A Might-do List for the Quarter Moons

Observing lunar time is one way of inviting a practice of ebb and flow into your healing work.

For those of us our raised in cultures and under institutional systems where our time and how we should “spend” it is often defined for us and not by us. So when we step purposely into healing work, at some point we find ourselves reassessing our time and all the ways that time can be measured and experienced. For me, the Moon offers an energetic pattern and mythological model that I find helpful when it comes to reconnecting to the sacredness of time (instead of its commodification), which is one of the reasons I’ve been writing a whole series on what you might (or might-not) do for the different phases of the Moon.

Having already offered might-do lists for the Full Moon and the New Moon, I wanted to turn our focus towards the Quarter Moons - the halfway points between energetics heights and depths of the lunar cycle.

The Quarter Moons, also known as Half Moons, are periods of balance tipping towards a period of expansion or increase with the growing or Waxing Quarter Moon or a time of retraction or decrease with the shrinking or Waning Quarter Moon.

The Waxing Quarter Moon, also known as the First Quarter Moon, marks a point of balance between what has been and what shall be. Momentum, disentanglement, vitality, and harmonization are key energies of the Waxing Quarter Moon.

The Waning Quarter Moon, also known as the Last Quarter Moon, offers us a time to shed, fall back, and sort out which seeds we're interested in planting, if not just quite yet. Change, reassessment, release, balance, and decluttering are all key energies of the Waning Quarter Moon.

With all that to explore, let's see what we might do (or might-not do, no pressure, it’s your time to experience) for our Quarter Moon celebrations.

image via @jannerboy62

Connect with the Elementals

I'm not entirely sure when or why I began associating the Quarter Moon with four element work and specifically working the spirits known as elementals, but it is a practice that has stuck with me through the years. The elementals or undines, salamanders, gnomes, and sylphs are part of European magickal and alchemical lore codified during the Renaissance, in part by German physician and alchemist Paracelsus, but with older folkloric roots. Of course, the idea of elemental beings is not isolated to European lore and you'll find stories of these types of creatures throughout the world - it can be a rewarding practice to seek out these elemental energy within your cultural and spiritual traditions if you’re not familiar with them already.

As a time of balance leaning either into expansion or retraction, the Quarter Moons can be an auspicious time to either call in more or release excess element-based energy by working with the elementals. If, for example, you've been trying to draw in more watery energy to you, such as for intuitive work, you might choose a Waxing Quarter Moon in a water sign such as Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces to help call in intuitive, watery energy through the mediating help of the undines. Alternatively, if you're dealing with too much fire energy in your life, you can work with the salamanders on a Waning Quarter Moon in a fire sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) where you offer them your excess fire energy, which they will be happy to accept. 

Practice Magnetizing Magick

The energy of the Waxing Quarter Moon is one of pulling towards and filling up. We can connect to this current of magick through magnetizing our practice to draw towards us of what we are seeking during any given lunar cycle. We might be in the midst of a long-term act of change, needing to draw courage to help us manifest who we are becoming. Other times we might need a quick bit of magnetic magick, drawing towards us opportunities and resources that we need as soon as possible. Within our communities, the Waxing Quarter Moon is a time for groups to act out big visions of what is possible, helping us all to bring in and anchor hope, and magnetizing our visions to draw in what is needed for the work.

Brew Recipes & Create Charms of Balance

Holding space between light and dark, the Quarter Moons are an auspicious time to make herbal recipes that help to bring us into a state of nourished homeostasis. Charms for balance, whether balancing energy, boundaries or whatever requires a steady balance in your life, can be made at either of the Quarter Moons. You might even draw the balancing energy of the Quarter Moons into the rest of your life through creating your own oracle of care to help remind you what it is that helps you feel centered.

image via @linalitvina

Rituals of Release

Whether walking a Moon Path (see below) or not, the Waning Quarter Moon is a time to release, let go, and sort out what seeds, ideas or dreams want to keep a hold of, and what we want to pass on for someone else to flourish with. Rituals to release regret, shame, sorrow, old identities and ideas, old pain and trauma, are all auspicious during the Waning Quarter Moon (and can be tied into any therapeutic support you've been receiving, such as supporting breakthroughs in therapy with ritual). If you need some divinatory support to better understand what needs releasing so that you can embrace your magickal gifts, come this way.

Get Rooted

Whether with the inward drawing energy of the Waning Quarter Moon or the expanding outward energy of the Waxing Quarter Moon, the Quarter Moon period is a wonderful time to practice grounding and centering magick. Living in times of hyperconnectivity and profound social noise, it can be increasingly challenging to slow down and get centered. Working with the phases of the Moon and the ebb and flow of lunar energy is a way to feel supported in our effort, connecting to an energy greater than our own to help us feel balanced. If you're feeling stretched too thin and pulled in too many directions, consider working with the energy of the Waning Quarter Moon. If you're feeling like you're struggling to stay strong and steady within yourself, consider working with the energy of the Waxing Quarter Moon.

Strengthen Your Resolve

By the growing light of the Waxing Quarter Moon we can practice rituals to help us strengthen our resolve, focus our willpower, and call in the allies needed to help us find whatever it is that we're seeking - from new job opportunities to like-minded friends to the courage to make a much needed change in our life. As the Moon waxes, so does your resolve, culminating in the vibrant energy of the Full Moon. As the Moon wanes, let it carry away doubt and fear, the New Moon carrying you forward with growing momentum.

Find Your Balance with Breathwork

One of the most effective ways that I know to find balance is through breathwork. Breathwork is free to practice and doesn't require any fancy equipment, and can be used at any time and in any place. With the balanced ebb and flow of energy present at the Quarter Moons, breathwork can be a powerful way to connect with your own sense of balance. You can find resources for your breathwork practice over here.

image via @oandersonrian

Tend to Your Tenderness

One of the ways that we can take care of those tender parts of ourselves is by taking time to pull our energy back from all the places it has gone wandering. Shedding layers of expectation, we can hold, with gentleness and care, those tender parts of ourselves that don't always get the space to just be soft. One of the mythological images of the Waning Quarter Moon that you'll find in modern Goddess spirituality spaces (though it is based on fragments of much older traditions), is the Waning Moon as the Goddess pulling her veil or blanket around her shoulders and head, retreating from the bright attention and needs of the world, to dwell a bit in the quiet dark. I love connecting to this mythological current of energy, drawing a protective mantle around my own energy, so that I can feel safe enough to spend time in my tenderness, instead of constantly trying to keep up with impossible demands of "toughing it out" under social and institutional systems not built for human scale. Plant allies like Milky Oat (Avena sativa) and Linden (Tilia x europaea) can be useful guides to work with if you're seeking extra support for your tender self.

Cast a Moon Path

Starting on the day of the Quarter Moon, there are about 8 to 9 days to either the New Moon, in the case of starting on the Waning Quarter Moon, or to the Full Moon if you're starting on the Waxing Quarter Moon. These days (or nights) of practice are an opportunity for Moon Path rituals, where you time your ritual to the increase or decrease of the Moon's light. If you're wanting to bring something into your life, something which requires effort and attention, a Moon Path ritual starting on the night of the Waxing Quarter Moon and culminating on the Full Moon can be a powerful act of magick. For something that you're wanting to release from your life, walking a multi-night lunar path into the dark to emerge again at the New Moon can be deeply healing.

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Do you have a lunar practice for the Quarter Moons? If you’re looking for more Moon-inspired might-do lists, I’ve written ones for the Full Moon and the New Moon. For more Quarter Moon practices, you can explore my simple rituals and healing practices for the Waxing Quarter Moon and the Waning Quarter Moon. If you’re looking for my full collection of post about the Moon (there’s a lot!), check out the Moon Studies section of my Astroherbology archive. If you’re looking for my might-do series on the sabbats, here you go.

And for those looking for a deep dive into the world of lunar healing work, come this way.

Friends, I hope that you found something useful for your own monthly practices, and that you find your unique balance and rhythm that helps you feel at home in your life.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

A Might-Do List for the New Moon

Every month the Moon cycles through phases of newness and fullness, representing our ability to shift and change in our own lives.

Humans have been measuring time for thousands of years by the Moon, so it is no surprise that many of us feel drawn to do something around the Full or New Moons. For my personal practice, I enjoy observing the esbats as part of my lunar healing work. The esbats are lunar-focused celebrations practiced by some magickal folk in some contemporary traditions of Paganism (most notably Wicca) and witchcraft. Having already written a might-do series for the sabbats and a might-do list for the Full Moon esbat, I wanted to follow-up with a New Moon list to continue to support your seasonal and lunar celebrations.

The New Moon is a time of possibility and promise, representing the release of what was to embrace what might be. With just a sliver of crescent in the sky - having emerged from darkness and growing steadily towards fullness again - the New Moon is an auspicious time for planting the seeds of intention and what we hope to bring into our lives. It is a time where energy feels sharp and brisk, untethered by old stories of the past cycle, and tumbling headlong into the new. There is a momentum in the air that many a folk draw upon for their magickal work and healing practice, something which you can do, too.

So if you're curious about developing a New Moon practice, here's a list of nine things you might-do for your esbat celebrations. 

image via @joshyb_

Refresh Your Altar

When I feel a need to refresh the energy of my inner and outer spaces, I take some time to refresh my altars.  The New Moon is a particularly fruitful time to practice an altar refresh because we can tap into the energies of newness, possibility, and focus that the New Moon offers. I tidy up any wax or ash, dust surfaces and objects, sometimes choose new altar art, and take some time to connect with my spiritual path through the items I use to represent this central part of my life.

After tidying, I’ll often light a candle and practice some simple devotional work before returning to the busyness of my day. Taking care of an altar, where all sorts of mystical and healing rituals take place, helps us to connect with the lovely truth that spiritual practice is both magickal and mundane, and paying attention to the needs of one aspect of our practice helps to support the other.

Clean Your Spaces

In addition to tidying your altar, you can also clean and cleanse your living spaces including your home, your workspace, and any modes of transportation you own and frequently use. Physically cleaning the space, maybe in a way that is more robust than a normal tidy session, helps to free up energy for the new lunar cycle and also provides us with the very practical benefits of a clean space.

I like to follow up a New Moon clean with an energetic cleanse. What an energetic cleans looks like for you will depend on your personal practice, sensory needs, and cultural framework. Some like to cleanse with the smoke of burning sacred herbs, others prefer candles, and others still choose sound based forms of cleansing like bells, songs, and/or drumming. You can choose the type of energetic cleansing based on the sign that the New Moon is in, perhaps cleansing by burning herbs when the Moon is in a fire sign or by asperging with water in the Moon is in a water sign. 

Draw a Lunar Bath

A bath blessed with lunar herbs, perhaps a bit of sea salt, and a spell sung over the water is not only a wonderful way to relax, but a beautiful way to wash away unwanted energy and invite in a feeling of renewal. Whether or not you use lunar bathing herbs or plant allies of your choosing, herbal baths are wonderfully customizable. You can add in Moon water either from the New Moon or the Full Moon, flower and gem essences, water-safe stones, fresh flower petals, and more.

image via @sayakbala

Burn, Bury, Banish

While the New Moon brings a promise of new beginnings, it is also a time to sweep out old unwanted energy. Writing down energies and experiences you want to banish from your life and burning it is a burn safe container can be deeply carthartic. Instead of burning, you can bury the paper, planting seeds over it to represent the power of earth to transform something old into something new. Burying is a particular good technique when you're trying to transform one type of experience into another (i.e. my stage fright is transformed into stage joy). There are also all sorts of banishing rituals that can be performed with the scythe-like energy of the New Moon, clearing the way for the abundance you seek to be drawn in with the growing light of the coming cycle.

Turn the Tides In Your Favor

As the Moon pulls the tides, so do folks who rely on the sea seek to pull Her favor. An old Hebridean chant to the New Moon goes: 

Hail to thee, thou new-lit moon,
I bend the knee, thou queen so fair;
Through the dark clouds thine the way be,
Thine who leadest all the stars;
Though thy light e'en find me joy-filled
Put thou flow-tide on the flood
Send thou flow-tide on the flood.¹

I love this charm, this simple Moon prayer, and it can be easily adapted to call in whatever sort of favorable energy you're seeking, from luck to love to peace and prosperity. If you're interested in learning more about Scottish traditions of charms like these, the Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmichael is a good place to start, including charms and the rituals surrounding them like these.

Cast A Healing Spell

For healing to happen, change is needed. The New Moon is a beautiful time to call in the change needed for the healing you are seeking to begin (or begin again or change directions). It can be as simple as intention setting or a more complex ritual to welcome in the energy of healing. I've written a series of healing rituals for each sign of the New Moon (you'll find the full archive of the New Moon Healer's project over here) and if you're looking for a place to start, how about calling in a healing temple? You can also, with permission, work healing magick at the New Moon for your loved ones, especially if they are starting on a new part of the healing journey and/or seeking some answers for where they should be headed next. The energy of the New Moon swoops in with clarity and hope, two things very much needed for any sort of healing work.

image via @contentpixie

Make A Wish

Making a wish at the New Moon is an old form of witchcraft in the British Isles, but one that you’ll find in cultures around the world. A New Moon wishing practice can be as simple as looking up at the New Moon blowing Her a kiss and making a wish. Or you might recite a charm like:

Blessed New Moon
Sharp and bright
I cast a wish
That you might
Bless me well
Seven-fold
Blessed New Moon
Bright and bold

Another New Moon wishing practice that flows into techniques of manifestation magick is to write down up to nine wishes on a piece of paper or in a journal at every New Moon. These wishes can repeat each month until they or something better comes to pass, or you might tie the theme of your wishing to the sign the Moon is in. Speaking a wish the first night a New Moon takes to the sky feels like it is a remnant of a much older form of ancestral lunar observation and a simple one for modern magickal folk to observe.

Offer Good Fortune

Take stock of the good fortune of the previous month (including, when times are tough, just being able to make it through) and consider the ways you can make sure the current of good fortune continues to flow by offering it on. Charitable donations are often what comes to mind when it comes to passing on good fortune, but you can also make offerings of time, skills, and attention.

Offering good fortune is a way not only of benefiting those people, places, and creatures in your life, but to recognize that you are a fortunate, needed being with meaningful things to offer community. So much of magickal and healing work is internal and invisible, so it is good to integrate regular community-oriented works into your practice to remind us that we are not only trying to return home to ourselves but to each other. 

Peek Into the Future

To quote tarot scholar Mary K. Greer "Tarot helps you meet whatever comes in the best possible way."² You've cleansed your space, your personal energy, and set some intentions, now is a ripe time to use divination to help set you up for ease and inspiration for the coming cycle. While my divination tool of choice is the tarot, I often like casting lots of some sort for New Moon divination - something about the action of throwing ogham feda or stones feels energetically aligned with the quickening energy stirred up by the New Moon. Check out a whole range of tarot spreads over here and if you're focusing on energies of renewal, you can easily adapt this annual spread for a monthly one.

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If you're looking for more lunar inspiration, check out my full archive of astroherbology posts, many of which are Moon-centered. You can also learn how to find your Moon sign in your birthchart (as well as understand how the current Moon shows up in your chart). For my newsletter subscribers they get access to over 100 rituals and recipes tied to the phases of the Moon - sign up to get free access. If you are a fellow herbalist or healer looking to incorporate more lunar wisdom into your healing practice, I invite you to join The Lunar Apothecary.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

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Footnotes

1. From The Road to The Isles Kenneth Macleod accessed via Graham King, The British Book of Spells & Charms (London: Troy Books, 2014), 251.

2. Via her resource rich website: https://marykgreer.com/

A Might-do List for Midsummer

Midsummer, also known as the Summer Solstice, Litha, and Alban Hefin, marks the longest days of the year. Many ancient megaliths were built to align with the movement of the sun on Midsummer, the longest day of the year. Midsummer celebrates the height of the sun's power as well as the still distant but ever growing turn towards the cooler months. The Summer Solstice is also a day long associated with the magick of the Good Folk who are said to be more present than ever across the land. At Midsummer we celebrate the brightness of living and so much abundance that we have plenty to give and receive in turn. Now is a time to celebrate the expansiveness of life and the unique ways we express ourselves as necessary and loved members of our wider community. Continuing a project started last Lughnasadh, here’s a list of nine things that you might-do (or not) for the long day festival and hot season of the Summer Solstice.

Rise with the Sun. A simple and very sweet ritual is to rise with the sun on Midsummer. Meditate in silence or celebrate in song as the Sun rises up into the day, shedding light across the land. Planning to have special foods ready for breakfast can be an extra bonus.

Build simple stone cairns with friends and family. Glennie Kindred has a lovely suggestion for creating a participatory and engaging ritual space in her book Earth Wisdom. As folks are gathering together in the ritual space have them look for or bring five stones - one for each of the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Spirit. As part of the ritual, each of the elements are called in and one-by-one folks bring their stone for each element into the center while offering personal thanks and blessings at each turn. Slowly a cairn or mound of stones will be formed by all of the stones placed by those gathered. Cairns can be left up (if environmentally appropriate) and used as places to make offerings to the Good Folk, but at least for the rest of the ritual the community-created cairn serves as a focal point for chanting, dancing, and general merriment.

Self-Heal (Prunella vulgaris)

Harvest herbs. The Summer Solstice is a traditional time to harvest herbs and especially those herbs associated with the Good Folk, the energies of love, and the powers of protection. St. Joan's or John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is traditionally harvested at Midsummer and turns into a beautiful red oil symbolizing the regenerative lifeblood of the land. Be sure to harvest herbs in a way that respects the land and its inhabitants tending to the places where they grow with as much care as plants tend to our healing needs.

Create some beautiful solar themed decorations. Decorations that catch the light and are bright in color are all wonderful options for Midsummer. Make faux stained glass with crayons and wax paper or your own sun wheels out of thread and twigs. Sun-shaped salt dough ornaments, wreaths made of dried herbs, and wild grass crowns are all seasonally appropriate and easy to make. Sun catchers and crystals hung in windows can bring rainbow light into our homes as well as outdoor ritual spaces. Whenever making or purchasing items, consider their long term environmental impact and try to align your choices with your earth-centered and celebrating festivities.

Energize culture-changing movements. Midsummer is an excellent time to call in and store up energy for the coming months and into winter. You can be intentional with your energizing magick and help to direct it towards and store it up for culture-changing movements and protests. I like to turn protest signs into magickal objects, bless my street medic bag and supplies, as well as raise energy and store it into other charms and amulets that I use in my work for a more just and kind world. 

Practice the magick of generosity. At the longest day of the year, marking a season of abundance and the peak of growth before the First Harvest in a few weeks time, Midsummer is an opportunity to practice the magick of generosity. I love the sentiment expressed in Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions: "The Goddess at Summer Solstice gives us not just what we need, but extra. We can feel close to her by being generous, giving more than we're asked to give, doing more than our fair share. That way we make abundance for all." Generosity comes in many forms, but consider the ways that it is built into your magickal and spiritual practice at Midsummer, vowing to continue to act in abundance in your life and the lives of others.

Built an altar to the Sacred Dreamer. There are different myths from around the world about the shift of power from the light to the dark. At Midsummer the light of the Sun is at its peak - but from here on out the dark and lunar energies begin to rise. Some folks work with the myth of the Oak and Holly Kings and their never ending battles (and if you have an opportunity to see a ritual battle it can be a lot of fun). My own traditions align with stories of holy isles and descents into the underworld, where we draw closer to the world of dreams. Again, quoting Circle Round, they speak of the transformation of the God, noting that "[e]verything and everyone who fulfills their purpose must change… Now he becomes the Dreamer, asleep in this world but awake in the world of dreams and visions, the seeds of what will come to be in this world. He becomes the Messenger, carrying our hopes and prayers to the spirit realms." The Sabbats are a time to remember that change is a holy and necessary thing, that we aren't always meant to be doing the same thing throughout the year, but growing and retreating, shifting and changing with the seasons. 

Cast spells with candles. An alternative - and much shorter - version of the might-do lists for the Sabbats would simply be "Every six weeks(ish), burn stuff." The tracking of light and dark along with the necessity of fire for warmth and in the preparation of food stuff shows up powerfully in different ways at each Sabbat. The two times of year that candles are especially essential to my magickal practice are at Imbolc and then again at Midsummer. Whether building a dream altar to light the way for the Sun to descend into the underworld, to more traditional pin and candle spells, using fire in our magick at Midsummer can be a powerful act of energetic alignment.

Create a beacon of light. Lighting bonfires on hilltops is an ancient tradition of Midsummer that is still carried on in some Celtic cultures. You can create your own beacon of light whether an actual candle burning in your window or a piece of art displayed in a way for others to see. Fires on the hill were/are a form of spiritual devotion but also connection and community-building. What sacred symbols do you want to see more of in the world around you? How do you move through the world as a person of sacredness? What are the beacons that you're wanting to see to help you know that you're not alone in the work of repairing the world? If you're looking for social justice and mutual aid oriented images, Just Seeds is always a great place to check out. You can charge up your beacon from sunrise to sunset on Midsummer day, infusing it with the holy constant of solar light.

Check out all of my might-do lists for the wheel of the year. Learn more about magickal practices for the season of summer or cast some cards for the Summer Solstice. Here’s a midsummer brew to try and you also might like the refreshing taste of swamp tea. Finally, here’s some more herbal lore on the magick of the Summer Solstice.

May your day be bright and abundant of blessings. May your heart shine like a bonfire guiding you from longest day to slow-growing night. May we all come together in the spirit of generosity, knowing that there is enough, committed to the change needed to create equitable and holy access, and dancing all the way home.

❤︎ This post was made possible through patron support. Thanks, friends. ❤︎

A Might-do List for Beltane

Beltane, known also as May Day, Lá Bealtaine, Calan Mai, marks the first day of summer. Cattle are moved to the summer pastures, the Good Folk venture forth from their wild places to join in the festivities of mortals, and the fertility of the fields is celebrated. Beltane acts as the summer gateway to winter's beginning at Samhain - both festivals are seen as times when the veil between the worlds is particularly thin. While Samhain emphasizes connection with our ancestors, especially those recently departed, Beltane is sometimes seen as a festival of connecting with the Good Folk (who some see as our most ancient ancestors having long ago traveled to the worlds beyond and between). At Beltane we celebrate pleasure and joy, especially as we experience it through the holiness of our physical form, relishing in our mortality and the ephemeral moments of connection, as well as remembering our ancient connections with the spirits of the land. Continuing a project started last Lughnasadh, here’s a list of nine things that you might-do (or not) for the merrymaking festival of Beltane.

Celebrate love in all its forms. Beltane is a festival tied to love in all of its forms. Romantic love! Platonic love! Love between family and friends! All the love! Make space in your ritual celebrations to honor and celebrate the many forms that love takes knowing that we need all of it in order to make the world into a more kind and more just place. It can be a very sweet practice whether as a family or in your coven to offer up what love you're celebrating and are grateful for as well as the ways you're going to keep nurturing and growing that love.

Give tokens of love. Creating and giving tokens of affection to those we love is a sweet and simple way to celebrate the energy of the season. These little objects of love - whether making a parent's favorite cookie recipe or presenting a child with a special stone to friendship bracelets or a bouquet of flowers - can also double as charms of peace and harmony to whoever you're giving them to. You can also send out letters of gratitude to those folks you know and may not know but who you appreciate and admire - Beltane is about seeing and being seen in all the ways we love.

If you're called to it, get handfasted. Beltane is the traditional time of year to take vows with romantic partners. The vows of a handfasting last for a year and a day upon which they are then renewed. These days many Pagans use the term handfasting interchangeably with marriage but the year-and-a-day practice still exists and is a very sweet one. A handfasting typically involves fastening the hands of those making the vow with ribbons, vines or cloth, demonstrating the weaving together of hearts and commitment to one another. Add additional traditional features to the rite by jumping over a bonfire and/or broom upon making your vows.

Wash your face with the dew of the early morning. The early dew of Beltane morning is supposed to be especially blessed and washing your face with it promises beauty and longevity for the year to come. I love this tradition and have been practicing it for years - it can be a very sweet and quiet way to start the day's festivities which are often much more raucous in nature. I also spend this time connecting with the Good Folk and the spirits of the land. 

Make a flower crown. Flower crowns are the sort of activity that can be adapted to all sorts of situations - you can spend the time in focused and quiet meditation, weaving together spells as you weave together flowers or it can be a time of singing and laughing, sharing food and drink. Flower crowns as Beltane can be kept and dried to be used as offerings to the fires of Midsummer. 

Dance, jump, and make merry!  Jump over bonfires and brooms for blessings of luck and protection all summer long. If you have a maypole, name every ribbon for a different form of love in the world and weave it together in unity as you dance. You can still bring in the energy of a maypole without one by making ribbon wind catchers or tie biodegradable cloth, yarn or thread to trees. It's traditional to bless cattle by steering them between two bonfires, but we can bless ourselves by doing the same, speaking prayers of thanksgiving for the animals of the world that we care for and rely upon. A local Druid group has an absolutely adorable tradition of handing out cow masks to the children and then having them run through two bonfires, mooing and cheering as they go.

Cast spells and rituals for creativity. In addition to a festival of celebrating love, Beltane is also a time of celebrating our creative potential and power. Rituals and spells to help support and nurture our creativity are auspicious and can be woven throughout the festivities of the day. You can focus on the fire aspect of the festival by performing a ritual full of candle and flame for sparking creative desire or call upon the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit to help you find your creative flow in all aspects of your life. It can be a good day as well to bless all of the tools you use for your creative pursuits from sketchbooks to pens, paints and clay, cloth and thread, and whatever else you use.

Bless the holiness of your physical form. In the Charge of the Goddess, She tells Her followers that "all acts of love and pleasure" are Her rituals. Of course, there are many ways to feel and be and do love and pleasure, but there's a special place at Beltane to honor the physical form and how we experience pleasure through it. Modern Pagans, in general, are not focused on a promised life given to us after we leave our bodies, but rather in awakening to the holiness of the world within and around us as we live and breathe. Body blessings, workshops with your coven about physical pleasure, learning about, celebrating, and sharing sensory differences, are all ways of celebrating the physical form.

Honor the green spirits of the land and bring their energies to the protests. The season of Beltane is full of myths about the Green Ones who live in the woods and hills, coming down from the mountains or coming from lands of warmth bring summer to our celebrations. These are the Old Wild Ones who are more plant than person, often playing a trickster role in celebration. Robin Hood and Maid Marian are said to be early modern interpretations of the Green Man myth and their socialist, earth-centered visions are excellent energies to bring to May Day protests and celebrations for justice for working people.

Check out all of my might-do lists for the wheel of the year. I have a card spread for the season of Beltane and find more inspiration for summer magick over here. And here’s a tarot spread all about the heart featuring some traditional Beltane herbs.

May the fires of Beltane light up the season of abundance and harmony for you and your loved ones. May we stand with the Green and Wild Ones as we work for a more kind and more just world. And may you laugh like embers scattered across sky, lighting up the night with the joy of our being.

A Might-do List for the Spring Equinox

Ostara, known also as the Spring Equinox, the Vernal Equinox, and Alban Eilir, is the first official day of Spring. Just as there are three harvest festivals later in the year (Lughnasadh, Mabon, and Samhain), Ostara marks the second of three spring festivals landing in-between Imbolc and Beltane. The holiday is tied to the movement of the Sun, when the Sun enters 0° Aries and marks a point of equal night and equal day with the nights becoming shorter than days until the Autumn Equinox. It’s a time for celebrating the return of youth to the land and the retreat of winter back up into the mountains or deep below the earth. At Ostara we prepare ourselves, along with our homes and gardens, for the coming of warmer weather and the quickening of life across the land. Continuing a project started last Lughnasadh, here’s a list of nine things that you might-do (or not) for the greening festival of Ostara.

Spring cleaning in your home and community. Was this the most obvious suggestion? Yes, and it’s a good one. Following the cycles of nature and celebrating the wheel of the year is not just about filling up your calendar with celebrations (though this is a great thing), but connecting what is happening around us to what is happening within us. As we clean our homes, prepare our gardens, pick up trash in our neighborhoods or the parks and trails that we frequent, we are also participating in an inner cleansing and renewal where we’re preparing our spirits for spring. Make washing your floors and windows a ritual and include stewardship of the land into your ritual celebrations. In her book Earth Wisdom: A Heartwarming Mixture of the Spiritual, the Practical, and the Proactive, Glennie Kindred suggests going on a community walk to your ritual site or spring picnic, making sure to pick up trash along the way. She also suggests a lovely chant to tie your ritual work and community together:

Building bridges between our divisions,
I reach out to you as you reach out to me.
With all our voices and all of our visions,
Together we can make such a sweet harmony.
Together we can make such a sweet harmony.

Get to a local market. Farmer’s markets are opening again but there are all sorts of warmer weather festivals and fares happening. Get out and support your local community, re-connect with what is happening in your local world, and eat some spring berries while you’re at it.

Invoke the winds of change. In the part of the world that I live in as well as the one that many of the ancient beliefs of the modern wheel of the year comes from, March is a windy time of year. The winds of spring hold a certain sort of wildness that make them distinct from winter’s gales, summer’s sweet breezes or autumn’s gathering in storms. Connecting with these winds of change through spellwork like tying loose biodegradable threads to trees that carry your wishes to the Ancient Ones help us to bring our inner and outer worlds into balance. Invoke the winds of the season to blow through the land, bringing justice and kindness to all. 

Bring energy to new endeavors (and re-energize old ones). As Ostara marks the beginning of Aries season and the restart of the zodiac’s own turning, connect with the energetic and ambitious energies of the Ram by blessing new projects and endeavors. You can also re-invigorate old projects that still want doing, dancing with the newness of spring in order to guide you back to your inspiration. It can be a great time of year to build an altar to any endeavors you might have, feeding your vision with song, candles, incense, and other offerings relevant to your own tradition.

Bless young ones. As seeds bud up, baby animals emerge from winter burrows and new ones are being born, and trees begin to flower, Ostara is a celebration of youth and the young ones in our lives. Now is a lovely time to hold baby blessings as well as welcoming in littles ones into your spiritual community (i.e. a Wiccaning or similar such ritual). 

Create an altar of flowers. Speaking of young ones and the young at heart, creating altars and sacred designs made of flowers is a beautiful and tactile way to celebrate the start of spring. Flower crowns are also a beautiful way to celebrate and they can be kept, dried, and offered to the fires of Beltane. Don’t want to pick flowers? Then enjoy the altar of flowers that the earth has already made by being in bloom. For some, this is the first time of the year to comfortably hold rituals outside after many a month spent mostly indoors - so get outside!

Hold rituals of re-emergence + identity. There are a number of myths associated with the re-emergence of spring in the land from the Greek story of Persephone and Demeter to the tale of Brighid and the Callieach or the trial of Innana and Ereshkigal. One of the underlying meanings of these stories is that of stepping into new identities and the process of loss, coming out, and joyful empowerment these times of transition can represent. Now is an auspicious time to hold rituals of re-emergence (such as stepping back into power in your life) as well as celebrating new identities, coming out, and transitioning. 

Choose movement. Part of the holiness of our bodies is the amazing state of movement we are always in. Whether the movement of our blood through our bodies, the flow of oxygen to our cells or the constant electrical impulses helping to power movements both big and small, the movement of our bodies is a sign of life worthy of care and recognition. You don’t have to do anything fancy, join any gyms or online programs promising to change your life with their in-depth regimen or force yourself to push your body to your limits. Rather, the spring is a time to move with the flow of nature - stretching our bodies, breathing deep, and just choosing to move as we are called to do. 

Plant a garden (or at least cast a seedbomb). Whether you have a yard to plant in or a selection of pots with kitchen herbs growing on a windowsill, reconnecting with our very ancient impulse to purposefully seed the land and grow along with it is a very effective way to connect with the season of Ostara. If you are feeling inspired, buy or make some seedbombs to spread wildflowers in your yard or vacant dirt lots that might be hanging out around your city. Planting is an opportune time for spellwork, as well, and you can plant and grow your dreams along with your greens.

Check out all of my might-do lists for the wheel of the year. If you’re the card-casting type, here’s a tarot spread for the season of Ostara and for those of you who enjoy creating your own herbal remedies check out my recipe for spring dreaming. If you’re looking for an overview of spring magick, come this way.

May the winds of change bring all the inspiration you need to grow a life big enough for all your dreams. May we nurture our common roots and grow strong in our dreaming. May your spring be a full and blessed one.