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?