Many self care ideas start with time to rest, taking baths, getting massages or meditating. I’d like to offer a different approach to self care. While it can be considered meditative, it definitely appeals to individuals that embody the Virgo archetype on a regular basis.
Yes, I see you, over-working, over-thinking, and over-analyzing mutable earth goddess, you.
In this post, I will be sharing about the benefits of incorporating moon rituals into your self care routine as well as tips to begin a moon ritual practice.
What are moon rituals and why are they self care?
Moon rituals are simply times set aside to journal, connect with your spirit guides and inner self, reflect on your journey this far and even practice magic or meditate. Moon rituals can be as personal as you want them to be, and take as long as you want. The key is allowing yourself to ground into you, center and reflect on your life as it is right here, right now.
When you make the time for yourself each week or bi-weekly, you begin to put yourself first, respond rather than react and ultimately find a sense of peace within the chaos that this world reflects. At least that has been my experience!
Personally, I practice moon rituals once per week. That’s all I can afford at the moment, though I do observe the energies of the moon phases in between and attempt to align my activities with them. It’s a life-long journey really. Especially in this masculine-driven culture we live in now.
This is an invitation for you to dive deeper into yourself, your subconscious and inner workings with the guidance of the moon.
How to add moon rituals into your self care routine
I didn’t always watch the moon and follow her guidance. It has been a journey of learning and growing since 2019. At first I only honored the New and Full Moons as ways of manifesting, but then I went deeper into my practice with curiosity to see what I was missing as my intentions and manifestations were not matching up.
I now approach each moon phase with curiosity for what I can learn about each area of my life rather what I can get (or manifest) out of the experience.
Observe the Moon
The first thing to do is to begin observing the moon. You can start a new moon ritual practice at this point, but only if you have a good understanding of how to work with the moon in the first place.
To observe the moon, I recommend getting outside and watching her journey through our skies. Notice how her light grows and fades over the course of a month. One tip from my mentor is to ask the moon what wisdom she has for you today. I like this, however I don’t always get an immediate answer.
I use the app iLuna to know which sign she is in. I have a pretty good understanding of the lunar phases at this point since I track them with my moon journal everyday. It takes time, but soon you will feel which phase the moon is in. And you will be able to recognize if she is waxing or waning. She really does influence our moods, emotions and energy levels. She’s quite powerful!
Track the Moon
Next, I recommend getting a moon journal or create a tracker to document the moon’s journey. I use the Moon Play Moon Journal (MoJo) to do this. You can track the lunar cycles over the month and the longer lunar gestation cycle.
Using your journal or tracker, note the date, which sign the moon is in, the phase she is in and anything relating to your life experience at the moment. Noticing frustration or confusion, jot it down. A particular event create chaos or discomfort in your experience, make note of it.
Begin to document all the minute details that drain your energy or replenish it within the tracker. This will be helpful later on when you analyze all this data during moon rituals.
Develop a Moon Ritual Practice
Using my tips from How to Create a Moon Ritual blog, begin to craft your moon ritual into a self care routine. How it looks for you is going to be different than mine, but here is what I do each week.
In my weekly list (Trello kanban-style boards) I have cards that contain all the New Moon, first quarter, full and third quarter moons of the year in a checklist. The butler (I believe this is deprecated now,) copies the card to my to-do list and I add it to my “Doing” list for the week. I note which day and time I need to set aside for myself. I don’t add it to a calendar, but you might want to depending on your situation.
On the day of the ritual, I know that I need to set aside 45-60 minutes to myself. I generally like to practice at night, with the light of the moon, but sometimes I’ll do it during the day when the kids are at school.
I prepare my physical space and then close the door so no one can disturb me.
My physical space is a little lap tray on the floor of my bedroom with a tray for a kitchen witch altar (inspired by Bronwyn Simons, my mentor,) a meditation cushion to sit on, oracle cards, representations of the elements (candle, feather, crystals, water) and my moon journals for reference.
I then sit, take a deep breath, and call in my guides to protect me as I journey into the energetic realm. I light the candle, burn some palo santo, and begin my work.
I fill out my moon journal page, refer back to the key dates, if applicable and note down information. I then review the last couple of days of events and how I have been feeling to add more notes about the current lunation.
Once I am done with that. I do a 2 card reading. I used to do a 3 card reading as outlined in Colette Baron Reid’s Wisdom of the Oracle, but I like the 2 card reading from Rebecca Campbell better for this purpose.
I review the description of each card and sum up the energy and sometimes see a similar phrase in both. I make a note of it and summarize the reading.
I then fill in the spaces below. At New Moon, I set an intention for the month-long cycle and then the longer lunar cycle. First quarter moon, I refer back to my New Moon intention and adjust if necessary. At the full moon, I refer back to the month intentions, and the longer lunar cycle intentions and add to it and express gratitude with it. At the third quarter moon, I release the month and the 27 months prior.
After this, I journal for a page. I’m not an avid journaler, so I tend to write for only 10-15 minutes. Once the page is filled, I thank my guides, and close my sacred container. I blow out the candle and pour the water from my dish into a plant. Sometimes I put it all away but generally, I like to leave the altar out, for the next morning’s routine.
Craft your own
You can take as much of this ritual or as little as you want. The key is to commit to it and sustain the practice to reap the most benefits from it. In my own journey, I have found that this weekly practice helps me feel more calm and less rushed in the day to day of life. I am also learning more about my habits of self sabotage or giving my power away, so I can empower myself in situations in which I find myself in again, cycle after cycle.
Self Care Ideas & Tips for Moon Rituals
More ideas for your moon rituals
- Add a burning ritual to a full or third quarter moon. You can burn your intentions for the month or the longer cycle, pages from your old journals, or anything else you want to release. Writing out limiting beliefs on a piece of paper and burning it is fun too!
- Add a sound healing or guided meditation to your ritual.
- Incorporate crystals into your rituals depending on the support you need at the given time. I use The Crystal Witch, to help with this process as I learn the uses of each crystal.
- Make moon water to use at each lunation
- Add an energy gathering technique such as the Gathering to your opening and closing
Tips for Self Care Moon Rituals
- Start small, and listen to your intuition
- Make sure you can dedicate time and won’t be disturbed
- Carve out a dedicated space if you can
- Craft the experience to your needs and desires to make it your own
- Be consistent to reap the most benefit
- Commit to the practice
- Honor yourself and your needs
It took awhile to perfect this habit. Some weeks are harder than others to set aside time. But I encourage you to try to add a weekly or bi-weekly moon ritual to your self care routine. The benefits outweigh the pressures of life, IMHO, and you can learn so much more about yourself and how you unconsciously operate in this world. Try it! I’d love to have you in my community.
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