NEW YEAR | Astrologically Speaking
Over time, I’ve become passive in my Lunar Ritual practice, and I want to get back into it. What better time than the Astrological New Year, which starts with the New Moon in Aries on March 21st?
I’m subscribed to and follow a number of accounts that provide me with regular insight via email and Instagram, but I miss my own personal lunar flow. While on holiday, I took a close look at the lunar cycle and put together a calendar to remind me where I’m flowing from and where I’m flowing to in any given month. The beauty of incorporating the flavour of every sign into each New and Full moon is that you are able to touch on every aspect of the human experience throughout the year.
I have a .pdf created by Colette Baron-Reid which I obtained through her Oracle Circle Membership (well worth the monthly fee!). It provides me with a consistent framework for my practice. What is my practice? It is the method through which I manifest the life I want to live and I need to get back to it!
NEW MOON
This is the beginning of any lunar cycle. It is a time of new beginnings and limitless possibilities. This is when I get clear about what I want to create or manifest; I set my intentions and sow the seeds of my desires.
I journal, goal-set, and begin new projects or adventures. Anything started during this time is aligned with the Universe to help bring your wants and goals to fruition.
Ritual Tools:
Candle + Lighter: This is how I begin my ritual, usually at my kitchen table, in the heart of my home. Sometimes I light a sage stick and it burns while I write.
Meditation: I ground myself with a 5-7 minute guided meditation. (CBR offers a 12-minute guided meditation for healing that’s lovely!)
Crystal: I bring in my big clear quartz crystal cluster to provide an energetic sense of cleansing, clarity and openness.
Pendulum +/or Sage: To clear the energy, refresh the spaces in your home and notice the impact on your energy. (I tend to use my pendulum because I have zero sense of smell and worry that I’ll make my home too stinky!)
Journal + Pen: What are my deepest desires? What actions do they require to become real?
Oracle Cards: Because I’m co-creating with Spirit, I pull an Oracle Card to ask for guidance or clarity around what I want to manifest in this cycle. On this, you must be absolutely clear to be Divinely supported.
I spend as much time as I need, never less than a half-hour, and usually closer to 2 hours, to give my thoughts a chance to form clearly and to interpret the Oracle Card thoroughly, time must be spent.
FULL MOON
This is the time to clean house and release what no longer serves my highest good. Whatever goal or desire is no longer in alignment with the life I want to manifest is released with gratitude, for it helped to get me to where I am now. Progress is progress; every small step counts.
I trust my intuition and confirm it by either pulling an Oracle Card or asking my Pendulum for clarity.
This is a time of reflection as the full moon illuminates the results of my choices throughout the month. Take some time to evaluate, with gratitude, what you have co-created with the Universe. Now is the time to decide if I want more of it.
(For me, the full moon equals “chop wood, carry water”; hard work, but worth it.)
Ritual Tools:
The setup is almost the same as during the New Moon with one addition: I place some (clean) crystals in a mason jar and fill it with water. I set it up outside overnight. In the morning, I use the full moon water to make my first cup of tea. Some people put out their crystals to be charged and cleansed by the full moon energy. Why don’t I? Too many crystals! It would take HOURS. (I do put out my selenite bowls, plates, and rods - which is how I charge my crystals - because selenite will dissolve in water. I believe it makes them more effective when clearing the less porous crystals.)
This year I plan to not only be more consistent with my practice, specifically my journaling, I hope to be more mindful of the signs. Specifically, I want to be more mindful of the HOUSE that sign is in for my own personal chart. I want to make this practice more personal.
For example, this New Moon in Aries is in my 8th house, which makes this a time of empowerment. The experts say (note: I am no expert) that this is a good time to develop self-mastery skills. You may experience increased awareness of others – what makes them tick – and your own internal motivations during this period. Intimacy and deep levels of sharing are heightened. It’s also a favourable time to start a financial plan, or savings plan, take out a loan or consolidate, and do work in accounting.
What does that mean for me? Well, it kinda hits the nail on the head. While I was away, my lawyer send me the updates for my will, which I have to review now that I’m home. I have been avoiding all of the paperwork to shut down Seanchai Media Group permanently. It stirs up many emotions, and I’ve been reluctant to hire an accountant. It’s time to let his dream go and get it done. And, of course, for all of us, it is the dreaded tax season!
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I made myself a “cheat sheet” for the upcoming New and Full moons - dates and signs - through to the next New Moon in Aries. You can figure out how the houses correspond to your own birth chart:
21 MARCH New Moon Aries
06 APRIL Full Moon Libra
20 APRIL New Moon Aries
05 MAY Full Moon Scorpio
19 MAY New Moon Taurus
03 JUNE Full Moon Sagittarius
18 JUNE New Moon Gemini
03 JULY Full Moon Capricorn
17 JULY New Moon Cancer
01 AUGUST Full Moon Aquarius
16 AUGUST New Moon Leo
30 AUGUST Full Moon Pisces
14 SEPTEMBER New Moon Virgo
29 SEPTEMBER Full Moon Aries
14 OCTOBER New Moon Libra
28 OCTOBER Full Moon Taurus
13 NOVEMBER New Moon Scorpio
27 NOVEMBER Full Moon Gemini
12 DECEMBER New Moon Sagittarius
26 DECEMBER Full Moon Cancer
11 JANUARY New Moon Capricorn
25 JANUARY Full Moon Leo
09 FEBRUARY New Moon Aquarius
24 FEBRUARY Full Moon Virgo
10 MARCH New Moon Pisces
25 MARCH Full Moon Libra