Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, and Buttery Spirits

Sky Will Feed My Heart, ACEO by Carapace.*

February is the month of the Snow Moon and the Hunger Moon. Snow and Hunger often went hand-in-hand in the old days. You had to get through the winter relying largely upon preserved foods that you'd set aside during the warmer months, and if the snowy days stretched on, your stores could dwindle down. It's a scary thought, isn't it? These days, most of us take food for granted. If there's nothing in the pantry, we either go down to the store or even treat ourselves to a meal out at the restaurant. We rarely have to think about rationing our food stores, stretching them out until warmer days return.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. The Hunger Moon made me think of Buttery Spirits. These gluttonous faeries eat and eat and eat, but they can only eat ill-gotten or misappropriated food. For instance, an innkeeper who tries to grow wealthy by serving his patrons only the nastiest meat and watered-down drinks may attract such a spirit to his cellar. The implication is not that the faerie is there specifically to teach the innkeeper a lesson, only to gorge itself on the only food it is allowed. Any moral revelations and changes of heart are purely incidental.

It's interesting that the Buttery Spirit does not act out of morality, because faeries are often described as having their own peculiar set of morals -- some of which match up with the traditional Christian values, others which are quite different. They're said to hate lazy and churlish maids, they hate to be spied on, and they often react strangely to gifts. Of course, we won't even get into their habits of abducting babies or beautiful women and leaving changelings in their place. That would be too far of a digression from the topic at hand.

I gave The Hungriest Pixie Ever a light-hearted description, but I could also have played her up as a relative of the Buttery Spirit. Perhaps the owner of the pomegranate tree sells only the nasty, over-ripe fruit, keeping the must luscious ones for himself. Disgusted by his greed, faeries descend upon his tree and devour the best fruits, leaving behind nothing but husks.

As for the Snow Moon, I have nothing more to say about that. Snow and I are not good friends.

Exciting clicky links for related blogginess:
Snow Moon, Hunger Moon on the official FAE Team blog.
The Snow Moon on Mermaiden Creations in the Otherworld.

*Not actually an ACEO. For some reason I thought it was.