Fabulous Folklore: Friday 13th

Happy Friday 13th!

Occurring at least once a year, up to a maximum of three times, Friday the 13th is considered a harbinger of bad luck by many people in the west. The irrational fear of the number 13 has its own name: triskaidekaphobia.

The unlucky nature of the number 13 is due - in part - to a Norse myth. Some gods were having a lovely dinner party in Valhalla and then Loki showed up, uninvited, making 13. He then had Balder shot, who died, and the world became dark, making 13 an unlucky number.

Middle Ages superstition combined with stories the of Last Supper may not have helped. There were 13 disciples at the table when Judas (who betrayed Jesus) was added, which was on the 13th of Nisan, Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.

But 13 is also the number of moon cycles and menstrual cycles in a year, connecting the number 13 to the sacred feminine.

Let’s replace fear with feminine celebration. This is a sacred day - for Friday is Freyja’s Day - and it should be treated as such.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Hecate On The Hell Staircase
NEXT - Moon Magick: The Wolf Moon
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Yorkshire Witchcraft

Review: Moonology Diary (2021) by Yasmin Boland

As well as The Almanac - A Seasonal Guide, I also get the Moonology Diary by Yasmin Boland @moonologydotcom each year.

This brilliant book begins with astrology and the lunar overview for the year ahead, with a section that helps you understand the Lunar Cycle. There is an overview of the astrological houses, and a chapter on how to use the diary.

Each month starts off with a month to view, with the moon phases clearly marked out, and with dates and times. There is information on what to expect, how to make the most of each month, and what each lunation means to you. The diary then proceeds with Week-to-View pages, which I find especially helpful. There are spaces for New Moon wishes and intentions, and Full Moon forgiveness lists.

And can we take a moment to admire that beautiful cover?

Since I started buying and using this diary I have learned so much, and it’s so useful for organising myself magickally. It comes highly recommended by me. 

NEXT - Moon Magick: Full Moon Intentions
NEXT - Review: The Healing Power of Witchcraft by Meg Rosenbriar

Moon Magick: New Moon Baths

The New Moon is associated with new beginnings, reflection, introspection, gaining clarity, and starting projects.

It’s a great opportunity to cleanse and ready yourself for these new opportunities, and for the next part of the lunar cycle.

Water and salt are both cleansing, and if you have a bath tub in your home then you have, in effect, got an extremely large cauldron(!), so bath magick is perfect for the New Moon.

Himalayan salt is perfect for bath rituals, but if you don’t have any, any bath salts will do. Aim for a 1% salt solution.

Prepare your bathroom, and whilst the bath is running think about the things you’d like to call into your life in the coming weeks and month. Write a list, then spend some time visualising them happening. Make the intention that before these things can happen any negativity or blocks must be washed away.

Get into the bath and make a mental note of how you feel. Feel the heat, the silkiness of the salt in the water against your skin, the flicker of candles, the aromas you may smell. When you are ready, imagine past traumas, bad habits, unhelpful or negative thought patterns, and any hurt you may have experienced which may be holding you back wishing off you, and disappearing down the plughole. When you do pull the plug, again, imagine those unhelpful things washing away, and leaving you ready to face the month ahead with a clear mind and enthusiasm.

Have a blessed New Moon everyone.

NEXT - Moon Magick: 7 Words For The New Moon in Virgo
NEXT - Review: Moonology Diary (2021) by Yasmin Boland 

Moon Magick: 7 Words for The New Moon in Virgo

I’ve been feeling a bit frazzled and under the weather recently, and the approaching energy of yesterday’s New Moon in Virgo definitely brought with it a need to rest physically, mentally, and spiritually.

New Moon is a time to reset and reconnect; and I definitely needed to some time to reconnect with myself. The New Moon is also a brilliant time to declutter, tidy, and organise.

So yesterday I did a little self-care spell and took a much needed pause. Today feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and so I spent this morning sorting out some unwanted clothes for the charity shop, and writing some lists. The path ahead is now clear again!

REST

RESET

RELEASE

REPLENISH

RECHARGE

REFLECT

RECONNECT

What have you done to rest, reset, release, replenish, recharge, reflect, or reconnect this New Moon? 

NEXT - Moon Magick: Full Super Moon in Scorpio
NEXT - Review: Channel Your Goddess Energy by Kirsten Riddle

Fabulous Folklore: Bittersweet

Bittersweet ~ Solanum dulcamara

This nightshade - also known as woody nightshade, scarlet berry, felonwood, poisonflower, blue bindweed, snakeberry, and many other names! - is one of the less toxic plants in the nightshade group, although it’s berries are still poisonous.

It’s a perennial woodland herb that grows on other plants for support, and its name ‘Solanum’ comes from the same Latin root word as ‘solace’.

Traditionally gathered at Samhain when its berries are bright red, it is used to honour the dead, and in rituals involving the spirit realm or death.

It aids power to spells done on the Dark Moon, is good for banishing, and is a useful aid in working with the Law of Attraction. 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Wolfsbane

Moon Magick: Full Super Moon in Scorpio

“Everybody has a little bit of the Sun and Moon in them. Everybody has a little bit of man, woman, and animal in them. Darks and lights in them. Everyone is part of a connected cosmic system. Part earth and sea, wind and fire, with some salt and dust swimming in them. We have a universe within ourselves that mimics the universe outside. None of us are just black or white, or never wrong and always right. No one. No one exists without polarities. Everybody has good and bad forces working with them, against them, and within them.”

~ Part Sun and Moon by Suzy Kassem.

Enjoy the energies of the last Supermoon of the year everyone! This powerful Full ‘Flower’ Moon is in Scorpio, at 1135hrs today for those of us in the U.K.

Arguably this is the most intense Full Moon of the year; Scorpio is the sign that deals with all the deep stuff - intimate connections, deep emotions, and mysticism. Of course it’s also a time for letting go of things that don’t serve you; and for making intentions. Be patient with yourself, and honour whatever emotions you are feeling right now.

Full Moon blessings everyone.

NEXT - Moon Magick: The Snow Moon

Simple Magick: Using Water & Rainwater

In many Pagan traditions ~ as in other religions ~ water is considered holy and sacred.

Rain is cleansing and purifying, and readily available ~ especially in England! ~ making it perfect for rituals and spells. Rainwater can be enhanced by being left to charge under a Full Moon.

Different rains will bring different energies to your spell; rain from a warm summer rain may bring peace and tranquility, whereas rain from a thunderous storm may be used far more forcefully.

Rainwater Spell

Fill a bowl with rainwater. On a small piece of paper write down a bad habit you wish to be rid of, or something you’d like to let go of, in chalk. Immerse the paper in the water and imagine the bad habit washing away.

Alternatively, you can take the spell outside - and allow the rain to lash down upon you, washing the words away from the piece of paper.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Casting A Circle

Moon Magick: The Snow Moon

Some call it the Hunger Moon, others the Storm Moon (appropriate for us in the U.K. currently getting battered by Storm Ciara), and others the Snow Moon due to the snow on the ground at this time of year. The Snow Moon is the full moon in February, and once in every 19 years or so February does not have one.

The Full Moon is the perfect time in the lunar cycle for setting intentions and asking questions. How can I live more consciously? What do I need to let go of? What am I going to work on? How can I be more helpful to others?

I have made my intentions ready to be cast into my ritual fire tonight, so for now, it’s time to curl up and enjoy this book about the Moon.

“The elegance of the Moon teaches us to be elegant and kind.” 

~ Debasish Mridha

Moon Magick: Making Moon Water

The simplest potion there is: Moon Water.

The Moon is an amplifier, its energy strongest at Full Moon, and it has strong cleansing properties. Moon Water is simply water that has been charged by the Full Moon and bears these properties.

You can use Moon Water for all sorts of wonderful things; energising crystals, blessings, rituals or spells that require water, moon baths, perfumes, charged drinking water, watering plants and magical herbs... the list is endless.

Collect water in your chosen vessel and leave out under a Full Moon for an entire night. Bless your water and set your intentions. 

What do you use Moon Water for? 

NEXT - Moon Magick: New Moon in Aquarius
NEXT - Cancer The Crab: Magickal Correspondences 

Moon Magick: New Moon in Aquarius

Sometimes I feel the New Moon gets a little overlooked by the fizz and pop of the Full Moon. The Full Moon might be about making the intention, but the New Moon is all about manifesting the intention - and that also means doing the work!

The New Moon asks you to check what you are drawing into your life. This New Moon in Aquarius falls on the 24th (today!), and there is a continued emphasis on necessary shedding, purging and processing emotions, thought processes, and behaviours, to meet the intentions made at the Full Moon.

This will be a time to focus on Aquarian ideas - rethink, repurpose, reimagine, and even recycle.

New Moons tend to make us want to plant new seeds and start afresh, be that new attitudes or new projects; so if it feels right, go for it! But be careful what you wish for.

The New Moon promises us that if we put the hard work in, we will be rewarded. Using our intuition is important at this time - we are essentially working blind without the Sun’s illumination, and with only the light of our intuition to guide us - so we must be careful in our interaction with others. Be wary of being tricked or manipulated.

The theme of this month is spiritual awakening, and after the strong Cancer energies of the last Full Moon, this Aquarius energy will feel like a breath of fresh air! But there will also be change and upheaval, so grounding and self-care are a must; carry a Kambaba Jasper with you for calming reassurance and comfort.

NEXT - Moon Magick: Full Moon Intentions 
NEXT - Moon Magick: The Wolf Moon
NEXT - Simple Magick: Find Your Magick

Moon Magick: The Wolf Moon

Are you all ready for the Wolf Moon!?

January’s full moon is named after the howling of hungry wolves who are lamenting the scarcity of food in Midwinter. February brings their breeding season, another reason why wolves are so vocal at the beginning of the year, and why people often associate wolves with January.

The Moon has no particular part in the call of wolves, but as they point their face to the sky when they howl, it is no wonder they have been linked to the moon. 

There is some debate over the term ‘Wolf Moon’ - some attribute the name to Native American origin, whereas others insist it is Anglo-Saxon or Germanic in origin. Regardless, the term ‘Wolf Moon’ is certainly very evocative.

This is a great time for starting new projects, personal development, meditation, and focus work. It is also a good time for embracing and dealing with the emotions that are brought to the surface as with any full moon, and for releasing negativity - literally howling at the moon and letting it all go. Let go of bad habits, start on a clean spiritual plate, let go of all that is holding you back; and make intentions for moving forward. It is a time to practice forgiveness - of yourself and others - and for banishing and releasing negativity.

As this full moon is in Cancer, the most emotional of the signs, this will be a particularly emotional time, and you may find your intuition and psychic abilities heightened.

This Super Wolf Moon sees a lunar eclipse, so it is an important one. The full lunar eclipse will give the Supermoon a red glow, creating a phenomenon known as a Blood Moon.

There are lots of very strong energies about, so this is a perfect time for intention setting. I’m hoping for clear skies here tonight.

NEXT - Moon Magick: Full Moon Intentions 
NEXT - Simple Magick: The Pendulum
NEXT - Simple Magick: Magickal Beliefs & Attitudes

Moon Magick: Full Moon Intentions

The full moon and the days surrounding it herald powerful energy. The full January Wolf Moon (a Supermoon) occurs on the 10th January 2020 at 19:21hrs.

I always write my intentions two or three days ahead of the full moon, so that I have plenty of time to ruminate and ponder them. I have some deeper intentions that I want to manifest written on a second page, but as these are deeply private I have chosen not to show these.

The full moon is always a good time for embracing and dealing with the emotions that are brought to the surface at this time. It is also a time to practice forgiveness - of yourself and others - and for releasing negativity.

This Wolf Moon is in Cancer, which is the most emotional of all the signs, and also my Sun Sign, so this is a particularly emotional and deeply personal time for me. 

There will be a full lunar eclipse, giving the Supermoon a red glow; a phenomenon known as a Blood Moon. Clearly there are lots of very strong energies at this time, so this is a perfect moment for intention setting.

I hope you all have a very blessed and productive Wolf Moon. 

NEXT - Moon Magick: New Moon Baths  
NEXT - Intention: I Call My Power Back
NEXT - Simple Magick: The Shadow