The full moon pours its whole light upon the world and hides nothing, no shadow to shrink from, no corner left unseen. Under such a sky you brew a courage you can swallow.
Some fears live in the throat and the gut, below where words can reach them. This draught carries steadiness down to those low places, bitter herbs for the nerve and warming spice for the blood. To drink it is to take the moon’s fearless clarity into your own body, cup by cup.
The Working
- Under the full moon, set a bowl of clean water where the light falls fully upon it and leave it to gather silver for one hour.
- Warm the moon-water gently and steep in it a bitter herb for the nerve, yarrow or angelica or vervain, until the water darkens.
- Add a thread of warming spice, a clove or a curl of ginger, to carry the working down into the blood.
- Stir in a single drop of oil and speak over the cup the deed you mean to do without flinching.
- Strain the draught clear and hold the cup up to the moon, letting its light rest a moment upon the surface.
- Drink it down in three long swallows without pausing, and feel the warmth spread from throat to belly to fingertip.
- Rinse the cup with the last of the moon-water and pour the rinsings out beneath open sky.
The Incantation
Bitter on the tongue and warm in the blood,
moon in the cup like a silver flood.
Down past the throat where the fear takes hold,
carry me steady, carry me bold.
Three long swallows and nothing spilled;
what the moon poured out, I have drunk my fill.
I go to the deed with an even hand,
undaunted now, and I understand.
Do the deed while the draught is still warm in you. The full moon lends its nerve freely, but it does not wait.