August Full Sturgeon Moon Ceremony

Sunday August 26th,  2018

Full Sturgeon Moon

Some Native American tribes called this month's Moon the Sturgeon Moon because they knew that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon. They also called this the Full Green Corn Moon.

Different tribes had different Moon name preferences. Other examples for August are: Wheat Cut Moon (San Ildefonso, and San Juan), or "Moon When All Things Ripen" (Dakotah Sioux) or "Blueberry Moon" (Ojibway), In Jamaica this is the start of Marlin fish Season and Bird hunting season.

While meditating upon the energy of this full moon I was reminded of The Story of kacike Hatuey of Kuba.

The Legend of Hatuey

In 1511, Diego Velásquez sailed from Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) to conquer and colonize Cuba. Among his soldiers in that expedition was Hernán Cortés, who later conquered Mexico. When he arrived in Cuba, Velásquez founded the island’s first Spanish settlement at Baracoa.

Meanwhile, reports from the Indians of Hispaniola reached Cuba. Hatuey, a Taíno chief, had escaped in canoes with about four-hundred men, women and children, to warn the Cubans about what to expect from the Spaniards. He explained the need to join against their common enemy, the white men who had inflicted so much suffering on his people.

As later recorded by Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas, Hatuey showed the Cubans a basket full of gold and jewels. “Here is the God the Spaniards worship,” he said, “for these they fight and kill; for these they persecute us and that is why we have to throw them into the sea…

“They tell us, these tyrants, that they adore a God of peace and equality, and yet they usurp our land and make us their slaves. They speak to us of an immortal soul and of their eternal rewards and punishments, and yet they rob our belongings, seduce our women, violate our daughters. Incapable of matching us in valor, these cowards cover themselves with iron that our weapons cannot break…”

The Taínos of western and central Cuba could not believe the horrendous message brought by Hatuey, and few joined him.

Hatuey’s strategy against the Spaniards was to attack, guerilla fashion, and then disperse to the hills, where the Indians would regroup for the next attack. For about three months Hatuey’s tactics kept the Spaniards on the defensive, afraid to leave their fort at Baracoa.

Through a traitor, Velásquez was able to surround and capture Hatuey. On February 2, 1512, Hatuey was tied to a stake at the Spanish camp, where he was burned alive. Just before lighting the fire, a priest offered him spiritual comfort, showing him the cross and asking him to accept Jesus and go to heaven. “Are there people like you in heaven?” he asked. “There are many like me in heaven,” answered the priest. Hatuey answered that he wanted nothing to do with a God that would allow such cruelty to be unleashed in his name.

De Las Casas describes the fate of the Taínos. A village of about twenty-five hundred who welcomed the Spaniards, fed them and gave them drink, was immediately wiped out once the feast was over, “they set upon the Indians,” he wrote, “slashing, disemboweling and slaughtering them until their blood ran like a river.”

Of those sent to the mines, he said, the Spaniards “required of them tasks utterly beyond their strength, bending them to the earth with crushing burdens, harnessing them to loads which they could not drag, and with fiendish sport and mockery, hacking off their hands and feet, and mutilating their bodies in ways which will not bear description.”

Aside from being one of the first guerilla-style warriors in Cuba’s history, Hatuey is the first martyr in the struggle for Cuban independence.

This Story has many lessons but the main focus for this Moons energy is that of perseverance, faith in the presence of our higherself and acceptance that nothing is impossible for the link below shows (as we know) that Taino bloodline has persisted until today. LINK

The sturgeon is a symbol of strength and longevity to Native Americans. Like salmon, sturgeons swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds. So sturgeon have the strength to swim against the current and the ability to survive despite hard times.

This ceremony allows us to tap into this wonderful power present from August partial Lunar Eclipse full moon.

Full Sturgeon Moon Ceremony:

1. Open Sacred Space : Say a prayer to assist with setting your intentions for this practice, asking for guidance from your higher self, Great spirit, ancestors ,ascended masters , angels etc..

2. Setting Intentions :  Hold in your mind a vision of a sturgeon / salmon swimming upstream , being mindful that you are receiving the energy of this mighty guide.

What are you swimming away from ?

What are you swimming towards ?

Being conscious that the water element represents our emotions and through mastering this element no matter what external influence we can always return to our peaceful inner space.

3. Practice: @Place your hands in prayer pose over your waist pointing upwards

                   @slowly move your left hand upwards aligned with the centre of your body

  @as you do this visualise the Sturgeon swimming upstream maneuvering pass the obstacles sent down with the rushing waters.

@When your left hand has been fully extended over the top of your head slowly carry that hand around to the left of your body and back to infront of your waist pointing upwards while doing this start the same journey with your right hand (up the centre of your body).

Do This 5 Times with your visualisation (each time the right hand rises is counted as 1 cycle).

Following this continue to practice the movement while repeating the following mantra in your mind

"AS ABOVE SO BELOW, AS WITHIN SO WITHOUT".

4. Integration: Be mindful that as you raise your vibrations and take responsibility over your emotional well being the mantra will assist with bring the internal peace found out in your external experiences.

5. Gratitude: Say a prayer of gratitude for this practice, asking that it may bless you and all involved. Thanking grand mother moon and great spirit for these opportunities to tap into the heavens and bring this energy into our daily lives.

6. Close Sacred Space: Thank and release the energies you brought into this space and spend some time in silence simply gazing at the beautiful flow of this Supermoon.

Energy is present 2 days before and 2 days after Full moon so you have time to practice.