Full Moon Blessings - August 2016
Happy August Full Moon!
Today this website officially went 'live'.
Full moons are said to be a time of harnessing creative energy, taking actions on your intentions as well as releasing what isn't serving you. I feel that this is a perfect time to launch Wild Mystic Woman into the world and let this beautiful space grow under the light of the full moon.
Feeling the glow of la luna's love!
Ceremony and ritual have become an important part of my sacred practice.
Tonight I intend to do a short full moon ceremony of releasing what is no longer serving me so that I can move forward with more intention and sovereignty.
Practicing living in tune with the moon cycles and my menstrual cycle has become an incredible way for me to bring more sacred alignment into my life. These cycles give me a map for honouring where I am at, and learning how to call in and release what's necessary at regular stages.
It is so important for us to reflect on a regular basis on what our intentions are, and whether we are moving towards them in a way that feels good, as well as what is no longer working for us and intentionally letting it go as we call back more of our power.
I like to envision this as the waves of the sea washing up onto and down from the shore.
When the waves crash onto the beach with great force, that is like the energy of the full moon. It is focused and sure of itself as it lands on the shore with its full power.
And then it begins to recede and slowly draw back into the sea. This is like the energy of the new moon. Slowly returning back within to reflect and gather up force again before returning back onto the shore.
Like the sea, as women we are heavily influenced by the moon.
And so I like to use these full moon and new moon phases to embody the fact that I too am a part of nature. That I have seasons and phases and that when I honour them, I feel more aligned and powerful. And when I don't, I feel out of sorts.
My full moon ceremonies usually involve some or all of the following (depending on how I'm feeling and my time constraints):
- Setting up an altar space. This can be as simple as lighting a candle and gathering a few crystals, or as detailed as setting up an elaborate altar with carefully positioned candles, a crystal grid, objects from nature to represent the four elements, etc.
- Opening sacred space. Again this could just be lighting a candle a saying a short prayer to set your intention. Or you could call in the four directions as practiced in many Native traditions. See this example from Rochelle Schieck over at Qoya.
- Meditation. I like to sit for a few minutes in meditation to settle my system and settle into my intention. I've recently purchased Tahlee Rouillon's meditones album 'Luminous' which has some beautiful tracks for meditation. Sometimes I like to sit in silence, or do a guided visualisation or meditate to tracks I find on YouTube.
- Prayer, Reading & Listening. Sometimes I like to say a prayer, or read a poem or read a few pages of a spiritual book regarding whatever challenge or fears have been on my mind lately. Sometimes I'll watch a video on YouTube from spiritual teacher whose teachings I really need at that time. I love calling in the wisdom from teachers, authors, speakers and mystics to help me connect to my own inner wisdom.
- Journalling. Writing helps me to get to my truth. I like to free style journal on the questions: what/who do I need to release and what/who do I want to call in.
- Releasing. This part is for me the most important part of my full moon rituals. After identifying what/who I need to release I do a ritual to release them. My three go-to ways of releasing are energetic cord cutting meditations (this free one is my favourite!), the Hawaiian ho'oponopono forgiveness meditation (I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.) and a fire ritual (writing down the negative thoughts, beliefs, habits, energies and aspects of relationships that I want to release on paper and then setting light to them in a bowl - see image below).
- Gratitude & Reaffirming Intentions. Before closing I like to reflect on all the things I am grateful for and reaffirm my intentions for things I would like to give my focus to, things I would like to attract and things I would like to give to others - in all areas of my life. I write this all down on paper so I can re-read it during my new moon ceremony a few weeks later. Tonight I will be giving thanks for launching this beautiful website out into the world :)
- Closing. I like to close by pulling some oracle cards and then sitting for a few minutes in silence allowing the work I have done during the ceremony to settle in and to give thanks for what I have released and what I am calling in.
What I've found with ceremonies and rituals is that we have to make them our own.
There are no experts. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. There is only your way.So by all means take ideas from me and other people. But above everything - trust yourself. Tune into your intuition and feel into what you would like to do in your rituals and then just do that.
Sacredness is what you say it is.
Wishing you beautiful full moon blessings and I'm so excited to have you on this journey with me.