Full moon rituals.

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

I did my first full moon ritual last night and it was great. I was really nervous first though. It was my first formal ritual with a circle and everything.I have been doing informal casting for a while but I thought it was about time, now i knew a lot more on my path to have a more formal one.I am dedicating myself on halloween.:).I hope this is ok, i know these rituals are kinda personal but i would like to share what i did and i would like to hear others experiences and rituals for the esbats.I searched the forum for simalar threads and found nothing so i apoligise if i have missed something.Mine was heavily based on the one described in Rae Beths 'Hedgewitch'

The first thing i did was go outside and spent some time just looking at the moon and let it's power and aura touch my own. It was quite beautiful last night. I saw a purple aura around it, it was a lovely colour and very beautiul.it made me feel quite peaceful.


I then shed my everyday clothes, take of my rings and brushed my hair. I then anointed myself with lavender oil to cleanse away the days stresses and tiredness.

I then sat in front of my altar and lit my fairy nite lite candle.( more so i could see the altar and my notes properly as there was only a very dim light on.)

I was still very nervous so I meditated using a small yellow fluorite stone to promote peace, calm and soothing within myself and a citrine stone to transform any negative energies i was carrying into something a lot more positive.

When i was feeling more centred i called the guardians of the four elements.Air, fire, water, Earth.

I visualized a circle being made up of air, it kind of looked like a wall around myself made out of a tornado.When i called the guardian of fire, the relevant quarter turned into a wall of flame, when i called the Guardian of water, i pictured the relevent quarter turning into a wall of water, like a wave on the sea.when i called the Guardians of earth i saw a wall of thorns.At the points that marked the quarters were the 4 guardians themselves, a winged pegasus for air, a dragon for fire, a mermaid for water and a flower faery for earth.

I then invoked the Goddess by lighting my goddess candle on my altar and said " I invoke thee o Silver lady, bright mistress of all love and enchantment. Watch over this rite and give it blessing "

I then lit my God candle and invoked the Lord of Night." Lord of Night, holder of all wisdom i invoke thee. Watch over this rite and give it blessing"The candle flames seemed to take on something extra. A prescence in the flame itself, a personality. There also seemed to be an extra outer layer of flame, like a warm, golden aura.

I then said out loud in recognition of the special time( the full moon) " This is the time of full moon, high tide of physical power.Plants grow and tides change and man and woman join in desire and passion. Change is made and realized and dreams are revealed. I say this rhyme to honour the triple Goddess of the moon, her infinite change and returning phases; calm and passionate , serene and wild moods:

Moon dance of life,
with silversong,
in vein and river,
Silver song in dark night,
now work enchantments,
fill the world with power of magic unfurled.
Now magic grow, enchantment flow.
I dance the silver tides return,
by breath and blood, by water and bone.

I imagined the power of my words moving around in me, building up as the rhyme went on.

I then directed the power that had built up in me into a small glass bowl filled with water. I sprinkled some of the water around me saying " Silver dew fall gently,bring peace and beauty;As between the worlds,so in the worlds.I then drank from the bowl and let the power in it flow around me again.

I then said " The blessings of the Goddess of the moon are life, love and skills in magic. Thus i invoke her with these words: Blessed be! all who dance , give and take pleasure and dream enchantment into being. With harm to none, and in her sacrad name Blessed be." I then paused to visualize thisand direct the power within me into what i said. and then said " As on my lips, so on all lips".

I drank from the bowl again, and then said" On this night, the horned god draws near to the moon Goddess so that they may be one in love. I honour all his wild music. As the music ripples on bright water, so may the male and female be reconciled in love in the world, to the earth's healing and to the happiness of all creatures".
I then visualized the power from the words i had said flow into the bowl once more, the power of love.
I then drank again.

Next i lit a taper from my goddess candle and lit a small tealight candle.While lighting it I wished for all suffering in the world to lessen. I visualized this happening by the world being wrapped in a warm ink glow and seeing happy faces and content people.

I then lit a second tea light and wished for good health and continued happiness for my friend Jackie. I visualized this by seeing Jackie surrounded by a warm, healing green glow with her fiance at her side and a huge smile on her face.

I then lit a third candle and wished for happiness and calm in my own life. I visualized my partner beside me and my daughter in my arms. We were all hugging each other and smiling. I saw us surrounded in a warm peach glow.

I let the candles burn for a while, while i focused on the wishes i was making an when i felt i had visualized enough I blew out the candles saying"Lord and Lady, you have heard my wishes. I ask that you add your strength and guide these wishes into being"

I then had communion. ( a mini jam tart of my daughters and a wine glass of strawberry squash)and gave thanks to the lord and lady, then bidding them "hale and farewell"

i then closed the circle, giving thanks to the guardians for watching over the rite.

[SnowyMoon]

I find I like to do a full-blown full-moon ritual best when all alone so I can totally shut out my mundane life. Sometimes when I cannot be alone, I try to make accomodations; once I even full-moon-ritual from my bathtub, and I sometimes get out in nature and use visual tools. ;) I try to make it work, but if I can't for some reason, I do connect and commune with The Lady to keep in touch.

[DanuMoonrunner]

Sounds like a beautiful ritual, I think you did great for your first. I normally do one every full moon, but as sick as I am, I just couldn't do it last night! Anyway, congratulations! You're on the right path!

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

It could have been better, i had to laugh afterwards. I forgot the incense, i was bumbling cause i was trying to read the notes and i almost missed an entire bit of it. :)

[SnowyMoon]

:clapping:It does sound like a lovely ritual. Sounds like you did good.;).

Blessings

[raven fern]

that does sound wonderful, and the nervous forgetting things happens to me all the time. though i try and try to remember everything before hand, there is all ways something that gets left at home or forgotten.
there is a group of women here, and we have been meeting monthly for the full moon since january. some months as many as 8 or 10 come, and some months 2 & 3. either way they have all been meaningful and bonding experiences and we are getting more comfortable with each other and rituals.
we all ways meet out on the beach some where different each month. and have a fire and food. it is really turning into a healthy group, as we all care about each other kind of like sisters.
thanks for the topic. now i must go look for simple group meditations :floating:
raven fern

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

Wow that sounds really nice Raven Fern:)

[raven fern]

we are very blessed. thanks

[TheeHeks]

[QUOTE=FeatherGoblinglimmer]I did my first full moon ritual last night and it was great. I was really nervous first though.

This ritual is so well done. It is very beautiful. Can I take parts of it to my own ritual in 2 weeks time?

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

Yeah. Like i said in my beginning post i can't take credit for it because it was based heavily on Rae Beths esbat ritual described in her book Hedgewitch. It would be fine if you want to take parts of it. I would be quite happy actually. :)

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

bumpety bump

[zakzekezedd]

What a lovely ritual. Thanks for sharing. I always try to do a ritual for the full moon....and I always manage to "fluff" something..I hope that the guardians of the west are forgiving because I usually manage to stumble a bit when calling them for some reason? I always feel very calm and peaceful after ritual, it's hard to describe it exactly but it's a wonderful sensation. If I can't perform a full ritual, I at least take a few moments to sit on the porch and talk to the Lady.

[Windsmith]

We do pretty simple rituals - we'll cast a circle and then go outside (weather permitting) and take a walk or do some tai chi or have a picnic. And we just feel ourselves soaking up the Moon's light and energy.

[RavensEye]

It could have been better, i had to laugh afterwards. I forgot the incense, i was bumbling cause i was trying to read the notes and i almost missed an entire bit of it. :) Just remember when you are doing rituals, it is what comes from you heart that counts, no matter what mistakes or bumbles are made. And thanks so much for posting this it was a kick in the butt for me :)

[Rananeida]

I clicked the not at all option - although it's not entirely true. The difference is that it's not Moon himself I celebrate at full moon, but whatever forces are out and about at that time.

Also, herbs, bones, soils and such are usually most powerful at full moon, and get gathered then. That sometimes calls for a small celebration. Especially this time of year when there is so much to find, and the weather permits sitting outside.

But Moon himself is traditionally greeted (and given a feast) when he is new.

[rhinoa]

Not really at the moment, I have been a bit rubbish. I recently got married and that meant I was very busy organising it all and had a lot on my mind (I changed jobs at the beginning of the year too). Now things are just starting to calm down again so hopefully I can give myself a prod to getting back to celebrating the monthly cycles more.

[Windsmith]

So my wife and I had a lovely full moon ritual planned for this month. Simple but elegant and quite magical, if we did say so ourselves. Except that, the night we'd planned it for, a whole bunch of other junk kept coming up. Next thing we knew, we were in bed, half asleep, and I suddenly sat up and said, "Crap! We forgot to do our ritual!" Of course, at that point there was no way we could do what we'd planned. But we still wanted to do something. So L., mostly asleep and awfully punchy, said, "Let's moon the moon!"

Which we then proceeded to do.

It was meant with the deepest love and reverence, really. It was sort of a salute to our connection with the moon. We just looked like complete idiots.

The really funny thing is that all the next day I felt more strongly connected to the moon than I have in ages. I was suffused with lunar energy and wisdom. And the, um, seat of the feeling? Yes, that's right. I am connected to the moon through my butt. :rollingla

Go me.

[moonbride]

So my wife and I had a lovely full moon ritual planned for this month. Simple but elegant and quite magical, if we did say so ourselves. Except that, the night we'd planned it for, a whole bunch of other junk kept coming up. Next thing we knew, we were in bed, half asleep, and I suddenly sat up and said, "Crap! We forgot to do our ritual!" Of course, at that point there was no way we could do what we'd planned. But we still wanted to do something. So L., mostly asleep and awfully punchy, said, "Let's moon the moon!"

Which we then proceeded to do.

It was meant with the deepest love and reverence, really. It was sort of a salute to our connection with the moon. We just looked like complete idiots.

The really funny thing is that all the next day I felt more strongly connected to the moon than I have in ages. I was suffused with lunar energy and wisdom. And the, um, seat of the feeling? Yes, that's right. I am connected to the moon through my butt. :rollingla

Go me.

Omg this is the best thing I've heard all day!! :hehehehe:

[Windsmith]

Omg this is the best thing I've heard all day!! :hehehehe:Glad my butt and I could be there for you. ;)

[RavenMoonshadow]

I try to observe the full moon every month but sometimes I can not because of my hectic schedual

[Ivy Artemisia]

Wow, this thread certainly got bumped from a long time ago. Thats a beautiful moon ritual!

Before I was part of any sort of coven, I did full moon rituals every other month. Once I joined a coven, I was expected at esbats. So, yeah- it certainly keeps me motivated. We choose one goddess each month and honor Her at the full moon. But if I was solitary again, I can't say for sure.

Windsmith- I love your story. I might try that!! :)

[Windsmith]

Windsmith- I love your story. I might try that!! :)It's pretty fun, really. Just make sure your butt is *ahem* well-grounded before you try to return to your normal activities.

[Lunacie]

:bumpsmili
Wow, very old thread with a poll getting bumped! :rollingla


No not by me. I just saw a screen name I haven't see in years yet there wasn't a new post - someone voted in a really old poll.

[Astara Seague]

it is old...:weirdsmil
but I will answer anyways
most of the time I do.. not always a "full blown" ritual but I always try to something..outside perferably

[Lunacie]

Really, some of the most meaningful (to me) rituals were the ones I did all by myself, standing out by the firepit, looking up at the full moon between the tree branches, holding up a chalice to draw in the energy and then drinking from it. Very simple, but very good for forging that connection between me and the divine.

[Shatril]

I always mark the esbat in some way. I don't necessarily do a "Ritual" if I don't have something specific that I need to do in that energy. I generally will spend some time giving thanks for what I have, and celebrating the glory of the female energy in my life. I generally just raise my hand and feel the energy reach in and cleanse my mind, body and spirit. I love the glow.

Shatril

[Shaddar]

Sometimes I do ritual, but I always at least acknowledge the Goddess when I see the moon at anytime.
Shaddar

[Lunacie]

I've been rereading my "beginner Wicca" books as I'm teaching a group with several members who are quite new to this path, and the author mentioned how Esbats, being lunar rituals, are generall performed at night with the moon clear in sky. So you'd think Sabbats, being solar rituals, would be performed in the daytime, but are also most often performed at night. A holdover from the times when Pagan rituals had to be done in secret, and the darkness of night was the best cover?

I realized what makes the most sense to me is to perform Esbats at moonrise and Sabbats at sunset. There is something so magical about those "between" times, and the original Sabbats (the cross quarters) are all about the between times, between winter and spring, between spring and summer, etc. Just thinking out loud here. ;)

[Silverfire Darkmoon]

Usually I'll change the altar cloth to the white linen one (when I remember to lol), replace the black-lacquered brass candleholders with the silver-plated ones, get some cheap fruity wine I find palatable (go Wild Vines!) and lady fingers or other delicious sweet white cookies, and then I do stuff :P I usually find that my full moon rituals tend to focus on making my altar really pretty and stuff.