Full Sturgeon Moon Ceremony

by SLY on August 24th, 2010

The practice of rituals, ceremonies, traditions and customs intrigues my soul greatly. I’m currently reading The Healing Wisdom of Africa (Finding Life’s Purpose Through Nature, Ritual & Community) thanks to Dexter’s amazing recommendation and am having a love affair with this book. I’ll save my research for another day but I wanted to touch briefly on a ritualistic opportunity you could make time for tonight.

Tonight we enter into the Full Sturgeon Moon. You can take this time to have your own personal moon ceremony or celebrate with close, trusted friends. I’ve read a couple articles and blogs which I’ll link to below and they all have a few things in common with their own tweaks thrown in. I encourage you to develop your own rituals or research the rituals of those close to your heart. I’d love to find out if my family had a particular tradition in regards to the moon. Or perhaps the wonderful ladies over at Owning Pink might have something they all do together. Community is key. Although have a strong sense of self and your own personal rituals is just as important.

Common words that arise in relation to the full moon are birth, rebirth, purification, change, creation, manifestation and so forth. You can even take the 12 full moons, their names and general meaning and then assign your own words & symbols for each month.

Most rituals including the full moon begin with creating a sacred space. This can be as simple or detailed as you’d like it to be. You can be indoors or outdoors. Make sure your sacred space is clean, clutter free and if you want to go deeper align it with a bagua chart or ensure you’ve followed feng shui principles. “Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston is a great book to read in regards to this.

Purify and Cleanse your sacred space by burning sage. I also love having water and sea salt handy.

Light a candle or a couple. However you want. I like tea candles. I also have two specific candle holders that I enjoy using. Be very specific about when you actually light your candle.

Once you’ve created your sacred space, open your ritual with meditation and affirmations. One article linked below suggest inviting the wisdom of the moon. I love finding ways to connect with nature. Use this as a time to ground yourself. During meditation and while practicing any ritual, I like to call on the spirit of my ancestors. I encourage that as well!

Depending on the specific full moon we are in and what you’ve chosen it to symbolize, cater your practice around that. Often people write down on a piece of paper what they want to release or change as well as what they want to take in. That is one way. There can be many ways to go about your moon ceremony.

I don’t particularly like burning things. I like to cater my rituals around my journals. I use visual techniques in my collage art journals to represent my practice.

You can do anything that you want. Make it yours!

You should also note that Mercury is currently in retrograde. I’ve written about Mercury in Retrograde in the past. Mercury in Retrograde and Autumn Equinox. Check out those articles when you have a chance. (I even have a mercury symbol tattoo!)

Perhaps you can use this ritual and this season of retrograde as an intentional moment to slow down. Perhaps your normal moon rituals are full of high energy and celebration and maybe you want to use this one as a more quiet, introspective one. It’s all up to you.

I will be spending this full moon with Mr. Officer celebrating our recent birthdays and our upcoming anniversary. Considering the wonderful change in weather last night, I know tonight is going to be powerful and magical bringing us closer to ourselves and each others.

What kind of ceremony are you holding for this full moon?