Moon as Cosmic Timer with Yasmin Boland, Creator of Moonology
The latest episode of The Side Woo
In 2019 while at the Plop Artist Residecy in London I picked up a book about the moon. At the time, the moon had featured large in my artwork as I was starting to lean into the mystical - perhaps as a way to disassociate from the nightmarish state of affairs in the US. I developed an obsession with Stevie Nicks and played Rhiannon on repeat. (Just ask my roommates.) I listened to Jessica Lanyadoo’s Ghost of a Podcast, subscribed to another astrologer’s moon-centric readings for every new and full moon, and Googled significant-sounding transits in my birth chart.
But despite folk witchery, I still lacked a sense of agency around how to work with the moon. So when Moonology came into my life, it was like a lightbulb turned on.
Moonology creator Yasmin Boland, in our conversation this week, described the moon as a cosmic timer that she could use to help her manifest and heal things in her life.
“I think that what really attracted me to the moon and to creating Moonology was that I realized it could be used as a cosmic timer for making magic. In astrology, a lot of this has actually been lost. These are all traditional, ancient things that women did back in the day, like hundreds of years ago. So while the men were all being very important and writing all their big books about astrology and predicting plagues and all that, women were at home making lotions, potions and tinctures, and doing healings, and really working with the moon.
From an astrological point of view, it was less about being enchanted by the moon. Of course, I was enchanted by the moon. But I feel like we're all fascinated. My real thing about the moon was, as I said, when I realized it could be used, it could be harnessed. The energy of the moon could be harnessed and has been harnessed for millennia by wise women, much wiser than me probably, to manifest and to use it as a framework for manifesting and for the law of attraction.”
What this did for me was give me the tools to understand the principles behind moon magic as well as some concrete rituals and questions to ask to best take advantage of the energy of each cycle. Manifest, call in on a new moon, and release, forgive on a full moon.
As Yasmin said, working with this cosmic watch in the sky is something that women have been doing for hundreds if not thousands of years. This is in part because our bodies naturally sync up to the moon. In folk traditions, a white moon cycle meant that a woman was ovulating on the full moon, and a red moon cycle meant she was getting her period on the full moon - which was considered more unusual.
In 2019 I wrote an essay about my period that talks about this. (I had the honor of reading a version of it as part of the late, great Kevin Killian’s reading series in San Francisco, and then again as part of Madrid Bookie.)
In contrast to the White Moon Cycle, when ovulation happens during the full moon and is supposedly most advantageous for procreation, women who bleed on a Red Moon Cycle ovulate during the darkness of the new moon. It is said this cycle is best for artistic creations, healing, and magic.
I was attending an artist residency in Crete at the time and in general living a life that prioritized creative endeavors over raising children, so this explanation felt validating of my life choices.
After reading that, I laid in bed watching the bright moonlight cast shadows on the wall, I marveled at the mysteries of the universe. On a practical level, I was excited to be able to track my ovulation cycle by the phases of the moon. (It will make it so much easier to know when to buy tampons.) But also, it made me see my monthly cycle as an asset, something that has helped to define who I am rather than be just a burden. It made me proud to be in my body, period.
This shift away from the mind and cerebral pursuits and into the body, and the necessary acceptance of all its weirdness and imperfections that comes with it, has been important as I have gotten to know myself in my 30s and now 40s.
The fun part is, like the moon, our bodies are constantly changing so you can never just be done. They are needy and evolving and like eclipses, tell you things about yourself that you maybe don’t want to hear: that you’re tired, bored, or stressed with what you’re doing even when your mind keeps trying to hit the gas.
But that’s where the real power of creating a life that you enjoy comes, in according to Yasmin:
“One of the biggest revelations that I ever had and that I can share is that you think it's all about the new moon wishing, but it's actually all about the full moon surrender. The new moon wishes are amazing because they make you take some time to get clear on what you want.
The Divine knows what you want. You get clear on it. You start to take action towards it- that's what you're doing, you're manifesting. And then at the full moon, you surrender it to the Divine. If it hasn't manifested yet, you say, I'm just offering it up to the Divine. If this is not right, fine. And you hand it over.
That is when the magic really happens. And it's so hard because sometimes you want something so much. But I always say even if you can just have a moment of surrender, that is what really boosts manifesting, in my humble opinion, after 25 years of research.”
Fascinating!