By Lynda Shadbolt

Published July 11 2017

The very almost nearly full thunder/buck moon kept me company on Saturday evening as I drove home from Orillia where I had been at the Mariposa Folk Festival all day. I was tired and very full from a day of so much music and I appreciated the quiet calm and beautiful light of the moon as I drove. It was rising and it would come into my view and then disappear and return.

I felt like I had an old friend keeping me company as I drove. It was an interesting contrast to my day where I had sat under the sun to enjoy the music. The sun was bright and energizing and warm and in many ways inspiring. I often sat with eyes closed and just felt the warmth of the sun as I listened to music from around the world. There was often a beautiful breeze off of the lake as well.
There were thousands of people at Mariposa (it was huge) and I felt like it was a massive jigsaw puzzle where everyone moved in a quiet and respectful way to get food to set up blankets and chairs for the concerts to use the washroom to fill their water bottles and play with their children. The event was a huge success. And the sun played such a big part. It would have felt very different if it had rained all day.
As I drove home in silence with the company of the moon I couldn’t help but think about how we need the power of the sun and the moon in our lives. We need the sun to rise each morning and inspire us to get up and get moving. The sun energizes us grows our food keeps us warm and is so bright. We all feel good when the sun comes out and shines. This is why the yogis started their days with sun salutations to get their bodies moving and ready for the day and to say thank you to the sun for its gifts.

And after a full day of living we need the energy of the moon. It is a quieter calmer more reflective and cooler energy. The moon invites us to slow down calm down and become restful and more introverted. The sun walks us through our day and the moon walks us to sleep. And they both do it day after day. Hafiz a Persian poet once said “Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.”
When I was in Guatemala for three weeks in the spring one of the things I loved most about the yoga retreat was that I watched the sun rise every morning and went to bed with the moon each evening. It felt like such a natural rhythm for my body.
I think that is why I like camping so much and why people must love their cottages. Our bodies and souls feel better when we are connected to these natural cycles of the day. So I always say get outside as much as you can and absorb the gifts of nature. On another note I discovered lots of new music at Mariposa this year and one of my favourites was Irish Mythen. Look her up! She is a very powerful woman!