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FULL MOON RITUALS
The Lunar cycle gives you the opportunity to set intentions of the Self from being reborn during the darkness of the New Moon; when we set our intentions. The Moon builds during the month and at Full Moon, it is the time to release those intentions, send them out to the Universe along with anything that no longer serves you.
in·ten·tion
inˈten(t)SH(ə)n/
noun
- 1.
a thing intended; an aim or plan.
“she was full of good intentions”
MEDICINE2.
the healing process of a wound.
So, what to do during the Full Moon?
A Full Moon ritual might involve purification by one of the elements. Most often, it’s fire, and done by casting something you don’t want into the flames. One idea: 1) Write what you’re releasing down on a stick. 2) resolve to let go as you throw it into the fire. 3) Throw the stick into the fire. This can be done as a group, with everyone sitting ’round the fire…or in your own private ceremony. Each person can seal their action of letting go by speaking it aloud, if there’s trust in the circle. Through my Shamanic practices, we breathe or blow our breath into the stick while silently speaking what we are releasing. When I feel “ready” to let everything go, I place the stick into the fire, I pull the smoke into 3 chakra areas that include the belly, the heart and the third eye; to allow me to feel, love and see what I need to.
Water can be used to cleanse in rituals. I enjoy salt baths during this time in addition to a Fire Ceremony.
For beginners and those who do not practice Shamanism, I am borrowing this ritual from an article to help those that may not have access to a Fire Ceremony and this can be done in your own home:
Full Moon Release Ritual
Items you’ll need: Floating candles, a large bowl, water, matches, a pen.
- Create a sacred space with candles, sage smudging, and setting up altars with powerful totems. For some rituals, I’ll use an owl’s wing that a friend gave me, to represent wisdom.
- If possible, stand or sit under the Moon. Allow yourself to feel a direct relationship to it, as a mover of the living waters of the Earth and within our own bodies.
- Do a grounding exercise, to bring you out of the chatter of small talk and into ritual space. Feel the earth under your feet and shake out the tension in the body.
- Place the large water-filled bowl in front of you, or in the middle of your gathering on a table.
- Each person writes what they’re releasing on the floating candle. It’s not important that it shows up, just that the intention is there.
- As you place the candle into the bowl, declare what you’re releasing.
- Light the candle.
- Allow yourself to feel the transfer of what you’re releasing to the candle. As a group focus on letting go into the water
- Celebrate this release by sharing a feast under the full Moon!
Allow the candle to keep burning in the bowl as a symbol of the letting go process. The flame is a purifier, and symbolizes the sparks of inspiration as well. If you blow out your floating candle, and your bowl is in your home, relighting it will remind you of your commitment. Place inspiring pictures and totems around it that remind you of who you’re becoming. Above all, give yourself kudos for honoring your own growth.