Wednesday, December 1st Dark Moon
to Friday, December 3rd New Moon in Sagittarius
11:43 pm PST

Honoring the Dark Moon: Intimacy with the Void

Once upon a time, she realized she did not truly understand her own power. She needed to find out the precise form of a magical creature that pulsed inside. She cut the cords, licked the knife, and, untethered, entered the void. The kind of wild she was burst forth like bouquets of stars, like a dreaming jaguar’s tail flicking in the night. As she decided to show herself how powerful she could be, the stars sang back. The constellations were rearranged as future hymns to the myths of her reinvention. The Dark Moon smiled upon her, a black velvet blessing.

The last month of this year begins with a Dark Moon. In three days, we will experience a Total Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius: this is the last Eclipse of the year, and the last Eclipse until next April. We are thoroughly in process: in communion with our depths, in communication with our intuition, deep in reflection mode. More will be clear at the end of this month, so long as we prioritize release. Grief, nervous system overload and exhaustion may be coming up. Shed, rest, ground, and call in support as needed.

There will always be surface snags designed to drain your energy or distract your attention. Remind yourself that you cannot yet know certain information. You aren’t supposed to know; you are meant to embody. Swim past any mind spirals, loops, or lies the brain tries to sell you. A December Dark Moon in Eclipse season is a liminal space where you are meant to regroup, reprogram, and repattern. Quiet and stillness are necessary components. Gratefully receive revelations in the caves of your retreat.

Much of this year has resonated with the energy of the Dark Moon. This archetype is the patron saint of punks, science fiction writers, sex workers, innovators, mystics, poets, activists, and anyone visioning—and living out—the seeds of a new world. All year long, we’ve been finding our way back home to self, to our spirituality in the unknown. We’ve been looking for ways to act and live in alignment more than ever. We’ve been breaking free of oppressive constructs, slashing away at anything false. It has been an uncomfortable and non-linear process: loss, overwhelm, and confusion occur alongside breathless potential. As one creates different patterns and takes risks, one meets rewards.

The Dark Moon corresponds with the energy of the void more than any other lunar phase. Clarissa Pinkola Estés introduced us to the idea of Life/Death/Life: the idea that humanity is constantly shifting and evolving through the natural processes of birth, life, blooming, decay, death, and rebirth. This is a cycle that all evolution, alchemical, and creative processes entail. I would like to build on this idea with a slightly different process, which is rebirth, life, death, and the void, on repeat. The Waning Moon corresponds with the death and decay process, with shedding and letting go. The Dark Moon correlates with the liminal space, the precious pause of no-thing-ness that exists as potentiality. This is the portal that helps us travel beyond previously imposed limits. Without experiencing the transformational energy of the Dark Moon void there can be no rebirth.

This energy can correspond with that of the healing crisis, spiritual crisis, identity crisis, and existential crisis. That time when we’ve reached the end of the proverbial road.

When we can go no further in the same manner: we must surrender. So often in our own processes, it is the breakdown that facilitates the breakthrough. Evolution beckons to us from the other side of our pain, our suffering.

The Dark Moon void is the fertile energy of the unknown. Much of the overculture demonizes not knowing. Yet not knowing corresponds to the beginner’s mind, which helps us to drop assumptions, remain curious, be open to possibilities found in our intuition, solve problems, begin again, and innovate.

The void is the Fool, happily traveling into other worlds in search of another aspect of self. The void is the High Priestess, precious vessel of all goddess energy across the pantheon, especially the subversive, misunderstood, shape-shifting ones. It is the cauldron of the subconscious to be activated and programmed through connection to our own wisdom, our own roots, our own stories, our own spiritual practice.

Can you let yourself acknowledge that there is information in your confusion, your discomfort, your fear, your rage, your grief? Can you let yourself believe in messages only you can hear? If you need some guidance, meditate on the space in between stars.

Do you understand that all the energetic embodiment you need is available to you at all times? Can you be courageous enough to create solely from your inner voice, and hold strong to your vision?
Will you be brave enough to remain accountable to your own needs? If you need some support, sit in the dark silently each evening until you locate the place called Something in You Knows.

Spend time honing in on the space inside of you that can navigate every situation. Then spend time memorizing that space so it infuses your waking life.
Rewrite any stories that keep you confined.
Let go of anything you no longer wish to see again.
Name the blocks, fears, or reflexes that keep you from expressing your next incarnation. Find ways to solace or release them.

Today is today. Yesterday is now a memory. Tomorrow is the void, full of potential. Some of it will be heartbreaking. That’s okay; you’ve lived and learned through heartbreak before. Some of it will be more beautiful than you can imagine. Can you let your hands open up a bit more, to hold that knowledge confidently? Most of the future is a mystery, which is another way of saying it will be a gift.

May this Dark Moon whisper to you how best to prepare for the upcoming Solar Eclipse and the last month of this intense, transformative year.
May it help you pause, in order to respond in different, more aligned ways.
May it help you vision far beyond the shallows.
May this Dark Moon allow you to gain more intimacy with the void.
In doing so, may it allow yourself to love the parts of you that are still unknown, waiting to be discovered and brought forth.

—Excerpt from the 2021 Many Moons Lunar Planner. Read the rest of the essay, including the Visioning New Narratives Dark Moon Ritual, in the December Guide. Download the Honoring The Dark Moon Online Workshop here. Order your copy of the 2022 Many Moons Lunar Planner here.