Full moon rituals are a transformational tool that can help you to get more in touch with the energy of the moon whilst embracing personal growth.
Doing your own sacred ritual on the full moon can help you to heal, release, and let go of stagnant energy that no longer serves you.
In this article, we take a look at some simple full-moon rituals that you can try for yourself to improve your personal development and enhance your spiritual journey.
What Moon Phase Is Best For Cleansing?
The best moon phase for healing and letting go is the full moon. The full moon is a great time to release old energy, purify, and cleanse.
However, it symbolises the peak of the lunar cycle, and so it also represents full manifestation too. So, you can also use the full moon to celebrate manifestation and the fruits of your labour depending on your current needs.
If you did a manifestation ritual on the new moon, the intentions you set at the new moon ritual will have either come to full fruition with the energy of the full moon or are still building momentum and are in the process of coming to full fruition.
You can think of it like this; your intention grows and manifests with the ‘growing’ moon.
After the blessing of manifestation and abundance—from the new moon to the full moon—the full moon becomes the best time to start planning what you wish to release and let go of so that you can make more space in your life. Because as the full moon starts to disappear from the sky, you can use this lunar energy to dissolve anything that doesn’t serve you.
When it comes to your moon cycle rituals, simply use your intuition to see what you need in the current moment and whether you need to celebrate the fruits of your labour from the new moon ritual, or begin a new process of healing and release.
If you’d like to learn more about using the lunar energy of the new moon to set intentions for manifestation then you can read more about new moon rituals to attract positive energy in my blog article here.
Understanding The Four Major Moon Phases:
- New moon
- First-quarter
- Full moon
- Last-quarter.
In between the four major moon phases, there are also four minor moon phases too. The moon is called either crescent or gibbous in the minor phases. A crescent moon looks like a semi-circle, and the gibbous moon looks like a wonky circle.
A waxing moon is in between the new moon to the full moon—this is when the moon appears to be growing. And the waning moon is the period between the full moon to the new moon—at this point, it looks like the moon is disappearing.
7 Full Moon Rituals For Cleansing And Healing
I highly recommend starting your cleansing full moon ritual with cleaning—literally.
The full moon is a powerful time to sort through your rubbish, let go, and clean everything out—physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically.
Cleaning your house, and organising your life is a powerful message to send to the universe. It infuses your moon magic with intention and shows the universe that you mean business.
Here is the framework for a really simple full moon ritual, but you can tailor it to your own needs. The most important part of your sacred ritual is channelling your intention and focus. So the ritual itself can be as simple or elaborate as you wish.
Simply listen to your intuition and get a feel for if your full moon ritual should be more complicated, or perhaps simpler, and tailor your ceremony to suit you.
Framework For A Simple Moon Ritual:
Element Symbols
Firstly, you’ll need to choose your representation of the elements; earth, air, fire, water and spirit.
I like to use:
- A crystal (such as clear quartz) and a bowl of salt = earth
- Incense, palo santo or sage = air
- Candle = fire
- Kitchen tap water with salt, seawater, or river water with salt = sacred water
- A deity statue = Spirit
*Tip: You can use incense instead of palo santo or sage. It’s a lot cheaper and just as effective. Your spell tools don’t always need to be fancy or expensive, in fact, you can often use household items.
Cleansing, Charging And Protection
It’s nice to have a special area to perform your sacred rituals. Or at least, somewhere quiet where you won’t be distracted or disturbed for the ceremony duration. You’ll want to be able to focus and tune into subtle energy, so removing distractions is quite important.
- It’s common to take a cleansing ritual bath before setting up for a spiritual ceremony. But you can skip this step if you want to do a ritual bath in the body of your ritual instead.
- Create your sacred space.
- Work out which direction is north, east, south and west. There are many compass apps that will tell you the cardinal points.
- Put your elemental symbols into the correct position around your sacred circle.
- A crystal and bowl of salt (earth) = North
- Incense (air) = East
- Candle (fire) = South
- Sacred water (water) = West
- Deity (Spirit) = centre of the moon circle
- Next you need to open the circle and call in the help of the guardians of the elements and cardinal points.
Walk with each element symbol around the circle. Go from clockwise from north with each item (north, east, south, to west). And then put the item back in its cardinal direction.
As you walk, intentionally focus on the space being energetically cleansed. And ask for the guardians of the element to help and protect your moon circle.
Start with the salt, and sprinkle it as you walk. Do the same with the incense and the candle. When you walk with the sacred water, you can also sprinkle this onto the ground.
Use your mind’s eye to envision a protective white light keeping your sacred circle safe.
- Next you can perform the body of your moon ritual—simply choose from one of the options below.
- When you feel like you are finished with your full moon ritual, close the ritual space by taking each element around the circle anti-clockwise in the same way that you opened the ritual. Walk from north, west, south and east with each element symbol.
Thank your guides and the guardians of the cardinal points for their help and blessing in your moon spell.
- Take the salt and sacred water outside and offer it to the earth with a gratitude prayer.
And finish your moon blessing by putting all of your ritual tools back on your altar. Then take some well-deserved rest!
Full Moon Ritual Body Ideas
Here are a few ideas to get you started with your full moon ritual. You can use these healing rituals in the middle of your sacred full moon ceremony.
There are so many different ways that you can intentionally perform a healing and release ceremony. Allow yourself to be creative and see what resonates most.
1. Ritual Moon Bath
Water is extremely powerful and healing, so it’s a great spiritual tool for cleansing stagnant or negative energy.
You can take a ritual bath, and infuse the water with epsom salts and essential oils. Or if you’re more adventurous and the weather permits you can perform a moon ritual bath outside.
You can use the ocean, a stream, or a river to bathe in the full moonlight. Even if you don’t live close to sacred water sources or the ocean, you can still store and use holy water at home.
The next time you go to the beach, just fill a bottle with ocean water. And you can easily store this water at home to use in your rituals. You can also charge your water under the full moon with crystals to create sacred moon water.
2. Ceremonial Fire And Spiritual Journaling
Fire rituals are renowned for being a potent tool for spiritual purification.
Either you can create a small fire pit in your garden. Or you can buy a metal burning bowl and use it for a contained small fire if you don’t have a garden.
Please use common sense and don’t make fires within your home! But if you have a small metal burning bowl, either you can use it on your balcony if you have one. Or you can do your ritual inside your home, and simply take the burning bowl to a safe quiet space outside after the ceremony to complete the burning section of your ritual.
If you’d like to do some journaling, you can write down all the things you wish to release and let go of. And then sacrifice the paper into your fire to complete your burning ceremony.
*Pro-tip: Remember to be really specific and intentional in your requests when using rituals, journaling and vision boards. Having clarity and being super clear is really important to ensure that your needs are met.
3. Ritual Dance
Dance and movement are great ways to shift stagnant energy. And not only that but they also help to raise energy in sacred ceremonies.
Make yourself a special playlist that helps you to cultivate the appropriate vibration. Or you can access my free music playlists through my free resource library.
The music that you choose is entirely up to you, so use your inner awareness and intuition to choose whatever feels right.
When you’re dancing or moving, just allow your body to flow with the rhythm. Try not to plan, curate, or push. Just start to move with the music and see what arises. Invite the energy and music to guide you, and try not to judge yourself!
4. Reiki Self-Massage
Reiki self-massage is a powerful tool within a sacred healing ritual. Simply lay in a comfortable position on your back, and relax your entire body.
Use your breath to centre, and ground down into the earth. Focus on the inhale and exhale, ensuring that they’re long and deep.
You can use a natural oil like coconut oil, and massage your body in small circles and upward strokes towards your heart.
Be present with each stroke, and envision the positive energy you are moving through the body towards your heart. Envision yourself also moving stagnant energy from any areas of tension, and it releasing from your body.
5. Vocal Release
Vocal work is a great way to release stored tension and stagnant energy in your moon magic ritual.
You can use your voice in any way that feels good such as singing, speaking, screaming, shouting, and chanting. There are many different modalities to use the voice as an access point for healing and release.
And did you know that the vagina and voice are connected? You can read my blog article here on the benefits of awakening the voice and vagina connection.
Also, if you’d like to learn more about the different ways that you can use your voice for healing and empowerment you can check out my blog article here for more ideas on how to incorporate vocal release into your rituals.
6. Breathwork And Meditation
Breathwork is beneficial in so many ways to heal the body and release tension.
Simply sit in a comfortable seated position, or lay down, and close your eyes. And then you can begin a deep breathing meditation. If you prefer guidance, then use a guided meditation to help you to stay focused.
Through your inhale, focus on fresh life force entering your body. Ans through your exhale, allow your breath to release any tension, emotions, thoughts, feelings, or behaviours which no longer serve you.
During your meditation, you can visualize the moon’s energy bathing you in its rays, and cleansing you with its healing lunar energy.
If you are new to meditation then only practice for a comfortable amount of time. And as your focus and mindfulness improve you’ll naturally be able to sit for longer periods of time.
7. Smudging Ritual
Smudging is a beautiful addition to any moon ritual. You can use incense, sage or palo santo.
Sit or lay in the middle of your sacred moon circle and pass the smoke over and around your body.
Focus on releasing and letting go of anything that no longer serves you, and allow the smoke to cleanse and purify your subtle energy field.
Full Moon Release Examples
If you need some inspiration for your next moon energy ritual here are some great ideas to get you started for release, healing, and intention setting!
- Let go of self-sabotaging thoughts and negative self-talk
- Release the attachment to a job that no longer serves you
- Rewrite a bad money mindset or financial habits
- Let go of your attachment to toxic people within your life
- Release a bad habit or recurring negative thought
- Let go of fear and self-doubt
- Release mental, physical or emotional pain to make space for grieving, acceptance, and healing
Conclusion
Full moon rituals are a really easy way to harness your inner power and clear negative energy. You can perform a simple ritual, or create a ceremony that is intricate and elaborate—the choice is yours.
Using the energy of the moon cycle to increase your spiritual intention and spell casting is a really great way to bring harmony into your spiritual journey to enhance personal growth.
Let me know if you’re going to allow yourself to heal, grow, and move into the next phase of your life with a sacred ritual of release in the comments!
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