Moon Magic
THE MOON ABOVE
I look up often, to the beautiful, and magnificent moon to see where she is in her journey across the sky, so that I will know where I am in mine, here on earth. Each phase and astrological sign that she moves into offers me very specific and very helpful guidance for when I should be in stillness, action, expansion and contraction. By aligning my life to the lunar cycle, I have found that my life moves in a more graceful and easy way—so much so, that whenever I am experiencing difficulty, I can be sure that it is because I am out of synch with lunar rhythm.
Feminine in nature, the moon travels across our night sky shining her light down upon us, governing our inner, private self, our emotions, our dreams, intuition and moods. She is a celestial magnet that draws us closer towards her when she is waxing (increasing her light) and gently releases us from her embrace when she is waning (decreasing her light).
The waxing phases of the moon; new, first quarter and gibbous, are a time for gathering, expanding, expressing and receiving, while the waning phases; waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent are a time for letting go, contracting, going within, and surrendering. The dark and full moons are neither waxing, nor waning, but rather mark the beginning—and ending of both cycles. We may also consider these phases to both waxing, and waning.
Modern day calendars show us that the new moon occurs when the moon is dark, and not visible, but this is not true, as the dark moon is a phase in and of itself, and a phase that is most magical, and most sacred. The magical, or true cycle of the moon is from phase to phase and includes what I call ‘The 9 Moons’.
Magically speaking, we work with the moon for a full cycle, which begins on any phase, such as the new moon, and then completes the cycle when that phase occurs again, IE; from new moon to new moon. I like to start my moon magic rituals, and my lunar workings on the dark moon, for it is the dark moon that sets the tone of the entire lunar cycle, with her irresistible mysteries, and primal, untamed nature. The dark moon beckons me to follow her deep down into the dark forest of my psyche, where words fall soundless to the ground, and the stirrings of my soul, emotions and feelings reign supreme. I am lunar-souled.
Below are ‘The 9 Moons of Magic’, as I like to call the lunar phases, along with their key essences. As the course progresses, you’ll learn many ways to work magically with these phases, but for now, you may wish to set an intention, or cast a wish that you will use the 9 Moons of Magic as a guide for helping you to bring your intention or wish into being.
Setting an intention means to have a specific goal, plan or purpose in mind as you perform, or work with something—or someone, and a wish is very similar to a prayer; it is a desire that you express with all of your heart, and ask The Divine, The Goddess, or The Great Mother Moon to grant it.
THE 9 MOONS OF MAGIC
Dark Moon: a time for stillness
Feminine/Receptive Essence. Be in stillness, meditation, prayer, inwardness, and trust. Reflect on last month’s intentions, and dream, imagine and visualize your new intentions for this current moon cycle—but take no action at this time.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: reflect on the work you have completed in the prior phases, as well as the ones to come.
Waxing Crescent/New Moon: a time for beginnings
Feminine/Receptive Essence. Begin the process of wishing, awaken your desire, initiate, activate, and set your intentions for this moon cycle from a place of relaxed, peaceful confidence.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: look back, remember the sweetness of the beginning, and savor the start of your magical workings. Honor that every ending leads to another beginning.
First Quarter Moon: a time of in-between
Masculine/Active Essence. Take action now to bring your intentions into being, and if a redesign, revision, or any other adjustments are needed— now is the time.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: allow yourself the permission to let go completely if your magical workings were not successful, and keep in mind that if you wish, you may revision, and rework your magic during another cycle.
Waxing Gibbous Moon: a time to finalize
Feminine/Receptive Essence. A time for trust, surrender, tying up loose ends, finalizing details, making preparations for the completion of, and letting go of your intention process to the Powers that Be.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: this is a good time for taking care of any last-minute workings that you may not have had time for earlier.
Full Moon: a time for releasing
Masculine/Active Essence. Let go of expectations, release attachments to desires and outcomes, and fully surrender your intentions now so that they may become manifested. This may also be a time to discard your intention altogether, decide if you need to accept that this is not the best time for it to come to be, or determine if you need another moon cycle—or two to manifest it.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: now is a good time let go of all the expectations that you may have had along the way, and to release attachments to your desires for the outcome of your magical workings...fully surrender to that which is, and that which has come to be.
Waning Gibbous Moon: a time of gratitude
Feminine/Receptive Essence. A time for generating feelings of gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation for your intention having come to be—or if you have decided to discard your intention, then this is a time of acceptance, understanding and trust that all is as it should be...or it would be different
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: now is a good to time for generating feelings of acceptance for the ending of your magical workings, and also a good time for generating feelings of gratitude.
Last Quarter Moon: a time of assessment
Masculine/Active Essence. Perform rituals of celebration, gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation for your intention having come to be; make offerings, gifts and contributions—physical or otherwise to balance the energies of receiving and giving. And, if you decided to discard your intention, celebrate the courage it took to do this.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: then now is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the end of your magical workings and make offerings of gratitude and thanks.
Waning Crescent Moon: a time to prepare
Begin to slow down, making preparations for going back into in stillness, meditation, prayer, inwardness, and trust, where you will soon dream, imagine and visualize your new intentions for the next moon cycle.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: look back on all of your actions, and see which ones have most supported your magical workings—and which ones did not.
Dark Moon: once again, a time for stillness
Feminine/Receptive Essence. Be in stillness, meditation, prayer, inwardness, and trust. Reflect on last month’s intentions, and dream, imagine and visualize your new intentions for this current moon cycle—but take no action at this time.
If this is the final phase of your magical moon cycle: reflect on the work you have completed in the prior phases, as well as the ones to come.
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© 2023 Renée Starr | You may not reproduce this without permission. For cheerful permissions, please contact the author here.
Image Credit: Ganapathy Kumar / Unsplash
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