The moon is a powerful symbol that has been used since ancient times for guidance and illumination. Tonight, the moon will be in the sign of Taurus, which is a perfect opportunity to do some self-care! Taurus energy can help you slow down, find peace, stay grounded, and listen to your inner voice. Spend some time tonight reflecting on how you are feeling or what you want to manifest in your life. With this full moon in Taurus, the universe is giving us the chance to acknowledge our desires and take care of ourselves with deep breaths and relaxation exercises.

Taurus Full Moon Ritual

Take some time to journal about what you are feeling, why you are feeling it, and what it is that you want to manifest in your life. Draw a blank page in your journal and write your answers to these questions:  Who am I as a person?  What am I passionate about?  What am I most grateful for?  What would I like to manifest into my life this year?  After you write down your answers, reflect on how your answers align with your current reality. How do you feel now?  Do you have more questions?  Do you feel more grounded?  Take some time to reflect and ask yourself a few more questions.

Connect to your Inner Voice

Your inner voice is something that you will naturally gravitate toward as you explore your identity. You know what you believe in and what makes you happy, so use this to make sure your core beliefs are aligned with what you are manifesting. You can go to any yoga class to find a guided meditation for this, or you can practice a series of meditation on your own. For some gentle movements that are easy on your joints and stamina, you can do a long spine stretch while in downward dog, with your eyes closed and your feet elevated on a pillow. Doing this stretches out the muscles and encourages you to breathe.  Another thing you can do to calm down and allow yourself to reconnect to your inner voice is to practice patience.

Take a Walk

Take a walk through nature, with no phone or electronics. Listen to the sounds of nature and pay attention to the details. You may come upon something that strikes your fancy, so be sure to explore your thoughts before you leave. 

Devote Time to your Career

You might be wondering what your career path is going to look like in the next couple of years. Whatever path you are on, devote some time to self-care now and take care of your needs and desires. Being focused on your career and professional development may feel scary but taking care of yourself first will be key to having a fulfilling career.  Meditation can help you with any of the above self-care approaches. Pick up some self-care mantras like, “I forgive and forget,” or “I am whole.?

Find Peace and Stillness

Lay down in a quiet, dark place, close your eyes, and envision yourself immersed in a beautiful blue ocean. Picture the world as if it were a gorgeous sea-green sheet hanging just over your head, surrounding you in a magical world. As you hold in a deep breath, you start to let the waves of the ocean take you to a place of quiet stillness. When you’re ready, open your eyes. Notice how your breathing changes as your body relaxes and becomes still. Allow your body to regain its energy and surround yourself with peaceful vibrations. Enjoy these inner sensations because you’ll likely feel these for days.  With the sun in Gemini and the moon in Taurus, the energy of the new year is bound to bring change and rejuvenation.

Take Care of yourself with Relaxation Exercises

Relaxation exercises can help you feel grounded, relaxed, and in your body. Intense, passionate Taurus energy can make you feel restless, perhaps even out of sorts. Relaxation exercises help you surrender, ask for guidance, and allow yourself to experience the space around you.  Below are two exercise videos that you can do with your loved ones. It?s important to ask for someone?s physical presence and embrace their warmth and energy.  When your energy is expansive and wild, it?s easy to forget the importance of nurturing yourself. Whether you work from home, at a job that requires a lot of work, or you?re parenting, this is a great exercise to do with your loved ones. The video below is by Five Minute Mind and encourages you to ask yourself what you want to take care of.

Conclusion

The full moon phase is like a wake-up call for the cosmos. Take this as an opportunity to reflect on the past few weeks and look forward to what’s coming up. It’s time to work on the things that matter to us, as well as the world around us.  A full moon is not only a good time to embrace the feelings of the moon, but also to give each other a gift ? love. Give love to those around you, especially when the moon is in your sign. If you need support this holiday season or you are experiencing mental health or addiction issues, please call the LIGHTbulb Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-833-2LIGHT-273 (1-833-495-273) or visit their website.

Every month of the year has a full moon, and every full moon has a special name based on the months of the year or the season in which it appears. These names are rooted in Native American and European history.

Naming a full moon allowed for our ancestors to not only create a kind of calendar of the year for themselves but also to reflect on the seasons as they passed by, and to think about how the moon and the seasons affected them and the natural world as a whole.

For example, the full moon that lights the night skies in August is known as the Sturgeon Moon. The Sturgeon Moon got its name from the Algonquin tribe who lived near the Great Lakes. They named it such because the full moon rose at a time of the month when giant sturgeons were in abundance and easily caught.

All About The Sturgeon

The Lake Sturgeon – also called the Rock Sturgeon – is the largest and oldest species of fish native to the Great Lakes. 

This giant freshwater fish may look like something you’d see in a Jurassic Park movie, and that’s because you very well could. Well, almost. Lake sturgeon can be traced back about 136 million years. So while this prehistoric fish didn’t exactly live during the Jurassic period, it did live during the Cretaceous period. So, close enough.

These living fossils can live for decades. Male sturgeon can live about 55 years, while there are records of female sturgeons living up to 150 years! Females aren’t even ready to reproduce until they hit about 20, and after that, they can reproduce every four years.

Sadly, giant sturgeons aren’t as abundant in the Great Lakes anymore as they were at the time of the naming of August’s full moon. A combination of overfishing, invasive aquatic species, pollution, and global warming have nearly decimated the entire species. In 1994, the Lake Sturgeon was designated as a threatened species in Michigan.

Recovery efforts to repopulate the lakes and revive the species have proven slow due to the delayed maturation of female sturgeon as well as their sporadic spawning cycles. 

All About The Sturgeon Moon

Other Native American tribes called the Sturgeon Moon by different names. The Cree called it the Flying Up Moon, representing a time of the year when young birds left the nest and learned to fly. The Ojibwe called it the Corn Moon. It was called the Harvest Moon by the Dakota, and the Ricing Moon by the Anishinaabe. The Assiniboine people referred to it as the Black Cherries Moon, denoting the time of the year when chokecherries were ripe for picking.

August is all about strength. As you go about your month, ruminate on the mighty sturgeon and how it managed to survive in the same waters as literal dinosaurs. If you’re having a hard time, just remember, that if the sturgeon can last 136 million years, through dinosaurs, overfishing, and climate change, you have the strength to make it through the month.

Call on the sturgeon for its resilience and ability to adapt through millions of years of change. You are just as strong. You are just as adaptable. You, too, can persevere through any challenge you face.

The Sturgeon Moon represents strength, gumption, flexibility, gratitude, perseverance, and flourishing. Wear gold, orange, and dark green to represent August’s beautiful moon. 

The Sturgeon Moon will rise in the evening of Saturday, August 21st, and will reach its peak in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A Ritual For The Full Sturgeon Moon

The Sturgeon Moon is the perfect time of the year to get rid of all the old dinosaurs that are weighing you down. Below is a quick ritual you can perform on the night of the Sturgeon Moon to help banish any negative energies and prepare yourself for the changing of the seasons ahead. Just remember, whatever negativity you plan to banish, you must replace it with positivity. The power of the Sturgeon Moon will help you manifest your new reality. 

What you’ll need:

• One black candle
• Your cauldron (or another fireproof container)
• A pen a pencil
• Two strips of paper
• Your favorite purifying incense. Lavender, sage, palo santo, rosemary, or cinnamon work well. 

Before you begin, cast your circle and invite your spirits/deities/elementals/watchtowers to join you in your rite. 

1. Once your ritual ingredients are placed on your altar, light the candle and incense. Take three deep, meditative breaths. As you exhale, visualize all the negative energy you’re trying to rid yourself of leaving your body.
2. On the first piece of paper, write down what sort of negative energy you’re trying to banish. Maybe it’s a bad habit you’re trying to quit.
3. Set the paper alight with the flame of your black candle and drop it into the cauldron.
4. As the paper burns, watch it while you chant the following words: “By the Sturgeon Moon’s mighty power, and the power bestowed to me, I banish this thing from my life, so mote it be.”
5. Once your chant is done, take the second piece of paper and write on it a description of the new you, without the banished energy’s hold. For example, if you’re doing the spell to quit drinking/smoking/snacking, etc., you would write, “I am a non-drinker/smoker” etc. 
6. Repeat this description of the new you thrice and then put the paper in your grimoire/Book of Shadows/journal.
7. Thank your spirits/deities/elementals/watchtowers for joining you in your ritual tonight and close your circle.
8. Every single day until the next moon rises, when you awake in the morning, stand in front of a mirror, make eye contact with yourself, and repeat that description. This helps to strengthen the spell every day.