellies, others are dried to last out the winter, and some are sugared to be placed in pies and strudels.
For the Celts, this final harvest of the year foretold how the clan would fare during the lean winter months. The wines made from the fruits were central features of the harvest celebration.
Make a wine or fruit juice the central feature of your convivial harvest feast. Invite family and friends to share in the bounty while you take turns making toasts of thanks to the Gods who granted you a bountiful harvest.
Blessed be the Gods of the vine,
Blessed be the Gods divine;
Bless all those who come now to dine,
And drink deeply of the sacred wine.
Witches Datebook (2006) by Edain McCoy
The Moon that shines in the September night is called the Harvest or Wine Moon in North America, and is celebration closely resembles many aspects of the Vine Moon of Celtic lore. The Harvest Moon marks the longest reaping period of the year, one that features grapes and other base fruits used in wines. Many European fruits and wines are sacred to Deities. Blackberries are sacred to Ireland's Brigid, and in Rome, Bacchus embodies the spirit of Mediterranean wines. In the Middle East, past and present, dark red wines are mixed liberally with natural sugars and consecrated for use as sacraments in religious settings.
Set aside a libation for your patron Deity under the Harvest Moon.
Grape and berry, wine and beer,
All hail Bacchus, toast harvest cheer!
With barley blessed bear, and sacred wine rare,
All hail Bacchus and abandon all care!
Witches Datebook by Ellen Dugan
Traditionally the Harvest Moon occurs at the Full Moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox. The Harvest Moon usually looks larger than other Full Moons because cooler fall air curves the light near the horizon. The fabulous reddish-orange color associated with the Harvest Moon is the result of seeing the dust, dirt, and pollen in the lower atmosphere as you gaze across the horizon.
The night of the Harvest Moon is the perfect time to celebrate the season of the harvest and to take a moment to reflect on what you are thankful for, such as freedom, friends, home, and family. Set up a pretty altar full of seasonal accessories such as apples, grapes, acorns, miniatures pumpkins, and colorful fall leaves. Light an orange candle for the harvest season and repeat this Harvest Moon blessing.
Beneath the light of the Harvest Moon so bright,
I am thankful for many blessings tonight.
I celebrate the bounty of the good green earth,
Lord and Lady bless me, granting health, peace, and mirth.
Witches Datebook by Dallas Jennifer Cobb
Like the fruits of the vines, our lives too can change and ferment. As you gather the late fruit harvest of your labor, give thanks for the sweetness of life. From such sweetness comes pleasure and treats, but also fermentation and "spirits." Celebrate the ever-changing nature of life, dreams, and goals as you toast the sacred ingredients-- friends, family, and familiars-- the loving relationships that mellow and ferment you. Honor Dionysus, God of wine and ecstasy. Invoke the balance of light and dark, and evaluate the balance within your life. As you prepare for the growing darkness, readying yourself to move within, clean and declutter yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Balance will bring you steady footing throughout the emotionally challenging journey ahead.
Wine Moon, Singing Moon, Sturgeon Moon glow,
the sacred balance of light and dark show,
Nephthys, Freyja, Ceres, Isis,
balance the diversity that my life is.
Witches Datebook (2010) by Elizabeth Barrette
The Cherokee refer to September as the Nut Moon, for the many nut trees that drop their fruit at this time-- acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, etc. These provide a rich food source for humans and wildlife. Hunters stake out a spot near a strand of nut trees hoping to find some game animals that came to feed. To the Choctaw, this is the Mulberry Moon. Mulberries fruit during much of the summer, but some trees but some trees put out one last peak of fruit now. The Dakota Sioux call this the Moon When the Calves Grow Hair. On the plains when the weather grows chilly, the young buffalo, elk, and other animals born early this year grow shaggy and plump for the winter.
September marks a time when animals and people concentrate on stocking up for the cold season. The selection of fresh foods narrows; the selection ripening now will store well for a long time. Some baby animals are ready to leave their mothers. Wildlife crowds into strands of berries and nut trees.
Magically, this is a good time for spells for abundance, especially for saving money. Rituals may honor trees or tree Deities. Spells for power and virility are also timely; use seasonal nuts to represent this energy.
Witches Datebook by Ember Grant
Decorate your altar with apples, sheaves of wheat, and white mums; for fragrance, use bergamot, copal, or gardenia. For the Harvest Moon, celebrate with a Moon Goddess Ritual to honor the Maiden, Mother, and Crone-- this represents change: the cycles of life and the seasons. With this ritual we honor the change of seasons and the Moon. You may dedicate this ritual to a specific Moon Goddess if you like.
Maiden, Mother, and Crone, all Goddesses of the Moon,
tonight I honor You. You mirror the cycles of life.
Your way is subtle, changing, and from this we gain Your wisdom.
You mirror the sun. When you shine, You help us see,
give us light in darkness, so we can look into the light
with unguarded eyes. And when you are hidden, you remind us
the darkness is also beautiful and filled with mystery.
Tonight I seek Your blessing, Moon Goddesses, three faces in one.
Witches Datebook by James Kambos
The queen of the September night, the Harvest Moon will shine tonight with an amber radiance. The harvest is at its peak. The ritual for this Full Moon will focus on giving thanks. We should thank ourselves for being persistent in working toward our goals. However, we should also thank the farmers. Even in our high-tech world, we'll always depend on the soil to sustain us. This Moon is also a good time for us to go over our checklist. Have we accomplished the goals we set back in February? If not, don't blame yourself-- just keep trying.
For your ritual, light an orange candle. Decorate the altar with squash, nuts, grapes, yellow mums, or purple asters. Toast yourself and all who made the harvest possible with red wine or grape juice Raise your glass and rejoice.
Bless the bounty, bless the farmer's wintery hoard,
At the Harvest Moon I thank you Lady and Lord.
With a glass of wine I toast the farmer's toil,
I thank the Earth and the gifts of the soil!
Witches Datebook (2016) by Elizabeth Barrette
September announces the Raven Moon. This is the time of harvest, when people gather to bring in the crops. There are feasts and festivals along with the hard work. So too, Raven is a chatterbird, always ready to socialize or play tricks; yet these birds also excel at working out solutions to get food from inaccessible places.
To tune into Raven energy this month, place an image of a raven on your altar. Meditate on the importance of communication and how it connects people to each other. Throughout the month, pay attention for ravens all around you-- black feathers, cawing voices, wings in the sky, the written word, images on a screen. Whenever you notice a raven, check all around you. Is there an announcement to hear? A news article to read? A person you could be talking to? Make the connection. Communicate. Learn on the things Raven calls to your attention.
Later on, talk about your observations with a friend or family member. Ask what they have noticed and listen to their thoughts. A flock of ravens has many eyes, and they share information with each other about food sources and other important news.
Witches Datebook (2018) by JD Hortwort
There is nothing to rue about having Ruta graveolens in the Moon garden. Rue foliage is soft, with slightly oval, rounded, blue-green leaves on a perennial shrub that can live for decades in gardens where it is happy.
Some find the scent released from the glands in its leaves overpowering. Others think of it as enticing. Rue is a common ingredient in Mediterranean dishes, in which small amounts are added to salads and cheese spreads. It is believed to have been a key ingredient of four thieves vinegar-- that infamous formula that was thought to have protected a party of thieves who robbed victims of the Great Plague in London.
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were said to have partaken of rue to improve their eyesight and to release their inner artistic vision. In the early days of the Roman Catholic Church, it was called "the herb of grace" and was a symbol of repentance. Small bundles of rue were used to sprinkle holy water at mass. Rue is perfect for breaking hexes or protecting one from the evil eye.
Witches Datebook (2019) by Natalie Zaman
Long ago, it was common for the Moon to come down from the sky and walk amongst the people. She was especially fond of an old woman living by herself in a small hut. Once year, a great famine ravaged the land, and the Moon sorrowed to see the people suffer. Concerned about the old woman, every day she went to the hut and gave her friend of apiece of her flesh to sustain her. The woman thrived, and the Moon grew smaller until she was only a sliver. When the peoples discovered what happened, they were angry, for the Moon, they said, belonged to everyone. The Moon, however, insisted what she died was necessary to help her friend survive. Eventually, the famine ended, but the Moon never returned to earth. In the sky she remains, waxing and waning to remind us of the importance of generosity. Sharing bounty is an important aspect of Mabon. But need, as the Moon teaches, can happen at any time. Sharing makes everyone richer. Meditate on this truth under September's Full Moon:
Generous Moon, you shared yourself.
Inspire me to share my wealth.
Witches Datebook (2021) by Blake Octavian Blair
The Month of Vine brings us well into harvest season and the time of Mabon in the Wheel of the Year. The Vine Moon is about harvest and abundance. It is time to celebrate both the gifts the earth brings us as well as those things we are harvesting from the hard work we've accomplished in our lives. No matter how simple, we all have something to be thankful for. Vine is also associated with and often refers to grapes and blackberries. Grape vines are especially known for growing in any direction they are presented with the opportunity to, using the resources available for support. Perhaps our potential is not unlike that of the grape, and we can learn a lesson from the grape to use our available support network during our efforts for growth.
This harvesttime, pour yourself a chalice of wine or sparkling grape juice in honor of the grape and the Vine Moon, step into the moonlight, and speak a toast in gratitude for all you have to harvest and all the support that was available to you along the way.
Witches Datebook (2022) by Deborah Blake
September Moon: Grounding
As the summer winds down and we move into fall, this is a good time to connect with the earth before we move inside for the colder months. Our energy is winding down too, but the land is still producing the harvest, which we celebrate at Mabon. We can tap into that productive power to ground ourselves and draw in the vigor of the earth to recharge our bodies and spirits.
Sit outside someplace quiet and private (if you can't find a spot like that, sit on the floor and sense the ground below you). Place your hands flat on the ground and send a little pulse of energy out to say hello to the earth. Feel it send a hello back. Open yourself to the primal connection between spirit and the earth and draw the energy up through your hands and spine. You may want to hum or chant to increase the vibration. Let the earth's power fill you up until it reaches the top of your head, then say thank you and release the connection.
A safe and happy holiday to all who celebrate~!