Under the Moon: The Magick of Following Shadow and Light, Part 2 of 2

In my last post, I talked about the new moon, growing moon, and full moon….but the cycle continues. As it does.

Reliably.

Faithfully.

And so do we return.

Waning Moon / Shrinking Moon

The desire to hibernate at times is often stifled by the way the world seems to need us to be present and engaged in every moment. There is always another question to answer, email to read, and decision to make. But those outside pressures do not usually need all of my attention. I can step back for even a few moments to collect my awareness and find out what I really want to do.

Again, the liminal space between New and Full Moons is the space of questions. I wonder what I need to remove from my life or what I need to set aside because I don’t have answers or solutions. I might use this time to simply rest my body after so much growing. This vessel of mine requires the magick of restoration and the blessing of stepping back to shadow.

What do I need to let go of? My tasks? My commitments? My expectations of myself? What might I want to release and remove? What have I been afraid to untether from my heart? Can I cut it away now?

Spell idea:

Drop into the shadow that may have revealed itself in the Full Moon. Did you perhaps feel as though you were not good enough or that you were not able to celebrate that really great thing you did? During this moon, allow yourself to release those thoughts, those weights and chains that stop you or at least slow you down. Create paper chains that you can hang over your body, imbuing them with the energy that has held you back. Notice how each of the energies or stories you attach to these chains make you feel. And rip them apart when you truly connect to the idea that these stories no longer serve you. Break the chains, burn them, and do not look back once they are gone.

Not Just a Phase

While you might find books that instruct you to be precise with the moon and the way she arrives in the sky, I would offer that growth and death do not typically occur at precise, expected times. Instead, I offer that you find your own relationship to the moon. What does she feel like in the sky? What does she tell you about the land you live on and when she might shine into your windows?

You can follow her growth and do spells of increasing, but if you need a spell of increasing when the moon is waning, you could also look for ways to get obstacles out of your way. And if the date of the Full Moon isn’t convenient, I find you can tap into that energy for about three days before and after.

Or you can do something else. Or you can follow the moon only at the fullness or the newness. Or you can just sing to the moon. Or you can sit in her reflection and hold the parts of you that need holding.

It’s your magick, after all.

Remember you can look to the moon for support, for the knowing that even when you can’t see what might happen next, change will always come.

You can be held by the moon. You can be held by your magick.

Look up at the moon the next time you can. Look up and whisper to her all of your worries and all of your wonders. Even beyond spell suggestions and magickal workings, she reminds me, us, and probably you too, that we are never alone.