Dark Moon Magick

Our spirit guests have gone back home. Those spirits who came for our yearly Samhain and Dia de los Muertos gatherings have left us with a whisper and a smile as the Veil has drawn back between our worlds again for another year.

We are now in November and there is both a New Moon and a Hybrid Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013. There are many ways one can call upon or harness the immense energy at play today. I am still reeling from the psychic effects of two major holidays which just passed.  But the New Moon or Dark Moon is a time looked at differently by many magickal practitioners for what kinds of workings they want to do. For me, the Dark Moon is a time for the last bit of spiritual house cleaning.

I have spent much time in the past month (especially during this period of Mercury Retrograde) reflecting on what I want for myself and what I would like to develop in the coming days. At the Dark Moon I go deeper still and am completely honest with myself about what has been problematic for me in reaching my goals. Whether it is an outside or inner problem, I confront it fully on the Dark Moon and sweep it away. I clean my ‘house’ so that what goals I will focus on sowing and growing with the Waxing Moon will have a real place to take root and grow.

Many don’t like working with Dark Moon energy. I suspect it is because many fear the darker aspects of themselves and would rather focus on the ‘love and light’ part of their path. While that is their choice, I see myself as a Witch striving for real balance in a world that has both dark and light energies. At the Dark Moon, I work on what might be the less delightful parts of me. Bad habits, hurt feelings, problem relationships, facing my anger and fears, confrontation of enemies, obstacles, damaging thoughts and feelings, separations, banishments, getting to know your shadow self and more are all a part of the Dark Moon work.

It is during the Dark Moon that I work on protection spells, but not just asking the Goddess to shield me in a ‘protective bubble of light’. At the Dark Moon, I call upon the Dark Goddesses to protect me, and to turn the attacks of my enemies back on them. Yes, it is a curse. What pain and damage someone may intend to inflict on me, I ask the Goddess to turn back on them. Comes a time when you simply say, ‘Enough is enough’. I no longer just harness defensive magick. If warranted, and for me at this time-it is, then I must ask the Dark Goddess to assist me to protect me from my enemies and teach them a lesson with the very pain they sought to inflict on me. I don’t go cursing people for the sake of cursing them. This is one of those lessons where pain is the lesson that comes with the territory. When working Dark Moon magick-I am the pot of boiling water on the stove top….if you try to grab or knock me over, you will be burned.

This very act is why self-reflection is so necessary. Can I live with what I am asking for? Am I sure that this problem is something someone else is creating and not something I am doing to myself? Is there a different or better way to handle this? How do I change what is happening to make things better in the days ahead? I take responsibility for all that I do and the consequences-good, bad, or indifferent- that result from Dark Moon rituals are all mine to live with.

Yet the tremendous gifts of insight and energy with this work are worth the efforts, in my opinion. Moving out of the dark of the Moon to the phase of the Waxing Moon gives us such potential for growth and change! Clear away the ugly and bring the beauty back into your life. It becomes for us the blank page, the cleaned slate, or the cleared field with limitless potential. Where do you want to go from here? What direction will you move toward? What is it that you want to accomplish in the next cycle of the Moon?

You can begin Dark Moon work a little at a time. Pick on thing and meditate on it. As the days go forward, note the changes that have taken place. As you grow accustomed to delving deeper into yourself, the Dark Moon will definitely be a time you look forward to as you know and develop the powers within you. Confidence replaces fear, experience replaces uncertainty. You don’t have to work alone and asking for Spirit guidance is a good way to figure out where to start. Learn to trust yourself. There is strength to be gained from working with the Dark Moon energy that will also serve you in the light.