SARAH DURHAM WILSON
I host new and full moon nights on Martha’s Vineyard at Yoga Haven, a sunny little studio nestled down island. The idea is to spread healing and peace energetically throughout the world.
Only a handful of us live here full-time, so a lot of women and a few men have asked me how to host their own.
In truth, there are no concrete rules. It’s almost all about intention. The most important thing is coming together and literally sitting in a circle. You can’t honor incorrectly if your intentions are true.
But it is important to ground before you enter a circle, to be fully present and clear. It’s also good to remember that a circle is enacted not only for the people in the room, but for the highest healing good of all.
Here are some ideas on how to host your own circle based on my blueprint below. Feel free to follow your own hearts and souls and color it as you desire.
Calling In The Four Directions
Have a candle lit to represent each direction. Ask everyone to turn and face the corresponding direction, as you move through the elements.
North: Earth. Here’s an example of what I might say or call, “Spirits, ancestors, guardians of the North, by the power of Earth that is our body and strength, I call unto you to bless and protect this sacred space. May our coming together tonight help heal the Earth beneath our feet and all her beings, spirits of the north, hail and welcome!”
East: Wind.
South: Fire.
West: Water.
Invocation
If it’s a new moon, I read an invocation to the Dark Goddess, Kali, Hecate, Morgaine. If it’s full, we devote to the Great Mother, Gaia.
Then, I talk a bit about the energies of that week’s moon phase, as every moon feels different, and open up the floor to those gathered. Chances are that if you are feeling something under that moon, others are too. And sharing can be very healing and illuminating.
Meditation
Next, we do a short meditation, usually spurred by the teachings of that moon phase. If that phase is teaching us about unconditional love, for instance, we do a meditation to open our hearts.
Ceremony
Then, we do a small ceremony. I’m so blessed to live by the water, so I often use the healing tonic of ocean’s salt water like the stuff of our own cleansing tears. We go around the circle and bless each other with a finger dipped in the water. We anoint each other’s third eyes, heart chakras and hands for clarity and healing, for the highest good of all by the grace of the Goddess. The repetition is lulling and trance-inducing. It is the heart of ritual.
Yoga
Afterward, we lie on our backs and I move everyone through some gentle, balancing yoga sequences. I say “balancing” because what we’re called to do at this time on the planet is balance our masculine and feminine energies, which has nothing to do with gender. There has been an imbalance of aggressive masculine energy of late, in all people. In order to restore natural healthy balance, the intuitive, receptive, healing feminine needs to rise in us all. So, by allowing the divine feminine energy in men and women to rise, we balance ourselves and become whole.
Close
Finally, we close in the circle, holding hands. If anyone needs to say anything else, this is the time. Sometimes we end with a chant, but we always end with an “Om.” I usually say, “The circle is open but never broken!” three times. Then everyone files out to bring healing to the world.