Dark Moon - Last day of this lunar cycle

"I'm one with the Goddess
and open to Her Wisdom."


30th Day of the 12th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hecate
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Ngetal/Reed
Celtic Tree Cycle ~ Ruis/Elder
Moon Phase: Dark moon
Moon rises: 7:05AM EST
Moon sets: 4:03PM EST
Moon in the Mutable Fire
Sign of Sagittarius
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The blessings of age
Sun in Sagittarius
Sunrise: 7:38AM EST
Sunset: 4:51PM EST
Solar Question for the Day: ""Where
are you most vulnerable?"
Samhain (Calan Gaeaf) Quarter of the Year
December 15th, 2009

The Dark Moon


Take advantage of this powerful force.
 
The dark of the Moon, or "Dark Moon," evokes images of secret rituals and mysterious psychic energies. Indeed, it can be a time of great power. The Dark Moon occurs during the last three days of the lunar cycle, just before the New Moon. The energy during this phase is slowing down and turning inward. It's a time of retreat, healing and renewal.

It's a time of getting in touch with your inner life and purging unneeded attitudes, feelings and material junk, in preparation for the New Moon, which heralds a new beginning. Most important, the Dark Moon helps eliminate anything (or anyone) in your life that holds you back from your true path. Being in tune with the Dark Moon phase will help you take the steps to manifest greater fulfillment in your life.
Here are some suggestions to help you take advantage of the Dark Moon.

A physical cleanse

Slow down and take a breath. Get in touch with what your body needs. Do you have negative habits you need to eliminate? Do you need to stop smoking or decrease your consumption of alcohol? Are you eating too much sugar - or eating too much, period? Are you exercising regularly? The Dark Moon is an excellent time to prepare for a healthier you by consulting a health professional, starting a health journal, fasting for a day or getting a colonic. Be sure to review what changes you need to make to improve your health. Then launch your new health program after the New Moon.


A material cleanse

And let's not forget the material stuff. The Dark Moon is an excellent time to clean out your closets and garage. Then hold a yard sale or give your possessions to a charity. Clearing out unneeded stuff is good feng shui that clears the way for new opportunities to enter your life (and house!).

Emotional healing

Ahh, therapy. Talking with someone you trust about your feelings during the Dark Moon can bring surprising insights. After all, the Dark Moon is all about healing and making friends with the inner you. And to be your own best friend, you need to resolve feelings of hurt, jealousy and anger - or anything else standing in the way of being emotionally healthy. Starting a journal during the Dark Moon will improve your clarity, too. Take some time to think about what you need emotionally - from yourself and others. Do you have a good balance between alone time and time spent with loved ones? Do you need to say goodbye to some negative people in your life? The Dark Moon will help you see what changes you need to make to be emotionally fulfilled.

Spiritual tune up

Finally (and perhaps most important), ask yourself if you're taking time for your spirituality. Like many of us, your life may be filled to the brink with accomplishing things that need to get done. If so, it's time to stop what you're doing for a time, and go inward. The Dark Moon is an excellent time to go on a spiritual retreat, join a spiritual group, start a dream journal or begin meditating regularly. Anything that gets you in touch with your soul. Next, begin incorporating at least some of these activities into your daily life. Then your inner voice won't have to shout to be heard.

If you're consciously working with the Dark Moon phase each month, you'll eventually find yourself free from emotional and physical clutter - and filled with love, creativity and purpose.

From: http://www.californiapsychics.com/articles/Features/2222/The_Dark_Moon.aspx
 
 
  If the Dark Moon phase is one you feel aligned with then this is a great book to be in your collection:

I have had a copy of this book for many years and find myself returning to time and again to help re-align myself with the moon. This special time in a lunar cycle, the night before the New Moon, is less familiar to most of us and yet is as equally powerful as the Full Moon. There are no secrets on the Dark Moon Path, but there is plenty of hidden wisdom. Deepen your understanding of the Moon as the Goddess as you experience the intuitive and deep healing powers of the dark. 
 
The rituals for each lunar month, done on the Dark Moon day/night, will explore the unknown within ourselves so that can rebalance and weave  together the sunlight and moonlit parts of ourselves.
 
This Dark Moon and the others in the Winter Season are Dark Crone moons. At this time of the year the Dark Moon Path descends to unbelievable depths as we approach the Goddess as Crone. We see the season of winter as the season of the Crone. The leaves fall from the trees and show us a stark vision of the world that is cold and seems deserted. We have to look to see the beauty and we have to search to find the joy.

   The word 'crone' evokes strong emotions in us. We see images of fearsome old women with no teeth and wrinkles that seem to end. Crone evokes images of a witch burning Hansel and Gretel in an oven. Crone evokes images of dark, stormny nights filled with terror and screams. Crone looks into the heart and tells us magic and mystery that is full of awe and wonder if we are brave and look back into the abyss. We must look beyond the fearsome displays of power and might. The modern feminint movement and the women's spirituality movement has worked to reclaim the word crone as one of power and magic.
   Crones are regarded as powerful because they did not bleed. They had strong magic to hold back the flow of monthly menses and keep the power of blood within. Wicca celebrates the Waning Moon as the moon of the Crone. She is so strong that she can hold back the light of the moon.
    We approach the Crone, seeking her wisdom and acknowledging her power. The Crone has earned her right to be powerful through living her life to the fullest. She knows of sorrow, pain, and joy. She knows of choices made. These choices may be good ones and bad ones. She knows that the important thing is to make the choice. The Crone never says, "I have no choice." She says, "I choose."

   =Crones are active and moving. Crones work alone and they work with others. After all, that is what cronies are. Crones do not sit on a cliff, granting audiences to supplicants. Crones demand. Crones act. Crones create, move, sing, talk, kvetch, dance, walk, run and more. It is action and purpose that characterizes the Crone. Action and purpose.
   It is easy to see the Dark in the Crone. She has seen life and she has seen death. She knows that life is cut short or life goes on too long. She knows that death comes quickly with incredible shock. She knows that death teases us with disease, illness and lingering pain. She knows that life comes with puppies and babies. She knows that life comes when an elderly woman takes a poetry class for the first time and spends her last years writing the poetry she kept inside during her youth. The Dark and the Crone naturally weave together because shye sees the irony and the blessing as joy interweaves with grief. The Crone knows that with the bitter comes the sweet. The Crone knows and understands.