“The full moon is round and completely illuminated. It represents completion, the height of power, the realization of your desires and the peak of clarity. It is a time to celebrate your growth, take note of what progress you have made and to reflect on how far you have come.”
The first phase of the moon cycle is called the new moon. This takes place when the moon is in the middle of the earth and sun. It’s also called the “dark moon” because in this phase, the moon is invisible to us on Earth. Since it’s the first phase, it represents new beginnings and gives us a time to plant seeds for new projects ahead.
The moon will then become bigger and bigger for 14 days until it reaches the full moon phase. The full moon takes place when the sun – ruler of your external self – forms an opposition with the moon – ruler of your internal self.
The moon represents the side of yourself that’s deeply personal. It’s a side that no one else knows about. You might not even fully understand this side of yourself, which we also refer to as your “shadow self”. However – when the full moon takes place – these intensely hidden secrets come spilling out of you. They come to the surface and bleed into your conscious reality, changing the way you see everything. During a full moon, the energy surrounding you comes to a climax, forcing you to take action and accept the fact that change is coming.
A full moon ritual is all about looking back at the intentions we planted in the new moon and checking to see if they are coming alive in the full moon. It’s a time for self-growth and self-reflection. If you didn’t reach your goals, why not? What is getting in the way of achieving them?
Each full moon is unique – it has its own radiance, energy and focus that’s linked with its zodiac. As the moon makes its own journey through the zodiac, each phase and sign light up different areas within our inner selves. In this way, different full moons bring you awareness about different aspects of your life.
For example, the moon might move through Aries – a driven, passionate sign that urges you to get things done quickly. During a full moon, Aries calls for you to take action on your intentions and you might feel more motivated and productive in achieving your goals.
Another example is Scorpio – a sign that’s mysterious and transformative by nature. During a full moon, Scorpio will make you delve deeper into everything. You might feel your emotions and passions intensify as the deep mystical energy of Scorpio arises from the depth of your psyche, effectively guiding through waves of self-reflection and intrinsic revelations.
The moon doesn’t orbit Earth in a pure circular motion. Instead, there are instances – known as perigee – when the moon is much closer to the Earth than normal. When a full moon and perigee happen at the same time, the result is a supermoon – an amplified full moon that’s 30% brighter and 14% bigger than usual.
The next supermoon will occur on May 26 – the closest supermoon of the year at 222, 1117 miles away from the Earth. The full moon in May is known as the Flower Moon. This symbolic naming of full moons was established by Native American tribes who assigned attributes to months according to its seasonal characteristics (i.e., flowers bloom in the month of May).
Shraddha’s Full Moon Ritual
Historically, women would gather in circles under the moon. At Practice Shraddha, we invite you to join us, wherever you are, and let us guide you through a full moon ritual every month.
You can make it a personal tradition, maybe invite some friends over to do it with you. Let the energy of the moon and our ceremony bring you closer in tune with your body and emotions. Designate a time every month to really think about the things you want to release in your life.
We have teamed up with our favorite duo House of Sun to guide you through a transformative full moon ritual. Whenever you’re ready, click here to join us for a spiritual full moon ceremony.
