Those Luna Moths I shared yesterday were impressive, no? Here's the story... there seem to be many these days.
I have attended Squam five times- never have I seen a single Luna Moth. I have visited the woods of New Hampshire since I was thirteen, never was their a sighting of this elusive and magical creature. On Friday morning I awoke before the rest of my cabin and donned my running shoes. My first run at Squam! Jonatha Brooke was singing in my ear buds. I felt strong. I felt alive. As I found my rhythm, I thought about my lifetime search for the positive... of always reaching for the light. I allowed the shadows and darkness that had hovered over me in the last few months to flutter off my shoulders, and imagined wings growing behind me. It was a good run. To say the least. When I returned, my front door was covered with Luna Moths. Five of them! One for each visit to Squam. One for each stage of the Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell) that I planned to speak about that very night during my book talk. I dashed inside for my camera and called my cabin mates down to witness the magic and rarity of our front door guests.
The symbolism was not lost on any of us. I'm still finding my words... so last night I carved a Luna Moth. It was an initial attempt, there will be several more, I'm sure. Have you had any encounters with natural wonders lately?
I have attended Squam five times- never have I seen a single Luna Moth. I have visited the woods of New Hampshire since I was thirteen, never was their a sighting of this elusive and magical creature. On Friday morning I awoke before the rest of my cabin and donned my running shoes. My first run at Squam! Jonatha Brooke was singing in my ear buds. I felt strong. I felt alive. As I found my rhythm, I thought about my lifetime search for the positive... of always reaching for the light. I allowed the shadows and darkness that had hovered over me in the last few months to flutter off my shoulders, and imagined wings growing behind me. It was a good run. To say the least. When I returned, my front door was covered with Luna Moths. Five of them! One for each visit to Squam. One for each stage of the Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell) that I planned to speak about that very night during my book talk. I dashed inside for my camera and called my cabin mates down to witness the magic and rarity of our front door guests.
The symbolism was not lost on any of us. I'm still finding my words... so last night I carved a Luna Moth. It was an initial attempt, there will be several more, I'm sure. Have you had any encounters with natural wonders lately?
What a wonderful surprise was waiting you at thome! Lovely photos for a very special moment to be remembered. Thanks to share it with us!
ReplyDeleteOh! They are so beautiful...I have never seen one but hope they stick around Squam for the Fall session! Your print is lovely Maya...glad you are well :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. These are beautiful. My daughter's name is Emma but I call her Emmaluna or Emmalunamoth. They are our favorite and we have only seen one once, but they mean something special to us, they are fascinating and elusive and magical. Thanks again.
ReplyDeletewhen i saw your photos of them, i knew that there was something special about seeing those lunas... nature never fails to give us what we need ... to restore us and give us gifts like these!
ReplyDeletemaya, the moment i saw these lovely creatures gracing your photos i thought!
ReplyDeleteisn't your middle name maya luna? there certainly must be some symbolism there for you as well, how incredible these messages are for us that visit us through nature! blessings to you xo
I, too, saw the first luna moth of my life at Squam - fluttering around our cabin screen door at night. So beautiful!!! I am going to add an embroidered luna moth to the Squam memories banner I am making.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your beautiful photos.
*o*
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
How great is that! I saw it in your previous post but I didn't know if it was rare for you or not. I recently had a magical moment when on a school trip on mount Pelion for a moment I saw a fluff rain coming down from trees and showing on the sunrays coming through the branches. It was as if it was snowing and time stopped I could hear nothing but birds singing! I thought I was in a fairy forest!(Recently Margie showed something like this in a photo of hers on her blog!I couldn't take a photo of my occurence!)AriadnefromGreece!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite moment was finding my back garden absolutely covered in ladybirds (ladybugs) one day: every surface was red and spotty.
ReplyDeleteI beautiful post. I've never seen one in person, they are a beautiful creature I love your stamping of them too.
ReplyDeleteMaya-my whole Squam experience was one revelation after another. You are such a nurturing, encouraging teacher and it made all the difference for me - who felt so unsure of my ability to participate in your class. You are a wonder and I'm so grateful that I had the chance to spend time with you! There are so many good things ahead for you, just you wait and see! xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteI saw one for the first time last week and I had no idea what it was, I took a picture to show to my 8 year old and she explained to me it was a moth! So much for dreaming of fairies and other mythical creatures! And now thanks to you, I really know their name.
ReplyDeleteoh, maya! when i saw this i was reminded of a magical summer evening years ago at my friends' cabin on a lake in kentucky when we saw a GIANT luna moth...then i began thinking that i would love a print for my house....when, oh, when, will you perhaps, maybe, fingers-crossed, sell your prints? :)
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK we don't have anything that I can think of to match your Luna moth, but I do have a story to share regarding the magic and beauty of nature. My sister has always had an affinity with the red deer that live in Scotland where she still lives and where I used to live too.
ReplyDeleteWhen her relationship broke down she took a drive into the glen we often walked, and sat on our rock with her eyes closed. She had it in her head that if she saw just one red deer she would be ok. She sat there for an age too scared to open her eyes. When she did she was surrounded by over thirty of them.
That was a year ago and it still gives me a lump in my throat and goosebumps :)
Oh Maya! What a special gift!
ReplyDeleteThis is truly magical and beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteWow. How wonderful. And all those layers of meaning! As Lindy said, what a special gift indeed. And I love your stamp, Maya. Luna moths remind me of those beautiful chinese kites with the long tails. I just love them.
ReplyDeleteYou asked about any recent encounters with nature. Well, my friends have just become 'instant parents' to two troubled teenagers and were needing to refuel themselves with some nature, so we went on a long beach walk together. Such therapy! We found the body of a magnificent albatross. I'm still in awe of it. Those huge wings! And I read that they fly about 125,000 miles per YEAR! Wow. Talk about the ultimate travellers who weather so many storms in life.
Thank you as always Maya, for your beautiful posts.
Lucy x
www.lucypatterson.com
Hi Maya--I'm Kat, a new reader. Those Luna moths are so amazing, aren't they? I've decided that my spirit animal for the summer is a turtle. I keep seeing them, they keep coming up in conversations, and I feel connected in some way. I also just purchased 'reinvention' tonight and declared us some sort of kindred spirits! I'm always trying to salvage bits and pieces to repurpose and am so jazzed about most of the projects in your book. Thank you for sharing this with the world!
ReplyDeleteThey are so beautiful - so are your prints!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a Squam retreat was just what you needed.
Oh my! I have never seen a live luna moth. We don't have them where I live. What a thrill to see five on your cabin. So glad you shared with us. I like the Luna carving.
ReplyDeleteThis evening when I was out walking, I came upon a fox, an American Avocet, and a Willet. Lots of life!
oh maya, what a wonderful moment! That has happened to me a few times--where nature coincided with something else to produce...magic. I had lady bugs by the millions on a beach in southern france once...no camera of course, but my kids still remember our "lady bug" beach.
ReplyDeleteglad you are well.
xo
Thank you for sharing, they are simply beautiful! Eric Carl's book the very quiet cricket has a Linda moth in it that is the only one I had ever seen!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteAdel
i get goosebumps thinking about all these beautiful luna moths at squam...
ReplyDeleteand your initial attempt at carving a luna moth...gorgeous :)
I love it when nature steps in and reminds us that we are connected. I love birds I love them because they symbolize freedom for me and on my last day at my job a bird flew in through the door and landed on a chair in front of my desk. We had to help it get out side safely and we did.
ReplyDeleteWe saw one on our deck last week in the morning. My 3 year old wanted to know more. I found out that males have fuzzier antennae (like the ones in your 2 closeups) and that they are in adult form for only a week or so. They don't even have mouths. Their sole purpose as moths is to fleetingly mate and lay eggs. And to inspire.
ReplyDeleteLast week we also accidentally left the screen open in our bathroom, where we keep a small light on at night. When I woke up at 3 am, there were hundreds fireflies flitting around our open barn house. It was so magical. I woke up my daughter to see it. She immediately said, "They don't belong here. They are beautiful in their home outside." She had me shine a spotlight outside and leave the screen open so they could find their way out.
Truly beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYesterday morning we had a coyote walk though our front yard. He took the time to look at us and say hello. It was magical
ReplyDeleteYes... the Two-tailed Swallowtails that soar through the sky here in Albuquerque. they are the largest butterflies I've ever seen in nature and they stun me every time they pass through my gaze.
ReplyDeleteEncounters with natural wonders? Yes! My mother passed away a year ago to cancer. She and I were avid bird watchers (she encouraged this in me from a young age). The day I was on the phone to the funeral home pre-arranging her funeral a saw-whet owl alighted on the fence outside my kitchen window. So CUTE! I was on that phone for quite a long time arranging all the difficult details. That owl perched looking at me the entire time - even long enough for me to grab the camera afterwards and take some photos. He certainly made a difficult phone call easier. I showed the photos to my mother in hospital and she really loved them. After she died, we had a pair of catbirds visit our yard the entire summer. I had never seen catbirds in our area before, and they are a delicate, and rather tame bird. I found they liked apples after throwing some pieces out for the squirrels, and I continued to share my morning apple with the catbird pair. The day my daughter was accepted to university, a rose-breasted grosbeak visited my yard (my mother's favourite bird). I live in town, so these birds mentioned are all a bit rare in this area. I recently read that early Christians believed that birds were "messengers from heaven". I thought it very fitting that since my mother's illness and death beautiful birds have come to visit me, and their visits make me wonder ... and smile. Wendy
ReplyDeleteI used to work in a nature reserve and one morning my fellow worker was numbering our work equipment so we knew which was ours, she asked me what number I wanted to be, I said 3 (it was always my favourite number as a child), when I set off up the track I had been walking for a while when I was joined by 3 little birds called fantails (they are inquisitive and will follow you to feed on any small flying insects you may stir up). As a child I would sometimes hold a stick out and see if they would land on it - sometimes (although rarely) one would. I also tried this with an outstretched finger but had never had one land on it. While these 3 fantails were flitting and twittering along beside me I stopped and held out my finger and one of the fantails landed on it - I was thrilled. I continued on my way and once again stopped and held out my finger, again one of the 3 fantails landed. Further up the track I tried again and for the 3rd time I felt the tiny feet grip on finger tip, 3 birds 3 times, after this they left me. I once told this to someone and she said 3 would be significant for me - I now have 3 children and wonder if nature knew this all along....
ReplyDelete