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!
