Link to previous prompts: http://ppwwmm.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/cauldroneers-bos-prompts.html
Prompt 6. Sunday 31st December
2017 - The 6th prompt will be... The
Moon!
I
hope you all had a wonderful Seasonal time.. And all the best for the New
Year.
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So where do we start?
The Moon.. More than just the big
white rock in the sky.. There is so much to cover here but as with my
other posts I don’t want to do all the work for you. As said there’s
so much I can tell you about The Moon but I’m not going too!?
The Moon has so many different aspects
that you can be studied from an Astronomy study, Astrology side, as a physical
manifestation or symbol of The Goddess, Gardening by The Moon, Cleansing and
purification by The Moon, Moon spells, rituals and other workings, Esbats
(Celebrating The Full Moon each month), Moon phases and cycles including New
Moon, Waxing and Waning Moons and well the list does indeed go on..
The Moon itself has a great effect on
the earth but more specifically on water and the tides among other
things. Thus The Moon has a great effect on us, not just as Witches,
Pagans or other Spiritual Practitioners, Astrologists, Sky gazers and Moon
lovers etc.. but also physically as the adult human body is said to be made up
of around 60% water.
Did you know not everyone in the world
experiences The Full Moon on the same night? Depending on if you live in
North, South, East or West Hemisphere and such. For example: (Me)
here in England usually experiences The Full Moon the night after my friends in
America. Not always, but most of the time! It is there for good for
you to know what The Moon is doing in YOUR
location.. I found a good website for this to be https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/ simply
enter your own location timezone also if you're buying diaries which are Moon
based make sure they work for your timezone. For example: (Me) here in
England it is pointless getting a Llewellyn's Witches Datebook, calendar or almanac but I found
a good alternative to be Astro Moon Diary by Astrocal https://www.astrocal.co.uk/ A5 but available in different
bindings.. Also available on amazon and ebay - very friendly and lovely
people.. I did a video on my YouTube about it.. I got
the new style binding which they're
no longer doing (thankfully) and I did a blog on how to alter the binding.
None magical Moon book recommendation:
'The Book of The Moon' by Rick
Stroud.
Goddess:
The Moon is said to be the physical
representation or symbol of The Goddess, like the Sun is of the God, sometimes
A Triple Moon (Waning, Full and Waxing) is used as a symbol of The Triple
Goddess; which as mentioned in my last blog post Wheel of The Year & The Sabbats is
the three aspects of The Goddess known as Maiden, Mother and Crone.
Esbats:
If you read my last blog post on the Wheel of The Year & The Sabbats you’ll know I mentioned Esbats, this is something which frequently comes up but surprisingly a lot of people get confused with what Esbats are.. So once again I’ll tell you! Esbats are the celebration of the monthly Full Moon. They are celebrated in different ways and traditions according to each practitioner, coven, religion, faith, practice etc. Typically there’s 12 of these a year (one every 28 days) however on rare occasions a year can hold 13 New Moons (for example 2018!). - This is not to be confused with a supermoon as a supermoon is when a Full Moon coincides approximately within the closest distance to Earth with in its elliptic orbit, resulting in a much larger appearing moon in the sky.
If you read my last blog post on the Wheel of The Year & The Sabbats you’ll know I mentioned Esbats, this is something which frequently comes up but surprisingly a lot of people get confused with what Esbats are.. So once again I’ll tell you! Esbats are the celebration of the monthly Full Moon. They are celebrated in different ways and traditions according to each practitioner, coven, religion, faith, practice etc. Typically there’s 12 of these a year (one every 28 days) however on rare occasions a year can hold 13 New Moons (for example 2018!). - This is not to be confused with a supermoon as a supermoon is when a Full Moon coincides approximately within the closest distance to Earth with in its elliptic orbit, resulting in a much larger appearing moon in the sky.
Moon Names:
Did you know that The Full Moons have
names? And sometimes when there is a second moon in the same month this is known as a Blue Moon!! These don't happen every year.. (Which I believe is where the phrase "once in a blue moon" comes
from!) - Maybe this is something else you
might wish to look into.. It might also be something you wish
to include in your Books - for me I'm adding photo corners so I can change out
a card that has The Moon dates and names for each year!! I MIGHT add a
pocket on the opposite page to contain the previous year’s cards..
Waxing and Waning:
Again something else I have covered before, but something you may wish to make a note of in your books. You know the statement ‘Wax on Wax off’ well I found an easy to remember ‘Wax on Wane off’.
Again something else I have covered before, but something you may wish to make a note of in your books. You know the statement ‘Wax on Wax off’ well I found an easy to remember ‘Wax on Wane off’.
- New Moons are good for new beginnings..
- The Moon phases from New Moon to Full are Waxing – This is a great time to do ritual and spell work to attract, bring, amplify, grow, build, gain etc..
- Full Moons (aside from celebrations, charging and all that good stuff) are generally good all-round for almost any spell, ritual or other working especially powerful ones such as protection.
- The Moon phases from Full Moon to New are Waning – This is a great time to do ritual and spell work to banish, get rid, remove, repel, push away etc..
Cleansing / purification and charging
by The Moon:
Most practitioners who work with The Moon will use The Full Moon (and sometime new or other Moon phases) as a time to cleanse and purify those energies from items such as crystals and magickal working tools. And/or charging those items to give them or restore the powerful energies of The Moon, The Goddess and other energies. – I briefly covered this in my blog about Cleanse, Consecrate and Charge (The Three C’s). This again can be done in different ways however typically items are placed outside on a tray or inside on a windowsill and left under The Full Moons glow (even when The Moon is hidden behind clouds). Water collected and/or charged on Full Moons can be used as powerful water in later workings. – As previously mentioned be careful how items react to elements eg. Some crystals will fade under sunlight while others may get damaged when wet ie rain water.
Most practitioners who work with The Moon will use The Full Moon (and sometime new or other Moon phases) as a time to cleanse and purify those energies from items such as crystals and magickal working tools. And/or charging those items to give them or restore the powerful energies of The Moon, The Goddess and other energies. – I briefly covered this in my blog about Cleanse, Consecrate and Charge (The Three C’s). This again can be done in different ways however typically items are placed outside on a tray or inside on a windowsill and left under The Full Moons glow (even when The Moon is hidden behind clouds). Water collected and/or charged on Full Moons can be used as powerful water in later workings. – As previously mentioned be careful how items react to elements eg. Some crystals will fade under sunlight while others may get damaged when wet ie rain water.
Garden:
Another use for The Moon, and Moon phases, is Gardening by The Moon. This is so uncommon these days yet such a simple and crazy powerful tool to literally everyone's arsenal no matter whom you are!! Not just farmers purchase almanacs! Now you might of heard of Gardening by The Moon or even Perpetual Moon Calendars but regardless / or if you haven’t then I am going to tell you and show you here. So Gardening by The Moon and Moon Gardens are not the same thing.
Another use for The Moon, and Moon phases, is Gardening by The Moon. This is so uncommon these days yet such a simple and crazy powerful tool to literally everyone's arsenal no matter whom you are!! Not just farmers purchase almanacs! Now you might of heard of Gardening by The Moon or even Perpetual Moon Calendars but regardless / or if you haven’t then I am going to tell you and show you here. So Gardening by The Moon and Moon Gardens are not the same thing.
First a Moon Garden can be an indoor or
an outdoor garden which is specifically designed and created to only house
white flowering plants, these plants are said to reflect the whiteness of The Moon
and thus be a Moon Garden. Moon Gardens are used for many different uses
from dedications, honouring, memorial, peace and meditation, spell work and
much more or simply as a decorative garden.
Gardening by The Moon is literally
that..
Line up The Full Moon with the correct date of which The Full Moon lands upon that month.
2 days before, New Moon day and 2 days after: New Moon are Rising Vitality - this is a good time to Dig and Cultivate. - This is a time to prepare for very fertile time and you should delay sowing anything other than grass seed. This is a good time to do odd jobs.
The next 9 days: This is the most prolific for sowing and planting all that produces above ground (Peas, Beans, Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Tomatoes, Pumpkins, and Flowers/Plants etc). - Don't prune as this will cause dieback. - Take cuttings. - Good for grafting. - Do not plant root crops as these will go to seed.
The next 2 days: They are good for liquid manures.
The next 4 days: They are cultivating only days for quick germination and weak spindly growth.
The next 2 days: They are good for root crops especially onions & potatoes. Grass can also be sewn.
The next 5 days: This is a barren period *low sap run *harvest all. - Low vitality avoid planting and sowing. Remove weeds and do pruning.
Next 2 days: Plant all root crops especially swedes, carrots, flowers and grass seed. Continue pruning during this time.
and repeat..
I believe you can buy a Perpetual Moon
Calendar from - https://www.garden-objects.com/collections/new/products/Moon-calender however
at $12 plus shipping, plus import fees to the UK I decided to spend
several hours and make my own. - I printed one out in full size and
used a tiny washer and a brad to make the two parts rotate. When I get
round to it I will be doing a smaller version of this to stick into my Book of
Shadows / Grimoire as an interactive page. This is something you might
want to do and then journal on the opposite page the information I posted
above. Here is what I designed (you may print and use if it is of use to
you). If designing your own remember there's only 28 days in a Moon
cycle. - How to use: Simply move The Full Moon picture to the
corresponding day of the month and then follow the 28 days gardening by The
Moon.
 |
| (cut inside the numbers on the image to the right and outside the numbers for the image to the left) |
A better Perpetual Moon calendar explanation - Q&A: All About Moon Gardening. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGZaP8HrCaQ&t=216s video by Paper Tams
Activity:
It should go without saying that the prompt this week is to read this information, go study more about the different things mentioned here and indeed The Moon. - If you like you can also leave comments below this blog or on Facebook comments with other ideas / notes for Moon studies and prompts for other users!! - Research.
Book Activity:
Then create in your book... This could be anything from using aliexpress.com Moon stickers, other Moon stickers, or drawing them free hand or painting, or using the aliexpress.com Moon stamps, or Moon sticky notes, printing out royalty free images, purchasing Moon artwork.. List goes on. Using those elements to create a layout or two or three. As said how I am going to use photo corners for replaceable images and/or pockets. You could use no imagery and just journal.. Use Moon washi tape.. it could be monochrome or colourful. It could include a Triple Moon and information on the triple goddess (though that is next weeks prompt). You might want to print out and create a Perpetual Moon Calendar interactive page or write out the information about how to garden by The Moon. You may wish to create a Moon garden and include a photo of it in your book or journal about the types of flowers and plants you might / have included.
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Imogen x
Next weeks prompts No.7 - Enlightenment & Deity.
