Here's how they can help mental and physical wellbeing.
It’s 7 p.m. on a late April evening. In a couple of hours, the full moon will be visible. I arrive at a Greenwich Village apartment wrapped in my giant mohair sweater. Inside, there is a beautiful circular cloth in the middle of the room that is adorned with candles, flowers, and quartz crystals. I normally add my jewelry or another personal item, and this time it’s the manuscript to my upcoming book.
I first started attending moon circles a couple years ago after I was introduced to Andrea Takacs-Carvalho, a Brazilian shaman who leads intimate groups in New York City. Being able to find support with fellow women during tough times, such as when I was writing my book, is a reason I regularly participate.
The 11 other women—of all ages and walks of life—and I form a circle and sit on pillows, blankets, and yoga mats or blocks. Andrea clears the room by using palo santo and sage, smells that are calming and set the tone for what we’re about to experience. We participate in a short meditation to settle in and then briefly introduce ourselves and share what is going on at this moment in our lives. As a veteran of moon circles, I try to share something engaging to break the ice for first-timers.
While they can be held at any time, moon circles, or women’s circles, are often aligned with the moon’s cycles, which represent beginnings and endings and the natural circle of life. New moons represent opportunities to set intentions, or direct focused thought on what you would like to achieve, be, and work towards. Full moons, like tonight, represent culminations, the end of a project, a certain approach, or thought process.