October's falling leaves moon

October's full moon is tomorrow night. The Anishnaabe call it binaakwe-giizis, falling leaves moon. In some cultures it's called hunter's moon. As late last night became early this morning, an almost full moon shone brightly through tree branches whose leaves have been falling all week. With the oak trees in the neighborhood, leaves will fall all Winter and, on some, the stems won't loosen until the bud for next year's leaf swells with Spring time's warmth.

October's full moon

Photo by J. Harrington

Next week, Halloween's moon will be in its third quarter showing 50% illuminated. We can't figure out if that's more or less spooky than would be a full moon on All Hallow's Eve. Neither can we figure out if it would make sense to move election day so it doesn't fall between Halloween and Thanksgiving and close to the time that

"the boundary between this world and the next was at its thinnest. Some say that the dead could revisit their homes and other spirits such as nature spirits could also appear; food offerings were left for them in the hope that they would appreciate the kind thoughts and work their magic to keep the cattle safe over the winter and ensure that the next year’s harvest would not fail."

Perhaps in our growing dotage we're getting more superstitious, but look at where we are after the last election. Our governance gets more and more spooky by the day. Mixing spirit visits and votes seems to be just asking for trouble, although we suspect that November elections were scheduled to accommodate farmers getting in the harvest. This is no longer the 1800's and we are no longer a predominantly agrarian society. Time to rethink when we vote? BE SURE TO VOTE THIS YEAR ON NOVEMBER 6!

October

By Bobbi Katz

October is

when night guzzles up

the orange sherbet sunset

and sends the day

to bed

before supper

            and

October is when jack-o’-lanterns

grin in the darkness

            and

            strange company crunches

across the rumple of dry leaves

to ring a doorbell.

October is

when you can be ghost,

            a witch,

                        a creature from outer space…

almost anything!

And the neighbors, fearing tricks,

            give you treats.

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