New Moon

This may seem like a duplication from my other website but I wanted to share that it is the beginning of a new moon cycle. The best way to see the dates of this cycle are to look on the Gaelic Psalm pages of my creative website:

https://gaelic.drewmcnaughton.net

The reason why I wanted to highlight this shifting to a new cycle is firstly it was the target for me to get this new website up and running and secondly the moon exerts such a powerful influence on the natural world. When I was in Knoydart the tides were significantly different depending on the point that we were at in the lunar cycle. You could walk way, way out at low tide on these “spring tides” around the new moon and the full moon. The forces being channelled through the narrows in the lochs were immense when they reached their peak mid-way between the high tide and low tide. If you were on a small boat navigating these currents they could carry you so swiftly that before you knew it you were miles from where you had been only an hour or so before. This is how people got around in such a large area by knowing the ebb and flow and by synchronising their movements with it.

Such is our lifestyle now that we barely register the larger forces at work but they impact us nevertheless. The nights now are lengthening and soon the days will be shorter than they are as we pass over the autumn equinox. St. Michael who has as one of his symbols the scales of justice is the saint (and archangel) who is celebrated at this time and gives his name to the feast of Michaelmas, marking the start of a new term here in Oxford where I also just started a new job in the University.

It feels like a transition time as we shift from summer to winter. This started me thinking about what I had achieved over this summer going on the walk I did through Scotland. There were places which I noted to myself as potential expeditions during the winter time including Glen Nevis and yet it also occurred to me that the kind of journey I was on during the summer would be practically unthinkable in the depths of winter. Scotland can be very dangerous under these conditions and my tent and sleeping bag were cold enough in July. It would require a lot more advanced preparations to venture into the areas I would be interested in visiting including having a proper form of shelter and plenty of fuel in the form of food and wood to make the attempt. It would not be possible to just carry what you need like it was during the summer months.

So as these in-between months, these autumn months now exert their influence it will be interesting to see what developments emerge and what new currents of destiny begin to flow.