Monday, September 13, 2010

Moons and Totems 2

Everybody knows their western astrological profile and most people also know their eastern, or Chinese, astrological sign as well, but few know their moon profile from the Native American culture and the totems for each moon. As with the two more mainstream belief systems, the moon totem profiles are not only a very accurate read of an individual's personality, but they also add a rich dimension to who we are and where our weaknesses and powers come from.

Ripening Moon
September 11-October 10

Those who are born under this moon tend to be very giving and gregarious, yet ironically, are also highly solitary, introverted creatures. This craving for solitude is especially strong during the late summer, early fall months when the Ripening Moon person wishes to hide themselves away from people and busy places, preferring instead to nurture their inner selves. These are some very mysterious, dark people with emotions that run very deep.

The element for this moon is water and the animal totem is the black bear, a creature who can be friendly and playful, yet powerful, solitary and intimidating as well. The bear is greatly respected by all Native American tribes. The Ripening Moon's plant totem is bearberry, a plant that produces very tart fruits, but which are medicinally very potent. Bearberry tea is a strong curative for breaking fevers and healing upset stomachs. The mineral totem for this moon is obsidian, a powerful stone used for divination. Gaze into a piece of polished obsidian to receive desired information. This stone can take you into yourself and show you what is needed to move forward on your path. Obsidian is also a very powerful protective stone that will draw harmful energy away from you, absorbing it into itself and eliminating it. Lastly, the color of this moon is dark blue, the color of the deepest rivers and oceans where it is impossible to see completely to their depths, just as it is impossible to fathom completely those people of the Ripening Moon.

Everyone is most compatible with those people born under the moon opposite to their own and the opposite moon of the Ripening Moon is the Fast Waterflow Moon (March 11-April 10).

Photo courtesy of Roy Mac on flickr.

5 comments:

Grace said...

Is there a book on this subject that you could recommend?

Victoria said...

Earth Signs: How to Connect with the Natural Spirits of the Earth by Grey Wolf is a very simply laid out book with oodles of information on totems, earth spirits, medicine wheels and an all-round great overview of Native American earth-based spirituality. This would be a great place to start!!!

Grace said...

Thanks. The book doesn't seem to be in print anymore, but I will look for it.

John Webb said...

It seems to me that moon signs are far more meaningful than sun signs, from the simple observatinal point of view.

You can look up into the sky, on any clear night, and see the moon (well for half of the month), and you can see exactly which constellation she is sitting in.

But you have no chance of ever looking at the sun and working out which constellation that is in.

I believe that the Chinese had a lunar Zodiac of 28 signs called the Mansions of the Moon.

Victoria said...

I think you can still get it on Amazon. It's older but very comprehensive. Good luck!