Friday Is Ruled by Venus
Archangel: Anael
Candle colour: Green or pink
Incenses: Rose or geranium
Crystals: Jade or rose quartz
Use Fridays for spells for love, fidelity, healing, for anything to do with beauty, the arts and crafts and for all spells concerning the environment.
Where possible, work in any enclosed beautiful place outdoors, for example a botanical garden, a field, park or your own garden – even in a circle of plants indoors.
Wednesday Is Ruled By Mercury
Archangel: Raphael
Candle colour: Yellow
Incenses: Lavender or fennel
Crystals: Citrine or yellow calcite
Use Wednesdays for spells for money-making ventures, learning new things, passing examinations and tests, house moves and travels, overcoming debt and repelling envy, malice and deceit.
Where possible, work in a windy place or when the clouds are moving fast across the sky.
Tuesday Is Ruled By Mars
Archangel: Samael
Candle colour: Red
Incenses: Dragon’s blood or cinnamon
Crystals: Jasper or garnet
Use Tuesdays for spells for courage, change, independence in home or business life, for overcoming seemingly impossible odds and for passion.
Where possible, work near a fire or a bonfire or with a huge red beeswax candle as a focus; alternatively work next to a flowerbed or large vase of red, orange and/or yellow flowers.
Monday Is Ruled By The Moon
Archangel: Gabriel
Candle colour: Silver
Incenses: Jasmine or myrrh
Crystals: Moonstone or opal
Use Mondays for spells for fertility, protection especially while traveling, for home and family and to increase psychic and healing powers.
Where possible, work close to any water and, as a bonus, by moonlight.
Sunday Is Ruled By The Sun
Archangel: Michael
Candle colour: Gold
Incenses: Frankincense or orange
Crystals: Amber of clear quartz
Use Sundays for spells for new beginnings, for worldly success, to achieve ambitions and to reverse bad luck, especially financial and for health.
Where possible, use an open space in sunlight for sun spells, such as a sunny beach or shimmering plain.
Moon water is at its most potent when made on the night of the full moon or during a partial or total lunar eclipse. You can also make it in the two or three days before the full moon if the skies are clear and the moon is shining brightly.
1. On the night of the full moon (it rises around sunset) set a silver colored or clear crystal bowl outdoors where the moonlight can shine on it.
2. Half-fill it with still mineral water, if possible from a sacred source, and, if you have any add a few drops of water from a holy well. You can substitute bubbling tap water.
3. Surround the bowl with pure white flowers or blossoms or small moonstones.
4. If you have a small silver bell, ring it three times, saying for each ring:
“First the Maiden, now the Mother, then the Wise Grandmother.”
5. Raise your arms on either side of your head, your hands facing upwards flat with pal uppermost and repeat the same words three times.
6. Stir the water nine times moonwise (anticlockwise) with a silver colored paper knife (silver being the color and metal of the moon) or an amethyst crystal point. Ask the moon mother to bless the water and those who use it.
7. If you are not carrying out a moon ceremony, leave the bowl in position, covered with fine mesh, overnight.
8. Ring the bell three times more before leaving and say:
“Blessings Be.”
9. If you don’t have a bell, kneel and put your hand round the bowl, saying:
“Blessings Be.”
10. Using a glass jug and filter, pour the water if possible into small blue, silver or frosted glass bottles that you can seal and keep in your fridge or a cool place until the next full moon night. If you use a plain bottle label it so you don’t mistake it for another magickal water.
11. Any water left at the end of the moon period should be poured into the ground before moonrise on the next full moon night.
1. Outdoors, use a rock or a table and on it either set a silver tray or make a circle with white stones, shells or clear glass nuggets. Thirteen stones for the 13 moons is most symbolic unless you are superstitious, in which case use nine (for the three by three of the triple moon goddess).
2. Set the stone circle anticlockwise if following moon lore or keep to the normal clockwise direction if you prefer.
3. If you are using an indoor altar, place a white or natural beeswax candle at the four main direction points. If you decide to work outdoors, you can use small, glass enclosed white night lights that will not blow out in the wind or you can rely on the moonlight.
4. In the center of the altar place a dish of moon water (in beach rituals you can collect sea water, the water ruled by the moon).
5. Circle this bowl with moonstones of white shells (13 or nine), creating an inner circle.
6. Position a moon incense to the right of the dish of water as you face west, still within the moonstone inner circle.
7. You will also need a metal or ceramic oil burner with a night light underneath it to the left of the water bowl with the middle circle as you face west.
8. You can enclose just the bowl in a third even smaller circle of three small white stones, shells or moonstones, thus giving one circle for each phase of the moon.
9. The bowl of water will act as the medium for raising the power.
10. If you have a willow wand (or a pointed twig willow twig), lay this directly in front of the bowl with the tip facing west (outside the innermost circle if you make one).
The different phases of the moon offer differing energies that can help not only the timing of a spell, but add power to strengthen a wish (waxing) or can or banish sorrow or bad luck (waning).
The full moon is the most powerful force of all for change and for action. You can follow the different moon phases in the weather section of the paper or a diary or here on this site. But what you see in the sky and what you feel are always your best guides to using moon energies in spell casting. The best way to follow the monthly journey of the moon is to watch her in the sky, not just for one month but for several. Each day in your Book of Shadows write just a line or two on the way you feel and over the months you may detect a pattern that explains hitherto seemingly random mood patterns and energy flows. Even in town you can use building as markers and will not slight variations in position on ensuing months, because of the moon’s irregular path.
Men as well as women are affected by the moon, emotionally and perhaps also physically. If we can tune in with the ebbs and flows then we become more harmonious and able to use natural energy surges as the moon waxes and not try to force ourselves more than necessary or to take risks when the moon is waning.
There are many ways of dividing the moon cycle. In magick there are three main divisions: the waxing or increasing period, the time of the full moon and the waning period. The waxing period is usually calculated from the crescent moon to the night before the full moon. The time of the full moon is calculated as anything from the second the moon becomes full (by purists), the day of the full moon and the period until the next day or even the week of the full moon. the waning period extends until the moon disappears from the sky. The intervening two and a half to three days are called the dark of the moon and while this generally is not used for magick, it is a powerful period for divination and meditation and for allowing the seeds of the future to grow.
The triple divisions accord with the Maiden, Mother and Wise Woman mythology.
Other practitioners have the dual waxing and waning periods with the full moon in the center as the waxing reaches a climax of power.
There are the general associations given for moon work but there are variations in different traditions.
Element: Water
Color: Silver or white
Day of the week: Monday
Metal: Silver
Crystals: Opal (unpolished green or pink ones are very cheap), moonstone, mother of pearl, pearl, selenite, white or pearly sea shells, especially double ones
Animals/birds: Bat, heron, moth, owl, snake, wolf
Herbs, incenses and oils: Jasmine, lemon, lemon balm, lotus, mimosa, myrrh, poppy, wintergreen
Flowers: Any with small white flowers or which are especially fragrant at night
Trees: Alder, eucalyptus, mimosa, willow
Archangel: Gabriel
Use moon magick for: Spells concerning the home and family matters, especially the mother, children and animals. Its prime focus is fertility and it rules over all the ebbs and flows of the human body, mind and psyche. The moon will provide protection, especially while traveling and will aid psychic development, clairvoyance and meaningful dreams. It is potent for all sea and gardening rituals and for herb magick and healing – as well as for keeping secrets.
Chinese tradition tells how once there were 12 moons, one for each month of the year. Their mother Heng O, who was also mother of the ten suns washed her 12 moon children in a lake at the western edge of the world and each traveled for their month’s journey to the East where the sun children waited.
In one version the divine archer Yi killed nine of the sun children and was punished by their father (whom he also killed)by being made mortal. Yi then married Heng O, who agreed to spare her life and those of the moon children, if she became his wife. But he tricked her and killed 11 of the moon children as well. She stole from him the herb of immortality and fled with her youngest child to the skies where Yi could not follow her. Here she took the form of the toad who can still be seen in the moon and who is a symbol of prosperity and good luck in China. In some versions all the moon children were saved and they went to the physical moon from which each still flies his moon chariot on his appointed month high across the sky so that Yi cannot harm him.
In legend, the Moon was seen as the home of the Goddess or as the Goddess Herself and like the Sun was among the first things to be created.
The Navajo legend tells of the creation of the Sun and Moon. The first people emerged from the Underworld to live on the surface of the Earth. But the Earth was dark and cold and so First Man and First Woman fashioned two disks from glowing crystal quartz to form the Sun and Moon so that there would be light by both day and night.
First the Sun disk was adorned with a mask of blue turquoise with red coral around its edge and it offered warmth as well as light. First Man and First Woman next attached eagle and lark feathers to the Sun so that its light and heat would be cast to all four corners of the Earth. The Sun disk was fixed in the Eastern sky with lightning darts. First Man and First Woman paused to admire the great beauty they had created for the day and then turned to the night.
The moon disk was decorated with clear shimmering crystal and pearl white shells, and like the Sun was fixed high in the sky. But to the sorrow of the first people, their creations were static and lifeless.
Two wise old men offered their spirits to the disks that they might live and move forever. First Man and First Woman then marked out the daily path of the Sun by fixing twelve eagle feathers at equal points. At dawn, the Sun began to move across the sky, warming and illuminating all in the blackness beneath. At dusk, the Sun returned tired from his journey, and the Moon, also adorned with eagle feathers began his course.
However, Wind Boy, who thought it unfair that the Moon should have to travel so far by night alone, blew his strong breezes so that the moon might glide effortlessly across the darkened heavens. However, the moon’s eagle feathers blew across his face, temporarily blinding him and so to this day the moon follows an irregular passage across the night sky.
Working by the Tides
The tides are another power source if you are anywhere near the sea, an estuary of a tidal river. The incoming tide or flow will attract and bring fulfillment of wishes or dreams; the ebb tide will take away negativity and also protect those who travel, especially those who work at sea. The slack tide between flow and ebb, which can last for up to an hour, is excellent for building up power before the surge and moment of release at tide turn.
Working by the Sun
As the alter ego of the moon, the sun offers a significant source of energy for natural magick, and solar energies often offer power for more instant magickal results.
Dawn is best for new opportunities, beginnings and people entering your life; noon for a burst of instant power, energy, success and prosperity. Dusk is for reconciliation or letting go. Midnight assists healing magick, psychic protection and in accepting what cannot be changed.
You can combine lunar and solar energies for a quick solar fix and the slower continuous lunar consolidation of the initial solar results in your life. Noon spells on the day of the full moon will get things off the starting block and keep up the impetus through the month. Often the moon and sun are in the sky at the same time (check your moon diary or weather section of the newspaper, or just look) and combine the energies accordingly.
Sun Water
All eyes are on the Moon as we near the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Gemini on December 10. But how much do you know about the Moon and how it affects you? Changing signs every two and a quarter days, the Moon is the fastest moving astrological “planet.”
The Moon represents our emotions, and as it travels through the different horoscope signs, our moods follow suit. We feel best and operate most effectively when we’re cooperating with the energy of the Moon, as indicated by the horoscope sign it’s in at any given time.
Pay special attention to when the Moon is in the same sign as your Sun sign — these few days of each month are your power times! The tides are flowing in your direction, so you’ll feel more confident and energized, and people are more likely to respond to you positively.
So, if you’re planning to invite someone special out on a date, ask for a raise, go on a job interview or any other task requiring self-assertion and risk-taking, these are the days to go for it.
On the flip side, when the Moon is in the sign opposite to your Sun sign, keep a low profile. (If you’re not sure which sign is opposite, just count six signs away from yours.) Catch up on rest, and do for others rather than expecting things to go your way. Plan accordingly — this is not the time to push it and try to get ahead.
Discover how to make the most of the Moon’s visit to each horoscope sign:
Get physical! The first horoscope sign calls for action and movement. Go for a run or hike, dance, work out at the gym or find some other way to let off steam. Tempers can rise under this fiery Moon, so find healthy outlets for expression — physical and/or creative. This Moon can light a fire under you to start putting your ideas into action, so take a risk in the direction of your desires.
Slow down and take time to nurture your body and the planet. This sensual and earthy sign invites you to appreciate the physical world and the realm of the senses. Walk through the woods, work in the garden, get a massage or play soothing music. This tends to be a mellow, restful and reflective Moon — a time to practice simply being.
Call your friends, catch up on emails and chat with the neighbors while the Moon visits the airy sign of the Messenger. Your mind is especially active, even hyper-active, so give it something to stew on. This is an ideal time for taking (or teaching) a class, learning something new and exploring multiple perspectives. Follow your curiosity and keep an open mind.
Curl up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea during this homebody Moon (Cancer is, afterall, the Moon’s home sign). As a sensitive Water sign, the Crab calls for tuning in to your inner world. When you give yourself permission to feel and express your emotions, you’re more likely to avoid the down side of this Moon — crabbiness. Cook a nourishing meal, perhaps inviting a close friend or family member for dinner.
This fiery Moon wants to play and celebrate. Let your inner child take the lead and do something spontaneous that serves no purpose beyond having fun. The Lion rules the heart, inspiring romance and passion — an ideal time for getting decked out in your most glamorous attire and hitting the town. Creative energy abounds — express yourself!
Attend to the nitty gritty details of daily life when the Moon enters this sign of service. Catching up on household chores, organizing the closet, balancing your checkbook — these mundane tasks might sound like a bore, but you feel so much better when you stop procrastinating and get the job done. People tend to be more critical and fault-finding than usual, so pay attention to the little things.
The Moon in the horoscope sign of the Scales brings attention to what’s out of balance, inviting you to create more harmony in your relationships, environment and inner world. Libra is ruled by Venus, the goddess of love, beauty and the arts. Enhance your appearance with a new hair style or clothes, and plan to socialize. Cultural events and creative activities are especially recommended.
Invite your inner witch or wizard to come out of hiding during this magical Moon, a prime time for casting spells and performing rituals. You’re more tuned into both the invisible realm and the dark side now — including shadowy emotions that require an outlet. Share your deepest feelings with someone you trust. This is not a time to party hearty with the crowds — plan an intimate date instead.
When the Moon visits the horoscope sign of the Archer, you’re ready for adventure, exploration and expansion. These days are perfect for travel. If you can’t take a trip in the physical world, broaden your intellectual and spiritual horizons by attending a lecture or workshop. Restlessness is common, as your mental arrows shoot out in multiple directions — plan for lots of activity, movement and socializing.
Now is the optimal time to accomplish any ambitious projects requiring hard work, perseverance and pragmatism. For best results, mimic the Mountain Goat — move slowly, cautiously and deliberately as you reach for the top. Don’t let the heaviness and somber tone of this Moon get you down — if you stay focused on your plans and goals, you feel energized and productive.
You’re in the mood for networking, connecting with friends and all group activities when the Moon calls on community-minded Aquarius. Your intuition is heightened, inviting flashes of insight that help you to see your life from a higher perspective. If you’re feeling stuck, this revolutionary Moon wants to liberate you from old ways of thinking and inspire you to make changes that enhance your sense of freedom.
During this sensitive and squishy Moon, retreat, rest and reflection are recommended. Your dreams are more active than usual, so pay attention — they may have important information for you. The sign of the Fish activates your imagination and fantasies, offering an ideal opportunity for creative expression, especially music, dance, painting and poetry.
THE WHEEL OF A LIFETIME
(NE – Infancy) Everything is brand new and there is a blur between the self and
others. There is also a sense of trust that we will be cared for. We are still
deeply connected to our parents.
(EAST – Childhood) We become more independent from our families. Friends are of
great importance and we find a great many things we are interested in learning
and doing.
(SE – Adolescence) We begin to be more independent from our families. Friends
become very important. We struggle with the uncertainties of who we are and what
we look like to others.
(SOUTH – Young Adult) We finish our formal education and begin to settle into
jobs and perhaps marriage and a family. It is a buy time of caretaking,
establishing careers and community involvement.
(SW – Middle Adulthood) We begin to take a look at our life and at how we can
bring to balance. There is often a shift of focus, perhaps from job to family or
form volunteer organizations to personal interests.
(WEST – Middle Age) This is often a time when we discover that there are things
we are clinging to and need to release before we can move on; perhaps it is a
relationship, a job, a house or a grudge.
(NW – Senior) Children are grown and retirement nears or begins. We find we take
more quiet contemplative time for ourselves. We see things more in perspective
and appreciate things we were too busy to notice before.
(NORTH – Elder) We are grateful for what we have and what we have had in our
lives. We are more accepting of things and are able to guide others without
expectations of how they might use that guidance.
It is important to be aware that we reach these stages at different ages. Some
folks reach the South quite young with an early marriage and family. This may
force them into the care taking of the South before they have had the time to
really process the Southwest. Others take many years to sort out who they are in
the Southwest before they take their place in the South.
THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR
NE – It is the time of the Spring Equinox. Day and night are of equal length.
Our energy begins to build as we begin to come out of the contemplative time of
winter.
EAST – As spring swings into full bloom you feel full of energy and promise. It
is easy to create wonderful plans for the future at this time of year.
SE – It is the time of the Summer Solstice. The days are long and nights are
short. We enjoy the outdoors feeling alive, active and whole. Nature blesses us
with her radiance.
SOUTH – In mid summer we are more active because of the wonderful outdoor
activities available to us. Our gardens are bursting with the earth’s bounty.
SW – It is the time of the Autumn Equinox. Night and day are of equal length
creating a balance point between our active life of summer and our quieter more
inward time of winter.
WEST – As days get shorter and nights longer, we begin to retreat more into the
darkness for introspection. We think about what is and is not working in our
lives.
NW – The Winter Solstice comes. Nights are very long and we find ourselves to be
more receptive to dreams and intuition. We spend more time indoors, our winter
cave of the dreamtime.
NORTH – We find that we sleep longer at night. The quiet evenings offer rest as
well. We may even feel a bit depressed, our body’s way of telling us to take
inward time for ourselves.
THE WHEEL OF THE MONTH
The moons energies affect us on a more emotional level that is hidden to us
unless we carefully pay attention.
The first sliver of the waxing crescent moon represents the Northeast. She is
the newborn moon and reflects all possibilities. That first sight of the new
moon brings a sense of hope for the future.
As the moon moves toward the waxing first quarter, inspiration of the East comes
easily. This comes more often in the form of intuitions or dreams.
When waxing gibbous moon beings to assert herself in the sky, we are in the
Southeast. We may begin to become more aware of how we are feeling. We must be
careful to avoid confusing our feelings with who we are.
The full moon represents the South in all its power and full emotion. We tend to
feel wakeful and full of energy. We can use this energy to get out and enjoy
friends and activities.
As the moon moves into her waning gibbous phase in the Southwest, we calm a
little from the high energy of the full moon. Our emotions may begin to come to
balance as we see what we can create and accept what cannot be.
The waning last quarter moon of the West can at times be jarring. The moon seems
to be deserting us as she becomes smaller and smaller in the sky. Often emotions
must be released in order to be able to move on.
Gradually the waning crescent of the Northwest becomes smaller and smaller. We
are able to let go a little easier and are in a highly intuitive, receptive
state. Deep understandings may come to us at this time.
At last we cannot see the moon at all. We are in the dark of the moon, the
North. This is a deeply inner time that restores us in readiness for the first
glimmering of the visible new moon as we continue around and around.
You average wall calendar divides the moon’s cycle into four equal phases called the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter. It would be remarkably nifty if these four quarters matched the waxing full-waning-dark classification that the layperson observes by looking up into the night sky, but it isn’t so. The four quarters are each seven days long and as you probably know by observation, the full moon doesn’t last a week-long, nor does the dark moon.
The first quarter begins with the dark moon. The sun, moon, and the earth are all lined up during the beginning of the lunar cycle. This is a terrific time to launch new projects or undertakings, because the sun’s energy is traveling along the same energy paths as the moon’s energy, giving you a two-for-one zip to your magick. The moon rises in the early morning and sets around sunset, rising and setting a bit later each day. This is why you don’t see the moon for about three days; it’s keeping the same hours and position that the sun is keeping. When the moon reaches a point where it’s setting slightly later than the sun, it can be seen as a luminous slim crescent hanging low in the western sky for a few minutes after the sun goes down. The first quarter is a good time to work on issues involving children, animals, plants and motivation.
The second quarter begins halfway between the dark moon and the full moon. The moon is seen as a half circle, which rise around mid-day and sets around twelve at night. The second quarter is excellent for expansion, patience, peace, family and harmony.
The third quarter begins with the full moon, rising at sunset and setting at dawn, The full moon is ideal for powering those ventures you started at the dark moon and for almost everything knowledge, love, money, protection, dreams and psychic powers. Two days after a full moon is when the moon appears to begin waning. This begins a time of decrease; where you can prune away old and outgrown thoughts and habits and discard what is no longer benefiting you. Use this energy for health and healing (as in banishing illness), protection, difficult decision and easing stress.
The fourth quarter begins halfway between the full moon and the dark moon. The moon rises just after midnight and sets around noon. This energy is good for justice, endings, separation, and limiting action or expansion.
These quarters aren’t absolute, of course; the moon moves through them all sequentially, occupying a lightly different position each day.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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