by Literata
There are two important events this week in the Wiccan ritual rounds: on Tuesday night, there is a full moon with a partial lunar eclipse, and on Saturday we observe the fall equinox. Gryphon’s Moon Coven will celebrate both in ritual on Saturday, in person at the covenstead and online through discord. If you’d like to create your own rituals for yourself this week, though, I’m going to split this up into two suggestions.
A coven sibling just shared with me The Witch’s Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for your Body and Spirit by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. In their discussion of self-care and magic, Murphy-Hiscock tries to reframe self-care in the context of self-respect and encourages us to use magic to help us care for our whole selves. Rather than selling a commercialized package of magical quick-fixes, the author encourages us to reflect on what we need to nurture ourselves, and provides a fun range of activities, recipes, and spells to help us do so.
With the full moon, including a partial eclipse, and the equinox so close to each other, I encourage you to take inspiration from ideas of magical self-care and use the full moon and the time between now and the fall equinox to do some self-reflection and ask yourself and your Powers, deities, and guides what you need to nurture yourself with in order to keep your balance through this changing season.
You might meditate with the Moon card from the Tarot; because the Moon card indicates hidden knowledge, and an eclipse tends to bring out the unseen even more so, this is a powerful time to gaze deeply within. If you want, try taking a trance journey into the card. Set up a personal ritual however you usually do, and sit or lay in a place where you can relax and meditate. Gaze deeply at the Moon card for a few minutes, until you can picture it clearly in your mind’s eye. Then let yourself meditate, and step into the picture.
Maybe you stay by the water, allowing yourself to settle, watching the water become calmer and stiller until you can gaze into the depths below. Or maybe you find yourself following the stream back towards the silvery moon rising large over the horizon. Do you encounter anyone along the way? Or do you just need to sit under the Lady’s light and let her silver you?
As one of my beloved teachers used to quote, “I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.”