Dreaming + conceiving intentions under the New Snow Moon.
By Brianne Dela Cruz; Gather & Grow
If the earth laughs in flowers, then it surely dreams in snow. On the first dark moon of the new year, that’s where you’ll find me - dreaming and conceiving intentions in my greenhouse for another slow and seasonal year.
New Snow Moon Themes & Energetics | January 21st, 2023
The new snow moon marks the beginning of this lunation where themes of dreaming, conception, and intuitive creativity are whispered from the landscape. The snow moon is named after the raging winter storms that often occur in this month. The energy in the winter landscape is both in the tumultuous clouds above and in the dank earth below. When creatures sleep, their bodies lay still and restful, yet life flourishes vibrantly in the ether of their dream world. Physical laws of reality are abandoned in dreamscapes, giving way to unbound creative possibility. During the snow moon cycle, the earth is in this dream phase.
As the snow moon waxes into full, the dream world fades and the energy in nature grows into an expectant phase; a period akin to a just-showing pregnancy. What was conceived during the restful and creative dreamtime is now planted as a seed and growing. While it's not obvious because winter storms abound, the first signs of spring are beginning to reveal themselves in the earliest buds forming on trees. This moon cycle is potent with the swelling energy of the earth, which offers us the perfect opportunity to practice rituals that enhance intuition and support creative energy through lucid dreaming.This is a new moon to dream, set intentions, and put plans to paper so we can soon birth our freshly conceived ideas, projects, and goals into full form in the season ahead.
My slow and seasonal living rituals during this lunation involve crafting elixirs with the mugwort plant to induce dreaming, journaling my dreams, reading my tarot cards on the dark moon, and setting intentions based on what I conceive during my dream time. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is a plant used by herbalists for centuries as a dream inducing herb. Not only does mugwort induce lucid dreaming, but also daydreaming, creative conception, and it enhances dream recall. Mugwort is considered to be ruled by the moon, making it a potent herb to craft with and consume during the rising energy of a lunar phase rooted in themes of dreaming, conception, creativity, and intuition. In addition to these amazing effects, it’s also highly nourishing to the nervous, digestive, and reproductive systems, which fascinatingly are biological systems that directly impact cognitive health.
Slow & Seasonal Rituals for the New Snow Moon
I’m sharing 3 of my favorite rituals to practice on this new snow moon to slow down and synchronize with the seasonal energy of the earth.
Make a sleep sachet of dried mugwort leaves to place under your pillow to induce dreamtime. This is a beautiful ritual if you’re just beginning to craft with this plant. Mugwort is powerfully effective, and can sometimes be overwhelming for highly sensitive people. This is a ritual that can initiate lucid dreaming so the dreamer can unearth narratives present in their subconscious mind and gain a sense of creative control. I consider this ritual to be a gentle precursor to setting clear intentions for the year ahead, especially for folks who don’t care to drink herbal mugwort tea. However, I myself am a Highly Sensitive Person and I love the powerful effects of mugwort this time of year, so I combine this ritual with the others.
Keep a dream journal next to your bed and handy throughout the day. When goals, dreams, and new ideas are swirling around my head this time of year, journaling is a wonderful way to capture new ideas before planning takes place. Dream journaling is also a rewarding experience during a time when our inner landscapes are flourishing because it can help us organize our thoughts and understand our dreams. Our best ideas and intuitions come to us when we're at ease, so keeping a notebook close is a great way to capture those brilliant ideas before they slip away.
Drink mugwort tea and journal your intentions for the year. On the new moon I love to carve out time to embrace the still quietness of nature and set intentions for the future. Drinking mugwort or dream tea, reading my tarot cards, and journaling my intentions for the year helps me get clear on my path and priorities. I ask myself probing questions and consider my greatest needs for my body and soul. With one or two intentions conceived in this ritual, I can easily develop my action plan to birth my new ideas into reality in the season ahead.
