The full moon - a beautiful, radiant sight to see for stargazers, a time of release for spiritual healers and practitioners and a source of wonder for most of mankind.
We see the bright full moon and also its dark counterpart the no moon or the new moon, in a continuous cycle. It signifies that even celestial objects are subject to change - then why can't we too, as stubborn as some of us can get at times, learn to accept change, releasing what was or what will be?
Difficult it is, to release what was. What used to be perfect, is in a crumbled, dilapidated state now, of no use anymore, serving no purpose to us but putting us in a never ending cycle of what ifs and regrets. What if I hadn't reacted that way? What if I hadn't bought this? What if I had just kept mum and not have brought this toxic situation onto myself? Why was I so stupid to believe? How could I have been so naive to trust? Why me? and so on..
The only effective way to break free from this draining cycle of regret of the past, is to release it. Not to forgive, not to forget, but to release. By releasing your past, it by no means is a way of telling that you are happy with what happened, but is definitely a way to show yourself that you no longer wish to burden your space with its presence. Out with the old and in with the new!
Take a simple case of dusting a doormat. Yes it takes energy to pick it up and dust it off and yes it is much easier to just walk over it, pretending it has no dust and ultimately inviting mold and bugs on it. The idea of dusting a carpet is, quite literally, taking off the old dust and inviting new dust.
Releasing your past (or present) alone definitely does not assure you of a better future. The actions you take after you release your past, the intention with which you release it, matters most.
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Are you gonna release your fear of facing your boss to make yourself feel better and end up going back to the same fear again, just because it is what feels normal to you?
That ain't gonna work honey.
Its pretty much you releasing a prisoner and running to catch and put them back again in your jail because their presence is very familiar and much better than having to deal with a new prisoner.
Are you gonna release your fear of facing your boss, to make yourself feel better, and then hope for a future confrontation with them, just to showcase that you can handle them?
That ain't gonna work either, because it is again, you releasing the prisoner and inviting them to fight with you... again....its gonna lead nowhere.
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Are you gonna identify, that the surface of your fear of facing your boss, has an underlying fear of confrontation caused by the root fear of feeling inferior, fear of being controlled by someone else or the fear of having no control over your situation...
and then come to an understanding that now, you are your own person with a mind of your own, you will stand your ground and assert yourself instead of being a doormat....
you can only feel controlled by someone if you allow them to control you, because even though you do not have control over situations, surroundings or other people, you do have control over yourself.
(now I do not intend to trigger or call out anyone and if anyone feels offended by reading the above, bless you..you might need to work on overcoming and healing an underlying issue or trauma)
after which you decide to release this fear,
Then, C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S!!!! You have successfully freed yourself and released the old into a black hole; it isn't gonna come back the same.
I have digressed, on purpose, from the main topic of this article, to hopefully give you good reason on why and how we need to release past wounds and negative emotional memories.
Coming to the main purpose of this post, I wanted to share a ritual I tried out on the 4th of July 2020 (the day before Guru Purnima) or in simpler terms, yesterday, involving the release of past and present energies that no longer served me.
The ritual I tried out is the "Full Moon Ritual" which is based on the spiritual concept of the moon, where a full moon represents a cup full of emotions and the new moon represents an empty cup ready to be filled with emotions, with all the waxes and wanes in between representing the transitional stages.
A full moon slowly releases its past energies to become a 3/4 moon, a half moon and a crescent moon to finally become a new moon, ready to take up new energies.
So a full moon day is very conducive to set the intention for, and work towards, releasing the old and inviting the new.
The steps I followed were pretty simple and straightforward:
1. Take a plain, blank sheet of paper and a pencil.
2. As you look at the blank space, take a few deep breaths and think or meditate on what you wish to release (any fears, attitudes, bitter memories, ex-people etc)
3. Write down those attitudes, intentions, past energies, fears etc that you intend to release, by filling in the blank of
"I release....<blank>......with the full understanding that it no longer serves me" (or simply) "I release.......<blank>".
4. It is important to be specific with your intention since the deal is in the details.
(Eg. "I release my fear of being judged by others" completely on paper and not "I release my fear of being judged" on paper and "by others" in your mind voice....)
("I release my hatred, anger and disappoinment towards Xyz" and not "I release Xyz" because then, you might have released Xyz but the emotions you feel about them will still linger, which is actually what you need to release)
The trick to knowing that you have written it clearly is the relief that follows after you've got it all out.
-Side Note: Its better to be mentally prepared to completely let go of what you wish to release....
the half-in-half-out, I-want-to-but-I-don't-want-to approach will backfire on you....
do not force yourself to release it...let the release happen naturally....if not now... that's okay... you can try next time
5. Once you've written whatever you feel impulsively to write at that moment (you can use as many papers as you want but 1 sheet is recommended), read through it again and edit if needed.
6. Now, on the blank flip side of the paper (take a new paper if you have completely used the first sheet), write down this closing clause and then fold your papers together in one bunch:
I demand that all bodies, programs, implants, spells, thoughts, frequencies, vibrations and patterns that are enabling and anchoring the energies I'm intending to release, to leave me and my energy, through all space, time and dimension, on every layer of my existence.
You have no place here.
I declare all these things to be so, and in perfect alignment with my greatest and highest good. So it is.
7. Take any unused cooking vessel (or) line the inside of a vessel with aluminum foil if you have no spare ones.
8. With careful and appropriate precautions, set fire to the paper bunch and place it in the vessel. Allow it to burn. See the flames (the intensity of the flame is the intensity of the energy you have released)
If by burning the paper, you are worried you might set off your fire alarms (because the flames will definitely be big if this is your first time), try folding the paper to as tiny and as compact as possible and then burn it.
If any part of the paper refuses to get flamed, carefully try to read what is written on that part again, mentally say "You have no place here anymore" and set it aflame again.
9. Once all the paper has burnt to ashes, immediately throw the ashes outside your house or home (or take your trash can outside, dump the ashes and keep the can outside).
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These are the steps that worked well for me. I highly recommend this video. The steps go a lot by what is described in the video and I tweaked it a little to suit my current, stay at home situation.
I experimented by writing in gel pens and ball point pens and I found that they gave colored flames but burnt slower and when I used a pencil, the paper burnt quicker in comparison. (Using a pen or a pencil or a combination is entirely your personal preference... whichever satisfies you the most)
This is the process I followed but the emotions I felt during the process were very unruly, uncomfortable and raw.
There were times when I literally gritted my teeth while crying and almost tore across the sheet with the intensity of my writing...which was for memories that I extremely regretted making and definitely wasn't proud of.
There were times when I could hardly made an impact on the paper with my pencil since I felt paralyzed and weighed down, thinking about my fears that I was expressing in detail and releasing.
I had previously written on a paper, a similar outpouring of suppressed emotions which I thought I could as well burn, but I ended up writing over the paper again and adding any more details I had previously missed out.
As soon as I had completed writing the closing clause, I immediately wanted to throw away that paper... I didn't even want to touch it! It felt so heavy with a lot of negative energy. I immediately burnt it and put it in the prepared vessel.
The satisfaction of seeing those flames was enthralling to say the least... I literally felt those energies being transmuted from me to another realm... I felt empowered in a childish way, seeing my fears getting "burnt into ashes".
The aftermath was relieving to say the least...I felt like a light breeze with nothing to weigh me down....I felt pure...empowered...with no more mud in my head to bother me.
I felt like I could achieve anything, not in a reckless way, but in a clear way, with a clear understanding of what obstacles I'll have to face and the strong belief that I could successfully overcome them to reach glory.
This euphoria lasted a day, after which the thought of those fears did come back but this time, I had a strong belief that I was greater than those fears, because I had burnt them already! I was in control of my fears and not the other way round.
So I guess this ritual was a great and grand success! I loved doing it.
Would you be interested to try this out? Or do you have your own unique rituals? I'd love to know! Comment down below :)