The Holistic Empath

With the full moon approaching, it is said that it is a GREAT time to release negativity you may have out into Mother Earth.  It is a time of letting go.  This is called Esbats.

Esbats are regular meetings of the witches coven or circle that is traditionally held during the full moon approximately thirteen times a year.  The Esbat should not be confused with the Sabbat, which takes place eight times within the course of a year and corresponds with the seasonal cycle of Sun and Earth. Esbats are a little different from sabbats. Generally, not as much preparation and ritual goes into celebrating them. Some Wiccans, like me, consider them to be the rituals held on the nights of the full moon throughout the year, for a total of 13 Esbats in all. Others believe them to be days or nights set aside for magickal workings. Here, any moon phase can be used for an Esbat, depending upon your need at the time.  Being I am a solitary, I do rituals on my own that do not require the Esbats yet hold the same ideals.

The full moon completes the cycle, representing death, change, or tying up loose ends. The full moon symbolizes the end chapter, shedding light on the things that we no longer need to hold on to.

Full Moon is an opportune time of the month for purging rituals to take place. The light the full moon offers illuminates those things that are interfering with our spiritual advancements. Once we have become enlightened to ways that are blocking us, the easier to let go. The full moon ritual is for releasing or purging the things in our lives that no longer serve us such as addictions to food, drugs, or sex, relinquishing suffering involved in hurtful relationships, discharging physical and emotional pains, etc.

At the Full Moon, the energy builds and builds….there’s an explosive outgoing aspect to it. All of nature grows and is more vital at the full Moon. This surge allows you to take action on behalf of those new Moon intentions you set two week prior. A full Moon ritual might involve taking one solid step, with a symbolic action. And it can be a powerful time to release, cast out, unburden yourself, purge, etc. You celebrate your emergence by stepping out of an old skin, identity, behavior, attitude, relationship. The ritual helps you by marking this inner transformation in a formal way.

A full Moon ritual might involve purification by one of the elements. Most often, it’s fire, and done by casting something you don’t want into the flames. One idea: 1) Write what you’re releasing down on a stick. 2) resolve to let go as you throw it into the fire. 3) Throw the stick into the fire. This can be done as a group, with everyone sitting ’round the fire…or in your own private ceremony. Each person can seal their action of letting go by speaking it aloud, if there’s trust in the circle.

Water can be used to cleanse in rituals. I remember a very meaningful full Moon ceremony I had at my house with three other women. We had filled a blue bowl with water and some rose petals. Each of us wrote down what we wanted to draw into our lives on a piece of paper. After we read them aloud, we put our hands in the bowl to signify the cleansing of the old, to open to the new. It’s still one of my favorite memories. Mainly it worked because we all trusted each other to be open hearted and share our dreams. When that’s there, you can evoke the magic of shifting consciousness at will because the support is palpable.

Full Moon Release Ritual
Items you’ll need: Floating candles, a large bowl, water, matches, a pen.

• 1. Create sacred space with candles, sage smudging, and setting up altars with powerful totems. For some rituals, I’ll use an owl’s wing that a friend gave me, to represent wisdom.
• 2. If possible, stand or sit under the Moon. Allow yourself to feel a direct relationship to it, as a mover of the living waters of the Earth and within our own bodies.
• 3. Do a grounding exercise, to bring you out of the chatter of small talk and into ritual space. Feel the earth under your feet and shake out the tension in the body.
• 4. Place the large water-filled bowl in front of you, or in the middle of your gathering on a table.
• 5. Each person writes what they’re releasing on the floating candle. It’s not important that it shows up, just that the intention is there.
• 6. As you place the candle into the bowl, declare what you’re releasing.
• 7. Light the candle.
• 8. Allow yourself to feel the transfer of what you’re releasing to the candle. As a group focus on letting go into the water, holding hands if that feels right.
• 9. Celebrate this release by sharing a feast under the full Moon!

Allow the candle to keep burning in the bowl as a symbol of the letting go process. The flame is a purifier, and symbolizes the sparks of inspiration as well. If you blow out your floating candle, and your bowl is in your home, relighting it will remind you of your commitment. Place inspiring pictures and totems around it that remind you of whom you’re becoming. Above all, give yourself kudos for honoring your own growth.