Moon in Shamanism

Hey dear community, first of all I would like to welcome you to my new post and hope you had a day that has been full of positive experiences! Today I would like to discuss an interesting topic and hope you can learn new things.

Recently I took these pictures of the waxing moon and I would like to use them to talk more about the meaning of the moon in shamanism. Just as in other cultures, the cycle of the moon was of great importance among the shamans and was used as a way to perform spiritual practices and each phase was linked from a spiritual point of view with their own energies and the power of the new moon was linked to fertility or the beginning of new things and the subsequent phases of the waxing moon were used to set goals that were linked to development or growth. Full moon was linked to the connection with the higher self or magical practices and at that time rituals were celebrated particularly frequently and during this time the shamans knew that this phase had a particularly strong influence on the human psyche and used this influence to recognize the inner self. During the waning moon, it was primarily about processing the experiences and reflecting with the own self and the consciousness and it can also be seen as a kind of rest phase in which it was about freeing oneself on a mental level from burdens that have been created before. The different phases of the moon were also used for healing purposes and especially during the waxing phase and the full moon, the body worked at full speed to fight the disease and during the waning moon, the body was able to regain strength and recover and these healing processes were accompanied by traditional methods that are passed on from generation to generation.

It was a lot about recognizing the unconscious and was particularly often about coming into contact with other worlds or invisible beings and it was typical for the ceremonies that medicinal plants were used or worked with sounds and many practices take place on a psychological level and it was particularly often about dealing with the own emotions or feelings. Especially with the help of instruments or chants, the shamans had influence to the inner self and could also put people in a trance state and send them on a spiritual journey in order to be able to communicate with higher things. Some of these processes were also much linked to the transformation to a higher self and there are many parallels to alchemy in which the transformation or spiritual insights are linked and those who deal more deeply with alchemy will find numerous parallels to shamanism. The moon was also strongly linked to femininity in the shamanism and there is often the view in their belief that a young woman develops into a mature and subsequently wise old woman by gaining experience and this path can also be considered as transformation and the moon is particularly linked to female creativity or wisdom in this context. In certain phases of the moon, according to the views of the shamans, people are more capable of receiving than with others and the festivals or ceremonies are different from normal and are not always celebrated in groups and often it was about finding the way of enlightenment alone and separating oneself specifically from other people.

Thanks a lot for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about this interesting topic! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.