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by · Updated: Aug 23, 2025
Darkness, mystery, magic, introspection, healing.
These are just some of the many deep themes associated with the August 23rd Black Moon, a rare lunar event that happens when there are two new moons in a calendar month instead of one.
To give you an overview of its energy, here are some keywords associated with the Black Moon:
- Rest
- Magic
- Silence
- Secrets
- Mystery
- Alchemy
- Release
- Potential
- Intuition
- Fertile void
- Shadow work
- Introspection
- The Unseen
- Intention Setting
- Unconscious Mind
- Emotional renewal
- Endings & beginnings
In this article, I’ll share with you how to make the most of this Black Moon energy, including some soul work practices, journaling prompts, and more.
What is the Black Moon?
The Black Moon occurs in a few different ways:
- It appears as the second new moon in one calendar month. (Occurring once every 29 months.)
- It appears as an extra new moon in a season – a season being comprised of three months, where there are four new moons instead of the typical three. (Occurring roughly every 33 months.)
Black Moons can also, even more rarely, occur when there is an absence of a new moon or full moon in February (typically this happens about every 19 years).
Black Moon Spiritual Meaning & Symbolism
Symbolically, the Black Moon is a time of outer and therefore inner darkness, where we have the opportunity to contemplate our lives and decisions, inwardly gaze, and practice some radical self-honesty.
Spiritually, the Black Moon offers us the opportunity to do some supercharged shadow work, self-reflection, intention setting, and emotional release.
The Black Moon asks us to reflect on questions such as “What parts of my life are out of alignment with my deeper needs?” “How is my shadow self pulling the strings behind the scenes?” and “What emotions do I need to feel and release to start a new cycle?”
On an energetic level, the Black Moon is said to amplify the energy of the New Moon, offering us the powerful opportunity to start a new chapter in life aligned with our soul’s deeper needs.
In summary, the Black Moon invites us to:
- Start a new chapter (and close old doors)
- Contemplate our lives and decisions
- Gaze inwards and introspect
- Practice radical self-honesty and shadow work
- Feel and release emotional baggage
- Set soul-aligned intentions
Some inner seekers and spiritual practitioners choose to focus on dream work, shamanic journeying, meditation, ritual cleansing, and other practices at this time to awaken intuition and gain special insight for the month ahead.
How the Black Moon Feels Emotionally
To some sensitive folk, the Black Moon is a period of time where there is an urge to retreat, go inwards, and spend more time in silence and solitude.
Others may feel internally murky, quiet, or lacking in energy. While some may experience stronger dreams and sharper self-insights (that may pack a punch, as if an old Crone had whispered the harsh truth in your ears).
Whatever the case, see whatever emotions or inner experiences that arise as doorways and opportunities to insight, wisdom, and healing.
How to Work With the Black Moon (5 Practices)
Here are some potent ways to work with this year’s Black Moon energy:
1. Do Some “Night Scrying” to Gain Intuitive Insight
As I wrote in my scrying article, “Scrying is about revealing the unseen through the use of our inborn second sight.” It involves using a blank or reflective surface (like a mirror or pool of water) to reveal inner truths and intuitive revelations.
The night sky, devoid of any light source from the moon, offers us the perfect chance to “scry” for unconscious insights and sparks of wisdom.
Night scrying can also be seen as a form of open-eyed contemplation or meditation. Get comfy and as you watch the sky, notice what thoughts arise, then let them go.
This practice works best when the night sky is empty of clouds – although some people find that clouds add extra “texture” and meaning to the experience.
2. Meditate With a Black Stone or Candle
If your soul work practice verges on the more esoteric side of things, you may like to use a black stone, such as black obsidian, onyx, or tourmaline to meditate with. Reflect on the metaphysical meaning of the stone and seek to internalize its energy.
Alternatively, a black candle can help your mind to set a symbolic intention to work with your shadow self, allowing difficult emotions or thoughts that you’ve avoided during the month to arise, be witnessed, felt, and then released.
You could also create a small altar with a black stone (my favorite is shungite) and a black candle, along with a written intention for the month to ground and make the energy visible.
3. Energy Release and Banishment Ritual
What type of energy hygiene ritual do you have in place? This is a question my then-therapist asked me a few years ago. I realized that I had none!
If you’re not in the habit of regularly clearing your body, heart, and mind of old stagnant energy, the Black Moon is the perfect time to do so.
It’s common for sensitive folk to carry a lot of energetic baggage, especially from others. If you’re an empathic soul who tends to be over-giving of your time and life force, taking on others’ issues unnecessarily, you may need to “banish” what is not yours.
Some Black Moon ritual ideas include the following:
- Taking an intentional shower or bath on the night of the Black Moon and visualizing all the energy that isn’t yours, as well as old emotional baggage, being purified by the water. Feel it slide off your skin and exit your energy field. (Use epsom or black salt if you have any on hand.)
- Doing a fire release ritual, where you write down whatever trouble is plaguing you, and watching it burn to ash in a fire-safe container.
- Do a cord-cutting ritual where you sense whatever unhealthy bonds or ties you have with a person or situation being severed by a blade of light.
4. Working With Your Unconscious Mind to Set New Intentions
The Black Moon is a ‘supercharged’ New Moon, meaning that it is ideal for harnessing the momentum needed to open new doors and start a fresh chapter in life.
As the darkness of the Black Moon is associated with the unconscious mind, now is the time to start working with this unseen part of your psyche.
A few paths you could take include, firstly, dream incubation, where you focus on your new life intention before bed (when your conscious mind is in a ‘liminal’ and more open state). Then notice what dreams arise.
The second method is through creating a piece of art to signify the new intention you have. Some people on the more occult spectrum even choose to work with sigils.
5. Shadow Work Journaling and Exploration
The darkness of the Black Moon night sky symbolizes that dark place within ourselves that we often avoid, repress, and deny: our Shadow Selves.
Now is an ideal time to go inwards and examine all the creepy crawly dimensions of your personality that make you cringe such as (1) your self-sabotaging patterns, (2) the painful emotions you hide, (3) the secrets you keep from yourself or others, and (4) the unhealthy dynamics in your relationships that you contribute to.
I have created many guides on the Shadow Self in the past. Here are a few sample questions that you might like to ask yourself:
- What quality within you do you have the most trouble accepting?
- What might you be in denial about right now?
- What parts of yourself do you hide away from other people? Why?
You can find more shadow work journaling ideas in my Shadow Work Prompts post, and if you like pulling cards, you may like to supplement that with my Tarot Shadow Work article.
Go Deeper into the Power of the Moon
In the words of mystical poet Rumi,
A new moon teaches gradualness
and deliberation and how one gives birth
to oneself slowly. Patience with small details
makes perfect a large work, like the universe.
May this Black Moon help you to birth a renewed version of yourself.
https://lonerwolf.com/black-moon-spiritual-meaning-symbolism/
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