The moon slowly ascends into the sky, illuminating everything around you in a silvery-blue glow. The energy is high, at it’s peak. It’s the full moon night. What is a witch to do? Ask 20 witches, get 30 answers. In this post, I’ll break down the most common workings and traditions. But first, we need to chat about the energy of the full moon.

Full moon energy is at its highest peak. If you’ve ever been to the beach during a full moon and see its effect on the ocean tides, you’ll have an idea of what I mean. Waves seem to crash higher, come further onto the sand, and take on a mind of their own. The energy is palpable, it’s huge, and it’s available.

When it comes to the main themes of the full moon, there are two common schools of thought.

One school of thought comes from the more occult/witchcraft traditions and it is that the full moon energy is there for manifestation purposes. The energy at its highest peak, we can harness that energy toward our goal. We can raise the energy and release it to manifest what we need in workings.

The other school of thought is that of the more new age/love and light traditions and it’s more passive. These traditions have taken hold of the word “release” and often use the full moon to release anything, like letting go of things that no longer serve you, releasing extra weight, troubles, etc. In my practice (and the practice of most witches I know), releasing types of workings like this belong at the waning moon. You can read more about the moon phases here. Many of the new agey witches tend to forgo most of the moon phases and mainly focus on the full moon- and sometimes the new moon.  The new common thing to do is put water in a jar under the moon for “moon water” and put your crystals out to charge under the moon. I personally do neither of these things, but they seem really common for new witches to do. This might be because it can seem a little overwhelming to choose what to do at the full moon. With this post, I’m hoping to clear this up a little bit, so that you can deepen into your full moon circles.

What do I need?

It’s like everyone is doing something different, and that’s because everyone has different needs. One question to ask yourself is “what do I need?” or even, “what do I want?” And then make that the focus of your full moon ritual or working. If it’s prosperity, drape your altar in green and gold and do a working for prosperity. For example, this might include petition magic, creating a talisman or creating a spell jar. You are doing your basic spellworking, and using the energy of the full moon to give you that energetic boost.

What astrological sign is the moon in?

If you don’t have something that you need in particular, you can always look to the astrological sign that the moon is in. Take the sign of Virgo, for example. Virgo is the sign that rules over organization, systems, planning, service, ritual, and routine- among other things. When the moon is in Virgo at its fullness, it’s a good time to center a working around one of these things. Create your plans, set some goals, create structures around your schedule. Not everything has to be within a ritual, but you can make these things ritualistic as well. For a goal setting ritual, you may meditate and then work out your goals while in a circle. Or write your goals down on small pieces of paper and burn them in ceremony, asking the gods/the universe to help you reach them. It’s easy to find out what sign the moon is in by using Google. When you plan your ritual or working in accordance to the astrological sign, you are aligning with that energy, and it will help your result, since you’ll be in alignment with the energy of your intention. You can learn more about the astrological signs and the moon here.

When was the last time I honored my goddess on the moon?

If you are a follower of a specific god/dess – or multiple – when was the last time you did a devotional working? The full moon is an auspicious time to honor your deities. You may choose to honor her with:

• Ritual
• Reading a poem
• An act of service
• Singing a song
• Research to learn more about her
• Creation of art, poetry or a ritual

It can be as easy as intentionally lighting a candle and saying thank you, or you could do a complex ritual based in historical research. In a devotional working like this, the practitioner doesn’t ask for anything, she just freely gives of herself.

None of that fits? Honor the moon.

When none of the above fits what you’d like to do, honor the moon. You can do this by setting up an all-white altar and evoke the moon goddess in whatever form you feel fit. You can read moon or goddess poetry, honor how the moon’s cycle affects you or just bathe in Her rays.

These are only a few ways to spend your full moon esbat; there are innumerable ways, really. I hope that this allows you to plan your celebrations more easily as well as deepen into your full moon experience. There are more options to honor and experience the full moon than laying out crystals and a jar of moon water.

If you liked this post, you may want to check out Upleveling your Moon Water.