Welcome to Brown Girl Bloom's series of African folk tales to guide you into a peaceful sleep.
I invite you to create an environment that supports you in feeling more calm and relaxed.
You can dim or turn off your light,
Snuggle underneath your favorite blanket,
Or whatever brings you a deep sense of peace.
Welcome this time of slowing down as you prepare to rest.
Feel free to press pause until you're completely ready to go to sleep.
Now that you're comfortable,
Join me in taking in three deep breaths to release any tension that you may still be carrying with you from the day or the week.
This is your time to allow all of your worries and thoughts to gently drift away with each breath.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
And follow the natural flow of your breath.
Enjoy this story,
And may you have the most blissful night's rest this evening.
Be well.
Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes,
A Nigerian folktale There was once an old woman who was very poor,
And lived in a small mud hut,
Thatched with mats made from the leaves of the tumble bomb in the bush.
She was often very hungry,
As there was no one to look after her.
In the olden days,
The moon used to often come down to the earth,
Although she lived most of the time in the sky.
The moon was a fat woman with the skin of hide,
And she was full of fat meat.
She was quite round,
And in the night used to give plenty of light.
The moon was sorry for the poor starving old woman,
So she came to her and said,
You may cut some of my meat away for your food.
This the old woman did every evening,
And the moon got smaller and smaller,
Until you could scarcely see her at all.
Of course,
This made her give very little light,
And all the people began to grumble in consequence,
And to ask why it was that the moon was getting so thin.
At last,
The people went to the old woman's house,
Where there happened to be a little girl sleeping.
She had been there for some little time,
And had seen the moon come down every evening,
And the old woman go out with her knife,
And carve her daily supply of meat out of the moon.
As she was very frightened,
She told the people all about it,
So they determined to set a watch on the movements of the old woman.
That very night the moon came down as usual,
And the old woman went out with her knife and basket to get her food.
But before she could carve any meat,
All the people rushed out shouting,
And the moon was so frightened that she went back again into the sky,
And never came down again to the earth.
Ever since that time,
The moon has hidden herself most of the day,
As she was so frightened,
And she still gets very thin once a month.
But later on she gets fat again,
And when she is quite fat,
She gives plenty of light all the night.
But this does not last very long,
And she begins to get thinner and thinner,
In the same way as she did when the old woman was carving her meat from her.
If you feel yourself starting to fall asleep,
Feel free to float away into a peaceful rest.
If you're still awake,
Feel free to listen to another story.
Be well.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
God Bless.
