Full Worm Moon 2017

Motherhouse held our first drumming workshop in the Local Farm barn on March 12, a wintry evening, with the rise of the full Worm Moon. Thanks to intrepid drummers; Vicki, Debra, Susan, Joan, Beth, Chris, Bianca, Nancy, Pat, and Zena; for braving the 18 degree outside air and warming our new yurt-space with rhythm, fellowship, and fun.Vicki taught us some basic patterns that we repeated until we could improvise by adding additional beats. Then we played with "call and response." First, Vicki would "call" by beating out a rhythm and we would repeat it as the "response." Using a similar pattern, half the circle gave the "call" and the other half, the "response." Sometimes, the "response-ers" would rebel, take the lead and change the pattern! Firmly, the new "response-ers" would then take back the lead by drumming another new pattern.
We learned that one can use a simple phrase or word like "peace on earth... peace on earth... peace on earth..." to guide one's rhythmic pattern. As ideas flowed to us, we suggested different word-based rhythms and went from "su-per-cal-i-fra-gi-lis-tic-ex-pi-al-i-do-cious" to "we hon-or the ho-ney-bees" to blessing all aspects of our lives; the skies, the waters, and the earth.
So engrossed, were we, in listening and responding to each other and to our own internal rhythms through drumming, that we missed the moonrise! The evening closed with welcome warm chai and Chris's hearty plateful of bread, cheese and sausage. Finally, we gathered our gear and dashed out of the semi-warm yurt for a quick look at the glorious full moon and headed home.
Photographer Lazlo, did face the cold at just the right moment to capture this glorious photo.
The Full Worm Moon occurs in March when the sunlight is getting stronger and the frozen ground begins to thaw. You can tell the worms have begun to come awake when you find little curly mounds of dirt on the ground. These mounds, or castings, are part of nature's way of preparing the earth for new growth.                     ~"Full Worm Moon," a children's book written by Margo Lemieux ~...Now the turning of the seasons is marked by the earthworms return from their underground shelters. They wriggle to the surface and dance joyfully under the full moon. ...they dress in red and gold. They have no need of torches because the moonbeams are so bright. They have no need of drums because the music comes from the air.          ~and illustrated by Cornwall's  Robert Andrew (Bob) Parker.

Full Worm Moon

This poem by Julie L. Moore describes the natural sights of a typical full worm moon however, this year is unseasonably cold and the earthworms remain deep in the ground. Returning robins flutter around the multiflora roses picking rose-hips for sustenance.
Sap Moon, Crust Moon, Crow Moon—
by any of its names, this moon
announces, in all its fullness, worms
stirring in earth’s softening center;
sap thawing in the maples;
snow dissolving by day, crisping by night;
& calls of crows converting from haunting ballads
to heralding hymns. A robin reappears,
throwing off the pine cloak it hid behind
all winter like a god hard to find, hard to hear,
maybe hard of hearing in the ruckus
wind made as it bayed across the plains
& yowled in the valleys, hard to see in ice
suffocating once-tasseled fields, pinecone & bayberry,
numbing perhaps even wings,
rendering the soft touch this moon offers
almost senseless.
Welcome, worms,
twisting & teeming with prophecy,
welcome, crows & robins, plucking
these crawlers from grass now breathing green,
welcome, syrup, born again, pushing through the spout,
welcome, waxing light & waning dark,
welcome one, welcome all, no matter your longing
for answered prayer, come, sun yourself
beneath the low Lenten Moon.
~published in the Aug. 23, 2015 issue of Christian Century

Honoring our Foremothers with Poetry

Some of us collaborated by each adding a line, in turn, about our family's "foremother." ...

Remembering Bubbie
by Rachel and Jay and Ezra and Darwin

>Her pencils say Lena
> Her black reeboks marched in the Women's March in NYC
> She was Saba's mama and Ellen's and Stephie's and Barbara's
> She was old
> We never run out of blue towels since she died
> I wasn't sure we'd live through the funeral procession
> She's under some books
> She had a lot of sewing stuff
> She knew how to use all that sewing stuff!
> Those cousins of yours called her BubbieLee
> Clinton St. on the lower east side
>We were lucky to know her

Some of us got together and wrote individual Cinquain or five-line poems about women who have had a positive impact on our lives...

Jean wrote about her Aunt Margaret:

Margaret

Hospitable, German

Self-educating, Organizing, Reading

Taught by living gentle family mores.

Aunt

Debra wrote about her former neighbor, Irene:

I-Rut-E-Nut-E

Noisy, Funny

Cooking, Joking, Creating

Artistic mentor of thin/thick lines

Neighbor

Anne wrote about her daughter, Lisa:

Lisa

Idealistic, Persistant

Inspiring, Accepting, Loving

All kids become enthusiastic readers

Educator

Next New Moon, we'll continue with our bookmaking honoring our foremothers... Please feel free to join us by emailing a poem about a woman who's made a positive impact on your life to Debra@Motherhouse.us AND come to the next gathering on April 26!

Paste Paper Moon

In spite of feeling REALLY tired, we set up and made beautiful paste paper. Of course, once we were covered with paint, "being tired" vanished, and we found ourselves pizzazzed and refreshed!

Tiny Tashlich, Shallow Water, Deep Cleanse

Sometimes we just do the best we can and everything turns out beautiful! This year's Rosh Hashana's new moon was just too busy to gather, so Juliet took her bread and phone to a streamside in Central Park. Debra climbed down the hill to the stream behind her house with bread and phone. Even tho there was barely any water in the stream, she could make tiny crumbs to float away. Taking turns, we cast off our regrets and bad habits of the past year with Juliet reciting the proper Tashlich prayer in Hebrew.

I'll Lend You a Calendula: Herbal Salve-A-Tion

 

 Beautiful, clean-smelling calendula blossoms, picked late on a sunny morning and steeped for a few weeks in olive oil, infused the oil with their healing properties. We strained away the plant matter, warmed the oil, and mixed in 3-4:1 parts oil to melted beeswax.

Then we poured our fresh salve into small containers to restock our winter supply and to sell to neighbors and friends. Hurray for no more chapped hands, cracked fingers, itchy vaginas, and sore noses!

Celebrating Lammas

Chewing on a head of grass-seed; shelling and popping corn; bringing in the rye... honoring Ceres and Demeter and the beginning of Harvest Season... the mid-point between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox. Happy Lammas!

Zikr for Istanbul

traveling companions - Ataturk Airport

In empathy with the people of Turkey after the recent bombing of Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Debra led an informal Zikr (prayers of remembrance) service. We saw slides of her 2014 trip to Turkey with a small group of whirling dervishes to visit their teacher and Rumi's tomb.

She gave a short demonstration and explanation of Sufi turning as a way to focus inward on God and cast off one's worldly attachments.

Then we set an intention of peace and healing for the people of Istanbul and used a large circle of prayer beads to "count," and unite us while calling on Allah to open ourselves to these possibilities. Allah is the Arabic name for the Divine. 

More information about turning practice can be found in the book Women Called to the Path of Rumi: The Way of the Whirling Dervish by trip leader and teacher, Shakina Reinhertz.