This year (2021), the August Full Moon in Aquarius arrives on August 22nd at 12:01 UTC (5:01 am PDT), a day that many also celebrate the Roman goddess/priestess Diana, or her Greek counterpart Artemis.
Consider working with goddess-priestess Diana on this Full Moon, creating a relationship with her. Diana’s wisdom can guide us through the harvest season and into the coming months, with her clear vision, focus and skills.
Diana is a strong ally for women, supporting both fertility and childbirth. She is a patron of pagans and witches, a guardian of the harvest, a protector of enslaved people, and a protector of both wild creatures and our companion animals (although also patron of the hunt, on this day no hunting was allowed). Some see her as a triple goddess, Diana triformis: Diana (goddess of the Hunt), Luna (the Moon goddess) and Hekate (goddess of the underworld and keeper of the crossroads).
I first made a personal connection with the goddess Diana — aka Diana the Bright, and Diana Nemorensis (“Diana of Nemi”) — during a self-guided journey on an August Full Moon several years ago. She slowly came out of a secluded forest grove, holding a bow and arrow in her hands, followed by deer and other forest creatures and nymphs.
At that time, I was aware of her as a goddess, but really didn’t know much about the ancient practices and rituals associated with her, and nor had I heard of the annual Nemorensis festival — aka the Nemoralia, or Festival of Torches — that was held in her Sacred Grove at Lake Nemi and other forests and crossroads. How interesting that this was the time she chose to make a connection with me, and show me her sacred grove!
But call to me she did, and I began my first steps in creating a relationship, a connection, with he goddess Diana. For me, she represents that sacred balance between the Divine Feminine and nature itself, and the balance within us of both nurturing and protecting all that is dear to us. She is the wild and natural within us.
For those not familiar with Diana, in a previous year I shared this blog post with more information about Diana, and the historical traditions associated with her.
August Full Moon: Celebrating Diana, goddess of The Hunt & Moon
Since my initial journey and forged connection with her, each year on the August Full Moon I set up my altar as a “mini-grove” and honour Diana, and to seek her wisdom on my path..
Celebrate and Honour Diana
There are many ways we each can honour Diana at the Full Moon, on our altars and in the simplest of rituals such as:
- write your most heartfelt wishes for your Self and/or prayers for Diana on a strip of organic cloth (aka a “cloutie”) or paper and tie to a tree; when the cloth or paper breaks down and falls away, your wishes are released to the world for manifesting
- ask Diana for protection for your companion animals, and all wild animals
- call on Diana to protect and liberate enslaved people around the world
- light a white candle for Diana on your personal altar to represent the fires and torches in her Sacred Grove
- on your altar, bring in some elements of the sacred grove itself with boughs, leaves and tree berries, as in my outdoor altar pictured above from a previous Full Moon ritual for Diana
- use a bowl of water to represent the pond in the Sacred Grove for your release ritual: write your releases on a slip of paper and give them to the water for dissolving and washing away
- add the Drawing Down the Moon ritual to your Full Moon Diana celebration