Tag: moon phases

Majickal Moon, Majickal You

Published on by WitchybyAineLeave a comment
By Jessie Eastland – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81142233

Why is the moon so majickal? I think the primary reason is that we see it grow and ebb in the sky above us. While we can track the movement of the sun from rising to setting, its changes are more subtle. If you’re very observant, you’ll notice that the place it rises and sets shifts over the course of the year, and of course, the days shorten and lengthen. But the moon! She changes daily in position, rising, setting, fullness. Since humans looked up to the sky the moon has been a fascination to them.

According to Erin Dragonsong, the moon represents mystery and chaos, flow and evolution, birth and death, emotions and soul, and wisdom and majick. Until we explored her, we speculated about what the moon was made of. It was a mystery. Humans observed her changes in the sky, along with her apparent death and rebirth. If you listen closely to love songs, you’ll hear the moon referenced quite a bit more than the sun. A moon is romantic. We see partially. We see with our souls.

And then, there is majick, the kind of focus and intention setting we do according to the phase of the moon. There are many books and articles written on this topic. Our hope here is to provide an overview and help you get started.

First, then, we want to understand the kind of spell each phase of the moon calls for. The cycle begins at the New Moon, because this is a time to set goals, think about your dreams, and make plans for how to achieve them. It’s important to think about what you want rather than what you don’t want. Spells work very poorly when they’re cast as what you don’t want to happen. For example, if you’re going on a trip, you don’t want to write a spell that says, “I don’t want to get sick” or “I don’t want to get stranded somewhere.” You write a spell for good health and safe travel. Focus on the positive, not the negative.

The New Moon lasts about 3 nights, when the night sky is dark and no trace of her is to be found. During this time, be sure to write down your goals and how you expect to achieve them. Keeping records is a very good way to track what really happens instead of relying on memory. You may even want to draw or do a collage of your dream, so that you are seeing it as well as feeling it. You can also write a spell and cast it during a ritual. If you do write a spell, be sure it is specific, because what you get may not be what you intended if you are not precise. Use the New Moon to focus on what you want to achieve.

The Waxing Crescent moon follows the New Moon. If you are casting new spells, focus on positive outcomes such as friendship, health, love, or success. While focusing on your New Moon goals, remember that things are growing. Things are moving. You are moving toward your goals.

A good way to practice your majick during this time is to read your goals and plans aloud to focus them in your mind. Look at any visual representations you’ve made of them or visualize in your mind what achieving your goal would look like. Is this majick? It’s certainly one form. Other forms include using potions, charms, rituals, dancing, singing, and divination to work your will. If you’re a beginner, we suggest starting with visualization and writing of goals and plans, and continued focus on them throughout the moon cycle.

We come to the First Quarter, the half-moon. In some ways it’s the most mysterious of all, neither this nor that. The dark half tells us whether the moon is waxing or waning (dark left is waxing, dark right is waning), but at first glance it can be hard to tell. Its “neither here nor there” aspect may create doubt in you considering the things you’re working toward. It’s important to keep focused during the first quarter, to remain confident. Revisit your goals and visualization again. Say them aloud.

The Waxing Gibbous Moon promises us that the Full Moon isn’t far behind. New spells should still be focused on positive outcomes. And this is a good time to review goals and plans and adjust as you might need to. Don’t simply give up if something isn’t working exactly as planned. It’s too easy to sabotage your own success with doubt when you’re close to achieving it. The Gibbous Moon is swollen with potential. It’s a woman in her 8th month, yearning to give birth to something miraculous. You are swelling, expanding, and intensifying. Ride that increase to its conclusion.

And now the Full Moon arrives! For three days she shines upon you and your dreams. For the first of the three days, she is 99% full. The second day is 100% full, and the third is back to 99%. Although the third day could be considered a waning period, the moon is so full that we respond to her as in that phase.

This is a time to ask for almost anything. Divination, spells, and rituals are especially powerful now. It’s also a good time to charge your tools, potions, candles, etc. with the moon’s energy. Create moon water by leaving a full vessel under the moonlight. If your dreams, goals, and plans are going to manifest, you will get some hints about that around the time of the full moon. This is a good time to release negativity and any hurts that have accumulated. It will help you be clearer in setting your intentions at the New Moon. It’s also a time to express gratitude. In some moon circles, expressing gratitude is used to open or end the ritual. Writing it down makes it even stronger. Words are majickal. They create ideas that last.

Today, August 9, 2019, the moon is Waxing Gibbous phase. Use the mounting energy of the growing moon to cast spells that will increase your creativity, your intuition, your success, your courage, your love. The full moon will be here August 14-16. Be prepared to greet her and make majick in her light. Next Tuesday, we’ll talk about the energy of the waning moon and the majick that you can work during those phases. Until then, blessed be!

Shine On, Silver Moon

Published on by WitchybyAineLeave a comment
Photo by Alfredo J G A Borba – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58447865

Have you ever simply stared at the moon as she rose? The moon is magnificent when full and near the horizon. She looks larger. Often, her color is more pronounced. She commands our attention, and she gets it. When you find yourself in a place where there is little light contamination and the moon is full, you can walk easily without fearing you’ll make a misstep. You see shadows from the light it reflects from the sun. In the city, it is difficult to see how much light the moon provides for us, but step into a place where people aren’t lighting up the sky and you will be awed by the moon’s power.

One of the things we enjoy in our majickal life is the rhythm of the moon. Most pagans hold full moon rituals of some kind. Others hold new moon rituals, and still others do both. But what is so important about the moon that we would take the time to stop and do a ritual in her honor?

Since humans looked up into the sky, the movement of the moon has fascinated them. Like the sun, it gives light. As with the sun, its movement is regular and predictable. The moon takes about 27 ½ days to orbit around the earth, but the time between new moons (when the sky is dark) is about 29 days. While the sun projects light, making it a masculine force, the moon reflects light, making it a feminine force. Despite what you may have heard about the “man in the moon,” pagans know the moon as She. Some goddesses associated with the moon are Diana and Luna (Roman), Artemis, Hecate, and Selene (Greek), Cerridwen (Celtic), Chang’e (Chinese), Coyolxauhqui (Aztec), Hekate/Hecate (Greek), and Sina (Polynesian).

The moon affects us in many ways. She exerts a tug on us. Many people find it difficult to sleep when there is a full moon, even with blackout curtains. For others, the dark or new moon exerts a pull on their senses. But the regularity of her appearance, and her relationship to our bodies, particularly women’s bodies, makes her an important part of our lives.

Many things are calculated by the moon. Easter, for example, is celebrated on the Sunday that occurs on or after the first full moon after Spring Equinox. Its date moves because the moon cycles don’t directly correspond to the way we have split up the months. Planting and harvesting are often completed according to the cycles of the moon, and many societies before the current era counted time in terms of lunar, not solar cycles.

Did you know that each moon has a name? A blue moon, for example, is one that is the second full moon in a month, and a black moon references the rare occurrence when February has no full moon at all. Other moons are named according to the month in which they occur, and the type of moon affects the kind of ritual pagans choose to do. Moons that occur in the spring are our favorites: April’s Pink Moon, May’s Flower Moon, and June’s Strawberry moon.

Different phases mark the changing of the moon. This image at NASA demonstrates how the moon goes to full and back to dark. It’s interesting that while many languages read from left to right, the moon goes from dark to full by filling in from right to left. Perhaps that’s another thing that makes the moon so fascinating for us.

Pagans group the phases together as Dark Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter (when there’s a half-moon showing), Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter (another half-moon on the opposite side), and Waning Crescent. At Awen’s Cauldron, we do our majick based on the phase of the moon. We find the power of the full moon to be best in charging the bath salts, tea, and other items included in our ritual boxes.

On this day, Tuesday, August 6, 2019, the moon is in her Waxing Crescent phase, growing toward full. This is a good time to do majick that calls on something to increase. If you want to lose weight, for example, you’d cast a spell to increase your willpower. But if you want to decrease your appetite, the Waning Moon would be better as spells cast during a waning moon are better centered on pushing things away. The New Moon is a good time to set intentions for yourself, while the Full Moon is a time to see how those intentions have borne fruit. Although some pagans avoid majickal workings at the Dark Moon, it can be a powerful time. Some say that the Dark Moon is when She is showing her true face to us, without reflecting another’s light, so it is a good time for introspection and reflection, focusing on one’s own needs and thinking ahead.

There’s no one way to celebrate the phases of the moon. But if you want to start living a majickal life, the simplest way to do it is to mark the phases of the moon. Get a calendar that shows when each phase is. When the moon is visible, take some time to step outside and be with her. You will feel the majick in the air, beckoning you to join. Look upon her and be at peace.