The Phases of Life - The Fox Moon

[TwilightWolf 883]

 

"The nights have come sooner, the winds are changing.

The lanterns in our caravan seem to change every night... Didn't we only have fifty five before?

My father went into the forest after the lights...

He has yet to return."

 

- Unknown account of a trader's mysterious encounter with the will-o'-the-wisps

 

The Ocean Moon has faded. Blistering summer days and warm sun have begun to change, and in their wake the shadows of early autumn come. In folklore of the Mother Circle, the changes seen in the final Lunar Phase of Life is celebrated with the fabled faerie spirit of trickery, Nailah. As the ambusher soul of the Wild Hunt of Cernnunos, she is depicted as a cunning nine-tailed fox, one for each of her trickster children.  The significance of Nailah's tails is that, in likeness to the number nine, she represents a cycle's completion, but not final ending. She is the moment that secures death or survival, the clock's tolling of new hour, bringer of foggy mornings for hunters to hide in, and the spirit of autumn that changes the leaves from green to gold.

 

 

Occasionally, the trickster fox faerie has been rumored to prey on those souls that fall victim to curiosity a little too easily. Tales of strange lights in the forest, numbering nine, giving the illusion of nearby adventurers. Instead, they are lured away and are mysteriously mauled by a roaming predator, or happen upon a treasure of peculiar worth. The will-o'-the-wisps are rumored to be blue flames or lanterns carried by her nine mischievous kits, leading the unlucky into a twisting maze of wilderness to be devoured by predators and guiding some towards relics or natural secrets. 

 

For the Mother Circle, Nailah's faerie tale is celebrated primarily with a masquerade gathering in which games, hunting, and feasting occur. The first harvests of fall begin after, and artisanal goods are prepared for the coming feasts of fall and winter. Talismans, jewelry, and riddles are often exchanged as a way to celebrate the entire lunar month. The final Moon of Life has made its pass, and preparations are made for the coming, harsh Moons of Decay.