To Conjure the Moon

To conjure the Moon, you will have petition her outside in her light when the Moon is on the increase between 11:00 and midnight. Before that, write on linen paper this symbol (see illustration on right). Inside the inner circle, write what you desire. On the other side of the paper, write these words: Aradia Diana. Take a taper of white beeswax outside. Then place the linen paper on the earth, with your petition against the earth and the two divine names toward the sky. Place your right foot above the paper while your left knee is bent to the earth. In this position, observe the moon. According to Pliny the Elder, "...the moon is not unjustly regarded as the star of our life." This first century Roman naturalist explained further, "This it is that replenishes the earth; when she approaches it, she fills all bodies, while, when she recedes, she empties them. From this cause the shellfish grow with her increase..."

I salute and conjure you, O beautiful Moon, O beautiful Star, O bright light which I hold in my hand! By the air which I breathe, by the breath which is in me, by the earth which I touch, I conjure you and by all the names of the spirits who are within you! I conjure you to (state petition suitable for working with lunar energy here). I conjure you to accomplish my will and I (name) do promise to satisfy you duly.

Myth's Notes

The above has been adapted by me from a spell probably dating from the 17th century. The original conjuration of the moon does start out almost exactly as I have it here, calling upon, "O beautiful Moon, O beautiful Star, O bright light which I hold in my hand! By the air which I breathe, by the breath which is in me, by the earth which I touch..." This poetical address to the moon had, in my opinion, a very animistic pre-Christian feel to it. I first read this invocation way back in the 1970's, long before I found Wicca. Whatever musty tome I read it in did not give the complete directions for the spell, just simply the invocation and an illustration of the figure on the parchment.

The original spell calls upon several high ceremonial princes of the moon, including Gabriel, Mercury, Michael, Melchidael, Bareschas, Zazel, Firiel, and Malcha, and conjures them "...by all the divine names of God," a very strong Judeo-Christian influence.

The original spell then turns rather nasty, as the petition stated in it was a love spell and requests that the princes "obsess, torment, and harrass the body, spirit, soul and five senses..." of the intended victim of this magical working.

If you are really interested, from scholarly perspective, in the original spell, you can look it up in any number of magical books, including Rosemary Ellen Guiley's Moonscapes.

People with a background in ceremonial magick advise neophytes against adapting spells. Neophytes are advised to learn things as they are and perfect their understanding of them before beginning to change things. (This is not true of Chaotic magicians or "Chaotes" who at least one magician I respect said "go about changing things willy nilly.") To avoid changing things willy nilly, I have tried to keep much of the original spell-crafting intact, removing only the Judeo-Christian names for the princes of the moon and, of course, removing the nasty petition. The original spell, as I read in Guiley's Moonscapes, stated that you had to keep the parchment, not linen paper, in your left shoe until the intended victim came to you. Nobdy that I know of uses genuine parchment anymore. Parchment-looking paper, or regular, plain paper is used in modern magical workings. I substituted linen paper for parchment, because it is somewhat more expensive and a finer quality paper.

I once wrote a speculation about this spell, about what one was supposed to do with the parchment after reciting the invocation. Originally, I wondered if it was supposed to be burnt in the flame of the white taper, a common form of parchment or paper magic.

In my adaption, I wrote, "petition suitable for working with lunar energy." The original spell was a love spell, because the moon rules the tides of the ocean and, therefore, the tides of the emotions of the heart. Diana is invoked in more than one love spell and so is Aradia. A suitable petition, for example, in love magic might be, "I call you to draw to me a beloved who would return my love in a mutually satisfying relationship as you draw the ocean tides." Lunar energy is also associated with prosperity. Colored silver, like coins, the moon grows and increases during the month, encouraging one's money to grow and increase. As there is also a tradition in Wicca of Aradia as a healer, one could certainly have a petition for healing as well.

If you perform this spell, as I have rewritten it, do notice the sentence at the end of the conjuration: "I conjure you to accomplish my will and I (name) do promise to satisfy you duly." This implies that you will make some sort of offering when your petition is answered. I advise you to follow through on the offering. It is unwise to make promises to deities that you do not keep. In fact, you may choose to adapt the last statement to read, "I ask you to accomplish my will and I (name) do promise to pour out a libation of good wine to you." Or state whatever specific thank offering you would like to make.

When I rewrote this spell, I resisted the temptation to have the two divine names in the circle on the paper be Herodias Diana, as it's possible these might have popped up in 17th century magic. After some thought, I decided it was more appropriate to use the names Aradia and Diana rather than other Lunar Goddesses or spirits.

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