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13 Ways to Use Moon Water, by Melanie Marquis

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

A silvery stream of moonlit water is delicately poured from an earthen jug into a crystal vial. A cauldron filled with water reflecting the moon above and flicked by flames beneath begins to brew, sending its magickal vapors into the cool night air. Moon water is an intriguing, enchanting, effective, and highly adaptable ingredient to add to your practice of witchcraft, magick, and divination. Learning how to make moon water and discovering ways to use moon water for magick are basic and beneficial skills that warrant mastery for both beginning and experienced witches alike. Moon water can be used to transform situations, enhance psychic abilities, amplify magickal power, spark inspiration, encourage love, bring tranquility, achieve balance, and more. Moon water can be made in many ways, and used in many ways. Here you'll find an overview of the essentials to making an effective moon water, as well as thirteen ways to use moon water in your magick. For those who would like to further explore the subject, Llewellyn's Little Book of Moon Spells devotes an entire chapter to the art of lunar potion-making in addition to covering the basics of moon magick and offering detailed instructions for more than sixty moon-powered spells and rituals.

What is Moon Water?
Even if you're not already familiar with moon water, there's a good chance that you're well-acquainted with the basic concept and formulation, if not the specific term and the multitude of its variations and uses. While video tutorials and conversations on social media focused on the topic of "moon water" have cropped up in abundance in recent times, many adept and accomplished witches who have been practicing the craft for much of their lives are scratching their heads wondering, "What in the heck is 'moon water,' and how have I never heard of it in all my many years as a practicing witch?!" There seems to be somewhat of a generation gap when it comes to this multi-purpose magickal solution, but moon water is actually nothing new. It's simply a water-based lunar potion that can be made in different ways for different purposes. Though we may not have used the term "moon water" to describe it, most experienced witches have charged up water via the power of the moon more times than we can possibly count. Water, moonlight, and witches go hand in hand, and a desire to link these forces by means of crafting a magickal potion is rather instinctual for those who feel the heartbeat of nature and the call of the mystical intrinsically woven into body and soul. Yesterday's "water-based lunar potion," "basic moon brew," or "moon tea" is today's "moon water." Time changes language, but the core reality of magick remains the same. It's this core of the magick, however, that is often missing from the information that can be found in today's online forums.

How to Make Moon Water
Many online recipes for moon water call for a container of water to simply be placed outside under moonlight. While that's certainly part of the usual formula and an accurate description of the magick's visible, outward form, making moon water requires a little more than just putting some water outside. The key to any good moon water is in the crafting, and while the power of the blend comes primarily from the moon and all it encapsulates, it is the witch who must thread the threads and stitch the stitches that ultimately bring these forces together to make it all possible. It's up to you to let the moon know to where to send its power, and it's up to you to direct the water to absorb that power. Otherwise, you just have some water that's been left outside, nothing more and nothing less. To make a moon water that's going to be maximally effective, you'll need to take an active role in its creation.

Begin by filling a non-plastic container with water. Some recipes call for water to be gathered from a natural source under the light of a full moon. While water gathered directly from a natural source such as rain or a lake will have a stronger inherent "charge" and a more distinct magickal signature, it might also contain bacteria, parasites, and organic or chemical pollution. Drinking water such as purified spring water or even tap water is a more convenient and practical choice for certain workings, as it's easy to find and makes for a safe and imbibable potion base. Let the intended use of the moon water determine the type of water best suited to your recipe.

Bring the container of water outside, or place it near a window, exterior wall, or high point inside your home. You can heat the water, cool it, or keep it at room temperature. Spend some time thinking about the moon and centering your thoughts on your intentions for your moon water. Think of the water physically opening to the energies of the moon, and will it to absorb as much of the moonlight as possible. Focus your heart on the lunar essences that you wish to transfer to your potion, and directly invite and ask these energies to enter into the water. It may help to envision connecting threads of energy flowing from your own body to the moon, and flowing from the moon into your container of water. Envision the internal structure of the water actually changing, its vibrations increasing as it absorbs and harmonizes with the energy flow of the moon. Trust your intuition and connections to nature as you ask for the moonlight to enter the water, and believe in your authority as a witch as you tell the water what it is meant to become.

A basic moon water will be effective for any lunar working, and will give a boost to any spellcastings intended to promote healing, encourage love, boost psychic power, or enhance creativity. The only essential ingredients to a moon water are moonlight, water, and the witch's own willpower. You can add herbs or stones that more specifically reflect your intentions if you like, but take care that you don't add anything toxic to a potion that you're planning to eat, drink, or put on your body. Many of the herbs utilized in witchcraft are poisonous, and many common stones can leave behind traces of toxins in your moon water! Although moon water can be utilized anytime day or night, it's best crafted at night, and should generally be stored away from direct sunlight when not in use.

How to Use Moon Water
Moon water can be a blank slate or a fully contrived masterpiece of magick. You can use it as a magickal power-enhancing base for making other potions, adapt it with additional ingredients to suit any specific magickal goal you may have, or let the creation of the moon water act as a spell in and of itself. You can also utilize the phases of the moon to create moon water with different qualities, which you can read more about in Llewellyn's Little Book of Moon Spells. Take care to never ingest any toxic ingredients and avoid putting potential irritants on your skin, but beyond those basic guidelines, your imagination can have free reign when it comes to deciding how to use moon water. Here are thirteen ways to use moon water; let these ideas inspire you and challenge you to think of thirteen more.

1. Anoint ritual spaces, altars, magickal tools, and even your own body before lunar-themed workings.
2. Use it for basic cleaning to bring an infusion of tranquility to the home.
3. Use it to water plants in the home or in the garden to encourage growth.
4. Spill some moon water to mark the parameters of a magick circle, or to delineate the boundaries in which a spell is intended to take effect.
5. Use it to wash your hair and face to enhance beauty and bring out your inner glow.
6. Fill a balloon with moon water, freeze it, then remove the balloon to create a lunar-attuned scrying orb, or make mini-sized versions to create magickal ice cubes to add to drinks or utilize for spellwork.
7. Place cut flowers in a vase of moon water to enhance and prolong their beauty.
8. Paint a picture with moon water and a water-based paint to help manifest your wishes.
9. Use it as a base for magickal inks to use in written spells, or for writing in a Book of Shadows.
10. Anoint letters, cards, and applications with moon water to encourage cooperation and agreement to your requests and petitions.
11. Sip on plain moon water (devoid of any inedible toxic ingredients) while doing tarot readings or performing magickal work to replenish your energy stores and to enhance your psychic sensitivity.
12. Bring transformation to a situation by placing a symbol or written description of the situation inside a jar filled with moon water.
13. Use it in cooking for boiling or steaming vegetables or add to recipes to infuse your meals with the magick of the moon.

More Lunar Potions and Moon Magick
These are just a handful of ideas to get your thoughts flowing. Your moon water can be adapted any way you like, and your moon magick can take any form that feels right to you. You can learn much more about moon magick and find an abundance of moon water recipes, moon spells, lunar correspondences, seasonal lunar workings, and ideas that will increase the power of your moon magick in Llewellyn's Little Book of Moon Spells.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. All rights reserved.

Do you believe that good deeds like kindness, love, compassion, and good thoughts are rewarded? I believe in showing love and kindness to others, and I pray for peace and other blessings for family, friends and mankind. It seems like people who may have wicked ways prosper while people who try to practice righteuosness struggle more. What are your thoughts? I practice loving others and being kind, yet I have been struggling financially and with achieving career and business success for about two years. Thank you for your insights.

Sharon

Susyn:

Living a spiritual life does not always afford us an easy path. Further, while the challenges we face related to financial and career matters are designed with a higher purpose in mind, they are not necessarily connected with lessons related to how we treat others.

I believe that good deeds are a reward in and of themselves. I also believe that practicing love and kindness will bring us spiritual blessings if not material blessings. Doing the right thing is what generates inner peace and enables us to live in the world with integrity and self-esteem.

One thing to keep in mind is that comparing ourselves to others will always result in inner turmoil. Though you see others appearing to win at the game of life despite their wicked ways, you are not looking at the bigger picture. True happiness comes from living as you describe yourself doing, while those who live through their egos experience fleeting moments of joy instead of long-term contentment.

It's easy to look around and see people who seem to have all you desire whether they deserve it or not. If you look for them, you will also find people who are having an even harder time than you are who don't seem to deserve to suffer either. Your perception is clouded because others' karma or destiny is different from yours and because you are only looking at the superficial aspects of others' lives.

When we focus on others too much, we waste time, power and energy we could use to improve our own lives. The best way to change this situation is to stop comparing yourself to others and look within for answers. With more time spent in meditation and self-examination, you can access spiritual direction on how to change your own circumstances.

As a Gemini, you tend to process your world from an intellectual perspective. This can sometimes be a liability, for it can keep you from aligning with emotional and spiritual well-being. Though you may not be successful in terms of society's values, you are clearly successful at expressing your emotions and treating others with spiritual kindness. If you were to stop being a loving person in the world, your heart and spirit would suffer, which in the long run would cause you much greater strife than not having an ideal career or lots of money in the bank.

A powerful way to shift your focus and gain more balance in your life is to make a daily gratitude list. Writing down and acknowledging all the ways you are blessed will make you less likely to focus on what you lack. Further, because an attitude of gratitude generates more abundance, this is an ideal way to manifest both the spiritual and worldly blessings you desire.

*****

Oceania:

Kindness, love, compassion and good thoughts are their own reward, for we are so much happier when we choose to embody those qualities than when we choose to be mean, hateful or intolerant. Praying for blessings for others is its own reward as well, because positive thoughts create peace within. Being jealous, envious and hateful only leads to bitterness and unhappiness.

There may be some with wicked ways who prosper, but prosperity is a fleeting pleasure. To make sure righteousness doesn't turn into self-righteousness, focus on yourself instead of judging others. Perhaps the greatest source of fulfillment is having a solid sense of self and living according to your own higher values. Integrity lasts a lifetime, whereas things like money and successful careers are transitory.

There's a play called You Can't Take It With You about a three-generation family and their adopted band of misfits who all live together in a big old house. Their needs are few and they spend their days pursuing whatever makes them happy. Included among them are a ballet dancer, a writer of plays, a portrait painter, xylophone player, fireworks designer and candy maker. They're not necessarily accomplished at what they do, but they love doing it.

They cross paths with a proper upstanding banking family who are at first appalled by the lifestyle of the free spirits. As I'm sure you can guess, by the end of the play, the bankers have let down their hair and joined in the fun, for they've discovered that joy is priceless and worth more than status or success. Like the bankers, I encourage you to expand your notion of success to include lightheartedness, humor and the ability to laugh at yourself.

You say you've been struggling with career and financial worries for two years. You seem to carry the belief that this should not be happening due to your goodness. You may want to expand your notion of goodness to include humbleness, for it's arrogant to presume that life should always go our way. There are powers greater than ourselves that know best, and lessons to be learned in every circumstance.

As struggle is experienced by many, it has little to do with righteousness; instead, it's tied to outlook and attitude. Imagine being carried by a river. You can choose to enjoy the ride and appreciate the view or you can try swimming upstream, which is only an illusion because the river still carries you downstream! Attempting to swim against the current causes struggle. When you release your agenda, let go and let God, and choose to trust in the inherent wisdom of the big flow, your struggles will fade and be replayed by peace and adventure.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.