Well, it's the very first New Moon of 2023 and it's a Super New Moon so the energy is quite literally super-charged. This means that anything you or I set intentions or resolutions to achieve, we should be able to manifest in our reality.
I wrote a couple of informative posts about how this New Moon may affect the zodiac based on which area of someone's birth astrological birth chart is being activated. During the research part of writing them, I discovered that this New Moon, because it's in my Sun sign, is activating my First House which is all about my appearance and image, my self-identity and how I come across to others.
But there's another aspect of my chart that I feel needs attention - my Rising sign. This is the constellation that was crossing the horizon at the time I was born and it represents which part of me I present to the world in general. My Rising sign is Virgo and it's activating my Sixth House which is all about my daily routines, health, and duty.
I say this because as part of the New Moon ritual led by Emily at Wise Woman Witchery, I needed to have a conductive crystal to hand. I don't have a clear quartz in my little crystal collection but I felt either Apatite or Fluorite were my choices. Apatite is associated with Self-Discovery which fits with my First House being activated, while Fluorite is associated with Focus which fits with my Sixth House being activated.
So I was faced with a choice when it came to the main part of the ritual. This was a guided meditation which used the crystal as a guide and I finally made the choice when it came to having the crystal in my hand. I chose to use a piece of raw Apatite just because it felt like the right crystal for me to use then.
With my Apatite in hand, it was time for the meditation journey of the lunar ritual. This was interesting as it started in a hallway with a door before me. My door was large and almost medieval in looks and size (large and heavy). It was made of a dark wood that may have been rosewood; it wasn't varnished but the wood was smooth and without splinters. It had a heavy metal handle set on one the side of it but it wasn't locked and opened easily when I stretched a hand out to touch it. Behind the door was a library that seemed to be like the one Belle is given in the animated Beauty & The Beast film, huge and containing an unknown number of books, with an infinite amount of wisdom and knowledge residing within those books.
At this point, I closed my eyes and allowed my Apatite to guide me to a book so that I could learn something new. The Apatite guided me to a book that was bound in dark learther and bright metal corners. This book wasn't full of words like most books but it did show me who I used to be and who it is that I present to the world. It was showing me my journey of becoming myself and the new part of me that I will come to know better over the next cycle.
Before leaving this amazing library, I asked my Apatite to be my crystal record-keeper and compass for this cycle, for it to be imbued with the energy of the book so that I can hold it in my hand, even though I could return to this library at any point if I choose to.
It's interesting that this happened at this particular New Moon because I've been considering changing how I look with a new hairstyle but also because I am starting to realise that I am perhaps more confident than I think I am - especially when it comes to how I look and who I am. This is something that I've been wanting to work on for a long time now but perhaps it's not something I need to work on anymore because I just need to be certain about who I am and what I do.
Following the journey meditation, I put together a Lunar Manifestation Plan for this cycle. My intention is: I am realising my confidence. Based on this, I put together some action steps and went through the four "main" phases of the lunar cycle, detailing what I want to achieve during that time.
Action Steps:
Explore who I am based on who I was
Do the scary things that I keep procrastinating about
Change my physical looks with a new hairstyle
During the Waxing Moon (the next couple of weeks), I will put steps 2 and 3 into action.
By the Full Moon, I will look back at who I used to be so I can know who it is I am now. This will then allow me to be more confident and comfortable with my YouTube channel.
During the Waning Moon, I will go easy on myself by giving myself as much space and time to achieve things without falling into the habit of procrastination.
At the next New Moon, I should be able to review this cycle.
I also felt like it was appropriate for me to pull some cards around the energy I can take forward from this New Moon, the energy that will serve me best in the Waxing half of the cycle, the energy at the Full Moon, and the energy during the Waning part of the cycle.
For the energy I can take forward from this New Moon, I pulled two cards: the Seeker of Spells and the Seeker of Visions. I think it's interesting that I got two Seekers as they walk their path by their own initiative, no one chases them or has abandoned them. They have their own quest to fulfil but their personality is fairly settled while still learning and evolving. With the Seeker of Spells, I feel like the guidance is to trust my own instincts and creatively explore.This Seeker is not afraid of the darkness and actually welcomes it as they need it as part of their quest. With the Seeker of Visions, I feel like I need to be careful that I don't stay too long in dreamland without taking action to achieve my dreams. Having dreams is fine but I have to remember that they won't be made manifest unless I do what is necessary to achieve them. I have to take action if I want to discover my spiritual purpose and be more creative.
For the Waxing part of the cycle, the energy that will serve me best is held within the art of celebration and gratitude as shown within the Three of Visions. This is a card of joy, which is not a solitary kind of emotion because it needs to be shared in order to be realised. Making time for celebrations is needed, no matter what might be needing to be celebrated. Within this card, the three bears are all happy to spend time together so this may be soemthing that I need to consider over the next couple of weeks - spending time with people who value me just as I am.
I also feel like this card might be suggesting that I should celebrate the pure joy of being me. That I am on the path to truly being happy, content and confident with who I have become as I journeyed along my path. Who I am now is who I was always meant to be, even if the journey took rather a while to traverse.
At the Full Moon, the energy is symbolised by the Child of Visions. This card holds the energy of wonder and joy,of just enjoying life in the present moment and not worrying about what may happen in the future. She's barefoot and without a care in the world, just enjoying and trusting that her feet will guide her along the way. This Full Moon should bring a time of harmony based on this card but whether that's inner harmony that brings outer harmony or the reverse is unclear but I will happily explore and find out.
I do have a tendency to forgot to be more childlike and full of wonder at the natural world around me so this is a timely reminder to return to this state of mind and being.
There are times that I lose sight of the fact that I still have much to learn as I walk this magickal path of mine and children are so much more open to being teachable than adults (in my experience anyway).
During the Waning half of the cycle, it seems that as much as I may want to go easy on myself, things will quickly start to happen. The Eight of Spells holds a lot of fast-moving energy so I may find that whatever I happen to be working on that I put my undivided will and attention to may end up making progress. This is likely to surprise me and may even set off a bit of anxiety but this surge of energy should end with a positive conclusion or reward.
This could also be a time where I receive a lot of messages or maybe even actually pay attention to messages I have already been receiving but unwilling to acknowledge and take action on. Nonetheless, I need to pay attention to whatever message comes to me so that I'm not left to my own devices.
Either way, there is important knowledge coming and I might want to buckle up for the ride I'm about to go on.
I think it's interesting that only two Minor Arcana suits were involved in this reading. Within this particular deck, The Forest of Enchantment tarot deck, Spells replace Wands and Visions replace Cups with the same associations attributed to the replacement.
With Spells being Wands, the first and last cards are all about action, confidence, transformation and courage. This is intriguing as this is the first full lunar cycle of 2023, occurring in my Sun sign's season and it confirms what this cycle is all about for me, my intentions and everything that has happened since the start of this calendar year.
With Visions being Cups, the three middle cards are all about emotions, desires, dreams, intuition, and spiritual understanding. Again, this confirms what has recently been happening with a couple of rather vivid dreams, my emotional journey, deciding what it is that I want in my life, following my intuition wherever and however it leads me - literally everything that's been happening for me recently. I hadn't been paying attention to how much was interconnected so perhaps this is the start of the build-up for the Eight of Spells.
Either way, I hope you enjoy what I experienced and that it inspires you to think about how you can work with all this lunar energy. Take heart that there's always a new cycle or phase that is starting at any given time of the year so you can always begin again.
Peace and love to all!!
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