Category: Esbats

To the Moon

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics          To the Moon

Greeting to you, gem of the night!
Beauty of the skies, gem of the night!
Mother of the stars, gem of the night!
Foster-child of the sun, gem of the night!
Majesty of the stars, gem of the night!

Scottish Gaelic, traditional folk prayer

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Full Moon Ritual

Full Moon Ritual

 

The full and new moon rites are a celebration of the moon and Her cycles, as well as a celebration of us.

What you will need:

Your tools

Silver or white candle

White altar candle

A view or picture of the moon

 

Setup:

Place the silver or white candle next to your altar candle.

Position your altar so that you can see the moon.

Perform a meditation.

Cast your circle.

Raise your arms over your head, palms up, while saying:

“OH GREAT MOON,I AM HERE BEFORE YOU,IN YOUR LOVING GRACE.”

Take the cauldron of earth hold it toward the moon and say:

“OH GREAT MOON,BLESS THIS EARTH.”

Take the silver or white candle and place it in the cauldron. Light it and say:

“OH GREAT MOON,HEAR ME.””OH GREAT MOON,THEE I ADORE,I HONOR,I RESPECT.”

Kneel and say:

“I HONOR YOU ON THIS SPEACIAL NIGHT.””HEAR ME. BLESSED BE.”

Now close your circle. Point your athame down and release while saying:

“MAY THIS ENERGY BE USED BY OTHER ON THEIR PATH.” “SO MOTE IT BE.”

Let the silver or white candle burn itself out.If you decide to do a spell, perform it before closing the circle and point your athame up instead of down. Then close your circle.

Lunar Influences

Lunar Influences


New Moon  – marks the beginning or ritual works which is positive in  nature and the beginning of growth.
Full Moon  – marks the peak of power. All things are focused and Concentrated.
Waning Moon  – marks negative and destructive energies.
Aries, Leo, Sag. – The moon in these signs accents rituals of love or  friendship.
Taurus, Virgo, Cap. – The moon in these signs accents rituals of astral dealing  and Spirit workings.
Cancer, Scorpio, – The moon in these signs accents rituals, which involve  subconscious
Pisces – workings and psychic attack.

The Moon’s Sign

The Moon’s Sign

The moon’s sign is another traditional consideration. The Moon continuously “moves” through the zodiac, from Aries to Pisces. Each sign possesses its own significance.

Aries: Good for starting things, but lacks staying power. Things occur rapidly, but quickly pass. People tend to be argumentative and assertive.

Taurus: Things begun now last the longest, tend to increase in value, and become hard to alter. Brings out an appreciation for  beauty and sensory experience.

Gemini: Things begun now are easily changed by outside influence. Time for shortcuts, communication, games and fun.

Cancer: Stimulates emotional rapport between people. Pinpoints need, supports growth and nurturance. Tend to domestic concerns.

Leo: Draws emphasis to the self, to central ideas or institutions, away from connections with others and emotional needs. People tend to be melodramatic.

Virgo: Favors accomplishment of details and commands from higher up. Focus on health, hygiene, and daily schedules.

Libra: Favors cooperation, compromise, social activities, beautification of surroundings, balance, and partnership.

Scorpio: Increases awareness of psychic power. Precipitates psychic crises and ends connections thoroughly. People tend to brood and become secretive under this sign.

Sagittarius: Encourages flights of imagination and confidence. This is an adventurous, philosophical, and athletic Moon sign. Favors expansion and growth.

Capricorn:  Develops strong structure. Focus on traditions, responsibilities, and obligations. A good time to set boundaries and rules.

Aquarius: Rebellious energy. Time to break habits and make abrupt change. Personal freedom and individuality is the focus.

Pisces: The focus is on dreaming, nostalgia, intuition, and psychic impressions. A good time for spiritual or philanthropic activities.

Moon Moon, Mother Moon – The Full Moon

Moon Moon, Mother Moon

A Column By GrannyMoon, HPS, Order of the White Moon

The Full Moon
When the Moon is completely illuminated in the sky and looks like  a sphere, she represents the Goddess in her Mother aspect, as Isis, Inanna, Selene, Demeter, just to name a few. The Full Moon is when a witch  may feel the most powerful. Traditionally the time of the month  when witches gather, it’s a good time for casting spells outwardly  and for celebrating all the gifts and glory of the Goddess.   Sing and dance in praise of the Ancient Mother Goddess under  the Full Moon.

Try conjuring now, for artistic endeavors; beauty, health, and fitness; change and decisions; children; competition; dreams; families;  health and healing; knowledge; legal undertakings; love and romance; money; motivation; protection; self-improvement.

A Full Moon increases perception and is an ideal time to prepare  and use potions that increase the psychic abilities. A time when  spells and plans come to fruition. Take a moment to breathe deeply  and slowly. The Goddess is within each of us. Listen to your Inner  Wisdom and walk a path that nourishes your spirit.

A witch’s kitchen should never be without a lunar calendar showing  the phases of the moon.  Once you understand her monthly cycle of  growth, fruition, and decline, you can use the moon’s phase in your own spiritual practice and spellwork.

Life As The Witch – Full Moon Rituals/Magick

Full Moon Rituals/Magick

The Full Moon each month is particularly potent magickal ally. Some of your best magick can be created under her influence and with her guidance. Although there is only one night every month which the Moon is totally full, a Natural Magician knows that two days before and two days after the Full Moon are also good times for magickal endeavors. Use the following as a guide for your spellcrafting.

January Full Moon – Wolf Moon

Good for…..

Spells involving organization, ambition, career, politics, healing for the knees, bones, teeth, skin.

February Full Moon – Ice Moon

Good for………

Spells involving science, freedom, friendship, breaking bad habits or addictions; healing for the calves, ankles, blood.

March Full Moon – Crow Moon

Good for…….

Spells involving music, art, telepathy, dreams, healing for the feet and lymph glands.

April Full Moon – Planter’s Moon

Good for….

Spells involving authority, rebirth, leadership; healing for the face and head.

May Full Moon – Flower Moon

Good for……

Spells involving love, money, acquisition; healing for the throat and neck.

June Full Moon – Strawberry Moon

Good for…..

Spells involving communication, writing, travel; healing for the arms, hands and lungs.

July Full Moon – Blood Moon

Good for…….

Spells involving the home and for honoring lunar gods and goddesses; healing for the chest and stomach

August Full Moon – Corn Moon

Good for…..

Spells involving authority, courage, fertility; healing for the upper back, spine, heart.

September Full Moon – Harvest Moon

Good for……

Spells involving employment, health, diet; healing for the intestines and nervous system

October Full Moon – Hunter’s Moon

Good for………

Spells involving justice, unions, balance (spiritual and otherwise), artistry; healing for the lower back and kidneys

November Full Moon – Snow Moon

Good for……….

Spells involving power, psychic growth, sex; healing for the reproductive organs

December Full Moon – Cold Moon

Good for……….

Spells involving travel, sports, truth, animals; healing for the liver and thighs

It is very likely that you will find different names for each month’s Full Moon, depending on which source and traditions you use. It really makes no difference what you call the Full Moon; these correspondences still apply. And of course, you don’t have to wait for the “correct” Full Moon. These guideline just help add the appropriate Goddess energy to your own natural energies to meet your desires.

 

More Wiccan Comments

Moon Magick

Moon Magick      

 

  
WAXING MOON:  
the waxing Moon is the best time to do a spell for growth, beginning new projects, initiation    and enhancement.  
WANING MOON:  
during the waning Moon, do spells to banish evil influences, lessen or remove obstacles and    illness, neutralize enemies, and to remove harm.  
NEW MOON:  
three days after the New Moon are the most powerful times to work spells for growth and    beginnings which should manifest at the Full Moon  
FULL MOON:  
the days just before the Full Moon are the most powerful times for fruition and completion.    Remember that even though the Moon looks Full Moon in the sky for two or three nights, it is only EXACT at the time posted on your calendar. Anything after    that time is a waning influence. Do your Full Moon spell before the exact time listed.

LUNAR PHASES AND MAGICKAL WORK

LUNAR PHASES AND MAGICKAL WORK  

  
Moon Myths
When people lived with Nature, the changing seasons had a great impact on religious    ceremonies. The Moon was seen as a symbol of the Goddess. Because of this, the light of the Moon was considered magical, and a source of energy. Wiccans    often practice magic at a Full Moon to tap into this energy thought to exist at this time. Plutarch once said “Egyptian priests called the Moon the    “Mother of the Universe,” because the moon, “having the light which makes moist and pregnant, is promotive of the generation of living    beings..” The Gnostic sect of Naassians believed in a primordial being known a “the heavenly horn of the moon.” The Moon was the Great Mother. Menos meant “Moon” and “power” to the Greeks. To the Romans, the morality of the Moon Goddess was above that of the Sun God. In many cultures the Moon Goddess and the Creatress were the same. Polynesians called the Creatress Hina, “Moon.” She was the first woman, and every    woman is a wahine, made in the image of Hina. Scandinavians sometimes called the Creatress Mardoll, “Moon Shining Over the Sea. Ashanti people had a    generic term used for all their deities, Boshun, meaning Moon. Sioux Native Americans call the moon The Old Woman Who Never Dies. Iroquois call her    “Eternal One.” Rulers in the Eritrean zone of South Africa held the Goddesses name “Moon.” The Gaelic name of the Moon, gealach, came    form Gala or Galata, the original Moon-Mother of Gaelic and Gaulish tribes. Britain used to be called Albion, the milk-white Moon-Goddess. The Moon was    called Metra, which means Mother , “whose love penetrated everywhere.” In the Basque language, the words for deity and moon are the same. The    root word for both “moon” and “mind” was the Indo-European manas, mana, or men, representing the Great Mother’s “wise    blood” in women, governed by the Moon. The derivative mania used to mean ecstatic revelation, like lunacy used to mean possession by spirit of Luna, the Moon.
To be Moon-Touched or Moon-Struck meant to be chosen by the Goddess. When patriarchal thinkers belittled the Goddess, these words came to mean    craziness. Orphic and Pythagorean sect viewed the Moon as the home of the dead, a female gate known as Yoni. Souls passed through on the way to the    paradise fields of the stars. Greeks often located the Elysian Fields, home of the blessed dead, in the moon. The shoes of Toman senators were decorated    with ivory crescents to show that after death they would inhabit the Moon. Roman religion taught that “the souls of the just are purified in the Moon.” Wearing the crescent was “visual worship” of the Goddess. That was why the prophet Isaiah denounced the women of Zion for wearing    lunar amulets. Because the moon was the holder of souls between reincarnations, it sheltered both the dead and unborn, who were one in the same. If a man    dreams of his own image in the Moon, he would become the father of a son. If a woman dreamed of her own image in the Moon, she would have a daughter. The    Moon Goddess created time, with all its cycles of creation, growth, decline, and destruction. This is why ancient calendars were based on phases of the    moon and menstrual cycles. The Moon still determines agricultural work in some parts of India. Indonesian moon priestesses were responsible for finding the    right phase of the moon for every undertaking. The Moon was to have been the receptacle of menstrual blood by which each mother forme the life of her    child. This sacer, taboo moon-fluid kept even the Gods alive. The moon was “the cup of the fluid of life immortal, quickening the vegetable realm and    whatsoever grows in the sub-lunar sphere, quickening also the immortals on high.” The Moon was supposed to rule life and death as well as the tides. People living on the shores were convinced that a baby could only be born on an incoming tide and a person could not die until the tide went out. It was often said birth at a full tide or a full moon means a lucky life. Girls in Scotland refused to wed on anything but a Full Moon. Witches invoked their    Goddess by “drawing down the Moon.” It is said to be a rite dating back to moon worship in Thessaly, centuries before the Christian era.
Esbats   
Lunar holidays are also known as Esbats, but any Wiccan ritual held at any time other than a Sabbat is an Esbat. Due to the rotation of the earth, the Wiccan calendar contains 13 Full Moons and 8 Sabbats, also known as Days of Power. A full moon happens every 28 1/4 days. Full Moon energy is used for banishing unwanted influences, protection and divination. A Full Moon is also a good time for planning, releasing and working backwards in time. Full Moon Magic can be done for seven days, three days before the full moon and three days after the full moon.
There are thirteen Full Moons. Each has a traditional name.
Wolf Moon January
Storm Moon February
Chaste Moon March
Seed Moon April
Hare Moon May
Dyad Moon June
Mead Moon July
Wyrt Moon August
Barley Moon   
September Blood Moon
October Snow Moon
November Oak Moon
December Blue Moon variable
The New Moon is used for personal growth, healing, the blessing of a new project etc. Between the New Moon and Full Moon is the phase called Waxing Moon. Magic for this phase includes attraction magic, increasing, growth, and gain. Between the Full Moon and New Moon is the phase called the Waning Moon. Magic for this phase includes banishing magic, such a loosing negative emotions, bad habits etc. Three days before the New Moon is known as the Dark Moon, as it is not visible in the sky. Traditionally, no magic is performed    at this time. It is a time for rest.

CREATE YOUR OWN MOON SPELLS

CREATE YOUR OWN MOON SPELLS       

  
Because of the very nature of Magick, each working should be highly individualized and    personal. Even if following a traditional spell, it should be tailored to your specific needs to be most effective for you. Understanding the basics of  Spell Construction will enable you to formulate your own specific effective spells for any purpose you desire. Preliminary planning is necessary. The very first step is to decide precisely what your desired end result is to be.
Before you can start, you must decide where you are going. You must be very explicit. It is important, also, that you choose your time carefully. You should take into consideration all Astrological implications, energy currents and    Moon phases. The Moon is the astronomical body closest to us and, therefore, has a profound influence upon us, it is very important to choose a time when the Moon is in an astrological sign which is appropriate for your working.
For example:
Aries/Action – Enthusiasm, Taurus/ Renewal – Sensuality,    Gemini/Communication – Curiosity, Cancer/ Emotion – Nurturing, Leo/Vitality – Determined, Virgo/Organizing – Studious, Libra/Balance -Cooperation,    Scorpio/Sexual – Philosophical, Capricorn/Authority – Ambitious, Aquarius/Innovation – Social, Pisces/Sensitivity – Idealistic.
Bear in mind that magickal workings for gain, increase or bringing things to you, should be initiated when the Moon is Waxing (from Dark to Full) when the Moon is Waning (from Full    to Dark), it is time for magical workings of decrease or sending away. The highest energy occurs at the Full Moon and, therefore, this is the most powerful time for magical workings. The New Moon is the next most powerful time for Magick.

Days following the Full Moon

Days following the Full Moon

Day 15 – 17
The full moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise so you can have a brief period when both sun and full moon are in the sky  together, which creates amazing energy. Use these days to initiate sudden or dramatic change, for a surge of power, the consummation of love, for healing,  for prophecy, for all matters concerning women and also motherhood, for conception and for granting small miracles, for artistic and creative success and all  legal matters.
Day 15 is like day 1 of the new moon, good attunement day with the energies of the moon cycle and good for meditation as welll  as channelling wisdom from the Moon Mother or Gabriel, archangel of the moon.