Much as we used the exercise Learning To Listen to begin to sensitize us to magickal energy and teach us to observe on a subtle level, we will do the same with lunar energy in this exercise. The exercise will take place on two nights, one during the new moon and one during the full moon. Don't worry about doing the exercise during the exact moment that the moon is new or full. Tradition allows us to observe the moon up to three days before or after the actual lunar phase occurs.
One by one, my coven-mates came and joined me and we talked about the past, about the legacy our ancestors had left us. Did they realize that the moon was a satellite that orbited the earth we live on? Or was it simply a constant companion whose light ebbed and flowed, setting the lunar month? We talked about what each of us would feel if, unfettered by the words of science, we stared up at the moon with a mystical awe.
Sit outside under the moon (or, if your environment isn't too safe, sit in a window) and clear your mind as you gaze up into the night sky. During both moons, imagine what your early ancestors must have felt and believed during that phase of the moon. Let your mind wander back to earlier times. Imagine yourself in an early society, one that honored the lunar cycle. How do you feel? What do you think? What does the moon mean to you?
Do this for both the full and new moons. Even during the new moon, when you can't see that it is there, you will know that it is. Or perhaps you will visualize otherwise. Make sure you record your observations, much the same way as you did with your observations for the exercise in Learning To Listen.
Feel free to use this format to log your experiences: