FAQ FULL MOON RITUALS

This is the Full Moon Ritual (hereafter referred to as FMR) FAQ sheet. This will let you know what it is and how it works, hopefully , and if it doesn't then please feel free to ask questions on the list.

1. Who can "be in" FMR? The FMR is not a coven or any kind of formal group; it's a community event, open to all who care to participate. By participate, we mean lead, invoke a quarter, "petition" (see somewhere later), or just read along and/or lend energy. Most leaders, but not all, ask that those intending to participate "sign in" beforehand; the main reason is so we're expecting you to "speak" and don't close before you get your chance.

2. So who gets to be leader? Interesting question. Generally the previous leader will nominate someone immediately after the end of the ritual to lead next month. This may be someone they personally want to see lead, or they may leave the decision to the Gods (I once put all the invokers' names in a little bowl I have...). If the person nominated can't lead next month, they will frequently suggest an alternate; if they don't, it kicks back to the previous leader to try someone else. If the outgoing leader REALLY doesn't want to nominate, he or she will ask for a volunteer.

3. Who gets to do the other stuff? Usually we ask for volunteers for the quarter, Goddess and God invocations. If there are more volunteers than needed, it's the leader's choice. This isn't a question of quality, it's usually a matter of balance (males and females, old people and new people,whatever).

4. What's a petition? After the invocations are completed, the leader usually does a transition to the body of the ritual, which normally consists of people's personal workings, which are frequentlyof the "asking for something" persuasion, hence the word "petition", which is used to mean anyone's personal contribution. Other than workings for a desired goal, "petitions" have included expressions of gratitude to the gods and/or the members, performances of poetry or music, whatever people want to do with their space. Petitions aren't scheduled; you come in any time during the main window, usually 4-5 days.

5. How does it work? The FMR is done during a 5-7 day window. The leader posts an opening note, setting place and mood, usually casting the circle, and welcoming participants. Over the next 24-48 hours the quarters are called, the God and Goddess are invoked, and the leader posts a transition to the petition period. Thereafter people come in at their own time to petition until the pre-announced time of closing, when the leader posts a final hail-and-farewell. It isn't necessary to leave your computer on all week, or to do a physical working that exactly mirrors your petition. While it's true that we take a week to do the ritual; it is also true that it lasts one night. It is VERY true that the power raised is genuine, and that requests are answered often and wonderfully. There are some things that you can do to make the most of the power of the experience. First, she said with great emphasis, READ THE WHOLE THING. If you're coming in to petition, backdate to start if need be and read your way to where you'll be next to "speak". After the ritual has ended, read the whole thing again and allow yourself to feel it all in one piece. Second, any mundane legwork associated with your petition has to happen; if you're asking for that job you just applied for, have you called and asked if they received your application? Also, many of us (not all, not every time) do some version of our FMR petition in realtime. It may not be as elaborate as what you do in cyberspace, which has fewer rules, but some personal working appears to help. Third, believe it. One time someone asked how many people had gotten what they asked for, and the results were pretty astonishing.

6. So how do I get in on this? Some time around New Moon, the leader for the next FMR posts an announcement of timelines, probably a call for volunteers, maybe a preliminary mention of place, maybe a format note if something special is planned. As replies to that note, people sign up to invoke and/or petition, ask questions, etc. Watch for there appearance of FULL MOON ROLL CALL, which is where this sort of thing takes place. It's also the place for any side discussion that may go on during the ritual, such as "nifty invocation, Joe" or "sorry I was late for East". No experience is required, but a little background is useful,and it can be acquired by reading a previous FMR or two (copies of past FMRs are archived on this website, if you'd like to read them). As you read past rituals, the few style points become apparent, notably that we reply to the previous reply especially during invocations (keeps them in the right order) and that we write in third person and do a fair bit of describing what we're doing; first person is only usual when we're actually "speaking". Example: Cloud stops typing for a moment and scratches her head. She almost wonders what she was about to say, but remembering what it was, she speaks: "Hey! Now I remember!" That's it from me, for now.

A thousand thank you's to Cloud (one of the original FMR moms) for this information!

A NOTE ON THE DETERMINATION OF MOONS The Moons here a determined by the following list, beginning with the first full moon after Yule. Many different moon names exist, and I've tried to provide a few alternates as well. Wolf Moon {chaste, cold, disting, little winter, quiet, wolf} Horning Moon {big winter, hunger, ice, storm, wild} Storm Moon {crow, plow, sap, seed, wind, worm} Seed Moon {growing, hare, planter's} Hare Moon {bright, dyad, flower, frog, merry} Meade Moon {honey, horse, dyad, lovers', rose, strawberry, strong sun} Fallow Moon {blessing, buck, hay, wort} Barley Moon {corn, fertile, grain} Wine Moon {harvest, singing} Blood Moon {falling leaf, harvest, hunting, vintage} Snow Moon {beaver, dark, fog, mad, shedding, storm} Oak Moon {big winter, cold, long night, wolf} Elder Moon {Blue Moon - the thirteenth moon in a solar year, despite the modern notion that even the ancients called it the second moon in a month... for our matrifocal ancestors who lived by a Lunar Calendar, it was impossible to have two moons in a month, as a moon was a month!}