A photo of a piece by Jessi Eoin; the art is an inked illustration showing a fat cis woman sitting on the moon's surface with one hand resting on the surface while the other is extended into space. Her pale hair floats behind her in a wave as she smiles serenely with her eyes closed. She has a huge number of stretch marks across her belly, thighs, and arm, and her feet dangle over the moon she sits on. Also visible are small stars in the chaotic looking black background which has been drawn with tiny circular motions to give it an energetic feeling. The photo is stylized with a wooden background and with dried pink flowers and loose, matching petals to the left and top of the piece.

Full Moon, Flower Moon

May 15, 2018 /

It’s probably ironic that living in Brooklyn has given me my deepest connection yet to nature, especially since I grew up in suburban and rural areas as a child and spent a huge amount of time outdoors. But I think it’s one of those things that you take for granted until you don’t have it. While I may have taken it for granted in my early years, I’ve still always loved nature and found a spiritual connection to it, even as a child. I was always collecting bits of pretty rocks, feathers, leaves, and so on, playing with wild and domestic animals alike, and catching (and releasing) insects. Even with the first digital camera I ever got, almost every photo was of a plant or tree I found interesting– and hardly any people. lol

In recent years, I’ve been trying to nurture that spiritual connection and calling myself a pagan as a beginner’s title. I feel that giving a thing a name can sometimes help you to better understand a thing (ironic, given my lack of talent in that area lol), which is why I’ve tentatively claimed pagan as a descriptor to help others understand my feelings, although it’s still not quite right.

A behind the scenes photo of the photographing of the piece called 'No. 16 - Full Moon.' There is a Canon EOS 50D digital camera on a tripod pointing downward at the piece as it rests on a wooden square with a bunch of dried pink flowers next to it. On the camera's preview screen, a preview of the shot is visible.

As a tentative pagan and stranded naturalist (hmm, maybe that could be a name to try out), I try to remind myself to connect to the earth and the universe as much as I can. I’m not great at it, but it still brings me peace and happiness and a sense of balance that I find lacking in daily life without it.

One of the things I like to keep an eye on is the moon and its cycles; luckily, my living room window makes that pretty simple to do. I find the moon and its power over the earth and our lives to be incredible. It’s no wonder, really, that so many ancient people worshipped it as a goddess and considered it sacred, and it’s nice to see it still being revered today in so many cultures.

In two weeks it’ll be another full moon, and I really like one of the names of this month’s full moon: the Flower Moon. Seems apt with all the gorgeous flower and plant growth going on outside. Apt, too, that I coincidentally shot this particular piece (titled ‘No. 16 – Full Moon’) using dried flowers. lol

A photo of a piece by Jessi Eoin; the art is an inked illustration showing a fat woman sitting on the moon's surface with one hand resting on the surface while the other is extended into space. Her pale hair floats behind her in a wave as she smiles serenely with her eyes closed. She has a huge number of stretch marks across her belly, thighs, and arm, and her feet dangle over the moon she sits on. Also visible are small stars in the chaotic looking black background which has been drawn with tiny circular motions to give it an energetic feeling. The photo is stylized with a wooden background and with dried pink flowers and loose, matching petals to the left and top of the piece.

While I may not feel the presence of a literal god or goddess in existence, it’s easy for me to imagine the spirit of the moon as a feminine one for the same reasons the ancients so often did. She controls our water which helped give birth to life on our planet; she nurtures our world’s balance by maintaining that life like no other moon in our solar system does; she influences our weather; she has regular cycles much like so many animals do; and she guides creatures in the dark to paths that keep us all alive while she watches.

So that’s how I imagined this piece: a full, round feminine presence watching over us as she floats tethered in space. Her skin bears scars like the moon’s surface, reflecting the scars often found on mothers and parents with wombs after carrying life within themselves for so long. She’s soft, but you can also tell that she’s strong and in control of her fate by the way she carries herself and the serene look on her face.

I’m really pleased with the way she turned out, and I’m happy to share her with you in anticipation of the upcoming Flower Moon.

Do you have any special connection to the moon? How do you celebrate its influence in your life?

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