The Difference Between a Dark Moon & New Moon

There are two different schools of thought when it comes to differentiating between a new moon and a dark moon. Spoiler alert, there's not a right or wrong answer. The difference of opinion is between astronomers and Pagans. I'm going to share both schools of thought with you so you can decide what works better for you.

Here's the short answer to this query. A new moon can be a dark moon, a dark moon can be a new moon, a waxing crescent can be a new moon, but a waxing crescent can't be a dark moon. Make sense? I know, not really. Allow me to explain!

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The Astronomer's New Moon

First, let's take a look at the astronomer's viewpoint. For astronomers, the new moon happens when the moon is in between, or in conjunction, with the Earth and Sun. When the moon is in between the Earth and the Sun, it appears entirely dark for us.

I know what you're probably thinking, sounds like a dark moon, right? No. For astronomers, this point of the moon cycle is considered the new moon because it marks the beginning of a new moon cycle. Most astronomers do not use the term "dark moon," there's only the new moon. This is why most moon phase calendars don't recognize a dark moon phase.

The Pagan's New Moon

For many Pagans, practicing witches, and moon followers, the dark moon happens when the moon is dark and in conjunction with the Earth and the Sun (the astronomer's new moon). The new moon follows after the dark moon phase when the moon begins to show the tiniest illumination of its waxing or growth phase.

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The Importance of The Dark Moon

For Pagan's and the like, the dark moon phase marks an important phase in the cycle of the moon. The dark moon phase represents a time of rest, integration, and observance. If you're using the moon for spellwork and manifesting it only makes sense that you would work in a night or two of reflection, especially before the busy energy of the new moon.

Astronomers and Pagans obviously use the moon cycles for entirely different purposes, so it's not surprising that they recognize the phases a little differently. As I said, there's not a wrong answer here, simply different opinions for different purposes.

Your manifesting won't be thrown askew if you skip the dark moon phase, but the dark moon will offer you a sweet moment of rest.

Three Dark Moon Rituals

The dark moon is one of my personal favorite times of the cycle. It’s the last few days of the waning time of the cycle, when the moon continues to shrink and eventually disappears from the sky.

Different traditions honor the dark moon at different times. Personally, I honor the dark moon when you can’t see the moon at all in the sky--which is technically the new moon. Others honor the dark moon the last few days before the new moon. I recommend using your intuition and noticing how you feel during these days to understand when to honor the dark moon versus new moon.

So what is the dark moon all about?

The dark moon is our time for radical rest, for deep clearing and releasing, and turning within. This is the time to cancel plans, to do shadow work, to go to sleep early and wake up late, and to pull tarot or oracle cards to tune in to your inner voice.

Keep scrolling for a few rituals to consider working with at this time.

WATER SPELL FOR CLEARING

One of my favorite spells to work during the dark moon is this simple water spell. Water is a helpful element for cleansing and purification, and this spell works especially well when the dark moon is in a water sign--Pisces, Cancer, or Scorpio. You’ll need:

• A large glass of water

• A piece of paper and pen

To start, choose what you’re focusing on releasing. Maybe there are blocks to self-expression, fear of being rejected, shame around your path, or blocks to abundance. Once you’ve decided what you’re ready to release (you’re welcome to spend some time journaling on this to get clear), start making a list of all the limiting beliefs and stories that you hold associated with this block.For example, let’s say you’re working with clearing blocks to abundance. Your list might hold beliefs like:

• I can’t make money doing what I love

• People with money are jerks

• It’s wrong to have money when other people have so little, etc.

Keep letting the beliefs flow! I tend to fill up a whole page when I do this spell.

Once you have your list, it’s time to work the spell. Ground yourself, cast your circle, and pick up your list. You’re going to say the first belief out loud, starting with “I clear the belief that ________ from my body” and then taking a big sip of water. Pause and notice, feeling and visualizing the water moving through your body, cleansing this belief from your system on every level.

Repeat this for each belief on your list, taking your time and really feeling the beliefs move out of your body.

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When you’re done, use the energy of your palms to charge your last sip of water with what you do want - abundance, healthy self-expression, creativity, etc. - and feel your whole body being charged with this intention by the power of the element of water.

Give thanks to water and the Universe for their help, ground yourself again and open your circle.

CANDLE MAGICK FOR RELEASING

For this spell, you’ll need:

• Black taper candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame

• Black tourmaline, smoky quartz, or petrified wood

• A simple oil like grapeseed or bergamot essential oil

• Rosemary

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting rosemary smoke over them or visualizing light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving what you’re releasing into your candle as well as the glyph for Pluto, the planet that helps things die and be transformed. For your words, keep them simple and powerful by carving the basics of what you’re releasing like “fear” or “self-doubt.”

Anoint your candle with your oil and roll it in your dried rosemary. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your all of whatever you’re releasing - your fear or your self-doubt as in the example above - pouring into the candle.

Place your crystal(s) and candle on your altar, light your candle, and start meditating on the flame. Continue to visualize all that you’re releasing pouring into the candle, and watch as it burns and turns to smoke. Stay with this meditation until you feel a shift in your energy - until you really feel a release.

Let the candle burn out if you can or snuff out the candle and continue the same spell each night until the candle has burned completely.

SHADOW WORK TAROT OR ORACLE SPREAD

The dark moon is a deep invitation into shadow work.

What is shadow work?

Simply put, it’s an intentional exploration of our shadow side - the parts of ourselves that we reject, that we’re ashamed of, that we stuff down and hide. Click here to learn more about shadow work if you’re new to it!

For this ritual, you’ll want to create a ritual space - whatever that means to you. For me, it usually means cleansing my space with smoke beforehand, lighting incense, and lighting candles. Maybe you also like to take an essential oil bath beforehand, or sprinkle herbs in a circle around you.

All you’ll need for this ritual is:

• A journal and pen

• Your tarot or oracle cards

Spend a few moments grounding yourself, then shuffle your cards and pull a card for each of these questions:

• What part of my shadow is rising to the surface to be worked with?

• How has rejecting this part of myself manifested in my life?

• How can I show this part of myself more love and integrate it into my whole self?

Give yourself the gift of sitting with your cards after you pull them. Spend time meditating on your cards, journaling about them, or even painting with them to process and understand what their messages are for you.

How Do Eclipses Affect Astrology?

Every “eclipse season” it feels like all of Instagram loses its mind. But what’s really the deal with eclipses? Are they as scary or as powerful as we might have heard?

In this blog, I’ll be demystifying eclipses and sharing how you can use these special cosmic events for your evolution and growth.

WHAT ARE ECLIPSES?

There are two types of eclipses: lunar eclipses and solar eclipses. Within those categories, eclipses can be partial, total, or penumbral. Generally, the most powerful and rare eclipses are total eclipses.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which then reflects off the full moon. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun’s rays and casting a shadow on parts of Earth.

ECLIPSES IN PAIRS + ECLIPSE SEASON

Eclipses come in sets—in pairs or sometimes as threes. The time period between a set of eclipses is known as eclipse season. Eclipses always happen along an astrological axis—so a pair of eclipses will always be in one of these sets of signs:

• Aries-Libra

• Taurus-Scorpio

• Gemini-Sagittarius

• Cancer-Capricorn

• Leo-Aquarius

• Virgo-Pisces

For example, in January of 2019, we had a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn and a total lunar eclipse about two weeks later in Cancer. The period between these eclipses was known as the eclipse season.

Eclipse season is thought to be a time portal, a time of transformation.

HOW TO WORK WITH ECLIPSES

Eclipses are thought to be wild cards, sort of a magnified new moon (for a solar eclipse) or a magnified full moon (for a lunar eclipse). We can think of them as portals for endings and beginnings—things may be “eclipsed out” or “eclipsed in.” It’s typical for births, moves, engagements, new jobs, break-ups, new relationships, and more to happen around eclipses and during eclipse season.

Eclipses are also illuminators, showing the truth that you may have been ignoring or didn’t want to look at. Eclipses will bring these thoughts and feelings to the forefront so that you can’t ignore them anymore and have to look at and work with them.

To see how an eclipse might affect you personally, take a look at your birth chart. Look for the house that will be highlighted by the eclipse—for example, a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn affects my 4th or 5th houses, depending on the degrees of the eclipse.

So if the eclipse affects my 4th house, then I could expect things around the home, family, my inner emotional world, my foundations, safety, security, my mother, and self-care to be coming up.

Generally, eclipses are a really important time to spend time with yourself listening and noticing. Carve out space and time to receive truths, and notice any signs that are pointing you towards releasing something or stepping into something new.

Some practitioners like to work big magic on eclipses. Others, like myself, find that eclipses are a better time for listening and noticing than doing spells. Notice how eclipses feel to you and follow what feels right! If you feel called to, you can check out this card spread for eclipse season.

Our next eclipses are happening on July 2nd, 2019 (a total solar eclipse in Cancer) and July 16th, 2019 (a partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn).

For the eclipse in Cancer, take a look at what house Cancer rules in your birth chart. Same thing for the Capricorn eclipse!

Overall, eclipses aren’t something to be scared of. Like every cosmic event, they’re not here to hurt us—they’re here to help us grow and evolve. Know that anything that releases during an eclipse or anything you step into on an eclipse is furthering your path and purpose.

How to Create a Crystal Grid in 7 Steps

Whether you’re trying to manifest more self-love, a vacation, or a new job, crystal grids can help! Crystal grids can be as simple or complex as you make them and a simple grid can be just as powerful at helping you manifest your goals as a complex one. Think of a crystal grid as your manifesting ally! It may not be the only tool you use to manifest your desires, but it can certainly help.

There are just a few necessary steps you need to follow to create a crystal grid. First, let’s briefly discuss why crystal grids work.

Why Crystal Grids Work

Crystals are formed from perfect geometric patterns and this is one reason why crystals are such a powerful healing tool! The perfect geometry within crystals makes them an ideal energy conduit and easily programmable. By placing several crystals in a repeating grid format, you will amplify their power. Using sacred geometry as a grid template for your crystals adds another layer of perfect geometric patterns to help better communicate your intentions.

If those reasons seem a little too out there for you, view crystal grids as a beautiful reminder of your intention. The most important part of manifesting your desires is visualizing what you want daily, and your crystal grid will serve as a reminder to do just that.

7 Steps to Create a Crystal Grid

1. Set an intention

Your intention for your grid is your starting place and will lay the foundation for everything else you choose for your grid. Get quiet and breathe for a few minutes so you can gain complete clarity about what it is you want. Don’t play small; you deserve everything you desire! Once you’ve set an intention for your grid, you can start selecting your grid format and crystals.

2. Select your grid format

Sacred geometry is an ideal format for crystal grids because it is symmetrical and each symbol carries unique energy that will help amplify your intention. To learn more about sacred geometry click here. Several different sacred geometry symbols can be used, here’s a list of the most common ones and the categories they’re best suited for:

• Vesica Piscis: Birth, femininity, sexuality, new beginnings, new projects

• Seed of Life: Inspiration, potential, chakras, creativity, growth

• Flower of Life: Community, connection, love, communication, partnerships, intuition

• Metatron’s Cube: Cleansing, clearing, balancing, energy, chakras, healing

• Sri Yantra: Balance, male energy, feminine energy, meditation, connection to Source Energy

3. Select your crystals

Now, the fun part! Let’s select your crystals. A pointed crystal will work well for the center stone, and tumbled crystals work well for the secondary crystals that will radiate around the center stone. You don’t need 50 crystals to have a grid that works. Even if you have one center stone and a handful of quartz, you can make an effective crystal grid. Clear quartz is your crystal grid bestie because it is ideal for all intentions, easily programmable, and super amplifying. I suggest using three different stones to strengthen your intention with the addition of five or more pieces of clear quartz.

A quick google search of “crystals to help with ________” will go a long way! However, here are some common crystals and the purposes they’re best suited for:

• Amethyst: Intuition, calm, peace

• Citrine: Abundance, joy, happiness

• Sodalite: Creativity, expression, communication

• Quartz: Balance, health, cleansing

• Rose Quartz: Self-love, compassion, friendship

• Carnelian: Sex, creativity, birth

• Green Aventurine: New beginnings, wealth, growth

4. Cleanse your tools and space

Cleanse your crystals, any other tools you’ll be using, and the space you’re creating your grid in. You don’t want any lingering bad juju playing a role in your manifesting! Cleanse with an herbal smoke of your choice, cleanse under the light of the full moon, or envision a bright white light cleansing your space and tools.

5. Set your grid up

You’ll want to place your center stone first. You can base your center stone selection on a few things, like a stone that best matches your intentions, the largest stone, or a crystal you have a personal affinity for. Next, place your other stones radiating out around the center stone in a balanced format. As you place each stone visualize your end goal of what you’d like to manifest.

6. Activate your grid

Think of activating your grid as turning on the lights. You’ve set everything up, and now it’s showtime! There’s more than one way to activate your grid. The simplest method is to close your eyes and imagine the energy of all of your crystals connecting and communicating your desires to the universe. To see more techniques and detailed information on activating your crystal grid click here.

7. Be present with your grid daily

Don’t just set it and forget it! Make sure to take a few quiet moments every day to connect with your grid. Connecting with your grid daily will allow you to visualize your desires and goals.Leave your grid up for a complete moon cycle, or longer if you’d like. If it does start to attract dust give it a light clean to prevent the energy from stagnating. Find a free printable crystal grid template here.

Four Abundance Rituals

Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!

ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID

Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.

Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.

You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.

As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.

After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!

ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG

Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:

• Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon

• 10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)

• A knob of ginger

• Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine

• Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.

Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!

ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK

You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:

• Green candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.

• Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine

• Patchouli or frankincense oil

• Coins or money

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.

Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.

Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.

You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.

Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.

ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD

Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.

Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit

When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:

• What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?

• How to release this belief system or pattern

• How to open myself up to greater abundance

• My mantra for calling in abundance

Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!