Alone In Her Presence: Dark Moon Rising… “What’s Your Ritual?”

Recently, I was asked this question:

“So what are you planning for Saturday’s new moon? Solitary me is needing some fresh ideas for this one. Need to break through a funk.”

My reply:

Typically, I come into presence of the moon during this phase as an expression of Dark Moon. Personally, I consider the New Moon to be that first crescent in the sky as She waxes towards full. There is roughly a three day period between the Dark and the First Crescent, and I use this time for transformation, restorative, and banishing magic.

My Dark Moon ritual doesn’t vary from month to month. This is because I like consistency and I like simple magical practices when working alone. Often the work I do is a combination of many intentions drawn from my personal needs, my work in the world, and/or helping close friends.

I draw on many magical traditions and invite the practice of not limiting myself. I always open my ritual time with a simple practice of breath alignment, which is also a part of my daily practice. From there, I invite Goddess Immanent as the generative mother, using a version of the Hail Mary:

Hail Mary, full of Grace,
You are the Goddess!
Blessed art thou amongst women
And blessed is the fruit of your womb the Earth.
Holy Mary, Mother of All
Return us to Love
Now and at the hour of crossing.

Next, I welcome the deity who will be my guide and friend during the ritual. I almost always turn to Kali (we get on quite well at this stage of my development), but many love Hekate at this time. It is about your personal practices and connection.

I light several candles on my altar, and do some asana, the physical practice of yoga. I do this as an offering to myself, to Kali, and also a reminder of the physical properties of magic. In essence, I am raising my energy to maximum potential. Then I begin the task at hand of dressing the seven day candle (or candles if I am working for many) with a paint pen in silver or gold. I write the intentions on them, sigils, everything that is needed to ground and root my intention and energy into the candle. While I do this, often I chant to Kali, Aum Kreem Kalikaye Namaha.

With intention set and the seven day candles prepared, I light them and visualize the set intention in my mind’s eye. I do this before even speaking the intent outwardly. An example of this visualization might be seeing a person for whom the candle is dedicated and their suffering. During the visualization I begin to release their suffering and visualize them being filled with white healing light. As intention sets in my third eye, I start speaking aloud what I see in the visualization. “Dark Moon Rising, draw out the suffering of ‘John’ and fill him with healing white light.” This is followed by the formal request to Kali to release the suffering with the dark moon, and bring in the healing light with the First Crescent. Lastly, I begin chanting to Kali once again. When I have done all the candles for the Dark Moon, I lift up and direct all the energies towards that which is spoken and silent, for the good of all, and that all suffering may be eased. I do this in the form of a metta sutra.

Sometimes I move on to personal journey working, while in the Dark Moon presence . I can do a number of things from meditation to the Feri Traditions’s Iron Pentacle, but often I do tarot and dowsing. I close out my ritual with some restorative asana, maybe more chanting, and then call it a a night. I return to the candles daily and tend their flame when I am home. I relight them mindfully, allowing the continued manifestation of intention through to the Full Moon. I have yet to have a seven day candle last through till the Full Moon.

I always feel so honored when I am asked questions about my ritual practices or magic or about our shared walk in Immanence. Being invited into what I consider a most intimate affair: the love affair that a person has with their divine self, spirit, and nature is truly a gift.  The moon is a great place to turn for magic. I find the Dark Moon, as the great transformer, to be the best motivator of intention as we transform and transmute our lives in our walk. So, I ask, “What is your Dark Moon ritual?”

Photo Credit: Erick’s Altar

Alone In Her Presence is published on alternate Wednesdays! Subscribe via RSS or e-mail.