Columnist Grace Victory explores the nature of cyclic beings, how to connect with the lunar language, and how to make the most of this divine energy

I’ve been fascinated by the moon for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would spend hours staring at it from my bedroom window, always feeling curious and connected to this enormous grey sphere in the sky. When I realised that the moon I was looking at was the same moon everyone else around the world could see, I couldn’t believe it. It was then that I realised how deeply united we are through nature.

The moon’s enchantment has always been a part of me. Whenever I was sad, I would gaze and wonder what was out there. The universe made me feel small, but in the best way – like my problems would be OK, and that someone, somewhere, was looking out for me.

In 2017, I experienced a great, big, amazing, but depressing, spiritual awakening, and I felt even more connected to the moon. Some nights, the moon would shine so brightly through my bedroom windows that it almost felt like she wanted me to speak to her. So I did. And that’s when I started to understand that the moon has its own energy. It was a ‘she’, firstly. A divine, feminine energy that I could often feel inside me. I began to call her Mama Moon. She felt protective but nurturing, warm but stern, vast but simple. And I was curious to find out how I could utilise this connection to her.

Grace Victory

Photography | Paul Buller

Lunar cycles

Most of us are aware of the full moon – it’s probably the most commercial part of moon energy, for many reasons. When the moon is at its fullest, most illuminating state, so are we – the moon can change the tides in the ocean, so we can’t be naive to her changing the tides within us, too. As humans, we navigate the world blindly. But if we slowed down, noticed the details, and paid attention to what is going on around us and within us, we would understand that we, too, are a part of nature.

Much like those with wombs, the moon cycles through phases each month. We are bright and full at times, and other times we are hidden and dark. We’re incredible. And regardless of gender, everyone has a womb space – it’s the place our profound intuition resides, below our navels, above our genitals.

Astrologers, healers, and the spiritually connected teach that the full moon and the new moon energies are the most powerful, so here we’ll take a look at how you can get in tune with their energies.

New moon

A new moon is considered the ‘dark phase’ of the moon, and yet the energies are a little lighter, and represent growth, expansion, and awareness – welcoming in the new, and rebirth. This is the optimal time to set intentions, and think deeply about what you would like to manifest and achieve. What are your goals? What areas of your life do you want to begin again? The new moon is the perfect time to draw a line under the last month, and start writing a new life-script.

The new moon is the perfect time to draw a line under the last month, and start writing a new life-script

Full moon

Two weeks after a new moon, light from the sun gathers and builds across the surface, until we see a complete, full, shining moon. It represents the culmination of our energies, helping us to put into fruition the intentions we set two weeks before.

The full moon represents completion and letting go. After we utilise our full energies, what follows is called a waning moon (as the light decreases), and represents moving away from the things that are no longer serving us, and shows us the shadows and darkness that we are maybe avoiding, or struggling to process. The full moon is often a deeply emotional time for many people, and can coincide with headaches and insomnia as we process these emotions. But I look at the full moon as a chance to see into my subconscious, and to move forward more positively, away from the things holding me back.

The moon’s energy is potent and powerful, just like we are if we choose to believe it, and it can be used as a way to connect more deeply with ourselves, and our feelings. Particularly during a full moon, you can try to harness that spiritual energy through journaling, meditating, or charging your crystals. Remember that there’s no right or wrong when it comes to the divine, so experiment and find whatever feels best for you.

Nature ebbs and flows, and doesn’t worry about the outcome, because it trusts its journey. Be more like a tree, or a flower, or Mama Moon. Love Grace x

Come back next month for more from Grace!