Moon Phase Magic – Wayfinder Tarot

We people have all the time been drawn to the moon. It has been the supply of delusion, legend, artwork, and ritual for cultures across the globe. Practitioners of magic and witchcraft are usually particularly tuned into the facility of the moon.

In this text, we’ll clarify the science behind the phases of the moon and how you can harness its energy to boost your observe.

Moon Phase Basics

Why Does the Moon Appear to Change?

When you search for on the night time sky, you would possibly see a giant, vivid, spherical moon, a tiny crescent-formed sliver, or no moon in any respect. The moon itself just isn’t altering — the moon doesn’t produce any gentle of its personal. The distinction within the moon’s look all through the month is because of the quantity of daylight reflecting off of it. How a lot gentle falls on the floor of the moon relies upon upon the place the moon is in its orbit round Earth.

What Are the Eight Phases of the Moon?

The moon takes about 27 days to finish it’s orbit across the Earth, which implies that we see a full moon about as soon as a month. But, the complete moon is simply one of many eight moon phases in every lunar cycle. The checklist beneath describes every section as seen from the northern hemisphere.

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• New Moon: The moon seems dark (unseen) throughout a brand new moon.
• Waxing Crescent: The gentle falls on the best aspect of the moon in a skinny sliver of sunshine.
• First Quarter: The proper half of the moon is illuminated.
• Waxing Gibbous: About three-quarters of the best aspect of the moon is illuminated.
• Full: The whole floor of the moon is illuminated.
• Waning Gibbous: About three-quarters of the left aspect of the moon is illuminated.
• Third Quarter: The left half of the moon is illuminated.
• Waning Crescent: The gentle falls on the left aspect of the moon in a skinny sliver of sunshine.

The Names of the Full Moons

Throughout historical past, folks have marked time by the phases of the moon. We have labored, performed, and celebrated beneath the sunshine of the complete moon. The moon is such an essential a part of the rhythm of our lives, that every month’s full moon has been named to explain what’s occurring down on Earth on the time. Though there are totally different names for the month-to-month moons, listed here are a few of the extra widespread ones:

• January The Wolf Moon is known as for the howling of wolves looking for meals – which is scarce throughout this chilly winter month.
• February The Snow Moon is known as for the blanket of white that covers a lot of the northern hemisphere throughout this winter month.
• March The Worm Moon is known as for the earthworms that emerge from the bottom throughout the spring thaw.
• April The Pink Moon doesn’t check with the colour of the moon itself, however fairly the primary pink buds of spring showing on the timber and within the fields.
• May The Flower Moon acknowledges the blooming of spring flowers. The full moon in May is also called The Hare Moon for the abundance of newly born bunnies.
• June The Strawberry Moon is known as in honor of the primary harvest of the summer season fruit.
• July The Buck Moon refers back to the regrowth of antlers on male deer. It is also called The Thunder Moon due to summer season storms.
• August The Sturgeon Moon is known as in honor of the returning of the fish that’s very important meals supply within the Great Lakes area of the United States.
• The Harvest Moon is the complete moon that happens nearest the Autumn Equinox (which falls round September twenty first every year). This moon could happen within the calendar month of September or October. This moon tends to be significantly vivid and hangs excessive within the sky, permitting farmers to tug in crops at night time below its gentle.
• September The Corn Moon is known as for the ripened corn that’s usually harvested throughout this month.
• October The Hunters Moon refers back to the time of year when recreation is hunted and put up for the lengthy winter months forward.
• November The Beaver Moon is known as for the enterprise of beavers, and different animals, making their closing preparations for winter.
• December The Cold Moon refers back to the frigid depths of winter. The winter solstice, which is the shortest day and longest night time of the year happens on this month (normally round December twenty first), so the December full moon performs an particularly essential position in reducing by way of the lengthy, dark, nights.
• Finally, what’s a Blue Moon? Well, as a result of the whole lunar cycle is about 27.3 days, and a year has twelve months, twelve moon cycles don’t match neatly into our calendar. So, each two and a half years or so a thirteenth full moon falls inside a calendar year and is called a “blue moon.” Some folks additionally check with a second full moon inside a calendar month as a blue moon.

Using the Moon in Witchcraft and different Occult Practices

New Moon Rituals

The New Moon is the time to plan and set intentions that can set off manifestation. A great way to recollect that is you could’t see the brand new moon within the night time sky. The black sky resembles an empty chalkboard, or a clean slate. And, do not forget that within the coming weeks main as much as the complete moon, the moon can be waxing, which suggests it would seem to develop and its illumination will unfold because it races towards fullness. Picture your intentions rising and brightening towards completion.

Here are some concepts for profiting from the New Moon:

1. Turn a Want into an Affirmation: Rather than saying you need one thing, think about and imagine that it’s already yours. So, as an alternative of claiming, “I want to land that promotion,” say, “I’m so grateful that my hard work and skills have allowed me to advance in my career.”
2. Put Your Affirmation in Writing: Journaling is a strong approach to work your manifestations throughout any a part of the lunar cycle. On the New Moon, strive making an inventory of the stuff you want to accomplish or deliver into your life. Make entries in your progress within the days main as much as the Full Moon. At the Full Moon, checklist the stuff you want to take away out of your life and monitor your progress till the New Moon… Rinse & Repeat! Once a year, both round Samhain (The Witches’ New Year, October thirty first) or the standard calendar new year (January 1st), overview your entries to see how you probably did.
3. Visualize the Future You Desire: Gather up visible representations of the issues and life you need for your self to create a transparent image of your best life. You can do that actually by reducing footage out of magazines and pasting them right into a collage, or drawing photographs in your journal, or curating a digital temper board utilizing laptop software program like PowerPoint or a social media platform like Pinterest.
4. Use Candle Magic: Using a needle, inscribe a candle with the factor you need to appeal to into your life (both the precise phrase, or a easy consultant image or drawing). Beginning on the day of the New Moon, gentle the candle and because it burns, say aloud (or repeat in your thoughts) an affirmation and meditate on manifesting your needs. Extinguish the candle after every session. Repeat this every day till the candle has burned down fully. Dispose of any leftover wax by burying it within the backyard or a potted plant, or tossing it within the trash.
5. Lay a Tarot Spread: Check out our article on Tarot Spreads for the New and Full Moon

Full Moon Rituals

The Full Moon is a time to take inventory and launch what now not serves you. A great way to recollect that is that the complete moon illuminates every part: the nice, the unhealthy, and the ugly. Use its gentle (metaphorically) to try your life and see the place you may need gotten off monitor. In the weeks between the Full Moon and the following New Moon, the moon can be waning, which suggests to look to shrink and develop dimmer. Picture the stuff you want to launch shrinking away with the waning moon.

Here are just a few methods to attach with the Full Moon power:

1. Use a Full Moon Affirmation: Repeat affirming phrases as a part of any of the rituals beneath, or any time it feels proper. Try one thing like, “May the Full Moon illuminate what needs to be seen and cleanse away that which does not serve me.”
2. Clean Your Space: Are you hanging on to previous garments, objects, or paperwork that now not fit your needs or what you need on your life? Use the day of the complete moon, and the next two weeks, to purge extra muddle out of your environment.
3. Give Thanks: The flip aspect of releasing the unfavourable is embracing the optimistic. Make an inventory of issues you might be grateful for and tape it someplace the place you possibly can see it on daily basis till the following new moon. As you replicate on the nice issues in your life, think about the stuff you now not need or want being pushed away.
4. Use Candle Magic: Collect a candle, a fireproof dish, a small slip of paper and a pencil. During the Full Moon, write the factor you want to take away out of your life on the paper. Light the candle and repeat your affirmation whereas setting the slip of paper on hearth, then rigorously drop the paper into the fireproof dish to burn. Extinguish the candle and wait till the wax and the paper ashes have fully cooled then get rid of the waste by burying it within the backyard. Tossing it within the trash will just do wonderful too.
5. Charge Your Tools: Set your tarot deck, crystals, and different ritual instruments outdoors (climate allowing) or on the window sill to take in the moon’s rays. Here’s a put up on how you can use the moon to cost your magical instruments.
6. Charge Yourself: Go absorb some rays! Standing below the complete moon could be a highly effective expertise. You don’t have to face on a seaside or a mountaintop (though it’s fairly nice when you can)… standing in your individual yard, and even inside the home close to a window, will just do wonderful. Turn your face towards the moon, unfold your arms vast, and really feel the power move into you.
7. Lay a Tarot Spread: Check out our article on Tarot Spreads for the New and Full Moon

Drawing Down the Moon

Drawing down the moon is a Wiccan ritual through which a coven’s High Priestess summons the goddess to enter the human vessel. It will also be carried out by solitary practitioners. The Drawing Down ritual is carried out in a meditative state below the complete moon. It is often carried out from inside a forged circle and employs ritual incantation.

A Word About Moon Water

Visit any social media platform across the full moon and also you’ll see a great deal of posts about moon water… how and when to make it, how and when to make use of it, what to retailer it in, and many others. Full transparency, I’ve been learning and working towards the craft because the Nineteen Seventies and I’d by no means heard of the observe till current years. Not to say that it wasn’t round, it simply wasn’t on my radar.

I personally don’t use moon water in my observe (I made it as soon as, however didn’t do something with it), so I don’t have any sturdy opinions about it by hook or by crook. But my normal philosophy on rituals and mystical instruments is that the facility is within the practitioner’s perception, so if it really works for you, go for it!