The New Moon and Gratitude

Dear Reader:

Kaitlyn texted me Wednesday evening… checking to see how everything went and was happy to hear the surgeon got all of the port out.

She then reminded me that Wednesday was also the day ( night) of the first moon and that always brings good luck and healing.

She sent some articles on the new moon and apparently this particular March 2, 2022 was predicted ( by The New York Post) to be ” the luckiest new moon of the year!”

All new moons present new beginnings, opportunities, and paths before us. But this new moon centers on healing-not just the body, but our hearts, as well. It made me feel even more grateful for the ” random” timing of my procedure.

Throughout many European cultures-Irish and German for two… people have recognized the significance of the monthly new moon.

Irish: ” I see the new moon and the new moon sees me, God bless the new moon and God bless me till I see another one.”

German: ( National Folklore)

” I see the new moon and the new moon sees me -God bless the new moon and God bless me. God in the kitchen, grace in the hall, the blessing of God be about us all.”

But to me the most beautiful symbolism of the new moon comes from the memories of Archibald Rutledge and the simple spiritualism he grew up with on Hampton Plantation.

One day Rutledge was returning home with three of his tenant workers after a long day of working on the restoration of Hampton . Suddenly he realized he was walking alone.

He recalls: ” Suddenly I was aware that my humble comrades had paused behind me and were chanting something in unison. Turning I saw them standing together, each with hands clasped reverently, and as they gazed into the rose-tinted west they were saying, as if softly intoning a prayer, ” God bless the New Moon.”

” Far in the west hung the silvery sickle of the new moon. It marked, in its way, the beginning of the new month; and my colleagues, grimed and tired as they were, paused to bless God and to worship.

” Then my own memories growing up here flashed back to this joyous mystic rite. Even little children, in the midst of their last entrancing twilight frolic would, upon seeing the new moon gleaming in the heavens, pause in their play to look upward and, with hands clasped, say ” God bless the New Moon.”

So until tomorrow… When we stop to bless the new moon we are thanking God for our lives and the celebration of living through another cycle of the moon… for healing and life. Thank you God!

I placed this pot of beautiful colors in the center of my side garden…yesterday as I watched it and the framed azaleas from my bench… I remembered one of the gifts Jo gave me recently… a wooden box with this message!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Look at this picture Pam Stewart found and shared with me on-line!! Rabbit Rabbit!

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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