#Lunar Symbolism

[wickedzeevyln]

Going Through Phases

Mother wolf said, “Don’t despair if the moon leaves you in the dark. It’s going through phases and with new phases comes the turn of days and seasons. If you let patience win over you, sometimes, when the sun creeps in the silence giving birth to a new light, you’d find your moon behind isles of sooty clouds peering, letting you know it’s still there.” What does this teach us? Even in our…

[saraichinwag]

What Does a Harvest Moon Symbolize?

[shisasan]

[serpentface]

What are the three different afterlives, on the moons?

The afterlife consists of three lunar lands, conceptualized as being literally on the moons (which are correctly understood to be spherical bodies in a rounded orbit). The world is, in the common imagination, effectively a floating island and seabed in the middle of a vast cosmic sea. The seabed eventually drops off somewhere far into the open sea, and the cosmic sea in its totality is beyond and beneath this and and goes on infinitely (though if creation stories are taken literally, it can't actually be infinite considering that God is cited as dredging up muck from the bottom. This is a philosophical problem for the literalist minority and no one else). The moons, sun, and stars travel through the cosmic sky and sea in their daily cycles, in an orbit around the earth. 

The lunar lands are usually dark (they only experience full light in times when the moons can be seen in daytime hours), but they are much closer to the stars, so they never experience the same darkness as night on earth. In some branches of folk thought, the light of the moons comes from the torches and fires lit by the dead. The moons are protected from the extremes of cosmic sea and sky that they orbit through by the continuous presence of God’s soul (at the most dead-literal, this is conceptualized like a spherical bubble that surrounds the land/earth with the moons orbiting on its plane, but is mostly understood in a more spiritual, less logistical capacity) and do not experience the terrible heat and cold of each primordial extreme. 

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The blue moon (second largest in the sky, has a very slight bluish tinge) is the best of three afterlives and the place for the most honored dead. This place is limited to people who performed great deeds in life, and very few people ever go here.

The only completely predictable way to get here is to be the dry season human sacrifice (which also makes you a saint), or being the Odomache. It takes great deeds to be declared a saint, so all canonized saints have gone here, as have most legendary heroes. There’s some doctrinal division over whether royalty goes here automatically or they too require the actual accomplishment of great deeds. Public opinion and general consensus veers, quite heavily, towards the latter. It’s resulted in a tendency for kings to perform lavish public works and building projects and instigate expansionist campaigns to better their chances.

The blue moon is a lush garden with palaces and homes built with lapis lazuli. A mythical blue lotus grows here that is said to grant everlasting life (*until the end of the world. there is no true immortality). Some mythical heroes (and characters in animal folktales) have been said to reach the lunar lands while still alive in pursuit of the lotus, but it has remained entirely elusive for the average joe. These lands are comfortably warm year-round, the rains are gentle, all plants grow in abundance and are always in fruit. It is thought that the souls of great sacrificial animals (those offered up in public rites, limited to animals that are specifically sacred) go here as well. The dead do not have to labor and all their needs are met with ease. It is a place of great serenity, rest, and happiness.

This afterlife is, notably, where the first men are enthroned (And Also Their Wives Are There). The eldest brother of this set is considered the most important saint (he is the one who actually performed the sacrifice of God), and all are effectively semi-divine (though not venerated), being the direct offspring of God via Its insemination of the cosmic sea. These first men are credited with actually shaping the world as it is today via the division of God’s body, and they now rule over the afterlife.

This is the best of all afterlives, but comes with profound responsibilities. The souls of the dead here are bound to survive the end of the world and will someday will be the ones to sacrifice the bodily reborn God, shape the next world, and become the progenitors and guides for the next people. All other souls in all other afterlives will not survive the end of the world in their present state, rather they will be returned to God and await reincarnation into a new human body after creation.

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The white moon (visibly largest in the sky) is where people who died honorable deaths and/or have spirits weighted as pure go. The easiest guarantee of getting here is to die in battle, or in childbirth (which is fortunate given the high rate of pregnancy-related mortalities). People who live honorable and virtuous lives, maintain spiritual cleanliness to the best of their ability, and follow right practice are otherwise the main demographic. This is the best afterlife the average everyday person can hope to end up in.

It is vast grassland eternally in flower, with ten rivers running through it. The sacred (and actually real) orange lotus grows here in abundance. Homes are built of moonstone, gardens of crops run between them and the maize can be harvested year-round and provides eternal and easy sustenance for the dead. Most time is spent at rest and leisure.

It’s thought the souls of ‘petty sacrifice’ animals go here (those offered for individual benefit, rather than in public rites for the good of the people/world itself). Animals considered to Have Value without necessarily being sacred are appropriate for these petty sacrifices (horses and fowl are very common) so there’s plenty of livestock here for milk, wool, and eggs.

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The egg moon (named for its slightly ovular shape to the naked eye) is the lesser afterlife, where people whose spirits are weighted unclean and/or did not die honorable deaths end up if they succeed in their death-journeys. Most people go here. This is not a Bad afterlife, just the Mid option of three pretty good ones.

It’s described as a vast grassland with five rivers running through it. It is very much like the world of the living, with normal seasonal change and cycles of plant growth. The dead have to labor here as they do in the world of the living, but without the risk of starvation or need to fight for resources. The land is fertile, the rains come and go as needed, the harvests are always good and the livestock are always well fed. All in all, it's far easier and more peaceful than life on earth.

It is thought that the souls of most sacred animals that did not die in sacrifice go here (so the majority of the world’s cattle, aurochs, khait, lions, cobras, hespaean, reed ducks, skimmer gulls, and albatrosses). The cattle and khait tend to be the center of focus, and there isn’t really a set concept of what the carnivores are eating, or whether the lions and venomous snakes pose any danger to the people there (there IS at least loosely a notion that the dead can die a second time and will be sent back to the cosmic sea to await reincarnation, though this mostly plays into eschatological beliefs and not into concerns of 'what if I get to the lunar lands and am immediately mauled to death: 2 by a lion').

This one HEAVILY overlaps conceptually with the Celestial Fields, with these aspects likely being influenced by a history of cultural exchange between proto-Finnic and proto-Wardi groups. In some folk traditions this syncretism is even more obvious via inclusion of Mak-Urudain guard dog figures (most Ephenni folk-traditions say that funerary guide dogs stay there to protect the cattle and khait from the lions, Ephenni Riverlanders straight up have a Mak-Urudain figure present as the First Ever guide dog who now protects the cattle all by himself, Erub provincial folk traditions state the dog constellation guards the cattle in all afterlives, etc), though this has no presence whatsoever in official doctrine. (On the reverse side, the heavenly cattle that the agricultural goddess Od brought to the Fields (to ensure ancestors can never starve if their shitty descendants neglect them) is probably at least Partly Wardi influenced).

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SOME NOTES:

-This religion technically views reincarnation as the ultimate fate of the dead, but considers this to only occur after the end of the current world. Eschatological beliefs are not even remotely central to this belief system (it's not a concern of the average practitioner like, at all, though raises to greater prominence during lasting droughts), but it’s assumed that the earth itself must eventually die and be reborn like all other created things. It was born from water and so will end in drought, then fire. All life and all souls but those of the most exalted on the blue moon will perish again and be returned to God.

God will be bodily reborn, and begin the process of self-sacrifice and creation over again. The survivors from the blue moon will become the first people, will sacrifice God, and build the next world from Its body. God will again inseminate the cosmic sea before Its death (releasing human/sophont souls to await rebirth), and will spill Its blood on the earth (releasing animal souls to await rebirth), and the world as we know it will begin again (but perhaps better, with the guidance of leaders from the previous world).

-most animals do not go to the lunar lands. All animals are regarded as having souls, but non-sophont animals were born from the earth (fertilized by God's blood) and are more intimately tied to it. The standard view is that most animals immediately return to the earth to be reincarnated upon death, though some can persist in the form of ghosts (not regarded as torturous for them like it is for humans, they're meant to be tied to the earth). Animals that make the journey to the lunar lands do so ultimately as assistants to humans (in the form of funerary guide dogs) or due to their sacredness (which also is functionally a form of assistance to humans).

-The afterlife status of any dog killed to be a funerary guide for the deceased is somewhat ambiguous. Funerary guide dogs are thought to at least Get To the lunar lands, but there's no consensus opinion on whether they can Stay There (unlike funerary khait and lions, guaranteed a spot due to sacred status). Most interpretations see the dogs returning to the earth (often to continue serving as funerary guides), but some death-journey stories describe the noblest and most loyal of dogs gaining entry along with their masters.

-All sophonts Recognized as sophonts (via the capacity for forms of intelligent speech obvious to humans) are understood to have been created the same way as humans and have the same type of soul, and to theoretically have access the lunar lands if they follow the same methods.

-The majority of people in this world, obviously, do not practice Imperial Wardi standard funerals, and are therefore regarded as Probably Fucked. It's accepted that any form of cremation is sufficient to at least send the dead on their way, but the dead who don't get the full Materially Correct Wardi Funeral Treatment will surely have a MUCH harder time completing their journeys (THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE MOONS LOL!!!!!).

-The dead require substantial help from the living in terms of actually getting to the lunar lands (proper funerals, grave goods and animal guides to assist their journey, etc), but are considered fully provided for once they get there in the doctrinal Faith and most of its folk variants. Maintaining and visiting family tombs (holding cremains and grave goods) is usually regarded as being a matter of familial piety and honorable behavior (and also just being like, a way to grieve), rather than something that directly benefits the dead in any capacity.

Ancestor-worship practices requiring the dead to be continually provided for were Possibly first brought to the region by Proto-Finnic migrants (though it's not beyond question that some groups with longer histories here had similar practices) and have had impacts outside of this immediate sphere. The biggest and most obvious is a 'feast of the dead' holiday being nearly ubiquitous across the cultural spheres of almost All groups here. Among most of the Hill Tribes and some of the North Wardi, this is specifically a holiday where all ancestors return to the earth and are provided food, gifts, and warm clothing (it occurs on the winter solstice). Most in the Imperial Wardi sphere do not have 'the dead are capable of coming back down to earth and also need continual support in general' as a part of their religious worldview, but variants of this holiday have been so widely adopted that it's celebrated anyway. The most ancestor-worship free version frames it more as a celebration of life and a time to remember the dead, and doesn't involve the feast being left untouched until morning so that spirits of the dead can eat its essence before the living get to it.

-In all three afterlives, the dead are perpetually in the presence of the Soul of God (the body is the earth, and the Faces are Its living spirit, god fucking damn it I made a trinity,). This cleanses them to become spiritually pure beings (a state impossible to be in and only possible to Approach while alive), any sufferings of disease or curses they experienced in life are removed. This is regarded as a very peaceful and restful state of being.

-There’s no discrete Bad Place afterlife, but there's still religious avenues to regulate behavior via threats of a Bad Afterlife with the notion of being trapped as an earthbound ghost. Per doctrine, it's possible to have one's connection to God severed (usually via extreme spiritual pollution, which just so happens to mostly come from behavior considered morally unfavorable) which can result in the soul being unable to complete their journey and being trapped as a ghost. A dead body being allowed to rot or be eaten will result in this automatically, whether by neglect or 'incorrect' funerary practices (cremation is the only funeral method considered safe). Very widespread folk belief additionally holds that people who die from drowning or non-ritual suicide are also trapped.

Burial of the dead and sky burials are regarded as horrific barbarism, damning the dead to suffering throughout the afterlife. Cannibalism/consumption of the dead in any form is regarded as almost unspeakably evil. Mummification is Okay as a temporary solution if cremation is impossible, but not as a permanent one (it's not as strongly condemned since the dead can stay with their intact, un-rotten and un-eaten body and in theory eventually be saved, but it's on thin fucking ice).

An earthbound ghost is stuck in the location of their death, deprived of rest and feeling their body rot around them, and usually becomes dangerous to the living. It is believed that some earthbound ghosts can be saved, but this requires extensive intervention and is not considered to work every time. Many evil spirits started out as earthbound ghosts, and at this point are warped beyond any possible human intervention. Doctrinal end-times consensus holds that all earthbound ghosts will Eventually be delivered from their nightmare at the death of the world when their soul is returned to God for rebirth, but the average person is not all that concerned with the end times and being a ghost is probable millennia of suffering either way. The average person is very, VERY strongly motivated to avoid this fate.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year (also called the Chinese New Year). In 1946, residents of Chinatown (and visitors) were able to celebrate for the first time since the war ended. The dragon makes his usual appearance, symbolizing power, strength, and good fortune.

Photo: Associated Press

[artist-in-training-wheels]

"The Creator did WHAT!?"

AU (I guess), where Nexus stops being an a-hole/is working as a double agent (or something) and is now fiercely protective of his siblings—so much so that he's made personalized drones to keep tabs on the respected sibling, and Sun's drone just came back with some... concerning footage.

I'll make a separate post explaining why Nexus isn't as much of an a-hole any more. Still, I just wanted a reason to draw Nexus as a protective brother because, GOD DAMNIT, Sun deserves protective siblings who would commit crimes on his behalf!

[nokiazy]

ㅤׅ潛意識魔法 .˳˳.⋅ॱ ✿‧̥

[jesncin]

Aminah, the butch peer tutor. Blossoming on her terms.

[fernandamaya]

26012025 I used to draw a lot of snakes because I really like the plethora of symbolism and meaning that surrounds them, so of course I was gonna try and have one drawing for Lunar New Year. I'm glad I managed, though I'll probably (hopefully lol) draw more snakes during this year. Really looking forward to it. Greens and Reds stay undefeated I tell ya, really loved how this one turned out, hope you like it!

[cometblaster2070]

in rennala's bossfight it's a bit difficult to make out but the juveline scholars are actually singing throughout her first phase and I find the lyrics of their song to be incredibly interesting:

"Sleep tight, bound tight, by mothers amber, sleep tight, find life in mother’s umbra."

rennala refers to the juveline scholars as "sweetings" and I'm assuming that the 'mother' they're referring to in this song is rennala which is a curious detail when you notice how they mention the word umbra.

for those not aware, umbra is latin for 'shadow' and is said to be the darkest part of a shadow; the part where the light source is completely blocked and more specifically i'd like to bring up how in the song they're referencing finding life in mother's umbra; in mother's shadow.

rennala is referred to as the queen of the full moon and her incantation refers to how she "encounters" this enchanting moon.

similarly her daughter ranni is said to have encountered the dark moon.

This moon was encountered by a young Ranni, led by the hand of her mother, Rennala. What she beheld was cold, dark and veiled in occult mystery.

there isn't really a point to any of this but I still found it really interesting how ranni is associated with the dark moon and was led to the dark moon by her mother rennala, especially when you account for the detail of the juveline scholars mentioning mother's umbra or in this case mentioning rennala's shadow in a sense.

i just wonder if it's an interesting bit of storytelling that ranni discovered the dark moon, the shadow of her mother rennala's full moon, with her mother's help and it helped her escape the confines of her destiny and carve out her own path and take her life into her own hands.

finding life in mother's umbra indeed i suppose.

[guided-by-the-skies]

Shadow Work Astro Observations | Time To 🦋 Break 🦋 BIG 🦋 Blockages ☆

On this day the full moon moves into sagittarius and venus moves into gemini. It's a great time to do shadow work considering the emotional aspects of the moon become aplified in sagittarius and it translates into AMAZING emotional drive for the next few days and the ability to break through emotional blockages.

However these observations do work all the time and for all signs ☆

I also personally believe that shadow work is harder now than at ANY other point in history because of the infinite distractions we have. Some of these observations come from ways of thinking about astro that have helped me work through BIG blockages. So hoping maybe they can have a similar effect on others.

🌚 Those who identify more strongly with their ascendant may find shadow work harder. Those who identify most strongly with their moon sign may find shadow work easier than average

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚 Pluto, uranus, neptune, and moon in first, fourth, fifth, ninth, or tenth houses may find shadow work easier than most

🌚 INxJ types in the MBTI may find shadow work relatively easy

🌚 Capricorn is surprisingly good at shadow work

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚 If you encounter emotional blockages, check what's transiting your 8th house (sounds really weird but it relates to the death tarot card). This house is all about new energy, destruction, and creation. So it can relate to clearing blockages.

🌚 Moon transiting any natal planets will influence the quality of your shadow work

🌚 9th house placements can make you reluctant to confront your shadow and liable to use distractions, especially venus, jupiter, and saturn

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚 If the moon comes up in a tarot reading - especially if you are a water or earth sign - you are on the verge of a huge emotional breakthrough

🌚 If the moon comes up for water signs, check your 4th house transits for ideas on clearing blockages

🌚 If the moon comes up and you have ANY significant pluto aspects in your chart WHATSOEVER, check what's transiting them ;)

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚If fire signs have emotional blackages with shadow work, now is a great full moon to break them ;)

🌚 Virgo and libra may find shadow work especially hard. Check the 10th house and your ascendant placement transits to see if there are any helpful aspects

🌚 Cancer is especially sensitive to the environment in which they shadow work and may benefit from lighting a candle or taking a long bath beforehand

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚 If the moon and death come up together in a tarot reading KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DREAMS and any weird dreams. Seriously this one works ☆

🌚 If you dream on this night your dream will likely contain a clue for any emotional blockages you want to clear. Watch out for unusual and out of place objects and animals in dreams

🌚 You may find you make more progress in shadow work with the following signs at the moment: aquarius, pisces, scorpio

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

🌚 You can induce dreams and try lucid dreaming more easily on this night

🌚 You can find shadow work VERY hard if you have difficult placements in your 12th house. However, you can wait for positive venus, moon, and mars transits to this to try shadow work

🦂 Scorpio might find shadow work easier on the new moon as opposed to the full moon

🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧🦋♧

If you break blockages as a result of ANY observations on this list, check your aquarius placements. I have both neptune and uranus in aquarius, these are very good placements for breaking blockages in a creative manner and I genuinely hope this energy can spread and maybe help others

[lunaracademia3]

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ۫⠀𝑎𝑒𝗌𝑡𝗁𝑒𝑡𝑖𝖼 s𝗒𝗆b𝗈l dump ۪

͡ .⠀𓈃 .⠀ྀི . ⚚ . ୨ . ୧ . 𐑺 . 𑁯ִ . ᠉ . ꜝꜞ . ७ . ꭉ . ، . 𓏵

☽ . ֗ . ︪︩ . ͟ . ໒ . ི۪۪۪ . ྀ۪۪۪ . 𐑥 . ⊱ ‎‎ . ⊰ . ˚̣̣̣ . ◡ . 𝜗℘

(ྀི . )ྀི . ‿ . 𝒢 . ⌓ . ◞ . 𓏴 . † . 𝑑 . ౨᱖ . ་། . 𓎢𓎟𓎡

∔ . ✟ . ˟̫ . ! . ெ . 𓇯 . ̣̣̥ . 𓏏𓏏 . ̩͙ . ╱ . ◜ . ◝ . ۫

𓌔 . ͝ . 𝒞 . ⏖ . 𓈒 . ༉ . ⌒ . ꝯϱ . ࿐ྂ . ♰ .〘 . ⸸ . ℬ

݃ . 𓋫 . ༢ . 𓉸 . ◌ . 𓍲 . ౿ . 𑁯 . ˓ . 𓄹 . ˑ . ⟅⟆

[castilestateofmind]

"The moon reveals [...] not only that death is indissolubly linked with life, but also, and above all, that death is not final, that is always followed by a new birth".

- Mircea Eliade.

[bestieflexie]

had to do an extra touch up on this period monster.

[vines-mansion]

looked at some Agere material!

and from what I’ve seen, @thelunarsystemwrites, I say it’s a wonderful thing!

it even reminded me of a half-baked OC I made, her entire thing was that she had a place where anyone who wanted to could go to be taken care of; she would watch kids, adults who were indulging in kid activities or pet activities, and people who just wanted to be taken care of and not have to worry about big choices for a bit!

Now that I’m learning about regression and such, I realize that that is what she does; she runs a daycare for children, those in their mind space when they don’t have a caregiver and want one at that time, or people who’s caregiver is unavailable!

I’m glad to have this knowledge to better understand you and those like you!

I’ll show the drawing of the caregiver OC when I complete it!

[lunarcanaellie]

i love using Pokémon cards in witchcraft

Pokemon each come with a lot of associations that they, in my opinion, make great symbols for magic

for example, last night i cast an abundance spell. in addition to other things, i used this Tropius card in my spell

Tropius is a Pokemon who grows bunches of bananas from its neck, literally growing abundance from itself. this card in particular has a move that references growth of abundance. as a lifelong Pokemon fan, these associations with Tropius were already strong in my mind, so this was a useful symbol to me

another card i like to use is this Cleffa card

i do most of my work with the moon or the stars, and the Cleffa line has a very strong association with both, as well as with cosmic magic in general. it’s shaped like a star, it came down from the moon and evolves with a Moon Stone, it dances under the full moon, heals with the moon’s energy, uses moonlight to fly— the list goes on with its connections to the moon, the night sky, and magic. this card in particular also looks like Cleffa is calling out to the night sky, or just celebrating it

having this card near me, holding onto it, or having it as a part of my altar help me feel a little more connected to the energies of the moon and stars. again, its a powerful symbol because of all the associations i attribute to it due to my lifelong connections with Pokemon

so, if you’re a witch and a huge Pokemon nerd like me, maybe try using a Pokemon card in a ritual sometime! pick one out that closely matches your intentions ((with thousands of cards, there’s bound to be some great matches)) and give it a shot!