Supermoon & Mythology

I took some photos of the supermoon at the weekend. I know it was a few days ago, but I wanted to give you a bit more than just images of it. I wanted to give you something you might find interesting, so that’s why I haven’t written about it till now.

The moon was associated with Arianrhod in Celtic mythology. She was a moon goddess and appears in the Mabinogion as the mother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Her name means “Silver Wheel” and although this has obvious connotations with the moon, it has also been suggested that Arianrhod was connected with the Milky Way, as it is seen as a wide arch curving over the night sky.

Her fort, Caer Sidi, is thought to be either in the Milky Way, the Aurora Borealis or an island off North Wales, depending on what you read.

I’ve read that Cerridwen, another Welsh mythological woman and Celtic goddess associated with knowledge, is also connected with the moon, but that was the waning crescent moon, whereas Arianrhod is associated with the full moon.

Apparently, her festival is on 2^nd December, so the supermoon occurred on the right date!

The moon is associated with female energy and for the Celts, the new day began with nightfall rather than at midnight as we now reckon days. The dark always came before the light. They also measured their months, and therefore their calendar, by the moon and the full moon in the month we now call December was apparently called the Cold Moon by the Celts. (It was called Snow Moon by the Cherokees and Oak Moon in Medieval England. There are more names for it in different cultures.)

As I’ve written before, I love the moon. Looking at her silver light shining from the depths of the deep blue sky with clouds skirting over her gives me a sense of mystery, magic and the smallness of the Earth in an enormous universe.

A lot of other people seem to have felt the magic of the moon because there are so many creatures and myths connected with the moon and the night. Werewolves, witches, cats, owls, ghosts, vampires; the stories and folklore go back thousands of years.