Saturday’s dawn, the morning after the first storm of the season, just before the next one arrived…
On The Moon, Belief & How We Find Our Truth
This week, I’ve felt under the weather. Quite literally!
As feeling unwell caused me to cancel social plans, Friday saw the first storm of the season roll in. My beautiful “fairy portal” (the entwined hawthorn and oak trees at the bottom of our garden — more on this story another time!) took an absolute battering. The leaves surrendered to the wind, tumbling from the branches as though someone were standing behind the curtain, waiting to hear “action!” before releasing a sackful of leaves onto a film set.
It was cosy to watch from the warmth of our little house. I felt grateful to watch it from a safe space. My heart goes out to all those not so fortunate, and those working hard in the driving rain, to restore power and essential services round the clock after the wake of the storms.
The photo above was taken early on Saturday, after the first storm had passed through and before the next one arrived!
After my journal post last week about gathering, preparing and nourishing, it caught my attention that the government had launched an updated Be Ready campaign on Thursday. It seems our natural instinct to gather a few essentials and prepare for the changing season is a sensible one after all. I’ve started to ‘squirrel’ away some supplies in a box upstairs. Not because I’m fearing the worst, but because it feels like a practical thing to do.
It made me reflect on today’s full October moon, the ‘Hunter’s Moon’, where our ancestors would have been doing just that. Hunting, gathering and preparing for the oncoming season.
I’ve been fascinated by the Moon for decades.
When I first started working in a care home back in 2009, I regularly heard staff talking about being able to feel a full Moon building. Emotions seemed closer to the surface, people slept less, and behaviour sometimes became more challenging.
Over the years, having worked across care homes, community gardens, acute mental health hospitals and community mental health teams, I’ve heard similar observations from many different people. Staff anticipate it, talk about it, and sometimes remark on a change before anyone has even mentioned the Moon.
It’s an interesting belief to encounter in health and social care, where we’re trained to look for evidence, consider different explanations and use critical analysis to question our assumptions!
It’s funny to discover that the belief in the influence of the Full Moon is often described as a persistent myth, despite how many doctors, nurses and care staff strongly believe that shifts can be busier, more chaotic, or people are more agitated around a full moon. Apparently, scientific research has found little consistent evidence to support a general lunar effect on human behaviour, with confirmation bias and selective memory often suggested as possible explanations!
I wonder when does a story become a myth? And does calling something a myth mean there’s nothing meaningful to learn from the people who believe it? It’s interesting, too, that our own memories aren’t perfect recordings. We might remember the nights when sleep was difficult and the Moon was full, while forgetting all the other nights when one happened without the other! When people around us share an observation, it can become even more convincing.
I think it illustrates how we try to make sense of what happens to us, our stories and beliefs and what we consider to be true. We can listen to the stories people tell without automatically accepting every explanation as fact. We also question our own assumptions, look at how we encounter an experience, without dismissing any other theories.
But ultimately, we have our own evidence, from our own perspective, and our own experience. We have our own story.
Despite the influence of decades of firsthand experience in those working environments, I have personally felt the influence of the full moon, in my own life. I’ve certainly noticed changes in my own energy and sleep at different times. I’ve noticed a shift in how I’m feeling, and yep… checked the lunar calendar afterwards, and found the full Moon is approaching!
My relationship with the Moon has deepened since 2017, where I bought the book Moonology by Yasmin Boland, and I was hooked! At that time, I threw myself into making calendars and Moon charts and attempting to organise my life around lunar cycles. It opened up a whole new world to explore, and it was hugely fun! I’ve enjoyed many moon ceremonies and gatherings with friends over the years, kept a moon journal and diary, and have enjoyed planning my gardening by the moon!
My mum and I share a lovely annual tradition of gifting each other The Seasonal Almanac, a book by Lia Leendertz. It’s a beautiful collection of reflections, songs, recipes, tides, lunar cycles, seasonal and Gardening by the Moon tips!
My mum has always been my green-fingered inspiration, her beautiful floral displays and flower arrangements are stunning! She is also very good at taking care of my sad house plants in her ‘plant hospital’! We both laughed recently, when we discovered the reason my orchids were protesting so much, was due to a little suspicious set of nibble marks, made by a certain little black fluffy cat, who had apparently been having some secret midnight snacks! They have all since been relocated to the safety of my mum’s windowsill, where they now continue to thrive.
Just to be very clear, no cats or orchids were harmed in the making of this story!!
And so back to the moon…
When I look up at the Moon, I have always felt very blessed that my imagination can take me beyond the immediate landscape. I can visualise the generations who lived on this same Earth long before me, and all the people who have looked up at this same Moon. Different lives, different circumstances, different worries and different hopes, yet this familiar sight has been part of their world, too.
Today, as the Hunter’s Moon rises and the seasons continue their turn, it reminds me that preparing for winter doesn't have to mean anticipating everything that might go wrong. It can also mean tending to what nourishes us, making room for the things that bring us back to ourselves, and remembering to look beyond what is immediately in front of us.
I find that thought particularly grounding and nourishing, especially in the world we live in today.
The Moon is, quite literally, a shining example of where my love of nature and my questions about belief meet. With my clinical training in critical analysis and my evidence-based approach, I can be curious about what science can establish, whilst also remaining interested in the stories people share, the myths we inherit, and the meaning we find in our own experiences.
I don’t need to prove that the Moon changes human behaviour to appreciate what looking at it can do for me, my mental health and my sense of connection to something bigger.
And on this Sunday morning, as the clocks go back and time has has been granted an hour, we have a little gift as we turn towards the darker months. With the full moon above us, and the seasons continuing their rhythms, I’ll keep gathering what I need for the colder months, noticing the natural world, asking questions and exploring and sharing the things that fascinate me.
And I’ll keep looking up at the Moon, letting my imagination wander, without needing to have all the answers!
When you look up at the Moon, what does it bring to mind for you?
Until next Sunday…
🌿 May you find inspiration in nature this week.
Tracey Anne x
