Category Archives: Magick

Moon Magick

Triple Goddess Moon Drum

The New Moon Rises at Sunrise
The Waxing Half Moon Rises at Noon
The Full Moon Rises at Sunset
The waning Half Moon Rises at Midnight
– Traditional Saying, Source Unknown

When I learned this for the first time I began to understand better the cycles of life, and the cycles of magick.

The New Moon, the dark moon, is never seen. Not only is it not in the sky – it is on the other side of the planet at night. As it gently waxes it can be seen setting in the west at sunset, or rising in the east just before dawn.

The New Moon is darkness, potential, and the empty space at the bottom of a breath. This is the time to decide what your course will be with the waxing moon. It is a time of waiting, of receiving.

Like the night before a journey, there is nothing more to be done. You know what path you will start out on in the morning, with the first glimmer of moon.

As time passes, that moon sets later, and is fuller. You can sometimes see it in the daytime, too. It’s sweet to watch a waxing moon as she grows every day, and lingers in the sky a bit longer after sunset.

The Waxing is a time to Learn and Grow and expand. You put your energy into the Path you Chose at the Dark Moon. You feed and nourish the plants, the seeds you have planted begin to wax with the moon (yes, many successful gardeners still plant by the moon phases).

One night, at sunset, the sun will be setting in the west, and the Moon rising in the East. This is the Full Moon. It can also been seen at dawn, when the Moon sets, and the Sun rises. These dusk and dawn moments are a special sacred time of balance between the solar and lunar, the day and night, the male and female, the rational and intuitive – the yin and yang. When these elements are balanced, gateways into deeper consciousness and awareness take place.

The Full Moon is the ripeness of the fruit, the work of the harvest, the gathering of your labours. What you started on the New Moon, comes to pass. Larger projects may require several moons of building and growing (and waning – that’s coming up).

When you see her overhead at night, appreciate the fullness and the beauty and feel the pull on your waters, your strength, your intuition, your dreams, full at this time of the moon. This is a time of energy and activity. Howl your joy at what you have accomplished!

Then comes the time of Waning. This is a time to draw in, re-evaluate, plan, introvert. In order for the waves to come in, they must first go out. Let go. Float, and let your intuition and creativity guide you to what you need next. Evaluate where you have been, and meditate on where you want to go next.

The Waning half rises at midnight, and can also be seen setting around noon. By the time of day, you can tell whether a moon is waning or waxing (though, ideally, once you start to work this Magick, you will always feel it, and not need to check the clock).

Are you ready again for the Dark?

* * *

These cycles of Light and Dark are also true for the Sun, but on a longer time frame.
Feel the waxing and the waning of light and dark, the Moon guides intuition, the Sun guides logic and rationality.

I have finally added the Sun back into my Practice, seeing the fast-wheeling of the moon, and the gentle arcs of the Sun.

There are thirteen moons to a Sun (roughly, with the difference being “Saturnalia,” now celebrated as Christmas). What can you build in a year of Moons?

Asking instead of Telling

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Shaman Explorations – New Zealand Roses

When I go to my acupuncturist, I am sometimes in a lot of pain. She talks to me about what acupuncture is like in China (it’s much more intense), and she tells me that she likes to “ask” my body instead of “telling” it what to do.

This applies to yoga, too. When you are in a difficult position, do you tell your body – commanding it to take a certain shape or form? Or do you ask it, gently reminding it of what you want, and request that you work together?

Starhawk speaks of “Power Over” (command) versus “Power With” (cooperation). The Ra Material speaks of “Service to Self” versus “Service to Others.” Yoga and Buddhism teach of Ahimsa, non-violence. If I understand correctly, one need only be 51% pure when asking, but needs to be 99% pure when telling. Telling is harder work, and more dangerous.

While studying Carlos Casteneda, I learned that he has developed a warrior’s protocol for elevating the human to higher levels of being, called Tensegrity. I have not studied it in depth, but have watched a few videos of it, and I was surprised at how it is TELLING, COMMANDING, not asking for these energetic upgrades.

I have also seen this pumping of energy in many modern kundalini practices, driving the energy through the centres, even when they may not be ready or able to handle the energy. Wouldn’t it be better to ask, instead of tell?

In our polluted and blind society, it may seem necessary to take it to these more intense levels – “shredding” energy balls and grasping and grabbing as much energy as possible.

But the traditions of Tai Chi, Chi Gung, and martial arts have no need to grasp or shred. There are huge gains and benefits to simply asking. Hold the energy ball, bring it into your lower dantien – there is no need to shred it before “ingesting” it. Your body will take what it needs. Ask, not tell.

This is one of the differences I see between Wizardly or “ceremonial magick” practices and Earth magick. The Wizard commands the spirit to appear, confines the spirit to a circle of his Will, and demands that the Spirit fulfill his request – whether that is teaching, or a command to perform a deed. Wizards create gates, telling instead of asking, to travel the worlds. It is the commanding, the telling, that makes Wizardly practices more dangerous, and involves greater ego. To achieve goals by this method requires 99% purity and dedication to the practice. It is so much easier to ask than tell.

This is also true of nearly all shamanic practices as well.

You don’t demand that you go on a Journey; you ask. You don’t tell your Guardians help you, you ask. You don’t command the Medicine Wheel – you invite it.

You don’t insist that your Helpers appear, you ask for their presence. You offer gratitude when they do appear. This gentle practice helps prevent us from becoming warped and selfish.

The entire multiverse is about relationship. Treat your body as a friend, and it will be your friend. Welcome your Helpers, your Journeys, even your Medicine Wheel as friends.

There is no need to force the rose to bloom. Isn’t the rose more beautiful when it opens naturally? Ask, not tell.

As Above, So Below: Within You, Without You