Even if you don’t consider yourself a witch, you have probably felt the magic of the full moon. The energy is high and things that were once in the dark are being brought to light. For this reason, it can be a very intense time for some who don’t know how to channel the energy. But if you learn how to effectively channel the energy, it can be an extremely powerful time for spellwork, making it easy to raise the energy for more successful outcomes.
In witchcraft, we call these monthly full moons “Esbats.” The cycle of the full moon is like that of the Sabbats, but it happens every month instead of a once-a-year cycle. The full moon is like the holiday of the moon cycle, a time for celebration and gathering together. Many witches hold group rituals on this sacred phase of the moon. Think of the full moon as the peak of energy before the moon and the energy begins to wane.
In this article, we will go over five of my favorite ways you can honor the Esbats, or create a monthly ritual for the full moon in order to make the most of the full moon energy.
1. Take a Ritual Bath
Ritual baths are my top favorite thing to do during a full moon. It’s the perfect thing to do when you just don’t have the motivation to do an elaborate ritual. I love relaxing in the bath, so why not make it witchy?
While ritual baths are a great thing to do for the new moon as well, they are excellent for a full moon to ground and let go. If you do have the energy for a spell or ritual afterward, so you can enter your sacred space physically and energetically cleansed. You can still use your shower if you don’t have a bath! Visualize the water cleansing the negativity and washing it off your body and down the drain.
Set an intention before you draw the bath and choose herbs, crystals, and colored candles that match your intention. You can burn the herbs and smoke to cleanse the space or add them to the bathwater. If you don’t like herbs floating around, you can use a teabag to contain them. As you soak in the water, reflect on all of your victories, big or small, and practice gratitude. If you work with deities, you can use this time to thank them.
2. Cleanse Your Space (and Yourself)
With so much high energy swirling in the atmosphere, cleansing your space is an important part of your full moon ritual. I like to open my windows and smoke cleanse my entire home with sacred plants. Banishing negative energy allows me to take full advantage of the positive energy that the full moon offers.
Since the full moon is such an important time to let go of what no longer serves you, cleansing yourself is another powerful ritual you can do. Move the smoke around your body and allow yourself to pass through it, the old stale energy detaching from your body and leaving as you let go.
Another thing I like to do is smoke cleanse any divination tools or ritual tools I use for spells. I will pass them through the smoke, visualizing any energy they were holding onto from previous spellwork being cleared. White Sage is great to use for this because it will clear all energy so you can program the items for your next spell or ritual.
3. Do a Yoga Flow
A great way to balance any excess energy in your body and ground yourself on the full moon is to do a yoga flow. Since your energy may be too high to sit through a traditional meditation, yoga is a great alternative. It is essentially a moving meditation where you focus on your breath along with the movements.
To keep with the moon theme, you could do a few moon salutations, or choose a premade flow depending on your energy level. If you have a lot of excess energy, look for a vinyasa flow, or if you need grounding, find a yin yoga routine.
I practice yoga daily but when I use it as part of a ritual, I like to add something to make it special and set the mood. Light a candle, some incense, outline your mat with crystals, or whatever helps you get into the right mindset for this moving meditation.
4. Charge Your Crystals
As a proud crystal collector, this is the most important part of my full moon routine! The opportunity to charge my crystals in the moonlight only comes once a cycle so if I don’t do anything else, this is one thing I never skip.
The releasing and empowering energy of the full moon is the perfect combination for charging crystals or any other ritual tools. It basically supercharges what they are meant to do and releases stagnant energy. I like to do this after smoke cleansing, but you can easily use this in place of smoke cleansing because the full moon does a fine job at this as well.
If you have the opportunity, you can place them directly on the earth to soak up the moonlight. If you can’t do that, the windowsill works just fine! Whether or not it is cloudy does not affect how powerful the moon will charge the crystals. However, if it is rainy, make sure not to set out crystals that get damaged by water.
Gather them before the sun comes up, but if they get a bit of sunlight, it does not reverse the effects. This is a common misconception. In fact, some people prefer to let their crystals get a few hours of morning light. Just remember that some crystals fade in direct sunlight.
5. Make Moon Water
Moon water can be made in much the same way as charging crystals. You can capture the powerful magic of the moon in a clear glass jar of water, which is what we call moon water.
Once charged, there are many ways you can use your moon water. The first way is for cleansing. Since it is charged with the releasing energy of the Full Moon, you can use it to remove stagnant energy from tools or other items. If you use it to cleanse crystals, make sure they are water safe. To cleanse the air with moon water, you can use it in your essential oil diffuser with oils to match your intentions.
Another way you can use it is for yourself! Many people drink the water (if you do this, make sure the jar was sealed while charging). You could add it to a ritual bath, use it for tea, in a ritual spray, or have it blessed as holy water if that is in your practice and use it for anointing yourself.
You could simply put it on your altar to represent the water element and use it for spellwork. My favorite thing to do is water your plants with it. I like to visualize my intentions sinking into the soil and coming back up through the roots, the stem, the leaves, and being released back into the universe.
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