The June Full Moon has many names including the Mead Moon, the Honey Moon, and the most commonly known, the Strawberry Moon. The 2019 June Full Moon will be at it’s peak on June 17th at 2:31 AM (MST); late into the evening on Father’s Day. This is a perfect night to get outdoors and allow the moonlight to wash over your body and soul.
As we do each month, the June Full Moon gathering is our monthly time of cleansing and renewal. If you are new to full moon celebrations, you may be a bit apprehensive about a total release; this is totally natural. This often is caused by heightened emotions and impulsive reactions that are “in the moment.” Just remember, if you’re unsure about releasing something, then it’s better to meditate and evaluate before letting it go. Remember that you can always release something at a later time. It takes a real commitment to cut the cord and move on from some situations and if you aren’t fully vested in moving forward in your life, then you may want to consider asking yourself what is really holding you back; the situation or your own fears.
As the June Full Moon is almost halfway through the calendar year, we’ll pay special attention tonight to our overall spiritual “wellness” and review our progress on self-improvement so far this year.
What You’ll Need For This Ritual
Quarter Candles (yellow, red, blue, green)
Anthame
Large White Goddess Candle – Goddess candle
Large Gold or Yellow Candle – God candle
Paper and pencils
Fire pit
Throughout this ritual, any text surrounded by these symbols < > should be considered instructional and not spoken aloud but done in accordance with the directions
June Full Moon Ritual Begins
This circle forming all around, high above, across the ground, a sacred sphere has gathered here – we are now between the worlds!
Calling the Quarters
Hail Mighty Ones of the Eastern Tower. Guard this circle with your power. Powers of Air weave the round, between the worlds that power bound – Till I send it at the last, Guardians keep it strong and fast. <light yellow candle in the East>
Hail Mighty Ones of the Southern Tower. Guard this circle with your power. Powers of Fire weave the round, between the worlds that power bound – Till I send it at the last, Guardians keep it strong and fast. <light red candle in the south>
Hail Mighty Ones of the Western Tower. Guard this circle with your power. Powers of Water weave the round, between the worlds that power bound – Till I send it at the last, Guardians keep it strong and fast. <light blue candle in the west>
Hail Mighty Ones of the Northern Tower. Guard this circle with your power. Powers of Earth weave the round, between the worlds that power bound – Till I send it at the last, Guardians keep it strong and fast. <light green candle in the north>
I call to the God; Spark of the Spirit Eternal; Lord of the Wild Hunt; Judge of both Gods and Men. Into this circle, I invoke you, to bless and guide all that we do, on this night and each night ever after! Hail and welcome! <light the God candle>
I call to the Goddess; Beauty of the Green Earth, White Moon among the Stars, Mysteries of the Waters
Shimmering Goddess of the Moon’s light, who guides us through the dark of night, Into this circle, I invoke you. To bless and guide all that we do
Hail and welcome!
Opening statement
The Strawberry moon is a perfect opportunity to review and evaluate our individual progress on the many goals and opportunities we’ve manifested throughout the last six months. It’s also an ideal time for spellwork to bring about success in learning, healing, intuition and independence. Each month we make personal pledges to ourselves to clean out the debris from our spiritual closets and rid ourselves of it permanently. Often we find difficulties in a total 100% release due to unintended circumstances or our own doubt. Some issues are so daunting that we ponder over them for months; maybe even years, before we are ready to cut the cord for good.
This June Full Moon is also a perfect time to cleanse and charge your Magickal tools, herbs, and yourself in preparation for the Midsummer celebration on June 21st. Litha, the Summer Solstice, honors the longest day of the year and is cause for great celebration, but also gives us pause as we look ahead to the upcoming harvests, foraging, gathering, and preparing for the next turn of the great wheel.
Musical Interlude
No pagan ritual is complete without music – I’ve chose this beautiful Celtic folk song by Dracovallis and Merrigan, titled Summerspell.
June Full Moon – Lesson of the Session – Being Grateful
In order to prepare for Midsummer, tonight is both an in-depth look at our spiritual “wellness” so far this year, plus a cleansing to prepare us for the great festival of Litha. You may not be aware that the Moon’s manifestation periods are on a cyclical six month calendar, and we are at this point now. I’d like everyone to take a few moments to reflect back on the last six months of your lives. Think “big picture” at the opportunities that have surfaced or disappeared, the new friends you’ve made, relationships that have either blossomed or dissolved, births, deaths, arguments, triumphs, laughter, tears, and the goals and intentions you’ve thought about or committed to. Now, dig down a little deeper into your personal history; those that I just listed are the “low hanging fruit.”
Think about the things you’ve decided to release during our monthly cleansing sessions; did you really let all that baggage go? Does anything in particular stick in your minds that you’ve left unfinished, unsorted, or unfulfilled? Did you keep your promises? Are you currently plagued with feelings of negativity, darkness, gloom, or other foreboding feelings? Are you overly emotional but cannot determine why? Are you letting someone else control any portion of your life; even a little bit? Think hard and really try to grasp the root of things. Also, have you filled in the spaces once you’ve cleansed, with positive things? Are you giving back to the community in a productive way? Do you make time for other like-minded people to mentor them, share your spiritual and magickal knowledge, or offer them a helping hand in times of need? Is your spiritual health where you want and need it to be?
Now that you are in a deep-thought stoic moment, I’d like you to ask each of you to think about what you are grateful for. I’m asking this because there is definitive proof that gratefulness is directly related to happiness and satisfaction with life. Those who are grateful tend to be positive more often than not. If you are struggling with direction on how to be more grateful, then study and understand these simple truths. Grateful people do not expect life will hand them happiness or all that they think they deserve – they realize that sometime’s life isn’t fair and bad things happen to good people. But, fortunately they also realize that happiness isn’t caused or taken away by any condition that life might present – just because it’s snowing outside doesn’t mean you can’t be happy.
Other traits of grateful people are that they always have hope, even if things appear catastrophic. Hope is one of the key things that make us human and also drives us to push through difficult situations. Grateful people have flexible thinking, and they have positive thinking habits meaning they don’t assume the position of a victim, they don’t blame others, and they don’t think irrational thoughts such as self-harm over a situation. More importantly, grateful people define themselves by their accomplishments, their effort, and their dreams and goals rather than failures, losses, or disappointments. Positive self-esteem establishes a foundation for gratefulness, which establishes a foundation for real and productive cleansing and personal spiritual growth without regret.
Monthly Cleansing
Each full moon, we take time to release, to purposefully surrender those things which are weighing us down and filling our soul full of negativity. Despite our best efforts, we all carry baggage from bad experiences, unhappy encounters, and the unfortunate introduction of bad things into our lives. If you are in tune, many of those encounters are deflected, yet not always. Psychic Vampires are always trying to break through our defenses to attach dark cords to us. Creatures of chaos are trying to disrupt our otherwise harmonious lives. Those who dwell in darkness are constantly reaching up in an attempt to pull us down.
<offer paper and pencil to write down things>
This battle between light and dark has gone on for eons and will continue. And so each month we come together in support of one another and cast off that which no longer serves us, we cut the cords of energy thieves, and we open up space to be filled with strong and supportive energy. If you have something you wish to release, then please approach the fire and send it to the skies above in an act of permanent banishment.
<allow time for people to approach and burn whatever they need to>
Remember that if you haven’t realized your short term (6 month) goals, then use this June Full Moon as your personal turning point for 2019 – take an action step in propelling your life forward rather than remaining stuck in place. Take inventory of your life, thinking about things you actually want to achieve, goals you actually want to meet. Instead of non-specific goals such as “being happy,” really dig down and make specific focused goals such as “I’m going to ask for a raise, or I’m going to start…and finish a project.” If you aren’t being grateful, then learn how to be and make gratefulness a permanent part of your life.
Cleansing is both strenuous and uplifting at the same time as it’s filled with decisions that honestly can alter the rest of your lives. Do not allow a little difficulty to stop you from achieving spiritual greatness and inner peace. Whenever I get distracted or I’m faced with a tough decision, my “go-to” environment is nature; the trees whisper soothing messages and the birds and insects sing a beautiful symphony while the Fae folk giggle in the shadows.
The beauty of the green earth
Majestic trees, noble vines, and luxurious flowers
Air filled with succulent sweetness
Steel blue ocean waters teeming with life
Ancient stones, vast deserts, and endless grasslands
Snow-capped peaks and crystal clear rivers
Harmony as far as the eye can see
Contented to rest below the starry skies
Illuminated by the pure light of the moon
Each well-known as each is a mystery
Listen to the calling on the wind…
Open your hearts
Open your very souls
As the spirits of the earth beckon you
Take the first step, the first embrace
The life of the universe
From which all things proceed
And which all things shall return
Let your heart rejoice
Immerse yourself into that spiritual love
Commune with every living thing
Gather strength from their beauty
Embrace their compassion in your heart
Admire their humility
Emulate their reverence within your soul
Seek more than what lies on the surface
Knowing that seeking means revelation
Fear not the Mystery
Only there will you find the answers
That you cannot see within yourself
Cakes & Ale
Another hallmark of a pagan celebration is a copious amount of food and drink – affectionately known as ‘cakes & ale.” As we’ve shared energies, so we shall share sustenance!
Pass the cakes and ale – raise your cups in a toast
“May you never hunger!”
Another toast
“May you never thirst!”
<this is a period of socialization – remember that the circle is still intact, so communicate to everyone not to cross the boundaries without cutting a hole>
Closing the June Full Moon Circle
To all those spirits in the Northern sphere, I release you now, depart from here – I give thanks to all of thee. Depart in peace, and blessed be. <extinguish green candle in the north>
To all those spirits in the Western sphere, I release you now, depart from here – I give thanks to all of thee. Depart in peace, and blessed be. <extinguish blue candle in the west>
To all those spirits in the Southern sphere, I release you now, depart from here – I give thanks to all of thee. Depart in peace, and blessed be. <extinguish red candle in the south>
To all those spirits in the Eastern sphere, I release you now, depart from here – I give thanks to all of thee. Depart in peace, and blessed be. <extinguish yellow candle in the east>
We give thanks to the God for guarding this circle and joining our rite. Hail and farewell. <extinguish gold/yellow God candle>
We give thanks to the Goddess for guarding this circle and joining our rite. Hail and farewell. <extinguish white Goddess candle>
<ritual leader should walk the perimeter of the circle while reciting this chant>
Circle Round, now be Unbound as I make my way around. I now Dissolve this Sacred Space and send all the Powers back to their place. Circle Round, now be Unbound as I make my way around. Stay if you can, go if you must, with Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Circle Round, now be Unbound as I make my way around. Our Work is finished for the Night and now we end this Magick Rite
The circle is now open, but remains in our hearts unbroken.
Huzzah !
- September’s Full Harvest Moon Ritual for 2024 - September 12, 2024
- May’s Full Flower Moon 2024 – Blessed Abundance - May 22, 2024
- March’s Full Worm Moon, 2024 - March 24, 2024
