October 1, 2018

She, Wi Mi Ma, The Full Moon, Is Ushering Forth Change

Lois Red Elk: reverence for feminine energy isn't new; it's ancient and there in the sky

by Mountain Journal

"Landscape Nocturne" by John Felsing (https://www.instagram.com/johnfelsing)

The moon has sure been burning bright with the commencement of another autumn and the blush of red from wafting woodsmoke in the air. Lois Red Elk has a panoramic perspective on the Big Open.

"I am sending two poems about wi mi ma (the full moon), and life lessons she teaches," Lois writes from the high plains hard along the Missouri River, just upstream from where the Yellowstone marries it.

We love getting reminders from Lois about how Mother Earth means more than a superficial reference for lovers of nature. "In the Dakota/Lakota culture the moons do not follow today's 12-month calendar; there are 13 moons and they follow the seasons," she notes. "The moons are female and correspond and work with the earth who is also female." She adds, "September brought a moon of change, when leaves turn brown, when the plums are scarlet, and we prepare for the season of cooler weather. This month the full moon came two days after equinox, all relating to change."

Red Elk's new poem, Wi mi ma - Full Moon, was written for all women and is a contemplation of women preparing for the changing season by speaking with the moon, she says. "The corresponding piece, Moon of Change, speaks to all other life and how to prepare for the change of seasons." Mountain Journal wants to congratulate Ms. Red Elk and husband, Dennis, on their 50th wedding anniversary. —MoJo Eds

Painting by John Felsing (https://www.instagram.com/johnfelsing)

Poems by Lois Red Elk

Wi Mi Ma - Full Moon

Tonight she is full, abundant, with

all her rotating power of stardust and

hormones, an intention to pull tides,

subdue hunger and attend to emotion.

I don a blanket, to cover and shelter

shoulders, bare arms, full pulsing

chest, my veil of protection from dark

dangerous winds, from cautioning owl

eyes. I stand and look to enter that high

enduring circle for a brief, duration of

sustenance. My opus rounded body, my

knowing elderly mind, and my quieting

spirit are thankful for restored, balanced

energy before the snow lays all silent,

turns soil and life into a chilly barren

blanket. She knows - ending of summer,

loss of light, a slow entering into chilly

moons, silent frogs, resting stems. It is

my hibernation approaching from under

high burning sunlight into the lower cast

light of another season. Let me inhale

the moonlight, feast my eyes and mouth

on her fullness, lift my body to the orb

receiving radiant, circular light off the

sun as he distances himself and honors

this Equinox of waning sacredness. I

will be here, contained, holding…

©Lois Red Elk

"The Moon Hangs Like Heaven" by painter John Felsing (https://www.instagram.com/johnfelsing)

Moon of Change

Quietly, the sky shifts from blue

to grey, air from warm to chilled.

This morning as we head south to

our place of work, Canadian geese

race our clouds on their last run

for the midway climate of a lower

state. We wonder. Their travel

a kind of prayer, a trusted gaze at

the angle of the decreasing light,

a quiet belief in mountain draft,

depth of forest shadows, sheen

off rivers and soft flow of fog.

Inside our place of warmth, we

watch the chickadees, that will

stay, fluff feathers, look for deep

nests, watch the deer put on more

fat, grow thicker coats, gophers

carry off feathers, tuffs of hair

and dying grasses for lining

burrows. In unison all prepare

for the shift in energy, temperature,

and unite with the moon of change.

Moon of Change is excepted from Red Elk's book "Dragonfly Weather" (Lost Horse Press, 2013)

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October 1, 2018

She, Wi Mi Ma, The Full Moon, Is Ushering Forth Change

Lois Red Elk: reverence for feminine energy isn't new; it's ancient and there in the sky

Defend Truth &Wild Places

Defend Truth &
Wild Places