{"id":430,"date":"2016-06-19T23:35:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-19T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=430"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:32:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:32:55","slug":"full-moon-winter-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/06\/full-moon-winter-solstice.html","title":{"rendered":"Full Moon Winter Solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u00a0am sure I have never said it\u00a0before<\/a>, certainly not\u00a0twice<\/a>, and definitely not\u00a0more<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 but I do not celebrate the Sabbats, which includes the solstice that is almost upon us. \u00a0And another thing I may not have mentioned, is that for us here in Australia it is actually the winter solstice in June, not the summer.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that I don\u2019t celebrate the solstice this doesn\u2019t actually mean I don\u2019t find it a significant event, indeed I do. \u00a0I always make note of the Sabbats, all 8 of them are on my calendar, placed there at the start of every year. \u00a0I always wish everyone a happy whichever festival it is \u2013 for both us here in Australia, and also for those up in the northern hemisphere. \u00a0The very fact that soon we will have our shortest day and longest night is significant to me, it does matter. \u00a0I just don\u2019t have any celebrations or specific rituals for it.<\/p>\n

This year, as I am sure you have all seen on Facebook, we have a rarity, a full moon on the solstice! It doesn\u2019t happen all that often. \u00a0 Of course there are a lot of posts and statuses about this full moon solstice, but they are almost exclusively about the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, and therefore of only limited value to us down here.<\/p>\n

The fact that this full moon will occur less than 12 hours before the exact moment of our\u00a0winter solstice makes it especially special, in my opinion. \u00a0As I said, just because I don\u2019t celebrate the solstice, doesn\u2019t mean it is not significant and I surely note its power.<\/p>\n

\"winter
CC03 Public Domain, Pixabay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I often call myself a fence sitter, but another term I use for myself is \u201cBalancer\u201d. \u00a0I like the balance between one thing and another, I like the middle where I can be flexible about everything. \u00a0I like where one side meets the other, I like when the coin lands on its side and no thing is greater than the other. \u00a0So a full moon, brightening the darkest moment of the year and the longest of nights, what better balance is there? Light and dark, sun and moon. \u00a0This is a wonderful balancing occasion, two opposites meeting and joining together, increasing the strength of already powerful times.<\/p>\n

Everyone is so excited by the idea of a full moon on the summer solstice, and that is pretty amazing, light in the long day and light in the short night \u2013 but I have to admit I am far more excited by this balancing winter solstice we will have down here. \u00a0But that is a personal preference I must admit \u2013 neither is better, I think they both have their own strengths, their own individual meanings that make them somewhat incomparable. \u00a0I am just happy that we get to have the balancing solstice down here.<\/p>\n

So this year I actually do have plans for the winter solstice, to utilise the power that is there. \u00a0I plan to\u00a0do some ritual and spell work that involve the endings and beginnings of the winter solstice, and things that have\u00a0something to do with balancing things out \u2013 though to be honest, ending things and beginning new things in their place is a balance in and of itself. \u00a0I will also do some mundane things of a similar nature.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So this solstice I will do some work on bringing a bit more balance into my life, both externally and internally. \u00a0I have had some pretty amazing things happen in the past year or more, but I have also had some devastating things, with a lot of minor bad things that have piled up enough to become devastating as well. \u00a0So, my life, at the moment, is somewhat out of balance in the negative respect. \u00a0I will do some work to try to bring in the positive and lessen the negative. \u00a0This will be internal as well, as I try to work on bringing down my own feelings of negativity and pessimism while strengthening my positivity and optimism.<\/p>\n

This will happen on a more mundane level too, as I work to bring a bit more balance to my home. \u00a0When you get stressed and depressed and you can often let the mundane things fall by the wayside. \u00a0My home feels kind of dark, and I don\u2019t mean in the night time winter time sense, just dark and closed in. \u00a0I need to lighten and brighten it up, freshen it. \u00a0 I will also break down all the shields of the home and create completely fresh ones \u2013 rather than just strengthening what already exists.<\/p>\n

\"Moon
By Tdadamemd [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0) or GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But before any of that, on the Monday night, when the full moon is set to actually happen, possibly at the exact time of the moon reaching 100% illumination I will be rededicating myself to Hekate. \u00a0For this full moon I will be performing the Rite of the Devotee of Her Sacred Fires, to become a member of the Covenant of Hekate. \u00a0Of course I have been a Devotee of Hekate for a long time, since I performed my personal dedication to Her way back when I was a teenager. \u00a0But joining the Covenant is a rededication and a chance to join in a covenant with hundreds or more other people who are also Her Devotees. \u00a0It\u2019s quite exciting, and I am so happy to be able to do it on this full moon winter solstice.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, I don\u2019t usually celebrate the winter solstice, but this year I have a few things to do on the eve and day of the solstice. \u00a0It\u2019s mostly not traditional of course, but it\u2019s perfect in my opinion. \u00a0I am looking forward to this solstice.<\/p>\n

And I hope that your solstice and full moon is perfectly amazing too, whatever you have planned!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the southern hemisphere, this Junes winter solstice is joined and empowered by a full moon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,136,46,61],"tags":[63,53,30,33,44,43,32,19,58,48,64,59],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-calendar-events-festivals","category-personal","category-practice","tag-australian-paganism","tag-calendar","tag-events","tag-festivals","tag-lunar","tag-moon","tag-paganism","tag-personal","tag-sabbats","tag-seasons","tag-southern-hemisphere","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nFull Moon Winter Solstice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the southern hemisphere, this Junes winter solstice is joined and empowered by a full moon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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