New Moon, June 25, 3 Cancer 58, 12:05 pm EDT
A Ritual for Blessing the Home
New Moon in Cancer, as the sign of home and mother, is a good time of year to do a ritual house cleansing, blessing and protection. Of course it's always best to do a good old-fashioned non-ritual cleansing and decluttering first. You can do the ritual alone, or with others in your family. With family is good, both because then all can be vested in the intent, and also because the various parts can be assigned so that the whole process takes less time. If you are working with others, explain the process before you begin, and you also might join hands in a circle to call upon the Mother Goddess (or whatever deity or deities you prefer) to aid you in your work.
Begin with a broom just inside the front door. Move clockwise all around the perimeter of your home sweeping from center to wall and then forward a bit, with the intent that you are gathering all unwanted energy into a pile that you will sweep along with you until you've gathered it all. When you get back to the front door, open it and firmly sweep the pile out, banishing it. If you have land around your house, you can then also continue on, sweeping around the outside of the house, this time visualizing that you are sweeping all that unwanted stuff completely off of your property into oblivion, with harm to none (because you don't want to send it to your neighbors)!
Next, bless Water and Earth (a bowl of salted water, then again move clockwise around your entire home, dipping your fingers and sprinkling, with the intent that you are completing the cleansing of your space. Follow this with blessed Fire and Air (incense), with the intent of beginning to charge your home with energies that you want to be present.
Finally, bless and light a white candle, and carry it all around your home. Your intent now is to seal what you have done, and to protect your home from the intrusion of harmful energy. Hold that intent as you move. Pause at each opening to your home (doors, windows, vents, even phones and internet accesses), and scribe a pentagram or a solar cross in the air before the opening. When you are finished, give thanks to the deity or deities you have called and then extinguish the candle.
First Quarter Moon, July 2, 11 Libra 37, 12:37 pm EDT
Action Phase, but this time, think before you act!
I caution "think" because Mercury, in the first degree of Leo, turns retrograde tomorrow. His theme is communication, and retrograde has a bad rep for causing problems with that. With the caveat that sometimes, when the retrograde station has been in close aspect with personal points in my chart, I've found that the "rep" seems to fit, my opinion is that most of the time Mercury retrograde is treated like the great astrological superstition. It's an easy out to blame Mercury for problems, but if you use the retrograde period well, it can be useful and productive. For example, it's a good time to revise, edit and catch up on things. What you'd best avoid is rushing to sign documents or dash off any important communication just before the retrograde, because rushing all too often means the necessity to revise (or worse) later. Remember, when you rush, whomever you're rushing to communicate with will be dealing with it during the retrograde. It could be better to carefully double check your own work first and then go ahead and send it during the retrograde. You could time so that it will be received when Mercury is direct. The direct station is July 28 at 8:40 pm EDT.
Libra Moon is sociable and friendly, and favors compromise. It's part of the long 4th of July holiday "weekend" so organize a holiday party with family and friends. Enjoy!
First Quarter changes to Gibbous Moon on July 7 with Moon entering goal oriented and enthusiastic Sagittarius. Your mood and that of others around you may exhude optimism and confidence. You could channel that energy toward a goal you'd like to bring to culmination at Full Moon. If you're feeling restless, try something new this weekend.
Full Moon in 18 Capricorn 42 occurs on July 10 at 11:02 pm EDT
Moon usually appears full for 3 days. Many of those who work group ritual at Full Moon will meet on the weekend of July 8-9, and that is fine, because aspects that are applying (in this case, Moon approaching opposition to Sun) are stronger than when separating. If you are working solitary, begin a little earlier than the moment of Full Moon on Monday evening, That would be ideal.
At Full Moon, Moon is opposite Sun in the sky. She fully reflects Sun's light on Earth, often so brightly that night seems almost like daylight. Sun represents our purpose, and Moon our deeper inner self of emotion, memory, soul. Sun's light can be blinding, but Full Moon shows us that light more softly, such that we can contemplate it both objectively and intuitively. The two are opposites, but complementary opposites, and what is asked of us is balance. Sun in Cancer marks the seasonal sign most closely associated with home and mother. Capricorn, an earth sign, reminds us that Mother Earth is our ultimate mother, and her welfare depends upon all of us. A good rite for this Full Moon, then, would be the setting of resolve to do some service in support of Mother Earth. Your choice could be anyone of a myriad of things. Probably you can think of at least one without prompting, but if not, a quick internet search will turn up plenty. Here's a good one I found just by interrupting the writing of this sentence for about 5 seconds: http://www.eco-pros.com/waysyoucanhelp.htm
So, choose what you will pledge to do, then find a symbol to include in your rite that will represent your intent. (Writing it down on a small paper will do, if you can't find an appropriate symbol.) Working outside where you can see the New Moon, if at all possible, create sacred space around you in your usual way. (If you're new to ritual, your intent is far more important than the method. As a simple method, you could light a candle as you ask the blessings of Goddess, Then bless a a bowl of water and a small amount of salt, blend them together like the saltwater womb of Earth and sprinkle the mixture all around your working area to cleanse it. Then bless and light incense (fire and air) and again circle your area to charge it. Meditate on your intent while holding your symbol until you feel fully ready and resolved. Then, hold your symbol upward to catch the Full Moon light, and say or chant nine times:
