Witches love the Moon. This sentiment applies to Wiccans and pagans, who revere the Moon and its forces upon our bodies, spirits, and lives. Our ancient ancestors all had their own Moon myths and practices, rituals and traditions that keyed in on certain times of the month or year, all of which involved the particular influences the Moon had on us. The lunar cycle was just as important as the solar cycle, and the phases of the Moon each held their own symbolic and real power that could be worked with in spellcasting and rituals.
Ancient cultures held rituals honoring the Moon. Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian, Greek, Indian, Chinese, British, Scandinavian, and African cultures all understood the role the Moon played in the cosmic and microcosmic scheme of things. Astrology was popular during many of these ancient civilizations’ reigns, and the phases and movement of the Moon were a huge part of the idea that “as above, so below” and that the placement of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars could affect our lives on every level.
By the light of the silvery Moon, witches meet and come together to celebrate, reflect, and work their magic depending on the current phase of the celestial body they’ve gathered beneath. The Moon has been universally associated with fertility, menstruation, womanhood, sexuality, love, mystery, rebirth, the world of spirit, and the afterlife. The Sun may represent life-giving warmth and light, but the Moon was the shadow side essential to the deeper soul, the land of the subconscious and collective unconscious, the realm of the soul, and dreams, intuitions, and visions. If the Sun is the material and physical, the Moon is the mental/emotional and spiritual, and both are important, but to the witch, working with the Moon is of more importance.
The Sun is masculine, active, and objective. The Moon is feminine, receptive, and perceptive. The Moon is creative. The Sun is proactive. The Moon is the realm of the imagination. The Sun is the realm of manifestation in reality. The Moon is spiritual. The Sun is physical. The two make up the yin and yang of the unified oneness, and we all have both feminine and masculine aspects to our personalities and beings, regardless of our gender. The Moon is associated with goddess energy, is magnetic, and it draws people in. People will say the Moon “pulls them” and calls to them in a subtle, inner, intuitive way full of mystery and shadow. The Sun is not good and the Moon bad, nor is the Sun more important than the Moon—they are just polar opposites representing the god energy and the goddess energy, both of which are necessary to allow the expression of it that we seek to be balanced.
• New Moon—The start of the lunar phase and a time when the Moon and Sun are in the sky together. The best time for new beginnings, new plans, coming up with new ideas, creativity, intuition, and possibility. Set new intentions, spellcast to release fear and doubt, and step out in faith and action. If you use crystals, this is a time to utilize your black Moonstone, iolite, obsidian, clear quartz, and labradorite.
• Waxing Crescent—The Moon begins to brighten and the crescent of light appears in the sky, inspiring the initiation of action based on new intentions set during the new Moon. This is a time for committing and planning out the details. Be prepared for old blocks and challenges to emerge, but you have the power to overcome them now and keep going toward the fullness of the light. Work with light and rainbow Moonstones, emeralds, and clear and rose quartzes.
• First Quarter—This is the half Moon on her way to fullness, just as you are as you pass the halfway point of manifesting what you’ve spellcast for. This is when momentum builds and you are called to put your full heart and soul into having your intentions come into reality. Be courageous, bold, and hardworking. Utilize your lapis lazuli, jet, onyx, and sapphire.
• Waxing Gibbous—The Moon is almost full and becoming more powerful each night. Keep your focus and determination because this is when doubts and fears arise, right before the big reveal! Keep your wits and your head about you, and don’t get distracted now. You’re almost home. Work with citrine, carnelian, and fluorite.
• Full Moon—The full Moon phase is the most potent, and now you will see the manifestation of your dreams and goals! Everything is big, bold, and bright, and you see the end result of all the phases leading up to this point. Dance, sing, chant, and celebrate, and work with Moonstone, quartz, pearl, and selenite.
• Waning Gibbous—Ever so slightly, the Moon’s light begins to recede. During this phase, you will want to share what you’ve learned and accomplished to help others but also to begin cleaning out what didn’t work well and identifying things you can let go of. Be grateful during this time and ask for wisdom as needed. Work with jasper, jade, calcite, and garnet.
• Last Quarter—Now the Moon’s other half is illuminated, marking a time of looking inward to discover where our minds and consciousness are at before we go into the shadows to regroup. This is a time of prophetic dreams, ideas, visions, and letting go of illusions that keep us stuck. Work with rose quartz, smoky quartz, sodalite, and onyx.
• Waning Crescent—The sliver of light reminds us that soon, the Moon will disappear into shadow. This is a time for us to go within, too, and examine what we need to release what we are still holding on to. What do we gain from not letting go? What do we lose? This is when we trust our inner light and faith and use the wisdom we’ve gleaned to get us through. Work with obsidian, black tourmaline, black pearl, and ruby.
The cycle of the Moon’s phases allows us to cycle through various experiences, lessons, and phases we need to go through for our own evolution. Each phase is important, or it wouldn’t be part of the cycle. Moon magic recognizes each unique phase and encourages us to shape our practices around them for the best results with spells and ritual work.
At the time of a new Moon, the sky is dark. One cannot see, or work with, any moonlight, yet this is one of the most powerful phases to cast spells and intentions and hold rituals. The new Moon is the time for rebirthing the self, renewing plans and desires, and taking stock of what did not work before and banishing it to clear the way for brighter tomorrows. The shadow self is faced and attended to so that we can truly understand what it is we really want and hope to achieve amid the mucky muck of other people’s expectations and demands.
New Moons mean new starts, and often this involves first going through a period of darkness trying to find our way along the path with no light to guide us. We know the light will return because the next phase of the Moon is destined to occur, but while lost in the darkness, it can feel awful, oppressive, and frightening. However, this is the time to come face-to-face with our fears, patterns of behavior, and lack of results with spells we cast before and use our own inner light to keep us on the right track until the moonlight once again shines down upon us.
In New Moon Rituals and the Power of Intention Setting, author Sarah Prout, an expert on manifesting our intentions through rituals and changing our thought patterns, suggests the time of the new Moon to work with connecting to the universe within us and outside of us to get into alignment and ask for what we want. “New Moon rituals have the power to recharge and recalibrate your energy in direct proportion to the amount of consciousness you bring to the situation.” She goes on to point out that we must know what to ask for in order to get it and that we have the power within to make it happen.
Prout suggests creating a sacred space and atmosphere with an invocation, meditation, smudging, candles, crystals, or whatever appeals to you and then opening your heart to truly access the higher self, allow it to dream big, and banish all judgment and doubt that you can have what you wish to bring about. Ritualizing this intention setting makes it even more powerful. “After a new Moon, you will notice a newfound sense of peace within your heart,” Prout says, continuing on that many notice signs of alignment with their intentions right away.
The new Moon reminds us that it is always darkest before dawn and that the coming of the light is something to be honored and celebrated, but we should also honor the time of darkness. In the shadows, we grope around for an anchor, and that is often when we find our true selves, which we then carry forward into our new and growing endeavors, just as the Moon is growing in the sky. It is not a time to be feared or turned away from. It has a different kind of power and energy that is just as essential as that of a bright, shining, full Moon in all its glory. Oh, and it makes it a lot easier to notice the stars in the sky.
Every day, you give your power away to people, situations, and circumstances that demand your attention, time, and energy. Rarely do you get that expenditure back, and that might explain why everyone today is so exhausted and listless. Witches who do daily spellcasting and ritual work give even more of their power away and must be careful to replenish the well before they burn out for good. These rituals work best in conjunction with the Moon phases that represent renewal, such as the new Moon.
It is important to call back your power to you on a regular basis, to refill the well, the cup, the chalice of the energy you need to best perform your spells and rituals. Even nonwitches can benefit from calling back their power on a weekly, if not daily, basis instead of going to bed spent of energy and waking up the same way. The power you give to family, friends, colleagues, work, projects, exercising, lovers, pets, and even commuting to and from work in traffic all adds up and leaves you depleted of motivation and inspiration.
It is important to replenish one’s energy after a long day of spellcasting or ritual work, and meditation or yoga is a good way to do that.
To call back your power, you can do a guided visualization exercise where you meditate until you are completely relaxed, then imagine white light coming back to you and entering your body via the chakras or just your heart area. This white light represents your own healing power, and you are taking it back into the center of your being so you have access to it for the next day.
You can also cast a spell asking that your power now return back to you or do a candle ritual with a white candle for purity and light and a red candle for power and vitality. Light both and ask the goddess to help you take back the power you gave away that day and that it come back to you threefold and positive. You don’t want negative energy coming back. Make sure you envision or ask only that the positive come back. Feel it entering through your skin like a warm breeze. Visualize it as pure, white light seeping through your pores. Imagine your heart growing bright with a red glow as it increases in power so that you can better serve yourself and the world the next day, replenished and refilled.
Some witches like to call back their power nightly. Others may choose to do it once a week. The best suggestion is to do it when you feel the need. If you are tired, burnt out, and annoyed with everything and everyone, chances are that you need to take back some of the vital energy you so easily give away. If your spells are falling flat and your rituals lack heart, you may need a break to give your body, mind, and spirit time to renew and reboot.
Balance and harmony are key. Witches do so much energy work, they sometimes forget that they need to make sure they are asking for energy and not just giving it away. Nothing is spiritual or honorable about giving way more than you get, especially when you feel completely disempowered physically and mentally. You cannot let yourself or others drink from your cup if it’s empty.
One of the most important rituals in Wiccan tradition is the rite of drawing down the Moon or drawing down the goddess. This ritual involves the high priestess of a coven going into a trance state and asking the Triple Goddess of Maiden/Mother/Crone, which is symbolized by the Moon’s own phases, to come into her body and offer wisdom and guidance using her as a vessel or channel. The goddess is invoked in a type of possession where the spirit enters the high priestess, but you can also do this ritual alone and ask the goddess to enter your own being and speak and move through you.
In the drawing down the Moon rite, the goddess is invoked and her spirit enters the body of the high priestess.
The best time for this ritual is the full Moon. A sacred circle is first drawn, and the involved enter the circle. The high priestess will take on the goddess stance, which means standing tall with arms held up to the sky in a V shape, palms up. She will recite the Charge of the Goddess or a chosen chant, and the other members will follow her instructions to chant or dance along. The energy stays within the circle, though. Only when the ritual is complete can you exit the circle.
Margot Adler, witch and author of Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today, wrote that this ritual is so sacred and beautiful because of the strong association of the Triple Goddess to the Moon and the exchange of energy between them. The priestess acting as the goddess truly becomes “the goddess incarnate,” a human version able to pass on the visions and guidance she receives to those in her coven or group.
By asking for the energy of the Moon to come down to your level on Earth, you become the goddess personified and can gain access to the wisdom and insights of the goddess while in that state of altered consciousness.
