BasicsThe moon has been an essential part of both witchcraft and everyday life throughout history. F

Basics

The moon has been an essential part of both witchcraft and everyday life throughout history. Farmers would rely on moonlight to work during the night. Peasants would hold celebrations in favour of the moon. The moon controls the ebb and flow of our tides through gravitational pull, controls how long our days are. It keeps the balance.

Likely due to these exact factors the lunar cycle has always been an important part of various different religions and spiritualities for thousands of years. In almost every polytheistic belief system there is a moon goddess, Artemis then later Diana being the most notable of the many within Western Culture.

Today, the moon is most commonly used in ritual practices. Modern witches make use of the monthly lunar cycle to attune their energies to nature and heighten the effectiveness of their spellcraft, or connection to divinity. As the moon waxes and wanes so do we, being reborn again every month with more knowledge than before.

Quick Facts

Most years have 13 New Moons or 13 Full moons, but never both (Occasionally a year will miss out and only have 12 of each)
The lunar phases are caused by light reflected onto the moon from the sun, which changes depending on it’s positioning with the earth and the sun as it orbits every month
The moon does not innately radiate any kind of light. Moonlight is actually just sunlight reflected
The moon phase is the same no matter where you live on Earth!
The most common time for rituals and spellwork involving the moon are the Full Moon and the New Moon
There are significant ties between an individuals menstrual cycle and the cycle of the moon. Having your period during the full moon is believed to elevate your spiritual and magical energy to new levels

What is an Esbat?

An Esbat is a ritual held once a month by most Wiccan covens to celebrate the full moon. It’s commonly on the full moon because that is when most believe that the moon is at it’s most powerful. You don’t have to be a Wiccan to celebrate an Esbat and you don’t even need to have an Esbat to celebrate the full moon at all, I just thought I’d throw it in here for reference.The word is supposedly sourced from the Old French word s’esbattre(orébatin Modern French) which to the best of my knowledge means to frolic and celebrate. Yet again a borrowing Margaret Murray used in her attempts to build up the idea of one big witch religion existing in Europe. (Which has been disproven many times, as a side note.)

The Lunar Cycle

The Lunar Cycle is commonly broken down into four main phases, which can also be broken down into 8 or 12 subphases. For the purpose of simplicity though, I will cover the 4 main ones in this post.

New Moon / Dark Moon

New moons are a time for new beginnings of every type. It’s good in this time to take an inventory of your bad habits and make steps towards moving on and becoming a better person. Getting away from old structured ways of thinking and doing things can help you grow immensely. Cast off your old ideas about a topic and try to see it in a different light.

Planning the first stages of an exciting new project is a great thing to do at this time in the cycle. Apply for jobs, brainstorm, revisit old abandoned projects. Make a commitment to doing all of the things you have been putting off this month.

Waxing Moon

The body is more receptive to change, whether that be good or bad. Now is the time to strengthen your resolve, to keep putting energy into your projects and start to see the results of them come through. This phase is all about growth. It’s a good time to work magic for new relationships, fitness, finances, garden work and for the healing of body and mind.

Full Moon

The full moon is good for all things, especially very difficult or demanding spellwork. This is a time of great intuition. Your creativity and psychic abilities will be at an all-time high. Not especially good for decision making for those easily swayed by their emotions as this is a very emotional time, though good for individuals to learn which path in life they truly crave.

Waning Moon

Things are coming to a close. Reflect on things as the energy of the cycle drifts away divination to map the contents of your soul and examine your actions over the past cycle Attributes: This moon is the time for banishing spells, curses, breaking an addiction, correcting mistakes and making amends. Anything bad in your life must be removed. It is also a time of strong divination for the coming cycle.