Moonstone New Age

2nd September-29th September

Muin (Blackberry Vine, Rubus fructicosus)

The Blackberry is said to be sacred to the Celts. The fruit is believed to represent the three stages of the goddess (maiden, mother, crone) as it changes from green to red to black.

Representing  completion of the cycle of life. It is a plant of the Fairy folk and it is said that to contact them you should use blackberries picked  in November or December alternatively you could meditate under a blackberry bush . Scottish Lore states that bramble along with yew and rowan made up the sacred fire. Some believe that they should not be picked after Michaelmas Day as it is said that the devil enters the thickets and spits on the berries. Some will not eat the berries because they are believed to belong to the devil. However in other areas they are not eaten  because they are believed to belong to the fairy folk.

Blackberry vine month coincides with the last  the  harvest (autumn equinox) before the winter It is also associated with Brid or Bridget, who is the great mother goddess o Ireland. There were Liquor producing vines other than the grape cultivated by Celts. Some people identify this tree letter as blackberry or bramble from which mead is distilled and in fact the book of Balleymoat suggests  muin means “mead from it “ this ob piously suggests a connection to alcohol and celebration a time for the community to breathe a sigh of relief when the last harvest has been gathered  and also a warning of not to over excess with alcohol. For example in the Irish epic “The cattle raid of Cooley” strong drink is used to ply warriors into service by the bloodthirsty Queen Medb. It is a symbol of ecstatic consciousness, divine ecstasy and inspiration
imThe white swan was a guide into the otherworld.

The White Swan represents the radiant divinity of the Gods who are said to go to their underground forts during the Autumn Equinox. The White Swan is also associated with the White Ghost or the White Phantom - Gwenhwyvar. To the Celts, the Autumn Equinox is a time when the light will eventually give up its hold to the darkness, but for a brief moment all is in balance. The light and the dark hold equal positions. To the Celtic mind it represents the balance of the mundane and the supernatural; the mortal and the immortal.

GAELIC -The first half of September is known as EDRINIOS - The Arbitration Time in the Coligny Celtic Calendar. The second half of september is known as CANTLOS - The Song Time.

SEPTEMBER - an t-Sultainn. Sultar means fattening, this is the time of harvest ripening. The September moon is called - the gealach an abachaidh, the moon of ripening.

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