What Is Draw Down the Moon?
What does Draw Down the Moon mean?
Drawing Down the Moon is a Wiccan ritual in which the practitioner formally invokes the lunar goddess into their own body and being, creating a temporary direct union between the human practitioner and the divine feminine principle represented by the moon. The ritual originated in ancient classical magic (Greek witches were recorded drawing down the moon in literary sources from the 5th century BCE) and was codified as a central Wiccan rite by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente, whose Charge of the Goddess forms the liturgical heart of the modern working.
The experience varies significantly between practitioners. Some describe it as a felt sense of expansion, warmth, and luminosity moving through the body. Others experience it as a quietening of the personal self and a sense of something larger speaking through them. Still others find it primarily a meditative deepening, a particular quality of presence and connection that is distinctly different from ordinary consciousness. None of these is more valid than another.
What is consistent across accounts is a sense of genuine contact: the ritual creates conditions in which the practitioner is genuinely open to the lunar current rather than merely performing a representation of it. Whether this is understood theologically as literal goddess-contact or psychologically as accessing a deeper layer of the self, the effect on the practitioner is consistently described as profound and lasting.
Read: The Moon Goddesses: Selene, Artemis and HecateThe Three Lunar Faces
Draw Down the Moon is typically addressed to the triple goddess in her three lunar aspects, each corresponding to a phase of the moon and a face of the divine feminine:
- Selene: the full moon, the goddess of the moon’s complete illumination, associated with abundance, culmination, love, and the visible divine. Invoked at the peak of the full moon for workings of completion and gratitude.
- Artemis: the waxing crescent and half-moon, the huntress, goddess of independence, the wild, and the directed will. Invoked in the waxing phases for workings of clarity, protection, and intentional forward movement.
- Hecate: the dark moon, the goddess of the crossroads, magic, and the hidden. Invoked at the dark and waning moon for workings of release, shadow work, and access to deeper knowledge.
The Draw Down the Moon ritual most commonly invokes all three as the triple goddess, acknowledging the complete lunar cycle in the invocation rather than only one of its faces. The full moon is the traditional timing because Selene is the primary face of the working, but the ritual can be adapted to each lunar phase by emphasising the appropriate aspect.
Doreen Valiente and the Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess, the liturgical text spoken in Draw Down the Moon, was substantially written and refined by Doreen Valiente from earlier sources Gerald Gardner had used. Valiente’s version, completed in the early 1950s, drew on Charles Leland’s Aradia and Aleister Crowley’s earlier ritual poetry, but Valiente rewrote it into the direct, spare, powerful language that became foundational to Wicca. Her Charge contains some of the most beautiful liturgical writing in modern paganism: "I am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars..." The complete Charge can be found in any comprehensive Wiccan text and is worth memorising for the full depth of this ritual.
The Complete Solitary Draw Down the Moon Ritual
The Solitary Draw Down the Moon: Complete Working
Performed at the full moon, ideally outdoors in moonlight or at a window where the moon is visible. This is not a casual working: it is the most significant lunar ritual in Wiccan practice and should be approached with that weight and care. Allow at minimum 45 minutes. Do not rush it.
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Cast your circle or mark your space as sacred in whatever way belongs to your practice. This ritual deserves a proper container: take the time to set it.
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Stand facing the moon (or the window, if indoors). Place the bowl of water where it can catch the moonlight. Light the candle. Hold the moonstone against your heart.
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Open the invocation by speaking to all three faces: "I call to the triple goddess in her lunar form. Selene, light of the full moon, warmth and abundance and the visible divine. Artemis, crescent and huntress, wild clarity and the directed will. Hecate, dark moon and crossroads, keeper of what is hidden and what is found. I invite your presence. I open myself to receive."
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Be still. This is not a performance. After speaking the invocation, stop. Breathe. Look at the moon or the bowl reflecting it. Allow a full five minutes of silence and receptivity before continuing. What you feel in this silence is the beginning of the contact.
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Raise your arms toward the moon in the traditional posture: arms lifted, palms up or forward, body open. Speak the goddess’s words back to the moon: "I am the daughter of earth and starry heaven. I am the ancient mother. I am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars. In me is the beginning and the end. Behold, I have been with you from the beginning." Speak slowly. Let each line land before moving to the next.
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Draw the moonlight into your body. Visualise the moon’s light as a silver current moving through your raised arms and filling your chest, your belly, your entire body with quiet luminosity. This is the drawing down: not grabbing at it but allowing it in. Breathe as if you are breathing the moonlight.
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Hold the moonstone against your forehead for three breaths, then your heart, then your belly. At each point, speak: "I receive you. I am the vessel and you are the light."
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If using a chalice, hold it up to the moon and speak: "As above, so below. As the moon fills the sky, so the moon fills this cup. I drink of the divine." Drink slowly and deliberately.
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Sit in the moonlight for as long as you need after the formal ritual. Write in your Book of Shadows immediately after: what you felt, what you received, what changed in the quality of the space during the ritual. This record is important: the contact deepens over multiple full moons, and the written record shows you the arc of that deepening.
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Close the circle with gratitude: "Selene, Artemis, Hecate, triple goddess, thank you for your presence in this ritual. I carry your light with me as I close this space."
Draw Down the Moon is a practice that deepens with repetition. The first attempt may feel uncertain. The third may produce the first genuine sense of contact. The tenth will be different again. Return to it at every full moon and allow the relationship to develop over time rather than expecting immediate dramatic results.
Free Resource: Draw Down the Moon Ritual Record Template
Sorceress Sanctuary · Free Resource · Draw Down the Moon Ritual Record
BEFORE THE RITUAL:
My state of mind and body entering the ritual:
What I am bringing to the lunar goddess tonight:
What I am asking to receive:
DURING THE RITUAL:
What I felt during the invocation:
What happened in the silence after speaking:
What I felt when I raised my arms:
Any sensation, image, word, or knowing that arrived:
The quality of the space during the drawing down:
AFTER THE RITUAL:
How my body feels:
What seems different in the room or in me:
Any message or knowing I am carrying out of the ritual:
THREE DAYS AFTER:
What have I noticed in the days following this full moon?
Has anything the ritual touched on appeared in my outer life?
NEXT FULL MOON: [date] | This session’s one word:
Prepare Your Lunar Ritual
Moonstone, selenite, silver candles, and altar supplies for Draw Down the Moon. Free shipping on all orders over $45, globally.
