Lunar Cycles

Third Quarter Moon: An Oasis of Respite

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

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Image Credit: Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

The Third Quarter Moon arrives at 6:15 PM Pacific Time today, but she is a late riser at this time of the month, setting mid-afternoon and rising in the night sky around midnight. Perhaps you will see her peeking through the last of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

As LaLuna shifts from the vibrant active Yang of her Full Moon energy towards the deep Yin energy of the Dark Moon, you may find yourself in greater alignment with her energies… your intuition increases daily… you connect even more strongly with your Wise Inner Self… you understand more about who you are and your purpose, your lessons learned… and you connect more with your Ancestors.

This is the time for Gratitude, as you reflect on the journey so far and prepare for the coming New Moon next week.

For some, Quarter Moons represent a crisis point: at the Third Quarter we are returning home and perhaps questioning who we are, what we’ve done. We may find ourselves embracing our Inner Wild… wanting to run with the Wolves and howl at the Moon. .. declare to the world, “This is ME in all my glory!” Yes! Embrace whatever you are feeling. Own it. Explore it. Celebrate it.

The Third Quarter represents the West, Autumn, the flow and cleansing of the Water Element (emotions) guided by Mamaí Mara of the waters, aided by Na Fianna, the stag & doe representing the magic, balance and harmony between the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine.

And, most importantly for your Soul Work, the Third Quarter connects to a different kind of Power as you find your Self in that liminal phase between Woman/Mother and Crone: The Matriarch, a newly defined stage of a woman’s life.

Four phases of a woman’s life? Many of us have defined typically our stages as a reflection of the Triple Goddess — Maiden, Woman, Crone — but our lives have lengthened considerably since that initial concept. There is a now a much longer phase between Woman and Crone.

So not just Maiden-Woman-Crone but Maiden-Woman-Matriarch-Crone. And, yes, there are other names for this new Matriarchal stage. Perhaps the word Matriarch doesn’t resonate with you. Perhaps other terms such as Guardian or Spiritual Warrior work for you. Or perhaps you have another word to define this phase.

In their book, The Women’s Wheel of Life, Elizabeth Davis and Carol Leonard describe 12 major archetypes in a woman’s life plus a 13th, The Transformer, which links all phases together. Each of the 12 archetypes are associated with one of four major stages, just like our blessed Grandmother Moon:

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East / Spring / Innocence: The Maiden, as the archetypes of Daughter-Maiden-Blood Sister

South / Summer / Nurturing: The Woman, as Lover-Mother-Midwife

West / Autumn / Power: The Matriarch, as Amazon-Matriarch-Priestess

North / Winter / Wisdom: The Crone, as Sorceress-Crone-Dark Mother

And in the Centre of the Wheel, linking them all, The Transformer.

SOUL WORK

We are in such a powerful time this lunar month — our month of “Coeur-ageous Transformation“— and especially now at this Third Quarter.

We started with the intensity of the Leo New Moon, moved through the harvest/gratitude energy of Lughnasadh, connected to the Lions Gate Portal and the Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse and are now zooming towards the Solar Eclipse on the New Moon, which once again will be in Leo. And planetary retrograde energies as well! You may feel off kilter, that things are churning up internally.

It is said the Sun represents our Ego but that the Moon represents our True Self . . . and both are so prominent and heightened this month!

At this Third Quarter, a time of gentle respite in the chaos of astrological and astronomical energies surrounding us — at a time of balance of Sun & Moon, Yin and Yang, Ego & Self — take some time to reflect on your own energies as you consider the Question for the West in the Medicine Wheel reading:

What is Transforming?

This respite will support you in preparing for the intense Leo New Moon energy just a week away, and your experience with the Solar Eclipse…. which for some is energetically like a whole year at once!

SOUL QUESTIONS

How does your energy feel at present… physically, emotionally, spiritually?

  • What has transformed… or is still transforming?
  • Where/when are you acting from Ego and where/when do you act from your True Self? Do you recognize the differences? Do others?

With which of the Matriarch archetypes are you connecting … or wish to connect?

  • Do you feel the power of the Amazon — strong, independent and reconnecting to her original purpose? Here you are supported by Goddesses such as Ceres and Athena. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work.
  • Are you stepping into the power of the Matriarch — self-assured, sharing your gifts with the world, serving as best you can? Here you are supported by Mab, Demeter, Yemaya, and Hera. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work
  • Do you feel the power of the Priestess — feeling those powerful surges of intuition and illumination, transcendent, shedding the skin and mask that may have hidden your True Self from the world? Here you are supported by Rhiannon, Inanna, Mary Magdalene, and Arianrhod. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work.

If you did a Medicine Wheel Reading this month at the New Moon — or even if you didn’t — pull some cards from your favourite deck(s) for even more insight(s). You may find some answers. . .  or even more questions.

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)
Third Quarter Moon in Taurus
14-AUG @ 6:15 PM Pacific Time / 15-AUG @ 01:15 UTC
Moon Age 21.9 days

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

Soul Work for the Waning Moon: The Gift of Time

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

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Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)

Although we are still basking in the energy of yesterday’s Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse,  and Lunar Lughnasadh, LaLuna continues to move in her cycle and has started to move away from the midpoint of fullness and is now starting to very gently wane towards her Dark/New phase.

In this part of the cycle, we incorporate the wisdom of our journey, experience the outcomes of the Waxing phase, harvest the fruits of our efforts and start shifting from action to reflection, from Yang to Yin. This is the natural time to reap and release — unburden, let go — most effectively.

How do you feel about this process? At times we think we’re “done”… and then Spirit reminds us that there is still something to be unearthed and brought into the light.

For some, this is welcomed… a new journey! … a new project! For others, it can be wearying… tiresome… you may start to feel “enough already!”

But are we ever really “done”? There is always new wisdom. There are always new lessons… or a new outlook, a new challenge.

Personal change can be both rewarding and tumultuous, and not just because of the process itself, but because of the emotions associated with the change.

Change in the world around us — natural, social, political — can also be chaotic and unsettling, even when it is a positive change.

No matter how big or small a change we initiate, it always involves letting go of something — a behaviour, a belief, an expectation, a “norm”, a habit — to allow something new into our lives, to bring us closer to the life we want, to move us further along our journey in life… and to bring us closer to our authentic Self, our Wise Inner Self, and perhaps to our purpose and the Sacred Contract we created coming into this life.

Yet there can be a mourning for that which no longer serves us, because once it held great value… perhaps by protecting us, or allowing us to feel confident or safe or loved. But perhaps instead of choosing grief, we can choose gratitude … thanking what once supported us, even if we have now outgrown its purpose.

And if unexpected change is thrust upon us — loss, death, worldly circumstances — we may feel anger, abandonment, grief or even stronger emotions.

But just as the Phoenix arises from the ashes of its own demise, you too can create new beginnings from painful transitions or endings.

In this month of coeur-ageous transformation, know that it is okay — nay, expected — that one will experience both highs and lows, that one may feel the need to grieve the losses/releases whilst still looking forward to the future and the joy of new beginnings.

You may be familiar with the story of the butterfly and the time it takes to prepare for its first flight after emerging from its chrysalis. The wings must dry naturally so that the structure of the wings will be fully formed. Interfering with that process can result in disaster… no flight.

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So give yourself the gift of time. Let the changes and the transformation unfold naturally… and prepare to soar!

❤️ Give your Self time to process the changes

❤️ Give your Self time to release and let go

❤️ Give your Self time to adjust to and embrace the new

You may feel an impetus to fix everything at once. But transformation has its own timetable. We must crawl before we can walk. We must walk before we can run. Like the butterfly, we must let the wings of transformation dry and become solid enough to carry us into flight.

If you are feeling that pressure, perhaps that is a belief you can now release, however it manifests for you: that there is a timetable you can hasten… that you can control everything… that your conscious mind can control the transformation of your heart and soul… that you should be done” by now… that you need fixing.

Because a vacuum is created when something leaves, create an affirmation — a new belief — in your own words expressing how perfect it is that everything will unfold naturally in its own time… and how joyous that journey will be.

Wherever you are in your journey, that’s the perfect place to be.

Continue to honour who you were and who you are becoming.

And remember . . . You already are a Goddess!

🍀Pronunciation Tip
Seanmháthair Gealach, Irish Gaelic for Grandmother Moon, is pronounced Shan-waw-her Gee-al-ack. Of course, accents change across Ireland so other may pronounce these words with regional variations.

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

Coeur-age My Love: First Quarter Moon in Scorpio

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

There is something of beauty about the First Quarter Moon, hanging in the south-western sky in early evening just above the horizon, finally setting just past the Midnight hour. Tonight, LaLuna forms a triangle with the planet Jupiter (in the constellation Virgo) shining brightly to its right (West), with Arcturus above them both, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, in the constellation Boötes, The Herdsman.

I love to see the light of distant stars, knowing we are looking into their distant past… and that some of them may now look very different, or have disappeared entirely.

It is pure magick for me to get out of the city and look up, watching the rotation of the night sky… the wandering planets… shooting stars… the streak of the Milky Way. And what an experience it was to travel south of the Equator for the first time, looking up into the night sky from the Andes Mountains in Peru … and seeing a sky that looked so very different!

My journey with Father Sky began with star-gazing at the night sky, with my father… captivated by his stories of the constellations and the Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Heroines and magical creatures captured in the stars and planets.

And now these Gods and Goddesses have a deeper meaning for me… they are my inspiration, my support, my mentors and more.

⭐️ STAR MEDICINE ⭐️
Take some time this month to get more familiar with the night sky… observing the Moon as it rises and sets later each day… watching it rising at sunset at the Full Moon (a perfect time for the Drawing Down The Moon Ritual!)… until it fades from view at the Dark Moon. Feel that connection to LaLuna, Grandmother Moon. Get reacquainted with the constellations — and their stories — in YOUR night sky.

And for those who love to make a wish on a shooting star… you'll be delighted by the arrival of the Perseid meteor showers in August! So many stars, so many wishes! The Perseids peak the night of August 12th, through to the early hours of the next morning. These can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, travelling from the north-east sky near the constellation Perseus. And because the Moon will be in her Waning Gibbous phase (between the Full Moon and the Third Quarter, so quite brightly illuminated), it may be easier to see the shooting stars before the moonrise in the East at roughly 11 PM.

🌓 MOON ENERGIES 🌗
You began the journey in the darkness of the New Moon. You set your goals and defined your actions, your steps for manifesting those goals, by the Waxing Crescent, and now you're on the outbound journey, tapping into the rising Waxing energy… and maybe "freaking out" just a little. Suddenly it's all real! You're doing this! Old fears may surface, old doubts.

But take a moment to breathe. The crisis point that is the Quarter Moon is toying with you once again, especially with its intense Scorpio energy which may allow negative energies to rise… but also one's sensuality and emotions. Tact and discretion may fly out the window, but breathe in that intensity and use it FOR you.

So, you got this. You can handle whatever this Scorpio First Quarter Moon throws your way. Why? Because you are The Maiden, strong and fearless, stepping into your power and are responsible for your Self only. You are Brighid, Artemis, and Persephone.

🌀SOUL WORK 🌀
Allow the energies of First Quarter — East, Air, Abundance — to inspire and motivate you as you review your journey thus far by asking the question "What is flourishing?", and not just for this month but for the year so far.

With Lughnasadh celebrations starting at sunset on July 31st, this is the perfect time to reflect on what has flourished in your life this year …. what metaphorical harvests you are reaping… and to determine your plans for the harvest period between Lughnasadh and Samhain on November 1st.

It is a time for gratitude for what is flourishing and abundant in your life, and for all who have supported you, loved you, taught you, mentored you.

❤️Coeur-age, my love ❤️

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)
First Quarter Moon in Scorpio
Arrived July 30th @ 8:23 AM Pacific Time (15:23 UTC)
Moonrise @ 2:05 PM PT, Moonset @ 2:13 AM PT
Moon Mansions:
Al-Iklil, 17, until 10:12 AM PT (Essence: Friendship)
Al-Qalb, 18, from 10:13 AM PT (Essence: Defence.)
Theme for this Lunar Journey: Coeur-ageous transformation

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEWprivate Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

A Sweet Release Ritual for the Third Quarter Moon

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon), Part Two
Third Quarter Moon in Aries arrives on Day 22 at:
16-July @ 12:25 PM Pacific Time  / 16-July @ 20:25 UTC

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My Home Altar, ready for the Sweet Release

Once you have read Part One of the Third Quarter Moon Wisdom, Third Quarter Moon: Your Dark Mother allies, you may want to try this gentle release as part of your work or ritual.

A 🐝 SWEET 🐝 RELEASE RITUAL FOR THE THIRD QUARTER MOON
This sweet release Ritual is perfect any time during the Waning Moon, after you’ve completed your Soul Work.

It requires only a dark candle, honey, and paper (I always use my “Zoo Poo” paper!). I adapted it from a “Dispel Sadness” spell I had found online. That author attributed the spell to Judika Illes and her Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells. But here’s the thing… I now have that book but literally can’t find it amongst those 5000 spells or the index! So, if you find it, do let me know the page!

Pull together the items you need for this release:

  • A candle of any type (pillar, taper, celebration, etc).
    • In Candle Magick, Black is associated with releasing, transitions, endings & beginnings, deeper consciousness. But white is also OK and is associated with both purification and lunar energy.
  • A dab of honey (I’m using an organic honey infused with thyme)
  • A small piece of paper and a pen
  • A chant, spell or blessing for your release or affirmation

Start the release ritual by breathing deeply and slowly until you feel the tensions of the day ebbing away. Focus on your breath, feeling that slow deep inhalation reaching into every part of your body and into your chakras. Feel the Air energy reaching into every cell of your body, inspiring you, cleansing you. With each breath you exhale, feel any toxins, aches, pains, or unwanted thoughts to leave your body to be accepted by the outside Air for cleansing and returning to Mama Earth.

Open your Sacred Space in your preferred way, such as Calling in the Directions and/or casting a circle.

Call in your guides and allies, and all directions and elements, asking for their support. And call in the Dark Mother with whom you connect.

  • Hold the candle in your hands.
  • Reflect back on your Soul Questions and what you will now release.
  • Write these onto your paper. I love the dramatic flair of red ink, but anything is fine!
  • When complete, anoint the page(s) with dabs of honey, then fold to seal.
  • Light the candle and offer your small paper bundle to the flames, while chanting your affirmation, release statement or spell.

CAUTION: Be sure to do this safely, preferably on a heatproof plate or vessel such as a cauldron, and watch out for smoke/flames from the honeyed paper.

Use or modify these Release Statements / Spell Examples so they reflect YOU or create your own:

  1. That which I now release, go away from me.
    I thank you for all you did for me.
    Never come back, as I have set you free.
    So mote it be.
  2. With the Dark Mother (or Goddess name of your choice), this is my aim:
    to give (my) __________ to the candle flame
    The fire consumes what I no longer need
    I become my True Self, in word and deed!
  3. I release all that I no longer need, to be consumed by Father Sun and returned to Mother Earth.
  4. And the original example, for dispelling sadness:
    I give my sadness to the flames,
    The fire eats my grief and pain.

The ashes can be given to the Earth to complete the release.

Again, be sure to practise fire safety. Dowse and cool the ashes before safely burying. If in doubt, flush instead!! 

When complete, thank your guides and allies, the Moon, the Goddess(es) and any other deities that have come forward for you.

Close your circle/sacred space as you opened it. Thank the directions, elements, allies, guides, etc.

NOTE: If more convenient, dispose of the ashes once you have closed your Sacred Space.

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

Third Quarter Moon: Your Dark Mother Allies

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

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Selene, by Susan Seddon-Boulet

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)
Third Quarter Moon in Aries arrives on Day 22 at:
16-July @ 12:25 PM Pacific Time / 16-July @ 20:25 UTC
Moon Rise 12:33 AM PT
Full Moon Set 1:37 PM PT
Moon Mansion 2 Al-Butain until 4:01 PM PT (Essence: Effort, courage, will and energy. Conflict.)
Theme for this Lunar Journey: Authentic Self (Re)Born

Sunday, July 16th finds us three-quarters of our way through this month’s lunar journey… a journey of rebirth and reconnection to our Authentic Self.

At the Third Quarter, we connect most strongly to The Matriarch within… confident… secure… balanced between light and dark like LaLuna. Having started this journey with the rising Yang energy we now can see the result — the shifts and the outcomes — of the rising upward and outward Waxing energy. And now we are once again embracing the increasing Yin energy of the lunar darkness as the moon’s illuminations wane and decrease, as the Yin pulls us deeply inward.

This is the time to shed, to release, and to integrate and deepen our understanding… to ponder on our learning and wisdom from the journey.

SOUL WORK FOR THE THIRD QUARTER: Working with the Darkness
So let’s speak a moment of the darkness of this Waning Moon, as we approach the deep, deep darkness of the Dark Moon / New Moon on July 22nd.

When we talk of darkness, we often are speaking of the Shadow side of our work and our Self… of the “stuff” we have buried deep within, of the “stuff” we hide. But perhaps it’s more…

Jung reminds us that each archetype has a shadow side and a light side. Like a magnet, each has a positive and a negative pole. Not good nor bad… more like opposing qualities which ultimately work together for balance and strength. This is also true of the Mother and the Matriarch — the Dark Mother — as the lunar darkness increases.

The Dark Mothers are the Goddesses of our transitions… the liminal moments between life and death, between the conscious and unconscious, between the shadows and reality. They are creation and destruction. Kali. Hecate. Cerridwen. Arianrhod. The Morrigan. These are the Dark Mothers.

And they are your allies in the Waning and Dark Moon, these Matriarchs and Mothers of the Dark, because their darkness is not just shadow… but power and knowledge.

Their Yin intuitive energy is the deep moist womb where the seeds of promise and growth are planted… the Dark Matter of our internal cosmos, birthing the Goddess within each of us. (Judith Laura’s book Goddess Spirituality for the 21st Century explores this idea in depth.)

This is where we transform.

SOUL QUESTIONS FOR THE WANING MOON

In our New Moon Medicine Wheel layout, the Third Quarter moon represents the West… Water… emotion… intuition… the Autumn. We ask the question, What is Transforming? Such a profound question for our theme of Authentic Self (Re)Born!

As you meditate on this question and this journey, as the dark intuitive Yin energy of the Moon pulls you deeply within your Self, ask additional questions (and pull additional tarot or oracle cards) that will integrate the wisdom and prepare you for any releases required.

Create your own questions or consider using these:

  • How do you feel as you step into the darker intuitive Yin energy?
  • What is revealed as you step away from the light of the Full Moon and embrace the deep wisdom of the Dark?
  • What part of you is being (re)born in the Dark Matter of your Inner Self?
  • From the reborn Goddess you now are, what can now be released? (a belief, an emotion, a behaviour, a relationship, etc.)

Time to release!

In PART TWO of the Third-Quarter Moon Wisdom, the Soul Work continues with A Sweet Release Ritual for the Third Quarter Moon.

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn: Spellcraft & Ritual

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

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The Sacred Circle. Art by Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)
Full Buck Moon in Capricorn arrives on Day 15 at
08-July @ 9:06 PM PT  /  09-July @ 04:06 UTC

SPELLCRAFT & RITUAL
The Full Moon is associated with the magick of completing, healing and empowering… and for creating the magickal life you want.

Many practitioners choose to do a Release Ritual on the Full Moon, although my personal preference is to release when Grandmother Moon is firmly in the Waning Phase of her journey. But if it feels right for you, do it. Sometimes we need that Full Moon power to energize our release! This blog has several posts on Release Rituals using fire, water, earth.

One of my favourite rites for the Full Moon is Drawing Down the Moon, a very simple rite that can be done alone or in Circle. I love bringing in and internalizing that Full Moon energy… the epitome of the Moon’s energy and its connection to The Great Mother Goddess.

When we Draw Down the Moon, we connect to that powerful full moon energy, allowing it to infuse our very being…. powering up our ability to manifest and affirm our own personal magic.

DRAWING DOWN THE MOON
This rite can be done during the Full Moon OR New Moon energy. If done at the New Moon, it brings in the power of unlimited potential, the raw stuff of the Universe, and is great for initiating projects. If done at the Full Moon, it brings in the power and majesty of harvest and completion.

There are as many variations of this age-old rite as there are practitioners. If how I do this rite doesn’t resonate with you, change it up so that it does. Or look for other variations out there; this is where Google is our friend and ally!

Ideally, this rite is done outdoors in the light of the Full Moon. Of course, when doing at the New Moon, LaLuna is not visible. If the Moon is NOT visible for any reason, imagine instead where it is … behind the clouds…. below the horizon. You could even focus your energies on something representing LaLuna… a crystal, a drawing, a painting.

The important thing is to create sacred space for your ritual… that is the place where the magic happens, no matter where you are.

And just like a shamanic journey allows you to enter non-ordinary reality, Drawing Down the Moon can be a mystical experience of altered consciousness

To Begin:
This ritual is done standing, feet no more than shoulder-width apart, and preferably outdoors under the Full Moon light. If standing is not possible for you, be sure to find a suitable spot to sit or have someone bring a chair for you. And if you can see the Full Moon from indoors, it’s fine to perform the ritual there.

OPTIONAL: Bring some beloved music to play (softly, let’s not disrupt the night, LOL) during this ritual. One of my favourites is We All Come from The Goddess by Lindie Lila.

Start by breathing deeply and slowly until you feel the tensions of the day ebbing away. Focus on your breath, feeling that slow deep inhalation reaching into every part of your body and into your chakras. Focus on the Solar Plexus Chakra in particular, as it will support you in your Soul Work. Feel the Air energy reaching into every cell of your body, inspiring you, cleansing you. With each breath you exhale, feel any toxins, aches, pains, or unwanted thoughts to leave your body to be accepted by the outside Air for cleansing and returning to Mama Earth.

Open your Sacred Space in your preferred way, such as Calling in the Directions or casting a circle.

Call in your guides and allies, and all directions and elements, asking for their support.

Look up at the Full Moon. Really look at Her. Look at Her like you’ve never done before… deeply… feel Her light… feel Her energy. Call out to the Goddess(es) of the Moon… Selene, Diana, Gaia, Áine, Arianrhod, Artemis, Isis, Luna, Mama Quilla . . . Thank LaLuna and the Goddess(es) for their guidance. Send them the love that they give you daily. Continue breathing in LaLuna’s energy for a few minutes until you are fully relaxed and you feel nothing but you and the Moon.

Raise your arms with your palms facing the Moon, like a chalice ready to drink in the energy of The Goddess and the Moon. OPTIONAL: Bring your thumbs together, then your index fingers, to create a triangle through which you can gaze at the Moon.

Hold that position for as long as it feels comfortable…. gazing at the Moon, reflecting on your Will (the Sun) and your Emotions (the Moon)… reflecting on your affirmation for this month… reflecting on the Goddess, as she reflects the Sun.

Invoke the energy of the Goddess in your own way, inviting her to infuse your Self with her power, her love, her magick, her ability to manifest and create. It can be as simple as chanting “I invoke The Goddess” until you feel her energy flow. Feel her energy fill your body… your spirit… your mind…. you ARE The Goddess and She is You.

Hold onto this feeling, this wonderful feeling of wonder, love, energy, awe.. of being the Goddess.

Allow your emotions to flow freely during the rite… laugh, cry, sigh, yell, giggle, sob, dance a jig, kiss a tree, whatever feels right… I have one friend who gets the hiccups (and the giggles) every time she Draws Down the Moon!

And you — or others, if working in Circle — may find that you start to channel the wisdom from The Goddess… let it flow. Trust it.

OPTIONAL: Before completing the rite, say your affirmation (or goal) for remainder of the month or make a request of the Moon and The Goddess, perhaps for their help and support… perhaps the granting of a secret wish you have harboured for a while.

Once you sense that the Drawing Down is complete, thank the Moon, the Goddess(es) and any other deities that have come forward for you. Bring your arms back to your side and take a moment to breathe deeply and slowly once again, reconnecting to Mama Earth. Feel that Goddess power, knowing you can go forth with this energy.

Close your circle/sacred space as you opened it. Thank the directions, elements, allies, guides, etc.

Should you wish to do more Soul Work or Magickal Working during your Full Moon work, this rite will empower your work.

This is the third of a three-part Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn:

Part 1: Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn… Yellow Flower Moon?

Part 2: Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn: Soul Work 

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more! 

Reflections on the Full ​Moon in Capricorn, Soul Work

Posted on by Della Ratcliffe

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Woman Runes for the Full Moon

Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon in Irish Gaelic)
Full Buck Moon in Capricorn arrives on Day 15 at:
08-July @ 9:06 PM PT | 09-July @ 04:06 UTC
Full Moon Rise 8:51 PM PT, Full Moon Set 5:07 AM PT
Moon Mansion 23 Sa’d Bula from 12:31 PM PT (Essence: Conflict, separation, freedom, healing.)
Theme for this Lunar Journey: Authentic Self (Re)Born

“From Woman you were born into this World
From Women you are born into this Circle”

LA LUNA’S ENERGIES
In this first Full Moon following the Solstice, we find the Sun in Cancer (Water, Cardinal) and the Moon in Capricorn (Earth, Cardinal). The Sun represents our Will, while the Moon represents our emotions. These are interesting dynamics — and not without a little tension — bringing together the private, homey, nurturing/mothering influences of Cancer with the ambitious, detail-oriented, career-focused Capricorn… simultaneously looking inward and outward, focusing on our inner life and outward goals, our will and our emotions. And the Moon Mansion Sa’d Bula — with its essence of Conflict, separation, freedom, healing — also embodies this polarity.

And yet these polarities do not have to be a choice, an either/or. We can have both…. we can find the balance between the two, giving a rich depth to our choices and actions.

In the Medicine Wheel of this month (and reading), the Full Moon is positioned in the South, the place of Fire, home of the Celtic Sun Goddess Áine. It is the place of passion, manifestation, and action, the path of Coming Into Being. Here we are supported once again by The Mother Goddess, as we gain mastery and commit to our creativity, our goals and dreams. And our Solar Plexus Chakra is fully engaged with our personal power. The Woman Runes for this Chakra is the Dancing Woman, the Rune of a Power. The Serpent (kunalini energy) is a strong ally at this time… as it sheds its skin in the summer heat, healing and renewing itself, so do we.

SOUL WORK & SOUL QUESTIONS
In our New Moon Medicine Wheel Reading, in the South we ask our Self the Soul Question:

“What is flourishing?”

Create additional Soul Questions for the Full Moon based on your own theme for this month. If using the theme suggested at the New Moon, “Authentic Self (Re)Born”, consider using or adapting these:

  • What parts of my Self have I reclaimed and bring into this Full Moon light?
  • What have I already shed, that masked my Authentic Self?
  • What is now ready to be released in the Waning Moon energies?
  • What action can I take to affirm my Authentic Self, and to celebrate who I am…. and who I am becoming?

TIP: Select cards from your preferred tarot or oracle card decks for supplementing the wisdom of the card(s) you picked for the South in your New Moon Reading. Meditate on the story these cards co-create, and the wisdom they ignite in YOU.

ALTAR
If you already have an altar, bring in elements to reflect this special celestial event… the Full Moon power following Solstice. Consider bringing in herbs such as Rosemary, and elements to represent the Solar Plexus/Third Chakra, and the energy and wisdom of The Mother goddess(es). Fire colours are also good… yellow, orange, red. And July is also the time of the Fae… our faerie friends, the Sidhe. Perhaps something to embody their wild magick and wisdom.

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And if you don’t have an altar already, this may be the month to start one. Begin simply, selecting items that intuitively feel right. It may be as simple as creating a space where you can sit quietly and meditate, with perhaps a candle to represent the sun and another candle to represent the Full Moon. I like to include something to represent each of the directions and elements, something to represent the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, and something to Spirit… and something to represent ME and my Wise Inner Self / Divine Spirit.

My altar above has fresh flowers — St John’s Wort and Lavender — on a turmeric-dyed altar cloth, and simple representations for the Directions / Elements: feathers for East/Air, an Apache Tears stone for South/Fire, shells for West/Water and a pine cone for North/Earth. I also have candles for Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, my Goddess Stone and my Faerie Stone. The candle in the centre represents Spirit, and my Self.

FULL MOON BATH FOR SACRED TOOLS
The Full Moon is a great time to charge and cleanse one’s crystals. You may ask WHY they need charging or cleansing and the answer is simple: like us, they are pure vibration… waves of energy… and, like us, those vibrations may be depleted, altered or energized by other vibrations around them, especially when we are handling them frequently or using them in healing for the Self or others.

The simplest way is to lay them out at night under the Full Moon, on a favourite cloth or plate, to let them absorb that full moon energy. A Moon Bath!

And if you’re worried that inquisitive birds or squirrels might try to add your items to their collection — or that it might rain on water sensitive items (selenite, for example) — place them on a windowsill that captures the Full Moon energy.

I also like to charge up my sacred tools in the light of the Full Moon… rattles, amulets, talking sticks and more. I’ve even done this with tarot and oracle cards. I don’t charge up my entire collection… just those that seem to need or want it.

I use simple kinesiology to determine which sacred tools or crystals to lay out.

I create a simple statement such as “This sacred tool [crystal] would benefit from the Full Moon energy and light” and then slowly pass my non-dominant (receiving) hand over the objects.

Where I feel a pull, the answer is “YES” and the object gets a Moon Bath. You could also use your pendulum for the assessment.

UP NEXT:

Part 3, Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn: Spellcraft & Ritual

Click HERE to read Part 1: Reflections on the Full Moon in Capricorn…. Yellow Flower Moon? 

sidebar graphics 7If you love working with Mother Earth, following the energies of Grandmother Moon (Seanmháthair Gealach), aligning with the energy of the Celtic Wheel of The Year, or are interested in learning more about this path, you will find great resources – and the opportunity to ask questions, share rituals, and more – in our NEW private Facebook Group, the Wise Woman Bean Gealach Circle. Limited to those who identify as women. For more information about the Circle, CLICK HERE

WP Sidebar graphics-5Connect to your purpose, your medicine, eliminate self-limiting beliefs, and integrate the new wisdom into your life through this unique you-centered blend of shamanic coaching and journeys, energy healing, alchemical healing, Earth Medicine, PSYCH-K® and PER-K® balancing, and six-sensory work. Together we draw on the modalities that best support your journey. Click on the picture for more information or visit our website:  www.innerjourneyevents.com

WP Sidebar graphics, resized to 300 x 213 pxDo you want a better understanding of the Wheel of the Year and how its shifting energies can support your own transformation and growth, support you in aligning with the rhythms of Nature itself? Subscribers receive regular free ebooks and articles, such as Celebrating the Equinox, along with tips for their personal practices, advance notice on free events and webinars, and much much more!