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Author Topic: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals  (Read 4744 times)

Tenae

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Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« on: April 03, 2013, 12:43:30 am »
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)
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MadZealot

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2013, 04:08:54 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)


Full on ritual if I have the inclination or need, otherwise it's something small: a candle, a libation, some incense and light meditation.  

(Now that it's warming up I should use the stone circle out back.  No excuses now...)
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Aubrey_Rose

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2013, 09:25:38 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)

 

Mine are pretty simple.

This month it involved a Goddess candle and planting a seed as a representation of myself and the growth I want to happen in the coming month.

Maybe I should involve some yummy snacks too.. :)
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Micheál

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2013, 08:24:26 am »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)

Although I make an effort to actual go out&observe the moon in its different phases, when life&time get the best of me coming up to the full moon my dreams get very vivid alongside me waking up in the wee hours of the morning, so I always know when it's time.

Our coven holds our Initiate only circles on Esbats, but since we meet at the weekend it usually falls around 3 days either before or after, so most of the time when it's full during the week I do my own solo rituals that can be simple or elaborate depending on what mood I'm in or if I need to utilise it for anything.  

It can be just lighting a candle with a glass of wine, divination&meditation, casting a circle with an intended working, or even all of those. Sometimes just the candle&wine is nice.
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Semper Fidelis

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2013, 12:17:50 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)


"Formal ritual"? I always thought rituals were supposed to be formal. Anyway, for purnamasa: lighting a fire of some size, making libations for  ancestors (well, it is an ancestral rite to begin with), offering food of some sort to them, making offerings to the fire, and reciting mantras in hopes that each act will be successful, starting and ending without any hitches. Doesn't take that long at all, really.
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Ma'atemhat

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2013, 06:32:27 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)


This is a moon ritual that I do.

It can be as simple as you want. Just sing or recite the poem, and maybe light a candle and/or incense, and make an offering if you wish.  :)
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Tenae

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2013, 06:46:33 pm »
Quote from: Materialist;104639
"Formal ritual"? I always thought rituals were supposed to be formal. Anyway, for purnamasa: lighting a fire of some size, making libations for  ancestors (well, it is an ancestral rite to begin with), offering food of some sort to them, making offerings to the fire, and reciting mantras in hopes that each act will be successful, starting and ending without any hitches. Doesn't take that long at all, really.

 
The formality of ritual depends on what tradition you belong to. Personally I'm a cottage witch so my rituals are pretty much completely informal - no chanting or calling of the quarters or anything of the kind. On the other hand, some traditions have very specific rituals for everything which is great too. This is the full moon ritual I do when I actually get to do something: http://witchofhowlingcreek.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/simple-full-moon-ritual/ :)
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Materialist

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2013, 07:21:07 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;111449
The formality of ritual depends on what tradition you belong to.  :)


Liked the meditation part, but the season of the mosquito is upon us, so that'll make it a bit tricky.
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Tenae

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2013, 07:27:22 pm »
Quote from: Materialist;111469
Liked the meditation part, but the season of the mosquito is upon us, so that'll make it a bit tricky.

 
Actually, the ritual can easily be done inside from a window - that's how I typically do it because our nights can get pretty chilly! :D
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Materialist

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2013, 08:23:44 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;111471
Actually, the ritual can easily be done inside from a window - that's how I typically do it because our nights can get pretty chilly! :D


Ah. I'm having one of those "duh!" moments!
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Leanan Sidhe

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2013, 10:57:30 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
So, in the past, really simple full moon rituals have been my mainstay to keep me connected and paying attention to the world around me. I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do. Do you make a special food, make a toast, hold a formal ritual? I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)

 
I usually honor the Ocean at the full moon, if I do anything for it. But sometimes, it's Manannan mac Lir, or Gaia. I keep stuff pretty simple, and most of what I use, I either found in nature or made.

Sometimes I'll do a spell or ritual involving fertility, abundance, growth, harvesting, etc.

But usually, here's how it goes for me:

I go to the beach and watch the moon. If I feel like I either should or just want to, I walk into the water and talk to the ocean, thanking it/her for keeping me together, creating life (all my UPG), etc. I say how much I love her and appreciate her. I clean up trash on the beach, thinking about ritual acts, responsibility, integrity, ecology, cause and effect, the duties and joys of living with the land, and Gaia. Often, I sit on the beach and meditate or lie down there and just breathe.

When I get home, I light a candle or incense, then I pray, meditate, or work in my BoS for a while. Sometimes I do a reading if I have anything to ask, or if I just want to make sure I'm on track.

Not terribly complex or organized, I know, but that's how most of my path shakes down.
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Tenae

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2013, 06:45:13 pm »
Quote from: Leanan Sidhe;111562
I usually honor the Ocean at the full moon, if I do anything for it. But sometimes, it's Manannan mac Lir, or Gaia. I keep stuff pretty simple, and most of what I use, I either found in nature or made.

Sometimes I'll do a spell or ritual involving fertility, abundance, growth, harvesting, etc.

But usually, here's how it goes for me:

I go to the beach and watch the moon. If I feel like I either should or just want to, I walk into the water and talk to the ocean, thanking it/her for keeping me together, creating life (all my UPG), etc. I say how much I love her and appreciate her. I clean up trash on the beach, thinking about ritual acts, responsibility, integrity, ecology, cause and effect, the duties and joys of living with the land, and Gaia. Often, I sit on the beach and meditate or lie down there and just breathe.

When I get home, I light a candle or incense, then I pray, meditate, or work in my BoS for a while. Sometimes I do a reading if I have anything to ask, or if I just want to make sure I'm on track.

Not terribly complex or organized, I know, but that's how most of my path shakes down.

 
That's really cool! I'd like to move to the coast in a few years and I'd love to incorporate the ocean into my esbats when I do.
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Leanan Sidhe

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2013, 06:57:28 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;111867
That's really cool! I'd like to move to the coast in a few years and I'd love to incorporate the ocean into my esbats when I do.

 
Thanks! I hope you do. I love living near it. The ocean has such a soothing effect on me.
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Leanan Sidhe

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2013, 08:58:28 pm »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
I need some inspiration to get back into the swing of things! :)


Ooh, I love it how life works sometimes! I just came across these while I was searching for another ritual by her that I'd done before and loved. When I read through these, I thought of your thread.


 
https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/circle-magazine/sample-articles/circle-craft-full-moon-rituals
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Aett of Cups

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Re: Esbats/Full Moon Rituals
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2013, 12:08:05 am »
Quote from: Tenae;104192
[...] I've always felt that the full moon is one day of every month that I can take a moment to really notice time passing, etc, even when the rest of the month I'm crazy busy.

But unfortunately I haven't actually made this happen since at least November. So I'm wondering what you guys do to celebrate the full moon, if you do.  [...]


Esbat is my (connotative) catch-all term for any time I do magical work.  So I don't really celebrate them (that's what I do on sabbats, generally after the ritual).

This may not work for you, but I use the phase of the moon for magic whenever applicable.  I'm awake all night most nights, so it just depends on the phase; I personally find the waxing moon good for summoning work in general and the waning moon good for banishing work in general.  The full moon, I find, works best for thaumaturgy, while the new moon seems to enhance theurgic energy.  Could celebrating or doing spirit work at a phase other than full be of use to you?  Might you have overemphasized the full moon and need to explore the new moon's energy or something?  I just thought I'd suggest it, as you seem to still be interested in moon magic but to have reached a block.  If the block isn't motivational, it could be due to a lack of balance.
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