D.J. Conway - Moon Magick: Myth & Magic, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

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Moon Magick: Myth & Magic, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells 1995 by D.J. Conway

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First e-book edition 2014

E-book ISBN: 9780738717227

First Edition

Fourteenth Printing, 2007

Cover design: Kevin R. Brown

Line drawings on pages 46, 82, 88, 120, 121, 174, 175, 212: Anne Marie Garrison

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To Esther, my sister-priestess from Greece,

and especially to all the Pagan children

who will one day change the world.

Table of Contents

Part One: The Moons Influence on Our Lives

. Moon Touched

. History of Lunar Calendars

Part Two: The Lunar Year

. Introduction to the Lunar Year

. Wolf MoonJanuary

. Ice MoonFebruary

. Storm MoonMarch

. Growing MoonApril

. Hare MoonMay

. Mead MoonJune

. Hay MoonJuly

. Corn MoonAugust

. Harvest MoonSeptember

. Blood MoonOctober

. Blue MoonOctober 27-November 1

. Snow MoonNovember

. Cold MoonDecember

APPENDICES: Moon Dieties and Symbols

: Moon Deities

: Moon Symbols

: The Charge of the Goddess

Moon Song

I raise my arms in greeting

As She slips up through the night,

The rounded Moon of Mystery,

A glowing silver disk of light.

My spirit answers to Her call

And longs for wings to fly,

That I might seek Her secret place

Whose symbol is the sky.

A place of hidden secrets,

Of sacred Mysteries old,

A place I knew in other times,

In temple wisdom no more told.

I struggle to remember

All the things I learned before,

The forgotten Mysteries of the Moon,

The Goddess and Her lore.

Although my arms reach skyward,

I turn inward toward Her voice.

I tread the inner labyrinth,

Trusting in my choice.

Seek not without, but deep within.

The words are soft and clear.

Keep faith with Me for thirteen months,

The Mothers Sacred Year.

I watch Her through Her cycles,

As I did in lives before,

And follow down Her moonbeam path

To the secret, inner door.

Part One

The Moons

Influence on

Our Lives

Chapter 1

Moon Touched

Moon struck or Moon touched: affected by the Moon;
distracted; bemused; given to unnatural fantasies (as when one is psychic and those about the person are not).

N o one knows exactly when humans began to observe the Moon but it must have been very early in our development. The carving of the Great Goddess of Laussel, dating back to about 20,000 BCE , shows the Goddess holding a bison horn with thirteen marks for months on it. In a cave at the Abri du Roc aux Sorciers at Angles-sur-lAnglin is a massive carving of three women, very likely goddesses. This carving dates from between 13,000 and 11,000 BCE . These three figures, standing on a bison, may well represent the three phases of the Moon.

The Sun was a constant factor to early humans, except for its seasonal rise and fall on the horizon, but the Moon was mysterious, changing Her faces and shapes, withholding and giving light during the dark hours of the night. It wasnt long before menstruating women learned to count Moon cycles, thus creating the first calendar. However, the Sun was no help in dividing time into smaller portions than seasons. Counting from one Moon phase through the cycle and back to the same phase enabled clans to plan gatherings and religious ceremonies.

For centuries, women were the calendar-keepers, priestesses, healers, and advisors of the clans because of their ability to communicate with the powers of the Moon Goddess. Men learned to read the Moons seasonal passages for use in hunting and farming. All early people knew that no human was unaffected by the Moon and Her mystical powers.

I was born on a Beltane Full Moon, with a total lunar eclipse. The Moon has always been important to me, long before I knew what She symbolized. As a small child, I would stand under the light of a Full Moon, reaching toward Her and yearning for something I couldnt put into words. Some in my family called me Moon touched, to them a derogatory term, but little realizing how right they were under another definition.

Everyone is Moon touched, or influenced, some just more than others. About one-third of all people have a Full Moon in their natal astrological chart. These people are highly sensitive and emotional, with intense reactions each time the Moon re-enters its natal sign. For those whose religious views do not permit emotional and psychic sensitivity, these Moon phases can be miserable, upsetting experiences, particularly if a persons sensitivity takes the form of seeing non-physical beings, having precognitive dreams and visions, or recalling past lives.