Tag: Energy work

Slowing Down with May’s New Moon

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello my darlings! I want to touch on the New Moon that’s coming up on May 30th. This one is going to be in Gemini! Associated with Mercury, who is currently in retrograde, they rule over transportation, technology, communication, and contracts. If you’ve been having trouble expressing yourself lately or finding a lot of inconvenient mishaps making you late, we generally chalk that up to Mercury being in retrograde. That being said, I think that this New Moon may be a good time to cultivate some patience. Patience with ourselves, others, and general circumstances of any given situation.

Keep in mind that Mercury will be leaving retrograde right after this New Moon on June 2nd. Giving ourselves and others the grace to be fallible and human during this time will resolve a lot of misunderstandings before they even become an issue. If you’re entering into any legal agreements at this time, don’t be pressured to move quickly. Take your time to read the fine print and make sure you understand what you are agreeing to.

I know now that the weather is becoming more amenable to playing outdoors we all tend to overbook ourselves and we wind up not feeling rested or relaxed at all. My suggestion for this New Moon is to slow down. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been feeling a little disconnected lately, from my craft, from the earth, and from a lot of the things I enjoy. So here is how I intend to reconnect with patience and quiet on Monday.

Since I’m lucky enough to have Memorial Day off of work, I’ll be spending the majority of the day with friends, but once I’ve returned home, I want to gather some materials at my work space and cleanse it. Namely Bay Leaves, my cauldron, a lighter, a marker, a piece of paper, salt for cleansing, Lavender for calm, peace, and to represent Gemini, Chamomile for abundance and health, Calendula petals for joy and stability, Clover Honey for a lasting effect and sweetening stressful situations, and a chime candle. I’ll also be grabbing Rose Quartz (which I’ve been drawn to lately) for universal love, Clear Quartz for clarity and grounding, and Blue Lace Agate to calm stress and anxiety.

Once all my items are gathered, I will ground myself by setting out my stones, then making a list of frustrations I face regularly that are out of my control. As I write them, I will envision the frustration leaving me through the ink. I’ll fold the list up and set it aside, and bring forward the herbs, honey, and chime candle. First I’ll carve the word patience into the side of the candle with my thumbnail. That’s what we’re creating here, a sense of peace and living slow. Next I’ll put a thin layer of honey on the outside of the candle. A little goes a long way, so don’t feel like you need to slather it on. Then I’ll sprinkle the herbs over the candle. I usually work over a small plate to avoid large spills. This also helps if the herbs have trouble sticking, you can roll the candle on the plate to help adhere more onto it until you’re satisfied.

When you’re ready, light your chime candle. Allow it’s light and warmth to roll over you, before lighting your list of daily frustrations and letting it burn in your cauldron. Remember, guys, fire safety is incredibly important. Use common sense! As the candle and my frustrations burn, I am going to meditate on the path I want to walk and the patience required to do so. If I find a few revelations during the meditation I will journal them. If not I will probably do a tarot reading or scry in my mirror for clarity.

And there you have it! A quiet easy way to add a little peace to your life. Slow down and breathe. Tomorrow will come, today will leave, and the small things, while inconvenient, are only that; small. I love you, my darlings! I hope you enjoy the long weekend if you’re able, and don’t push yourselves too hard.

Blossoming In The Beltane Reunion

A story by Calista Moon on .

My darlings! May we be well met as we come up on the third Sabbat of the year. The Beltane celebration starts on April 30th, the same day the new moon settles in Taurus. We’ve talked about the way the energy of the new moon is ideal for manifesting, so I want to focus on the lively energy of Beltane in this post. Before we get too deep into it though, here are some reminders for how to connect to the black moon.

Take some time to clean your altar. If you’re celebrating Beltane, you may be doing this anyway to harness the high energy in the air, but the new moon is a time for fresh starts. For my little rock goblins, selenite, clear quartz, labradorite, tiger’s eye, and tiger iron are great manifesting and new moon connecting stones. Cinnamon brings abundance, luck, and prosperity. Mugwort awakens psychic gifts and banishes negative energies. Basil is a great protection and wealth herb as well. I associate all three of these with the new moon, bringing in fresh new opportunity and pushing out old energy. Green would be a great color to add and really bring in that fresh spring feeling as well!

Now let’s talk about Beltane! I don’t know about you, but this is what I’ve been waiting for since the weather turned cold. Beltane is the halfway mark between the Spring Equinox (Ostara) and the Summer Solstice (Litha). It is the height of the Spring season, and is still celebrated today as May Day in a lot of areas. Originally it was a Celtic fire festival, like Imbolc, and, like Imbolc, is celebrated from sundown to sundown. So Beltane will last from sundown on April 30th until sundown on May 1st. A couple large differences between Beltane and Imbolc is both the weather and the role that sexuality plays in this Sabbat. If we look to nature, we see attraction and babies everywhere at this time of year, and we use that energy to our benefit as well. Birds hatch, flowers bloom, and it’s even said that the Fae reawaken during Beltane. In some cultures the Fae and the May Queen are tied closely to Beltane, but I’ll let our Master Librarian fill you in on that. I’m sure she has far more knowledge than I do in that realm.

During the day, Beltane celebrations would start with people decorating their doors, windows, and livestock with yellow and white flowers, symbols of the sun and its promise of fertility, positivity, and abundance. A maypole would be erected with ribbons attached to the top. Young men and women would then grab a ribbon and dance around the pole, interweaving their ribbons together. Handfasting ceremonies would take place during Beltane to insure abundant fortune for young couples. There is even something called a May Bush, which is much like a Christmas tree! A thorn bush, or sometimes just a branch, would be decorated with ribbons, brightly colored shells, and rushlights. I had to look that last one up myself as I’d never heard of rushlights until I started looking into the history of Beltane. They are rushes that have been soaked in animal fat to act as small torches. (If you want to decorate a May bush this year, use smart fire safety, my darlings. String lights, fairy lights, what have you, may be more modern, but they are much more practical and safe than rushlights in this day and age.)

As night would fall, the Beltane fire was stoked, and all other flames would be extinguished. Candles, hearths, what have you, would go dark and be rekindled with the Beltane flame to protect the home and bless it with abundance. People would dance around the Beltane fire, and young couples would leap over the embers to in hopes of abundant love and fertility. Some would use the flames to create a smudge stick of sorts and let the smoke cleanse their homes and cattle, or even drive the cattle to leap over the fire itself in hopes of protecting the herd and bringing prosperity and abundance. The next morning many would roll in the morning dew as they believed it to increase beauty and maintain youth. A Beltane rain is said to cleanse and bring blessings of radiance, warmth, and abundance as well.

From a deity perspective, Beltane is the reunion of the Green Man and Mother Earth. Now that she has fully awoken after her long sleep and the Green Man has come of age in the cycle of the year, they embrace and express their love in the green and growing places. This is part of where the maypole came from. It is a phallic representation pushed into the earth, the joining of the Green Man and Mother Earth. As the ribbons intertwine and sheathe the maypole, it becomes the womb of the earth, full of life and potential, bringing kind weather and fertile land for crops. The Green Man is an ambiguous title for Mother Earth’s lover, and he can take many forms. In the Celtic pantheon he is the horned god Cernunnos, but this is a time when you can work with any fertility gods or goddesses. And remember as you harness this energy for growth that this is also the time of the New Moon, a powerful time to manifest!

So how do we celebrate now? While a lot of these rituals still take place today, such as the maypole and fire festivals, we can do a number of different things. As usual, whatever feels right to you is the way to celebrate, but here are some ideas and how I intend to bask in the new life around us. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t, my darlings.

We’ve talked about making a ritual fire and decorating a May bush. You can make your own Maypole with a good stick, colorful ribbons, some fragrant herbs or flowers, and even tying on a crystal to decorate your altar. Making a fairy garden, or sowing new seeds in a plant garden are great ways to represent the rebirth in the air! You can also visit and decorate a nearby spring or well for the occasion and bless the waters there. If you’re looking to harness the sexual nature of this Sabbat, try cooking a meal with your lover and using aphrodisiacs to ramp up the desire between you like the Green Man and Mother Earth.

Personally I will be partaking in quite a few of these rituals! I love this time of year. Usually I spend time outside with nature appreciating the greenery, which is also a lovely way to honor the earth. However after researching the history of this Sabbat, I feel inspired to tackle traditional methods of celebration. I entirely intend to make a ritual fire and dance around it like the wild woman I am. I also want to decorate the rose bush in my front yard and lay out some offerings for the Fae and one of my deities, Persephone, who happens to be a fertility goddess. If I can find myself a good and hardy stick, I want to try my hand at making a maypole for my altar, which itself needs a good clean.

Oh! Let’s talk about rocks and plants! Two of my favorite topics, you know. Being all about sun and growth, Beltane’s associated colors are white, yellow, red, pink, and green. Some crystals to add to your workings or altar right now are Carnelian, for creativity and passion, Emerald, for luck and prosperity, Rose Quartz for love in all its forms, and Malachite, the stone of transformation, for courage and clearing negativity. Good herbs to throw into your cauldron or ritual fire are Yarrow for healing, love, and protection, Mint to symbolize personal strength and virtue, Lilac for high self-esteem and confidence, and Frankincense to cultivate inner peace and purification. If you’re one to make offerings to the earth, deities, Fae, or anyone else, cherries and peaches are wonderful choices during Beltane. Cherries represent sensuality and the elixir of life, while peaches are associated with perpetual vitality and satisfaction.

Once my altar has been decorated for the Beltane season, I will pick up the journaling I did during the Pink moon. Remember how we talked about the cosmic energy of the Pink moon was preparing us for this New moon? I suggested and embraced shadow work around the passion of my spirit, what brings me energy, and what stops me from engaging in these fulfilling activities. I have spent the past few weeks working to incorporate my soul fire into my daily life and I want to continue this work, so I intend to sit down in my cleansed space and meditate. What would my life look like if my spiritual garden burst fully into bloom? If every dream I have opened to my soul’s flame, like flowers spreading their gorgeous delicate petals to the sun? How would my soul, my body, my mind feel in this harmony? I will hold and charge a talisman with this passion and flow, and carry it with me. I’ll spend some time journaling about what this projected passionate life looks like on a day to day basis. Remember to stay realistic in your vision. Contentment and discipline stay when motivation and passion wane.

With my meditation complete, I will head outside to stoke my ritual fire. Once it’s burning brightly like the fulfillment of my future, I’ll recite this invocation. I found it during my research and tweaked it to suit my own intentions and ritual.

The Beltane Fire sends its flames to the sun
The promise of summer warmth to come
The Horned God dances through the green,
Chasing after his Goddess and Queen

The Earth Mother laughs with joy
That her young consort is no longer a boy
Their sacred marriage empowers the earth
As we seek their blessings of love and mirth

New spring blossoms clean and bright
Clarity grows in the gathering light
Now is the time for action and life
To fertilize plans and banish strife

Father Sun and Mother Moon
Whose balance keeps life in tune
Bless us as we thrive, grow, and dance
In the beautiful universe expanse.

Dance free across the Beltane fire
Let the ashes raise you higher
‘Neath the moon, now dark and new
The Greatest Good come swift to you!

And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

And then…we dance! Dancing isn’t for everyone, but I like to think of it as moving in time with the cosmic flow. However you move is the best way to move. Let your body guide you, it knows where it wants to go, and the universe will love however you move! Think of this aligned future you’re manifesting and the bright fulfillment you desire; that you deserve! Send the energy of your dance up with the flames to shift the machinations of the universe to your dreams. When I feel my future has been solidly rooted, done and dusted, I’ll sit and buzz in the thrum of the energy I’ve raised until the fire dies.

In the morning, I’ll go roll in my yard and scare my good suburban neighbors as I embrace the morning dew with affirmations of beauty, vitality, and the fact that we must grow old, but no one must grow up. Being young at heart is a quality I hold dear, and rolling around in the grass is a great way to engage your inner child. Playing is so important, my darlings. I hope you let yourself play and cut loose this weekend as you celebrate however you like! Blessings and fortune be upon you!

April’s Pink Moon Is Going Super Saiyan

A story by Calista Moon on .

It’s that time again, my darlings. The wheel continues to turn and we find ourselves preparing for the fourth full moon of this year; the Pink Moon. It’s also known as the Hare Moon or the Egg Moon. Sound familiar? If you were raised in the Christian beliefs, you would be right in thinking that this is yet another pagan celebration that was hijacked by the Catholic church during the Barbarian conversions. There is a lot of mythology and lore that is interwoven magnificently around Easter and the Pink Moon, but I don’t want to get into that too much this month. If you’re interested, I would suggest researching the Germanic goddess Eostre.

I want to focus instead on the sky and the earth, this month. The Pink Moon is about attaining fullness. It falls during Aries season, and the adventurous spirit of this fire sign is coming through to set us after our ambitions. The energy in the air is restless and ready to be utilized! One of the best parts of this year’s Pink Moon is that it is going to be in the air sign of Libra, the scales, who will bring balance to this restless energy. Aries and Libra are a wonderful system of checks and balances. Where an unchecked passionate Aries can burn recklessly, the cool intellect of Libra will stall the flames and help focus our energy toward our goals. Together they blaze a beautiful trail.

This gorgeous pairing of signs around the Pink Moon is the perfect time to reflect on the obstacles or fears stalling our progress and adapt to the situations at hand so that we may overcome and even transcend this level of internal or external struggle. Now is a time to let love flow around you and release the very human need to cling tightly to the familiar. This kind of trust can open the door to a lot of discomfort and fear. That’s okay. Let that fear in. Sit with it. It is there to try to protect you, and it learned to be fearful from the past. Reassure it that everything is going to be fine. The universe has your back, and always has. Attune with your intuition and meet that fear with love until it tires itself out.

That is an act much easier said than done, of course. We’re human after all. But let me toss a few more cosmic movements into this mixture to see if we can persuade your fears to relax. So we’ve got ambition, and the intellect to focus it, as well as the moon’s transcendent energy. Already a lovely combination, but what if we saw Jupiter, the planet of opportunity, potential, and luck, meet up with Neptune, the planet of the unconscious, evolutions, and imagination for the first time in roughly 150 years? Furthermore, what if we saw them align in Neptune’s home sign of Pisces; ruler of dreams, intuition, and emotional awareness? And, to help focus that wild combination of intuitive luck and imagination, what if Venus, the ruler of Libra, showed up to bring love, beauty, and compassion to the equation?

I know. That’s a lot of information. It can get a little muddy sometimes, so let me try to nutshell all of this as best as I can. Today, on April 12th, the fortune and potential of Jupiter aligned with the evolutionary imagination of Neptune. That evolutionary energy is being emphasized since Neptune is in its home sign of Pisces. These two together, evolution and luck, are going to be with us for the Pink Moon on April 16th. The same Pink Moon that is overflowing with the energy of Becoming, wholeness, and adaptation. The same Pink Moon that is driven by the fiery ambition of Aries season towards our desires, and whose energy is being focused by arriving in the clear intellect of the fair and balanced air sign of Libra.

This Full Moon is about Becoming with a capital B! It is about preparing for the next New Moon. It is begging us to Let. Go. Let go of the fears that keep us stagnant. Let go of the what ifs and anxiety that keep us from opening to opportunities. Because, before the month is out, Jupiter and Neptune will be joined by Venus’ compassion in Pisces just in time for the New Moon. These three are an incredibly powerful manifesting trio, and Venus’ added energy will be leveling up all of our interpersonal relationships. Luck, evolution, and compassionate love coming together. Now is the time to be courageous. Reflect on your big picture, adapt and trust in the world around you, and in that flow you will transcend what you currently perceive to be an obstacle, and see it for what it really is. A stepping stone towards the point where your fortune, love, and evolution meet.

I think the key to harnessing this collective energy under the Pink Moon on Saturday is going to rely a lot on balance. It will require the balance of your gut with your mind. Emotions and intellect must be kept in check of one another. Where Libra sits and ponders over a situation, Aries will light a fire under them to keep moving. Some really good balancing stones to incorporate in your Full Moon ritual this month will be Rhodonite and Unakite.

Rhodonite is a self-esteem and self-image booster, as well as helping open us to the world of possibilities. It can help us look closer at ourselves, and helps enhance our relationships with our self, friends, business, and romantic interests. Unakite is a heart healer. It recalibrates our frequency to resonate with love and compassion while balancing the emotions in the body, such as fear and anxiety. If you’ve ever heard someone say feel your feelings, that’s what they mean. The tightness in the chest or shoulders, the knotted forehead muscles. Unakite will help recalibrate the way we interact physically with our emotions. Letting love flow into the spaces where fear lives can help us let go of the stagnation that makes us feel safe in familiarity. Contrary to the old adage, the devil you know is not actually better than the devil you don’t.

This is already a very lengthy post, so I won’t be going into a step by step for the Pink Moon. My ritual this month is fairly personal and will incorporate a lot of shadow work anyway, so I want to leave you with a few questions to help you fill the corners of your heart and mind with the trusting love of the universe, and a prayer. What gives you vitality and energy? What could you lose if you incorporated this into your life more? What could change? What stops you from tending to the needs of your spirit’s flame? Where does this stem from?

I bask in the fullness of the Pink Moon. As the grasses reach for the sky, I too yearn for growth. I acknowledge the traumas that have marred my spirit. I release the pains that weigh on my heart and mind. I meet my shadows with love. I am open to change and love in all forms. I look to nature for examples of how to relinquish worry and embrace the joy of living in the present. I trust in the abundance and perfect love of the universe. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

Note: shadow work is absolutely not for everyone. However, if you find some of these questions touch parts of your mind or heart that scare you, and you feel ready for change, I would encourage you to journal a little on these thoughts, my darlings. Examination of ourselves is the best way to prune away that which doesn’t serve us any longer, in my opinion. And I for one am very ready to remove what’s holding me back from my love filled, evolutionary potential. Blessed be!

Where Passion Meets the Mundane

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, hello my darlings! It’s that time again. We’ve got a New Moon a couple days away, and this one is sitting in Aries. As the ruler of ambition, passion, action, and desire, Aries wants us to make a move! What better time than April Fool’s to firmly plant some seeds? That’s right, this New Moon comes to us on April 1st, but don’t be taken in by the lighthearted nature of the day. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac year, and much like the Fool of the tarot, it starts us on a long term journey. If you don’t know what I mean, go check out my other blog series called Tarot Tuesday.

Being a New Moon, this is a perfect time for bringing in fresh energy and I know I’m ready to focus on something that makes me feel passionate, something that gives me energy and sparks my inner fire. Aries is a fire sign after all! If you’ve been lacking in the motivation department, maybe it’s time to channel the stubborn, hard headedness of this ram as the moon prepares to fill with light and opportunity. If you want to harness this drive, some stones you can include on your altar are Bloodstone, Topaz, and Jasper. If, like me, you enjoy burning herbs, some Aries herbs to add to your cauldron on Friday are Basil and Eucalyptus. If you’re more of a beast master or mistress, try putting a tiger or ram likeness on your altar to honor Aries and welcome their energy into your life. Keeping it simple is always nice, though so if you just want some colors to add, Aries’ colors are blood red and black. Or, for the gardeners among you, add some geraniums or daffodils. Dogwood branches or Alder branches are a good representation as well, if they’re available to you.

Now I know I’m getting heavy into this Aries energy, it’s coming in hot this month in my opinion. That doesn’t mean we should forget the lady of the hour; the Moon. Mugwort and Cinnamon are good moon herbs for awakening psychic gifts and bringing in abundance, respectively. New Moon stones are Selenite for cleansing, Clear Quartz for grounding, Labradorite, the magic gem, Tiger’s Eye for manifesting, and Tiger Iron for commitment to choices, and her colors are violet and purple, the colors of a moonless night. What else is out thriving on moonless nights, animal lovers? Owls and bats, soaring through the darkness with precision and focus.

When it comes to jump starting ambition, I have some specific desires this month. My health has been very unstable for the last few months, and now that I’m finally starting to feel myself again, I want to maintain my vessel. If you know me, you know I’m a thick lady. That’s thick with a capital T and three C’s. Thiccck. I move my body regularly, I try to feed it good nourishing meals, and overall I do my best to love and appreciate every single cell that works so hard to keep me alive and mobile. With my health being so low these past few months, though, my routine has become much more sedentary as I tried to heal. I want to get back to my movement. I want to have a clean and healthy space in which to live and not only that, but to thrive! So this month, I’ll be doing a lot of mundane magic, which we don’t hear much about in the aesthetic world of witchcraft. As always, this is what my process looks like, but everyone’s craft is different and there is no wrong way to practice. Do what feels good!

Let’s talk about what mundane magic looks like. Instead of a step by step, I’m going to go through how I intend to cleanse my space and what that means to me.

1. Start a simmer pot. You know me, I need good smells for good magic! Since my health problems were respiratory based, I don’t particularly want to burn herbs this month. If you’ve never made a simmer pot before, it’s a fun and easy way to incorporate your herbs. Get a pot and fill it about halfway with water. I’ll be adding lemon slices for cleansing, Rose Petals for self-love, Basil, and Eucalyptus essential oil. The last two are for protection and channeling that Aries determination. If you don’t want to clean a pot, you can also use an essential oil diffuser to get the same effect! Turn that puppy on low and give it the occasional stir to help the scents permeate your home. Changing the quality of the air in my home is refreshing and invigorating to me.

2. Once the simmer pot is going, I’m going to clean up my altar. It’s pretty cluttered at the moment with herbs, tools and stones, as well as wax and ashes. I like to think a messy altar means I’m doing the work, but we’re starting a fresh cycle here. So I’ll remove everything, scrape up the wax, dust and wipe everything down with moon water, clockwise cleaning for manifesting, darlings. My deities will appreciate fresh candles and clean candlesticks too, I’m sure as well as refreshing offerings and organizing all my ingredients and tools. I’ll be adding Bloodstone, Labradorite, and Tiger Iron, as well as Rose Quartz for self-love, a reminder of why I move my body and care for my space. I’m building a discipline. That’s what stays on days when the motivation wanes.

3. When I’m satisfied with my altar space, I’m going to do something I despise. I’m going to dust. SIGH. I probably only dust the whole house once or twice a year. I’m sure that had something to do with my recent respiratory issues, and it’s been a hot minute since I’ve attended to the “magic sprinkles” as I like to call them. So I’ll don a mask, remove all the abandoned cobwebs from the corners (only the abandoned ones, mind you), and wipe down all my knick-knacks and surfaces. Don’t forget to dust your plants too, if you have them! Even though I can’t stand this chore, I am kind of excited to see all my belongings cared for and tended to as I intend to care for myself.

4. To follow that up, I’ll move into plant care. Making sure they’re all watered and removing dead leaves. Check to see if any of them need repotted or a rotation in the sunlight. This is a normal weekly chore for me, but I feel like it’s important to note here that after doing something I really don’t enjoy, it’s important to spend time doing something that brings you a sense of lightness.

5. Finally I’ll do my remaining normal chores; clean and refresh bathrooms, take care of any dirty dishes in the sink, take out the garbage, follow up on the never-ending chore of laundry, and vacuum. These can feel really boring and daunting, especially after doing several other chores, so if you struggle like me, try taking a few minutes before starting them to rest and meditate. Think about the impact these dirty spaces have on your daily life. How often are you in the bathroom? How often do you see the sink of dishes? How often do you step on a weird crunchy on the ground? You are doing these chores to care for yourself. You deserve a clean floor to lay on and flail around on without wondering what’s down there. You deserve a welcoming bathroom where you want to relax and take a hot shower or bath. Clean dishes help maintain your internal health both physically and psychologically, and you deserve to be healthy in all areas of your life. Tell that inner voice to shut up, you DO deserve it! Mindfulness and intention are the keys to mundane magic.

It’s important to note that you know what you need. If you don’t have the energy or capacity to do all of these things, you certainly don’t have to. This is just how I intend to jump back into a healthy routine after being so unhealthy. Take care of you and do what feels good for you.

This will be a long day for me, that’s true. But when I’m finished I will make some tea, sit down in my clean home, and know that I have worked hard for myself. I know that I will feel good. I will feel deserving of the hard work I put in, and the weekend will be spent in a clean space that I have cultivated for my own betterment. I hope that whatever you manifest this month, whatever drives you, and sparks your fire, that you know you are deserving of all things that are good, my darlings. Because you are!

New Moon, Who Dis?

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, my darlings! I hope you’re all feeling open to change and possibility as we come up on the New Moon on Wednesday! Since we focused so much on Imbolc last month and the power of manifestation it gave us in conjunction with the new moon, I wanted to have a special post just for the new moon. My working from last month was wildly successful, so this new moon I’m going to cultivate gratitude. I want to manifest a day to day where I see the good things over the bad. Not ignoring the problems, but not letting them consume me either. So let’s talk about the new moon.


In this state, the moon is considered “empty” since there is no light on her. She’s a dark moon, ready and waiting for all the light to fill her up again. She is drawing it to her little by little, making progress every day towards the fullness we’ll see in two weeks’ time. This particular new moon will be in Pisces, my personal sun sign. Pisces is an introspective water sign, with positive aspects of dreaming, imagination, and intuition. Some of the negative aspects include delusions, deceit, and dissociation from physical reality. 


With the moon in Pisces, you may be feeling more sensitive or perceptive of your surroundings, causing you to act passively. While waiting to see what comes next isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it may come from a place of insecurity. If that resonates, don’t hold yourself back now. Open to the potential and opportunities surrounding you. If that doesn’t ring true, spend this period of rest and calm investing in your creative interests or spending time on your spiritual practice. If you don’t have a spiritual practice, maybe now is the time to build one! Whether that’s saying a little prayer before bed, or taking 5 minutes in the middle of the day to meditate and quiet your mind, the imagination of Pisces will greatly influence these areas should you dedicate time to them.


 Like I said, I’m going to be looking for opportunities to exercise mindful gratitude in the coming weeks, and to build that new perspective, my ritual this month will look a little different. Since Pisces is the water sign of the fish, I’m going to be taking a ritual bath. I promise that this wasn’t coordinated with the post that the Master Librarian made for Fae Friday, but it does seem to coincide well! A ritual bath isn’t something I’ve done before, so everything I share in this how-to will be rather experimental, but a lot of the steps remain the same.


1. First we’ll cleanse our workspace. In this case, it will be the bathtub. (If you don’t have a bathtub, that’s okay. You can take a ritual shower too. Or even just take some extra care in a face wash. There’s no wrong way, guys! Seriously!) I would suggest cleaning the tub/shower like normal, and then if you feel so inclined, burn some incense or wipe some moon water around the tub in a clockwise motion. Remember, clockwise for welcoming in energy, counterclockwise for banishing energy. 

2. Let’s dress our workspace. A couple things to keep in mind if you’re a crystal lover like me: First, Selenite represents the moon and is a powerful cleansing and purifying stone. Second, DO NOT get it wet. Keep those shiny beauties on the sink counter or on a shelf nearby. They don’t play well with water. Other stones that represent the new moon are Clear Quartz for grounding, Labradorite, the gem of magic, and Tiger’s Eye, a powerful manifesting stone. If you want to represent Pisces, their stones are Fluorite, Amethyst, and Aquamarine. All of these stones are fine to be near water, so I’m planning to put them on the edge of the tub or on the shower shelves. I also intend to burn some herbs, so I’ll have my cauldron on the counter with Rosemary for cleansing and protection, Mugwort for awakening the third eye and banishing negativity, and Sage (a Pisces related herb) for wisdom and blessings. I’ll also have a couple of candles for my deities and a lighter and charcoal for the cauldron. I’m going to have a cup, some dried sunflower petals, bath salts, and lavender essential oil for the bath as well.

3. Charge and cleanse your vehicle. For this particular ritual, I’m going to be my vehicle, since I am the one seeing the opportunities for gratitude every day. I plan to start drawing the bath, light my candles, and then light my charcoal to burn the herbs in my cauldron. I’ll fan the smoke from the herbs around myself with the following incantation:

I quiet myself with the Black Moon. As she is now empty, so too do I cleanse and open myself to that which I have overlooked. As she fills, so too will I become stronger in the positivity surrounding me.


During this portion I’ll be envisioning the smoke attaching to the dark parts of my mind and body that have been overwhelming my day to day. I envision this as a black sticky tar like substance. The smoke will encapsulate the tar and separate it from my energy. I’m going to put a large amethyst on my third eye in the middle of my brow bone and visualize it opening like an eye to see the objective truth of reality.

4. Bath time! When the bath is full, I will add a few drops of Lavender essential oil for calm, bath salts for cleansing, and sunflower petals for peace and clarity. I like to listen to music in the bath so I’ll be starting some gentle music before adding the last ingredient; me! The cleansing portion of this can look however you like. I will be pouring water over my head and visualizing the water connecting with the smoke covered tar and washing off of my person, safely into the water where it will be cleansed and neutralized. I’ll repeat my intention three times as I do this:

I cleanse myself so that I may see more clearly the world around me and the path before me.

Then I’ll set the cup aside and quietly submerge and meditate in the water, thinking on all of the abundance present in my life. 

5. Closing the ritual. When you’ve finished your bath and are draining the tub, envision all the black tar that didn’t neutralize in the bath going down the drain, back to the earth. Mother earth neutralizes all. (If you took a shower, you can visualize this while you are cleansing instead of seeing the black tar neutralizing in the tub.) Before putting out candles I’ll say: 

Thank you for listening and assisting me in this working. I have all that I need while working towards what I desire to have in my life. I welcome gratitude, joy, and silver linings. I open myself to that which serves my Highest Good and aligns me with my Highest Self. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

I’ll thank my deities for joining me and invite them to stay if they wish before extinguishing their candles.

And there you have it! A new moon gratitude ritual bath! Once I’m dried and dressed, I’m going to make a list of things I’m grateful for and post it up in the house so I can see it every day as a reminder. Like I said, this is an experimental spell for me, so let me know what you would change or what you intend to manifest in the comments. Happy manifesting, my darlings!

Howling at the Full Wolf Moon

A story by Calista Moon on .

As we approach the first full moon of 2022, I wanted to share some ways to connect yourself to the moon cycle if you feel so inclined. I’ve loved looking at the moon since I was little. As I’ve grown and discovered my own spiritual path, I find that connection deepening every day. Please keep in mind that the only thing you need to practice any level of spirituality is yourself, but being raised in a very ritualistic household, I find comfort in the ceremony of my craft. So don’t feel obligated to purchase things for each Esbat (full moon) or Sabbat (a witch’s holy day), my darlings. This is just how I do things, and everyone’s practice looks a little different. 


The first full moon of the year has a lot of different names in a lot of different cultures, but where I’m at in the U.S., the most common name I’ve heard is the Wolf Moon. This particular Wolf Moon will be in Cancer, which brings change and release to our emotional foundation. Doubly so given that the moon is the ruling celestial body of Cancer! If you like working with particular spirits, the animals associated with this Esbat are the wolf, the coyote, and the fox. If you’re into crystals and stones, then you might want to pull out your garnet, onyx, or jet for this full moon ritual. If you work more with herbs and flowers, you can take some marjoram and holy thistle to your altar. You can also use nuts, cones, crocus petals, and snowdrop petals. I generally light a white candle for the Esbats as she is big and round and bright, but black or a blue-violet color are also great for the Wolf Moon. 


It’s a quiet time in nature. The earth is asleep, making this the perfect time to bunk down and look inward, focusing on situations that involve only yourself. Though Full Moons are associated with completion, cleansing, and removing what no longer works for you, this particular moon has an air of transformation. We release and make space for the energy to come. My favorite way to release this is to howl at the moon. It can be a lonely sound, but it reminds me I am not alone. The moon is listening. I tell her everything in my howl, loud and mournful. I let go of everything cluttering my mind, my intentions, my goals. This doesn’t need to be done aloud, or even outside. Again, each practice is different. Find what feels good and right to you. Personally the noise, the vibration in my chest, resonates and helps me feel like I’ve shaken loose the cobwebs and cleaned my spiritual house. 


But I’m getting ahead of myself. Please keep in mind that I have only ever been a solitary practitioner. Every witch’s spells and rituals look a bit different. A full moon ritual in my house usually looks something like this: 

1. Cleanse the space. I remove any stray items I haven’t put away, and wipe down the workspace with moon water. Then I’ll light some incense and sit with a singing bowl for a few minutes while I focus on my breath and envision the sound ringing through the space bringing brightness and cleanliness to the air and energy in the room. 

2. Dress the space. This is probably my favorite part. The aesthetic of witchcraft that we see on social media just isn’t something that is really sustainable all day every day, but making a beautiful cozy space to connect to the universal consciousness really helps put me in the mindset for magic working. This is when I arrange my crystals, set out my tarot cards and protection wards to charge, light candles for my deities and invite them to join me, get the herbs or flowers I’m working with prepped, and any other tools I’ll need. This can include an athame (a knife), a wand, a mortar and pestle, a lighter, candles, a pen and paper, any sigils, whatever I need for what I’m planning to do. If I’m making moon water, I’ll set it out at this time as well. Just get everything in arms reach so I can focus on the ritual as opposed to trying to find everything.

3. Dress the candle. This is a very meditative part of the spell for me. I like to carve intention into the candle whether with words or sigils, focusing my end goal into each indent and putting my will into the wax. Once the carving is done, I melt the wax of the sigil slightly and roll it in my ground herbs/flowers. You can also use an appropriate diluted essential oil, or olive oil/jojoba oil for this. You don’t need a whole lot, just enough to allow the herbs to stick to the candle. For this full moon, I will be sprinkling moon blood on the candle as well, to bind the transformative energies of the Wolf to myself. 

4. Meditate and connect. Once the candle is ready, I light it and focus on my intention, meditating on my end goal. When I feel the idea is solidified, I choose a way to open myself to the universal consciousness. This can be done a number of ways, but I usually like to do a tarot reading followed by journaling while my candle burns. For this particular Esbat, I will be using the following incantation:

I howl to the Wolf Moon to awaken the Goddess within me. The wild woman that seeks to be set free. I ask for guidance, insight, healing, and strength as I continue towards my Higher Purpose. May I always allow myself to express who I truly am. Mother Moon, I embrace you.

I repeat this as many times as feels right, then I’ll howl until I feel I have released that which doesn’t serve me or my intention. My intention for this Wolf Moon is “I am focusing my energy inward for personal growth and fulfillment.” Using the raised vibration of this sound work, I plan to do a simple three card tarot draw. The first will represent where I need to apply the energy to achieve fulfillment through growth. The second card will represent how to apply my energy to this focus. The third and final card will represent a sign that I will receive to know I am on the right path. Then I’ll journal my intuitive thoughts and meditate on the reading until the intention candle burns out.

5. Closing the ritual. Once the candle has done its work, my energy has been taken out into the world, my intention already working me toward my goal. I say the following incantation as a closing of the connection to the universal consciousness:

Thank you for everything. All my needs are met in all areas of my life, while working towards what I desire to have in my life. I release thoughts, worries, fears, attachments, and all that which does not serve my Highest Good nor my Highest Self. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

I then thank my deities for joining me. I invite them to stay if they like, or to go if they will, then extinguish their vigil candles.

And the spell is complete! After a ritual, my energy is usually very high, so I like to calm down with some tea and bask in the knowledge that my desires are on their way to me. Again, this involves a lot of tools and candles and things, but could be done simply by writing your intention on a piece of paper, meditating with it, charging it with purpose and will, and being open to whatever thoughts come to you about the situation before burning it to release the charged energy. There is no wrong way to do witchcraft, my darlings. Let me know what you like to do that may be a bit different from what I’ve described here, and have a blessed full moon!