 [Collage by Shawnie Hamer] Huntress searches the deep forest. With only the moon. Her guide. Hears her breath, can see the mist made with her warm, open mouth. Tastes the wet of the October night. Is not alone, is never. The movement of her pack, the flutter of her prey. The spirits of creatures dead and not-yet. The soil’s heartbeat, also her heartbeat, and that of the trees. Observing with watchful eyes from up high. She makes her kill. Devours the body provided. By landscape. Bows her head in reverence. The sacrifice and the abundance. Takes only what she needs. Moves forward into the stillness. * Dear Collective, It seems link only yesterday that I wrote Part I of this Full Moon Portal series. Though it went by quickly, the end of the month is here, and with it a Full Blue Hunter’s Moon in Taurus. This moon also occurs on Samhain (Halloween), the point when the veil is thinnest between the living and spiritual realms. Needless to say, this is the final hurrah of our October lunar portal, packing a big punch of magick and sending us off into the remainder of 2020 with powerful tools. As I explained in the first part of this series, I have created some visual representations to help frame the concepts of this month. These visuals are made with the infinity sign (or ouroboros) as the anchor, because I believe these moons are connecting and expanding seemingly disparate parts of the self and community on a loop. Part I described the Harvest Moon and the left side of the ouroboros, and Part II explains the Blue Hunter’s Moon and the right side. For this second offering, I encourage you to visualize the Blue Hunter’s Moon as a stepping (with)out. Harvest & Hunter | Hathor & Pakhet  [Collage by Shawnie Hamer | Original painting by acrylic-equestrian] At the beginning of the month, the Harvest full moon asked us to rest, reset, and reassess. To be fed by the mothering energy of Hathor as we entered into the mysterious space of this lunar portal. But the form of the giving, empress-mother is not all Hathor embodies. The full moon on Samhain is the Hunter’s Moon, carrying with it a much different energy. To understand this, we can look to the Egyptian goddess Pakhet. Pakhet is associated with Hathor—a different embodiment of her spirit. Pakhet has many names, but the most known are Night huntress with sharp eye and pointed claw and She Who Opens the Ways of the Stormy Rains. It is said that Pakhet is responsible for the flash floods in the Wadi—a narrow valley in the desert. Many people associate the word hunter with a negative connotation, largely because of the way we have seen colonial, capital forces strip and hunt lands of all resources in the name of profit. This is not Pakhet; she is considered a skilled huntress, guarding the land and people. She is also the protector of motherhood. This energy, Pakhet’s energy, is what I believe this full Hunter’s Moon is asking us to channel. As we step out from this lunar portal, as we convene with our spirits and guides on Samhain, we will be asked to execute a precise movement forward. But this doesn’t mean to kick down the door with guns ablaze. This means using precision, skill, deep feminine knowledge, and love to protect and provide for ourselves and our communities. And not just to provide, but to help thrive. Just as Pakhet’s flash floods nourish the Wadi so that civilization could prosper, we must learn that sometimes change looks like destruction. Sometimes things must be flooded and torn down in order for new life to sustain. This full moon, ask yourself: What am I hunting? If you find the answer is purely for selfish gain, don’t worry, you can (and are being invited to) tap into your divine mother/hunter to recalibrate. This is heightened even further by Lilith stationing in Taurus this week. As Sarah Vrba explains: “Lilith in Taurus is a very feminine empowered energy. It is all about liberating ourselves to do what’s really true for us…[It allows us to] surrender more into a calmer state of being part of a greater whole.” Pahket is guiding us during this Hunter’s Moon to ask a better question: How can I be precise in my actions forward to help protect and uplift the ecosystem I belong to? This will look different each day: somedays it might be a surrender to the flood, others it might be the momentum of the hunt. But every day it is with a deep, mindful reverence of all that we are connected to. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Living & Dead | Thinning of the Veil  Speaking of connection, it makes my little, witchy heart overflow with joy that this moon is occurring on Samhain. We often only think of our connections to others on this plane: our families, friends, jobs, art, egos, homes, etc. But this Blue Hunter’s Moon reminds us that this is far from true. I find it extremely comforting to know that, as we make this transition, as we alchemize to huntress, we are surrounded by our communities and guides—both living and otherworldly. We are being protected and ushered by those who have seen outside of time and space--especially this space and time, when hate, fear, and illness festers more with every tick of the clock. Our ancestors can see what we cannot; let them advise and empower you as you step out from this lunar threshold. Taurus & Scorpio | Care & Growth  [Collage by Shawnie Hamer | Original photograph: Blonde d’Aquitaine coward by musefiction] The last facet I want to explore this month is the signs. This Blue Hunter’s Moon is in Taurus and occurring in Scorpio season. I couldn’t love this combination more because both embody the mother/hunter duality in such bold and different ways. Let’s start with our sweet baby Tauruses. Tauruses, ruled by love-planet Venus, are fixed Earth signs that often get pigeon-holed as purely comfort creatures, lounging in fleece pajamas eating pizza and watching their favorite Netflix series. Well...yeah, that’s true. But Tauruses are also practical, loving, mothering, and fierce. Their ruling planet allows them to see beauty and hope when others cannot. And let’s not forget, they are bulls, ready to defend and protect whenever someone is dumb enough to provoke them. Scorpios are fixed water signs ruled by Pluto and Mars. Scorpios are often stereo-typed as deeply emotional, stinging, and highly sexual. Again, this isn’t wrong, but Scorpios are also very loyal, loving people. They are honest, authentic, and will ask the tough questions when no one else will. They are also scorpions, and can strike when the time calls for it. What does all of this mean for our Blue Hunter’s Moon? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: We must learn how to be multi-dimensional in our practices as artists, allies, and humans. This astrological pairing gives us so many ways to ground, explore, and press on, such as:
Tarot Reading | 5 of Disks This card couldn’t be more apt for our current situation. Disks is the Earth element, and 5s typically indicate some kind of conflict—being in the thick of the journey. But this card in particular illuminates two very beautiful and true points. In Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdoms, Rachel Pollack writes of this card: "This means first of all material troubles, such as poverty or illness. Sometimes [the Five of Disks] implies a longstanding hardship…This card may indicate love, especially that of two people holding together in a bad situation…Sometimes we may find ourselves in a situation where outside forces—social institutions, family, friends, etc.—cannot help us and we must struggle against the problems on our own." By now you’re probably thinking, No shit, Sherlock. After all, as I write this, I am in lockdown (again) with my partner, trying to soothe my ongoing anxiety, anger, and fear around the U.S. election next week, the growing pandemic, the murder of BIPOC communities, and the ever-present threat of climate change. Of course, it is no surprise that this card is coming up right now. We are tired, heartbroken, and pissed. But, this card holds another message for us, one that even resembles hope. As Marie White writes of the 5 of Disks artwork in the accompanying text: "He is completely surrounded by the serpents, he wears them, still there is paradise in his heart. It is the pit you have to go down into to retrieve the gold, the knowledge of yourself, of your destiny. Then you have to bring a balance between that world and the one you live in…We are expelled from the Garden of Eden, but there deep in the heart we still have the Garden of Eden where we are not subject to the rules of the physical world, where we still live in a state of no shame or suffering, or pain or death…Going down into the deepest pits of hell in the 5s, you know that heaven is not in the sky, it is in the breast, eternity is not somewhere else, it is now." To put it simply, this card is telling us that, while we might be in the darkness of the pit now, here is where we will find the true knowledge of the self. Here is where we will be able to look within and understand our true value, what we can give to this world to help it be one step closer to paradise. And most importantly, we are never alone in this pit. We don't need the veil to thin to be supported by our guides. We have those we hold onto, we have those who hold onto us. We can get through what’s here, what’s to come, no matter what that is, together. Samhain Ritual [Photo found on Pintrest] Sit comfortably at your altar. Under the light of the moon. Light three candles: white, black, & blue. Protect yourself & your circle, burn sage & cast salt. Once safe, place a handkerchief around your eyes, blocking out all light. In the darkness, reclaim the pit. This is yours & no one can harm you here. Invite four guests: ancestors & guides. Speak their names. Offer them wine, tea, something to eat. Ask for the tools you’ll need in this next phase: The first gives you a tool of sustenance The second a weapon for the hunt The third a map of your heart The last whispers a strategy in your ear Thank them for their gifts & for visiting. Open your eyes, looking directly at the moon. What are the last messages it provides to you? Write or create for a designated amount of time. Document what you were gifted. Document all that was discussed. Create art from these gifts. Set an intention for your hunt in the coming month. Happy Samhain, dear ones. Bibliomancy |Song of the Moon by Priscilla Jane Thompson Oh, a hidden power is in my breast,
A power that none can fathom; I call the tides from seas of rest, They rise, they fall, at my behest; And many a tardy fisher’s boat, I’ve torn apart and set afloat, From out their raging chasm. For I’m an enchantress, old and grave; Concealed I rule the weather; Oft set I, the lover’s heart a blaze, With hidden power of my fulgent rays, Or seek I the souls of dying men, And call the sea-tides from the fen, And drift them out together. I call the rain from the mountain’s peak, And sound the mighty thunder; When I wax and wane from week to week, The heavens stir, while vain men seek, To solve the myst’ries that I hold, But a bounded portion I unfold, So nations pass and wonder. Yea, my hidden strength no man may know; Nor myst’ries be expounded; I’ll cause the tidal waves to flow, And I shall wane, and larger grow, Yet while man rack his shallow brain, The secrets with me still remain, He seeks in vain, confounded.
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