Finding Your Core Values: An Exploration of Authentic Living
Gabrielle Mastronardo
April 25, 2024
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The presence of the full moon is hard to ignore. Even if you’re not into the world of astrology— the bright light that it casts over the night sky is inescapable. It’s an imposing presence that stands above us as a reminder that we are part of something bigger.
With the lunar cycle comes a natural rhythm that can help us turn inward making time for retrospection, manifestation, and release. Using the moon phases as our guidepost for self-reflection, we can connect with ourselves, and on a micro level find an element of rewilding in our otherwise contemporary lives.
While a new moon symbolizes a blank slate and a time to set goals and manifest what you want to come to fruition. The full moon symbolizes the culmination of the energy to its peak from the time of the new moon till when it’s full. Meaning that the Full Moon acts as a moment for release.
Using self-reflection questions and rituals for a full moon can help you embrace the lunar cycle as a moment for self-care and self-love. Full moon reflection allows you to connect with yourself in a deeper, more loving way.
Before starting with the full moon rituals, it’s important to take a moment for self-reflection. This can be done through asking yourself self reflection questions that will help you bring awareness to your inner state at the moment.
These questions will set the tone for the rest of the rituals giving you something to focus on and refer back to. It’s basically using the full moon as a time to check in and make some time for getting to know yourself a little better.
How are you feeling right now?
What in your life are you most grateful for right now?
What obstacles have you faced recently? What have they taught you?
What Behaviours over the past month haven’t served you?
Where can you bring more mindfulness into your life?
What are you ready to let go of?
f you’re new to this, the word rituals might throw you off or give the wrong impression— however, it doesn’t have to be as woo-woo as you’d expect.
The great part about rituals is that you can choose what you’re comfortable with and leave the rest. It’s also good to remember that for millennia different cultures have been using diverse rituals for self-care.
First and foremost, the ritual that should be done at every full moon is journaling. It marks the start of the full moon reflection rituals.
This can be completed in whatever manner feels right to you. You could use the above questions as prompts to get you started, or just let a flow of consciousness come.
The important thing is to get the thoughts and feelings out of your head. Writing them down releases them, and calms your monkey brain. When we release all the things that are filling our mind, it’s a lot easier to gain clarity around whatever you’re going through in the moment.
full moon rituals serve as a way to intentionally reflect and understand yourself on a deeper level, while manifesting who you want to become.
A moon garden is filled with white flowers that glow under the light of the full moon. While planting an entire garden isn’t really in the cards for most of us, we can rather buy ourselves a bouquet of white flowers.
These flowers are there to set the mood and remind you to be mindful during the full moon. They act as the physical reminder of everything that you will discover through the other rituals.
Ground yourself by doing a moon meditation. This doesn’t mean you need to meditate under the light of the full moon, although that would be an added bonus if you have access to that.
Rather use visualization during your meditation practice to use the moonlight to wash away what you’re trying to release. Think about whatever in your life is no longer serving you, then visualize the moonlight washing over your body and taking whatever it is you’re trying to get rid of with you.
To go deeper into your meditation consider doing a mini at-home cacao ceremony before starting or adding in breath work with deep breathing exercises.
Keeping with the letting go theme, don’t stop at the internal things, try to clear your space of any unnecessary items. This could mean using this time to go through your closet to purge any clothes you no longer wear anymore (donate them to your local women’s shelter rather than throw them away) or clean out under your bathroom sink. Remember that your home is your sacred space and it should only be filled with things that bring you joy and happiness.
The moon has a profound effect on water— just think about how it has the power to change the tides in the ocean. Submerging your body into water will allow you to connect with the natural elements and naturally also the moon’s energy while you cleanse your body and mind.
If you can do this outside in a lake or sea if that’s not available to you, a bath works just fine— spice it up with some bathscaping with salts, candles, and a nature-inspired soundtrack.
Spending time under the light of the full moon is a great way to soak up the energies of the moon by honoring the moon and reconnecting with nature. It can act as a moment of regrounding and allowing you to gain clarity on what’s important in life, by allowing you to disconnect from your everyday life.
Being in nature is proven to be a simple way to heal, with many cultures around the world using it as a way to calm the nervous system through things like forest bathing or earthing— so even if you’re a skeptic about the moon’s energy you’ll benefit from spending time in the great outdoors under the light of the full moon.
The next three rituals are a bit more on the witchy side. If you’re into crystals then you’ll know that it’s important to cleanse them and recharge them with the energy of the full moon. This can be done by simply putting your crystals to sit out in the moon light or submerging them in moon water, which is water that has been under moonlight.
The idea behind cleansing and recharging crystals is that they each hold onto and give off different energies, which is why some crystals are said to be good for different forms of healing. When we cleanse and recharge our crystals we are releasing all the old energy or negative energy that is pent up and allowing them to have a clean slate.
This is my favorite full moon reflection ritual by far. It really brings a sense of letting go, giving us a physical manifestation of it through the power of burning.
The process is simple. Take a small piece of paper and write down everything you’re ready to release. This can include anything that no longer serves you, behaviors you wish to change, or even a person you need to cut ties with for various reasons.
Once you’ve written your note, light a candle and carefully burn the paper. As you observe the flames consume the paper, visualize releasing all that no longer serves you. Watch as it transforms into ash and imagine it drifting away.
Embrace this ritual as a powerful way to let go and create space for new beginnings.
Be sure you’re doing this safely, have a plate under your candle in case the flame gets really big.
Lastly, if you’re into Tarot or Oracle cards make sure to do a reading during this time. Since the lunar energy has come to its peak, it said to be a time when you can gain more clarity on what the cards are showing you.
Doing this last in the order of the rituals you will be able to draw upon all of your self-reflections and grounding to really draw out the lessons and tools of the cards. If you’ve never done a reading before, the full moon is a great time to have your first session— while this might sound a little woo woo or too witchy for some, just remember that these cards are tools to bring light to what’s already inside of us, there’s nothing “magic” here, just another way to connect to ourselves and the world around us.
While the full moon is the time for letting go and releasing any pent-up emotions, the new moon is a time for setting intentions and manifesting what you want from your life.
The new moon lunar phase has it’s own set of rituals that can help you harness the energy of the moon to create the life you’re dreaming of.
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3 Responses
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