Insights by Kerstin Hern of The Mirrored Lantern / Original art for J. Southern Studio by Spirited Animals
Happy new year, friends! We have collectively entered the energy of 2023, a “7” year in numerology… Sevens are spiritual numbers that offer opportunity to reflect, engage philosophy and spiritual inquiry for personal growth, thoughtful analyzation in all matters, and psychological integration and wholeness.
Along with this theme of reflection is that we start the year in a handful of retrograde planetary energy. Mercury (communication, thinking, writing) is in retrograde until the 18th, Mars (action, desire, passion, motivation) until the 12th, and Uranus (technology, major shifts, disruptions, sacred challenges, transformation) until the 22nd.
These Rxs create space to pause and reflect on the past year, reflect on the recent shift into a new yearly cycle, identify updated needs and desires, and assess your current goals as you start a new yearly cycle.
Some of the most notable 2023 energy shifts and year-ahead transits that only happen every handful of years or more are below:
Eclipses also happen every year, but the number of them can range from 4 to 7, max. This year, we have the minimum of 4, indicating less “chopping out” energy threaded into 2023 and more ease and grace with changes. Counting retrograde planets, the eclipses happen in Aries (new moon), Scorpio (full moon), Libra (new moon), and Taurus (full moon). The Libra and Taurus eclipses both happen in October, so expect that month to be very transformative, especially in your intimate relationships, health, and wealth.
Make note of the specific full and new moon energy and some of this month’s significant transits below to prepare for and work with the cosmic flow in January. Use the full and new moons’ symbols, themes, each lunation’s tarot card partner, herbs for candle magick, crystals, affirmations, and more to personalize your own rituals around invocations and releases during those energetic portals.
Notable Transits:
SYNOPSIS:
We begin the new year with a handful of planets in Rx, including thinking and doing planets, Mercury and Mars, respectively. Attuning to the Hermetic Principle of as above, so below, the living sky is communicating engaging all the “re” words as the moon gains fullness: revisit, revise, redo, reevaluate, and recommit to healthy and happy ways go thinking and doing/being to start the year in our new energetic skin full of potential. Pluto is also in Capricorn, so an air of cleansing transformation, along with Uranus (a sudden transformation planet) will be trining the sun and sextiling the moon… These are two significant “harmony” aspects, so any work you put in during this lunation portal is being blessed by the big-shifters Pluto and Uranus. By participating in compassionate reflection over 2022 and making note of improvements you’d like to embody in 2023, potentially surprising sudden shifts may happen, so flow with them and you will see how they are working in your favor around your updated intentions.
After the peak in the disseminating phase is release time, so use the full moon portal as a time of reflection and gratitude with its light shining on everything, including any 2022 bits still lurking that you are ready to finally transmute… Name them and use your Will and intention to release what no longer serves the person you are becoming in 2023. These final releases to start the year create room for new abundance and prosperity to come in, but you must trust the releases. Some of you may want to hold onto the “old” thing until the “new” thing is sure-fire happening and in-hand, but that is a scarcity mindset that is disconnected from inner trust and universal trust. When you can titrate risk and be in the liminal, the between-place, the transformation space—that is where you grow and evolve. WHen the time is right, all that you ask for or better comes in and you will feel held by the universe.
To that point: Forgiveness is energetic cleansing medicine that removes blockages between you and manifesting abundance. Full moons are times of abundance accumulated from the previous new moon… So reflection, gratitude and then forgiveness and release are all meaningful practices.
THEMES & SYMBOLS:
Reflection, gratitude, forgiveness, transformation, unexpected/sudden emotions, happy change, themes of security, protectiveness, roots, home, family of origin, chosen family, domestic matters, nurturing, maternal energy, children, connectedness, deep emotions, intuition, sensitivity to energy, compassion, empathy, devotion, meaningful dreams, housecleaning, personal power, connection to ancestry, creature comforts, sky blue, aqua, turquoise, sea foam green, teal, ruby, crab, crustacean claws, seashells, ocean waves, ebb and flow, Wolf Moon
YOUR FULL MOON LUNATION HOUSE:
Find your sun or rising sign below to see what area of your life will be most impacted by this full moon:
RITUAL + ALTAR INSPIRATIONS
FULL MOON PETITION
For this water moon, write out your full moon releases, speak them aloud facing west (water element direction), then light it on fire and place in a dish with fresh water, moon water, sea water, or rainwater. For emotionally heavier releases, flush your petition down the toilet.
SUGGESTED MANTRA or AFFIRMATION
“Under this full moon in Cancer, I allow all my emotions to surface so I may truly feel and experience my reality. I engage sacred pauses to sit with each emotion. I gather information by revisiting the recent past so I may revise my income future. May I be strong yet vulnerable, may I forgive yet maintain healthy boundaries. I call of Spirit to guide me in my reflections so I may release what is now ready to leave my energetic field. May I have the trust to hold the space and uncertainty so that what is meant for me may take a new home in my life. I am resetting so I may receive abundance. So mote it be.”
FULL MOON MEDICINE
Cancer rules the diaphragm, stomach, chest/breasts, uterus, and ovaries. Focusing on the sacral and solar plexus chakras by doing massage around our hips and stomachs, drinking lots of water, and meditating with yellow stones on the solar plexus chakra and orange stones on the sacral chakra will be cleansing and balancing. Chanting the bija mantras VAM (sacral) and RAM (solar plexus) will clear and strengthen these chakras. Push your shoulders back and open your chest and feel your personal power light up from this simple movement. Breath into your belly to relieve tension and energize your digestive system. Sleep with lavender for peaceful and healing dreams.
This lunation’s medicine is to work in the dialectic of attachment and detachment. This is both/and energy and encourages innovative thinking (this is an air moon). Put your mind in the gray area away from black and white thinking to get a clearl perspective on all matters with a bit of detached distance.
Pluto in Cap sits close to the sun during this new moon, which can bring a detox to current structures and systems in your use and in the life of the Collective. Addressing global, community, and personal Shadow parts can bring gusto for change and transformation, but that requires acknowledging the gunk that needs cleaning out. Make room to plant new seeds of change now, reflect and collect info, and then “do the work” as the moon grows into the first quarter phase. Speaking of growth, Jupiter is sextiling this lunation, so extra growth and luck potency is aligning with your wishes.
Part of the work during this lunation is to engage the detachment Aquarius us known for… Too much of anything can knock us off balance, but a healthy amount of detachment can be extremely useful. Some detachment can reduce anxiety as we become overseers and not participators, it can aid us to think more objectively and to assess matters outside of your bubble, as well as inside. Getting a broader and therefore more adaptive perspective becomes possible when we detach so that we can see who or what is worth our devotion.
Set intentions connected to moving toward something, not away from something. If you’re coming from a place of fear, scarcity, or anxiety, you will energize “deficit” versus growth, which new moons can help hold the seeds of intention to promote that growth. Aquarius energy fuels progress, forward movement, doing things differently and novel, and really thinks outside of all the boxes to create meaningful and lasting change.
THEMES & SYMBOLS:
Shadow work, sacred tension, growth spurts, detoxing the Self, pruning, ebb and flow, updated goals and intentions, follow-through, structured social change, important lessons before goals are reached, collective humanity lesson, addressing imbalance, adjustments, solid ground, getting on track, following through, learning and re-learning, recognizing blockages, making long-term commitments, technology, astrology, humanity, progressiveness, altruism, mysticism, electricity, rebelliousness, all shades of blue, silver, meteor showers, cosmos, air, water bearer, owl, spider, orchids
YOUR NEW MOON LUNATION HOUSE
Find your sun or rising sign below to see what area of your life will be most impacted by this new moon:
Write your intentions as specifically as possible on a small piece of paper, in the present tense, as if they are already happening or already happened. Fold it 3 times toward you, symbolizing bringing energy to you, and place on your altar under your crystals. You may also place your petition under your Air Element Candle or chime candle before you light it. This is an air moon, so you can safely light your small petition paper on fire, then blow the ashes into the wind.
SUGGESTED MANTRA or AFFIRMATION
“On this new moon in Aquarius, I increase my tolerance to sit in the tension of what was and what will be. May I find peace in titrating between detachment for a better perspective and all that I choose to devote myself to. May I receive clarity and guidance form my Higher Self so I may be deliberate in choosing what I want to grow more of as the wheel of the year turns. I activate expansive thinking, innovative thinking, and connective thinking. I release fear and anxiety so I can expand into fierce commitment and personal power so I may continue expanding my abundance. I am beginning an exciting chapter in new communities and networks. So mote it be!”
NEW MOON MEDICINE
Aquarius rules the knees, calves, shins, Achilles tendon, and circulatory system. Get your body moving outside in fresh air to move any stagnant energy through and keep your mind clear and look for feathers (air sign symbols) along the way. Make peppermint tea and stir in your honey or just stir the tea clockwise while chanting your intentions, then drink it feeling your magick run through you (while also regulating your Vagal nerve!). Write out your top long-term goal in your phone (Aquarius loves tech!) as a reminder that will go off 6 months from now. For both new and full moons, I’m suggesting to look up Jungian Active Imagination to engage your whole being: The Star card reflects the psyche, in that one foot is on land (the ego bearing witness), and the other in water (unconscious and mystical realm of dreams and imagination).
Wishing you all reflective, cleansing, and empowering full and new moons this month!
Kerstin from The Mirrored Lantern has practiced right hand path magick and tarot for over 30 years and has been a lover and learner of astrology and tarot for just as long… She is currently in graduate school for Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Spiritual & Depth Psychology and is a pre-licensed psychotherapist in Los Angeles. Follow her on Instagram @themirroredlantern for witch tips, tarot, occulture, and depth psych tidbits!
Happy Full Moon in Capricorn! 🌝♑️It’s a special one as it is our second full moon in Capricorn in a row! So I did a quick tarot pull asking thee questions. In the earthen spirit of Capricorn of course I got pentacles, clarity, and straightforwardness with this reading lol. Took me less than 5 minutes to understand. Read for for the spread!
Ahhh- the enchanting realm of May Day! A time when flowers bloom in riotous colors, the air vibrates with flickers of summer, ancient traditions stir beneath the surface of the earth, and the promise of new beginnings pulsates around us. From April 28 through May 5, we stand on the threshold between spring's awakening and summer's embrace, Beltane, the spirited celebration also known as May Day. Let us embark on a journey through time to uncover the ancient origins and cultural tapestry of Beltane, from the blazing bonfires of the Celts to the floral splendor of English Flora Day, this magical time of year has a beautifully rich history and diverse multitude of ancient traditions.
