For the beginner witch, planning out rituals for new moon, full moon, and pagan holidays, whilst also learning history, practices, uses, and spells, can feel a bit much at times. Sometimes, you’ve been so focused on one thing, that… oh no! is tonight new moon? I don’t have a ritual planned! becomes a monthly habit. So, this is a very simple ritual that anyone can do, and doesn’t require a whole lot of time, and that is the new moon intentions ritual.

This is a practice that I do every new moon and has become second nature to me over time, while occasionally spicing up my routine with baths or other such cleansing rituals. But let’s not talk about that for now. This post is solely to guide you with an intention ritual.

So, every month, on the day of the new moon, I start thinking about things my intentions for the month. Things I want to work on, both internally and externally about myself. It can be as simple as “spend more time with family” or more of a mindset workout like “work on commitment to myself.” Everything you want to write down is valid. However, I would like to stress that you do not want to create a huge long list of intentions every month because you could overwhelm yourself, and therefore not make much progress in any of the areas you were intending to. 2-6 intentions has been my sweet spot for the last few months.

After you have created your list, sit down in the evening when the moon is completely new (you can look up moon calendars to find the exact time if you want, but there is no need to be exact) and charge your intentions. You can do this in a few different ways:

1. Light a candle and lay your intentions down on your altar (if you have one, otherwise, any old tabletop would work fine.) Use the flame to meditate over your intentions. Stare into it and watch the flame dance. Try to turn off your monkey brain, while focusing on your intentions. Do the best you can until you can feel your charging energy flow into the page. When finished, say a quick thank you or prayer to any God or deity you worship, or to the moon herself, and then blow out the candle.
2. Sit cross-legged, with your list in your lap, and gather whatever crystals feel right for the list you have made. Clothes your eyes while holding the crystals and simply meditate on your intentions. Do for as long as you like. 5, 10, or even 20 minutes, until you are satisfied that you have charged your intentions.
3. And lastly, if you have no crystals, no altar, and no candles – don’t worry! Meditation is the most important factor here in charging your intentions, the other tools just help to amplify the effects. Just simply sit and meditate with your list. You can close your eyes or keep them open, allowing them to rest on the words you have written. If keeping them open, I suggest letting your eyes go out of focus while you meditate. I don’t know why, it just feels right to me.

So, now we have our charged list of intentions! What I like to do with them once I’ve done this is set them on my altar until the full moon. I like to keep my notebook open to the page I’ve written them down on, so that I can be reminded of them everyday. I use a crystal to hold the book open, use whatever feels right. This month I’ve gone for rose quartz because my intentions feel like they require a lot of self-love and rose quartz can definitely help me with that. Once the full moon has arrived, I take my list off my altar and either burn it, or just simply close the notebook and lay it elsewhere. Do whatever feels right to you! That’s my mantra when it comes to witchcraft!

I hope you enjoy, if you try it out! Many thanks for reading. xx