XPost: uk.local.scot-highlands, uk.local.glasgow, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian
XPost: alt.religion.christian.episcopal, alt.religion.christian

I posted this to alt.religion.islam a little while ago and thought
it might be of interest to these groups as well, particularly
regarding the Scottish Christian folklore mention.

According to my Oxfam calendar, Ramadan started at sundown.

Actually I think my Oxfam calendar says it started at
sundown since the calendar’s lunar phases are
calculated in western North America, and google
says that Ramadan starts at sundown tomorrow (April 13)
this year. It is supposed to be the first sighting off
the waxing crescent. This year, coincidentally,
Vaisakhi is also on April 13 (it is usually on April 13 or 14
but the coincidence is with the first waxing crescent
and the start of Ramadan).

The Silver Bough thumb

Once in 1997 I thumbed at random a book on Scottish
folklore called The Silver Bough Vol. 1 by F. Marian McNeill. It
came out to a page with this poem on it, which oops of
uk.religion.pagan told me is of Christian origin:

Ri faicinn domh na gealaich uir,
Is duth domh mo shuil a thogail.
Is duth domh ma ghlun a leagail,
Is duth domh mo cheann a bhogadh,

Toir cliu dhuit fein, a re nan iul,
Gum faca mi thu a rithist,
Gum faca mi a ghealach ur,
Ailleagan iuil na slighe.

Is iomadh neach a chaidh a null
Eadar uine an da ghealaich,
Ged tha mise a' mealtainn fuinn,
A re nan re 's nam beannachd!

which translates as:

When I see the new moon,
It becomes me to lift mine eye,
It becomes me to bend my knee,
It becomes me to bow my head.

Giving thee praise, thou moon of guidance,
That I have seen thee again,
That I have seen the new moon,
The lovely leader of the way.

Many a one has passed beyond
In the time between the two moons,
Though I am still enjoying earth,
Thou moon of moons and of blessings!

In the above, by new moon the author means
the first sighting of the waxing crescent, which
I think here at the farthest east of North America
would be at the earliest tomorrow (April 13) evening,
though we have a stalled low pressure system
with a cloudy forecast for many days from now.

However I guess this means I am starting my
Sisyphean moon rock rolling up the hill
once again. But I am hoping for the
blessings soon, including immunity to infection
by SARS-CoV-2 for those not yet infected,
and healing for those who are infected, though
that is less certain for worse than minor criminal
who are not following their healing circle prescription.

--
David Dalton dalton@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page) https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page) “But you come around in your time/Speaking of fabulous places,
create an oasis/Dries up as soon as you're gone" (Sarah McLachlan)

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