It was an ancient belief that the Moon was the dwelling place of those souls
who had passed from the physical life. Old myths speak of the God, as the Sun,
crossing the sky each day and gathering the souls of all who had died during the
night. He would then carry them off to the West, and down into the Underworld.
Here they were presented to the Goddess (remember, the moon sets in the west
too) who then carried them off to the Afterlife World. Aradia called this Realm,
Luna. Today, many Wiccans refer to this concept as the Summerland.
Luna is a “place” in which the soul is renewed and revitalized. It can then
become prepared for its next incarnation, or in some cases, for its next “move”
up into the Higher Dimensions (when it no longer requires the need for the
physical dimension experiences). The Moon is connected to the cycles of
Fertility, the Tides, and to menstruation. It is not difficult to see why the
ancients then linked the Moon to the cycles of Death and rebirth.
Old legends spoke of the Moon receiving souls from the physical life, and that
the light of the moon swelled with the collective light of their spirit bodies.
As the souls returned back into the World, the light of the Moon began to wane.
The old teachings say that in Luna, there is communion with those who have gone
before us, and that “plans” are made to be reborn among those who we knew
before. In a way this also addresses the issue of “Karmic” links and
connections.
The “portal” to the Realm beyond Life, stands at the Western Quarter. This
association was established due to the fact that the Sun and the Moon
“disappear” in the West, just as we too, in our time, disappear. The association
of a body of Light and the Soul, also seem to have originated with this concept,
and the non-physical (yet physical) properties of the Sun and the Moon, as
“understood” by the Ancient Peoples.
The beliefs of a People, have a powerful impact upon the Astral material, of the
Astral Dimension. Within the Astral Plane, thoughts ARE things. So, it is here
that the Summerland, or Luna, exists.
