July Herb Moon in Capricorn
July Herb Moon in Capricorn
Guru Purnima in Uttara Ashadha Nakshatra
July 2024 Full Moon: Sunday, 21 July
Peak Illumination: 11:17 a.m. British Summer Time
All full moons have various names given by the pagan indigenous peoples of the land, depending on what part of the world you find yourself in. Identifying most with my Welsh and Irish ancestry, I am drawn to the Celtic names. July’s Full Moon is known as the Herb or Hay Moon, capturing the time of year when we see nature all around us in full-growth, hay bales dotting the horizon. We have crossed the midpoint of the year at the Summer Solstice and now we are approaching the first of the harvest festivals in the wheel of the year, Loaf Mass… which over time became Lammas, when all of the abundant wheat is harvested for our daily bread. In Ireland it is called Lughnasadh (/ˈluːnəsə/ LOO-nə-sə, Irish) named after the popular sun god Lugh (LOO), worshipped throughout the Celtic world. In Gaul, he was identified as Lugus or Lug. Both festivals are celebrated at the halfway point between Litha, Summer Solstice and the Mabon, the autumn equinox, around 1-3 August, this year happening on Thursday 1 August. This is a time when other crops are either ripening or beginning to be harvested. The annual rite of pick your own strawberries is coming to an end making way for raspberries, gooseberries and other delicious fruits of the land. You will see in the hedgerows an abundance of wild flowers, that many call weeds, some of which are actually medicine.
Some Call the July Full Moon the “Buck” Moon
Some parts of the world, most notably the indigenous people of North America, call the July full moon the “Buck Moon.”
This is because male deer antlers begin to grow in late spring. Antlers grow as fast as ¼ inch per day or one and one half inches per week during this period making them the fastest growing bones in the world. Antlers grow from the pedicel in the buck’s skull. The lengthening daylight in spring triggers the hormones that start the growth each spring. Buck antlers can easily be spotted in full velvet come July. Unlike horns, antlers are bones made mostly of calcium and phosphorus that the deer shed after mating season. Buck antlers lose their velvety coating, usually within a 24-hour period, closer to mating season in autumn.
Uttara Ashadha Nakshatra
This month both Tropical and Sidereal Zodiac are agreeing that the full moon is in the constellation of Capricorn, although for those following the true sky vedic system, she has only just crossed over the gandanta point (gateway) from Sagittarius into Capricorn, in the star called Uttara Ashadha, ruled by the Sun. Depending on where Capricorn is in your chart, this may be a very activating full moon, which could have been preceded by a very deep clearing to create space and time for your to focus all of your efforts on working hard to manifest the ideas that last month’s Strawberry Moon in Sagittarius. Uttara Ashadha has 4 feet (padas), the first one falls in Sagittarius and the last three fall in Capricorn. Ruled by the sun (Surya) the constellation has a shape of a stage and is symbolised by a tusk of an elephant, making it an auspicious time to work with Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles.
We invoke Lord Ganesha through repeating the following mantra 108 times working with our japa mala:
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
―Rumi
Guru Purnima
In India the July full moon brings Guru Purnima, a festival of gratitude for all divine teachers in our lives. The word Guru literally translates to dispeller of the darkness, so these teachers come in different forms. For some they are spiritual teachers, others recognise their children, parents, closest companions, including pets. Deities, spirit guides, angels, ancestors who have walked this Earth before us are also celebrated.
For me, my biggest teacher is my beloved Dylan Thomas, named after the poet of course, who was from a village near where my Grandmother grew up in South Wales.
For those who know me well, this is the longest relationship I’ve had with any living being in this lifetime. Dylan is coming up to his 16th birthday this August, so we give thanks daily for his youthful exuberance and dedication to making me get out in nature every single day. His favourite spot of course is our meditation tree down by the river in Dedham.
Giving thanks to all of my Gurus this weekend. You know who you are.