S: you're listening to episode 20, all about moon phases and magic. so today we are going to be done about the different phases of the moon, some spell work ideas for each phase and a fun thing that we added are some fun goal ideas based on the full moons of each month because they each have different names in different goals associated with them. We talked about, At the beginning of this podcast the different types of witches we talk specifically that some people consider themselves to be a lunar witch. that's not really what we're going to be going into today because neither of us are lunar witches. a lunar witch is one that has their practice solely focused on things like the phases of the moon but also working with the lunar gods and goddesses and spirits, and we aren't going to be talking about that, we're strictly going to be discussing how you can time your magic and your spell work to the different phases of the moon in order to make your cells more powerful.
T: it's just like a little boost like using the right crystal or using the right candle.
S: Let's start with our very first moon phase in the cycle which is the new moon. and when you start working with the moon and it's energy it's very common to start with the new moon. so if you've never done it before, this is an excellent place to start and this is when the sky is completely dark, so it's good as a time of a clean slate and you would use the new moon to set your intention for the upcoming 28 day lunar cycle. so it's a good time to begin new projects or just in general make a fresh start new beginnings or blank page just to set your attention so if you're going to start a magical working it's a good time to do it with the new moon.
T: the next ones are next up if you're following the cycles of the moon is the waxing crescent if you've ever sat around at night and watch the moon you'll notice that the crescent is actually happening twice this is the waxing crescent so it's getting larger this is really when you set your intention with a new moon so you're really settling into it your intention, maybe giving it more detail what your intention entails, it's really about the phases so if you have a brRoad goal or a broad objective you're looking for this is where you're going to kind of look into more of the details and how was the first step on getting to the end goal.
S: next up after that is the first quarter which is exactly 7 days after the new moon. so this is a continuation of that waxing crescent were your taking actions and steps towards your intention as moon continues to grow, so this might be when you start facing challenges and need to make decisions on those things. you're starting to get a little bit of feedback on your goal making those first steps this is when you would address any decisions that you need to make to make the next step or address any challenges that are coming out.
T: so if you've been through any professional workshops a lot of times in the last few years at least for me they talk a lot about setting smart goals. you kind of think this is the same process. so you set your main goal at the new moon, the waxing crescent is where you decide what your first step will be and the first quarter is where you take your first step in that Direction.
The next up is the waxing gibbous moon I don't know why I like this but I will say it that way pretty much this whole podcast because I think it's fun. so this is the time when you've taken your first step towards reaching your goal with the first quarter and this is kind of where you tweak it. is this the correct step for you, are you got, do you need to further refine how you're going to get to your final goal or spell or working so this is kind of where you are almost double checking that you're going in the right direction.
S: the next up is the full moon which is when lunar energies peak at 14 days or halfway into the cycle and Tara and I are actually recording this episode on a full moon. This is all about clarity because it is when the moon is brightest in the sky. So it's considered harvest time for your intention, that you set at the new moon it's all about clarity, celebration, the peak energy all about forging ahead.
T: yeah this is a lot of times when this is almost like the High Point the, this is when things should really be coming together for you.
next up is the waning gibbous. this is you have reached the peak, you're kind of on the downhill you are looking back showing gratitude for what has happened so far, you are grateful that things are coming together. you may not be at your end goal at this point but you're really done the steps to get there and now this is more about basically being grateful that you had this opportunity, that you've been able to work With the energies that you have. This also in the energies are starting to wane just as the moon is waning.
S: and 3/4 of the way through the cycle you end up at the last quarter and this is the time to think about what you have learned about all your projects and the direction you're following and to bide your time for what you're going to start doing that so it's time to let go and release, forgive anything that did not go the way that you intended it to, and just start gearing up kind of for the next cycle of intentions.
T: next up is the waning crescent so this is not where you want to set your next goal. this is really when you're kind a wanna wrap up what you've been doing this entire moon cycle. it's a good time to polish anything that you may have achieved in the last 28 days, but any thing you Don't need or any steps you took that weren't directly correlated to your intention your goal this is kind of a good time to clean those up in, the time of reflection so if you're going to do your spell or set your intention again is there any steps you wouldn't take next time they weren't necessary to get to your goal. so that is a good time during the waning Crescent you start thinking about preparing for the next cycle but you're not quite there to start your next cycle intentions.
S: and that brings us right back around to the new moon again it's a full 28 day cycle. so some intentions may take longer than one moon cycle to manifest, that's very common. as with any goals in life magical or not it takes longer than 28 days for a lot of things, especially the bigger the goal, the bigger the intention the longer it's in a cycle it's going to take. the that's why there are these like various moon phases so as you're going through that cycle, you're figuring out what works, what doesn't so now you've got that new moon in front of you again so you can restart Your intention and kind of clarify the steps and each time you're going through this you're just getting better and better at it.
T: this is also if anyone has started reading the spiral dance that I recommended an earlier episode this is kind of the ebb and flow you're not going all the way back to the beginning the reason there's 13 moons in that lesson progression, is your you're using with stepping stones. so you're getting really comfortable and settled and then the next new moon, you move to the next step.
S: so in case you are wondering how to tell what the moon phase is this is easy information to find online there. it's also contain in a lot of almanacs like there's at the farmers almanac and Llewellyn has one and it's usually in the newspaper, I think usually in the weather section but yes you could just search the Internet it comes up in the for you know every month I'll show you but you can also tell whether it is waxing or waning is by the time that it rises. If the moon rises in the daytime, it's waxing, if it rises at night, It is waning.
and another way to tell is to look at the fullest edge so if it's towards the east it's waxing which is growing towards the full moon but if the fullest edges to the west, than the moon is waning towards the new moon. and if you're on the southern hemisphere it's exactly the opposite.
T: yes so do you keep in mind that we're in the northern hemisphere so we try and remember that the seven hemisphere is completely utterly different but I lived in New Zealand quite a few years ago now and this constantly confused me, I feel like wait it's getting bigger now what's happening so that is something to keep in mind, that if you're used to one way that's not the wrong way but yeah if you are used to one hemisphere, it's definitely different.
S: so we talked about the different phases in sort of setting one intention at the beginning of a new moon and sort of following that through an entire cycle but You can also perform specific magic and spell work just that day according to whatever the moon phase is of that day. so we also have some ideas for you for that
so some good magical working for the new moon is anything related to cleansing and purifying body and mind, anything bringing inner harmony and peace or if you want to designate a new sacred space like you're setting up an altar.
T: so again this comes back to new beginnings, blank slate so you're completely new so that's it's a good time for anything that's new and fresh. it's a good time during the new moon to start those workings.
so then for the waxing moon, this is generally about a new thing that will be ongoing like getting a new job or home, bringing love into your life, if you want More love more things increasing material items and kind of tied into that is manifesting money or abundance whether it's healthy relationships
S: yes this is when things are growing, manifesting so if you want more of something that would be a good day to work on that spell work, if you want more cats than you do you.
Magical working for the full moon is a good time for increasing your intuitive awareness so if you are working on chakras, balancing, third eye work, if you want to get better at tarot and other types of divination and you want to set a spell to you know increase your powers in that area it's a good day for it. healing magic in general, connection to a higher power and just all just generally developing all of your magical skills. full moon is great day for that.
T: so something that's different from the waxing moon and the full moon is the waxing moon is more of something outside of yourself a lot of times. like new home, new job, more cats, whereas the full moon is more magical in nature like oh your intuition is a good time for this to bloom, magical skills so it is more of what you already have but it could be developing a whole new skill in that area.
and I think she wants to do this next section so magical workings for the waxing moon eliminating negative people are toxic relationship from your life ending a relationship or job banishing bad habits make sure they're actually bad habits that you think are bad and not other people think are bad. reducing things such as that illness etc. but things that you personally wanna banish.
S: So the last thing we want to touch on is this idea of using full moons to accomplish Different goals because each full moon of the month has a unique name, so it's kind of fun way to use them as deadlines to keep track of all your goals that you want to set throughout the year. so I will start off with January, but this is July in the southern hemisphere, so January it is called the nursing moon milk moon wolf moon old moon or ice moon, so it's a good month to concentrate on family activities, taking care of all wealth or wellness or health appointments, scheduling them for the year for yourself for your family and your pets.
T: this is actually the month that I set up almost all grooming appointments for my dog. So February it is the storm moon fasting moon weaning moon snow moon or hunger moon. this is a great time to change your eating habits to match a more healthy way of life, slowly adjust your diet by adding or subtracting one food type, go through all of your automatic payments to see if there's something you don't need to be paying. for this works out really well for people setting goals in January because this is right when people start to lose interest in setting and following through on those goals and it's a good time to kind of adjust your expectations and see what's working. on the last few years in January I've done both dry January and whole 30 and February is when I start adding things back in and I always find things I can tweak in my diet and I feel that doing it in February around the cycle the full moon really help me keep that going throughout the rest of the year.
S: So March is known as the seed moon, worm moon, crow moon, sugar moon or sap moon. and we say these names it's not every single one of those every year, each year it's a different one but March is kind of what everybody gets that sort of spring fever and a new push to like work on New Year's goals so it is a good time to start a new project starting a new job teaching yourself a new skill and of course choosing which plants to grow in your garden.
T: except for this year, this is always when I also start my planting this year not so much because the world's all gone crazy and I can't find the seeds I want. so April in the northern hemisphere you can figure out the southern hemisphere if you need to, it is the mating moon hare moon, egg moon fish moon, pick moon, waking moon. Really focus on your partner, review yourself and your activities, think about what will satisfy yourself and bring harmony to your partner. if you are not in a committed relationship also think about this with your friend group. I personally think that you can have 1 million friends we are going to have probably 1 to 5 really close friends. examine those relationships. this is a really good time to not only start planting your garden but also kind of nurture your relationships. it's a really good time to start thinking about how you guys can rebuild after you maybe haven't seen each other for a while especially this year or just reconnecting
S: May is known as the dyad moon journey moon flower moon or can also be known as the hare moon depending on when in the month the full moon falls. so this is a good month to try getting done all of the errands that you've been putting off and Visiting places you've never been by taking short weekend or day trips.
T: next up is June it's the mothers moon Meade moon strawberry moon honey moon or rose moon. this is really time to focus on your female friends and family. decorate your altar to honor the mother and celebrate Mother's Day with your own mother or any mother figures you may have your life. this could be a priestess if you are in that kind of tradition or just a female mentor this is a really good time to celebrate them.
S: July is the complete opposite it is known as the fathers moon thunder moon mid moon hay moon or buck moon and it is the time to take care of your male friends and family and decorate your altar to honor the father figure.
T: next up is August, this is the nesting moon the barley moon, corn moon, grain moon or dog moon. it's really a time or you start preparing for winter, look of your winter clothes and replace repair things that no longer serve you, mend or sew blankets hanging over your curtains heat treat windows and doors. this is also a time when you might start harvesting anything that you've been growing throughout the summer and start thinking about if you have an abundance if you're going to be Canning. is a really good time to start thinking about what you're gonna be canning and what you can eat fresh, if you practice any of that.
S: September is known as a harvest moon wine moon or corn moon. and it's when we tie up any large project to be completed before Thanksgiving because that's when things get crazy, so we are not targeting you know end of December because there's just not time in those months. so this is when you want to start tying up any large projects so they are done by November.
T: This is also when depending on your condition you may start making wine and canning fruits and veggies to prepare for winter. I do that every year.
anyway next up is October it's the blood moon sorting moon or the culling moon. this is when you kind of start sorting through and clearing out storage areas kitchen cupboards and closets. if you've been canning in September or making wine or tea is this a good time to make sure that you've gotten rid of all of the stuff from last year, so you have room to store throughout winter and into the new year. everything that you've been working on in September and August, also you don't want all that stuff just hang around throughout the winter.
S: November is known as the snow moon death moon frost moon or beaver's moon. it is the time to Remove any negative energy from your home if you remember when we started talking about Sabbats that October 31 is at Samhain and that is considered the witches new year so if you move into November that's like moving into the new year so you were getting rid of anything negative from the previous year. so you want to get rid of anything broken, you want to repair anything like carpets or curtains want to get rid of any dead house plans and generally just declutter your space clean up any like clothing that's on the floor. all those things that you do to get ready for a new year
T: so a lot of times at least for me I don't set goals from January to December I said them from November to the end of October just to match my personal calendar, and so this is a really good time for anything that you may not have gotten done last year to knock out really quick with the decluttering the cleaning if there's anything that, I like to buy gifts in advance.
Anyway so December is the dark moon the birth moon oak moon cold moon long nights moon. take advantage of holiday bargain, go through your next calendar and mark off important dates magical time block off time for specific projects. just because of the way most of the western world is organized this is the time when a lot of people are very family centered, so it's a good time to realize going to next year who do you wanna spend time with, whose birthdays are coming up and mark off calendars for the moons so you have time to celebrate all the moons in the coming year. like I said I know I start my calendar is November 1 but I feel like December is a really good time to wrap all this up.
S: I agree so that was a fun way that we want to include for you to you set some goals related to the full moon. The last thing we just wanted to mention to wrap this up is the importance of keeping a some sort of related journal. if you're going to be sort of working with this lunar cycle. because you probably noticed going through all of this, it can be a lot to keep up with especially if you're not working on one singular intention and honestly who of us are we like are always working in different ones, and especially if this is new to you you really want to notice in how the moon affects your life because some witches completely live by the lunar cycle it's very important in their witchcraft and some can take it or leave it and honestly has no effect on how powerful their different spells are. so keeping a journal of this is important just because there's so many different phases of it that it can be hard to keep track of exactly what happened when.
T: there's definitely a difference when it comes to my spells and what type of spells I work throughout the lunar cycle.
S: I agree I don't find that sort of the midpoints between the cycle that we talked about the smaller quarters I don't find influence me as much but new moon versus full moon I feel like there's like there's a huge difference.
that is all we have for you for this weeks episode and we will see you next week for days of the week.
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