You find yourself in a clearing in the woods.  It is night, and the clear sky is washed with a spray of stars.  You turn to face the East, noticing that the darkness at the wood’s edge is slowly changing.  Within moments, the ruddy limb of the Full Moon breaks above the horizon, silhouetting the still-bare trees of early Spring.

Moment by moment, the Moon’s face is revealed.  It is enormous—overwhelming.  The high Moon of midnight seems small and manageable by comparison with this brooding hulk.  It is red, stark, and powerful.

We all know the Full of the Moon to be a time of madness.  Order breaks down, restraint is abandoned.  Creatures of dark legend rise up to do unspeakable deeds.  Our own inner demons feel the Moon’s tidal pull and we howl and dance—or cower in fear.

The sign of Scorpio is in play this night.  The forces of sex and death, magnified by the Lunar lens rise in a shadow play against the wall of our consciousness.  What is it that you hide from yourself?  Does the thought of your fragile mortality hold you from following your dreams?  Does the specter of unfulfilled desire choke your free expression?  Now is the time to face this!  The Moon, driven by the power of this moment, is poised to pull your darkness into the light, just as it pulls the tides of the oceans.  Will you respond?  Will you let your waters rise?

The magnetic pull, the rising force of the Moon draws you forward.  As the the globe advances above the trees, you feel yourself pulled upward, lifting off of the ground and into the sky!  Higher and higher you travel, and as your body is pulled, so are the depths of your soul.  The creatures that have lived within your darkness for years find an opening in your heart and—release!  That which has been hidden is now seen clearly, and the joy of this vision bursts within you.  You are free, and it is a freedom of your own making.  Every fiber of your being rejoices!

Slowly, the ecstasy of the moment subsides.  You settle to earth once more, and begin the journey that will take you from this place of magick, back into the life you live day to day.  But the days that follow will not be the same as the ones that came before; you have joined with the powers that live within.  You have done your Work, and are transformed.

Listen to the audio version of this meditation:

For further reading: Full Moon in Scorpio: Beneath the Facade

As walkers on the Wiccan path, we are regularly challenged to change.  We know well the words, “She changes everything she touches”, for the Goddess is the very embodiment of the concept of change, and Her power to change doesn’t leave a single thing in the Universe untouched.  This, of course, includes you.

Imagine change in this way: A large stone sits on the side of a hill, and you are responsible for moving it.  It’s fairly easy to see that moving the stone uphill is going to be much harder than moving it downhill.  If the stone is embedded in the earth, this will increase the force needed to move it and if the earth is wet, it will be harder still.  As you can see, the need to change is always surrounded by a variety of conditions that make the change easier or more difficult.  A wise person takes care to learn the conditions they face when making a change, and modifies their plans in accordance.

This night, the forces around us are strongly influenced by the place of the Moon in the heavens.  It is the Dark Moon, about to blossom into the New Moon; the waning phase ends and waxing begins.  This, in itself, is a powerful aid to change.  The phase of the Moon is but one piece of the puzzle, though.  Where it sits within the wheel of stars, and how it interacts with the other planets is a big factor in the power of the Moon right now.  It is in Aries, an active sign ruled by the planet Mars.  It’s as if you’ve been given a lever to move that rock.

Knowing that you have a powerful force available for change makes it extremely important that you choose your actions carefully.  Imagine sticking that lever under the rock and giving the heave-ho—only to watch it tumble down hill and crush your car!  While we have the quiet of the Dark Moon to aid us, take this opportunity to delve deep within yourself and take an honest look at the patterns in your life that trip you up and hold you back time after time.  It’s very difficult to face these—they lie within the shadow self and do their best to elude the light.  If you find that you can’t root out these shadow traits at this moment, then use the force of the Aries Moon to seal the resolve to ask for help.  This is difficult work, and is best done with the assistance of someone you trust.

If you are able to come face to face with a pattern that doesn’t serve you, or an aspect of your personality that you chose to shut down at some point in your past, now is a good time to use your magickal skills to craft a ritual or spell for a change in this pattern or a repair of the broken connection, charging this work with the Moon’s energy.  The time to act is at hand.  Don’t let it slip away.

For some excellent words on the astrology surrounding this Moon, please read Diotima Mantinea’s blog post, Don’t Go Back To Sleep: New Moon in Aries.