Moon, Symbols, and Mythology

My own personal symbol.

This evening I took a ride down to the beach. I wanted to clear my head. Too many thoughts. Living here does have its advantages. The beach is a great place to go to wash away your cares and to reconnect with what is important. As soon as I walked onto the beach I could feel the anxiety fading. The sound of the waves carried my troubles out to sea. When I found the stump of a previously broken palmetto tree, I had a seat, faced west, and watched the sunset.

After a while a chilly breeze began to blow in from the ocean. It felt so good. It felt good to shiver, to have to zip up my jacket. As I sat on the palmetto stump, I decided to turn around. I’m glad that I did. The moon was just beginning to rise. I’ve been listening to Joseph Campbell’s PBS special about mythology and find it absolutely fascinating how it fits into religion, personal growth, and everyday life. Symbology, it seems, is very important to us. He mentioned that symbology, in general, is important to people, but that it is more important to artists such as painters, writers, singers, musicians, dancers, etc. He didn’t specifically mention photographers, but I’m sure that we’re in there for sure.

As I watched the moon rise I thought of all of the mythologies associated with the moon. Goddesses have been attributed to it. We even have a day of the week Monday (Moon Day) attributed to it. The moon is associated with romance as well as lunacy (a type of romance?), wolves, werewolves, and a host of other symbols depending on the culture, but it seems that every culture attributes some importance to it in song, stories, and symbology. Who can forget all of the movies where when bad things happen it’s usually done under a full moon. The moon is also seen as a symbol of feminine energy, reflecting the rays of the sun. The moon also lights the way on those dark nights, helping us to find our way.

Gazing upon it, I had a feeling of great calm to wash over me. It was just great to be there. I think that this is the power, for me, of photography. It gives me a reason to be there. Not that I need a reason, but, it opens my heart to the possibilities and gets me out there to experience life, I suppose.

BTW, there’s that picture that I always take. My symbology for something as yet consciously unknown, but very familiar to my subconscious. I don’t even try to avoid it anymore. I just let it take hold of me and present itself in as many ways as it wants. Big sky, small people, moon or sun, if available. We do like symbols.