History Of Moon Magic by Stephanie Pflumm

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

The Moon has always been an influential power in culture, religion, geological events, society and more. This two part article will review Grandmother's mythical and geological history. Exploring Grandmother's history may help you discover your own path to using Moon Magic.

Very early cultures held the Moon in higher regard than the Sun. Daylight, it was believed, did not come from the Sun, but was a separate entity or energy. While the Moon was regarded as the only source of light during the dark nights.

The constant changing of its shape caused grave concerns and gave birth to many legends and stories to explain its mysterious behavior.

A legend from the North-East regions of India describes the Moon as one of the four children of Mother Earth. Moon, with his sister the Sun, created the stars and together they were responsible for the powers of life on Earth. At this time the Moon and Sun shone with the same brightness.

Being an easily bored and moody young man, Moon soon began lusting after his sister. The beautiful sister was angered by Moon's perversity, and flung ashes into his face, forever dulling his appearance.

Now Moon must constantly chase the Sun, only able to spend a few days a month near her beauty.

In many cultures, the Sun is wife to the Moon. In a Bedouin story the Sun is infused with sexual passion for her husband the Moon. Always trying to seduce her calm and reserved husband, she becomes frustrated with having her advances continuously refused. One day, the Sun finally loses her temper and a terrible battle ensued. You can still see the scars today in the Moon's pock-marked face and the spots on Sun's surface.

The marital couple now has sex once a month, after which the Moon withers away to nothing.

More important than the stories and fears that Moon inspired in our Ancestors, was the role this orb played in our ability to plan and organize.

The words Moon and Month have their origins in Sanskrit, from words that mean 'measure' or 'to measure.

Cave drawings discovered in Spain, depicting the phases of the Moon, are believed to be at least 9000 years old, dating to 7000 BC. Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids, Temples from around the world were all built to measure the Moon's phases and to predict the equinoxes, solstices and eclipses.

Gaining the knowledge of time measurement was one of our first steps in taking control of our human existence. Knowing when we could plant crops or when certain animals would be migrating meant we may never have to be hungry again. Controlling our food supply, gave us more time to create tools.

However, knowledge of the Moon's moody phases did not lessen our superstition of this energy source. Festivals for bountiful harvests, fertility and gathering power where celebrated by the light of a full Moon.

Prayers, repentance, cleansing and sacrificial ceremonies were held in the dark of the new Moon.

Easter Sunday is one of our modern holidays that is still determined by the Moon. The date is set according to the first Full Moon following the Vernal Equinox and assigned to the nearest Sunday.

Sometime during the rising Roman Empire, under the influence of Greek travelers and teachers, the Moon began to take on female aspects. Egyptian cults for the goddess Isis began to flourish after Greek and Roman infiltration. Before that the Moon was a male god.

Independent of the Greek mythologies however, Native American legends also present shifts in the Moon's sexuality. Today the Moon is almost always represented as female.

You can use the full Moon for creative energies, to charge stones with specified tasks, dreaming, fulfilling your own energy cycles, and more.

The geological composition of the Moon is very similar to Earth's. A majority of the theories attempting to explain the Moon's origin begin with a piece of primal earth being spun off, or broken off by the impact
of space debris.

Many of the same minerals and elements are common to both the Earth and Moon. However, on the Moon, most of these materials remain in their original condition. Without the erosion of weather, volcanic upheavals and traumatic plate shiftings that the Earth endures, the minerals on the Moon are much the same as they were when it was born approximately 4.6 billion years ago.

Not that Grandmother Moon hasn't had geological traumas. In fact, scientists today are trying to determine the composition and density of the Moon's core by measuring moon quakes. The low plains of the Moon (about 15% of its surface) were formed by volcanic activity. During its infancy, the surface was scarred by the relentless bombardment of meteors.

However, the highlands, which make up about 85% of the Moon's surface are exactly the same as they were almost 3 billion years ago. It is, perhaps our oldest fossil, giving us a glimpse into the beginning of our universe.

Though considered geologically dead, there are sign posts of some prehistoric attempt at life. The South Pole includes deposits of frozen water and there are remnants of a magnetic field, similar to Earth's.

Everyone is familiar with the gravitational influence that the Moon has on our oceans. Did you know that the Earth exerts similar forces on the Moon? Rocks and boulders on the Earth side of the Moon, bulge out more than on the dark side.

The Moon does not shine, it reflects the Sun's light. Nor does the Moon actually change shapes. Our angle of perception changes, as the Moon makes its monthly orbit around Earth.

Unlike a Solar Eclipse, during a Lunar Eclipse the Moon is not actually blacked out. A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and Sun, filtering the light that reaches it. This diffusion of light causes the Moon to become an erie orange/red color.

The full Moon does not make you weird. Like any creative tool, it merely focuses and energizes what is already there. So Grandmother Moon is only reflecting and magnifying what you are feeling during her full phase. In fact, I have noted that since I've been working with and observing the cycles of the Moon, that I feel more energized and inspired during Grandmother's full phases. And if I get PMS during the New Moon . . . it is usually twice as bad!

Using Grandmother Moon in your creative work, is simply a matter of tuning into her phases and understanding how to work with them.

There are two basic forces that you are working with in Moon Magic, birth and death. To work effectively with Grandmother, you must have a fundamental understanding of the difference between dark and evil, negative and harmful.

Working with the Moon, means you will be working with both positive and negative, dark and light energies. NOT evil or harmful energies.

A 'positive' energy can be just as harmful as 'negative' energy. Survival is an excellent example of this. It is definitely positive for Hawk to eat lunch and survive. However, it will be a very negative experience for Mouse.

Yin and Yang, dark and light, positive and negative, birth and death are fundamental facts of nature. It is the female/male balance that makes all possible. You cannot have chaos without order, light without dark, birth without death.

Because you work with these energies, will not make you evil. How you use them will determine that.

Basic Moon Magic involves the Waxing and Waning Moon.

Waxing Moon enhances energies for creative work. Looking for a new job, building wealth or abundance, or giving yourself a boost.

As I mentioned earlier, I have found Grandmother's Fullness to be a rich source of energy. Crystals, gems, pens that I write with, poems for power pouches, and occasionally coins are just some of the other items I have charged by the full Moon.

You can also use it to empower scrying tools. A mirror is a perfect item for this purpose. Select a mirror that catches your attention, doesn't have to be a new one. Perform a cleansing ritual to remove any positive or negative energy that may harm you. Then ask the mirror to assist you in receiving future knowledge.

Set your mirror out where it will reflect the maximum amount of moonlight. Greet the rising Moon, present your mirror and request your intention. Be sure to retrieve your mirror before Grandfather Sun rises.

Waning Moon is best for letting go, undoing, removing obstacles and cleansing. Breaking bad habits or eliminating harmful thought patterns are two ways that I like to use New Moon energies.

Try this if you are wanting to kick an addictive habit: At the Moon's next fourth quarter, select an Amethyst stone and cleanse it. Request the crystal's help in overcoming your addiction. Place the Amethyst in your non dominant hand (the one you don't write with), begin visualizing your habit leaving you and entering the stone. Visualize the higher quality of life you will experience without the burden of your habit. Continue to remove the habit and build the benefits until you feel confident you have communicated your intent to the Amethyst.

During the next week, as Grandmother Moon wans away, keep the Amethyst where you will see it each day. Do NOT carry the Amethyst with you. As you are near it, or pass by, continue to visualize your addiction trapped within the stone and begin the building process of filling your life with the side benefits of non-addiction. That means you have to begin the effort of stopping, whatever it is.

Remember, the Amethyst cannot end your addiction, it can only help intensify your intent to do so and give you power to act. But you alone can act.

At New Moon, again, take your Amethyst in your non dominant hand and repeat your intent. Visualizing the departing habit and the incoming rewards. When finished, bury the Amethyst someplace special (but legal to dig in) for you. As you continue to work past your habit, remember the Amethyst working to empower you to succeed. Know that the Crystal now communicates your desire to overcome with the Universe and all your relations.