Hello again, and I hope you’re well. If you’re listening to this on the day of recording, then it’s Thursday, January 13th, and Monday is a full moon, the first of the new year. If you’re not listening to this today, then I hope your full moon was magical anyway.
I am continuing with the astrological theme from last week today to talk about Moon Magic. We have talked so many times about different ways to use the power of the moon, but today we are going to devote an entire episode to all the different moon phases and how we, as witches, can use those natural rhythms to enhance our spell work and our lives in general.
Please don’t despair if you aren’t that interested in astrology and don’t really concern yourself with the moon phases; we will be taking a thematic detour over the next few weeks and won’t really talk about anything astrology related at all. Next week, I plan to go really sort of back to basics and cover foraging and using natural and found materials and elements in your witchcraft practice, and then the following week, we are going to talk about Imbolc which is the first sabbat of the calendar year, and different Imbolc traditions we can incorporate into the craft.
Now before we really get into the different phases and how we can use them, I want to preface this by saying that you can always do any spellwork any time of the month. You never need to wait on a specific moon phase to do your work. Timing your work with the moon just offers some extra mojo, that’s all. And also, the power of a moon phase lingers a couple days before and afterwards, so even if you missed the exact night of a full moon, or whatever, you can still perform your work the next night and get that extra moon sauce in.
So with alllll that said, let’s get lost in the big, beautiful moon.
New moon
The first phase I want to talk about is the new moon. This is also called the dark moon and is associated most closely with the crown and heart chakras. The crown is the seventh chakra and is what connects us with the divine, with consciousness, cosmic energy and enlightenment, spiritual illumination, knowledge and wisdom.
The heart is the fourth chakra and is associated with balance, compassion and empathy, healing and nurturing, love, affection, and relationships. So if any of these areas are lacking, consider doing some spellwork or at least some meditation or mindfulness activities during the new moon to kickstart those intentions.
If you work with deities, the Morrigan is often called the dark moon goddess. She rules battle, courage, death, destruction, empowerment, hexes, messages and omens, nightmares, power and prophecy. So if you’re doing work in any of those areas, the new moon will be the right phase for you.
This is also the moon phase we look to when we are searching for wisdom, when we’re doing work that requires us to look inward and be very introspective. When we want illumination in a situation or area of our lives that we are having trouble seeing clearly, when we seek hidden knowledge, and when we are working on our shadow selves, we should look to the new moon. The new moon is a good time for banishing work, but maybe surprisingly, it can also be the best moon phase for new undertakings.
The best workings for a new moon (in my completely subjective opinion) are those times when we are trying to start something brand new from scratch, something that is going to need to grow and build upon itself. Spellwork for new projects that we are beginning from the absolute ground up are going to be really well supported by this energy.
In addition, I think the new moon is the best time of month for doing the work of facing our shadow selves, of really looking at our true selves full in the face and acknowledging the things we do and the ways we think that we aren’t really super proud of or that we are in denial about. You know, we can hide a lot about ourselves from the outside world, but we can hide it from ourselves too. The new moon is an opportunity to pull those aspects of ourselves out into the light and, if not change those things, at least to confront them. The new moon assists us with beauty, beginnings, darkness and destruction, self-improvement, psychic abilities, and renewal in all its forms.
First quarter
The first quarter moon, or the waxing moon, follows a week or so after the new moon, as the moon cycle begins to grow and build toward the full moon again. This phase is associated with the sacral and solar plexus chakras. The sacral chakra is the second chakra, it’s associated with abundance, connections, creativity, desire, pleasure, passion, and sexuality, fertility, freedom, and motivation. So when you’re trying to create new patterns in your life, this is a good moon phase for that.
The solar plexus is the third chakra, and rules authority, confidence, pride and courage, respect, personal power, sensitivity, and willpower. So we can kind of see how that blends nicely with the motivation aspect of this phase as well. When we are caught up in patterns that we want to break, while also establishing new ones, the first quarter moon is a great time for it.
And it’s also a great moon phase for becoming an advocate for yourself. If you’ve been allowing yourself to be a doormat in a friendship, a romantic relationship, at work, with your family, now is the time to reverse the tides. Allow this moon phase to assist you in establishing boundaries and enforcing the treatment you deserve. If you’re finally ready to cut off a toxic friend, let the waxing moon help you find your voice.
This is a phase of abundance, attraction, not necessarily like physical attraction, but attracting that which we want to call in for ourselves, it’s a phase of increase, growth, luck, wealth, inspiration, business success and money.
Second quarter
The second quarter moon is also called the waning moon, and this is the phase about a week following the full moon, when the moon is once again circling back to its dark, or new moon state. The waning moon rules the brow and throat chakras.
The brow is the sixth chakra, and rules clairaudience, clairvoyance, imagination, insight, psychic visions, and hidden wisdom. The throat is the fifth chakra and rules communication, creativity, inspiration, and truth.
The waning moon is perfect therefore, for spellwork associated with secrets, divination, prophecy, and spirit work. This is a great moon phase for meditating with amethyst to exercise your own psychic muscles. There are a lot of exercises to do that can help build your abilities, and the waning moon is a wonderful time to do them. But it’s also helpful with banishing, binding, reversal spells, rebirth and renewal, endings, and death magic, AND otherworld or interdimensional work. Which makes it a great phase for practicing astral travel, or connecting with spirit guides and ancestors, the fae, or for any kind of paranormal investigations.
Full moon
The full moon gets all the attention, and it makes sense; that’s arguably the most beautiful moon phase. But it is also incredibly powerful. The full moon is associated with the heart chakra, just as the new moon is, but it also rules the root chakra, which is the first, or base chakra. This is the chakra associated with manifestation, vitality, attachments, comfort, endurance, grounding, motivations, security and stability, and our needs.
The full moon is also associated with the goddess Selene, although she is a moon goddess in general, not only in the full moon phase. But approaching her during the full moon is common. Selene is the goddess of cycles, calm and tranquility, enchantment, moon magic, nightmares and sleep, and youth and beauty.
The full moon itself rules wisdom, protection, particularly for children and pregnant women, illumination, creativity, divination work, psychic abilities in all their forms, accomplishments, energy, growth, healing, emotions, and intuition. So if you’re trying to get insight on an issue that’s been plaguing you and you aren’t sure maybe what the truth of the matter is, meditating on it during the full moon is going to give you a lot of clarification.
The full moon is a great tool for charging crystals, tarot decks, amulets, talismans, and of course moon water. Full moon rituals are very common for witches who are setting intentions for an entire moon cycle, meaning they’ve worked some sort of spell or manifestation, and they are setting it in motion at the full moon with the purpose of using the magic of an entire 28 day cycle to energize it. Full moon rituals are also just a good way to bathe yourself in the power and energy of the moon in its fullest form.
Sex magic is really powerful during the full moon as well, so consider that if your intent needs a super charged kick start, combining sex magic and the full moon will get strong, undeniable results.
If you’re really trying to create a laser focus for your spellwork this year, you may use the monthly full moon associations to target specific spellwork goals. For example, the January full moon is associated with beginnings (obviously), healing, and money work.
February’s moon is great for astral work, fertility and empowerment. March will be especially helpful for prosperity and success. April for fertility and growth. May for divination, love and enchantment. June is for marriage and relationship magic. July is a good moon for dream work and renewal of purpose. August is the moon for abundance and prophecy work. September will be helpful for protection magic, especially of the home and family. October of course will be excellent for ancestor work, November for cooperation, healing and hope, and December for peace, prosperity, and strength.
There are other lunar events not included on this list, for example the blue moon. Now, there are differing definitions of what makes a blue moon. The most frequent use of this term is applied anytime there are two full moons in the same calendar month, and using this definition, the second full moon is commonly called a blue moon. This happens fairly regularly and isn’t all that rare.
But before that usage, blue moons were defined as happening whenever there were 13 full moons in a calendar year instead of 12. So rather than three full moons per season, one season would have four full moons. This only happens every 2 or 3 years, and so it is pretty rare. The power of a blue moon is best used for goals, goal setting and goal achieving. The bad news is, the next blue moon won’t happen until August of 2023.
Now, we can’t talk about the moon without giving the sun a little bit of a shout out. I feel like, unfortunately, the sun just does not get the recognition it deserves when it comes to witchcraft. And that’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just that witchcraft is something that tends to be done in darkness, indoors, or outside at night. The moon is a powerful source of energy for witches, but the sun is no less powerful.
Cancers and Leos are ruled by the sun, so if you’re a cancer or leo, and you find yourself having a little trouble connecting to the moon, or using the moon in your magic, then definitely try using the power of the sun. I believe I’ve mentioned before that my daughter was lamenting once that she just wasn’t feeling the moon, like she just couldn’t quite connect like she thought that she should be. But my daughter is a big old Leo, and once she stopped fighting that aspect of herself, things felt a little more natural.
She started charging her crystals and cards in the sunlight, and stopped worrying so much about using the correct moon phase for her work. Eventually, I believe, she’s found a balance, but there was initially, at least, a little bit of a disconnect, and I truly think it was just due to the power that she personally draws from the sun.
If you find yourself not quite coming alive when the sun goes down, then don’t fight that inclination. The sun is a powerful source of strength, and we all owe our very lives to it. Do your spells in the sunlight, meditate in the sunlight, charge your crystals in the sun, just go for it.
And now, I want to go to a listener question. I have been holding onto this one and going back and forth because it’s so sensitive. But I’ve had permission from the witch who submitted the question, and I’ve changed names and identifying info, so we are going to tackle it.
Merry meet, Eli. I have a question about love magic. You never really talk about love spells, but I see a lot of witches on instagram who offer love work and I’m curious about what you think. Me and my fiance Jason have been together for 6 years. I love him with all my heart, but he has cheated on me in the past many times and I have a lot of trust issues and insecurity because of it.
We have been working through everything, but a couple weeks ago I got his phone and saw that he’s been talking to a girl that I know for a fact he cheated on me in the past with. He swears she has been the one who initiated it, and that he keeps trying to break it off but she won’t leave him alone. I want to believe him, but the messages don’t sound like she was forcing him to do anything.
My question is, are there spells I can do to make her leave us alone, and make him only want to be with me. I can’t keep living like this. I am sick every time I’m not with him, when I am at work I worry if they’re together. When he gets a text on his phone, I’m always wondering if it’s her. What can I do? I don’t want to throw away 6 years. I know you’re probably going to tell me he isn’t worth it, but I love him and I feel like it’s my right to do what I can to make him faithful to me.
Ashleigh.
Well. Ashleigh, you’re absolutely right. He isn’t worth it. And you’re right about another thing too, there are witches online who will happily take your money and perform binding work on your behalf. And it may work, at least at first. But while you can improve things in the short term, you aren’t going to change him. Not in a permanent, fixed way. And every day you’re going to wonder is this the day he goes back to his old ways?
And here’s another thing you need to understand: this man has been stringing you along for 6 years, stepping out with other women, and using you as a fallback. He knows how this hurts you, and he does not give a shit. He has happily wasted 6 years of your life, and he will happily waste 6 more, because you’ve shown him that there is nothing he can do that you won’t put up with.
You are sick with worry, you are obsessed every time he’s not in your sight, you panic every time his phone gets a notification. My darling, Ashleigh, do you realize that YOU are already under HIS spell? I am not going to give you recommendations for spells to make this man act right. I am going to ask you to be honest with yourself about what it is you are actually afraid to lose by losing him. Are you afraid of losing sleepless nights? Feelings of betrayal? Is this the kind of relationship you always wanted to have? Aren’t you sick of compromising yourself?
I’m about to get real Libra on you here and tell what you don’t want to hear. It doesn’t matter how sweet he is to you when he’s still in his good boy apology phase after getting busted. Talk is cheap. Look at his actions. This is a selfish man. He is doing what the fuck he wants and you are making yourself a fool for him. Ashleigh, you deserve peace in a relationship. You deserve a man who doesn’t lie to your face again and again, and who, I’m very sorry to tell you, probably laughs at you with his little girlfriends.
Ashleigh, you deserve to feel secure. You deserve a man who will treat you right all the time, who you don’t have to check up on. Such a relationship is out there for you, but you are never going to find it while you are running after this loser, begging him to love you. Stop settling for less than the bare minimum.
Now, I did send some suggestions to Ashleigh for a cord cutting ritual and some self-love spells, and while I do perform and recommend spells for putting the spark back into a healthy relationship, or spells for finding a good love match, I do want to be clear that I do not and will never perform nor advocate for spellwork to keep a shitty partner from cheating or sneaking around behind your back. We have all been weak in relationships at one time or another, but it’s just so unhealthy to beg, plead, and enchant someone just to get them to stop treating you like shit.
Save your magic for building your own self worth and leave these cheaters in the past. And use the power of the full moon to charge yourself with self-love energy and strength. You are a powerful witch and you command respect. Do not let these snakes make you forget who you are and what you deserve.
And that goes for all of us. May we never undercut our own value. And if there’s a question you would like to ask, or if you just want to leave a comment, please message me on FB or IG at @middleagedwitch, or email me at eli@middleagedwitch.com. Please enjoy the full moon magic coming for us in a few days, and please join me next week. My name is Eli, and this has been the Middle-Aged Witch podcast.
