The best part of the Many Moons publications is getting to collaborate with one-of-a-kind magic makers. For the December Full Moon of the 2020 Many Moons Lunar Planner, author Ariel Gore wrote a ritual to help heal our mother-wounds. Ariel a teacher and is the award-winning author of Hexing the Patriarchy, We Were Witches, and The End of Eve.

Learn more about Ariel below:

Hi Ariel! You are one of the most gifted writers I know. I am in awe of your talent. Have you ever had anything magical or psychic occur as a result of your writing? Do you use your writing for magical purposes?

Thank you for your kind words! I would say that I rely on magic for my writing more than I notice magic occurring because of it. In other words, much of my writing is the result of mystical or occult experimentation rather than the source of it. I use automatic writing, the Tarot, Moon meditation, and Spiritualist practices to start and develop stories. My novel-memoir We Were Witches was a little different in that I went into writing that book with the express goal of healing from some experiences that I didn’t have time to process when I was young, when they happened, so there was some magic there in terms of finally being able to let some of that shame and anxiety go.

For your December Full Moon contribution to the planner, you offered readers a way to mother themselves. Has the Moon helped you expand your own care and compassion?

I’m a Cancerian, so care and compassion for others comes pretty easily to me. It takes more of an effort for me to treat myself with care and compassion, and the Moon has helped me with that. It’s easy to feel bitter when the mothers in our families of origin failed us—as they were 100% set up to do by patriarchal culture—and having a lunar practice can really transform all of that. The Moon can be the witness we maybe didn’t have; the Moon is always as excited to see us as we are to see her.

You recently released the book Hexing the Patriarchy. It is a spell book that includes a ton of information, and involves many contributors. How did this project come to you?

After the 2016 election, every person I knew with any magical training to speak of was re-initiating themselves, expanding their covens, deepening their practices, finding ways that hexing could be a more bad-ass part of their magic-making. People who had never practiced magic before were asking how to get started. I thought it would be cool to bring together a bunch of witches and brujas and Spiritualists and voodoo practitioners and other magic makers to share what we knew and channel new ideas. There are all kinds of new spells for both healing and protecting what we love and binding and hexing all that which is hurting our environment and communities. While many magical traditions are initiatory, the spells in this book are open to everyone and are offered freely to everyone from long-time initiates to total newbies and witch-curious folks. There are even instructions for self-initiation.

What is your current favorite Moon phase? Why?

I’m loving the Waning Moon, remembering to stay home more, focusing on writing and teaching and soaking.

What are a couple of things (anything, a record, something you are learning) that you are excited about? Why?

I’m working on a bunch of escapist fiction right now set on Pacific and Mediterranean islands and in surrealist Mexican jungles—it’s super fun after having spent a couple of years with nonfiction. I’m also teaching a noir fiction writing class in the spring which I’ve never taught before!

ORDER YOUR 2020 MANY MOONS LUNAR PLANNER HERE!