Full Beaver Moon
bright blessings of the full moon to you
November 15, 2024
Centering
Sit cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with your feet flat on the ground and place your hands on your knees. As you take a breath in, arch your back, pressing your chest forward and gently look up. Breathing out, round your spine and tuck your chin, emptying your belly so your belly button moves in toward your spine.
Repeat this three or four times: breathe in, arch forward and up, expanding your belly. Breathe out, curling inward and contracting your belly.
Take a minute to do some freestyling. Circle your hips and roll your shoulders - find what feels good to you.
Learning
The nice version of why November’s full moon is called the beaver moon is that these busy rodents are preparing their homes for winter. (The not-so-nice version is that this is when their fur is thickest, so hunters would kill them for their pelts.) We’re going to go with the nice homemaking version for our purposes today.
Beavers are builders. They work together as a household to shape their environment. First, if they need to create a still pond, they build a dam. Their dams can be between 7 inches and 9 feet high. The largest known beaver dam is in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, and is 2,543 feet long. They do a lot of building and repairs in the fall, and they don’t hibernate in winter, but they do spend much of their time inside their lodge throughout the cold months. And the cutest thing is, the sound of running water prompts them to make repairs.
Lodges can be dug into the bank of their pond, or they can be freestanding. If older lodges are available, beavers will repair and maintain them. If not, they can build one from scratch in a month. Lodges have separate spaces for feeding and resting, an air vent, and two or more underwater entrances. A typical household is two mates and their offspring. Together they tend to their home and each other and when they’re not working, they play or rest.
Imagining
Beavers put much of their energy into creating a safe and comfortable living space for themselves. It has everything they need for their household to cohabitate together and they share in responsibility for it. And the beaver moon is just one name for this month’s moon. The Pueblo name is, “the moon when all is gathered in.”
So in the spirit of the majestic beaver who invites us to gather in, draw your ideal room for winter. Feel free to let your imagination run wild. Don’t worry about what’s practical or obtainable. Focus instead on what sounds nice to you.
Consider:
What do you want to do in this room?
Who shares the space with you?
What do you need to take care of yourself and your people?
What helps you feel safe?
What helps you rest?
What supports your creativity?
Is there anything that is not welcome in this space?
Reflecting
What emotions, memories, or desires came up for you?
Assuming that there are limitations to creating this exact idealized space in real life, are there elements of your drawing that you can adopt your everyday life this season?
Is there anyone you want to reach out to intentionally invite them to share space with you?
Do you need to clear your space of anything to prepare for this season?
Closing
May the full beaver moon call you home to your heart, your people, and your deepest desires for safety, rest, and wellbeing.