Few full moons are quite as beautiful as the Flower Moon. 

During ‘Flower Moon’, the fifth moon of creation, the flowers and medicines are given life and spirit and begin to bloom.  The earth reveals all its colours, textures, and shapes that reminds us of the sacredness of life and our need to protect all living things. This life-giving energy is one of the most powerful healing medicines on Mother Earth.  During flower moon, we are encouraged to explore our Spirituality.

Treaty 2: For our people, the shell of the turtle represents the body of real events, teachings and origins of the human being. In the center of the back of the turtle are thirteen sections which represent the truth of one cycle of thirteen moons in the Earth’s rotation around the sun.  Thirteen also represents the four seasons in the Earth’s cycle around the sun, plus the nine months it takes for the gestation of a human child in the mother’s womb. The scales that surround the outer edge add up to the number of days that make up the lunar cycle from full moon to full moon – 28. Each of the thirteen larger scales in the center is numbered and named, according to the seasonal activities that occur at that time. Because the region that the Anishinaabe live on is so large, the moons may not be called the same thing for all areas. Some nations have more than one name for each moon as there are so many things happening in the natural world at that time.

It’s important to remember that for the our people, the turtle is like a grandmother.  The grandmother is the power of the nation.  She represents the spirit of the people, the woman, and the land.  Like no one else, she is able to love, to nurture and to discipline the children of the nation.  We refer to the grandmothers as “beings of kindness”, who have become closest to understanding the Spirit, the land, and the teachings that comprise truth.

The Moon represents powerful feminine energy. It signifies wisdom, intuition, birth, death, reincarnation, and a spiritual connection. … The moon also represents our deepest personal needs. We can use the knowledge and energy of the Moon’s cycle to better connect to ourselves.

Submitted by Renée McGurry, Earth Lodge Development

Website: lodge.fnt2t.com