Grandmother Moon Art Print

Grandmother Moon (Nookomis Tibik Giizis) comes from the Anishinaabeg of the northwoods in the Great Lakes region. Nookomis (‘Grandmother’) is a term of profound respect. Grandmother is the source of life and female wisdom. The term does not strictly refer to a woman who has given birth to a child who then had a child of their own. It is used respectfully to mean any elder female. And ‘elder’ in this context does not simply denote age, but refers to one who has lived well and has learned the knowledge necessary to become a full human being. To be around such grandmother is to experience warmth, understanding, and forgiveness.

Grandmother Moon is pre-eminent among the grandmothers. She teaches by her action of waxing and waning that all things come in the cycle of time. She is the chief woman who resides in the sky watching with open eyes all that her grandchildren do. She loves her grandchildren and her light is her love. To be bathed in her moonlight is to be fully blessed.

Grandmother Moon is the rhythm of tides and the fertility of women. Menses in referred to as the moontime, and in the old days women retreated to the mood lodge where together they sang and danced, honoring their grandmother. The pattern of the lunar phases guide the physical cycle of menses. When electric light did not trick the female body, women bled together and ovulated at the same time. Individual cycles were triggered by the light of the moon. In this way, Nookomis connected all women. 

The calendar of the year is a rhythmic cycle counted in moons. Unlike the pre-Roman Celtic calendar, counted from new moon to new moon, the Anishinaabeg calendar is counted from full moon to full moon. Perhaps this is because whenever Grandmother Moon turned her full face to watch her grandchildren, they looked up and noted another cycle beginning. 

Grandmother moon teaches the appropriateness of living within the cycles of time, neither forcing things to happen nor neglecting the rightful moment for them to happen. She stresses that all good things come in their own time. She teaches acceptance. Through her own cycle of changing, she teaches that change is the only constant. To keep balance amid this dynamic changing world of relationships is the challenge of the dancer engaged in the dance of life.