How to Work With the Scorpio Full Moon Eclipse

The super full moon eclipse in the sign of Scorpio happens either this Sunday or this early Monday depending on where you’re at in the world. The pique of eclipse will occur around 9:11 PST or 12:11 Monday ET. Eclipses usually come in pairs, sometimes sets of three, and this lunar eclipse rounds out our eclipse season that started with a lunar eclipse in Taurus on the New moon. This is a big one, friends! Lunar eclipses and the sign of Scorpio carry an energy of transformation, death, and rebirth. Oh, and we also entered Mercury Retrograde. Pair all of these up with a super full moon, and we've got a powerhouse of a celestial event. 

In this post, you'll learn a bit about eclipses in general, how they can affect us and how to work with them. I’m also going to share about the influence of Scorpio on this full moon. 

Give it listen on my podcast, Awen here.

I love astrology but don't identify myself as an astrologer. I love to examine how the zodiacal seasons influence and relate to the wheel of the year and how they relate to the moon phases. I prefer focusing on the big picture themes of astrology and try not to get too detailed with it as I think it can have a tendency to overshadow or overly influence our unique experiences, which is why you'll always hear me take a broad view with topics like this. 

I also don't usually offer rituals for eclipse season, but I want to dive into eclipses and the power of this particular lunation. In this share, you'll learn more about the energy eclipses offer, how they can affect us, how the energy of Scorpio will affect this full moon eclipse, and ways to work with its energy. 

Eclipses can be fast-acting and unpredictable, so generally speaking, it's a good idea not to do any deep spiritual work or rituals during an eclipse. But, there's a lot you can do, which is one thing I want to talk about here. I also want to say that every practitioner, astrology, witch, etc., will have a different approach to eclipses, which is great! If what I share doesn't match what you heard elsewhere, that's fine. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. First, let's start with how eclipses can affect us. 

The super blood moon of September 27th, 2015 is silhouetted by the ridgeline near Ontario Peak, California.

How eclipses can affect us

Eclipses bring an amplified and more intense energy that's often palpable. If you're like me and feel a little ungrounded or shaken up from full moons, you'll likely feel that even more from a lunar eclipse. Sleeplessness, exhaustion, extra emotions, and overwhelm can be especially present during eclipse season. I amp up my grounding practices during an eclipse season, especially for lunar eclipses, because I know they shake things up for me. I also expect sleep disturbances and take extra steps to help myself get a good night of rest, or if I can't sleep during these times, I just stay up and roll with it! 

Eclipses are a cosmic wild card in a lot of ways. I see them as an opportunity to allow whatever needs to bubble to the surface to arise and be transformed, especially when it comes to lunar eclipses. I often find that some theme emerges amidst eclipse season. The themes that arise will be unique to each of us. Although the sign the eclipses are occurring can certainly color what comes up. Any themes that arise are your opportunity to examine, learn, and possibly transform.

The flavor of how transformations occur will likely feel different during eclipse season. Unlike most lunations, in my experience, when we can be present with the energy of eclipse seasons, they work on us very passively, without much action on your part. For most new or full moons, there's an emphasis on taking specific steps and actions for the desired outcome. I see eclipse season as a road trip where I don't know the destination. But if I decide to take the ride, it will undoubtedly be transformative. You may be less in control of the experience with eclipses, which can no doubt be scary, but the outcome can also be more impactful. 

The effects of eclipse season can be long-lasting, as long as six months or even years. Which honestly makes sense. If eclipses are intended to bring big things to the surface to be transformed, they will potentially affect our lives in significant ways. That said, and I'll stress this often, these celestial events aren't something to fear. Like Mercury Retrograde, they're opportunities to witness things that need to arise and allow new themes to arise that can potentially be long-lasting. These are some of the reasons why eclipses are touted as cosmic wildcards!

How will Scorpio affect this lunar eclipse?

Scorpio gets a bad reputation sometimes, but it's honestly one of my favorite signs! That said, I have three planets in Scorpio, if you don't, it might feel like scary energy to work with. Scorpio rules over themes relating to all things taboo like death and sex. Scorpio energy encourages us to go deep and face our shadows. It calls us to examine our fears so we can learn from them and work with them in more liberating ways. 

In tarot, Scorpio relates to Death and the King of Cups. The death card in the tarot, unlike the tower, is often a call to willingly embark on a transformation. Unlike the tower card, the death card often surfaces when it's time for us to begin a journey to examine parts of ourselves, often ignored so we can learn from them and transform anew. The King of Cups is a master of their emotions, even the scary ones. This is another theme for watery and emotional Scorpio; they're not afraid to go there, to face their emotions and bring them to the surface so they can be witnessed and allowed to flow. 

Death and King of Cups card from Journey Tarot

Scorpio season governs over the season of Samhain. Another nod to its connection with shedding, death, and embarking on transformations. I'm sure you're starting to see a theme arise with all of these corresponding deep energies associated with Scorpio. Perhaps you can also see why these themes paired with a lunar eclipse have such potential. 

So, where does this leave you for a full moon eclipse in Scorpio? 

Here's how I see it. Full moons are already a time to release, let go, and transform. Bringing Scorpio in is a call to be fully present with EVERYTHING that's coming up, not to look away, and to sit with what's arising even if it feels ick. Scorpio is asking you to allow your emotions to surface so they can be felt and seen. The eclipse is calling them up to be transformed. I see the eclipse as a real gem, a guide of sorts, here to show us what needs to be transformed and help to potentially begin the transformation.

What to do for eclipse moons?

Eclipses can be amazing because if you decide to go for the eclipse ride, they can do a lot of the heavy lifting. I look forward to eclipses. For this reason, it's not the time to be doing a lot of spellwork, ritual, or deep meditative work. It's a time to sit back, allow, and observe—especially an eclipse in Scorpio. There's also a lot you CAN do during an eclipse that can be super supportive. Here are some simple ways to honor this lunar eclipse or any lunar eclipse. 

• Notice what's coming up

• Journal about your emotional state and what's coming up

• Meditate with openness and curiosity

• Pull some cards, not for divination, but as a mirror to what's going on for you. Find an excellent card spread for eclipse season here!

• Engage in activities that make you happy, safe, grounded, and supported

• Take a salt bath

• Smoke cleanse

Not Generally Recommended Activities for an Eclipse

• Manifesting

• Releasing or cord-cutting rituals

• Candle spells

• Making moon water

• Spellwork 

• Deep journey work

Just like Mercury Retrograde, eclipses aren't something to fear. They're an opportunity to be more reflective, inward-focused, and passive. I also see them as a sort of cosmic reset. I often notice that whatever arises for me during eclipse season arises for a reason. It's usually something I've been avoiding. If I answer the call to face it, I often find myself leaving eclipse season with a fresh outlook and renewed energy to approach whatever it is that's surfacing. 

I hope these offerings have given you some peace around this lunar eclipse and perhaps a deeper acceptance of the emotional waves often associated with them. If not, it's also a great excuse for a yummy salt bath. Happy full moon! 

Full Moon in Libra Ritual

The full moon in Libra is an invitation to move into more harmony. A cardinal air sign associated with Venus, the planet of love and beauty, Libra inspires you to make space in your internal and external world to find a greater sense of peace and tranquility. By honoring the full moon in Libra, you can open yourself to guidance around what needs to go, stay, and be accepted in your life. 

Listen to this post on my podcast here.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Harmony, balance, beauty, peace

Element: Air

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before, of, or the day after the full moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Pen or pencil and paper

• Oracle or tarot card deck of choice

• rose quartz (or any other stone that corresponds to the heart)

• Optional: pink candle

1. Create sacred space by grounding yourself and connecting with your breath and body. If you’re using a pink candle, hold it in your hands for a couple of breaths while focusing on inviting in more harmony. If casting a circle or calling in the quarters is in your practice, you could do this too. 

2. Sit, and begin connecting with your breath. Elongate your inhales and exhales and try to make them equal in length. 

3. Close your eyes and go within. Visualize a soft pink light around your heart space. Imagine it growing with each inhale. 

4. When you feel connected to your heart space, ask aloud or within your mind, “What does my heart need to be in better harmony?” or “What does my heart want to show me right now?”. 

5. Stay in this space connecting with your heart for 5-20 minutes. When you feel ready to end this meditation, thank your heart space for anything it shared with you and open your eyes. 

6. Pick up your tarot or oracle cards, and as you shuffle, focus on the information you received from your heart space. Intuitively select two cards. Card one represents something to bring into your life, and card two represents something to release or find acceptance around. 

7. Consider displaying the cards you selected in the previous step somewhere you'll see them regularly as reminders.

8. On your paper, write down any insights you received from your meditation or your card spread about feeling more harmonious. 

9. Place your paper on a window sill or your altar with the piece of rose quartz on top for a day and night of the full moon. When complete, you can keep your paper somewhere you’ll see it often or turn it over to the earth by burying or recycling it. 

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Libra. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. Love & gratitude, Cassie

Full Moon in Virgo Ritual

The full moon in service-oriented Virgo offers an opportunity to celebrate your skills and release anything holding you back from using them. A mutable earth sign, practical and nurturing Virgo encourages you to explore how leaning into your abilities could better serve your community.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Sovereignty, service, nurturing, practicality, releasing what doesn’t serve yourself and others

Element: Earth

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before the full moon, the day of the full moon, or the day after the full moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Pen or pencil and paper

• Moss agate, tree agate, or any other earthy stone you have available (a common stone from your yard or neighborhood is sufficient)

1. This ritual will encourage you to tune into the skills that make you feel independent, what you may need to release to start leaning into these skills, and how you can share them with others. Prepare your items and connect with the breath and body. If it is in your practice to cast a circle or create sacred space, do that as well.

2. Have your stone nearby, close your eyes, if you feel safe to, and go within. Ask aloud or in your mind, “What skills make me feel independent and helpful?”

3. Take some time, five minutes or more if you like, to sit in this space of celebrating your abilities and the things in your life that make you feel free, autonomous, and of service.

4. If you’re not already, hold your stone in your hands as you take some time, five minutes or more, to see what comes to you in this space. As things come to mind, visualize their energy pouring into the stone you’re holding. 

5. Now ask, aloud or in your mind, “What do I need to release to lean into these skills more fully so I can be of better service to myself and others?”

6. When you feel ready to end this meditation, take some time to write out anything that came to mind to release that may help you feel better able to lean into your skills. 

7. When you’re done, release the paper in a way that feels significant to you. You can burn, bury, compost, or flush it down the toilet.

8. After the full moon, keep the stone as a reminder of what makes you feel independent and how to use it to be of service to others. Anytime you’re feeling disempowered or like your skills don’t matter, hold your stone as a reminder of what makes you, you. 

9. Consider placing your stone out under the light of the Virgo full moon to help amplify your ability to accept and use your skills to be of service to yourself and your community. 

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Virgo. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. 

New Moon in Pisces Ritual

The new moon in Pisces is an invitation to feel and honor your emotional world and be open to spiritual growth through love. As a mutable water sign, Pisces energy encourages you to celebrate your sensitivities. Coupled with the new moon, it promotes open and inquisitive exploration of your sensitive nature, even when it feels hard. 

This new moon is a call to touch into your heart space where you can honor your spiritual journey through a lens of love and compassion. It can often feel difficult or unsafe to feel into our hearts in a world with so much complexity, but this new moon wants to offer you a container to do just that and asks you to breathe more love into your spiritual practice.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this new moon: honoring emotions, allowing feelings, being open to spiritual growth through love, 

Element: Water

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before the new moon, on the new moon, or the day after the new moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 20-40 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Cup of water

• Optional: rose quartz

1. Create sacred space by grounding yourself and connecting with your breath and body. If casting a circle or calling in the quarters is in your practice, you could do this too.

2. Sit, close your eyes, and begin to connect with your breath and body. If you’re working with rose quartz crystal, you can hold it or place it near you to help you tune into your heart space.

3. In this space, allow yourself to feel into the realm of your heart space and your emotions. Notice what surfaces and allow yourself to feel. Stay here for as long as you want to or are able.

4. Notice how these emotions feel in your body, where they show up in the body any qualities they have. 

5. When you feel ready, ask aloud or in your mind, “How can these emotions help me live from a place of love and inform my spiritual path?” Breathe and allow your mind to take you where it wants to go. Be open to visualizations, messages, or feelings that may arise. 

6. When you feel ready to come out of your meditation, pick up your cup of water and hold it in your hands at your heart space. Visualize the love you feel going into the water. 

7. Take a drink of the water and then pour some outside as an offering of love to the world and all its inhabitants. 

8. Optional: Place your piece of rose quartz into the water if you used it, and then place your cup of water on an altar or sacred space as a reminder of your commitment to move from a place of love. Allow it to stay there until the full moon. The moon has a special relationship with water and will help magnify your intention. 

This new moon ritual can be adapted or used for any new moon or new moon in Pisces. As always, take what you like and leave the rest.

Full Moon in Leo Ritual

The full moon in Leo is an opportunity to cultivate more joy in your life through authentic creative expression. The energy of Leo encourages you to seek out what lights you up and to do more of that. The energy of this moon is both intense and playful. Leo brings a sense of not caring what others think and encourages authentic creative expression. 

Leo’s planetary correspondence is the sun, so this full moon can feel especially intense because, in many ways, it carries the opposite energy of the moon. You may feel pulled to express yourself in ways that feel good but may seem out of character for you. This lunation is a call to explore and revel in playful and creative acts that your heart and soul are calling out for. 

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Self-expression, creativity, play, and joy

Element: fire

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before, the day of, or the day after the full moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 20-60 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• A candle (orange, red, or yellow chime/spell candle is ideal, but any candle will do!)

• Creative tool of choice: Music to dance to, tools to draw or paint with, pen/paper to write with, an instrument to make music with, or something else you find creative

• Optional: Sunstone or citrine

1. This ritual will encourage you to tune into your inner light for creative inspiration to cultivate more joy. Some questions to consider. Are there any creative activities you love but haven’t given yourself the time to enjoy or that you’ve felt called to but are nervous to try?

2. You will be invited to create in a way that feels joyful to you. Dancing, singing, writing, painting, or anything you consider creative is great.

Prepare and collect any items you’ll need for this ritual. Once you have everything nearby and ready, take time to arrange your items around you and tune into your breath and body. Create a sacred space in a way that feels good to you. Cast a circle if it is in your practice. 

3. If you’re using a candle, hold it in your hands, close your eyes, and call in the intention to express yourself from a place of joy and for you to experience joy. Light your candle (never leave your candle unattended.)

4. Close your eyes and go within for about 2-5 minutes. If you’re working with sunstone or citrine, you can hold it at this time. Visualize a light radiating from your solar plexus area. Visualize the light of the full moon, helping this area to glow brighter and take up more space. Notice how it feels to tune into this area and feel it fill up with light. 

5. In this space, ask for inspiration to create authentically from your soul in a way that will bring you joy.

6. When you feel ready, begin creating using your tools of choice. Dance, sing, paint, draw, cross-stitch, play an instrument, write, or do whatever your heart desires to express itself creatively. 

7. Allow yourself to explore and experience this act of creativity for as long as you want to and can. 

8. When you feel complete, take some time to turn inwards again. Notice how your body feels and honor yourself for taking this time for joy and creativity. 

9. If you created something physical, consider placing it on your altar as an offering to your joy and to any guides or ancestors. 

10. Take a few moments to close your sacred space. If your candle has not fully burned, snuff it out and consider revisiting this ritual at a later time. 

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Leo. As always, take what you like and leave the rest! In love and gratitude, Cassie

Full Moon in Cancer Ritual

The full moon in Cancer offers a supportive and nurturing space for you to explore the watery world of your emotions, and initiate healing. 

Cancer’s planetary correspondence is the moon, so this full moon can feel especially intense, emotional, and intuitive moon. You may feel more sensitive and emotional than usual. This lunation is a call to explore and revel in any feelings and sensitivities that arise rather than pushing them away. Be gentle with yourself and open to rolling with any waves this moon stirs up. 

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Nurturing, supportive, family-oriented, intuitive, healing, cleansing

Element: water

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before, the day of, or the day after the full moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Bath, shower, or body of water

• A glass of water or cup of tea

• Cozy clothes

• Optional: moonstone, any scented oils or herbs that feel nurturing and supportive to add to your bath

1. For this ritual, you’ll be invited to soak in a bath or body of water. If you do not have one, you can perform this ritual in a shower as well. Before you begin the ritual, take a moment to prepare a cup of tea or have a glass of water ready for when your bath or shower is over.

2. Draw your bath, or begin your shower. Add any herbs you’d like to use. If working with moonstone, you could place it in the tub or around the shower area. 

3. In the bath or shower, begin connecting with your breath and body to help you root into the moment. Notice your breath and body, how they feel, what feels good, and any aches or pains you may have. Notice how the water feels on your body. 

4. Once you feel connected to your body and the water, allow yourself to explore your emotions. Are there any feelings that need to be felt or come out that you haven’t had time to allow? Feel and allow. 

5. As you explore and allow your emotions to come up, choose one that you’d like to release. Imagine it being cleansed from your body by the water. Stay in your bath or shower for as long as you’d like to explore and feel your emotions. 

6. When you feel ready to get out of the bath or shower, turn off the shower or unplug the bath, and visualize anything you released going down the drain with the water. 

7. Finish up your bath or shower and put on some clothes or pajamas that feel exceptionally comfortable and nurturing. Feel free to add in any additional self-care here, like self-massage with a favorite oil. 

8. When you’re ready, take a few moments to connect inward again with your cup of tea or water in hand. Bring to mind something that would make you feel nurtured and at home. Infuse your water or tea with these thoughts. 

9. Begin taking drinks of your water or tea and feel your body become filled with this support and care. Consider saving a bit of water or tea to pour into the heart as a sign of gratitude and as a way to share this support with others who may need it too. 

10. If you feel called, consider following up with some journaling or a card pull to explore this experience and full moon further. 

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Cancer. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. In love & gratitude, Cassie

New Moon in Capricorn Ritual

The new moon in the cardinal sign of Capricorn is an invitation to explore themes of building supportive and nurturing foundations. This timely Capricorn new moon usually falls around the new year on the Gregorian calendar, where you may already be exploring goals or new paths for your year ahead. 

The energy of Capricorn reminds you to pause and reflect on how you may need to nurture and care for yourself to grow in new ways. Because Capricorn is a cardinal sign, it carries an energy of initiation. This doesn’t necessarily mean taking direct action towards your goals but instead pausing to ensure that you have taken the necessary steps to build a structurally sound and sturdy foundation in which you can build upon. 

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Structure, stability, building foundations, planning necessary steps to begin a new phase, nurturing yourself

Element: Earth

The ideal time to perform this ritual is the day before the new moon, on the new moon, or the day after the new moon. 

You’ll need: 

• 20-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Comfortable place to sit or lie down

• Pen/pencil and paper

• Any grounding crystal or stone from outside

1. Create sacred space by grounding yourself and connecting with your breath and body. If casting a circle or calling in the quarters is in your practice, you could do this too.

2. Sit or lie down, close your eyes, and begin to connect with your breath and body. Place your grounding stone in your hands, on your lap, or somewhere on your body.  

3. Take a few moments to reflect on something you’d like to initiate in the coming weeks or months. Because this sign calls you to build a strong foundation, this is an ideal time to reflect on something that may feel daunting or big to begin. 

4. Once you have something in mind, place your hands on your grounding stone and notice its weight, solidness, and structure. Think about the new adventure you have in mind to initiate and what you would need to feel supported, nurtured, and held as you begin taking action towards it. 

5. As ideas come to mind, imagine sending them into your grounding stone upon which your hands are resting. Allow yourself to think of as many supportive and nurturing things to support you in this new endeavor. Don’t worry about how feasible any of them are. Simply allow yourself to feel into this space of being held and supported. 

6. When you feel ready, slowly come out of the meditation. Take a few moments to write down suggestions or ideas that came to you around feeling supported and ways to build a strong foundation for any new endeavor. 

7. Close your ritual in a way that feels good to you. Thank any guides, spirits, or ancestors who came through. 

8. Ritual follow-up: Place your grounding rock on top of your paper under the new moon. Keep your rock with you as a reminder of all the nurturing and supportive ideas that came to you. Consider placing your list somewhere you’ll see it regularly so you can begin adding these ideas into your days. 

This new moon ritual can be adapted or used for any new moon or new moon in Capricorn. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. xoxo Cassie

Card spread & ritual for Capricorn season

Capricorn, our cardinal Earth sign, invites us to create structure, heal around masculinity, and climb the mountain towards our dreams.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Capricorn season. To learn more about Capricorn energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Capricorn, check out our Understanding the Energy of Capricorn Season blog post.

Card Spread for Capricorn Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Capricorn has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever resonates with you. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Capricorn season and Earth energy, you might like to ground and center by rooting your feet into the ground or placing your hands somewhere on your body and breathing into them.  

When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

1. What is Capricorn season here to teach me? 

2. How can I build my dreams and desires this season?

3. How to create a structure for my softness this season?

4. Possibilities Capricorn season is opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of the season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself, and about the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Capricorn Season Ritual for Holding Your Softness

This is a ritual to support you in holding your softness. This is the Capricorn/Cancer polarity: Capricorn creates the supportive space for you to feel all that you feel. In this ritual, you'll create a sacred space to explore your feelings in a supportive and nurturing space.

You’ll need:

• a bowl

• water

• some stones (they could be any kind of stones — I like using stones I’ve gathered from nature around me!)

• the structure card you pulled in the tarot spread above. 

Ritual steps:

1. Open your ritual with some kind of grounding and centering that feels good to you. If calling in the directions or casting a circle is in your practice, feel free to do that here. 

2. When you feel ready, invite in any energies, plants, ancestors, and/or other beings who embody healthy, liberated, masculine energy and have your highest and best at heart. Gender is a construct and energies go beyond binaries, so don’t limit yourself! If it feels like masculine energy and it feels good to you, go ahead and invite it in. You can do this by speaking aloud or silently offering the invitation. If there are no energies or beings you specifically want to name, you can just cast out a wide invitation. 

3. When you feel those energies join, notice how you feel. Let them really be here and let it be an invitation to embody your masculine, too — whatever that means to you. Let it take up residence in your body, unfurl this energy from where it already exists within you. See how it feels and what it brings up as you sit in meditation with these energies. Ask them to support you in holding structure for your softness — perhaps breathing into your ribs, the hard, flexible structure that holds your soft organs underneath as inspiration. 

4. When you feel ready, place your tarot card next to your bowl and begin lining it with stones. Notice how the stones feel in your hands as you intentionally build an Earth structure for water to sink into.

5. After your structure feels complete, pour water into your bowl. Let the water represent your softness, your feelings, your heart. See how the bowl and the stones can hold it. If feelings arise, trust that you are held by these energies and soften into them. Let this ritual rewire old stories that it isn’t safe to feel, that there isn’t anyone there to hold you, that you can’t fall apart. 

6. Stay here as long as you like, and close with a few deep breaths. Leave your bowl on your altar for a few days if you’d like as a reminder of this Capricorn/Cancer polarity, and how held you are in your softness. 

Happy Capricorn season and winter solstice! I hope this card spread and ritual support you - share your spreads and rituals on Instagram and tag us @cassieuhl so we can see them! 

Full Moon in Gemini Ritual

This Gemini full moon is an opportunity to connect with your spirit to turn your soul whispers into reality, shifting the formless into concrete steps and actions. 

Mutable Gemini seeks to connect, find truth, and be reciprocal. When we marry these themes with the energy of the full moon, it's a powerful time to transform nudges from spirit into tangible and actionable steps so that you may share them with others. 

So, dear one, what has spirit been nudging you to do? Where are you feeling pulled and called to expand and explore? What are the subtle whispers of your soul that you've yet to breathe life into? 

Gemini corresponds with the magician in the tarot, which speaks to the heart of this ritual. The magician has their magickal tools and the four elements swirling within and around them. The magician's task is to alchemize with these tools to create authentic and solid change to improve themselves and the world around them. 

This full moon is an opportunity to draw out the whispers from your soul, and use your chosen tools to alchemize, and bring these whispers to life. When your spirit comes knocking, it's an opportunity for you to bring real concrete change to ourselves and the world around us, and a Gemini full moon is a beautiful opportunity to catalyze this process. 

For this ritual, you will need: 

• 20-40 minutes of quiet time

• Herbal smoke or incense of choice

• Pen/pencil and paper

• Optional: apatite and quartz 

Ritual Steps: 

1. Collect your items, so they're nearby. Connect with your breath and body to root into your space by taking a few deep breaths and noticing how your body feels. 

2. Create a sacred space in a way that feels good and natural for you. This could be connecting with the earth's energy, casting a circle, or calling on guides or deities you work with in your practice. 

3. Using your herbal smoke of choice, cleanse your body with the smoke visualizing it pulling away anything you may be carrying around from others. 

4. Ask yourself aloud or in your mind, "What truths does my soul need me to bring forward at this current phase in my life?" (or something similar that feels good to you.) If you're working with apatite, this would be a great time to hold onto it as you meditate.  

5. Breathe here, giving your soul space to bring messages to the surface of your subconscious mind. Don't worry about how any of it will unfold or be accomplished at this point.

6. Stay in this space of open curiosity around messages from spirit for as long as you'd like. Come back when you feel ready to end your meditation. 

7. With your pen and paper, write down any insights that came to you from spirit. 

8. Invite spirit to guide by asking aloud or in your mind, "Spirit, please guide me and show me how I can bring these suggestions to life" (or something similar that feels right for you.)

9. Spend some time free-writing, allowing spirit to flow through you onto your paper. At this point, don't worry about grammar, spelling, or whether or not it makes any sense. Write and doodle for as long as you feel comfortable doing so. 

10. When you feel ready to stop, begin to look over what you wrote. Pull out a few actionable and concrete steps you can start taking to bring this suggestion from spirit into reality. 

11. Write these steps on a new piece of paper. Place the piece of paper on an altar, or somewhere you'll see it regularly. If you're working with the piece of quartz, you can place your piece of quartz on top of it under the light of the full moon to help amplify your actions. 

12. In the coming days and weeks, check in with your list to help keep yourself accountable for the actions you and your soul brought to light. 

Once you've completed the steps suggested by spirit, you can burn or bury your paper. 

As always, take what you like and leave the rest! Don't hesitate to modify this ritual to suit your unique path. Wishing you a beautiful full moon! 

Card Spread and Liberation Ritual for Sagittarius Season

Sagittarius, our mutable fire sign, invites us into expansion, aliveness, open-mindedness, liberation, and adventure. 

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Sagittarius season. To learn more about Sagittarius energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Sagittarius, check out our Understanding the Energy of Sagittarius Season blog post.

Card Spread for Sagittarius Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Sagittarius has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever resonates with you. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Sagittarius season and fire energy, you might like to ground and center by fire gazing or rubbing your hands together to create heat, then resting them on your heart and breathing into the sensations. 

When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Sagittarius season here to teach me? 

• What is my invitation for expansion this season?

• How to move towards liberation this season 

• Possibilities Sagittarius season is opening up for us

Tarot cards associated with Sagittarius, The Wheel of Fortune, and Temperance. Cards are from

Journey Tarot

.

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Sagittarius season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself, and about the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Sagittarius Season Ritual for Liberation

This is a ritual to embody your own liberation and call forth collective liberation. All you’ll need is two candles and a quiet space. 

Open your ritual with some kind of grounding and centering that feels good to you. If calling in the directions or casting a circle is in your practice, feel free to do that here. 

When you feel ready, invite in any energies, plants, ancestors, and/or other beings who embody liberation and have our collective highest and best at heart. You can do this by speaking aloud or silently offering the invitation. Let your heart open and let them join you. You can name specific beings and energies, or just cast out that wide invitation. It’s okay if you don’t know who specifically is with you, you can trust that extending that invitation has brought you who you need. 

When you feel them join, sit in their presence and drop into meditation. Notice their presence feels in your body. Dream into your visions of liberation for yourself and for the collective and let them hold space and witness you. Ask them how you can move towards liberation for all. Ask them to light a fire for liberation within you. Ask them to change you, move you, make you brave. 

When you feel ready, light your first candle. This candle represents the ways you are committed to getting free. Speak them aloud. Speak aloud your dream for your own liberation as your light this candle. Then, using the already lit candle, light the second candle. This candle represents our collective freedom. Speak aloud the ways you are committed to helping us all get free. Speak aloud your dream for our liberation. Call it forth with your words and let the candle flames carry your intention out into the universe. 

Take your time here, breathing and feeling and speaking as the candles burn down. If you feel inspired to move more energy in some way, feel free to do so here - perhaps with dance, breath or fire, or humming. 

As your candles burn down, ground your ritual with a tangible action for our collective liberation - perhaps having a necessary conversation, giving to a mutual aid fund, journaling about a harmful belief you hold that you want to unpack and release for all of us, sending a text to offer to babysit your friend’s kid or cook them a meal, or anything else that moves you. 

Happy Sagittarius season! I hope you find this card spread and ritual supportive for this season.

Card Spread and Transformation Ritual for Scorpio Season

Scorpio, our fixed water sign, invites us into transformation, shadow work, and exploration of your relationship to power and cycles of death and rebirth.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Scorpio season. Check out our Understanding the Energy of Scorpio Season blog post to learn more about Scorpio energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Scorpio.

Card Spread for Scorpio Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Scorpio has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever resonates with you. I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Scorpio season and water energy, you might like to ground and center by taking a few sips of water and sinking into the sensation of the water moving through your body.When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Scorpio season here to teach me?

• What is dying and being reborn this season?

• What shadow material is coming up for me to work with this season?

• Possibilities Scorpio season is opening up for me

Featured cards from the Journey Tarot Deck

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Scorpio season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself and about the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Scorpio Season Ritual for Transformation 

This is a ritual to honor how you are transforming, to honor the parts of you that are dying and being reborn.All you’ll need are herbs to sprinkle in your bathtub and candles to light while you soak. Both optional!

Open your ritual with some kind of grounding and centering that feels good to you. If calling in the directions or casting a circle is in your practice, feel free to do that here. 

Spend some time meditating, journaling, or pulling cards to reflect on this question: what part of me is dying and being reborn? You might take time to connect with this part of you, ask it questions, notice the bodily sensations that come up around this and soften into the edges of this part of you. And if you don’t have a clear definition for the part of you that is being transformed or how you are being transformed, that’s okay! Magic doesn’t have to be crystal clear. You can trust the sensations and feelings, too.

When you feel ready, draw a bath. Feel free to light candles around the tub or sprinkle herbs in the water. Set the intention that as you step into the tub, you are supporting your transformation process. While you soak, reflect on what you are leaving behind and notice feelings that arise around this process. When you rise from the tub, you are supporting your rebirth.

Happy Scorpio season! I hope you find some support for this season in this card spread and ritual.

Full Moon in Aries Ritual

The full moon in fiery Aries offers you an opportunity to get clear about anything you need to shed or release to begin taking action towards a new or current goal. A cardinal fire sign, Aries offers intensely active energy and loves to initiate and take charge. Tune into the intense energy of this full moon to help course correct and shed.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Initiation, action, intense shedding and releasing, course corrections, change, and transformationElement: FireThe ideal time to perform this ritual: This ritual is designed to be performed on the waning side of the full moon, anytime after the peak fullness of the moon to two days after. You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Pen or pencil and paper

• Fireproof bowl, cauldron, or vessel 

• Optional item: red candle

1. Create sacred space by grounding yourself and connecting with your breath and body. If casting a circle or calling in the quarters is in your practice, you could do this too. Sit and begin connecting with your breath. Elongate each inhale and exhale and try to make them equal in length.

2. Ask yourself (aloud or in your mind), “What action, habit, or way of being could I release to find more ease in attaining my goal (feel free to insert your personal goal here)?”

Optional: If you’re using a red candle, hold it in your hands and bring to mind the situation you’re seeking guidance around.

3. Begin to enter a meditative state by focusing on your breath and body. If you’re using the candle, you can gaze at its flame. If you’re not, you can close your eyes and visualize fire and allow it to share any messages with you. Stay in this space for 5-15 minutes.

4. Once you’ve received guidance around what you need to shed, thank any guides who came through, and exit your meditation. Write down what you’re ready to shed on a piece of paper.

5. In a well-ventilated location, light your paper on fire and place it in your fireproof vessel or cauldron. Stay with it as it burns, and visualize what needs to be released from you being burned up as the paper burns. This can be intense and bring up emotions. I encourage you to let them flow as much as possible.

6. Stay with your paper and your red candle (if using one) until it burns through. Take some time to return to your body and physical space. Thank any guides or ancestors that came through to offer guidance.

7. Ritual follow-up: To further the theme of releasing, consider releasing the ashes from your burned paper back into the earth or a body of water to be alchemized into something new.

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Aries. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. All drawings are featured from my "Zenned Out Guides" book series with Quarto Knows. Love & Shadow, Cassie

New Moon in Libra Ritual

The new moon in Libra offers you an invitation to be open to bringing more beauty and connection into your world. 

New moons are always a time for being open to new ideas and ways of being in the world, our cosmic clean slate if you will. As a cardinal air sign, Libra energy is one of balance and initiation. The planetary rulership of this sign is Venus, bringing in the energy of love and beauty. Learn more about Libra energy here. 

The energy of Libra within a new moon calls you to explore themes of beauty, reciprocity, and connection. Here are some questions to focus on for this new moon. What areas of your life are calling out for more beauty? How can you allow in more beauty? In what ways can you be in more sacred and aligned reciprocity with yourself, those around you, and the world at large? 

Themes for this new moon: Justice, balance, beauty, love, connection, and reciprocityElements: air and water

New Moon in Libra Ritual for Sacred Connection

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Piece of rose quartz

• Optional: rose scent (incense, dried rose, etc.), guided meditation to connect with your guides (free for newsletter subscribers, click here to receive).

1. Ensure that you have 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted quiet time. Create a sacred space in a way that feels good to you, for example, burning incense or herbs mentioned above, calling in the four directions, or casting a circle. Root into the space by connecting with your breath and body. Notice your body and how it feels. Begin to breathe more intentionally, sending your breath deep into your low belly.

2. Bring an area of your life to your mind that you feel needs more love and beauty. Holding your rose quartz in your hands, close your eyes, and visualize that area of your life being filled with love and beauty. Continue to hold your rose quartz as you meditate.

3. Close your eyes and prepare to journey to meet one of your guides to help you bring more love and beauty into this area of your life. State aloud or in your mind, “I’m ready to receive guidance around __________ and be in sacred reciprocity with a guide, please, make yourself known to me.” Click here to be taken to a free guided meditation to connect with your guides.

4. As you meditate, focus on your breath and your body. If you can visualize a beautiful location in your mind, do this now, as this can create a space to commune with a guide.

5. Be open to guidance, suggestions, and wisdom from spirit. Trust what comes to you.

6. If a spirit guide presents itself to you and offers guidance, ask what you can do to reciprocate the information shared with you.

7. Close your meditation by thanking any guides who came through. Consider writing down anything that came through to help process and remember.

8. If your guide made a request for reciprocity, be sure to act on it. If they did not, consider creating an offering on your altar to show your gratitude for the connection and wisdom shared.

9. Leave your rose quartz out the night of the new moon to carry with you afterward as a reminder of how to bring more love and beauty into your life.

If you enjoyed this ritual, please consider sharing it with someone else who may enjoy it too. New moon blessings! 

Card Spread and Self-love Ritual for Libra Season

Libra, our cardinal air sign, invites you to focus on creating right relationships, initiating connection, finding soul fulfillment through the sign’s Venus rulership, and learning to communicate truth, love, and beauty.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Libra season. Check out our Understanding the Energy of Libra Season blog post to learn more about Libra energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Libra

.Card Spread for Libra Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Libra has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck (like the Journey Tarot!) for this spread - whichever resonates with you. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Libra season and air energy, you might like to ground and center by taking a few deep breaths or shaking your whole body.

 When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Libra season here to teach me?

• How can I move towards right relationship this season?

• What step can I take towards soul fulfillment this season?

• What possibilities are Libra season opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Libra season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself and about the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Libra Season Ritual for a More Loving Relationship with Yourself 

Libra sign points us towards relationships, and one of the most important relationships we have is the one we have with ourselves. This ritual is intended to support you in creating a more loving relationship with yourself.

You’ll need:

• Leaves

• A marker or pen to write on the leaves 

Once you feel grounded, centered, and open, enter into meditation. Meditate on your relationship with yourself — what feels really good in this relationship, and what feels unsupportive? What would you like to change? What’s your vision for a more loving relationship with yourself? How would you like it to feel? Notice how all of these things feel in your body, and breathe into them.

When you feel clear on what you want to release as well as intentions for your relationship with yourself, write them down on your leaves. Then, take a walk through nature and let the wind carry and scatter the leaves. Trust that as the wind and the Earth take them, your intentions for release and growth are being amplified and offered up to the Universe.

Happy Libra season! I hope you find some beautiful support in this card spread and ritual for this season. 

Full Moon in Pisces Ritual

Our September full moon in Pisces offers an opportunity to explore our dreams, both here in physical and in more liminal spaces. The sign of Pisces calls you to explore your spirituality, dreams, subconscious, and your imagination.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. 

Themes for this full moon: Exploring your subconscious and imagination, connecting with your dreams, and feeling into your spiritual practices.

Element: Water

The ideal time to perform this ritual: Sunday the 19th through Tuesday the 21st. You can work with the energy of the full moon anytime over a three-day period. However, the moon is in the sign of Pisces on Sunday through Tuesday morning. 

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• 1 large jar of water 

• Pen or pencil and paper

• Optional: aquamarine or moonstone

1. Before you begin, ensure that your jar of water is close enough that you can pick it up. Optional: hold or place a piece of aquamarine or moonstone on your body as you begin to tune into this space.

2. Create a sacred space by grounding yourself into the present moment and connecting with your breath and body. Sit, and begin connecting with your breath. Allow your breath to flow in a way that feels natural and good to you.

3 As you tune in, ask your higher-self, guides, or Goddesses or Gods you work with aloud or in your mind, “Please, take me on a journey through my subconscious to explore my spiritual path.” (or anything similar that feels in alignment with your path.)

4. Be open and allow the moon’s energy to help deepen this journey. If nothing comes, continue to focus on your breath and how your body feels. Journey and breathe through this liminal space for as long as you’d like.

5. Pick up your jar of water. While holding it in your hands, infuse it with anything that came up for you during your meditation journey, including any feelings, visuals, words, or messages. Tip: The realm of your subconscious often speaks in imagery and illusions. It’s okay if what you experienced doesn’t make sense yet.

6. Take a drink of your water, feeling your experience permeate your body on a deeper level.

7. On your paper, write or draw anything meaningful that came to you. If nothing came to you, write or draw your personal dreams and spiritual desires on your paper.

8. Place the paper and your crystal, if you’re working with one, in your jar of water to leave out for one night under the moonlight. The moon has a special relationship with water and will help to expand your dreams.

9. As you come to a close with your ritual, be sure to thank any guides, Goddesses, Gods, or ancestors who came through to offer guidance.

10. Ritual follow-up suggestions: If you worked with a crystal, place it on your nightstand or under your pillow to help open you up to your dream world. Pour the water into a natural body of water or the earth, thanking it for its wisdom and power. Your paper can be placed on an altar as a reminder or buried in the ground to disperse its energy.

Optional ritual modification: If you have an active dream life, this ritual could be easily modified to occur over the course of the night in your dreams.This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon in Pisces. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. If you enjoyed this ritual, consider sharing it with someone else. Love & Shadow, Cassie

New Moon in Virgo Ritual

The new moon in Virgo brings you an opportunity to connect with your heart space and find clarity around how you would like to be of service in this world. 

New moons are always a time for being open to new ideas and ways of being in the world, our cosmic clean slate, if you will. The energy of Virgo season is unique because it’s a beautiful blend of earth energy, as an earth sign, and air energy from its planetary rulership of Mercury. 

When earth and air combine, it yearns for a balance of spirit and physical in the heart space. 

Virgo energy brings a grounded approach to being of service and strives to be in flow with the current needs of the world. This energy also invites sensuous acts of devotion to both the world and the divine. Wrap all this up with the fresh energy of the new moon, and you have a delicious opportunity to gain insight into how best to devote yourself to being of service to yourself, the world, and all of its inhabitants. 

Themes for this new moon: Devotion, service, organization, groundedness, the heart space, balance between spirit and physical. 

Elements: earth and air

New Moon in Virgo Ritual

You’ll need: 

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Pen or pencil and paper

• Found pieces of plants or minerals like twigs, stones, leaves, or flowers (about 10-15 pieces.)

1. Take a few moments to prepare your items in front of you. Create a sacred space, ground into the moment by connecting with your breath and body. If your body allows for sitting, sit either in a chair or on the ground with a straight spine. Otherwise, lying down works fine too.

2. Tune into your breath, lengthening each of your inhales and exhales to be in equal balance. Visualize a golden cord coming up from the earth and connecting to the base of your spine, then visualize a golden cord coming down from the sky connecting to the crown of your head. 

3. Visualize these two golden cords slowing moving towards your heart space and eventually meeting in the heart space to form a brilliant ball of golden light. Imagine that with each inhale, this ball of light grows bigger and brighter until it eventually encompasses your entire body and fills the space of the room. 

4. In this space, ask aloud or in your mind, “What does my heart desire most for the lunar cycle ahead?” Continue to breathe and allow this question to marinate in your energy field. Notice if anything comes to mind. Next, ask yourself aloud or in your mind, “How can I move into greater alignment with my heart’s desires?” Continue to breathe, giving space and time for suggestions to come to mind. 

5. Stay in this space of golden light, continuing to focus on your breath for as long as you’d like. When you feel prepared to come back, slowly open your eyes. 

6. With the objects in front of you, take 5-10 devotional minutes to arrange your items from outside into a design or mandala. Focus on your gratitude for the earth, your body, and any ideas that came to you about being better aligned with your heart. 

7. When you complete your design, take a few moments to write down any messages or ideas you received about being in better alignment with your heart’s desires. 

8. Close your ritual by thanking any guides or ancestors who came through to offer guidance. 

9. Place your paper with any ideas somewhere you’ll see it daily for the next couple of weeks. Leave your devotional plant design out until the full moon. When you decide to disassemble it, dispose of it in a way that feels aligned to you. Some options are to burn, bury, or release it into a body of water. 

If you enjoyed this ritual, please consider sharing it with someone else who may as well. New moon blessings, Cassie. 

Card Spread and Devotion Ritual for Virgo Season

Virgo, our mutable Earth sign, invites you to consider what you are in service to, to pour your gifts out for the world, to unite your body and mind, and to analyze, discern, and purify. It's a season to find clarity around what you feel called to devote yourself to. We'll be exploring themes of both nature and devotion throughout the following card spread and ritual.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Virgo season. Check out our Understanding the Energy of Virgo Season blog post to learn more about Virgo energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Virgo.

Card Spread for Virgo Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Virgo has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever resonates with you. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Leo season and Earth energy, you might like to explore dropping a grounding cord into the earth or meditating with a plant.

When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Virgo season here to teach me?

• What am I being called to devote myself to this season?

• What is no longer needed & can be released this season?

• What possibilities are Virgo season is opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Virgo season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself and the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Virgo Season Ritual for Devotion 

For me, Virgo evokes a lush, nature-based beauty, so feel free to make your space beautiful for this ritual in whatever ways feel good to you and perhaps align with what you’re devoting yourself to. For example, if you’re devoting yourself to love, it could feel good to sprinkle yourself with jasmine oil and surround yourself with rose quartz and rose petals.

For this Virgo season ritual for devotion, you’ll need:

• A candle 

• Paper and pen 

• Any oils and/or herbs you’d like to roll your candle in 

• Something to carve your candle with, like a safety pin 

• Anything to make your space feel beautiful 

• A small bowl of water 

As always, follow your intuition! That’s what makes ritual the most powerful. Here are my suggested steps for this Virgo ritual.

1. Once your space is set in a way that feels good, take a moment to ground yourself and reflect on what you’d like to devote yourself to this season. 

2. If you did the tarot spread above, you could take that card that answered the question about devotion and meditate with it. Or, you might simply like to journal to the question: what do I desire to devote myself to this season? 

3. When you feel clear, gather your candle and any oils and herbs that go along with that intention. I wrote a whole blog post on oil and herb correspondences for candle magic that you can check out here!

4. Dress your candle by carving your intention into it, rolling it in oil, and rolling it in herbs.

5. Light your candle and take out your pen and paper. Take your time to write a poem, a letter, or any words that feel good to whatever it is you’re devoting yourself to: love, courage, trust, mystery, whatever it is for you. What do you want to say? What do you want to send out into the universe? What are the words and desires in your heart? Write them down! 

6. When you feel complete, read your words out loud to your candle as many times as you’d like. Let them wash over you, let them sink in, let the smoke from your candle carry them into the clouds. 

7. Then, take your water and anoint yourself with it by sprinkling it over your head, on your pulse points, or anywhere else that feels good. As you sprinkle it and let it soak into your skin, know that you are committing to this devotion and asking to co-create with this energy. 

8. Close your ritual by letting your candle burn down and returning the rest of the water to the Earth. 

Happy Virgo season! I hope this card spread and ritual support you this season. 

Full Moon in Aquarius Ritual

Our August full moon in Aquarius offers an opportunity to work magic for the good of the collective and all of Earth’s creatures. The sign of Aquarius calls you to explore humanitarian themes in new and radical ways, inviting each of us to create a more just and whole world. Learn more about the energy of Aquarius here.

If you enjoy this ritual, I invite you to share it with someone else who might benefit from it as well. Please, always properly credit when sharing. All artwork and text is original work by me, Cassie Uhl. All drawings are from my Understanding book series. Shop them here.

Themes for this full moon: The good of the collective, radical transformations, rebelliousness, digital expression, and honoring one’s truth.

Element: Air

The ideal times to perform this ritual: Saturday the 21st or Sunday the 22nd. You can work with the energy of the full moon anytime over a three-day period. However, the moon is in the sign of Aquarius on Saturday and Sunday.

You’ll need:

• 15-30 minutes of quiet and uninterrupted time

• Pen, pencil, markers, or paint and paper

• Optional items: incense or herbs to burn and a piece of clear quartz. 

1. Create a sacred space. Connect with your breath and body. Root into the moment.

2. Optional: light incense or burn herbs to connect with the element of air through the smoke. Any scent you feel called to use will do, but light and floral scents match this moon best.

3. Sit and begin connecting with your breath. Elongate each inhale and exhale and try to make them equal in length.

4. Ask yourself (aloud or in your mind), “What would the world look and feel like if all life forms and resources were respected and cared for equally?”

5. After visualizing this version of our world, ask yourself (aloud or in your mind), “What actions can I take to help bring this version of the world forward?”

6. Continue to focus on your breath for another 5-10 minutes and allow any messages, sensations, or guidance to come to you.

7. Optional: Pull a tarot or oracle card for guidance around this question. Asking again, “What actions can I take to help bring this version of the world forward?”

8. Take some time to write, draw, or paint any visualizations about this world vision and actions you’re committed to taking to help it come to fruition.

9. Place your drawing/writing on an altar or a window sill under the full moon. Optional: place a piece of clear quartz on top of it to amplify its intention.

10. Take some time to return to your body and physical space. Thank any guides or ancestors that came through to offer guidance.

Ritual follow-up: Carve out time to take action on the list you created. Moving into the waning moon phase, seek acceptance around outcomes and people you cannot control regarding your actions. Trust that with your action and energy, the wheels are in motion for progress.

This full moon ritual can be adapted or used for any full moon or any full moon in Aquarius. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. 

New Moon in Leo Ritual

The sign of Leo calls for full self-expression, play, creativity, and showing your full and true self to the world. Every new moon is a time to be open to spirit for new opportunities, guidance, and growth.

This new moon is an invitation to tune into spirit around how you can step more fully into expressing yourself in a way that feels joyful and aligned. Read on for a ritual I crafted for you to enjoy anytime during the new moon. The ideal time to practice this ritual will be August 8th or 9th, as the moon will be in the sign of Leo on those days. However, you can still connect with the new moon energy beyond the 9th and enjoy this ritual anytime during the week of the 9th.

Additional resources:

• Learn more about the energy of Leo season here.

• Find more new moon rituals here.

1. Create a sacred space. Sit, close your eyes, connect with your breath and body. Root into the moment. 

2. Optional: Light a red, yellow, orange, or white candle. Hold it in your hands, infusing it with the intention of being open to spirit for guidance in the lunar cycle ahead. 

Additional resources:

• Learn more about candle magick here.

3. Ask yourself the following question, "How can I express myself more fully?"

4. Meditate for 10 minutes or more with the intention of being open to spirit for guidance.

Additional resources:

• Learn more about meditation here.

• Purchase my guided meditations for each moon phase here.

5. Using your favorite tarot or oracle card deck, ask the following questions: 

1. How am I being called to express myself? 

2. What’s blocking me from expressing myself more fully? 

3. How can I move past what’s blocking me from fuller self-expression?

4. How will me living more authentically change my life and the lives of others?

Additional resources:

• Learn more about tarot here and oracle cards here.

• Shop the Journey Tarot here.

6. Close your ritual by connecting with your breath and body again. Thank any guides or ancestors that came through to offer guidance. Consider journaling to process any.

If you enjoy this ritual, consider sharing it with someone who might also enjoy it. This ritual will be shared via my Instagram page as we near close to the new moon for easy sharing. As always, please properly credit when sharing or reposting. All artwork is by me, Cassie Uhl, and is from my "Understanding" book series with Quarto. New moon blessings! 

Harvest Season Begins // How to Honor Lughnasadh and Your Gifts

Lughnasadh is the first harvest and the first celebration to honor the waning phase of the year. Just like the waning gibbous, this season is a time to reflect, harvest, gather, reap, and allow yourself to come to fruition. The flurry of growth has happened. The peak of summer has come and gone. Though it may still be hot where you are, some “crops” are ready to be harvested, both physically and metaphorically. So, what does this season mean for you, and what does it call you to explore and reflect upon?

This post will discuss the intersection of the first harvest season, Leo season, and Lughnasadh. We’ll explore a bit of history about the Celtic God Lugh and how he fits into all of this. Lastly, I’ll offer a few ways to honor and work with the energy of this season. 

Listen to this blog post on my podcast, Rooting into Wholeness below.

What is Lughnasadh, and is it the same as Lammas?

On the wheel of the year, Lughnasadh is traditionally celebrated on August 1st or the first harvest. It is the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox. As always, I encourage you to celebrate at a time that’s meaningful for you. For example, if you do gardening or farming, it’s fine to wait until you’re actually ready to harvest. Alternatively, if you want to celebrate on the 1st, that’s fine too. 

I feel that the Sabbat of Lughnasadh (loo-nah-sah), also called Lammas, is one of the more undervalued seasonal celebrations. I prefer to stick with the name Lughnasadh as it is more in line with my spiritual beliefs and paths (I think its spelling puts many off, but it’s really a quite beautiful name.) The name Lammas comes from the phrase “loaf mass” and is the Christianized version of the original celebration to honor the God Lugh and the first harvest. This is truly one of my favorite times of the year. 

Who's Lugh?

The name Lughnasadh comes from the well-documented Celtic warrior and sun God, Lugh. His name actually translates to “light.” Lugh was a skilled craftsman who bore many talents. He created Lughnasadh as a celebration of the first harvest and to honor his foster mother.

Lugh is deeply intertwined with the harvest season because, according to lore, he brought the knowledge of growing and harvesting crops to hunter-gatherer tribes after winning a battle with an old King. Of course, knowing how to grow and harvest crops was life-changing for our ancestors from Northern and Western Europe. This is another reason I prefer to refer to this celebration as Lughnasadh. It honors the triumphs of our ancestors. Our ancestors did not always grow their own crops, but when we did, it changed everything. Thus the first harvest is of incredible importance and something to thank our ancestors for to this day.  

On an energetic level, Lugh is a reminder to continue to refine our crafts, learn new skills, and honor our talents both on an individual and collective level. This is a highly celebratory season and, pride is a big theme of Lugh and Lughnasadh.

Leo Season and Lughnasadh

This naturally brings me to Leo season! For Tropical astrology (what I use), Leo season begins on July 23rd and aligns beautifully with Lughnasadh. Leo is ruled by the Sun (we can see another overlap here with the God Lugh.) This is indeed a very sunny time of the year, physically and metaphorically speaking. Now I won’t dive too deep into the astrology of Leo because it's been covered on this blog more extensively here, but here are a few things to note. Leo, a fixed fire sign, calls each of us to find the inner strength to share our gifts and true selves with the world boldly. Leo connects with strength and the sun in the tarot, again mirroring a need to share your gifts boldly with the world and again connecting Lugh to this season through the sun card.

I’m sure you can now see and perhaps even feel the immense power, strength, and celebratory energy associated with this season and its many components! Not all of our seasonal and zodiac energies align this beautifully, but this one does so beautifully. 

Rituals Suggestions for Lughnasadh

How can you harness this potent energy offered by Lughnasadh and Leo season? Here are some coming dates and four considerations for connecting with and honoring the energy of this season. I’ll focus on the themes we’ve already discussed of harvest, pride, and full expression. 

First, we have the new moon in Leo from August 8-9 (2021). This will be an ideal time to be open to spirit for new ways to share your gifts with the world and consider being open to new ways to express yourself and your gifts. 

Then we have a full moon in Aquarius on August 22nd (2021.) This will be an ideal time to express your truth and focus on themes of harvest and gratitude. 

Now some ritual suggestions. Of course, I always like to preface any ritual suggestions with some reminders. First, I view each celebration on the Wheel of the Year as a season. This means you do not have to do all of these things on August 1st. I certainly won’t be and wouldn’t suggest it either (unless you really want to and don’t have twins at home like me!) Space it out, do what you feel called to do when you feel called to do it. Our ancestors did not complete their harvests in one day (in fact, it sprawls three entire seasons), they merely began. I always like to remind you to approach each Sabbat as a season rather than a day. Never discount the power of being aware and sitting in the energy of each season. This in and of itself is a ritual. Lastly, and as always, take what you like and leave the rest.

1. Pride Ritual

So many of us, myself included, rarely celebrate and honor our accomplishments. Seriously, I am so bad at this! I have really worked on celebrating all that I’ve accomplished and have friends who keep me in check and remind me often. Now it's time for you to get clear and honest about this, when was the last time you really celebrated your wins?

In our capitalist-driven world, the primary message we receive is "create, create, and create more." This is one big reason why working the seasons into your spiritual practice is so valuable. You are not meant to create all the time! Furthermore, you not only need rest and self-care, but you also need time to honor and celebrate how far you've come.

This one can be easy, join me. Right now, pause and think about three amazing things you’ve done this year. I don’t care how big or small they are, but I want you to sit in the energy of pride and celebration for yourself. My three are that I took a step back from work to take time off and work less, I started exercising again, and I wrote two books and created a tarot card deck. Sit in it. What does it feel like to celebrate yourself? Does it feel uncomfortable? Are you coming up with all the things you wish you’d accomplished but haven’t yet or all the things you still “need” to do? Kindly ask all of that garbage to step back for a moment while you revel in what you have accomplished. It’s time to harvest your efforts and take in your growth.

If you want to take this a step further, write it down and place it on your altar, maybe light a candle for yourself, so often we light candles for others. When was the last time you lit one for yourself? Consider making or buying yourself a treat to celebrate your accomplishments. This could be as simple as making yourself your favorite dinner or giving yourself time and space to watch a favorite movie. What feels like a beautiful way to celebrate your accomplishments right now? 

2. Gratitude Offering for the Mother Earth

With any harvest comes gratitude. This is a theme we’ll see in each of the three harvest seasons (Lughnasadh, the autumn equinox, and Samhain.) I think it’s important to honor the earth for every seasonal celebration, but even more so for our harvest celebrations. Even though most of us do not have an active hand in growing and harvesting the food we eat, these harvest celebrations are what kept many of our ancestors alive. It gives us an opportunity, or reminder, to give thanks to mother earth for all of the nourishment she’s given us throughout the year; if you do harvest around this time of year, even better! You’ll have a tangible way to honor this season and the earth. For those who don’t, here are some ways to consider giving thanks to the earth for the bounty of food you have. 

Create an earth offering of flowers, stones, food, or other compostable items you resonate with. I like to do this by going for a walk and collecting different items that catch my eye. Then, I’ll find a location I feel called to set up my offering. This could be a mandala or any arrangement that feels good to you. As you set it up, think about all of the gifts the earth has given your this year, all the food you’ve been nourished with. 

You could also take this ritual inside and create another offering on your altar space as a gratitude offering to mother earth. 

3. Explore Lugnasadh and Leo in the Tarot 

For this one, we’ll be circling back to our Leo energy a bit more. This would be a great ritual to practice anytime during the waxing growth phase of the moon from August 1-22nd, with the intention of tapping into expressing your gifts and focusing again on the theme of harvest. 

As I already mentioned, the cards that correspond with Leo in the tarot are the sun and strength. There’s also a perfect card for Lugnasadh too, and that’s the nine of pentacles. I feel like this card embodies the energy of this season soooooo beautifully. Numerologically speaking, nine’s represent fulfillment and fruition. Pentacles are our suit of earth. So the nine of pentacles, in my opinion, is very literally a card of harvest. 

Card featured from Journey Tarot. Get it here.

There are so many ways to connect with these cards. As I mentioned, the waxing phase or the full moon are great times to work with the energies of these cards. Perhaps, even consider lighting a red or orange candle to focus on the fiery energy of the sun and strength. You could journal with these cards, meditate with them, simply place them on your altar, or draw your own versions of them, as I’ve mentioned in previous rituals. Be open to their lessons and what they have to offer you during this season. 

4. Traditional Lughnasadh Rituals and Correspondences

Of course, I can’t leave you without covering some of the more traditional rituals and correspondences for this season. Some we’ve already covered but here’s a list of common correspondences. Most of these come straight out of my new book, “Understanding the Wheel of the Year”.  

Colors: Gold, red, orange, purple, tan

Plants and scents: Sunflower, calendula, hops, vervain, rosehips, or anything seasonal where you live

Food: Wheat, corn, bread, beer, berries, or anything seasonal where you live

Crystals: tiger’s eye, red jasper, pyrite, smokey quartz

Traditional Lughnasadh Rituals: 

• Bake bread, enjoy bread, leave a bread offering on your altar or in nature

• Make beer, enjoy some beer (only if of age, of course)

• Spend time in nature

• Practice gratitude

• Connect with the God Lugh and Goddess Gaia

• Perform abundance spells. Find a past post with abundance spells here. 

• Decorate your home and altar with correspondence suggestions above

That wraps up my formal ritual suggestions. Of course, the best thing you can do for yourself anytime you want to honor celebrations on the Wheel of the Year is to get outside and be in nature. You can come back to this post anytime throughout the season of Lughnasadh for ideas to connect with this season, anytime the inspiration strikes! 

If you’d like to dive deeper into this celebration or the Wheel of the Year, my new book “Understanding the Wheel of the Year” is available to order. You can also find a past post by Eryn Johnson here. And, one of my personal all-time favorite books on the Wheel of the Year is “The Magical Year” by Danu Forest. Let the harvest season begin! It’s time to honor and celebrate how far you’ve come.