The full moon tends to hog all of the attention every month. People always know when the full moon is, what planets are traveling during it's phase, which astrological signs are active and even the exact time it starts and ends. Over the last few decades the full moon has stolen the spotlight. It's power is at times misunderstood. Sometimes I think that the thought process is :"if witches doing something during it, then it must be powerful". As Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” So much of witchcraft is understanding the forces we work with - not simply imitating behavior. So once the glory of the full moon passes, we enter the less famous phase of the waning moon.
May 2020 Waning Moon - What's up with that?
What is the Waning Moon?
Waning is the opposite, or decreasing after a full moon, and is always illuminated on the left. There is a waning Gibbous moon, which means more than half of the moon is illuminated. And a waning Crescent Moon, when less than half of it is illuminated. Waning brings an energy that the Full or New Moon doesn't have - and that is the energy of movement. During the New and Full moon phases, there is no movement. During this time the moon's gift to us is light - either fully illuminated (Full) or completely obscured (New). Neither one of those requires movement - quite the contrary - these are times when all other energies stand still and the energy or light or darkness is in full force. During these phases the moon is also in complete conjunction with the Sun and the Earth, which also makes everything look perfectly aligned and still. The energy of movement is actually even more complex than you may realize. The moon appears to be moving from our point of view (as we appear to be standing still), however the fact is that we are also moving. So when the moon rotates around us, it also rotates around the sun - since we rotate around the sun. Other planets also rotate around the sun during that time - just imagine the number of interactions! A waning crescent moon is up in the east before sunrise. It’s waning toward new moon, when the moon will be between the Earth and Sun. Each morning, the moon shows us less and less of its lighted side. It rises closer to the sunrise, heading for new moon. Many people miss the waning crescent moon because it’s a morning moon, visible before sunrise.What Energy can you use during a Waning Moon?
The waning moon brings the energy of decrease. What are the things you want to remove from your life? Do you want to quit smoking? Lose weight? Cut some cords with unhealthy exe's? All of those things are gifts of the Waning moon. You also get 2 whole weeks of waning energy to work with - which means during that time the moon will pass through many other astrological signs and planets. When you start adding all of that together, you can create some magick that can really pack a punch! During these 2 weeks you have the Waning Gibbous (the first week after the Full Moon) and the Waning Crescent (the week before the New Moon). In my work these 2 phases bring 2 different levels of movement energy. The first week (gibbous) packs the biggest punch so I tend to use that energy for external material things. Getting rid of debt, banishing disease, removing negative entities or energies from places - I have gotten the biggest bang for my energetic buck during those the Waning Gibbous moon. The Waning Crescent Moon is gentler, it brings the energy of decrease but in a way that is incredibly useful for personal work. Working with personal trauma, removing bad habits, removing self-doubt - all personal work tends to flow extremely well during the Waning Crescent phase.May 2020 Waning Moon - What's up with that?
- May 8th -9th - Gibbous Waning Moon in Sagittarius - Remove obstacles to travel plans, banish fears that may keep you from taking chances.
- May 10th-11th - Gibbous Waning Moon in Capricorn - Remove obstacles at work, obstacles to finding a new job or home, Good time to work on budgeting and remove unnecessary spending.
- May 12th - 13th - Gibbous Waning Moon in Aquarius - Remove mental blocks that keep you feeling stuck in life, remove self-destructive behaviors.
- May 14th-16th - Crescent Waning Moon in Pisces - Self care - work on not giving away energy you need for yourself, prioritize, and remove people or tasks that are not deserving of your energetic generosity.
- May 17th - 18th - Crescent Waning Moon in Aries - Trauma work, what do you need to release or forgive so that you can move forward?
- May 19th - 21st - Crescent Waning Moon in Taurus - Physical self-care - take care of your body and mind, remove distractions, take a relaxing bath, grounding meditation, cook your favorite meal.
2) 1 Tablet of charcoal – this can be round or square. There are many different types of charcoal out there – just find something you like best. Place the charcoal on top of the sand inside your burner.
3) One set of tongs of some kind – you can buy special charcoal tongs but sometimes they tend to be expensive – but I use little metal serving tongs you can buy at the grocery store for $2.
What you will need to do is pick up your charcoal with the tongs – and place it in direct flame for about 10-15 seconds to light it. Depending on the charcoal you are using, you may need a few more seconds. Some people use a lighter for this but I prefer to use a candle, it is safer. Once my charcoal is lit, I generally blow on it a little to see how far in it is – so long as it lights you should be good. Place your charcoal back down on your burner (on top of your ash) and let it sit there for about a minute or so while it finishes catching.
4) Select your herbs or incense to burn. Place the herbs or incense on top of the lit charcoal block. It will begin to smolder. My recommendation is to use very little to start with and then gradually add in more herbs or incense until you reach the desired amount. If you put too much herbal material or incense, you can actually snuff out your charcoal, so start small!
