The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

Hey guys

I was introduced to this by a friend, but I fear the terminology is incorrect. When I research 'drawing down the moon' I see a lot about big group rituals and invoking the goddess through oneself. The way I was taught, it was simply a way to connect with the goddess during a full moon, to draw down Her essence into your life. Has anyone heard of this being 'drawing down the moon' or should I quit calling it that?

I'm a solitary witch, and I've done this ritual only once. What I basically did was, set aside a time around midnight during a full moon and lit a candle in the name of the goddess and some incense, and focused. I wrote a little introduction paragraph which I read, in order to introduce myself to the goddess and to declare my path. I asked her to come to me in whichever way she saw fit, and that night she actually did appear in a dream of mine (although it was a solar goddess as opposed to a lunar one).

My question is, I really want to connect with the goddess again. I can't find a whole lot of information on moon rites like this, at least not solitary ones. I want to do the same kind of thing again, but I didn't know whether or not it was only meant as an introduction sort of thing, because that's how I originally did it.

Can anyone offer insight on this topic?

Drawing Down the Moon is when you invoke the Goddess into yourself and She speaks through you (as I understand it).  

It seems like you have a good template for connecting to the Goddess already.  It doesn't have to be elaborate if you don't want it to be.  You can just light a candle, give an offering, and speak to Her under (or in view) of the Moon.

Do you have a particular tradition?  This info will be helpful so that we can give you better suggestions to work with.

Hey guys

I was introduced to this by a friend, but I fear the terminology is incorrect. When I research 'drawing down the moon' I see a lot about big group rituals and invoking the goddess through oneself. The way I was taught, it was simply a way to connect with the goddess during a full moon, to draw down Her essence into your life. Has anyone heard of this being 'drawing down the moon' or should I quit calling it that?

The original use comes from magical practice in ancient Thessaly, in which the power of the moon was drawn into a bowl of water, and used for various things. In modern terminology, however, the most common practice is indeed to use it as traditional Wicca does, which is invoking the deity into a person, who then can convey that deity's wishes, comments, or whatever else to the group.

(If you try a search on the forum for "Drawing Down", you'll find some other threads about this - I'm travelling and on the iPad so can't search easily from here.)

Some people - I know Silver Ravenwolf did at other point, but it's other places, too, have used the term in the way that you describe, but I tend to think that's confusing for everyone.

What you're doing might be more clearly described (in the sense of helping you find some other resources) as a devotional act, as meditation, or as attunement. You might find Diana Paxson's book Trance-Portation useful for a number of techniques that might help with this.

The other thing to realise is that this kind of practice doesn't have to be linked to the moon - the timing is probably going to depend on your usual ritual practice (or desired ritual practice - one of the reasons it is a lunar practice in Wicca is because of what the full moon rituals focus on), and particularly on the deity you're trying to honour, build a connection with, or contact.