Module Seven
Once you have a good idea of how elemental energies have the potential of amplifying your personal power in your energy workings, understanding astrological timings can help to ensure the efficacy of the work that you are doing. The easiest way to begin aligning your spell work with correct astrological timing is to observe, accutely, the phases of the moon.
Observing the phases of the moon gives us a template or timetable for the most auspicious timing to do spell work based on our desired outcomes. Every lunar cycle begins with the New Moon; many modern new age spiritual practices, which observe the moon cyles, have foregone the acknowledgment of the dark moon, choosing instead to merge the dark moon phase with the new moon phase. However, in ancient tradition the distinction of the dark and new moons are important for the type of magical goals that you hold.
The new moon phase of the lunar cycle is when the tiniest sliver of light can be seen reflected on the moon’s surface, as opposed to the completely dark surface of the moon, which is the dark moon.
The new moon is traditionally known to be a good time for new beginnings; be it a new relationship, business venture, or simply setting your monthly goals. This is the time to list out all of the things that you want to accomplish or create.
After the new moon, the moon enters its waxing phase which constitutes the first half of the lunar cycle connecting the new and full moon phases. As the nights of the waxing moon move further from the new moon and closer to the full moon phase, we observe an increase of light, reflected each evening, until the entire surface of the moon is illuminated on the full moon. Waxing moons are all about ‘increase’ and is the time for focusing on bringing your desires to you. Money, love, sex, professional advancement etc. are the types of energy working that you will want to focus on during the waxing moon phase.
The full moon is a great opportunity to pause and take stock and ask yourself “How have the intentions put forth during the new moon and waxing phases been shaping up?” As beneficial as it is to charge your crystals under the light of the full moon, it is equally beneficial re-charge your own energy and the energy that you’re projecting to call in your desires and intentions. Giving thanks for the things that are working and noticing what isn’t working so that you are positioned to enter the next phase of the moon with clarity and discernment.
After the full moon, comes the waning phases. Waning moons are the correct astrological timing for magick dealing with ‘decrease’. Focusing on whatever we want to decrease through banishing spells, cleansings, uncrossings, etc.
Finally, after the waning half of the lunar cycle, the dark moon bookends our monthly segment. The dark moon is the time when we see what’s left, energetically, from the entire month’s energy workings.
Following the phases of the lunar cycle has probably been the most significant practice that elevated the work in our own practice and we think that it is the easiest way to begin aligning your personal power with ally energies. By identifying our desires, investigating what elements will quicken them into our life experience, and correctly timing them with atrologicial correspondence, we automatically build a parameter for our magical work while removing the element of confusion that often leaves us asking ‘What do I do now?’
Here’s what a month of following the lunar cycle can look like practically:
NEW MOON : Make a list of my goals and intentions. Get crystal clear on my desires. Create a ritual to declare that what I want is what I’m working towards manifesting.
WAXING PHASES: Rituals to sharpen my focus on my intention and align my energy with my desired outcomes.
FULL MOON: Recharge…what is working? Give thanks! What isn’t working…what has the work kicked up in my psyche? Am I finding pockets of resistance in my actions? Am I seeing areas of my belief system that are working against my pursuit of that which I desire to have/do/be? Identify the resistance that is coming up in me, my beliefs, thoughts, and actions.
WANING PHASES: Rituals to rid myself of the unwanted resistance to that which I desire. Banishing fear and anxiety that may cause me to be innactive. Healing old perceptions and beliefs. Removing resistance so that my desires are easily allowed in my experience.
DARK MOON: Identify what worked and what didn’t work in the entire lunar cycle. One more push to eliminate the undesirable resistance. Use all of this information to create and fine tune our desires, goals, and intentions for the very next new moon.