feelings and the moon

In from my (short) run, taking advantage of the gap in the rain. Today it has been uneven, with squalls interspersed with periods of moist calm, as now.

My mind is torn, or anyway tugged, in various directions. I lay awake in the dark after 3:30 this morning, troubled by thoughts and feelings. The night is definitely a more emotional time. I might have the same thoughts during the day, but they do not arouse the same emotional response. No doubt there are physiological and psychological reasons for that: low biorhythms, the activity of the brain focused in different regions related to dreaming, and so on. In the ancient world it was all summed up by saying that the night was ruled by the Moon, visible sign of the Great Goddess, and she ruled the feelings.

Graves referred to the White Goddess in his books--the shining white of the Moon. But of course the Moon is not only white; it is black too--as now, during the new Moon. Makes me think of something I read about the Tao in one of the books lying around the apartment on 12th Avenue back when I was 21: "Neither speech nor silence is enough to express the Tao."

Neither speech nor silence is enough to express the Moon.

I've just sat here for several minutes staring at the screen after writing that last sentence. Mentally becalmed. Might as well go and do up some dishes, and move on to the reading course.

Reading, yes: I heartily recommend it.