Before the moon rises, set up an altar in the middle of your space with an image of the Moon Hare, surrounded by 13 moon cakes, the fruit, and any other symbols that represent the moon, like pearls, dimes, abalone shells, mirrors, water, tarot cards representing the Moon. You may want to decorate your space with lanterns.

When I celebrate with my women friends, we gather shortly before sunset, set up the altar and then worship the Moon silently as she comes up. We draw her down into our bodies, using the posture of drawing down the moon, arms open wide and held up above our heads. When we are bathed in her silvery rays, we usually sing “Neesa,” a Native American song in honor of the moon, found in Kate Marks’ book Circle of Song. This is followed by the reciting of the poems and readings we’ve brought to honor her.

I always bring a large blue bowl, which we fill with water and use to catch the reflection of the moon. Drinking the water brings the power of the moon into our bodies. There is also a cake to enjoy, Mooncake.

Then we sit down and feast on the moon foods and talk about our experiences with the moon over the years. I’ve found that most women have great stories about feeling a special connection with the Moon. As a child I always watched for her and felt that she was communicating privately with me. My most recent encounter with the Moon was during a sweat lodge under a full moon. When I lay in the meadow, naked, between the two sweats, the moon danced above me and then swooped down into my body. It was an ecstatic experience.

Festival moon cakes is a special festival. Let’s celebrate it with someone we love.

Our ritual usually closes with another singing of “Neesa,” which works beautifully in rounds (most appropriate for the moon).

Source : http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/celmidaut.html

With the Mid Autumn Festival comes closer, residents mull purchasing cakes, though suspicions concerning quality are running high MOONcakes are back. Xiao Zhang will have to eat many pieces of mooncake for breakfast and even dinner.

The cakes, mostly gifts from friends of his parents, have become his main course meals over the last few weeks.

Although Shanghainese like sweet food, mooncakes seem to have lost their charm.

“It’s too sweet and the fillings have been the same for many years,” said a taxi-driver of Dazhong Company. “I never eat them but send them to friends and relatives.”

Maybe mooncake producers have heard those consumer complaints and racked their brains to create a greater variety.

Shark’s fin, edible bird’s nest and ice-cream have been put into the fillings for mooncakes, a novel idea but not cheap. Even Starbucks has joined the competition, selling coffee mooncakes.

Shark’s fin mooncakes are priced at about 1,200 yuan ($145) per box, equal to the monthly wage of an ordinary worker in the city.

“It’s too expensive. Every year I bought a box for about 60 yuan ($7.3) if my child wanted to eat some,” the taxi driver said.

However, the high-priced cakes became a hit in the market and were soon sold out.

Shanghai Xinghualou (Group) Company, which produces about half of the mooncakes sold locally every year, sold 500 boxes of classic mooncakes. They were made by the unique mooncake plan approved by China’s government to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the company.

At 1,288 yuan ($156) per box, they were sold within days. The fillings included abalone, shark’s fin and pearl powder.

Shanghai JC Mandarin sold more than 200 boxes of precious fillings in the past month.

The shark’s fin was first stewed for hours in sugar water. After it dried, chefs mixed in some ham slices, various nuts and preserved fruits.

“It’s totally a new creation and the prime cost of one piece is about 60 yuan ($7.2),” said Feng Mingzhang, executive chef of the hotel, who is originally from Hong Kong. He said that he never seen such mooncakes in Hong Kong and they are unique to Shanghai.

In the opinion of a nutrition professor from the Shanghai Second Medical University, Cai Meiqin, mooncakes are not healthy.

“Mooncakes contain large amounts of sugar and fat. The new fillings of precious ingredients are only a selling point and I doubt how much shark’s fin or bird’s nest they contain,” Cai said.

Nevertheless, Shanghai residents rush to shops to buy boxes of mooncakes as gifts.

Scalpers can be seen standing outside supermarkets and department stores to buy and sell mooncake coupons at discounted prices.

Mooncake from Xinghualou are hard to buy, so shoppers should purchase coupons several weeks ahead in order to guarantee having mooncakes in time for the festival.

“Our sales turnover has surpassed 200 million yuan ($24 million) this year,” said Yao Jiankang, an official of the Xinghualou Company.

While Xinghualou was glad to see its sales rising annually, its counterpart – Shanghai Guanshengyuan (Group) Company – stopped production of mooncakes on September 14, due to the scandal at Nanjing Guanshengyuan over its use of inferior and outdated mooncake fillings.

As a result, sales are expected to slump 50 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Although the two companies sell the same brand, they have separate operations. The State Bureau of Quality and Quarantine said that products made by the Shanghai company were of high quality, but consumers in Fuzhou, Wuhan, Shijiazhuang, Shandong and Beijing still cancelled their orders.

In the 1980s, Guanshengyuan, an older brand, authorized about 10 enterprises in various cities throughout the country to use the brand.

Problems arising from the use of leftover fillings have troubled consumers over the last few years.

“Actually, we produced according to the orders, and few were left every year. Even so, we would give them to our employees as festival moon cakes gifts,” said Chai Zukang, an official with the Shanghai Guanshengyuan. The company resumed production on September 17.

Source : http://chinesefood.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=chinesefood&cdn=food&tm=3&f=21&su=p284.9.336.ip_p830.4.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&st=26&zu=http%3A//app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2001/0920/fo7-1.html

We hold Lantern festivals, fairs and moon-gazing activities to rejoice with our families and children. Other than mooncakes, lanterns are also an essential feature of a Mooncake festival. As the name clearly indicates, this enchantingly matchless festival is abundant with colorful and vibrant lanterns made of paper. Available both for sale and for display they present an alluring sight. These lanterns are of different shapes, sizes and colors ranging from square, cubical, oblong, round, quadruped to animal shaped lanterns.

Exclusively crafted lanterns according to different human shapes which may symbolize gods and goddesses are indeed a clear and daring proof of the creativeness and speak of the skill and devotion involved in these celebrations.

Lanterns bearing stories from the past are also made and displayed. This impressive variety however is somewhat more expensive and is usually covered in white silk or gauze.

Apart from the captivating display of collection of bright and beauteous lanterns, we also pay special attention to decorating our homes with pretty vases that are adorned with fragrant and colorful flowers to mark the start of spring, happiness and prosperity. As the evening approaches, beautiful lanterns of all shapes and sizes are carried by the children and this act indeed adds to the brilliance of the event. These lanterns present an exquisite and spectacular sight.

Source : http://www.themooncake.com/lantern.html

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival, Festival moon cakes