Tag: Moon Cycle

Gratitude Ritual (and Happiness Spell)

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Try a gratitude ritual to help you achieve happiness, well-being, optimism, increased energy, mental balance, better tolerance, reduced frustration, and increased self-confidence. This spell works through both valid psychological techniques and magical principles. Give it a shot, you’ll be grateful.

Timing Your Spell: For this spell you will be creating a powerfully charged talisman you can carry with you. Begin your spell during the waxing moon such as on the day of the first quarter moon. Complete the spell on the full moon. The effects of this spell will be evient to most practitioners within just a couple of days, but continued focus of your will and intent for a t least a week can result in greater success.

Select a Talisman: You can use any object that is easily carried such as a stone, crystal, or piece of jewelry. The picture on the next page shows a few items to inspire you. The acron is a brass finial I nabbed from the top of a lamp afte rbeing inspired by an episode of Bewitched! I used the iron key from my mother’s oak dresser in the picture because it already triggered fond memories. Your favorite pentacle or trquetra necklace, a clear quartz crystal, a tumble-polished rose quartz, lapis lazuli, moonstone, or smooth landscaping rock will all do nicely. Once you have completed the spell, your talisman is imbued with power. Holding it will increase your happiness and energy and it can help you to put stressful situations into perspective for better problem-solving.

Charging Your Talisman: The directions for this working are shockingly simple. Every day, hold hte object you have chosen and focos on one day you are grateful for. Of course, you may repeat this exercise throughout the day whenever you think of something. If you carry the talisman in your pocket you can just touch it while you focus your intent. Close your eyes and feel the gratitude you have and send it through your hand into the talisman. Truly feel your thankfulness and gratitude. Don’t allow guilt or a sense of indebtedness creep into your thoughts or emotions. This isn’t about owing back, it’s about true appreciation, acknowledging and accepting.

You may speak Words of Power or a prayer of thanks to your chosen deities/deity at the end of your energy projection, but sometimes the deep sense of gratitude may overwhelm you to the point that there are no words to express it. You may just end the focusing session with “so mot it be” or an affirmation.

On the last day of your spell, think about how the energy of the full moon reflects the fullness of your gratitude. You may choose to leave your talisman out under hte energy of the full moon this night. It doesn’t matter if it is cloudy, the full moon will still imbue your talisman with energy. If you have selected an item that should not be left outdoors, just leave it on a windowsill or your altar.

Carry your talisman with you whenever you need a mental or spiritual lift. As the year progresses, you may wish to boost the energy of your talisman by repeating your focus during any moon phase. You might discover that making this a dailiy ritual can be very rewarding.

Mugwort Infused Oil

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Mugwort oil is useful for dressing objects like ritual tools and candles and for anointing hands and foreheads for workings and ceremonies. Take a small glass jar with a reclosable, screw-on lid – about six ounces is a good place to start. Loosely fill it three-quarters full with fresh mugwort, then add in a vegetable oil to near the top. Screw the lid on and give it a good shake. Leave it in a cool, dark place for a Moon cycle, shaking it every few days until the month is over. Remove the gooey green material by pouring the oil through a sieve or strainer. (The goo can go into your compost pile.) You may want to filter it again through cheesecloth to remove the last bits of leaf and stem, but it isn’t necessary. You can wipe out the original jar and pour the filtered oil back in for storage, but most people prefer to pour it into a decorative bottle before shelving it. It is important that oils be kept in a cool, dark place, and an amber or dark green bottle is useful in keeping light from degreading the oil. It is also important to label the bottle with the kind of oil it contains as well as the date it was bottled. You think you will remember but chances are you won’t. Best to label everything.

Gardening by Moon Sign

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Some gardeners include the influence of the twelve astrological signs in their lunar gardening as well. The moon changes sign roughly every two and a half days.

MOON IN ARIES: Barren and dry. Used for destroying noxious growth, weeds, pests, and so on, and for cultivating.

MOON IN TAURUS: Productive and moist. Used for planting many crops, particularly poatatoes and root crops, and when hardiness is important. Also used for lettuce, cabbage, and similar leafy vegetables.

MOON IN GEMINI: Barren and dry. Used for destroying noxious growths, weeds, and pests, and for cultivation.

MOON IN CANCER: Very fruitful and moist. This is the most productive sign, used extensively for planting and irrigation.

MOON IN LEO: Barren and dry. This is the most barren sign, used only for killing weeds and for cultivation.

MOON IN VIRGO: Barren and moist. Good for cultivation and destroying weeds and pests.

MOON IN LIBRA: Semi-fruitful and moist. Used for planting many crops and producing good pulp growth and roots. a very good sign for flowers and vines. Also used for seeding hay, corn fodder, etc.

MOON IN SCORPIO: Very fruitful and moist. Nearly as productive as Cancer; used for the same purpose. Especially good for vine growth and sturdiness.

MOON IN SAGITTARIUS: Barren and dry. Used for planting onions, for seeding hay, and for cultivation.

MOON IN CAPRICORN: Productive and dry. Used for planting potatoes, tubers, etc.

MOON IN AQUARIUS: Barren and dry. Used for cultivation and destroying noxious growths, weeds, and pests.

MOON IN PISCES: Very fruitful and moist. Used along with Cancer and Scorpio, and especially good for root growth.

Gardening by the Moon

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It is believed that the moon’s gravitational pull extends beyond Earth’s oceans, affecting the moisture in the soil, seeds, and plants. Some gardeners utilize this timing to strategically plan various gardening activities.

Gardening by Moon Phase

During the waxing moon (from new moon to full moon), plant annuals, crops that need to be seeded anew each year, and those that produce their yeild above the ground. During the waning moon (from full moon to new moon), plant biennials, pereniials, and bulb and root plants. As a rule, these are plants that produce below the ground.

These are not hard and fast divisions. If you can’t plant during hte first quarter, plant during the secon, and vice versa. There are many plants that seem to do equally well planted in either quarter, such as watermelon, hay, and cereals and grains.

FIRST QUARTER (WAXING). The first quarter begins with the new moon. Plant annuals that produce their yeild above the ground and are generally of the leafy kind that produce their seed outside their fruit. Examples are asparagus, broccoli, brussesl sprouts, parsley, and spinach. Cucumbers an exception, as they do best in the first quarter rather than the second, even thought the seeds are inside the fruit. Also in hte first quarter, plant cereals and grains.

SECOND QUARTER (WAXING): Plant annuals htat produce their yield above ground and are generally the viney types that produce their seed inside the fruit. Examples include beans, eggplant, melons, peas, peppers, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes.

THIRD QUARTER (WANING): The third quarter begins with the full moon. Plant biennials, perennials, and bulb and root plants. Also plant trees, shrubs, berries, beets, carrots, onions, parnsips, peanuts, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, strawberries, turnips, winter wheat, and grapes.

FOURTH QUARTER (WANING): This is the best time to cultivate, turn sod, pull weeds, and destroy pests of all kinds, especially when the moon is in the barren signs of Aries, Virgo, Gemini, Aquarius, and Sagittarius.