The Moon is the earth’s most intimate celestial body. She is sadly devalued in our current world where the night sky is flooded with artificial light. The solar archetype loom large in our culture and psyches, which creates problems in the way we participate in childbirth. In this article, I will begin by offering poetry as a way in to feel the moons presence in birth. I will then introduce the basic archetypal principles of the moon, the importance of rhythm and attachment in early life, the lunar goddesses and gods from different cultures throughout the world, and the moon’s phases in shaping our lunar psychology and attachment patterns.
FEELING THE MOON
THROUGH POETRY and image
Mama’s inner soliloquy
Between my body’s tender pores and her’s
The spider web
Of skin-skin
Weaves love
We syncronise our hearts
My nourishing milk
flows freely
Baby to Mama
It was so dark in your womb
Why these bright lights?
Flooding out
Our beautiful moon
My heart is distressed
Mama I need you so close
Why do you leave me alone?
I leave my body
when you leave me alone
I feel bereft
unsafe
Without your heart
Close to mine
Copyright: © iStock, credit: nimon_t
Midwife’s inner soliloquy
In these hospital walls
I cannot feel
Stimulating light, people, machines
Crystallise me to stone
I swallow down my emotions
For a later night
When I am in a mama’s home
Moon guides my way
I do nothing
Listening with ears
Filled with wisdom
My heart overflows
With feeling
With rhythm
With tenderness
For birth’s wonder
Full Moon by DWRose, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Archetypal Principles of the Moon
In Hellenistic astrology, there were seven visible celestial bodies, known as the “wandering stars” : these included the Moon and Sun - the two luminaries, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Moon in astrology and mythology is known to be associated with the following archetypal prinicple’s or qualities: mother, the great mother, mother-child dyad, the lunar goddesses, the eternal circle, rhythm, connection and interdependence, the womb, fertility and conception, fertile ground of mother earth, the nocturnal, material being, our physical body, instincts, feelings, emotions and needs, the instinctual need to survive and to bond as mammals, ‘feeling felt’, emotional mirroring and empathy, nurturing and nourishment, reflection and receiving, home, family and ancestral roots, breastfeeding and caring for the young, the collective gathering of the people, fluid movement, and the metal silver (Brennan 2017; Tarnas, 2006).
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Above is a vintage photograph from India, symbolising the Mother - Child archetype. In myths from different cultures, we also see the Mother - Child archetype in those who were raised and suckled by foster mothers, such as the dyad of Yashoda - Krishna in Indian culture, or Amalthea - Zeus in Greek myth.
In ancient Hellenistic (Greek) tradition, the moon was related to various parts of the body including: the left eye, the stomach, the breasts, the breath, the spleen, the membrane which encloses the brain and the marrow (Brennan, 2017). In Chinese medicine and philosophy the moon is considered yīn, related to the night.
Rhythm and ATTACHMENT
A foundational need of a baby growing in the womb and in the early 2 - 3 years of life is to develop a relationship of safety, love and secure attachment with their mama or primary caregiver(s). The person who predominantly helps the child to regulate their emotions, to calm them when they are hyper-aroused, and to engage them in up-regulating joyful connection and play is considered the primary attachment figure for the early years of life. Neuroscientific research is showing that relational attachment patterns begin in the womb and continue to be shaped in the critical window of first 2- 3 years of life (Schore, 2019). This is predominantly the pre-verbal phase of development, dominated by the right hemisphere of the brain which helps us to feel embodied, emotionally receptive, empathic, and see the wide picture and interconnectedness within all life (McGilchrist, 2009). There is clear scientific evidence for skin-skin connection and Kangaroo Mother Care in early life in improving baby survival, reducing physiological stress in mama and baby, attachment, improving weight gain and reducing the length of stay in hospitals for pre-term babies (WHO Immediate KMC Study Group, 2021; Sivanandan and Sankar, 2023).
Robert Whitehead, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
USAID in Africa, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
As a baby continues to grow, they need their mother or primary caregiver’s right hemisphere to sufficiently mirror their inner emotional experience, and to co-regulate through touch, heart rate, eye contact, voice and prosody (Schore, 2019). This is necessary in order for secure attachment to occur. If this is not sufficiently provided for, the baby is likely to develop challenges in inhabiting their body with safety (embodiment), and in processing their emotions either on their own or inter-relationally (Schore, 2019). Attachment patterns such as anxious-ambivalent, disorganised, or avoidant, are known to be shaped in early years of life, persisting through youth into adulthood, and playing out in adult relationships (Schore, 2019).
lunar Goddesses and Gods
There are many lunar goddesses throughout the world’s myths and cosmologies, which we may feel connected to. Some include: Hina the polynesian lunar goddess in her various forms, e.g. Hineteiwaiwa the Māori Goddess associated with the art of weaving and childbirth, Chang'e the Chinese Lunar Goddess, Greek Lunar Goddesses - Artemis, Selene, Hecate, Luna the Roman Goddess, Olapa the Maasai Lunar Goddess, Maya the Mesoamerican Lunar Goddess, and Xochiquetzal the Astec Lunar Goddess. In some traditions, the moon was also consider in the masculine form, such as Chandra in Indian mythology, and Sin in Mesopotamian culture.
THE GREEK lunar GODDESSES AND PHASES OF THE MOON
When we are born, the moon is in a particular zodiac sign and a particular place/house in our birth chart, both of which influences the way we experience the moon in our life. Additionally, the moon will be in a particular phase of her great cycle when we are born, which adds a layer to the way we experience the moon. Below is a image showing some of the phases of the moon.
Moon Phases Over Carmel River by Guy Churchward, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
goddess ARTEMIS : THE CRESCENT NEW MOON
Goddess Artemis is associated in myth and astrology with the archetype of the Maiden. She relates to the crescent moon, the new waxing phase of the moon. Some of the qualities she symbolises include: freshness, new beginnings, adventure, fertility, untamed and wild, creativity and youthful wisdom. She has been associated with childbirth, through the story of her own birth and her midwifery skills in helping to birth her twin sibling Apollo.
Artemis by Jean-Pol Grandmont, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
GODDESS SELENE : tHE FULL MOON
Goddess Selene is associated in myth and astrology with the archetype of the Mother and the full moon. She symbolises the initiatory experience of motherhood, the peak potential of fertility, the fullness and ripeness of seeds sown at the new moon. In the full cycle of a women’s life this is the midway point around 28 years. In Chinese medicine a girl/women is said to develop in cycles of 7 years, where at 28 years she reaches full potential of blood and qi in her body for fertility, birth and breastfeeding (Rochat de la Vallée, 2007). There is a strong correlation between the limitations of form life (i.e. the Archetypal principle of Saturn) and the lunar cycle of ~ 28 days.
Selene by ArchaiOptix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
GODDESS HEcATE : THE BALSAMIC OR DARK MOON
Goddess Hecate is associated in myth and astrology with the archetype of the Crone or Wise Women. She is associated with the Balsamic or Dark Moon, the waning phase of the moon before a new cycle begins. This phase of the moon cycle pertains to: surrendering and letting go, composting what is not longer needed, initiation into the night or one’s darkness, the wisdom of the past. In the image to the right, Hecate is shown as a triple headed Lunar Goddess. She symbolises deep wisdom, roads, cross-roads, thresholds, initiation, help and protection for those traversing the underworld, the capacity to deeply hear and listen.
“Hekate, who has traditionally been represented with three heads, keeps us looking and listening in many ways at once.”
Hecate. Vatican Museums, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In birth, all of these different lunar archetypes can show up intrapsychically within the women giving birth or birthing person, within those attending the birth, and within the soul being born. As well, there are relational fields created in birth, so the lunar archetypes can show up as an interpersonal dynamics.
I hope this article has inspired you to connect to your inner Moon and reflect on how she was present during your birth, or birthing experience, or in the current rhythms of your life.
Note to the reader: The information in this article is for educational purposes, to provide discourse for humanity to reflect on the experience of childbirth. The information in this article does not serve as professional or medical advice. Any errors are the author’s.
Article written by: Rose Skerten
REFERENCES
Brennan C. Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Denver, CO: Amor Fati Publications, 2017
Hillman J. The Dream and The Underworld. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1979
McGilchrist I. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. London: Yale University Press, 2009
Rochat de la Vallée E. The Essential Women: Femail Health and Fertility in Chinese Classical Texts. Monkey Press, 2007
Schore A. Right Brain Psychotherapy. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2019
Sivanandan S, Sankar MJ. Kangaroo mother care for preterm or low birth weight infants: a systematic review and meta- analysis. BMJ Global Health 2023; 8:e010728.
Tarnas R. Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. London: Penguin Group, 2006
WHO Immediate KMC Study Group. Immediate “Kangaroo Mother Care”and Survival of Infants with Low Birth Weight. N Engl J Med 2021; 384:2028-38.
