Kaguya's Gift
First Poem Written for Crone's Cairn
Crone Stone Name: The New Moon
Date drawn: 10 December 2023
Cycle: Crone
Journey: Integration of the Masculine and the Feminine
Author’s Notes
Let the moon be your threshold, and the poem your guide.
This Crone Stone depicts a waxing crescent moon and a blooming rose—twin symbols of nature’s promise. As I read the description and sat with the stone, I reflected on cycles: the ebb and flow of life, the rhythms of rejuvenation, and the quieter question of what remains constant.
The New Moon is also associated with the Japanese myth of Kaguya, the Moon Princess from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Kaguya, embodiment of the moon’s radiant mystery, leaves behind a parting gift to the Emperor—an elixir of immortality. But immortality, like the moon, is not without its shadow.
Carol Lee Campbell, creator of the Crone Stones, notes that The New Moon signifies “a new beginning is on its way.” She pairs this message with a tender inquiry: “What loose ends are left to tie up?”
Poetry is personal—to the writer, and to the reader. What I meant when I wrote Kaguya’s Gift will land differently for each of us, and even for me, the meaning shifts with each return. My only hope is that it might settle you … or settle with you.
KAGUYA’S GIFT
Tuesday—too day.
New moon—never too soon.
Dark light—my night.
Your way. I cannot stay.
I reach for sky hoping soon,
prepared to find my new.
I’m ready for Kaguya’s gift–
embodiment of bloom.
I’m old. I’m young, by chance.
I’m crone. I’m maiden. I dance.
I follow your lead. You call.
You fly. I swoop. We fall.
Catch the beam of my new moon.
Catch the view of new.
Tuesday is today once more.
Kaguya’s gift is true.
~jlynn
I would love to hear how you connected—if you connected—with Kaguya’s Gift.
How do you ebb and flow with nature’s cycles?
Do you have loose ends that need tending?
Now that is a beautiful offering.
You’ve wrapped myth, moonlight and meaning into something that stirs the dust in a man’s bones.
As for me… I reckon I ebb and flow the way the old Marico River does...sometimes a trickle, sometimes a flood and often going underground when things get too loud. The bush teaches you that not all change is seen. Sometimes the real shifting happens in the root, not the leaf.
I’ve walked with trackers who could tell you where the moon was just by watching a kudu’s stride and I’ve sat by fires with women who spoke of seasons the way others speak of spreadsheets and deadlines, like living things.
Now, those loose ends you mention…?
Ja, I’ve got a few of those.
A letter never written...
A letter written, but never posted...
A dog never properly buried...
A friend who died whilst I was too "busy" to go to him...
A word I should’ve spoken before the person was gone...
But out here, we learn that not every end gets tied up with ribbon. Some are left loose on purpose, so the wind can catch them and carry them forward, maybe to the next story.
So thank you for this moonlit map you’ve shared.
I’ll walk with it in my pack a while.
And if Kaguya’s gift is the bloom that comes after darkness… well then, may we all be brave enough to keep blooming. Even when the light is thin.
Keep the fire lit,
Johan