Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Luminous and Numinous


The big light in the upper left? Last night's moon from the western side of Lincoln Park.

Oh that moon. What a moon! What a night! Whoa.

As I left work just after dusk yesterday, I looked around for the moon, but couldn't see her. I figured she was still too low in the sky and that I could look for her from Lincoln Park, a better vantage point and a few minutes away. So I turned my back on the eastern sky. About half a block later, I felt someone tap me the shoulder. It was a physical sensation. No one was there when I turned around, though, but I did notice a brightly lit cloud in the sky. At that exact second, the great and powerful Luna emerged from behind the cloud. It was very dramatic; made me gasp in awe and wonder. Of course I said WOW. I bowed low, too, a shamanic dance of appreciation. After the moment of awe, I had the presence of mind to notice that the cloud from which the moon emerged was the only cloud in the whole sky.

You can not plan for events like that. Alright, Luna, I said out loud. You've got my attention. Of course I tried to take many pictures, though with my cheap little camera I am never able to focus on the moon. The camera battery threatened to give out after only five or six shots. It was way too much energy to capture digitally, for heaven's sake.

The scene in Lincoln Park five minutes later was total chaos. Ordinarily docile and compliant dogs were fighting, running away from their owners, racing around like lunatics. Duh! If the moon could tap me, an oblivious human, on the shoulder, who knows what she was doing to the dogs. Anyone who has ever seen the moon card in the tarot would have instantly grokked what was going down.

I could tell some of the dog owners were annoyed, some were surprised by their dogs' unusual behavior. I wanted to say, Hey, look at the moon! Of course they're going nuts! But I kept quiet after I saw two dog owners slip on some ice and fall to the ground. They had enough to do without having to contend with my thoughts on the situation.

At 3:07 a.m. I woke suddenly from a deep dream, jumped out of bed, put on a pair of slippers and my coat. From the front yard I quickly found the eclipsed moon hanging rather high in the western sky, coppery, fully eclipsed. Instead of speaking to the ghosts of Capitol Hill as I might have imagined, instead of focusing on the fact of the eclipse, what I sensed instead was an arrow originating in the galatic center, extending outwards through Brother Sun, sweet Mama Earth (and my heart - yours, too), through the moon and beyond, as if it was headed to the edge of the solar system. Too, I felt the presence of a great dragon. It's possible the arrow was the dragon, I'm not sure. From the center of the galaxy to the edge of our solar system, for one brief moment it felt like everything was in perfect alignment. What a feeling. Wow.

Or maybe I was still half asleep, who knows? What I do know is that suddenly I realized it was frickin' cold and I needed to get back indoors. Strangely or perfectly I had absolutely no trouble getting back to sleep, kind of a surprise considering the intensity of that experience. Go figure.

The first rays of Brother Sun are shining on the trees outside my window. The light has returned. What a good thing, what a relief, what a blessing. The light has returned, and I was given a vision that will provide me with many hours of entertainment as I ponder the significance of it all. Life is rich, full, and so good. I am grateful.

Happy new solar year, y'all. L'chaim.

20 comments:

NanU said...

You're so lucky! There was nothing to see here and it was cloudy anyway. Like you, I'm very, very happy the planet is turning back toward longer days. Can't drag myself out of bed in the dark. (Sorry, Southerners!)

jeanette from everton terrace said...

I went outside several times last night to admire the moon, it was beautiful. I also took a photo, there were two strange lines of light on the image, will perhaps post later in the week, didn't know what they were. My daughter and I stood looking at it and she said she could see many lines of light going straight into the moon, I couldn't see that. It was an experience though.

Reya Mellicker said...

Jeanette, your daughter "saw" the arrow! Wow. Will you post the pic, please??

Lynne said...

I was out there too Reya at 3:00 a.m.
Such a clear bright night with plenty of stars, and of course that gorgeous moon! Very eerie but I couldn't seem to turn my face away. I didn't stay out long though because the wind was whipping my robe around. Brrrrrr!

Reya Mellicker said...

Lynne you and me both!

mouse (aka kimy) said...

as a moonchild (b 19 july at a time when the sun, moon, mercury and venus were all in cancer) i've always felt the pull of the moon!

she woke me up too this morning but we were socked in with heavy clouds here on the north coast so i missed the show.

love the post and the snaps (as always!)

Cheryl Cato said...

I love the night sky & cannot believe that I slept through the entire event! I'm so mad at myself, but well rested!

A Concerned Citizen said...

Reya, do you think the arrow could have been a host of lost souls finally making their way into The Light?

Reya Mellicker said...

Adrianne what a cool idea. I haven't tried to understand what happened yet. I like to let power impressions settle before I start trying to interpret them. Seems to work better that way.

On my way home from Whole Foods just now what I was thinking is that an arrow through the heart is usually a Cupid thing, right?

Hulkin dude of a dragon Cupid! Bloody hell!!

Reya Mellicker said...

The interesting thing is that the arrow was pointed towards interstellar space, away from the bright gallactic center.

COOL!!

Reya Mellicker said...

PowerFUL impressions. Hate typos.

Cyndy said...

The fact that it is sunny today is like icing on the cake of last night. I started a little painting project around midnight just so that I would be awake to go outside and see it a few times. And then shortly after the peak of it the moon moved in sight of the window I was painting, so I got to see all of the rest of it from inside. There are some amazing photos of it out there on the internet this morning. Like you, my camera couldn't even begin to capture it.

Washington Cube said...

My birfday moon!

Reya: Send me your new address. I tried emailing you and it bounced back, and I want to send you season's greetings.

Rose said...

The eclipse was at it's greatest shortly before the sun rose and the moon set. Unfortunately I couldn't see her by then as there was cloud hugging the horizon. She did wake me earlier, when she was full, about the time the eclipse started. I stood there and watched the sun rise and it was stunning.... I knew the moons was setting behind me, in eclipse, even if I could not see her fall in to the sea...

glnroz said...

such a wonderful surprise. Thank you very much. I grin, Happy All the Days to you...

Lynne said...

Forgot to say I posted a pic of the red moon on my blog but unfortunately, no arrows!

I could have stayed out longer if not for the wind!

steven said...

reya i slept through the night and woke at six to the full white round flashlight of a moon and the snow every shade of blue with long long shadows all hands and fingers. steven

Zahara Celestial said...

I so enjoyed your post here, so vivid and rich I really could imagine myself there with you! Thank you! And love your experience/observation about the dogs and Yes I remember the Rider Waite. Oh and ofcourse your Shamanic dance of awe/wonder/apprciation...beyond words :o)

Reya Mellicker said...

Silver Fox, you and I are definitely kin.

Karen said...

Thank you for sharing your vision. Wonderful!