Moon Mothers of Half Moon Bay

Harvest Moon

What is the boldest thing you have ever done?

What bold step are you about to take? 

Are you brave enough to veer off your comfortable predictable path and venture down an unknown course?

Can you blindly trust the assistance of a wise woman to lead you to the precipice of a new environment? 

Can you trust yourself to lead?

On the Harvest Moon we Moon Mothers gathered at the Nursery to dedicate our full moon, initiation ceremony to Freyja, the Nordic earth Goddess of boldness fertility and celebration. By way of ritual we answered the above questions physically and orally.

In unfamiliar pairs, one woman chose to be blind, one chose to lead. Each trusting that they would easily make it through the light traffic down the street to the cliff above the beach where the ceremony would continue.

Once re-circled in the sand, Kellie taught the Goddess March song, We all come from the Goddess.  Keeping the rhythm and chanting, we marched (swayed) to the ocean. At waters edge the women showed their boldness.  Most walked into the water calf deep, blew the conch or kept the chant going.  A few BOLD women jumped right in.  As I witnessed their bold courage I was astonished.  Their action emboldened the others to do the same.  The nearby sea lions howled, Moon Mothers cheered joyously for the bold swimmers, conch trumpets rang out in exaltation as we celebrated the moment.

Settled by the fire, it was time to dive deep into circle speak. Trusting that the Moon Mothers would not be judged, each one revealed the boldest thing they had ever done. There’s a thin line between foolishness and boldness.  We held loving sacred space for each woman to speak.  Some spoke of bold steps they want to take. Speaking it gave them energy and courage to be bold and take the leap. Others revealed bold actions that inspired.

 I spoke last, which is customary. I told the story of what happened 5 years ago, in Hawaii, the morning after swimming with wild dolphins.  As most of you know I was a successful professional photographer for many years.  I owned my own studio, had employees, loved my work and never imagined leaving that profession.  On that morning I woke at dawn with a deep knowing that I was done with photography as a profession.  I told my husband Grant to sell the studio.  I would not work another day at Coastside Photography, (the name of my company).  He replied “You need to see a doctor you must be going through some kind of mental pause.”  I found his response funny but I knew on a cellular level that I was done.  When I returned home I cancelled my appointments, disconnected my phone and retreated to my backyard. 

With too much energy to settle into retirement, I settled into the unknowing.  Sitting in limbo was uncomfortable and not without lots tears.  Well, I wasn’t literally sitting, I dug up my backyard, moved trees, and planted a new landscape.  As I dug in the earth I kept asking myself, what makes me happy? Of course, leading the Moon Mothers in full moon ceremony filled my soul. We Moon Mothers had been a nomadic tribe for 8 years.  

Early one spring morning, I dug a hole to plant comfrey near an apple tree so the little plant could feed the big apple tree.  As my garden boot hit the shovel, I got it! My next step was to find a permanent home for the Moon Mothers.  In that moment, Moon Mothers Nursery was conceived. 

 “When you come to the edge of all that you know, you must believe one of two things: either there will be ground to stand on, or you will be given wings to fly.”

 O.R. Mellings

If you’re unfamiliar with Moon Mothers home check out our website.  www.moonmothersnursery.com

Harvest Moon was the last full moon ceremony of the year.  We will gather the women for other soul nourishing events in October and November, stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Tamara Trejo

P.S. Thank you Linda B Joy & Linda Crose-Andersen for cleaning the beach and all your work. Thank you Lorna Rodriguez-Wong for making delicious food to ground and nourish us after ceremony. Thank you Linda B Joy and Shannan Riley Gotschall for the fine photography.