What is the significance of a full moon?
As we all know, the moon has many different phases and each one holds its own magic and meaning. The two that are most celebrated are the new moon and full moon.
The full moon shines brighter than any other phase, radiating all of its power and potential down onto us mere mortals.
In many spiritual cultures, the sun represents our outer world, the external things that make us happy, bring us joy and the actions that we take. The moon however, is all about what is happening inside. It refers to aspects such as our intuition, emotions and deep subconscious thoughts.
With this in mind, it makes perfect sense that the time when the moon appears brightest and the most powerful, is the best time for inner work. The full moon is also a great time for practising gratitude, self love and manifestation, because we are taking the time to look inward and really tap into our own power and energy.
Setting your intentions for your ritual
Before any ritual, whether a full moon ritual or any other type, it’s important that we have a clear idea of what we are trying to get out of it. Especially if we are preparing to take a deep dive into our subconscious, that place can be vast and confusing.
Think about what you want to achieve from this time with yourself. Is it that you want to boost self love? Invite luck or romance into your life? Maybe you want to manifest something special?
To get the most out of your full moon ritual, make this time about yourself. It’s great if you want to do a spell or meditate to help someone else, but this one day in the month is solely for you, so make the most of it. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so now is your time to fill that baby to the brim.
Pre-ritual: Cleansing
How you prepare for your ritual is just as important as doing the ritual itself. Depending on how much time and freedom you have, try and perform a cleansing before getting started. This could be a cleansing of yourself e.g. a bath or shower, or even a smoke cleansing of your space using sage or other corresponding herbs and incense.
This time before starting your ritual, helps to create the right head space and energy for your practice. Full moon rituals are done in the evening when you can actually see the moon shining over head, so you need to get rid of all the static from the day gone by.
Ritual: Using tools and looking inwards
The tools you choose to use depends on a number of factors:
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How much time you have
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What you are trying to achieve
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What tools you feel most comfortable with
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The space you have available
For beginners, the most common tools are crystals, candles and incense. These are the holy trinity of ritual tools and usually form the base of all ritual practices.
If you live somewhere where burning stuff is not an option, then candles and incense may be out of the question, so you might choose to use crystals and some essential oils instead.
My advice is to not use tools you don’t feel comfortable using. You’ve got a whole month to experiment and learn about different tools, but during your full moon ritual, you want to be 100% comfortable and confident.
When it comes to actually doing your ritual, as a beginner, you’ll want to start with a meditation. I always like to meditate on my ritual intentions for about 10-20 minutes before doing anything else. For some of you, this in itself might be your entire full-moon ritual, if you want to take things a bit further, you may follow up your meditation with the following:
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Knot spell
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Spell jars
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Burning ritual
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Journalling
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Affirmation chanting
Post-ritual: Carrying the energy with you
Once you’ve completed your full moon ritual, try and do as little as possible. You want to try and carry that amazing calm energy with you for as long as possible. With these rituals done in the evening, I always crawl straight into bed when I’m done and it ensures I have a great night’s sleep and I’m able to soak up all those good full moon vibes.
If you have made yourself a spell jar, keep it in a sacred space or on a windowsill, so it can be charged. Keep it there until the next full moon to get the most out of it. If it’s pocket size, you can also carry it around or sleep with it under your pillow.
The same applies for crystals that you’ve charged and used in your ritual. Sleep with them under your pillow or next to your bed and carry them around to remind you of the intention you set for yourself.
The benefits of full-moon rituals
Whether you believe in the power of moon phases or not, there is no way you can’t benefit from a full moon ritual. Any time spent reflecting inwards and giving yourself some care and attention is time well spent.
Plus, the full moon comes around every 29 days, so following the phases is a great way of ensuring you are creating a consistent self care schedule. You’ll start to notice how you start looking forward to the full moon so you get to take a break and spend some time with yourself.
