Full Moon. 4:54 PM, CST. September 10, 2022.
The Harvest Moon (West), Mid-Autumn Festival (East), Madhu Purnima/Honey Full Moon (Buddhism)
(Liturgy length: 20 minutes)
Supplies:
A white candle, or any candle you have on hand
A match or a lighter
A blank sheet of paper
A pen
Go to a place that instills you with spiritual contemplation. Prepare that space appropriately as dictated by your personal practice. Find a comfortable place to sit down, and begin reading.
Opening
Excerpt of The Corn Song:
We better love the hardy gift
Our rugged vales bestow,To cheer us when the storm shall drift
Our harvest-fields with snow.— John Greenleaf Whittier, 1892.
Place the candle in front of you at arm’s reach. Light the candle. Then read the following out loud:
“The Full Moon is overhead. A spiritual space has been created to honor this moment. We choose to participate in the cycles of nature, recognizing the importance of the individual and the indispensability of the whole.”
Action: Clap twice
Welcome! With your act of creation and participation, the Liturgy has begun.
Breathwork
The brightness and abundance of harvest accompanies this Full Moon. Celebrate its light and heat with 5 deep, full breaths.
Sit up straight, and place both hands on your navel. Breathe inward slowly through your nose, filling the space beneath your hands. Breathe outward slowly through your mouth, exhaling in an even, controlled manner.
As you repeat this pattern, focus your mind on the heat slowly building within your navel. You are creating heat and energy to nourish yourself, just as the Cosmos creates heat and energy to nourish the Earth.
Supplication
Supplication is a profound act of love through expressing grievances. It accepts grief and anger fully while focusing the mind on hope for positive change.
Take your pen and sheet of paper. Briefly write down three negative situations and how you would like to see each of them resolved; one from your private life, relating to family and friends; one from your community, relating to social groups you are a part of; and one from the globe, relating to a large-scale circumstance that has weighed on your consciousness.
Once you are done writing, read each of your three supplications to yourself, then read the bolded responses out loud:
For [this grievance in my private life and how I hope for resolution],
I share my grief with the universe.
For [this grievance in my community and how I hope for resolution],
I share my grief with the universe.
For [this grievance in the world and how I hope for resolution],
I share my grief with the universe.
My sadness has been expressed and my intent has been made known. Though chaos causes my pain, I will accept it for what it is. Though order is not guaranteed, I trust that change will come when the time is right.
Action: Bow for a moment, meditating on these things. Raise your head when you are ready, and continue the Liturgy.
Seasonal Contemplation
Read this short meditation and consider its observations:
In the Northern Hemisphere, The Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox is very special.
Since the Equinox falls directly between the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year, when it arrives, daytime and nighttime are perfectly split in half; 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night for a span of about 3 to 5 days.
Because of this perfect split, and because the moon spends more time in the sky during Autumn than in Spring, this Full Moon rises almost as soon as the Sun sets, shining brightly overhead for all 12 hours of nighttime. The world becomes washed in natural light for 24 hours of the day, multiple days in a row!
For farmers living before electric lighting was common, this Full Moon was essential for bringing in as many crops as they could during the busiest time of the season. Since there was bright light both during the night and the day for almost a week, they could reliably work overtime to make sure their storehouses were as full as they could possibly be. That’s why this Full Moon is traditionally called “The Harvest Moon” in many countries.
China and other Eastern nations celebrate the harvest and the brightness of this moon with the Mid-Autumn Festival. This holiday has been observed for more than 3,000 years, and is commemorated by lighting lanterns, making harvest offerings, and sharing mooncakes both with the moon and with family and friends.
This Full Moon is significant to the Mid-Autumn Festival not only for its brightness, but also for its shape. Circles are symbols of oneness and unity in Chinese culture. Seeing those qualities represented so spectacularly in the sky calls observers to celebrate the joy of having that same feeling of connectedness with those they love.
The abundance of light and the abundance of harvest spills out over everything on this day, saturating the world with gratitude for the bountiful provisions that nature gives to her children. Feel the energy of this season, relishing in the work, soaking in the beauty, and resting in the connectedness shared through the cycles of the universe.
Personal Contemplation
You may either journal your thoughts on your sheet of paper or consider them in your mind, whichever is more natural for you.
How are you experiencing abundance this Full Moon?
It takes a lot of effort to bring in any harvest. What work have you been doing to reap the positive experiences currently happening in your life?
The Sun and the Moon are currently experiencing equilibrium. How are you balancing the many inputs into your life?
Today’s Full Moon joins family and friends together in community. What are some pragmatic ways you can honor and delight in the communities that give you life today? Will you call a friend? Text someone close to you and tell them you care about them? Will you bring someone cookies you made? What small, tangible thing will you do to celebrate the spirit of this Full Moon?
Breathwork
Your connection to this Full Moon is essential to your participation in the dance of the Cosmos. Feel the ties between things with 5 deep, full breaths.
Sit up straight, and bring both hands outward in front of you like you are gesturing to a group of people. Keep your hands there, and touch your pointer fingers to your thumbs. Breathe inward slowly through your nose, filling the space beneath your hands. Breathe outward slowly, humming a single, sustained tone in an even, controlled manner.
As you repeat this pattern, imagine that strings of light flow out from you, connecting you with the people, places, and things that you love. With every breath in, the light swells brightly. With every hum outward, the strings vibrate with the sound. This is the beauty of connection, and it is with you always.
Closing Blessing
Place your palms together over your heart pointing upwards. Read the following out loud:
As I bask in the light of the Moon, I will also bask in the interconnectedness of today. The universe does not question its worthiness of relationship. So as a part of that universe, neither will I. Here are blessings for myself and for all that binds us together.
Action: Clap twice
Fold up the piece of paper you wrote on today’s, and place your pen on top. Blow out the candle in front of you.
Thank you for participating in this Liturgy.
Enjoy the presence of today’s Full Moon!
A new liturgy will be published for the upcoming Autumnal Equinox on Wednesday, September 22.
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