Waning Moon Magic

Waning moon magic covers a wide range. It is not all hexes and banishing spells! (Though banishing spells and hexes, if in your practice, are most supported at this time, as well as in the dark moon period.) As covered earlier, the most supported types of spells are those that facilitate release and letting go of things.

Casting spells for removing problems, eliminating trouble and hurdles and obstacles, neutralizing adversaries, and reducing harm is most effective when the moon is on the wane. The waning moon and dark moon are optimal times for breaking curses, breaking attachments, and breaking alliances to harmful behavior. Uncrossing spells do well during this time.

If you have been moon mapping, this is the time where you may wish to release attachments to your fears around your desires. The waning moon might also be the time to do some subconscious reprogramming work around the belief systems that have been underscoring fears, doubts, or ways you resist moving forward. You can combine self-inventory with ritual or magic. Take action around clearing all that stands in the way of actualization—whether self-imposed or external.

This is also the time to focus on banishing spells. Banishing spells can be used to get rid of any energy you no longer want in your energy field. Burying spells, burning spells, and freezing spells work well at this time. (Some of these types of spells are detailed below, and there is more information in the dark moon magic chapter.)

During the full moon through the entirety of the waning moon is a time when we are especially open to our intuition, psychic abilities, and dreams. Start dialogues with your intuition. Experiment with different ways of accessing your intuition. (Reread the section on intuition at the full moon if you need more ideas.) Maybe one lunar cycle you try trance work, during another you could focus on communing with plants.

For many, this is the time of heightened productivity, deepened creativity, and getting a ton done. The waning moon might feel closer to a traditional waxing moon phase for you. This could be the time to shine, begin new projects, and take some risks. If you feel fantastic, make that list and check it all off. If you know this, use this time in accordance with your personal energetic patterns.

Your Waning Moon Altar

You could leave your waning moon altar up for the duration of the entire moon phase. Or, you could construct it around your spell, if you are doing one, and take it down afterward—specifically because waning moon spells tend to include burning and burying. Releasing unwanted energy is a focus at this time, so your altar could be a place to go to process grief or sorrow. Your waning moon altar could have photos of you from the past, or your ancestors. Your waning moon altar could be a place to record what you are letting go of, before saying some final good-byes.

We can imagine the activities we undertake at this time as our altar as well: Post-it notes of plans all around us, plotting out that rough first draft. It is having the hard phone call, making that appointment, taking care of business in a determined fashion. Your altar could be sweeping and scrubbing.

Your altar is also you reaping the benefits of doing the work of the new, waxing, and full moon phases. A time to practice receiving, a time to trust, a time to rest. It is your inner voice coming in clear and loud. It is the insights you receive as you make the time to sit each night in quiet candlelight.

Magical Correspondences of the Waning Moon

It is important to develop your personal set of correspondences depending on how you personally interpret each phase of the moon. Below are some suggestions that might resonate with you. Feel free to leave what does not resonate and add your own.

Roots, such as ginger, turmeric, potatoes, dandelion root, burdock and lotus roots; datura; bones; the colors brown, black, red, white; salt of all kinds; rosemary, agrimony, pepper; snakeskin, insect carcass; ruby in fuchsite, mugwort, motherwort, fossils, petrified wood, redwood trees; spiders, webs; smoky quartz, yarrow, black tourmaline, amethyst, chrysalis; the Hermit, the Hanged One, the Devil, and the 7’s in the Minor Arcana tarot cards; and any special objects you wish to work with or charge under the growing light of the moon.

Deities that correspond to the waning moon: Hecate, the High Priestess, Persephone, Baba Yaga, Lilith.

Archetypes that correspond: the work, art, and lives of Mark Rothko, Sylvia Plath, Robert Johnson, Nick Cave; crones, and elders of all kinds.

Animal guides that correspond: snakes, snails, spiders, owls, bats, jaguars, moles, cicadas.

A PROTECTION SPELL

This is a spell to aid with protection from self-destructive thought patterns or behaviors, or protection from the energy of destructive people.

You will need:

A white or black candle, one that burns for at least one day, dressed with your preferred banishing/protection herbs and/or oil

Rosemary, salt (feel free to research and add your favorite protection plants, like yarrow or oregano)

A bowl

Any crystals that resonate with you around protection and loving clarity, such as jet, rose quartz, tourmaline, obsidian, and clear quartz

Paper, pen, scissors

Before the spell:

Clarify what you need help with banishing. This could be internal, such as procrastination, doubt, or manufactured distractions. It could be external, like emotionally manipulative people or coworkers who steal your work. Take responsibility for any underlying subconscious allowances of this pattern. (For example, underneath “procrastination” could be “comfortable with comfort” or “there is safety in stagnancy.”) Attempt to work with banishing both the internal basis and the external symptom(s).

Clarify if you will be calling in any help from ancestors, guides, your higher self, planets, deities, etc. If it is a particular goddess, such as Venus, or a planet, such as Saturn, that you will be working with, you may wish to cast your spell on the day (or even the hour) that is associated with them, while under the waning moon.

Clarify what sacrifices you will have to make to release the energies and protect yourself from future incidents. If you are letting go of procrastination, you may have to sacrifice always having an excuse, being stressed out always/addicted to cortisol, or having an unconscious attachment to psychological self-harm. Affirm that you are clear on what you are letting go of. If your spell is focusing primarily on protection, affirm what protection will feel like, and what acts will support you in strengthening your protection.

If working with a deity or other energy to aid you, clarify how you will show your appreciation and devotion for their aid. How will you thank them?

You will want some chant or affirmation around what you are letting go of. Feel free to write it out ahead of time. It can be a poem, a letter: whatever makes you feel powerful and sure.

Spell set-up:

Combine herbs and salt in a bowl to make your cleansing mixture. One-third of a cup of this mixture should be more than enough.

Cut a circle out of a piece of paper. (You may wish to trace around your bowl as a template.) You will want enough room on this circle to write down what you are banishing and/or what you would like protection from. In the center of the circle, draw a personally meaningful symbol of what will help you with this. (What is a symbol that makes you feel safe?)

Around the circle, write down what you are banishing, what you are releasing. Put the paper circle on the altar. Put the candle in the middle. Arrange the rosemary and your protective crystals around your paper. Have your rosemary and salt mixture at the ready.

Cast your circle, or begin your spell how you usually do.

Light your candle. Chant your spell.

Connect with what you are releasing or banishing. This will provoke sensations of unease or grief. That is okay. Bring this all up into your consciousness. With your breath, bring this up into your body as a tangible form—as visualizations, colors, shapes that have a tangible beginning, end, boundary. They might have a color or a temperature to them. They might originate in a certain place in your body. Continue to breathe through any contraction. This is hopefully the last time you will be feeling the emotions around this specific situation, so let yourself feel.

Imagine the unwanted forms beginning to release from your body and mind. This could take a while. Imagine returning them to a field of golden energy to be transformed for good. Try to release any ill will, blame, or grief that comes up again, out of your body with breath, or sobbing, or venting. Do this until you feel a shift in your energy. Take as long as you need.

As soon as you feel a shift, sprinkle your salt and rosemary mixture on top of your paper circle. You will want to slowly and completely cover your words. Some witches go counterclockwise to banish.

Focus on restoring and protecting your aura. Imagine your energy being completely protected, completely safe. You now have a new, very strong color surrounding you. Place your protective imagery all around your aura. Connect to the earth, and affirm that you are supported and protected.

Thank your helpers, higher self, all elements involved. Close your circle.

Let your candle burn through. (Never leave a candle burning unattended.) When your candle is burned down, smother with the salt mixture. If your candle is in glass, fold up your circle paper, put it in your candle, throw some salt in it, and throw away/recycle in a trashcan that is not yours.

For at least three days after the spell, ground and protect your energy. In the coming weeks, carry out any and all additional sacrificial work you must do—in waking life, or for your helper deities/spirits. Whenever you feel pulled to an old behavior, thought, person, or pattern, bring up your protective symbol as a deflection and a reminder. Go put your attention and energy somewhere else. Be very mindful of putting your thoughts and actions on positive thought forms and behaviors for at least the next few days.

UNCROSSING RITUAL

This is a great ritual to do whenever you feel “off.” When you can’t pinpoint who or what might be affecting you, but there seems to be stagnancy or a stuckness in your life. Maybe you’ve been dealing with a series of unfortunate events, and feel like you can’t catch a break.

You will need approximately two to four hours for this ritual, or, if you feel called to really dive in deep on cleaning, you may wish to spend about a few hours a day, for a few days, decluttering and cleaning before doing the ritual.

You will need: a yellow candle, water, salt, a bowl, a bell or chime, dried hyssop, dried agrimony, dried angelica, a loofah or body scrubbing sponge, a broom, and/or other cleaning supplies, and a dried plant bundle to clear the room, if that is in your practice.

Part 1: Clean at least one or more rooms in your house. If you don’t know where to start, pick your bedroom, and/or pick the room you do the majority of your spell work in. Get rid of what you don’t need, dust and mop, and then move a couple of items around so that the energy moves differently in the room, or it looks slightly different. Shift the energy by moving art around, or changing the set-up of your room.

Part 2: Set up your altar. Dress your candle with the hyssop and angelica. Place water in your bowl, salt in the water, and the candle in the bowl.

Light the candle.

Center yourself and raise some energy. You could do this by fire breathing, by clenching all the muscles in your body and releasing them, and/or moving your body, chanting, or focusing on energy flowing all around your body like a fountain. Imagine yourself moving any energy inside of you that you no longer need or no longer want.

Say: “I release any and all stagnant energy, any and all unhelpful energy, and any energy that is not mine, now, and in all futures.”

Ring the bell.

Say: “I release any and all curses, hexes, or workings against me, whether I am aware of them or not. I release any and all contracts made in this life or others. They are gone now, never to return.”

Ring the bell.

Say: “I release any and all unconscious attachments to stuckness or stagnancy for now, for ever, for always.” (Or name whatever it is you are releasing.)

Ring the bell.

Take the broom, and start sweeping the room. Sweep the air, sweep any and all stuck energy out, out, out. If the room has windows, open them. You may wish to say, “Begone! Do not return!” You may wish to burn dried plant matter, like rosemary, or lavender, to cleanse the air. You may wish to stomp, bang on a pan, or chase all unwanted energy out of your home. When you feel the energy has shifted in the room, re-center.

Say: “I welcome any and all positive energy.”

Ring the bell.

Say: “I welcome in love, joy, and movement.”

Ring the bell.

Say: “I do everything in my power to center movement, luck, and joy.”

Ring the bell.

Say: “Fresh starts, new opportunities, and clarity come my way, today, forever, and all ways! My mind/body/spirit are protected now in all ways, in all futures to come!”

Ring the bell.

Part 3: Draw a bath. Put salt, hyssop, agrimony, and angelica into the bath. Pour the water all over you; dump it over your head with a cup or a bowl, if possible. Soap up your entire body and scrub it with your loofah. Imagine all fear, accumulated unwanted energy, and stagnancy draining into the water. Once your entire body has been scrubbed well, drain the tub.

Part 4: Aftercare. Dispose of the spell workings, such as the herbs and burned-down candle. as soon as you can. Make a pledge, in the coming week, to do at least one thing to let go of more old energy, such as cleaning out your fridge, and one thing to get energy moving, such as visiting a place you’ve never been before, reaching out to friends to do something fun, or adjusting a part of your daily routine. It is also suggested to change your appearance in some way: get a haircut/new style, switch up your fashion or makeup in some way. Changing your energy up and changing your appearance makes it hard for old energy to reattach!

A TAROT PULL TO CONNECT TO THE LESSONS OF THE WANING MOON

Get into a clear, calm space with your cards, some water or tea, and a notepad and pen. Leave your phone in another room and dim the lights.

Go through your deck and pull out a card that right now is an accurate reflection of you. Put it in the center. This is card 1.

Pull out a card that best reflects the main theme of this lunar cycle for you. Place it to the left, below card 1. This is card 2.

Pull out a card that best reflects where you’d like to go next.

Place it to the right and next to the last card you pulled. This is card 3.

Pull out a card that best reflects a card you feel drawn to, but don’t fully understand right now. Place it to the right and next to the previous card. This is card 4.

Now, shuffle the rest of the cards in your deck.

Ask: What lessons am I learning? What did I start healing during this cycle, whether or not I feel it? Pull a card, and place that card underneath card number 2.

Shuffle the cards.

Ask: What is the secret superpower I’ll need to keep moving? What is my energy and heart ready to put into motion for future cycles? Pull a card, and place that card underneath card number 3.

Ask: What is the truth about my current situation? Something I may not be able to recognize completely, but need to see or know, in order to progress? Pull a card, and place that card underneath card number 4.

Shuffle your cards.

Ask: What does my inner power, or source, or my other helpers want me to know about where to focus my energy and efforts in the next lunar cycle? Pull a card, and place this card above the very first card you picked.

JOURNALING PROMPTS FOR THE WANING MOON

How can I invite in even more gratitude for all my blessings?

Do I feel called to share my knowledge? How will I do so?

What behind the scenes work do I feel ready to do?

If this is an energetically balanced time for me, how can I take advantage of it?

What are my current blocks?

What are my subconscious narratives?

What is draining my focus or energy?

What can I do to consciously slow down?

How can I protect my energy?

How can I develop better boundaries?

What are the self-imposed limits I must rewire or reject?

Where is my shadow telling me I am ready to start healing?

How is an aspect of my shadow actually my superpower?

What have I put off dealing with?

What must I clear away to begin a new cycle?