How 3 Moon Phases Can Help You Change Your Life
May 27, 2020
When I was growing up the moon was something to conquer. My grandparents’ generation never dreamed a person would one day walk on the moon, but in l969, Neil Armstrong did just that.
Moon stories and fairytales were commonplace for my generation. Some of you may remember something like this: “High, diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon; the little dog laughed to see such a craft, and the dish ran away with the spoon.” There was magic and mystery surrounding the moon during childhood. I think as we grow, the moon still plays an important role in our lives.
The moon is yin or feminine energy and the sun is yang or masculine energy. It’s important to integrate yin and yang within ourselves, so following the phases of the moon is a good place to start.
The moon is about one-quarter the size of the earth and it rotates around our planet approximately every 27 days. While there are many phases of the moon, I have highlighted three moon phases below that have interesting and helpful energies.
The New Moon or Crescent Moon
The new moon phase is my favourite because it represents new beginnings. No matter what has happened the month before, the new moon gives us a chance to start again.
During the new moon phase, we can be in our maiden, youthful energy. This is a time to create goals and intentions for the 28-day cycle ahead. I was given a journal that I use each month to write down my new moon intentions.
The new moon lands in different zodiac signs throughout the year. At the time of writing this blog, the new moon is in the sign of Gemini. Gemini folk are often good communicators so this cycle can help us focus on our communication skills. Other zodiac signs highlight different energies that can be focused on during each new moon phase.
The Full Moon
I always approach the full moon with excitement. One day you just look up at the sky and there is, the full moon in all her glory. It always puts a smile on my face. The full moon is the mother energy, as opposed to the new moon which is the maiden energy.
For folks who want to get pregnant, the full moon can be just the right time for conception. Whenever I have a friend who is pregnant, I always tease them that their baby will likely arrive around the full moon closest to their due date.
In ancient times, there were rituals where women stood outside and drew down the energy of the full moon to charge themselves. The full moon has many aspects but one of them is that it can be a good time to release what no longer serves us.
On occasion I have howled under the full moon, if you haven’t tried, I highly suggest it. It is fun to do with friends and in my experience, it is a great way to tap into our wild untamed selves. Maybe this is why the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves is so popular.
The Waning Moon
While, the new moon channels our young maiden energy, the full moon channels our mother energy and the waning moon channels the crone or older woman energy. This aspect of the moon helps us navigate mystery and magic in our lives.
During the waning phase, we can enter psychological darkness, and use this time to deeply reflect on what is happening in our lives. We might take this time to review our new moon intentions to see how we did over the past month. This is a time to look deeply within to find our wisdom and intuitive-self especially if we are at a crossroads in our lives.
This is a good phase to give ourselves compassion and care. We might have vivid dreams that give us messages from our unconscious. We can ask what is waning in our lives and then let it go, or prepare to let it go. Letting go allows us to move forward, and a new moon cycle will be just around the corner to start again.
Moon Magic
I encourage you to lean into the energy of the moon at any phase. The female energy from the moon is very powerful, so powerful in fact that it moves the tides of our oceans.
In a future blog, I’ll discuss more aspects of the moon, but in the meantime, I encourage you to think about starting a new moon journal of your own and use it to set intentions every 28 days. You can start by downloading my new moon intentions worksheet. Gosh, you could make your own journal with these sheets alone. See, magic is working already.
Resources
Here are some great resources for learning more about the moon
- Tanishka The Moon Woman – themoonwoman.com
- Yasmin Boland – www.yasminboland.com
- Drawing Down the Moon a book by Margot Adler
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