Ian Elliott April, 2012
Witches’ Paradigms, Part Two: Following the Moon
Following the Moon:
While reverencing the Sun and the Earth, polytheistic witches identify the Moon as the special Goddess of witchcraft, a view borne out by that classic of the modern Craft, Aradia, Gospel of the Witches, recorded by Charles G. Leland and published in 1890. Additionally, the witch Goddess (called the Lady and regarded by Wiccans as the personification of all Goddesses combined) has three visible aspects, corresponding to the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon, known also as the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. She also has a hidden fourth phase, the Dark of the Moon, which corresponds to her monthly renewal from Chaos, the dark sea of awareness or spirit. The Moon’s waning phase is often identified with Hekate, the classical witch-Goddess. That the Moon herself in all her phases had witchcraft as her province can be seen in the second Idyll of Theocritos, often called “The Sorceress” (this can be read in the Viking Greek Reader).
The current phase of the Moon should be noted in every entry of one’s witchcraft journal, for the work one does will depend on the phase one is in.
The waxing phase, associated in antiquity with the Greek Goddess emis, begins with the New Moon. When the Moon is a mere sliver in the sky, curving to the right and therefore facing left, the Maiden appears, and Her energy blesses all new enterprises. It was traditional to kiss one’s hand to the New Moon for luck, a practice condemned in the book of Job in the bible, which as we know also condemns witchcraft. It was also traditionally considered very unlucky to first catch sight of the New Moon through glass; in other words, witches and pagans in general went outside around the time of the New Moon to honor Her first appearance and the beginning of a new monthly cycle.
The Carmina Gadelica, a compendium of old spells and prayers, some from Druidic times, refers to the New Moon as “the Moon of guidance.” This is the time for a witch to practice divination, in an effort to gain insight into the character of the lunar month just ahead. Whether you deal the Tarot or cast rune-stones or coins for the I Ching, whatever your method of divination, this is the most important time to do it, preferably right after going out in the fields to catch your first glimpse of the New Moon and kiss your hand to Her.
When you have divined the shape and chances of this lunar month, it is time to plan your spellwork. Spells of increase are effectively cast during the waxing phase of the Moon, especially as She grows round in the sky. So begin any new enterprises at the New Moon, and from the 2nd quarter onward cast your spells of increase. As the Moon begins to grow round, it is a good time to pray to Her for the recovery of lost things. As Patricia Crowther writes:
Pray to the Moon when She is round,
Luck with you will then abound.
What you seek for shall be found,
In sea or sky or solid ground !
The witch’s prayer, of course, is little different from a spell. Unlike a christian prayer, it is not a humble supplication with “thy will be done” tacked onto the end of it (a sure guarantee of failure). The witch prays to the Gods in a friendly, cajoling way, much as a child will charm a parent into giving it a treat or present. When you pray to the Lady or the Lad (the Oak or Holly King) or any other God or Goddess, do so in a friendly fashion, showing both respect and self-respect. That is what They like. Remember that there is no original sin in witchcraft, and unless we have broken our oaths or offended the Gods in some other way, we can approach Them with a clean slate.
In India, which follows lunar astrology, the eleventh day of every lunar cycle is traditionally a day for fasting, called ‘Ekadashi’. This is the entrance into the week of the Full Moon, which includes the three days before and after the day of the Full Moon, and is sacred to the Mother, called Selene in classical times. Fasting is a method of purification, and witches seek to purify themselves at the start of any new cycle so as not to carry over old energies or ‘miasma’ which could block the new energies that fuel the ‘magic of the beginning’. In the same way, it is wise to purify oneself before a natural process reaches its height, as at the Full Moon or at Midsummer (Litha).
The Full Moon itself is the time when witches gather for Esbat, a word which has been said to derive from an old French word meaning “frolic.” The main convocations of the witches are the Esbats and the Sabbats, the latter meaning “rests” or “restful recreations.” From this we can conclude that the purpose of witchcraft is to have fun. A Hindu sorceress once described life as a process of “playful growth.” The play involved, however, is like the play of children, which is both frolicsome and serious at the same time. When children play, they are practicing to be grown up, and throw themselves completely into what they are doing. They laugh a lot but also get angry or weep at times. Witches regard themselves as children of the Gods, and Esbats are the times for us to come together and play as children do, practicing and honing our skills in preparation for that distant day when we become daimones (that is, demigods) and can at last really help the Gods themselves.
As the Full Moon assumes Her radiant nightly reign, the psychically sensitive witch will seek to soak up Her light and subtle influences as much as possible. So even if you celebrate Esbat indoors, you should go outdoors at some point and walk in the moonlight for a while. This light has the quality of changing our consciousness from beta to alpha rhythms, and in time inducing religious ecstasy. Anti-pagan teachings have added the word “lunacy” to our vocabulary, warning against the trance that moonlight can induce. We can learn a lot from these old churchy fables about Pagan religious practice. For instance, people were warned not to lie out at night under the Moon, as the crone in the Moon would rake their faces with her claws. From this we can infer that it was a practice to lie out under the Moon, soaking up Her light and subtle influences and perhaps having a visionary dream of flying to the true Sabbat. So if you have a patio or fenced backyard and the full Moon is out, you might give this a try some night.
Classically-minded Pagans might like to chant the Greek poetess Sappho’s Paean to the Full Moon at this time:
Lo, the stars around the lovely Moon
Hide away their bright forms
Whenever she shines most fully
Over the whole Earth.
On the fifteenth night, that is, the night after the Full Moon, just as the Sun is about to set, the Moon will appear in the daytime sky for a while opposite the Sun, often with Her face tilted to one side, as though reclining in bed after love-making. This is an excellent time for spells of balance. Pauline Campanelli, in Ancient Ways (p. 6), writes:
“This is a powerful time for any magick that involves balance, power, a uniting of opposites, or the charging of a charm or amulet with energies of both the Sun and the Moon.”
The fourth day after the Full Moon begins Her waning phase, associated with Hekate, the Greek Goddess most closely associated with witchcraft. The waning phase is for curses and apotropaic spells, that is, spells to fend things off or get rid of things, called in traditional witchcraft ‘wanions’. Following the Law of Threefold Return, which states that whatever energy we send out returns to us threefold, we modern witches do not engage in cursing people. But there is nothing wrong with protecting ourselves and the fruits of our spells of gain from the ill regard of others. That the thoughts of others can impact our minds and energy can be seen from the practices of Buddhist monks, who traditionally meditate in the early hours of the morning, when most people are asleep. One reason witchcraft is called “the Hidden Path” is that a witch will seek to live in such a way as to be as free as possible from the restricting regard of others. For this reason the witch cultivates the fourth power of the magus, keeping silent. The less others know about the things you do, the freer you will be, psychically speaking, to do them. This applies even to other coven members.
Hekate had power at the trivia, the places where three roads meet, in antiquity where witches gathered at midnight for their conjurations. As the guardian of the trivia, Hekate was represented by a stake or column in the center of the intersection, upon which three wooden masks were hung, looking out along the three roads. In the mid-fifth century BCE, she began to be represented by three sculpted female figures ranged around a column. These figures were in Roman times identified with the three visible phases of the Moon, associated with emis as the Maiden, Selene as the Mother, and Persephone as the Crone, but Hekate came to be identified with all three phases, and the dark phase as well. Her column is the world pillar or tree which links the three worlds of heaven, middle-earth and the underworld, and through which spirits and the ancestors travel as in a great cosmic elevator. Hekate is the spirit of the pillar who grants Her worshippers access to the three worlds and is thus the Goddess who empowers witchcraft.
Of the three figures ranged around the pillar or hekataion, the first bears a torch, standing for the torch Hekate bore when she searched for Kore or Persephone when the latter was abducted by Hades. As we saw above, the New Moon is a finder and a guide, which is why witches divine at the New Moon to seek Her guidance throughout the month. The second figure holds a libation bowl and ewer, and stands for Selene facilitating prayer at sacrifices, which are most effective at the time of the Full Moon. Finally, the third figure holds fruit, standing for the fruits of the Earth enjoyed at the harvests of the waning year, the fruits of wisdom gleaned in old age, and the fruits of the spells of increase cast during the waxing Moon and enjoyed during the waning time.
The waning phase, then, should be a time for enjoying the fruition of those short-range spells cast during the waxing phase, and the protective spells cast at this time serve to enhance the witch’s enjoyment by securing his or her fences against ill-wishers. This is a time especially for cultivating inner silence, purifying the body and sweeping clean the mind from the miasma of past grievances and sorrows. For the time of the dark phase is coming, when the witch will descend, in deep meditation, into that sea of chaos from which the Gods have their birth and rebirth, and out of which They fashion the worlds. During the dark phase, the Lady Herself sinks into that dark sea of awareness and renews Her own energies. And just as children imitate their parents, so witches imitate Her example and descend into their own inner darkness. This is especially fortuitous to do on the day after Yule, called The Nameless Day, on which see below.
The 25th day of the lunar month, three days before the dark Moon, corresponds to Ekadashi and is a good time to repeat the cleansing fast held earlier. From then till the first appearance in the sky of the sliver of the New Moon is a time for resting, going within and practicing meditation after one’s ways. One way is to go backward in memory, tracing one’s life back to the earliest times, and trying to recall the sense of oneself one had at different periods of one’s life. Who were you when you were small? Then try to go back before that, and get a sense of yourself before you were this person. In Zen Buddhism this is called “one’s original face.” Deep within, you are still this unknown person. Try to face the world as it first appeared to you, as a fresh, unknown thing. Then face yourself as unknown. This is one way to descend into the sea of chaos, that fruitful place from which all things are born and to which they eventually return.
Additional Notes:
The inner aim of witchcraft is to enter an altered consciousness in order to be closer to the Otherworld of spirit. This is balanced by the outer aim of practicing the Craft in the everyday world. Witches must keep their outer lives in order so as to have the time and energy available for pursuing their inner aim.
Witches work within the lunar cycle, and seek closeness to the Lady as the Moon. While this involves knowing the Lady, it is even more important to let the Lady know you. As with the other gods, Lady Moon must become a personality in the witch’s life. This is done, first of all, through greeting her when she is New or Full. Treat her as you would any other important person in your life. Do not stare at her overmuch, as this is rude to do to anyone. When you are walking along and she is out in the sky and seen to the side, she will appear to be accompanying you in your walk. When I mentioned in childhood that the Moon was following us home, my cousins told me it was an illusion. There followed many years in which I lost my awareness of her companionship while walking. When I was carrying my infant son home late one afternoon, he noticed her and I regained that perception. I noticed that when I looked directly at the Moon, I remembered my cousins’ correction and a faint echo of my boyhood embarrassment. But when I gazed at her to the side of my line of vision, I regained the childhood perception that she was walking alongside.
When the Moon is new, witches will go outside to see her without looking through glass, traditionally regarded as unlucky. This means that deliberately seeking her company, and honoring her presence, when she first appears in the sky as a thin sliver is magically potent. Other important times for seeking her company are after the first quarter; at the full moon; the day after the full moon when she regards the Sun, and vice versa, from across the sky; and just before she disappears at the dark phase.
Scientific studies of moonlight have proven that it induces alpha rhythms in the brain. Ordinarily we operate with beta waves, and of course these studies were conducted by people in a state of beta consciousness. (How reliable would a study of beta waves be if conducted within alpha rhythms?) The same thing is true of candlelight. The emphasis on the Moon and candles in witchcraft underlines the importance to witches of achieving an alpha state whenever this is desirable.
The Bible condemns witchcraft, and provides important information about it in the process. In Job we read a condemnation of Moon worship when he says that if he were to look on the Moon and be ‘secretly transported’ within, he would offend against ‘the most High,’ i.e., Yahweh. “Secretly” means in private experience. “Transported” means a feeling of religious ecstasy from a sense of contact with the divine person in the Moon. If the Lady is indeed in the Moon, she is looking back at us when we look at her. The face in the Moon is a reminder of this. If we look on the Moon as we would a human face in our presence, we may come to feel she is looking back after a while.
Several other clues in folklore and language are obviously remnants of the Church’s anti-pagan teaching. The word ‘lunacy’ is a warning that if we cultivate the presence of the Moon, we shall lose our minds. Accepting the pagan practice involves a willingness to explore this state of consciousness. Similarly, tales of the Crone in the Moon raking the faces of young people sleeping out under the Moon overnight are meant to discourage the act of falling to sleep in moonlight as a way of encouraging lucid dreaming, the prelude to a spirit journey. This suggests that the last stage of attending the witches’ Sabbat after midnight was accomplished in altered awareness. It further indicates that this practice was also carried on in the waning phase.
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Gods and goddesses exist on different levels, and each level is a cycle. This provides an easy answer to the question, how can the Lady be old or young as she wishes and yet appear as the Maiden in the spring, the Mother in the summer, and the Crone in the autumn? One answer lies in the lunar cycle. She is the Maiden in the waxing phase, even while she appears as the Crone in the autumn. In the cycle of the seasons she is the Earth goddess, in the lunar cycle she is the Moon goddess.
We also go through shorter and longer cycles. In the course of a single lifetime we know we can die and be reborn, in a psychological sense, many times.
Where the character of the Wheel of the Year matches that of the lunar cycle, the effect of actions taken at that time is heightened. Thus, the New Moon phase is most potent in the springtime, heightening the effect of divination undertaken then; the Full corresponds to summer, especially Litha; the Waning phase is most potent at Samhain; and the Dark phase, from the Moon’s last appearance through her disappearance, is linked with the Nameless Day after Yule, which lies outside the lunar year altogether.
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The Moon goddess is concerned with our current incarnation. She it is who gives birth to souls waiting to reincarnate, and she does it when she is at the full, as the Mother (Semele in Greek). So to be known by her is to let her look in on how we are living our current life. She will not pry. She only concerns herself with those who invite her regard. Following the lunar phases invites that regard.
Tags: moon
