How Do Eclipses Affect Astrology?
Every “eclipse season” it feels like all of Instagram loses its mind. But what’s really the deal with eclipses? Are they as scary or as powerful as we might have heard?In this blog, I’ll be demystifying eclipses and sharing how you can use these special cosmic events for your evolution and growth.
Every “eclipse season” it feels like all of Instagram loses its mind. But what’s really the deal with eclipses? Are they as scary or as powerful as we might have heard?
In this blog, I’ll be demystifying eclipses and sharing how you can use these special cosmic events for your evolution and growth.
WHAT ARE ECLIPSES?
There are two types of eclipses: lunar eclipses and solar eclipses. Within those categories, eclipses can be partial, total, or penumbral. Generally, the most powerful and rare eclipses are total eclipses.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which then reflects off the full moon. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun’s rays and casting a shadow on parts of Earth.
ECLIPSES IN PAIRS + ECLIPSE SEASON
Eclipses come in sets—in pairs or sometimes as threes. The time period between a set of eclipses is known as eclipse season. Eclipses always happen along an astrological axis—so a pair of eclipses will always be in one of these sets of signs:
For example, in January of 2019, we had a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn and a total lunar eclipse about two weeks later in Cancer. The period between these eclipses was known as the eclipse season.
Eclipse season is thought to be a time portal, a time of transformation.
HOW TO WORK WITH ECLIPSES
Eclipses are thought to be wild cards, sort of a magnified new moon (for a solar eclipse) or a magnified full moon (for a lunar eclipse). We can think of them as portals for endings and beginnings—things may be “eclipsed out” or “eclipsed in.” It’s typical for births, moves, engagements, new jobs, break-ups, new relationships, and more to happen around eclipses and during eclipse season.
Eclipses are also illuminators, showing the truth that you may have been ignoring or didn’t want to look at. Eclipses will bring these thoughts and feelings to the forefront so that you can’t ignore them anymore and have to look at and work with them.
To see how an eclipse might affect you personally, take a look at your birth chart. Look for the house that will be highlighted by the eclipse—for example, a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn affects my 4th or 5th houses, depending on the degrees of the eclipse.
So if the eclipse affects my 4th house, then I could expect things around the home, family, my inner emotional world, my foundations, safety, security, my mother, and self-care to be coming up.
Generally, eclipses are a really important time to spend time with yourself listening and noticing. Carve out space and time to receive truths, and notice any signs that are pointing you towards releasing something or stepping into something new.
Some practitioners like to work big magic on eclipses. Others, like myself, find that eclipses are a better time for listening and noticing than doing spells. Notice how eclipses feel to you and follow what feels right! If you feel called to, you can check out this card spread for eclipse season.
Our next eclipses are happening on July 2nd, 2019 (a total solar eclipse in Cancer) and July 16th, 2019 (a partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn).
For the eclipse in Cancer, take a look at what house Cancer rules in your birth chart. Same thing for the Capricorn eclipse!
Overall, eclipses aren’t something to be scared of. Like every cosmic event, they’re not here to hurt us—they’re here to help us grow and evolve. Know that anything that releases during an eclipse or anything you step into on an eclipse is furthering your path and purpose.
How to Create a Crystal Grid in 7 Steps
Whether you’re trying to manifest more self-love, a vacation, or a new job, crystal grids can help! Crystal grids can be as simple or complex as you make them and a simple grid can be just as powerful at helping you manifest your goals as a complex one. Think of a crystal grid as your manifesting ally! It may not be the only tool you use to manifest your desires, but it can certainly help.
Whether you’re trying to manifest more self-love, a vacation, or a new job, crystal grids can help! Crystal grids can be as simple or complex as you make them and a simple grid can be just as powerful at helping you manifest your goals as a complex one. Think of a crystal grid as your manifesting ally! It may not be the only tool you use to manifest your desires, but it can certainly help.
There are just a few necessary steps you need to follow to create a crystal grid. First, let’s briefly discuss why crystal grids work.
Why Crystal Grids Work
Crystals are formed from perfect geometric patterns and this is one reason why crystals are such a powerful healing tool! The perfect geometry within crystals makes them an ideal energy conduit and easily programmable. By placing several crystals in a repeating grid format, you will amplify their power. Using sacred geometry as a grid template for your crystals adds another layer of perfect geometric patterns to help better communicate your intentions.
If those reasons seem a little too out there for you, view crystal grids as a beautiful reminder of your intention. The most important part of manifesting your desires is visualizing what you want daily, and your crystal grid will serve as a reminder to do just that.
7 Steps to Create a Crystal Grid
1. Set an intention
Your intention for your grid is your starting place and will lay the foundation for everything else you choose for your grid. Get quiet and breathe for a few minutes so you can gain complete clarity about what it is you want. Don’t play small; you deserve everything you desire! Once you’ve set an intention for your grid, you can start selecting your grid format and crystals.
2. Select your grid format
Sacred geometry is an ideal format for crystal grids because it is symmetrical and each symbol carries unique energy that will help amplify your intention. To learn more about sacred geometry click here. Several different sacred geometry symbols can be used, here’s a list of the most common ones and the categories they’re best suited for:
Vesica Piscis: Birth, femininity, sexuality, new beginnings, new projects
Seed of Life: Inspiration, potential, chakras, creativity, growth
Flower of Life: Community, connection, love, communication, partnerships, intuition
Metatron’s Cube: Cleansing, clearing, balancing, energy, chakras, healing
Sri Yantra: Balance, male energy, feminine energy, meditation, connection to Source Energy
3. Select your crystals
Now, the fun part! Let’s select your crystals. A pointed crystal will work well for the center stone, and tumbled crystals work well for the secondary crystals that will radiate around the center stone. You don’t need 50 crystals to have a grid that works. Even if you have one center stone and a handful of quartz, you can make an effective crystal grid. Clear quartz is your crystal grid bestie because it is ideal for all intentions, easily programmable, and super amplifying. I suggest using three different stones to strengthen your intention with the addition of five or more pieces of clear quartz.
A quick google search of “crystals to help with ________” will go a long way! However, here are some common crystals and the purposes they’re best suited for:
Amethyst: Intuition, calm, peace
Citrine: Abundance, joy, happiness
Sodalite: Creativity, expression, communication
Quartz: Balance, health, cleansing
Rose Quartz: Self-love, compassion, friendship
Carnelian: Sex, creativity, birth
Green Aventurine: New beginnings, wealth, growth
4. Cleanse your tools and space
Cleanse your crystals, any other tools you’ll be using, and the space you’re creating your grid in. You don’t want any lingering bad juju playing a role in your manifesting! Cleanse with an herbal smoke of your choice, cleanse under the light of the full moon, or envision a bright white light cleansing your space and tools.
5. Set your grid up
You’ll want to place your center stone first. You can base your center stone selection on a few things, like a stone that best matches your intentions, the largest stone, or a crystal you have a personal affinity for. Next, place your other stones radiating out around the center stone in a balanced format. As you place each stone visualize your end goal of what you’d like to manifest.
6. Activate your grid
Think of activating your grid as turning on the lights. You’ve set everything up, and now it’s showtime! There’s more than one way to activate your grid. The simplest method is to close your eyes and imagine the energy of all of your crystals connecting and communicating your desires to the universe. To see more techniques and detailed information on activating your crystal grid click here.
7. Be present with your grid daily
Don’t just set it and forget it! Make sure to take a few quiet moments every day to connect with your grid. Connecting with your grid daily will allow you to visualize your desires and goals.Leave your grid up for a complete moon cycle, or longer if you’d like. If it does start to attract dust give it a light clean to prevent the energy from stagnating. Find a free printable crystal grid template here.
When’s The Best Day For Your Ritual? // Days of The Week & Magick
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.
Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
Each day of the week carries the energy of a planet, an element, and masculine or feminine energy. These factors give each weekday its magickal energy. Here’s a rundown of the energy each day of the week carries.
Want to adorn your space with a beautiful reminder of the energy of each day of the week? Click here to receive the printable featured below!
Sunday
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Growth, personal power, goals
Get excited! Sunday is your day to plan big and expect to conquer all of your goals. This is the perfect day to set the wheels in motion for anything you’d like to accomplish in the week ahead. Set up your special altar, start your candle spell, or place your crystal grid on Sunday to get the energy of your intentions set in the right direction.
Monday
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Intuitive work, increased psychic abilities, emotion
Want to hone your intuitive abilities or connect with spirit on a deeper level? Monday is your day. If you’re planning to do a ritual with the moon, try to implement it on a Monday for an extra boost of moon vibes. Save your special oracle or tarot card readings for Monday to connect with the special intuitive energy it brings.
Tuesday
Planet: Mars
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Strength, courage, leadership
Invoke your inner warrior on Tuesday because this day is all about fire and intensity. Feeling stuck or need some inspiration? Try a ritual or spell to light your internal fire on this day. Maybe you just need an extra boost of energy, try lighting an orange candle on a Tuesday. The strong fire energy of the day can help give you the boost you need.
Wednesday
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Creativity, change, communication
This is your day to express yourself. Let your words, needs, and desires flow freely from you. Have you been holding back with someone, not letting them know how you really feel? Try to schedule your hardest convos on Wednesdays. Have a spell or ritual based around making a big change that requires you to speak up? Wednesday is your day.
Thursday
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Abundance, wealth, success
Smile, Thursdays are all about happiness and harvesting your desires. Save all of your abundance rituals for this day to take advantage of Thursday vibes. Whether it’s money, a new house, or an abundance of friends you’re looking for if you’re looking to multiply something in your life this is the day you’ll want to plan your magick work for.
Friday
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Love, romance, fertility
Friday is the perfect time to slow down and offer some love to yourself or another. Try drawing a luxurious bath for yourself and lighting a pink candle to invite more love into your life. If you desire to have a baby, Fridays are the ideal time to set an intention to be open to new life dwelling within you.
Saturday
Planet: Saturn
Element: Earth and Fire
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Protection, cleansing, endings
Saturdays are the ideal time to cleanse your space. Invoke both the Earth and the Fire element by burning herbs to cleanse yourself or your home. If you intend to perform a ritual for protection Saturday is the ideal time to do this. Any kind of cord-cutting or detachment ritual could be performed at this time too.
Again, don’t stress too much over the day you perform your rituals. It’s certainly better to devote some quiet reflection time to ritual any day rather than not at all! Your timing will sync up perfectly at times, sometimes it won’t, and that’s OK. Perhaps you’ll even be inspired by this list to plan some rituals for specific days.
How to journal with the moon phases + 10 journal prompts
Your mood, physical body, and spirit body all go through phases, and journaling with the moon is an ideal way to track all of these. You may find that you’re more synced with the moon than you thought!
Your mood, physical body, and spirit body all go through phases, and journaling with the moon is an ideal way to track all of these. You may find that you’re more synced with the moon than you thought!
Why You Should Try Moon Journaling
Wouldn’t it be nice to know which moon phases make you feel the most intuitive, expressive, or reserved? The way you relate to each moon phase is reflective of you alone and experiences will vary from person to person. You may find that your diet, intuition, and menstruation are affected by the phases of the moon. Keeping a moon journal will enable you to track any patterns to better understand all of your cycles.
How Often Should You Write in Your Moon Journal?
Take notes in your moon journal as often as you like! Journaling once a week will ensure that you hit each of the main phases of the moon: new moon, waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon. Moon journaling twice a month, on the full and new moon, can also be enlightening.
Starting out, I suggest making a quick note in your moon journal for 30-60 consecutive days. Making a quick note daily, in the beginning, will help you catch any obvious patterns right away.
What You’ll Need to Start Your Moon Journal
You’ll need a moon phase calendar, digital, or a hard copy.
You’ll also need a writing utensil and a journal or notepad. That’s it!
10 Topics for Moon Journaling
Here’s a list of suggested moon journaling topics. Read through the whole list. What topics call out to you the most? You can journal on all or some of these topics, it’s completely up to you.
Start your moon journaling by recording the date, the moon phase, and the zodiac sign for the phase (optional).
Record how you feel emotionally. Check-in, do you feel content, happy, sad, jealous, excited, energized, grateful, anxious, or angry? Record your mood for the day or overall week. This can be as simple as writing one word.
Record how you feel spiritually. How connected and intuitive do you feel? If you meditate regularly, was it easy for you to “drop-in” or did you find your meditation to be a struggle (this is always a good indicator of my spiritual well-being).
Record how you feel physically. How are you sleeping, your energy levels, and your diet? Are there any particular foods you're craving? If you exercise regularly, was your activity easy or more forced?
Record when you start and end your menstrual cycle. You may also decide to notate what each menstrual cycle feels like to help unearth patterns. If you’re particularly in-tune with your cycle or trying to conceive (or not conceive!) you might also find it helpful to track your ovulation with the moon.
Note any goals, intentions, and manifestations you’ve initiated and when they manifest. New intentions are best to set on a new or waxing moon.
Note any habits, people, outcomes, or things you’re trying to let go of and when you feel you’ve shed them. Releasing and letting go is best to initiate during a full or waning moon.
Notate the zodiac sign the moon is in. If you want to take your moon journaling to the next level you can notate what zodiac sign the moon is in. The moon is always positioned in a zodiac sign and cycles through them every 2-3 days. The sign the moon is in will also have an effect on you too. Try looking for even broader patterns by notating what sign the moon is in when you journal. I like this online resource for tracking the zodiac sign for each moon phase.
Track your triumphs! Did something happen that was totally out of the blue and made your day? Maybe you received an unexpected promotion, landed your dream job, or ran into an old friend, write it down!
Track your worst days. Did you have one of those days where nothing seems to go as expected and you just can’t shake it? These days aren’t as fun, but being able to estimate when they may come up can sure be helpful.
Note your dreams. Dream journaling is an insightful activity on its own. Notating the moon phase for your dreams can shed even more light on what your subconscious is trying to tell you. You might be able to identify times when your dreams are most active so you can plan to have a notepad ready on your nightstand.
Moon journaling can be as simple or in-depth as you’d like and can be tailored to suit your needs and schedule.
4 Ways to Honor the Winter Solstice
The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, and so we traditionally associate it with darkness.But it’s also the beginning of the waxing phase of the year, as the days start to get longer and nights start to get shorter. We are reminded that light always follows dark. The balance begins to shift, the wheel of the year turns back again.
The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, and so we traditionally associate it with darkness.
But it’s also the beginning of the waxing phase of the year, as the days start to get longer and nights start to get shorter. We are reminded that light always follows dark. The balance begins to shift, the wheel of the year turns back again.
This sabbat, also known as Yule, is a time for us to connect with our darkness and alchemize it into lessons, into medicine, for the year to come.
Below are some ways to honor this sacred holiday.
Journaling prompts
Create a quiet, safe space (candles are recommended!) and let yourself free write to the questions below with no editing. No one’s going to read your answers but you!
Write a love letter to your darkness.
What am I most ashamed of? How can I transmute this shame into a source of power and love?
What part of me do I want to feed and grow?
Tarot or oracle spread
Pull out your tarot or oracle deck and set the intention for your highest self tospeak to you through the cards. Give them a shuffle, and pull a card for each of the questions below. I recommend writing down the spread and the cards you pull, as well as your interpretations of them.
What shadow wants to work with me?
How does it want to be worked with?
Advice for moving through shadow
What wants to be born from my darkness?
Advice for birthing whatever needs to come through
Message from my inner child at this time
Lay out the cards in two rows of three like so. The deck featured here is The Ritual Deck.
Create an altar
Creating an altar is a beautiful way to honor any sabbat. Let this be an intuitive, creative process and place anything there that feels good to you! Some ideas to spark your creativity are:
Your Death and Temperance tarot cards
A Yule log or branch
Holly or mistletoe
An evergreen wreath to symbolize the wheel of the year
Any red, green, or white crystals that you’d like (I love carnelian for red, selenite for white, and moss agate or malachite for green)
Ash, frankincense, and any other sun herbs you like
Pine cones
White and silver candles
A representation of something in your shadow that you’d like to honor and alchemize this year
Painting
One of my favorite ways to work with my subconscious these days is intuitive painting. Get out your paints, paper, and allow whatever wants to come through you as you focus on the winter solstice and what it means to you. Try not to focus on how it looks— no one needs to see it but you!
After you finish, you could place it on your altar.
Below is an infographic with a visual representation of rituals for Yule
Want to learn more about the different sabbats on the wheel of the year? Click here to learn more about the wheel of the year and download your free wheel of the year printable.
6 Ways to Support Your Goddess Sisters
Our society has a long history of pitting women against each other. Of making us fear each other and compete with each other. Of creating division and separation between us.But we can choose to end that cycle. It ends with us. It ends with us every time we choose to uplift, love, and hold the women-identifying humans in our lives.
Our society has a long history of pitting women against each other. Of making us fear each other and compete with each other. Of creating division and separation between us.
But we can choose to end that cycle. It ends with us. It ends with us every time we choose to uplift, love, and hold the women-identifying humans in our lives.
Below are some ways to support the women in your life.
Hold space for them
Holding space isn’t just your regular conversation where we mostly just wait until it’s our turn to talk. There are a few important keys to holding space:
Give your full presence
Give your full presence with deep listening and eye contact. Your friends can tell when you’re not really there with them (and you can tell when your friends aren’t really there, too!). Put your phone to the side and really focus on what they’re saying.
Non-judgment
Offering non-judgment to others starts with doing your own work on not judging yourself. This may be part of your shadow work process—click here for 5 simple steps to help you get started with shadow work.
Asking questions without giving advice
Try not to give unsolicited advice. Asking helpful questions to deepen your friend’s understanding of her own situation is so much more helpful because it allows the answer to truly come from her—not you.
Facilitate their growth
Sometimes we get stuck in fear patterns. Sometimes we want to shrink out of our fullness, our magic, our bigness. When your sister is falling into her fear, wanting to shrink, help facilitate her growth. Help remind her of her magic. Don’t give her your permission to shrink.This is about being honest and constructive. This is about not always telling your friend what she wants to hear. They may not appreciate it at the moment, but they’ll likely appreciate your honesty in the long run.
Support their connection with their intuition
You give your community a beautiful gift when you support their connection with their intuition. Our society loves to make decisions based on logic alone, and looks down on things seen as “impractical.” But by validating your sister’s desire to listen to and make decisions based on intuition, you help shakti rise.
The Goddess Discovery Books are a great tool to use for improving your intuition and are even more fun to work through with a group of Goddesses!
Understand and respect their boundaries
Have a clear, open conversation with your sisters about their boundaries. What is an acceptable way to handle disagreements? What do they need from you to feel safe and supported in your friendship? What do you need from them to feel safe and supported in your friendship?
Strong boundaries can keep your relationships strong. Respecting each other’s boundaries can help set the expectation for strong boundaries in other, more difficult relationships as well.
Celebrate their successes
When they rise, you rise. It’s easy to feel threatened by the expansion of someone close to you but remember: it’s not a competition.The world is an abundant, infinite place and one woman having something you may want doesn’t mean you can’t have it, too. Celebrate their expansion, their growth, their wins.
Create community
Grow together. Meditate together, do moon rituals together, cast spells together, go to talks, or do courses together. Gather together and share wisdom. Gather together and connect with your intuition. Support each other by not allowing each other to stay stagnant.
Start out by implementing one of these tools each month to get used to doing it and add on from there. Before you know it your circle of supportive women will be flourishing!
