This article will help you understand what a moon ritual is. Plus, how to create one that works for your needs and your beliefs.  

Frequently nothing I would read about moon rituals resonated with me. So, over the past few years I have tried many of the recommended ideas. Plus a few of my own. This article shares with you everything that I have learned. So, let’s get started with understanding exactly what a moon ritual is.


moon ritual

What are Moon Rituals?

Rituals renew us. They bring us personal power and faith. Ritual gives us a moment to push aside self-judgment and allow in renewal and new ways of seeing our life.  A moon ritual, ties in a ritual to the cycles of the moon. Allowing the power of the moon to restore and guide you.

What Can You Do for Your Moon Ritual?

Short answer? Anything you want! Because rituals are meant to renew us and celebrate something, you need to do a ritual that accomplishes that for you. But I know that does not help you right now! So here are some ideas of things that you can do for your moon ritual:

  • Meditation – this is a great way to quiet your mind and simply listen. You can use no music; nature sounds or a guided session. Trust what works best for you.
  • Journal – writing is a great way to access intuition, connect with spirit guides and explore your feelings and problems. That is why it is a great component to add to a moon ritual. You can use it to explore what thoughts and ideas come through your meditation. Or what is going on in your life. You can also take the current astrology of the moon and turn it into questions to journal about. For example, if the theme is about trusting your intuition. I may use these questions to start: where have I not been trusting my intuition lately? Why do I not trust myself? (Journal Prompt Ideas for the New Moon & Full Moon)
  • Nature – remember that the moon rituals started as a way to use nature to guide us. So, get yourself outside to absorb the benefits of nature while connecting with the moon. It does not have to be anything active, it can be doing a meditation outside, putting your feet in the grass. Or it absolutely can be a hike and other outdoor activities. Anything that reconnects you to earth and helps you ground yourself.
  • Dance – many cultures use dance to connect to the earth. This does not have to be a formal dance, but it can be. Dancing can help shake off the old energy to let in the new.
  • Energetically clean your space. Stuck energy where you live can hold you back. You can add energy clearing to your ritual before you start. I will frequently add this for the new moon. I start with a full physical clean, including new bed sheets. Then I will do a smudging ceremony to clear out the remaining energy. I encourage you to ensure you do honor the cultures your preferred smudging comes from. This includes how you harvest the ingredient you are using to smudge with. You don’t want to remove energy and replace it with other negative energies.
  • Energetically clean yourself – no point in clearing your space if you too are energetically toxic! There are many ways to do this, but my preferred is Reiki, shower, and using a Palo Santo essential oil. After I do that, I grab some of my protective crystals to protect me while doing the rest of my ritual.
  • Cleanse Your Crystals – the full moon is a great time to cleanse your crystals under the moonlight. You can even make that into a full ritual on its own. Gathering your crystals, putting them outside under the moon. Then saying a prayer or meditation to cleanse and infuse them with the energies that you need.
  • Release Past Couple Weeks – each moon is signaling a new phase. But they don’t start from scratch with no history. Unless you are a baby! 😊 So, allow yourself a few moments to review and release the past few weeks. This allows you to stop and acknowledge what has happened. Ensuring it doesn’t create new limiting beliefs or problems. But then to move on and learn from it. This is often where you will hear people telling you to write something down and burn it. It is a symbolic sign that you are eliminating something from your life.  If you choose to add burning as part of your ritual, please ensure that you are overly safe with it!
  • Intention Setting – Example intentions might be to release the past, uncover what is blocking you or to envision your future. I would recommend you do some journaling to help you focus in on what you want to bring into your life.
  • Oracle cards or Tarot cards – you can use these cards in a few ways. The first would be to get a broad guidance on the current energy for your life. This is a good thing to do at the beginning of your ritual to help guide you on what you may need to focus on.The second would be to get insight into a current problem you may be experiencing. You can do this during the ritual if you are facing a block.I will often do a broad overview at the start. Then if I get stuck on something while journaling, I will do another draw to get more guidance. Even if it is just one or two cards to get unstuck.  Learn more on how to do your own intuitive card reading.
  • Moon Water – this is where you place a glass of water where it can absorb the moon’s energy. You can place it with an intention. Then you can use the water in a variety of ways afterwards. A few options are drink it, water your plants, or take a bath with it poured in.

Many other options

There are many other things that you can do for rituals. As I have mentioned many cultures have very different ways to celebrate the moon. So, if nothing here resonates with you, take some time to explore your own heritage and it’s traditions. Or experiment with other ideas you find. 

Remember your moon practice is yours. Create one that brings you joy. One that you look forward to doing. And most importantly one that helps you with life. A draining ritual will not help you. So, trust what works for you. And if it is not working, then redo it! Even if that means taking time off from your moon practice.

How to Decide What Your Moon Ritual Should Be

Now you have a list of ideas, where do you even begin to pick what you want to do?  This is how I decide what to do for my moon rituals. You can use this process to help you pick out yours.

1.

Clear your mind and ground. This is the first thing I do to connect to my intuition. It is hard to hear your intuition when your mind is scattered, and you can’t focus. Doing this clears you to connect to what you need.

2.

Then I tune into my intuition to determine what I need. Begin by asking for guidance on what you need to do.  Allow your intuition and spiritual team to give you an answer. Usually, an answer will come quickly, but if you have a lot going on or are not fully grounded it can take a while.

3.

If nothing comes start with either a moon specific meditation or an astrology video about the moon.

4.

Something should appear from step three that resonates with you. If not, refer to some simple journal prompts to explore more.

Your moon ritual can change with every moon phase. It does not have to be exactly the same all the time. Trust that you will be led to do what you need to do in the moment.

When you are first starting out, it may also be beneficial to try out new things. You never know if you are going to like something until you try it!

Most importantly - don’t stress if nothing resonates. Sometimes you are not meant to do something. I have had plenty of new and full moons that I didn’t do anything more than my regular journal and meditation.  And that is okay. You may not need anything at this moment in time. Trust it.

Full Moon Rituals

The full moon illuminates and energizes us. It shines a light on what you need to see. It brings the energy of awakening from the darkness.

This is when the moon and sun are opposite each other. So, there is nothing blocking the light.

This is a great time to celebrate and be grateful. It is also a great time to see what might be blocking you and where you need to change course.

Full Moon Journal Prompts

These journal prompts are great for the full moon:

  • Where have I been hard on myself lately?
  • How can I be more loving to myself?
  • What am I grateful for?
  • What parts of myself am I hiding for fear of how the world will judge me?
  • What lessons have I learned from this difficulty? (Pick any problem you have been facing or one you are trying to heal from.)
  • Where am I resisting change?
  • What am I doing because of fear?
  • Where am I not trusting myself? Why?
  • Where is there ease in my life?

Full Moon Ritual Ideas

Below I am going to give you two full moon ritual ideas to get you started if you are stuck!

Option 1:
  • Mediation
  • Set out moon water. Writing down what you want the moon to bring you and placing it under the glass. You can also set out crystals next to the glass. Pick ones that represent the energy that correlates to the intention.
  • Finish by walking barefoot on the grass under the moon light. Or standing in the grass if you don’t want to walk at night.
  • Option 2:
  • Draw yourself a bath and add some Epsom salts to help cleanse and relax you.
  • After the bath brew a hot tea. Use the nicest cups you have, make it nice!
  • Light a candle and sit down with your journal to explore what has been going on the past two weeks.
  • Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Do on the Full Moon

    You will hear people saying don’t do this before, or don’t do this while the moon is….

    But here is the reality. Because the history of moon rituals is different for every culture. And because ritual is specific to you and your beliefs. There isn’t anything that you should or shouldn’t do. If something resonates with you then follow that. But do not stress that you are going to “ruin” your intentions or ritual if you do something at the wrong time.

    Need a way to track your rituals and what you uncover? Check out my Moon Ritual Journal and Log.

    Space to record what you did, what insight you had and more!

    New Moon Rituals

    The new moon represents a new starting point. It is a clean slate in which to move from. This is a great time to review your goals and set new ones. And not just for things like career and money. Remember intentions for things such as emotional healing are also goals. They just might not have specific targets like you would for retirement savings.

    New Moon Journal Prompts

    These journal prompts are great for the new moon:

    • What is it time to release?
    • What do I want my life to look like in 5, 10, 20 years?
    • Do you want what you have now? Or are you scared of the unknown that change would bring?
    • What do I need to feel secure?
    • What deep personal needs do I have that need to be heard?
    • What am I rushing?
    • Where am I resisting change?
    • How have I grown and evolved over the past month?

    New Moon Ritual Ideas

    Below I am going to give you two new ritual ideas to get you started if you are stuck!

    Option 1:
  • Mediation
  • Journal about what you want your life to look like in five years. Then work backwards to how you can get there. Select one thing to start with before the full moon.
  • Finish by creating a vision board of what that life looks like.
  • Option 2: (this is great for when the new moon is in the middle of the night when you are sleeping):
  • Before the new moon clean your room, put new sheets on the bed. In general, make it a space that is ready for a fresh start. If you want to do your entire house, do so. But the bedroom is important because we spend so much time there. And our sleep often brings us dreams and insights.
  • Before bed the night before ask to be shown what new beginnings are helpful. You can write this in your journal as a question. What new beginnings will bring me what I desire?
  • Then in the morning journal right away, to allow your intuition to flow from what you processed in the night.
  • Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Do on the New Moon

    What I said before about what you shouldn’t do on the full moon, rings true for the new moon also. (Click here to see that) But I will put an asterisk next to it for the new moon.

    The new moon is the start of a lunar cycle. So, you will hear people saying don’t do anything until after the exact time it is new. This does make sense because before that moment, you are in the old cycle. The new moon is about setting the course for the new cycle. It can be hard to do that as you finish out the old cycle.

    Thus, I would say, do what you want. But wait until the moon is new.

    I use this site, to know when the moon is at different phase. It even let’s you convert to your time zone, so you don’t have to do the calculation yourself!

    Meditation for the Full Moon

    I created this full moon mediation that you can use for any full moon.

    You can also listen on Insight Timer and on My Mediation Podcast (Episode 60)

    Meditation for the New Moon

    I created this new moon mediation that you can use for any new moon.

    You can also listen on Insight Timer and on My Mediation Podcast (Episode 58)

    Closing Thoughts

    Working with the moon is not a one- or two-day occurrence. It is simply a marker point of natural shifts. Trust that often information and insights will come in throughout the cycle. It will evolve and flow. You may set a course for the new moon, and as the moon grows towards full, new insights appear. Because of this, you may also want to occasionally due quarter moon rituals. They are a nice way to continue to connect to nature at regular intervals. You can use the same moon rituals you would for the new and full moons.

    Need a way to track your rituals and what you uncover? Check out my Moon Ritual Journal and Log.

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