Using your Inner Cauldron at the Balsamic Moon
The New Moon arrives on Friday, September 30 at 5:13 PM Pacific Time (Saturday, October 1 at 00:13 UTC), and Grandmother Moon will begin her monthly journey once again.
This will be the second New Moon in the calendar month for many of us (depending on our time zone). This is known as a Black Moon, similar to the Blue Moon, which has two Full Moons in a calendar month. For some, the Black Moons are significant for ritual and spellcraft, as it is believed the outcome of work done will be even stronger on the Black Moon. And perhaps even the energy of this Balsamic Moon will be stronger!
The New Moon is the dawn of a new adventure, a new project, a new beginning. You may have heard the expression “It is always darkest just before dawn”. And so it is with the Moon’s journey in this final phase of the Waning Crescent, also known as the Balsamic Moon (balsam refers to anything that heals, soothes, or restores). The light of the Moon is barely visible… a sliver of light arising before dawn and setting late in the afternoon, before Father Sun.
This phase of the Moon is associated with increasing yin energy and psychic strength, and with the wisdom of the Crone (aka The Wise Woman) and the Sorceress phases of a woman’s life, and with the Goddesses Cerridwen (Keeper of the Cauldron) and Hecate (a powerful Triple Goddess from ancient times).
These energies are deep, introspective, wise and intense. During the Balsamic Moon, we connect to our inner fire, our inner cauldron, and are ready for the alchemy of transformation. These Goddess energies can support us in the “work” of the waning phase of the Moon (that time from the Full moon to the New Moon): a time of completion, of contemplation, and release.
The shift to the Balsamic Moon in the three days before the New Moon is our Call To Action to complete that process… one last opportunity to delve deep inside and connect with our inner light.
The work we do in the final phase of this moon prepares us for the beginning of the next lunar cycle…. preparing the soil of our Soul’s Garden for the planting of new seeds, and for asking the Soul Questions that will help us complete and move forward.
Soul Questions for the Balsamic Moon
Last month I offered some Soul Questions for this phase of the moon, and those may be the ones that resonate with you this month.
If not, create your own questions based on your intentions for this month’s journey or consider these new Soul Questions for your meditations under this month’s Balsamic Moon:
- What practices and beliefs have I clung to, yet which no longer serve who I am now?
- Who have I become? What part of my true Self have I (re)claimed?
- Who am I no longer?
- Am I ready to release with gratitude the “old me” that served me well, but now needs to be put aside?
- What are the new practices and beliefs that resonate with my true and authentic self?
- What can I do in the next lunar journey, starting from this new sense of my Self?
Practices and Rituals
The Balsamic Moon is a great time to meditate, journal and to do a release ritual (so many posted in this blog). I also like to work with my oracle and tarot cards for even more insight, either working with the Medicine Wheel spread I create at the start of each month or with a new spread for the specific phase of the moon.
Have you tried the spread created by Bree of Nyms Divination for our recent Fall Equinox Tarot Hop: The Cerridwen Cauldron Spread and Meditation? It is so powerful and perfect for this phase of the moon!
Click here to read Bree’s article (and listen to wonderful Cerridwen meditation she created!) and to download the Cerridwen’s Cauldron Tarot Spread.
We need all of these opposites to create harmony and balance, to be whole. We are constantly transforming, rebalancing, and dancing between these opposites as we find our equilibrium. The awareness you bring at the focus points throughout the year — the Fire Feasts (Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Samhain), the Equinoxes and Solstices — are an opportunity for self-reflection, for conscious transformation and to know your Self in all your energetic states. Yes, you are changing and transforming but always connecting to Self, to your Sacred Purpose and Sacred Contract.
We often look at the Wheel of the Year as just that… a wheel revolving throughout the seasons, coming back to its starting point with each New Year. But for me is it a spiral because we never really come back to the same place. We return with the wisdom and experience of the year before. We may have a different perspective. We might have new wounds or we may have healed old wounds. We may be coming from a deeper place, as we get closer to our knowing and connecting with our Wise Inner Self and understanding our Sacred Purpose and Sacred Contract even more.
I live in the Northern Hemisphere, and see daily changes in the Earth all around me… the days are starting to draw in, to shorten; the Sun’s warming powers are waning and the days are cooler; the deciduous trees are ablaze with vivid reds, purples and golds as they gently shed and turn in; many trees are ripe with fruits and berries and releasing them to the Earth; the fields are becoming bare again as we harvest the Earth’s bounty.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the signs of the coming spring are seen in the longer brighter days, the greening of the grass, the birthing of lambs and calves, new leaves on the trees, the warming of the days and rituals like Spring Cleaning as we ceremonially move from the indoor life of Winter to the outdoor airy life of Summer.
I always prepare Soul Questions for my journeys… and sometimes I even get to ask them of my Guides! On some of my journeys, my guides have merely asked that I observe or listen. On other journeys, they are awaiting my questions, so it’s good to be prepared.
