The Moon and The Goddess

The Moon & The Triple Goddess

The phases of the Moon, which follow a cycle of approximately 29.5 days, dominated human’s experience of the nighttime hours in the days before electric lighting. The ocean tides and the menstrual cycles of women are synchronized with the cycle of the Moon, which produces symbolic meanings linking the Moon with femininity, water, the night, the subconscious, and the ebb and flow of changing moods. Working with the moon’s cycle is at the heart of witchcraft.
Lunar energy is reflective and mediates whatever is projected upon it, whether it is sunlight or starlight. The lunar rays are the bridge over which we cross to the place between the worlds where magic takes place.

They are a channel for our devotion to the Goddess, and the God, and for her love and blessings, and indeed her presence within our rituals. Witches work with any phase of the moon. There are approximately seven days from each quarter phase of the Moon to the next, which may have inspired the idea of a week of seven days.
In the waxing and waning of the Moon, we can see the cycle of birth, growth, fruition, decline, death, and rebirth. In this we can also compare the sprouting of seeds, the growth and blossoming of the plant, the bearing of fruit, and the decay into compost, which nourishes the seeds in the following spring. In the Moon’s cycles we can also see childhood, adolescence, adulthood, death, and rebirth.

These aspects are represented as the maiden, the mother, and the crone - the triple Goddess.
The new moon appears small and faint, near the Sun, visible for just a few minutes in the evening before it sets. As the days pass, She grows in size, power, and independence.

At Full Moon, She illuminates the entire night, bestowing a light that is strong enough for us to walk, work, or even ready by. Night animals are active. Then she wanes, gradually becoming weaker again, finally disappearing into darkness.

All living and growing things go though a similar cycle: birth and growth, fullness or fruition, then age, decline, and death.

Plants sprout, grow, flower, bear fruit, cast their seeds, and return to the earth.

Humans are born, grown and learn, become adults, grow old, and die.

The moon cycle reminds us that this process is not just a one time journey, but a cycle that repeats endlessly, linking us with life long past and lives yet to come. Animals associated with the moon are: the hare, deer, frogs and toads, and the bull.