The new moon is a blank page, a fresh start. It marks the beginning of a new lunar cycle, and is viewed as a rebirth, or a reset, with unlimited possibilities. This is the perfect time to sit and reflect on setting your intentions for what you’d like to manifest, work on, or create for the new cycle. This is the best time to write down your goals, plant seeds, tend to plants, and banish what no longer serves you, or what you no longer want to carry with you into the new cycle.

The new moon’s energy is strongest on the day of, but it also can be felt two days before and two days after. Here are some simple self-care rituals you can practice during those times:

1. Intention Setting Candle Ritual

• Use a white candle for newness and purity. You can also use a colored candle that corresponds with what your goal or intention is. For example: red for love, green for money, blue for health, yellow for joy.

• Using a toothpick, knife or athame, carve your goal into the candle. Remember to be realistic – chances are, you won’t become a millionaire overnight – make sure your goals are reasonable. To carve, you can use a word, multiple words, full sentences, or symbols to represent your intention.

• Before lighting the candle, sit with the it for a moment and visualize this goal coming to life. Perhaps meditate with it.

• Once you feel ready, go ahead and light the candle. Let it burn all the way down.

2. Burning Release Ritual

• Take a piece a paper and write down 1-3 things that you no longer want to carry with you into the next lunar cycle, such as a bad habit, a negative thought pattern, or something that holds you back.

• Take the paper and burn it in a safe place, like a fireplace or a fire-safe cauldron or bowl. Watch as the smoke rises, burning away and releasing into the universe.

• If you can, toss the ashes into the wind and watch them drift away.

3. Banishing Candle Ritual

• Just as you would use the burning ritual to release, you should also use this time to banish negative energy.

• Take a black candle, as black is best for protection and banishment purposes.

• Take a moment and truly feel all of the negativity energy you have within you. Visualize this energy leaving your body and going into the candle. Let the candle hold all of that energy for you.

• If you’d like, you can carve any words or symbols that represent what you want to banish.

• Light the candle and let it burn all the way down, as it melts watch it banish all of the negative energy that you poured into it.

4. Cleansing

• Use sage, palo santo, or other herbal incense to cleanse your home during this time. Make sure to get in the corners of each room and the doorways. Sage is an antimicrobial, so not only are you cleansing the space, but you’re disinfecting it at the same time!

• You can also sprinkle sea salt or saltwater around the boundaries of your home for an added barrier against negative energy.

5. Plant a seed

• Take a seed of your choice and place it in your hands. Meditate with it and visualize your intentions for growth. Then plant it! The new moon energy is perfect for planting the seeds that will blossom beautifully, both in a physical and metaphorical sense. Take care of it, and as this seed grows, so will you.

6. Give yourself a tarot reading

• Pulling tarot cards during the new moon is a way to start fresh and gain a sense of what lies ahead for this moon cycle. You may be able to learn what you can manifest, where your focus should be, and how to best heal and grow.

7. Decorate an altar or space to honor the new moon

• You can decorate your altar, or set up a new altar or space for yourself that will bring you peace whenever you’re near it. This space will allow you to work with the energy of the new moon and other lunar phases. A small table, a shelf on a bookcase, or even a dresser drawer will work just fine if you’re tight on space.

• To decorate your altar for the new moon you can include items like:

- White candles for newness and purity and black candles for protection.

– Any crystals you feel connected to. Great ones for the new moon are smoky quartz or obsidian, both for grounding, protection, and dissipating negativity. Howlite will help you receive messages from the universe. Citrine is for new beginnings, and attracts abundance and positivity. Clear quartz is for meditation, centering, and cleansing. Amethyst will help you connect to your intuition and third eye chakra.

– Any or all aces in a tarot deck, and/or an oracle or tarot card that corresponds to what your goals are for this cycle.

– Images or representations of goddesses you’d like to work with during this moon phase. Hecate and Persephone are great choices for the new moon, as they are often associated with it.

– Flowers or plants.

If you’re unable to do one of the rituals above, or are looking for something simpler, try these:

Take a calming bath, make a vision board, organize and clean your space, set new healthy habits, write down all of your goals for the next cycle and put them in a jar, hone in on your third eye chakra, and practice self-care in ways that allow you to feel rejuvenated.

Happy New Moon to you!