Without Asking Permission

About this moon

Full moon in Aquarius, on July 29. This lunation closes the cycle that the new moon in Cancer opened, where the question was home and our support network; it continued with the first quarter in Libra weighing the balance of our relationships, and arrives here at its harvest.

The moon in Aquarius is in opposition to the Sun and Jupiter in Leo: the tension between showing yourself in an expansive, genuine way, and what your support network does or doesn't allow of that expression. There's also a conjunction with Pluto in Aquarius, marking the cuts that had already been forming in the bonds that don't hold your authenticity. Neptune retrograde asks you to recognize the desire for a new bond without losing yourself in the fantasy of how it should be.

This moon doesn't come to ask you to break anything today. It comes so you can celebrate that you can now see clearly which bond asks you to wear a mask in order to belong.

Materials

• •A silver candle
• •A gold candle
• •A mirror or reflective surface
• •Paper and a pen
• •Jasmine or camphor incense

Journaling

Before the ritual, take a moment to write.

• •In which bond have you made yourself smaller, turned down your volume, or edited your quirks in order to fit?
• •What has this moon let you see clearly that you couldn't see before?
• •How does it feel in the body to be whole without asking permission? What are you celebrating today?

The ritual

Opening

Light the silver candle and the gold candle, side by side. They represent the tension of this moon, Aquarius and Leo, resolved into celebration. Light the incense.

Ask the space of the ritual to witness what you celebrate today: not a cut, but the clarity you've already gained.

Body

Take the mirror. Name aloud a trait of yours that you used to hide in order to fit into some group. Say it fully, without softening it.

On the paper, make a list of the bonds where you can show yourself exactly as you are. Thank each one aloud.

Put on music and move for a few minutes, no choreography, not trying to look good. This movement is the proof that your body already knows how to take up space without asking permission.

Closing

To close, say the incantation aloud:

I celebrate what I see clearly.

I celebrate that I can be whole without asking permission.

What I released no longer weighs on me.

May this light be my witness.

• •Thank the space and close the ritual.
• •Let both candles burn down together if it's safe to do so. If you can't, put them out in the same order you lit them.