Tips for Full Moon Rituals
You’ve probably heard that full moon rituals are the best time to release anything that no longer serves you, but it can be hard to know where to start when creating your own full moon ritual. Whether you want to release an issue with yourself or with others, there are some simple steps you can take to make your ritual as powerful as possible and help you continue healing from it even after the ritual is over. Here are some ways to make your full moon rituals meaningful and empowering.
Full Moon Ritual Tips
1. At night during a full moon, go to a place where you can be alone and uninterrupted: your backyard, a remote park, etc. Light candles in a semicircle around your altar space. Cast your circle and set up your altar as usual (read more about how to set up an altar in the next blog). Release anything that no longer serves you into your fire candle by saying aloud what is being released and why it’s important that it leave you right now. Once you have finished releasing, say something along these lines: I call upon all those who have joined me here tonight to help me with my intention [state your intention]. I also ask all spirits of my ancestors and/or guides who wish to join me in this ritual that they do so now [state their names] And may it begin now. 2. Ask for protection from any unwanted entities. State clearly that you are invoking your own personal power and divine energy only—if there are others present, state clearly that anyone else wishing to participate will have to honor your boundary and cast their own protections as needed before joining you in ritual work. 3. Give thanks. It is good to give thanks at every step of a ritual; but especially at transitions like beginning and ending rituals or when welcoming new energies, such as after casting a spell or calling on new spirit allies. 4. Meditate. Time is fluid in magic; a five-minute meditation could feel like twenty minutes to you. Be open to whatever comes through during your meditation and try not to analyze or assess it until afterwards. 5. Do magical work as outlined for your full moon intention (see below). 6. Take down your sacred space, thank everyone involved and give them time to depart first before concluding yourself...and enjoy!
What To Do On Full Moons
One of best ways to tap into full moon energy is by engaging in a ritual. This could be something as simple as lighting a candle and silently appreciating its light, or it could be an elaborate ceremony that brings together your friends and family. Even if you aren’t religious, it can still be immensely powerful to engage in ritual practices during full moons. Here are some things you can do on every full moon (and more). These rituals will vary depending on how much time you have available: 15 Minutes: Light a Candle & Meditate – Focus on self-awareness and any intentions you may have regarding your spiritual practice. 5 Minutes: Make Coffee & Watch The Moon – Just watching an object change through the phases over time can provide immense insights into our lives. 30 Minutes: Engage In A Community Gathering – Whether it’s sharing food with loved ones or going to a public gathering with strangers, sharing space helps create community that connects us all. 1 Hour+ Get Creative! You don’t need to limit yourself to one specific activity on each full moon, so find what works for you! If one month involves long full moons where you can meditate from midnight until sunrise...well then maybe try building up a ritual where you sit down at 12am and hold your meditation until 4am. Or spend 45 minutes writing out prayers to God/the Universe/Source Energy/Mother Earth...then spend another 45 minutes performing them. You could spend 20 minutes making a homemade wand and another 20 casting spells. Whatever suits you! What kind of activities are important to you? Maybe it's spending time with loved ones or taking care of yourself physically -- whatever that means for you -- make sure to schedule time around those activities while they happen monthly rather than constantly putting them off until later. #reflection #fullmoon #fullmoonspirituality #rituals Happy Full Moon Spiritual Journey!
What Not To Do On Full Moons
Don’t do anything you are not comfortable with. There is no right or wrong way to celebrate a full moon. You don’t have to light any candles, wear specific clothing, speak in tongues, summon demons or eat a rabbit foot while riding bareback through Central Park. If you feel it would be fun to do something that is against your belief system or feel it’s inappropriate, just don’t do it! This is YOUR ritual and you are doing it FOR YOU! Leave someone out of your ritual: This doesn’t mean leave out family members or friends during rituals. It means, if you want to go naked all over town on full moons then DO IT! If that isn’t what you want then fine, but don’t limit your own freedom because of other people. Make one and never change it: Some traditions last forever (the Catholic Church comes to mind) but many things evolve over time as society changes and so should traditions. They are supposed to adapt to life rather than life adapting to them. So, why not include new elements from time-to-time? How else will you know if they work or not? Unload your emotional baggage: Much like regular monthly housecleaning rituals where we get rid of old magazines, food stuffs and clothes we don’t need anymore; full moon rituals can help us get rid of pent up emotions such as anger, guilt, resentment and fears that are weighing us down emotionally. Do not however, Spend loads of money on stuff you really don’t need!: Full moons often coincide with traditional holidays. Halloween, Christmas and Easter jump quickly to mind along with certain Pagan holidays that fall at certain times of year such as Yule (Winter Solstice), Imbolc (Spring Equinox), Ostara (Spring Equinox), Litha (Summer Solstice), Mabon(Autumnal Equinox) and Samhain(Halloween). These sometimes carry their own significance. To some extent when you dress up for Halloween for example, you take on an energy of sorts.
Can I Do The Same Ritual Every Full Moon?
You certainly can, but there are a few things to keep in mind when doing so. Just as you wouldn’t do your rituals by rote each month, repeating a ritual without careful thought and intention isn’t going to yield much positive results. Rather than focus on simply repeating what you did last month, try incorporating one or two things that you discovered since then into your full moon practice. Each monthly cycle is an opportunity to explore new ideas; just because you’ve been doing something for several months doesn’t mean it can’t have another life.
How To Develop Your Own Full Moon
Rituals
Start with a general idea of what you want to get out of your moon-focused rituals. Are you trying to draw new energy into your life? If so, then how can you hold onto that energy when it arrives? If not, then maybe you’re interested in clearing and releasing energies; again, how can you make sure that you give yourself enough time and space between moon rituals for whatever is weighing on your heart or mind to come up? How will you honor these intentions through ritual action? How many times per month do you intend to perform these rituals, and why does that number feel right to you? These are some key questions for developing your own full moon rituals—and getting started is really as simple as deciding which full moons align best with your needs. Of course, there are tons of books about astrology and astrological magic (just Google astrology books or astrology books Amazon Prime), but if you don’t know where to start, our favorite introductory text is The Little Book of Lunar Magic: A Modern Guide for Witches & Pagans by Sirona Knight. What follows here is one template for lunar evocation; we encourage you to adapt and remix it based on your unique relationship with each phase of the moon. Best yet, once you have one practice down pat, consider creating three separate practices to suit different phases of life: an early career practice; a mid-career practice; and a late-career practice. That way, no matter where you are in your cycle of life/work/magic, you’ll always have something empowering waiting for you at full moon! Yikes —this has gotten long-winded; let’s take a breath, shall we? Or better yet, let’s just begin. Here goes nothing...
1. WANING CRESCENT MAGIC & THE PHASE OF CELEBRATION (day before full moon) Rejoice in your accomplishments, especially if you’ve been slaving away on a project over several weeks or months. This is a time to celebrate with colleagues and/or friends, both in person and on social media—anything that helps you connect with other people and share your work. 2. THIRD QUARTER MAGIC & THE PHASE OF DEVOTION (full moon night) Dedicate yourself fully to one project during waning crescent; it doesn’t matter which one so long as it feels meaningful and worthwhile to you! 3. WAXING GIBBOUS MAGIC & THE PHASE OF RENEWAL (3 days after full moon) Take stock of how much progress you’ve made since starting your magic phase: commit to taking small actions every day towards moving your dreams forward by at least 0.1%. 4. FULL MAGIC & THE PHASE OF REFLECTION (7 days after full moon) Get out your journal and record what worked well during these past few moons—what are you most proud of? What resources did you call upon when they were needed? Note all of these down, and make a promise to yourself that come tomorrow morning, you will begin anew.
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