In Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, Shange establishes a close connection between the moon and the concepts of both mystical womanhood and Blackness. These moon-related concepts converge in Indigo’s character. The repeated image of “a moon falling from her mouth” helps designate Indigo as a member of a special group of Black women who know “[their] magic, who can share or not share [their] powers” (Shange 1). Through repeated references to the moon, we come to understand how mystical womanhood and Blackness interact.
The moon is traditionally associated with femininity and natural cycles and phases. These associations are especially relevant in the scene where Indigo has her first period, which indirectly solidifies her association to the moon as we see Indigo experiencing the feminine cycle for the first time and transitioning into a newer, more mature phase in her life—womanhood. Indigo is clearly connected to nature in a way that most people in her community are not, and despite the power that comes with her supernatural qualities, she is ostracized by her community for being “different.” Because of the moon in her mouth, Indigo “seldom spoke,” yet it “kept her laughing” (Shange 1), supporting the idea that many people in her community find her strange; she has a hard time communicating with others and seems to exist in her own world where only nature truly understands her. In the scene at the pharmacy that introduces Indigo to the threat of womanhood, Mr. Lucas observes in Indigo “an irreverence, an insolence, like the bitch thought she owned the moon” (Shange 25). Indigo’s feminine ownership of the moon is off-putting to some, but her transition to womanhood has an undeniably mystical quality. When the moon is in her mouth, it seems to inhibit her ability to communicate with others, yet it infuses her with a feminine magic that makes her unique and powerful.
Indigo also repeatedly references the moon in relation to Blackness, listing “Access to the moon” first on a list of things “she thought the black people needed” (Shange 2-3). On page 3, Indigo provides detailed instructions for moon travel in Moon Journeys and Alternative Modes of Moon Journeys. Though she acknowledges that “not all black people wanted to go to the moon,” those that did threw “marvelous parties…in the very spots the white people put flags” (Shange 3). All actual voyages to the moon thus far have been made by white male astronauts, so Shange is flipping this notion by expressing Indigo’s desire to claim it for Black people, perhaps even women in particular given the tight relation between the moon and femininity, and Aunt Haydee being the other main proponent of moon travel. Indigo recognizes that the world she lives in does not provide her and other members of the Black community who wish to express themselves the space to fully embrace, explore, and celebrate their Blackness; therefore, the moon represents uninhabited opportunity, an escape from a white-dominated world. The moon is a beacon of light and beauty, and despite its high visibility at night, people often aren’t awake to see it in all its glory. Similarly, Blackness and all of its splendor is often overlooked or repressed by the white community. Indigo desires access to the moon to create a space that is her own, where she is free not only of racial constraints, but of gender and other social constraints as well. The moon represents an idealized version of both femininity and Blackness for Indigo, and when it falls from her mouth, she leaves behind traces of mystical femininity and invites members of the Black community to join her in her voyage to freedom.
Questions:
- How do you interpret the phrase “a moon falling from her mouth?” Are all women capable of experiencing this?
- What do you make of minor (but likely important) distinctions between “a” moon / “the” moon, and moon “in” mouth / “falling from” mouth?