Peace be with you my friends! For the next month, I am going to be extremely busy, and that is totally fine. Any spiritual worker will tell you that late September through early November is the busiest time of year. In Voodoo, this culminates in Fete Ghede, which begins the evening of October 31 and ends on November 2nd and is a time to honor our ancestors and all the dead in a much deeper and meaningful way than we do at other times of the year.
The lunar festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.
Autumn is a wonderful time of year during which the earth gives us the fruits it has been growing since spring and the veil between our world and the spirit world is at its thinnest. It’s even been called “The Season of the Witch.” Throughout time and in numerous cultures, there have been and continue to be holidays and festivals that recognize the many blessings of this time of year. One such holiday comes from China and is known as the mid-Autumn moon festival.
The lunar festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which coincides with the with the September or October full moon in the western calendar. This year, the holiday falls on the 30th of September. Throughout China, there is a three day period of celebration in which people return to their hometowns to spend time with their families and clean and decorate with flowers the tombs of their ancestors. This custom is observed even more closely is Korea where the holiday is known as Chusoek. I had the privilege of being in Korea one year for Chusoek and was deeply moved by the way people took time from their hectic schedules to enjoy a time of feasting and celebration with their families and to remember their ancestors. Even today in rural parts of China, Korea and Vietnam people make food offerings to their ancestors on this day to esnure they have a happy afterlife and to ask their blessing for the upcoming year. This is very similar to our observance of Fete Ghede in Voodoo and to the Roman Catholic observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.
As the name would indicate, another important element to this holiday is the moon. As any spiritual worker will tell you, the phase of the moon is extremely important when working magick so I am quite surprised that in Voodoo, Wicca and other magical religious traditions there is a no holiday that commemorates the moon as an entity. I am delighted that this does exist in Asian cultures. On the mid autumn lunar festival, many people host outdoor parties food is placed on a table and touched by moonbeams before being eaten. Moon cakes, small dense pastries made of flaky pastry filled with nuts, fruits, and all kinds of sweet pastes, are eaten as well during this time and are thought to bring good luck.
There is also a legend about a reclusive Goddess from ancient times named Chang’e who lives on the moon. Curiously, Chang’e is not herself the goddess of the moon, but rather the goddess of immortality who just happens to make her home on the moon. I have decided that this coming Sunday on the night of the full moon I’m going to sit on my balcony in the moonlight and soak up as much positive strengthening energy as I can. I simply can’t resist taking in the powerful energy that abounds on that night and this time of year in general.
Thank you again for taking the time to check out my blog. May the mid-autumn moon light fill you with peace, luck and happiness!
