34 Comments

we do a fullmoon fire every moon 🌝

Expand full comment

It's the main time I need people around, also the main time I'm on my own. Cycles are weird, and nothing makes any sense but the moon shines her light. Always.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for your insights!

I’ve made some lovely pictures at my time six in the morning from my kitchen window in the Netherlands…but I have no idea how to post them in the comments!

Expand full comment

Very thoughtful and happy! Loved it And it was fun thinking we were all looking up, seeing magic together.

Expand full comment

It was cloudy here in Northern California. I felt it though as I’m a moon child smack dab in the middle of the astrological sign Cancer. Later in the night the clouds thinned out and I could see a fuzzy orb shining. Sometimes it’s like that.

Expand full comment

Our view of the moon last night and this morning was veiled in clouds, still very moving when she emerged for those brief moments.

Expand full comment

Dear Jesse, thank you for this post. I haven't been following the moon cycles very seriously. But last evening, as I enetered the bedroom, I saw her, just rising above the rooftops, with a pinkish orange hue. I called my partner and we went to the kitchen, where his telescope has been installed for weeks. The first time I looked into it, a band of ravens were flying in front of the Moon. It was like something out of a fairytale. The image has a cinematographic quality. My camera wouldn't have done any justice to this beautiful Moon. So I just observed her in the telescope some more and am sharing the memory of it with you.

Expand full comment

Love it. So peaceful.

Expand full comment

Skies have cleared here in New York and as I’ve watched, I’ve considered what you’ve said. I always do my best to catch the moon and eclipses and their power is clear. But I haven’t understood them in the way you describe. Lots to think about tonight and in coming days. Much appreciated!

Expand full comment

Cloudy down here in south Jersey so no visible moon. 😢

Your pic is lovely, much appreciated!

Expand full comment

I photographed the moon last night but walking home tonight it looks like it will not be visible. However, that does not take away from the power of this evening. It is indeed an opportunity to step out of our comfort zones, to reach for what others may conceive to be the impossible. After all, nothing is really impossible, some things just take a little longer to achieve :)

A time to pause , reflect and let go of that which no longer serves us (which can be scary as the familiar is all too comfortable) is always welcome. And it is in the pause that magic happens:)

Expand full comment

There will be magic in the air, but no Harvest moon visible over the holler this evening. Pouring rain

thunder and lightning all day with more predicted for tomorrow. But no matter. I know she's there

and creating lunar magic for many. Jesse, I hope you and all here are among them. With the change of seasons, we can witness and enjoy nature's transitions, but the internal ones we all may be facing are notorious for knotting up even the most flexible minds. Keeping the bigger picture in mind is one way to go with the flow. And every full moon offers me a reminder of that, even when her face and illumination are well hidden by storm clouds. Thanks for another thoughtful post, Jesse.

Expand full comment

Thank you Jesse ! The moon is beautiful tonight dancing with the clouds ! 🌕

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for this, Jesse. The night before a full moon - full moon eve, I guess it could be called - is always exciting for me. Filled with expectancy and the worry that it will be too cloudy to see the actual full moon, I stand on my balcony under the almost full moon (if it’s bright, as it was last night) and thank the moon. I always say something like, “Even if I can’t see you tomorrow night, this will have been enough.” I did this even as a little girl when I lived in a house and could go outside. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t do it. I’m 62, and every time, I feel the same as if I were 6 or 9 or 35.

Thank you for your photo of last night’s moon. I love when light tricks happen, as in yours. I got some good photos last night too, made interesting by some faint streaky white clouds that didn’t at all obfuscate the moon but somehow punctuated, or framed it.

I deeply appreciate the things you said about the meaning of tonight’s moon, and the ways we can use the full moon to understand better what’s going on with us, to face that which we must, and to go forward with courage and trust in whatever the universe holds in store for us.

Last night when I thanked the moon, these words from Keats’ “Endymion” came to me. I share them, with warm wishes and gratitude to you, Jesse, and to everyone.

What is there in thee, Moon! that thou shouldst move

My heart so potently? When yet a child

I oft have dried my tears when thou hast smiled.

- Keats, from “Endymion,” Book III, lines 143-145

Expand full comment

Awesome post! I too am an avid moon follower and with this full eclipse SUPERmoon I hope to release and let go of my grief and guilt over the death of a loved one.... and heal. Sending you all moon magic! 🌕🌕

Expand full comment

I’ll be thinking of you, Brenda, as you work through grief and healing.

Expand full comment

Thank you Monica

Expand full comment

Just yesterday I featured loss in my own Substack post. I totally understand the grief/guilt cycle but sometimes things are just out of our hands. Wishing you well:)

Expand full comment

Thank you Lee

Expand full comment

To my bones, I understand, Brenda. I’m so sorry for your loss, and wish you comfort, strength, freedom from guilt, and gentleness in your grief. A poem from Emily Dickinson comes to mind that I hope will resonate (even though the moon is full tonight, not crescent):

Each that we lose takes part of us;

A crescent still abides,

Which like the moon, some turbid night,

Is summoned by the tides.

Expand full comment

Thank you for that Robin.. That's such a beautiful poem. I'm just now seeing the moon come up on Eastern L.I. and boy is she big and beautiful!!! 🥰

Expand full comment

I’m so glad you like the Dickinson, Brenda. Thank you for telling me about the moon over L.I. I’m going to look for it over NYC!

Expand full comment

Happy Eclipse. May we allow transformative energy and change to flow through us 🌊🌕

Expand full comment

Hi, I live in Western Australia and am not sure about the eclipse but the full moon was up when I woke at 4am (usually much too early for me) and looked magnificent.

I am hesitant to let go of a couple of special people from my past who have died, as to let them go would be, I feel, dishonouring their contribution to my life.

However I do want to move on as at 73 time is travelling fast.

Thank you for your wonderful explanation regarding the moon.

It is so good to hear of how we should be treating it’s presence rather than trying to attack it with Billionaire’s space junk.

We have already messed up our own planet and should be leaving the others alone.

Expand full comment
Sep 17Liked by Jesse Paris Smith

I’m deep into the start of a memoir writing project and will use the new energy to push forward towards completion. Thanks for the reminder! ✌️&💕

Expand full comment

Hooray! I hope that the moon energy brings lots of inspiration.

Expand full comment

Thanks. You too!

Expand full comment