Black Moon

Symbols and allegories.
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Nefastos
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Black Moon

Post by Nefastos »

One symbol that seems to be very persistent & widely manifest in things connected to Left Hand Path witchcraft, Satanism & such ideologies, is the symbol of a dark or black moon.

Have you encountered that symbol, does it hold a personal meaning for you? What is that meaning exactly?
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
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Bies
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Bies »

I have encountered the symbol in passing in relation to workings with Lilith, and I have a surface understanding of it having to do with Lilith's place as the Dark Luna/Goddess/Virgin/Venus/Ishtar. Aside from some obvious reading on the matter, it is not a symbol I know much about. I would like to hear someone else's thoughts on this.
"It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him."
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Heith
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Heith »

To me, black moon has been a time to which I've tried and date some magical workings, especially plant-related. I think I'm now talking more mundanely that what was intended with this topic (if magical workings can be considered mundane, so perhaps "practical" is a better term here).

When I was still guerrilla gardening a vacant lot, I had great plans for a magical herbal garden. I ended up not planting anything that might have been harmful if someone ate it, because there was no fence around the place. However, I did some plant & earth related magical workings on a small scale and this small experiment became very meaningful to me, because I tended to the plants on a daily basis. Here I go a bit off-topic, apologies. But in that garden I did observe the phases of the moon and created rituals which seemed befitting to different phases, even during winter time when none of the plants were unavailable, I would still go there and enjoy the winter darkness, trying to probe the energies of the sleeping earth.

Black moon I find useful for burying things (mentally), letting go, and working with death-related energies. It was also useful to harvest certain plants at this time, for example juniper / yew / spruce which then link to death energies more easily (as I do think a plant becomes full of the energy that is around at that time, and if it is cut, it will remain full of the current energy), or are very grounding. I'm just a dabbler when it comes to plants, so by no means take anything I've to say of the topic as educated opinion. During black moon I believe it's also easier to tap into Alinen or Underworld, if we adopt the shamanic worldview. I've always had a close relationship to death or perhaps, spirits related to this kind of thing, so to me it feels more comfortable or easy than many other workings to do this sort of practices.

But I would say that moon as a whole, be it dark or full or new moon, is always a strong and meaningful symbol.
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Bies
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Bies »

Heith wrote: It was also useful to harvest certain plants at this time, for example juniper / yew / spruce which then link to death energies more easily (as I do think a plant becomes full of the energy that is around at that time, and if it is cut, it will remain full of the current energy)
This is a very, very interesting point, and could warrant it's own topic, but perhaps in a different area of the forum. Something I would very much like to experiment with.
"It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him."
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Heith
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Heith »

Bies wrote: This is a very, very interesting point, and could warrant it's own topic, but perhaps in a different area of the forum. Something I would very much like to experiment with.
We have plants & herbalism topic somewhere in here, perhaps we can discuss this more there- although, like said, I am merely a dabbler on this field. Still, nice to discuss, I might learn something useful.
Fomalhaut
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Fomalhaut »

Bies wrote:I have encountered the symbol in passing in relation to workings with Lilith, and I have a surface understanding of it having to do with Lilith's place as the Dark Luna/Goddess/Virgin/Venus/Ishtar. Aside from some obvious reading on the matter, it is not a symbol I know much about. I would like to hear someone else's thoughts on this.
Same applies to me about Lilith and Black Moon. I have always seen Lilith as the Great Mother's so called dark-side / twin. I would like to share the following quotation in relevance to our topic, which i have read some while ago:
Pshychologically, the symbolism of Lilith belongs to the Mother Archetype, especially in its manifestations of the Terrible Mother. Let me make a few short quotes from Jung in "Psychological aspects of the Mother Archetype":

<<Evil symbols are the witch, the dragon (or any devouring and entwining animal, such as a large fish or a serpent), the grave, the sarcophagus, deep water, death, nightmares and bogies (Empusa, Lilith, etc.)...>>

<<On the negative side the mother archetype may connote anything secret, hidden, dark; the abyss, the world of the dead, anything that devours, seduces, and poisons, that is terrifying and inescapable like fate.>>

<<The effects of the mother complex on the son may be seen in the ideology of the Cybele and Attis type: self-castration, madness, and early death.>>

The following quote by another Jungian (Eric Neumann, in "The Origins and History of Consciousness") can almost be read as some modern astrological descriptions of Lilith:

<<Thus the Great Mother is uroboric: terrible and devouring, beneficent and creative; a helper, but also alluring and destructive; a maddening enchantress, yet a bringer of wisdom; bestial and divine, voluptuous harlot and inviolable virgin, immemorially old and eternally young...>>

If you want to read the whole article, you can check it out from: www. expreso.co.cr/centaurs/blackmoon/lilith.html
Last edited by Wyrmfang on Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sebomai
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Sebomai »

Isn't there a lunar connection to Kali? She and Lilith have so very much in common to me, I've even considered writing an article about that someday, once I've done enough research on it.
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Jiva
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Jiva »

Hmmm... so I've kind of been confused by this thread. Was the new moon meant, or was the black moon as a counterpart of the blue moon? I've always thought of a black moon as the rare occasion when there are two new moons in a month, but there are other definitions as well. Having said that, I haven't really been too aware of when this has happened before and so I was oblivious to the two occasions when a black moon rose this year in January and March. Apparently the next is in the 30th October 2016, so quite a wait.
'Oh Krishna, restless and overpowering, this mind is overwhelmingly strong; I think we might as easily gain control over the wind as over this.'
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Nefastos
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Nefastos »

Jiva wrote:Hmmm... so I've kind of been confused by this thread. Was the new moon meant, or...


In the first post I meant just the symbol, no context. So, it's been nice to receive an opportunity to learn more about the exact astronomical & astrological meanings of both & all these moons.
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
Kenazis
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Re: Black Moon

Post by Kenazis »

Sebomai wrote:Isn't there a lunar connection to Kali? She and Lilith have so very much in common to me, I've even considered writing an article about that someday, once I've done enough research on it.
I have always (= long time) seen these three connected. Lilith, Kali and Moon. I Associate Goddess to the moon, especially the Dark Ones.
"We live for the woods and the moon and the night"
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