Happy Full Buck Moon friends! As it turns out, this month's full moon falls on Monday, the day of the moon!
The male deer's antlers grow at this time, giving this full moon its name. July was named after Julius Caesar, and was originally the fifth month in the early Roman calendar. This month is associated with freedom, travel and adventure!
July calls us to go outdoors, explore and discover the beauty and abundance of the season. It a season of PLAY, to enjoy the extra hours of daylight, embrace nature and connect with yourself. With the extra hours of activity, heat and socializing, don’t forget to make time to cool down and rest.
The summer season embodies the element of fire. To rejuvenate from the heat, a ritual bath soak can be just the antidote to any excess of the season.
Why a ritual bath?
While you may be spending more time outdoors, your body and mind may be calling in for cooling down and rest. Water is a sacred healing element that reminds us that while we go with the flow, we can also collect and contain our energy. Water is cleansing and clearing. Mixed with the medicine of our plant allies, earth crystals and the energy of the full moon, a ritual bath can be a magical experience.
Image of my birth doula Taya Shopen
Photo Credit: Pasha, partner of Taya
I am sharing a bath ritual with you as I myself have felt the transformative and healing power of this medicine.
In 2017 I had an incredibly difficult recovery from the birth of my third daughter. Pre-birth, I had many ideas of how labor and delivery was going to be. However, in the end, it was nothing like what I expected. To make a long story short, I had a crash c-section that made the process of healing and recovery a long and steady road of releasing all the expectations I had for my mind, body and spirit.
My birth doula Taya offered a closing ritual for me to process the emotions and the grief that I was experiencing at the time. One of the practices besides swaddling was an herbal bath that she prepared for me. She sewed herbs that she grew in her garden into a soft cloth and prepared the bath. We journeyed together through a practice of connecting with our. ancestral lineage, music, cacao and swaddling before closing with the herbal bath. I still remember the sensations I felt as I stepped into the bath. It was like a huge wave of relief washed over me as I lowered myself into the waters.
I also remember feeling how dark it was. It was like I was re-entering the darkness that had enveloped me when I lost consciousness during labor.
Taya began to sing and pour the herbal waters over me. As the water washed over my body, mixing with my tears, I began to feel the deeply held tension, fear and anxiety fall away.
Time stood still as I soaked in the bath long after the song had ended. And when I arose, cooled off and dried, I felt energized and renewed, like a new baby born. After this ritual, the aches and pains that I had been experiencing nearly every day dissipated.
The full buck moon is a beautiful time for a bath ritual. Another sacred day is on July 3, still within the phase of the full moon, and the festival of the Welsh mother goddess Cerridwen. If change is on the horizon for you, and you are moving through a transformative shift in your life, channel the energy of the great mother to hold you in safety during this time.
While loss does not always come with growth, ask yourself when there is a shift, what lessons have you learned, and what are you ready to release? See where this month leads you and trust in Mama Killa and the divine timing of nature's cycles.
With all my love,
Charina
Full Moon Goddess Ritual
Ingredients
1 cup Epsom Salt
Chamomile, Chrysanthemum and collected wildflowers (optional) in an herbal pouch
10 drops of lavender essential oil
5 Sunflowers or other flowers of your choice from your garden
1 citrine crystal
1 clear quartz crystal
Ritual
- Place all the ingredients except for the crystals in the bath at the temperature of your choosing
- Smudge your space and yourself with palo santo or cinnamon sticks in a nonflammable try or abalone shell.
- Hold the crystals in your palm, close your eyes and take 5 long slow and deep breaths
- Step into the bath with the crystals in your palm
- Place crystals on your heart and belly for a few minutes
- Close your eyes, soak, enjoy, hum, sing, and bless yourself with the herbal waters until you feel complete
To Close
- Place crystals aside in a safe place and give thanks
- Collect herbs, flowers and some of the bath water prior to emptying the tub
- Offer the herbal waters to the earth in your garden
- Place the crystals at the base of a plant indoors our outdoors until the next full moon