Dontchu Cut Yo Hair Against the Moon!

Akua asks...

Would you please share some rituals you do for the new moon and full moon?

I was taught the importance of working with the moon as a child by my grandmothers...Nannie Mae Caldwell Fields and Thelma Harlan Morgan; Iba a ra torun-I pay homage to the citizens of the heavenly realms

I grew up hearing them speak of not doing things "against the moon"

Asking "why" was considered disrespectful , instead you were expected to watch closely and learn why certain things were so

(An attitude that I encountered again when learning from my elder priests and priestesses in Nigera, West Afrika)

through paying attention and listening closely, I realized that it was taboo to harvest crops, cut hair, pull teeth when the moon was waning...if you did these things when the moon was dying...they would not grow back

Like most of the supernatural practices we used regularly, working with the moon was not considered to be "magickal" or "witchy" or "pagan" it was just what was done

It was one of those tools used to make life easier and more abundant

Human beings are to a certain extent ruled by the moon...it governs the waters that bring us forth, the menses of our mothers and it rules our fertility as we are the only lunar primates on Earth...most other primates go into heat on a solar calender...whereas human fertility is ruled by Mother Moon

I use this cosmic connection to empower my endeavors

According to the wisdom of my grandmothers...the new moon is the best time to start new things

It is the time when the universe is ripe for new beginnings and fresh starts

As the moon grows your endeavors will grow with it

Plant your seeds on the new moon and they will flourish

The full moon is when you see the fullness of what you have sown, this is when you reap your rewards...

At the full moon you celebrate your successes and praise those projects that have come to fruition

The moonshine of the full moon is also the best time to praise the energy that has governed that moon cycle, the cosmic force or zodiac sign or orisha that the full moon manifested in for that month

Women will often find that they cannot sleep on nights when the moon is full

My explanation...

We should be out praising Her and dancing under the fullness of Her energy allowing ourselves to be showered with the divine power that She issues forth

After the full moon began the process of pruning, because the moon is dying or waning...you would begin to prune away those elements that are not as useful to you or your endeavors

As the moon dies, so will those more negative elements

For the new moon...begin those projects you have been waiting to start, new relationships, new businesses, new partnerships of any kind

Write down what you wish to achieve with these new projects and plant them in the ground somewhere under the darkness of the new moon

For the full moon...celebrate your successes, gather with a group of women and enjoy the moon shine

...sit anything that you need to imbue with moon energy-crystals, cloth, water, amulets-in the moonlight and gather it before sunrise

For the waning moon...write a list of those things that need to be pruned away from your life or your projects and burn them under the waning moon...ask that these elements be removed from your life as the moon dies

Use these descriptions as a blueprint for rituals that you wish to create...allow your Ori, your highest self to guide you in creating rituals that are highly personalized and therefore the most effective for you and your life