Moon Phases and Rituals
The moon teaches us about change in a relational way. The moon does not shed parts of herself, nor grow bigger. Rather it's our relationship with the sun and the moon that gives us the glimpse from where we are when we see her.
Through her various faces and phases, the Moon guides us through the mysteries of life and helps us understand that life is in constant motion.
Every month the moon will transition through phases depending on the amount of surface exposed to the sun’s light. For example, a full moon is seen when the whole moon is illuminated by the sun, whereas the quarter moon is when only the right hand side of the moon is illuminated.
In ancient times, the moon was a mystical energy that people knew very little about, so myths and legends about this bright night time orb were created
Ritual for Manifestation
Pre ritual
Write your intensions, wishes
The first step in giving your new moon intentions momentum is to declare them. This may be done verbally, though many people find it best to write them down. This concretes the wish and gives you something to look at in the coming days and weeks. This list can also morph as your intentions are realized or evolve.
Ritual
North (holds up the container of salt and says)
"Blessed be, Creatures of Earth; let all malignity and hindrance be cast forth hence, and let all good enter here in
West (raises the cup/bowl of water, and says)
"Blessed be, Creature of Water, wash away all impurities and uncleanliness
North puts three pinches of salt into the cup/bowl of water as it is held by West and says:
"As water purifies the body, salt purifies the spirit."
North Starting in the east, sprinkle saltwater around the circle's perimeter in a deosil direction, east to south to west to north.
Participants may again pass the salt water around clockwise to purify themselves by sprinkling it on themselves.
Calling directions: Everyone:
"Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Harken to this rhyme I say.
Four points of the Circle, weave the spell,
East, South, West, North, your tale tell.
East is for pale break of day,
South is red for noon's fiery hour,
In the West is twilight grey,
And North is grounded, for the place of power.
Three times round the Circle's cast.
Great ones, spirits from the past,
Witness it and guard it fast."
Leader then takes the athame and traces the Circle in the air around the perimeter. While drawing the Circle, everyone should visualize the power flowing into the Circle from off the end of the sword, creating a circle of blue-white flame. Moving deosil, the leader says:
"I conjure this Circle of Power to be a place of love and joy; a boundary between the worlds that shall contain and direct the power that within. The circle is cast.
Calling the moon to center: Hands straight in the air, draw the moon to you, feel your fingertips icy cold as you reach for the edges of her silvery glow, feel her mysterious presence flow into you like water.
Center:
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbor quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.
The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.
I have some dreams and wishes to say
To become as you dance
And turn your face
She hides under the cloak of sky yet she is ever here,
following us round and round,
she dances her sky waltz.
I call the silver lady, the mover of oceans, companion to lovers, blue, harvest or strawberry moon,
we draw her down,
Grow my lady
with you, my dreams
Calling to the Moon:
East: With how sad steps, O moon, thou climb’st the skies;
How silently, and with how wan a face.
What, may it be that even in heavenly place
That busy archer his sharp arrows tries?
Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes
Can judge of love, thou feel’st a lover’s case;
I read it in thy looks; thy languished grace
To me, that feel the like, thy state descries.
Then, even of fellowship, O moon, tell me,
(Sir Philip Sidne)
South: Thou silver deity of secret night,
Direct my footsteps through the woodland shade;
Thou conscious witness of unknown delight,
The Lover's guardian, and the Muse's aid!
By thy pale beams I solitary rove,
To thee my tender grief confide;
Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove,
My friend, my goddess, and my guide.
E'en thee, fair queen, from thy amazing height,
The charms of young Endymion drew;
Veil'd with the mantle of concealing night;
With all thy greatness and thy coldness too.
(Lady Mary Wortley Montagu)
West Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?
(Percy Bysshe Shelley}
North:
Press'd by the Moon, mute arbitress of tides,
While the loud stars with power combines,
The sea no more its swelling surge confines,
But o'er the shrinking land sublimely rides.
With shells and sea-weed mingled, on the shore
Lo! their bones whiten in the frequent wave;
But vain to them the winds and waters rave;
They hear the warring elements no more:
While I am doom'd by life's long storm opprest,
To gaze with envy on their gloomy rest.
(sonnet XLIV: Press'd by the Moon by Charlotte Smith)
Renewal and Manifestation
Leader: Rededicate Your New Moon Intentions
Each month, as the new moon returns, be sure to rededicate your intentions by renewing your list at a repeated ritual. This is accomplished by rewriting your list out using a fresh sheet of paper. Disregard any items that no longer feed your soul and add new things which will.
Wisper what you want quietly if you prefer privacy, capture the words in your hands and release them up into the air to be whispered through the night to the moon.
Closing
Farewell directions: Everyone:
"Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Harken to this rhyme I say.
Four points of the Circle, wove a spell,
East, South, West, North, all be well.
East takes our wish on the wind,
South our passion, the fire within
Flowing to the west to become,
And North is grounded, for the place of power.
We unwind the circle cast.
Great ones, spirits from the past,
Help make our magic last
Our circle is open
But never broken”
New Moon Magic
Make Moon Water
Moon water is water that has been charged with the energies of the moon. It is a popular way to charge water to be used during a ceremony or spell working or to brew magical potions and may be used for anything you are directed to use water for. New Moon Water – Spells that focus on new beginnings, new employment opportunities, and new relationships are best served using this water. If you open a new business or take a new job and want to encourage success, use New Moon Water with spells for these purposes to give them and extra boost of energy. Planting a new garden or tree? Use an ounce of New Moon Water with the water you soak the plants in with to help them thrive. When moving into a new home, add an ounce or two to the water you initially cleanse the house with, in blessings and consecrations of the new home. Every spell related to a new proposition, prospect or beginning benefits from the addition of this water. The crafting process for these waters is excessively easy. Simply fill a jar with water, add any stones, metals, herbs, etc, you wish to infuse into the water as well and close the jar lid tightly. For moon waters, take it outside after the sun has set in your area. Personally, I prefer to invert the jar to get the maximum coverage surface. Leave it outside in an area that is clear of brush, trees, and buildings so the moon has an opportunity to shine down upon the jar. Granted the actual light of the moon is not crucial (cloudy nights will still charge the water sufficiently for your use) but it gives the water a clearer taste. Simply remember to bring it in before sunup the next morning. Solar water is the exact opposite, of course, take the jar out after the sun has risen and bring it in before it sets. As I said, very simple indeed, any witch can do it!
CLEANSE & SMUDGE
Releasing and clearing are powerful practices to employ during the New Moon. This removes any built up negativity that has accumulated and cleanses the environment and the self for what we are going to have flowing into our lives in the next cycle.
A simple clearing blessing can be used with any type of sacred smoke or cleansing method including cedar, sweet grass, sage or herb smoke, oil sprays, or salt. You can apply this to your room, outdoors, or yourself.
INTENTIONS
Write down all of your wishes, dreams, intentions, and desires. Be as specific as you can. Read your list aloud. You can go outside beneath the sky or you can light a candle inside in offering. Give thanks to the Universe and the Goddess (or your chosen dedication) for hearing your truth.
Read as often as you are called until the Full Moon and then release the energy in sacred fire trusting in it coming into your life. You can do this practice with each New Moon. Some people choose to journal them and keep the instead of burning them. Do the practice whichever way you are called.
SACRED NEW MOON BATH RITUAL
* Set New Moon intentions in your New Moon Journal
* Run a sacred bath
* Add salts, essential oils, herbs or flower petals
* Create sacred altar space with candles, crystals or statues
* Enter the bath and visualize a renewal of your energy
* You can draw even more nourishing energy with an affirmation:
“I am renewed with this New Moon. I am replenished. I am open to new beginnings.”
The New Moon brings us the energy of beginnings and is a cosmic refresher. It is a time to leave the past behind and immerse yourself in the energy of rebirth. Open yourself to abundance and possibility unfolding in your life.
NEW MOON CHECKS
This is a powerful and potent simple ritual for manifesting abundance and prosperity to your life using the energy of the New Moon each month.
New Moon checks are created within 24 hours after the New Moon each month. This harnesses the creative potential that occurs during this powerful time when we seed what we desire into the Universe.
This is a powerful and potent simple ritual for manifesting abundance and prosperity to your life using the energy of the New Moon each month.
Be grateful for the prosperity and abundance into your life. Keep yourself open to the unfolding.
During the powerful time that occurs within 24 hours after the New Moon, create abundance and prosperity checks. Where it says “Pay to” write your name. In the box write “paid in full”. Where you would write a dollar amount write “paid in full”. If you wish to ask for a certain amount, you can place it in here. Sign the checks with “The Law of Abundance” and include “thank you” under.
You can choose to leave the date blank or you can put a date on it if you wish to see when the abundance will come to you.
Add affirmations to your New Moon Check writing ritual to create even more attraction to abundance:
“I am open to abundance.” “I am deserving of prosperity.”
“I am open to the ways that abundance manifest into my life.”
“I am thankful for the blessings and prosperity on their way into my life.”
“I am thankful for the abundance in my life and welcome more.”
Use crystals that attract abundance and prosperity if you are called. Citrine, green aventurine, tiger’s eye, jade, or sunstone are powerful prosperity crystals.
Light a green candle dedicated to prosperity and abundance. This can be your very own dedicated candle you use each month for your New Moon Checks or have some smaller ones that you use each month. You can even anoint it with an abundance oil. Ginger, Patchouli and Bergamot are powerful prosperity drawing oils that can be used to anoint your candle and your New Moon Check!
You can call upon the Goddess of Abundance Lakshmi to be present with you and work your prosperity ritual. Offer a blessing to her and to her showering of golden blessings into your life.
Place your New Moon Check in a safe and sacred place. A dedicated abundance altar would be perfect. Release control of how and when the abundance will flow to you. Be open and let the Universe take care of the details.
If you choose you can “release” this energy on the next Full Moon by burning it in sacred fire, or by any other means that you are able. Be sure to be present with gratitude for the abundance in your life presently and offer deep thanks as your check is being released. Be Open and allow.
GIVE THANKS
As we open to the possibility of what is coming into our lives, this is a good time to offer thanks for all that has come in the last cycle. You can offer thanks to the Universe, to the deities or guides you work with, to your spirit animals, or anyone you want to give a special thanks to during this powerful time.
You can leave out an offering of your choosing somewhere outside like a piece of bread, some flowers, a crystal and say a few words of thanks such as:
“I give thanks with open arms
For all that there has been
I open still for all that flows
And comes from the unseen.”
NEW MOON MANTRAS & AFFIRMATIONS
New Moon affirmations are potent phrases of intent which you can use to anchor your work during the New Moon. You can say them as a blessing, during your intentions, while you are giving thanks or just on their own as a little mini ritual.
You can light a candle before you say them and then speak the ones that resonate with you or you can create your own as you are called. Some people choose to write them down and then burn them when they are finished, some people keep them in a sacred spot like an altar or vision board in reminder and to strengthen their intent and so they can repeat them when they need to reaffirm.
“I am reborn with this New Moon”
“I embrace the new beginnings opening to me this New Moon”
“I am open to the unfolding path and synchronicity that flow into my world”
“I let go of what is no longer serving me and open to what is”
“I am open to receive”
“I am wholly rooted in my truth”
Moon Notebook
Start a Moon Journal and on the new moon write what you wish to manifest. Draw pictures include newspaper clippings, magazine pictures. Make it like a scrapbook.
During the month, when an item on your new moon list comes to you, do not merely cross it off of your list. Take the time to rewrite the list in its entirety and eliminate the manifested item from the listing. Revising your master list in this way allows you to refocus on the intentions you have not realized while re-examining those that remain.
At the same time, add whatever else you have decided you would like. Feel free to reword any of the original phrases to better suit your life as it is now. It is natural that your desires will change as time advances.
On your paper write the date on the first page. Write down an affirmation statement such as, "I accept these things or something better into my life now for my highest good and for the highest good of all concerned."
Below this affirmation, begin writing down your desires. Your list may consist of a single item or you may fill several pages. Try not to limit yourself. If having many things in your life helps to fulfill you, then don't deny yourself these desires.
During the ritual, you can also incorporate symbolic acts and objects that pertain to your biggest dreams. Explore how you might be able to weave the elements, astrological symbols, planets, and symbolic herbs into your ritual.
Try not to get in the habit of simply scratching out the items you no longer desire and adding the new stuff to the bottom of your old list. You don't want the energy of clutter and sloppiness messing up the path meant to deliver new stuff into your life.
Include Minor Longings
It is also helpful to salt and pepper your manifest list with smaller items that will occur quickly. These may be such things as tickets to the ballet, lunch with a friend, or a day at the spa. You may think that smaller things are too trivial to put on your intention list, but these are important as well.
Things that tend to manifest with less effort still deserve to be written down. Write down everything that you desire, no matter how small or simple. If it is something that makes you happy, write it down.
Manifesting smaller items on our lists creates a steady flow of chi and gives your list a boost. Each manifestation, no matter the significance, creates movement and allows a natural ebb and flow of the tides. We are dealing here with the moon cycles, after all.
Sometimes we forget to appreciate the smaller pleasures in our lives while we wait for the big stuff to come our way. If you only write statements like, "I want to win the lottery" in your notebook, you are limiting yourself by not allowing abundance to flow to you from a multitude of avenues.