The snows have come and gone, the frogs are singing, and everything is strangely on time in a natural way....almost like it's meant to be this way. The concept of the Frog Snow Moon is one of many examples of ancient rhythms of time that people have observed and lived by for thousands of years. As we battle the chaos and stimulation of a modern world filled with devices and gimmicks constantly trying to "save us time" what wisdom might be unlocked by looking at older, nature-based ways of relating to time and its cycles?
It's been truly odd over the last few decades seeing so many modern people, especially Americans, struggle with the need to be constantly busy. It's almost as if there's a deep anxiety that if we aren't constantly doing and going, something bad is going to happen. Often, I wonder if that comes from the realization that if they stopped and looked around at the world, they wouldn't like what they see and might even be horrified by what we consider normal around our lives, our schedules, and what's happening to the biosphere all around us.
I think this is one of the main tools of Dystopia: keep us busy all the time and dis-regulated and completely separate us from a natural healthy bio-rhythm in tune with the large cycles of the moon, the sun, the seasons, and even the simple flow of a day.
We aren't designed to be busy all the time and it's not good for our bodies, minds, or souls. It also causes us to consume continually and to stimulate ourselves constantly leading to erosion and eventual collapse of our self and the biosphere.
If Dystopia is to be constantly busy and stimulated, what is the natural Ecotopian Ideal in relationship to time?
Well, that's where we come back to the Frog Snow Moon. Years ago I was at an art exhibition of Native Coast Salish art at the Seattle Art Museum. It was a very intriguing exhibit, and one piece in particular really stuck out to me. It was the "Frog-Snow Moon" Quilt. Someone had woven a very elegant light blue and white quilt representing a very specific time: the month when it both snows and the frogs started singing again. Discovering the art piece for me was revelatory as I knew the exact time that was being represented. I didn't know it before I saw the quilt...it was buried in unconscious observations of nature over a several years, but once I saw it I knew.
Since that time, I've observed many a February (roughly February, to be honest it's a complete moon cycle that takes place in or near February), and pretty much everyone of them has had both snow and the emergence of frogs singing. In fact, in the PNW (an area not known for being particularly snowy), February is the month most likely to have snow. And, several times both phenomenon have taken place. There is snow on the ground, but then it warms up so much in one day that the frogs sing at night. Several of my colleagues, friends, and family have all noticed this once I shared it with them.
For how many millenia has the Frog Snow Moon existed here in Cascadia? How deeply did people need to be tuned into their surroundings to recognize it again and again to the point that it became a part of their normal culture? Part of their way of recognizing and honoring time?
Embedded in the deep awareness and observation that unlocks cycle like this are also hints of what is the appropriate action to be taken during that time. The Strawberry Moon, The Salmon Moon and the Hunter's Moon all suggest inter-relationships with a particular species and instructions of what you should be doing during that cycle.
A quick note here just to clarify: you might have come across examples of these moons before and gotten the impression that there is one set of moons for all of Native North America or the whole world or something like that. I urge caution here and invite you into the opportunity for deeper understanding and research. There are bioregional specific examples of what I'm talking about that are linked directly to places and times, and you might even discover that in your own heritage there was a different way of keeping time like this. This was certainly the case for me as I discovered that my birth month of August is associated with both Salmon and Hazelnuts in old Celtic traditions. And, it's not surprise to me that even here in Cascadia those Hazelnuts ripen and the Salmon return during the month of August.
By taking time away from our devices, from the complex overstimulation and barrage of news and social media, we have the opportunity to rediscover deeper, more ancient rhythms that reveal our more balanced, harmonious and connected natural selves...a first step towards living and realizing a more Ecotopian way of living and being.
We don't have to be doing or going all the time, and actually by slowing down, practicing deep awareness and observation, a way of living and being may reveal itself to us that points us in a healthy, harmonious, and vibrant way of living.
I invite you on this journey at this time, and each month (or moon) this year I will be exploring and revealing different ways to unlock these Ecotopian aspects of being for ourselves and the world around us.
Frog Snow Moon
Cascadia
Traditional Snoqualmie Territory
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