COLD MOON/BIRCH MOON - New Beginnings.
The Cold Moon, also Long Night Moon, Bitter Moon, Dead of Winter Moon & Little Spirit Moon (💙) falls tonight. We tend to think of evergreens this time of year (in fact the Comanche name for it translates as ‘Evergreen Moon’) but the Celts called it Birch Moon - the moon of renewal & new beginnings!
Birch (beith) is the first letter of the ancient Ogham alphabet and represents the second in the Elder Futhark - the ‘B’, Berkano, which the eagle-eyed will notice is the name of the demonstalkers’ clear-sight rune. That’s because after devastating ice or fire, birch is the first tree to grow - so Beith/Berkano is about new vision & new purpose.
The heavy, straight-grained wood is great for anything long-lasting. Babies’ cradles were made from it, weaving in the idea of new beginnings. Loudon (1842) wrote in his Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, “The Highlanders of Scotland make everything of it.” This included using it for fuel, leather tanning, fish smoking, whisky distillation, sleeping on and even as candles!
You can also tap the sap and make birch syrup (which I’ve had) and birch wine (which I haven’t).
Anyway, definitely a good moon for those new year resolutions! I’ve plenty of new stuff this year as it will be the main year of my transition - with testosterone kicking in and (hopefully) top surgery happening!
