Luna Arcana Issue 1

Editor’s Note
We seek to live perpetually in the light. But out here in the desert wilds, up in the higher altitudes of the Mojave, both light and darkness are cherished. Light plays and dances, communes daily with his subjects, offering nuances of heartbreaking beauty, interspersed with the harshest of glares. Enchanting and blinding. Then darkness descends.
The desert darkness challenges us to dive deep into her, into the realms of the unseen within and without until we are conscious of no such lines of demarcation between the
two. Countless ancient stars wink at us knowingly.

Even when she is new, Luna, Queen of the Night is a palpable presence. Darkness, like breathing in, asks us to go inward, to embrace the unseen. And as Luna commands the tides and biorhythms without, so too within (within, without, what a notion! A trick of light and shadow perhaps).

As autumn approaches, the transition from the relentless heat of summer begins. We remember the unforgiving blaze of the desert sun when we retreated indoors. Summer days in the desert are an ebbing: into our homes, into ourselves, to discover those hidden places within. And as the light starts to fade, we emerge, seeking the cooling comfort of dusk and the sanctuary of nightfall’s shadows. On summer evenings, in the darkness of her new face, Luna draws us out to explore this vast kingdom of shadows that is her domain.

And when she is full, Luna lights up the dark corners of this dusty wilderness, within and without. Mysteries reveal themselves, if only for a moment, until all is hidden again. The fleeting blink of an eye.

Rohini Walker