Moon Practice: Ritual for a Spring Full Moon

On April 19th, the moon will be full again. It falls on Easter weekend, the time commemorating Jesus’ death and rebirth in the Christian tradition, and the first day of Passover, which celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt in the Jewish tradition.

April’s full moon has a traditional name given to it by indigenous peoples that would count time by the moons: the Full Pink Moon. It is named after the pink phlox that would cover the ground in April, indicating the first flowers of the spring season.

Spring is a time of hope, liberation, new beginnings, and rebirth after death. It is a powerful time to honor and celebrate a full moon. Full moons are traditionally about ripening, harvesting, and letting go—they are about completion, even sometimes about death. The spring season, on the other hand, is all about birth and new beginnings. So this particular spring full moon is a good time to be thinking about how we want to set ourselves free from the obstacles that are in our path so that we can be ready to nurture the new energy and new hope that rises with the pink phlox this season.

Lately, I've been celebrating the moon cycles with intuitive rituals. They are not necessarily based on any particular moon tradition because I haven’t inherited any, so I’ve simply been using the symbols that make sense to me and running with them. It has felt very powerful for me to reflect on how I might like to symbolize what I’m feeling with each new moon and full moon and create a ritual to mark that time. Feel free to take whatever you like from this practice and adjust in whatever way feels intuitive to you, including with any traditions you might feel close to this time of year.

You’ll need:

• A candle
• Pen and paper
• A bowl of water
• Salt
• A jar or container

Light the candle to initiate the start of the ritual. Then spend some time writing down what you are ready to say goodbye to on this full moon. What are you grieving? What are you releasing? What stands between you and what you want?

On a fresh page, write down what you're hoping to make space for as you let go of what no longer serves you this full moon. These are your hopes, dreams, and wishes.

When you are ready, read the paper out loud with your goodbyes, and then carefully burn it over the bowl of water. Drop it into the water before you burn yourself, and don’t worry if it’s not completely burned up. Fire represents death and transformation.

Sprinkle some salt into the bowl containing the water and the ashes, which symbolically purifies the contents.

Fold up the paper with your hopes and wishes and put it away somewhere, like in your wallet or nightstand. Keep it until the new moon, when you will refer back to the wishes you made and, if you like, move through another ritual, this one for new beginnings. (That post publishes May 2nd.)

Pour the water, salt, and ashes into a container. Take the container outside and find a safe place to (respectfully) pour the remnants into the earth. Don’t drown any new flowers in ashes or anything, but if there’s a place that feels right where you won’t kill any plants, releasing the remnants into the earth represents burying your losses and allowing them to become seeds for some new birth when then time is right.

Stay tuned for my next post on what to do when the new moon comes back around again!

Check out Julie’s online course Moon Goddess Meditations for journaling and meditations that you can do for every night of a waxing moon cycle.