Retrograde: A Full Moon Release Ritual
Last night, the luminous Full Moon peaked right alongside the exact beginning of Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio. While many traditions warn against creating moon water during a retrograde due to chaotic energies, as practitioners, we know how to shift our perspective.
When the cosmos backtracks through a deep water sign like Scorpio, it isn't a time for outward manifestation. It is a sacred window for deep purging, shedding old skin, and reclaiming our power.
If you felt guided to capture last night's moon medicine, you haven't ruined your batch. You have accidentally brewed a highly potent medicine for inner truth, shadow work, and ancestral clearing. Here is a ritual to intentionally release your heaviest burdens—fears of failure, imposter syndrome, old habits, or feelings of unworthiness—and return them to the void.
The Ritual Setup
Charged Retrograde Moon Water (Amplified with Clear Quartz for clarity and protective stones like Lepidolite or Amethyst).
A piece of SOLUBLE paper ( paper towel, or tissue paper) listing the specific burdens, fears, or habits you are ready to sever ties with. •An opaque ceramic bowl (Avoid clear glass or metal).
Why Your Vessel Matters: Choose Ceramic over Glass or Metal
When performing a deep clearing ritual like this, the container you use acts as an energetic shield. Always use an opaque ceramic bowl for this process.
Avoid Clear Glass: Clear glass acts like an open window, allowing stray room energies, light shifts, and outside thoughts to interfere with the paper as it dissolves.
Avoid Metal: Metal is highly conductive and can amplify the erratic, scattered energy of the Mercury retrograde.
Why Ceramic Wins: Ceramic is made from clay, carrying the grounding energy of the Earth element. It acts as a protective boundary, anchoring your unstable retrograde water and keeping the release process fully contained and private.
The Banishing Fold
To push these heavy energies completely out of your life, you must fold the paper away from your spirit:
1. Lay your written list flat before you.
2. Take the top edge of the paper and fold it in half, moving away from your body.
3. Turn the paper 90 degrees clockwise.
4. Take the top edge and fold it away from your body a second time, sealing the intention to banish these blocks.
The Incantation & Release
Place your folded paper into the bottom of your empty bowl. Pour your retrograde moon water over it, watching the ink begin to blur and dissolve. As the water submerges the paper, speak these words aloud with the authority of your lineage:
"By the light of the moon and the depth of the tides,
I call on the wisdom where my lineage resides.
I pour out these burdens, the doubts, and the blame,
The fears of the shadow that carry no name.
I step out of hiding, I step through the door,
The mask of the imposter will serve me no more.
What was broken is mended, what was heavy is light,
I reclaim my true sovereignty starting tonight.
As this water dissolves what has held me in chains,
I wash clean the path where my power remains.
With gratitude to the ancestors who walk by my side,
It is done. It is cleared. I am ready to rise."
The Final Elimination
Let the paper sit in the water to fully absorb the releasing intention. When you are ready—midday or evening—carry the saturated paper to the toilet. Drop it in and flush it away, watching the water carry those dissolved fears entirely out of your physical and energetic space.
The Evening Foot Bath: Reclaiming Your Ground
After you have flushed your paper at midday, save the remaining retrograde moon water for the evening. Pour it into a basin with warm water and a handful of sea salt or Epsom salt. As you submerge your feet, you are physically grounding the new energy you cleared today. Speak this closing incantation as you soak:
"Through the soles of my feet, to the depths of the earth,
I anchor my magic, my power, my worth.
Any lingering doubt, any shadow of fear,
Is pulled to the deep and completely washed clear.
I stand in my truth, I am safe in my skin,
The blocks are dissolved, and my new years begin.
Secure in my purpose, aligned with my name,
I walk with my ancestors, reclaiming my flame."
When you are finished, pour the water straight down the drain, watching the last remnants of that old weight wash out of your life for good. Give the basin a quick rinse with fresh tap water to fully reset the container.
BUT I DIDN’T MAKE MOON WATER!
NO PROBLEM!
The Fire Alternative Step-by-Step
The Fold: They will still write their list and fold the paper away from themselves twice to push the energy out of their life.
The Burn: Instead of placing it in a bowl of water, they will safely ignite the paper using a match or lighter, dropping it into a fire-safe bowl (like ceramic, cast iron, or an abalone shell).
The Words: They can speak your exact first incantation while watching the flames consume the words.
The Ash Disposal: Once the ashes cool, they should take them outside and blow them into the wind away from their home, or bury them under the soil to let the Earth compost that old energy.