12 Full Moon Rituals to Promote Success & Luck

12 Full Moon Rituals to Try Yourself

Take a bath or go swimming. Doing anything with water is perfect for the full moon—especially if the full moon is in a water zodiac sign (i.e., Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). If you live near a body of water or have a pool, go for a swim and cleanse your energy. You could even just take a soothing bath in your tub—maybe with the window open to let in some energizing moonlight! It might feel kind of religious, because so many religions have rituals having to do with water, but the fact that purification by water is so prevalent in cultures all over the world and throughout time speaks to its powers! Putting yourself in water and thinking about what you want to cleanse from your energy is a great way to celebrate the full moon.

Make moon water. Fill a glass or a jar with water, then put it somewhere safe where the moon will hit it. Let the moon charge it overnight, imbuing the water with its properties. Afterward, anything you charge with that moon water will be granted the energy of the sign the moon is in. What should you use moon water for? Anything you want! I know people who use moon water to water their plants. I know people who put it in their coffee filter so that throughout the week, they’re drinking it. I know people who gulp it down all in one go. Trust your intuition, and use it in the way that feels right to you.

Read tarot. One of my favorite ways to acknowledge the full moon is with a tarot reading. The full moon is a time when secrets are revealed and when efforts you’ve made towards a certain goal may come to fruition. Doing a tarot reading can give you some clarity on what the moon is trying to teach you and what path you should take next. Here are some great questions to ask the cards during a full moon tarot reading: “What is this full moon trying to reveal to me?” “Where am I in my goals? What do I need to do to continue completing my goals?” “What do I not know that I need to know? What am I not aware of that I should be aware of?” “What information am I not taking into account that I should be taking into account?” “What is this full moon trying to teach me and show me, and what's my next step? What is my next goal going to be?” “What is the best advice for me?”

Charge your crystals under the full moon. You can charge your crystals under the moon in the same way you charge water: lay your crystals under the moonlight overnight, and collect them in the morning. Personally, I’m a big fan of charging my crystals! You can charge crystals that are associated with certain properties—for instance, if you’re trying to manifest financial success, you might charge citrine, which is all about wealth and abundance—but whatever you imbue your energy and intention with will hold power. Additionally, consider what sign the full moon is in (and I’ll go cover how to celebrate the full moon in each zodiac sign later). Different zodiac signs carry different properties, so you may or may not want to tailor your manifestation efforts to the current sign. For example, if you are charging citrine (for wealth and abundance), you could charge it under a Sagittarius full moon, as that is the sign of abundance and prosperity. But that doesn’t mean you can’t mix and match crystals and astrological signs! Charging citrine under a Cancer full moon, for instance—a sign associated with family and emotions—may imbue your crystal with love, social abundance, pride, and emotional well-being.

Journal or meditate. When the moon is full, it’s a good time to take stock of your life and your goals, and to reflect on what you’re grateful for. Journaling and meditating are useful ways to do this. Grab a pencil and paper, sit under the moonlight, and freewrite on your emotions, goals, and what you’re thankful for this month.

Make a list of what you want to let go of, then burn the list. The full moon is a time for releasing, letting go, forgiving, and practicing gratitude. So ask yourself, what do you want to release? Write it down on a piece of paper, and then burn it on a bonfire. Burning things (in a safe, controlled environment, of course) is a good way to banish negative energy or alleviate heavy emotions. What should you write? Anything you want! You can write a list of what you want to release, or write a letter to someone important, the universe, or even yourself. For instance, if you're feeling heartbroken and you're trying to release that heartbreak, you can write a letter to the person who broke your heart. But this is just an idea—write whatever your intuition tells you to. Personally, I don't write letters when I burn things; I usually just write words, like “heartbreak” or “worry.” Whatever you write, just make sure the paper is completely burnt: don’t leave any piece unscathed. You can use paper, but feel free to get creative. I like to write messages and words on bay leaves, which are associated with abundance and truth, so burning them may help emit some of those energies.

Light candles associated with your intentions. Candle magic combines fire magic and color magic. Fire is purifying and a great way to drive away negative energy, and each color is associated with a different chakra, a different energy. If you want to balance your chakras, consider lighting candles of the associated colors: Crown chakra (intelligence and spirituality): violent, white Third eye chakra (intuition and clarity): dark blue, indigo Throat chakra (communication and gratitude): light blue Heart chakra (love, compassion, and friendship): green, pink Solar plexus (individuality): yellow Sacral chakra (sexuality and creativity): orange Root chakra (safety, security, and stability): brown, black, red For example, if you want to invite more calmness into your life, a blue or white candle could be helpful. If you want energy, try a red, orange, or yellow one. There have been times when I've used a mix of colors for a certain reason, independent of their chakra associations. For instance, if you want to manifest a trip to France, you might light blue, white, and red candles, the colors of the French flag.

Get out into nature. The full moon can be a great time to commune with nature, especially if you're just reflecting on a lot of things. The full moon can often symbolize the end of a journey. You may be tired or burnt out and in need of some re-grounding, some refocusing: connecting with the earth is a great way to do that. So get out in the woods. Go walking under the moonlight. Have a midnight picnic. Walk barefoot on the grass. Do anything that will get you in touch with the natural world and remind you you are part of that world.

Make a big meal and share it with loved ones. The full moon is always a time of socialization and connection. While you may feel more reserved and closed within yourself during the new moon, it’s during a full moon that what you’ve been holding in gets exposed. There's always information that is revealed during the full moon, whether through yourself, your environment, or the people around you. Full moons are a great time to be social and do things that and rituals like cooking food and catching up with friends and family. Choose a meal that aligns with the sign the full moon is in. For example, if the moon is in orderly and health-conscious Virgo, you might cook a healthy meal. For extravagant Libra, the presentation of the meal will be the most important thing: create a whole spread, and make it Instagram-worthy. In adventurous Sagittarius, try food from a different culture.

Make music and dance. The full moon is a time for self-expression—bringing the internal outward—and what better way to do that than with dance? It’s also a time to be with the people you care about and show yourself to them, and dancing and music are the perfect tools for helping you connect with others.

Burn incense. Burning incense is a great way to drive away negative energy and invite things into your life that you want more of, like love, abundance, or harmony. Different types of incense will give off different energies. Incense is typically easily accessible and reasonably priced, too. Some people like to burn sage, and while sage does carry certain metaphysical properties, I prefer to light incense for ethical reasons: many types of sage (including red and white sage) are actually endangered due to overharvesting. What incense should you burn? For help with grounding, go for scents like birch or sandalwood. For sweetness, opt for more sweet-smelling incense. For purification, try eucalyptus or a rain-scented incense. For passion, try dragon’s blood.

Create your own rituals. People have been celebrating the full moon for millennia, and there are many tried-and-true traditions you can pull from—but full moon rituals are really about being intentional and trusting your intuition. You can create anything into a ritual, even something you’ve made up. The reasoning behind what you're doing is what brings it its magic. You are the magic. It's not the ritual. Allow room for trial and error: you might attempt a ritual (either one here or something you’ve made up) and it might not feel quite right. Feel free to tweak and test out new practices until you find something that fits—your own personal tradition!

Celebrating the Full Moon in Each Zodiac Sign

Celebrate the full moon according to the zodiac sign it’s in. You may want to tailor your rituals to the sign the full moon is in, and pay particular attention to the sign’s element. For instance, if it's an earth sign full moon, I'm more likely to be thinking about long-term goals, especially things that pertain to my home or my job. If it's an air sign moon, I may seek out my community for support in achieving my goals. Here are a few ideas for how to celebrate the full moon in each astrological element: Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius): Use incense or a candle to cleanse your home, or write down what you want to release and burn it in a fire. Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): Write down something you’d like to have more of in your life. You could write a letter, a phrase, or just one word. Then, either put the paper in a pot, or dig a hole outside and put it in the hole. Then plant something over it. This can represent something growing or taking root. This is especially good for long-term goals, which may take a long time to manifest and need a solid foundation. Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): If the full moon is in an air sign, it’s a good time to speak your goals aloud, to be social, and reflect on the people you have in your life—who will help you achieve your goals? Who will support you when you need it? Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): It’s never a bad idea to celebrate the full moon with a water-related ritual, regardless of the sign. Take a bath or shower, go for a swim in the lake, make moon water—anything that connects you with this element is a powerful ritual.

Look to your zodiac houses for wisdom on how to celebrate the full moon. In astrology, the zodiac is divided into 12 different “houses,” with each house representing a specific aspect of our lives, like communication (represented by the third house) or friendships (the eleventh house). Each of your houses falls into a different sign, and which sign a particular house is in can tell you more about how that part of your life is functioning or what traits it may have. When the full moon is in a particular sign, see which of your houses that sign is in, and try to match your full moon rituals to that sign’s properties. For example, Pisces is in my second house (abundance and financial success), so I like to do Pisces-centered money rituals under a Pisces full moon. One of my favorite money rituals? I have a little glass plate that I fill with loose change. Under the Pisces full moon, I’ll light a candle beside the plate and speak some intentions over it, like, “Over the next quarter, I hope to increase my budget.” I’ll continue adding change to the plate over the next month or year, and often, this will help me manifest a new client or some other source of financial wealth. Want to learn more about the different houses? Check out wikiHow’s beginner-friendly guide to the 12 astrological houses!

You may already unconsciously be considering the zodiac when performing full moon rituals! We are all connected via the collective unconscious, so even if you don't know about astrology or the elements, you may automatically do something that has something to do with the sign the full moon is in. For instance, you may not know that it’s a Libra full moon (which is all about socializing, love, and harmony), but you may randomly decide to bring all of your loved ones to your house and cook for them. Or, during the winter, you may be craving a warm beach day, and you realize it’s almost Pisces season—the perfect time to do anything with water. Use your own intuition and the elements to guide your rituals. Each element has its own properties, and your manifestations can be strengthened by using that element in your ritual.

The Significance of the Full Moon

The full moon represents awareness and clarity. Each full moon is in a different sign, and each one may represent a different step towards achieving a certain goal. The full moon is like the end of a chapter in a book about your goal: you’ve got more insight and understanding of how your goals are working and what you really want, because the full moon is the moon at its brightest: metaphorically and literally, you can see everything, while during the new moon, everything is dark, and you don't really know where you're going. It can kind of be hard to do a ritual if you don't even know what your intention or goal is going to be, but by the full moon, you see so much, meaning you’re able to set a clearer intention. Are supermoons or blue moons different from “regular” full moons? Supermoons and blue moons are significant—they may have the power to amplify whatever manifestations you have set—but they shouldn’t really change your manifestations.

The moon is significant in cultures and religions throughout time. Just as the celestial bodies have an effect on the natural world—for instance, the moon controls the tides—they affect our bodies and spirits, too. The moon, as well as water as a purifying force, has been a central figure in belief systems and mythologies across time and space. For many people, the moon rules over illusions and secrets, and we are constantly questioning the moon and trying to figure her out. The full moon is also significant in traditional folklore. For example, werewolves are supposed to only turn under the full moon, and mermaids only come out to play on the full moon.

Full Moon Ritual Frequently Asked Questions

Is it OK to do a full moon ritual the next day? You most definitely can. I would say it’s safe to complete a full moon ritual within a day or two before or after the full moon. Just keep in mind that the full moon’s sign might switch. It can be in Aries today and then still be full tomorrow, but be in Taurus tomorrow, so its energy may change.

Is there anything you shouldn’t do during a full moon? I don't manifest during lunar or solar eclipses, mostly because that’s a time when the universe is saying, “It's my turn to take the reins. I'm going to bring the manifestation to you instead of you telling me what you want.” But other than that, there's really no good or bad way to do a ritual. It really has to do with your intention. Make sure that whatever ritual you're doing, you’re committing to it and being realistic about it. For example, if you do an earth ritual and expect something to happen within a couple of days, it’s unlikely to happen. Think about it as a plant: you wouldn't expect a tree to grow in a day. In the same way, you can't expect that manifestation that you did with earth to grow in a day, but that doesn't mean it's not going to grow.

Can you manifest during a full moon? Yes. New moons are a good time for setting your intentions, asking questions, and figuring out what you want to do. The full moon is the time when you really commit to what you want or begin to see your labor come to fruition, and the fruition of one manifestation can help you to start the next manifestation.

Are there any full moon rituals that are good for couples? I think that full moons are really great for honest conversations because nothing can really “hide” during the full moon. If there's something that you've been thinking about or are even afraid of bringing up with your partner, I think that around the time of a full moon, it can be a good time to put things out there. Full moons are also a time of heightened emotional energy: you're just more emotionally aware, and you can also be more vulnerable and willing to speak up about how you're feeling. If a couple does monthly check-ins, doing it around the full moon would be a great time for it. Open up about how your goals are going (both personal goals and relationship goals) and hold each other accountable. Motivate each other and offer constructive criticism. Besides talking, doing any full moon ritual together can help bring you closer together.

What should you do on a new moon? On new moons, I like to write wishes for myself. I will think about three big parts of my life that I want to change or want to do something about, and then I will look at the sign that the new moon is in, and I will use that sign’s energy to help me write out these wishes. For instance, if we're talking about a Pisces moon, I'll write, “I want to find new ways to creatively reach out to my clients. I want to find creative ways to decorate my home.”