This is the full moon of August. Other names for this moon include Harvest Moon, Ripening Moon, and Corn Moon.
August of course includes one of the four great Celtic fire festivals: Lughnasadh. This is the great harvest festival of the Celts, a celebration of what life has given us and a last party before preparing for the oncoming winter. It is a place to stand quietly and look into the past before turning to the dark future and Samhain, where one stands in between all times and can see farther into the future than ever. So I feel that Mountain in a Man expresses the sense of strength, rest, and joy that comes of this time of year.
I celebrated Lughnasadh fairly appropriately, and have been trying to use the month of August to assess what is going on in my life, and what is to come. Sort of a mini-review of where I am, and what I have yet to be. Thus far, I have come to the conclusion that I will be staying here in Seattle through the winter, and seeing how my spirits last through the grey and the chill. In light of this, I’m taking a more active role in my job search, my part-time work for Merced, and getting out into the community of Seattle.
I’ve also been fairly stable emotionally this month, which isn’t unusual because July tends to be pretty volatile. So, in a way, I feel that I’ve been able to touch the quality of a mountain in a man, particularly because several events that would have paralyzed me in previous months (including getting my car towed) have passed through me–not without some upset–without shutting me down completely.
This, perhaps more than anything, is a sign that maybe I’m okay right now. As the mountains surround me here in the Northwest, the mountains enter my heart and remind me to stand tall and strong, and weather every storm with grace and calm. From the top of the Mountain in me, I can see how far I’ve come, light the fires of Lughnasadh’s celebration, and prepare once more for the coming autumn.
