So tonight is the dark moon- the phase of the moon where there is no illumination. I tend to work my own practice here- some people call this the new moon, but for me, since there is no light, it’s the dark moon. It is said that the dark moon period is 3 days- the day before, the day of and the day after is how I think of those days. I will use the dark moon energy during these 3 days.
The dark moon, for me, is about reflection and stillness. In my book of shadows, I call it the Moon of Reflection. I use this time for:
Silence
Stillness
Listening
Meditation
Darkness
Introspection
Reflection
Contemplation
Rest
Soul searching
Solitude
Seclusion
It’s a good time for shadow work. If you don’t know what shadow work is, I like to describe it as exploring, meeting and embracing the darker, not acceptable to society parts of ourselves. A lot of people, witches and pagans included, sometimes seem to think that we should be all love and light, but if you think about that, it’s not balanced. The brighter the light, the darker the shadows. Doing shadow work is important because it’s going to help bring balance to your life as you create a sense of harmony for yourself. It builds a greater sense of power and control over what can be a truly chaotic existence in this crazy world.
Of course, this will be a post for later, but shadow work is not easy. No one announces they did their shadow work on Saturday and are feeling fine on Monday. Shadow work is hard emotionally, delving deep into our pasts, our psyches- it’s dealing with wounded hearts and the things we locked into our unconscious. It’s facing our fears, our shames, and our judgements. Those who use shadow work regularly will tell you that it’s painful, and you walk out emotionally raw and bloodied. No wonder Jung described it as the work for a warrior’s heart!
It’s also a good time to banish. I like to use dark moon energy to take things that are weighing me down- fear, depression, frustration, anger and doubts and banish them from my life. Realistically, you can ban all these things forever. They are normal human emotions. However, you can ban them specifically. For example, I was feeling frustrated this month that my body was having an issue with pain flaring up. It’s exhausting, distracting and makes things like concentrating on my work and assignments very difficult.
It’s not something I can control. I can manage the pain the best I can. I can make changes in my life to help ease the discomfort too, but the flare up itself is not something I can control. It happens and I’m at its mercy. The frustration makes me feel worse. I feel on edge more, and weak. It’s not a good feeling. Banishing the frustration I feel at the time is healing.
Something to do on the dark moon, besides shadow work and banishing- tarot! I started using this spread I created recently. Listening to the cards, and contemplating their message is particularly powerful on the full moon. Even if you don’t use this spread, there are lots of various spreads on the internet, or you can come up with one yourself. The format I found simplest is to ask a question, inquire about obstacles or influences, and ask about the outcome.
Enjoy the beauty of the dark moon. It’s energies are powerful, yet subtle. Use the time to contemplate your future, face your shadows, and figure out what your “next” is. And also use it to reflect- what did you do last cycle that you enjoyed, that worked, and what didn’t work? Is there anything you change? And most importantly, take this time to rest.