It was just a few days after the brightest and biggest supermoon of the year.
But with clouds blocking the view, the telescope Theresa Rider brought to a Saturday, Nov. 8 celebration of the full moon in Langley had to remain in its storage case.
“Can’t win em all,” Rider remarked the day after the Fraser Valley Fraser Witchery Bog event at Derek Doubleday Arboretum.
“We did take a lovely night walk around the park after. Such a lovely space.”
Members of the Fraser Witchery Bog in Langley celebrate the Supermoon, also known as the full beaver moon. pic.twitter.com/BV3NZ22cbm
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) November 10, 2025
It was the group’s first full moon celebration of the year, their biggest event of the season, explained Rider, a Langley City resident who is admin for the Fraser Valley Fraser Witchery Bog Facebook page.
It is, she explained, a “very” non-denominational group for people interested in “all things metaphysical.”
“I do love the community it creates, getting to be with my sisters and brothers in the community, getting to help them heal and find that special something that comes from being with other people who believe in you and love you,” said Rider.
Rider was wearing a moon circlet for the occasion.
“I got it when I was a young lady, and I was only just getting into all things pagan and mystical,” Rider recalled. “I visited my Aunt Claudia in Miami, and we actually went out and did a lot of fun things like aura readings and going to cool stores. And she bought me this moon circlet.”
“She actually passed a few years back, and we’re actually right at the anniversary of when we spread her ashes. And so I wanted to wear the moon circlet so she could be present with us, because I know she would have just loved all of this.”
Walnut Grove resident Jessica Kendall had prepared three “spreads” of Tarot cards for the occasion.
“We’re offering just a free reading for people to try out the cards, play with the cards, get used to them,” Kendall said.
“I have been interested in this since I was a little girl. My mom brought me my first set of Tarot cards when I was in elementary school.”
Another Langley member, Melissa, who did not give her last name, created an “queer altar” on the second floor of the Derek Doubleday building “to provide inclusion and remembrance for all queer people, and anyone that is struggling or needs a safe place to come.”
“I joined the Witchery Bog a couple years ago, and Theresa and Jessica became my close friends,” Melissa said. “They really helped me with a lot of my healing and my life journey.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 5, the moon was at its brightest, considered a “supermoon,” because it looked roughly 15 per cent brighter and seven per cent bigger due to its proximity to Earth.
It is also known as the “full beaver moon” because it is said to occur at a time when beavers return to their lodges with sufficient food stores for the winter ahead.