Before the moon is made new on March 29th, it returns to the place on the astrological Wheel where it began its moonthly journey. The energy gathered through the moonth now flows away into moonless nights. What will you send with this energy to be transformed in the dark?

The moonth we are concluding began and now ends in Pieces which corresponds to the Tarot’s Moon card. In the Dark Goddess Tarot The Moon is Arianrhood, the Welsh Goddess of the Moon. Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, creator of the Dark Goddess Tarot, description of Her includes:

Arianrhod – whose name means Silver Wheel – is a shapeshifter who often appears as an owl of the night, the owl who sees in the darkness, who sees at once ahead and behind, whose wings are soft and silent. She is the weaver upon her wheel, braiding and binding her magic into the manifestation of the world and the destiny of its creatures.

In the Celtic tradition, owls are associated with death, and could serve as guardians of the underworld and protectors of the dead. The newly dead encounter Arianrhod in her tower behind the dreamy glow of the northern lights, and here she serves as a guide to help them make their transition from life to death and then onward into their next incarnation.

Death and life are woven together at this time of year in the occurrences of the natural world and in wisdom of Arianrhod. In yards and forest around my town, early bulbs and spring wildflowers are pushing their way up through the litter of dead leaves that have been their protection until now. Acknowledgement and work with this interwoven nature of life and death can bring power to your dark moon release work this moonth.

From 7:30 pm ET on Wednesday, March 26th through 8:36 pm ET on Friday, March 28th (time zone converter), the dark moon returns to Pisces/ The Moon is especially potent for supporting your transformation (but any time before the new moon’s arrival when you can fit it in is good). You are invited to engage in reflection and ritual to celebrate achievements of the moonth passing and release what you do not want to carry into the next lunation.

Reflection

Do you record your dreams? If so, you are invited to look back at the dreams of the moonth for images that capture your attention, patterns that appear, and perhaps to see if any dream images had an echo in your waking life.

If you don’t record or remember your dreams, you can pull 3 Tarot or oracles to show you the main themes of your dreams this moonth. (We dream each night, even if we don’t remember those dreams.)

Then working with your reflections or your cards, ponder questions such as:

• What are my dreams telling me about what is dead in my life (i.e. ready to be transformed)?

• What are my dreams telling me about what new is ready to emerge into my life?

After you’ve done some pondering on your own, select by choice or chance cards to represents each thing you feel is ready to transform and each thing that might be coming new in your life.

Dark Moon Ritual

Before going to sleep on the dark moon night, shapeshift into the role of Arianrhod. You might do this by gazing on an image of her, inviting her through meditation, or by feeling the power of the dark and moonless night.  

Then take up each of the cards from the reflection above that represent what is ready to be transformed in your life and spend some time in communion with the aspects of the image that most captivate your attention. Let them know that they are dead and now is the time to transition into something new. Imagining yourself as Arianrhod, give each aspect words of encouragement and advice for making the journey into death and then beyond into the next incarnation.

Then as you prepare to go to sleep ask that these elements be released and transformed in the dark of night. You might imagine them getting into some kind of conveyance – a boat or a chariot or a sports card – and moving away from you as you drift into sleep.

Trust that the night will do its work.

When the new moon arrives, you may want to take up the cards that represented the new in your life and let them inspire you to make new moon wishes. Be sure to write them down to revisit at the end of the moonth.