Blessings of the Cold Moon!
Also Known As: Wolf Moon, Quiet Moon, Snow Moon, Disting Moon, Cooking Moon, Chaste Moon, Moon of the Terrible, Moon of Little Winter, Bearberry Moon, Wondrous Moon
Element: air
Nature Spirits: gnomes, brownies
Herbs: marjoram, holy thistle, nuts, cones, seeds
Colors: brilliant white, blue-violet, black, silver
Flowers: snowdrop, crocus
Scents: musk, mimosa
Stones: garnet, onyx, jet, chrysoprase, hematite
Trees: birch, hazel
Animals: fox, coyote
Birds: pheasant, blue jay
Deities: Freyja, Inanna, Sarasvati, Hera, Ch'ang-O, Sinn
Power Flow: sluggish, below the surface; beginning and conceiving. Protection, reversing spells. Conserving energy by working on personal problems that involve no one else. Getting your various bodies to work smoothly together for the same goals.
Mantra: I choose goals within my grasp, that are my own desires.
Info on This Moon From About Dot Com: In January, the nights are long and dark, and many of us are trying to stay warm under a blanket of snow as the Cold Moon approaches (in some cultures, the Cold Moon is the name given to December's moon, instead). The native tribes of North America called this time the Wolf Moon, because this was when the wolves were howling, hungry, outside lodges where people stayed warm within. This time of year, we're all feeling a bit slow and "off" as our bodies adjust to chillier temperatures.
This is a good time to work on magic related to protection, both physical and spiritual. Use this time to develop your inner self, and advance spiritually, becoming closer to the higher aspects of your deities.
BY THE BOOKS
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft by Denise Zimmerman and Katherine A. Gleason
The Wolf Moon, also known as the Cold, Snow, or Winter Moon, is a time of protection and strength. While it is the first full Moon of the calendar year, in terms of nature it occurs in the middle of the cold winter season, a season of death and desolation. In these respects, the Wolf Moon can be seen as a time of both beginnings and endings. This is the time to start to consider what you want to plant and plan for the spring. You can do magick so that as the spring approaches your magical goal will grow closer and closer to fruition.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism by Carl McColman
JANUARY (Wolf Moon)-- Light candles, honor winter's last few weeks of fury and plan new projects.
The Craft - A Witch's Book of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison
Name: Wolf
Cakes & Ale: sugar cookies and apple juice
Colors: rose or burgundy
Altar Decor: pine branch, burgundy or rose candles, pictures of family and friends
Incense pine
Esbat Purpose: Celebrate the predator and its strength and family
Try Drawing the Circle With: a pine branch
Witch's Brew: Good Spells for Peace of Mind by Witch Bree
January's Wolf Moon is a time to recognize strength of spirit.
Witches Datebook by Yasmine Galenorn
In January we turn our attention to new beginnings. This month, we focus our ritual on goals we want to achieve this year. On the Full Moon, sit down with a page of clean, white paper, and choose an ink whose color matches your goals: green fro prosperity, red for love, blue for creativity. Think about each goal, then write it down. Make sure it's achievable, something you want.
When you've finished, fold it three times, and seal with wax. Then take it outside under the Cold Moon and say:
Wishes and goals, visions and dreams,
Help me achieve all that I desire.
Strengthen my drive for that which I aspire.
Place your list in a safe space until New Year's Eve, when open it and see how much you've achieved and how many goals you've revised or let go. Affirmation for the Cold Moon: I choose goals within my grasp, that are my own desires.
Witches Datebook (2002) by Edain McCoy
The Birch Moon prepares us for the journey through the year ahead. Purification and protection rituals are common practices as the year again beings its waxing phase.
Prepare yourself for things to come by making a birch broom. For the shaft choose any branch or dowel two to four feet in length. Attach birch twigs to one end using twine. Light thirteen candles, one for each of the thirteen Celtic Tree Months.
Rhythmically tap the broom over your body to purify your spirit and to garner a protective force around you. Think of losing the uneasy and unsettled elements of the past year while gaining those needed to make this year better. Do this to a chant.
Broom and birch my spirit free,
Preparing me for what may be;
The past is done, the future unformed,
With purity and protection my path is adorned.
Witches Datebook (2003) by Edain McCoy
The birch tree was a totem tree of Celtic shamans. It was seen as their "World Tree," the axis upon which the universe spun.
The birch is a magical metaphor for traveling through all worlds and times. As the shaman progresses up the trunk of the tree, the way gets more difficult and the paths grow more numerous. Only the well-initiated can see past the maze-like foliage to the top of the tree, and the universal divine with which we seek union.
The Celtic shaman might have been flogged with birch branches because of their purifying properties. Flogging should not be painful. Merely tap the branch over your body as you ask for a new start this year:
Lord and Lady, shed your light
On me who stand before you this night;
Pure in spirit let me be,
Allow me to climb your sacred tree.
Witches Datebook (2004) by Edain McCoy
The Birch Moon begins the cycle of a new lunar year, falling near the time of the Winter Solstice when the solar year begins to wax again. One of the birch's major properties is the ability to purify and cleanse the spirit.
Place a medium-sized birch limb on the center of your altar. To the left place a bowl of water, and to the right place a bowl of salt or sand. Call upon the deities of the new year, or upon your patrons, and ask them to help purify you in spirit as you enter a new phase of spiritual growth.
Dip the top of the limb in the water and then in the salt or sand. Lightly tap the limb against your bare skin while chanting:
Birch of purity, white and clean,
Rid me of ill and malice unseen;
Take me into the lunar year
Pure in heart and free of fear.
Witches Datebook by Dallas Jennifer Cobb
The Full Moon rises in January while the wild winter wind howls. Like the wolves that stalked early villages, it prowls and growls, hungry and hunting, this Moon of deepest winter. Inside, gather close to the warmth of hearth and home. Draw a cloak of protection and strength around you, and the journey within. Let the darkness of the season shelter your plans and dreams. Inner visions appear, spurring us to plan what we will plant, for ahead likes the fertile cycle. Both in the spirit world and within the earth new life gathers its energies, preparing.
Take time for quiet contemplation of what is to come. Focus on preparation and protection in the privacy of loved ones, for strength grows in the quiet time as we are readied for the season ahead.
Snow Moon, Cold Moon, Quiet Moon abide,
Let protection and strength grow inside,
Inanna, Sarasvati, Hera, and Sinn,
Sew new beginnings deep within.
Witches Datebook (2010) by Elizabeth Barrette
Many Native American tribes name the months or "Moons" based on important local natural events. To the Cherokee, January is the Cold Moon. Fierce northern air howls down to strip the heat from the world. To the Choctaw, this is the Cooking Moon. Dried fruits, vegetables, and meats from storage help the tribe survive the winter, but they take a long time to cook. To the Dakota Sioux, this is the Moon of the Terrible. Not only can winters on the plains be devastating, but many legends relate dire events-- and this is a time of year for telling stories.
January is the peak of winter. The nights are long and dark. The weather is harsh and cold. Honor this time by working with its quiet, introspective energy. Now is a good time to make warm winter clothes if you knit, crochet, or sew. Cook foods that take a long time to prepare, such as soups and slow-cooker recipes or bake winter root vegetables such as potatoes and turnips. Large meat dishes such as ham and turkey are also appropriate.
For Ritual themes, consider the home and hearth. Tell stories to create the framework of a Ritual or to socialize afterwards.
Witches Datebook by James Kambos
The Cold Moon lights our way into the unknown. In many areas, the January nights are cold-- almost brittle-- and snow softens the barren landscape. Tonight, the Cold Moon serves as a beacon, and we are drawn to her to lead us on our journey into the New Year.
If you can see her, gaze upon her as if looking at her for the first time. See the moonlight as it shines upon the snow and turns the frost on the windowpanes to glitter. Let the moonlight become your path into the future. Honor her by lighting a white or silver candle, and place it near a window. As an offering, crumble white sage near your door to purify your threshold. Welcome her by opening your front door. Step outside and see yourself walking down a brand new path, but you are unafraid. Speak to her:
As I speak these words on this winter night,
Guide me Cold Moon with your light.
Allow my path to remain clear,
As I travel through another year.
Witches Datebook (2016) by Elizabeth Barrette
January is called the Wolf Moon because it marks the deepest part of winter when many prey animals die of cold and hunger, thus making good hunting for the wolves. Wolf energy deals in survival through planning and teamwork. The alpha wolf leads the hunts. The beta supports the alpha's decisons. Other wolves come in from the sides. The omega is the pack's peacemaker. By taking different roles, they make the pack stronger.
For this ritual you will need a recording of wolves howling, and at least five wolf images. These can be figurines, photos, or whatever else you have. Place the wolves in a circle on your altar and play the howls. Invoke the spirit of Wolf for support. Think of what qualities you have that are like a leader, or a follower, and a peacemaker. Focus the energy of the Full Moon to empower these, your inner wolves.
Afterwards, turn off the recording; give thanks to the moon and to the spirit of Wolf. Distribute the wolf images around your home, like a pack scouting through the winter woods, so that you may see them and be inspired as you go through your day.
Witches Datebook by JD Hortwort
What herb could be more appropriate for a winter Moon than bearberry? High overhead, the Great Bear constellation, Ursa Major, stalks the night sky, even as her kin lie sleeping in their dens. Those that do stir, if only briefly, might be seen enjoying the last of the bright red berries of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi? that come on in late fall, though to humans they really don't have much flavor.
Like many plants that have fibrous, spreading root systems that crawl just below ground level before erupting in leaves, bearberry is useful for kidney ailments and urinary tract disorders. Because it helps as a diuretic to remove excess uric acid, bearberry may be used to treat gout. In Native American traditions, dried bearberry leaves were burned to carry prayers to the heavens.
The plant itself is evergreen and is said to be circumpolar, meaning it tends to prefer colder climates. Its rich green leaves are another reminder that, although winter storms may howl, all is not lost. There is hope for the future in the gray, barren landscape.
Witches Datebook by Natalie Zaman
Once upon a time there was... the Moon! A traditional means of teaching lessons and revealing truths, fairy and folk tales are peopled with heroes and heroines, sometimes in the form of the Moon who appears as both character and catalyst. In her face we see our own, in her shadows the depths of our personal darkness. Over the course of the year, celebrate Luna's full phase with the wisdom of legend. What does she see as she changes from moment to moment?
Hans Christian Andersen might have been pondering this when he penned "What the Moon Saw" in 1840. From Her perch in the heavens, the Moon watches over the world and all the people in it. Night after night She reports on the beauty of nature that She sees and revels in the mundane details of people's everyday lives. Her message? There is magic and wonder in all things.
At January's Full Moon, ask Luna to help you see and appreciate the wonders of the world around you, great and small:
Luna show me what you see,
That I, like you, may blessed be.
A safe and happy holiday to all who celebrate~!
VIA SELENA FOX:
Blessings of Protection & Safety to All being impacted by Winter storms, blizzards, challenges