Most people treat the new moon and full moon like they’re the same ritual with different lighting. Light a candle, write a few wishes down, stare dramatically at the sky and hope for the best. 🙏
But rituals for the new and full moon are doing completely different things.
The new moon is where you pick a direction and pretend you’re not slightly intimidated by it. The full moon is where reality slides in like it’s just popped by to check your excuses.
If you mix them up, your manifestation practice can start feeling like you're pressing the accelerator and the brake at the same time.
Why Most People Only Do Half the Manifestation Process
Let's be honest. Most people are excellent at wanting things. New job, new love, new money situation, new glow-up era. Easy.
Where things get slightly awkward is when the Universe responds with, "Great. Now let's talk about why you think you can't have it." Suddenly everyone has somewhere else to be!
Because while we're often happy to visualise the dream house, soulmate or overflowing bank account, we’re slightly less excited about looking at the fears, limiting beliefs and emotional baggage sitting between us and the thing we're trying to attract. That’s the bit no one puts on the vision board.
So while one part of you is busy calling things in, another part is still acting like they’re not really available to you. Same person, two completely different operating systems, zero coordination.
That’s why it feels like nothing sticks. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because you’re only updating half the system.
The Ivory Gloss moon ritual subscription box is based around current planetary energies, with crystals and visualisations chosen for each new & full moon.
How manifesting works with the lunar cycle
If you try to manifest in one long, constant “I’m attracting everything at all times” situation, it gets messy fast. A bit like trying to clean your house while people are throwing stuff in through the window.
The moon, annoyingly accurately, solves this for you by splitting the whole process into four distinct moods.
New moon
Choose what you want.
Don’t negotiate. Don’t overthink. Choose. Even if part of you is acting like it’s a bit ridiculous.
Waxing moon
Act as though it’s possible.
This is where you stop waiting for certainty and start behaving like the door might actually open. Slightly braver choices, slightly bolder actions, slightly less self-sabotage.
Full moon
Notice what is blocking it.
This is the moment everything you ignored during your “positive thinking era” politely reappears for attention. Limiting beliefs, emotional clutter, old narratives, all of it.
Waning moon
Release what is keeping you stuck.
This is about quietly putting things down that you’ve been carrying out of habit, not necessity.
New Moon Rituals are for Intention
The new moon is basically the moment everything goes quiet enough that you can finally hear yourself think… which is both exciting and slightly dangerous.
Because this is where you stop performing “I’m fine, I’ve got it all together” and admit what you actually want.
Not what sounds reasonable. Not what you should want. What you actually want.
This is your clean slate moment. No excuses, no backtracking, no editing yourself halfway through the sentence because it feels too big.
Key manifestation focus:
Get honest about what you actually want.
Set intentions without over-explaining them.
Visualise the outcome like it’s already been decided.
Choose what you’re calling in, even if it feels a bit bold.
Manifestation action:
Write one clear intention as though it has already happened.
Not “I want…”
Not “I am hoping for…”
More like:
This is already on its way. This is already mine. This is already unfolding.
Then leave it alone and stop interrogating it every five minutes.
Waxing Moon Energy is for Belief
This is where nothing looks like it’s happening… until it suddenly is. It’s where your intention stops being a cute idea you wrote down and starts getting tested in real life.
Are you acting like this is possible or ready to joke yourself out of it? This is the real question you should be focused on.
And this is where most people quietly stall, because belief doesn’t feel like inspiration. It feels like slightly uncomfortable repetition.
Key manifestation focus:
Interrupt the automatic “this won’t work for me” story the moment it appears.
Back your intention with small, slightly braver actions.
Start treating options as open instead of already decided against you.
Build momentum through consistency, not mood.
Manifestation action:
Once a day, do one small thing that assumes movement is already happening.
Send the message you’ve been overthinking.
Make the decision you keep postponing.
Say yes to something you’d normally talk yourself out of.
Then leave it. No analysis. No post-mortem. Just the next small step tomorrow.
Full moon energy is for release
This is the moment the moon stops politely observing your patterns and basically highlights them in neon.
Everything you’ve been half-ignoring suddenly gets a bit louder. The overthinking, the old story you keep recycling, the emotional reactions that feel slightly too familiar to be random.
This isn’t about becoming a better version of yourself. It’s about noticing what’s already expired.
Key manifestation focus:
Spot the limiting beliefs you’ve been carrying on autopilot.
Notice emotional triggers without turning them into identity statements.
See the repeating patterns you keep calling “just how things are for me.”
Release the resistance that shows up right before things actually shift.
Manifestation action:
Ask yourself:
“What belief would I need to let go of to receive this?”
Then don’t rush to fix it or replace it.
Just let the question do its job of showing you what’s been quietly running the show.
Waning moon energy is for letting go
This is the phase everyone skips because it’s not very sexy, doesn’t involve glow-ups, and can’t really be turned into a Pinterest quote about “becoming your highest self.”
But it’s also where the actual shifts happen.
The waning moon isn’t asking you to add anything. It’s asking you to stop carrying things you’ve clearly outgrown but keep insisting are “just how you are.”
Old habits. Old stories. Old fears. Old attachments. The emotional equivalent of a drawer full of cables you refuse to admit don’t belong to anything you own anymore.
Key manifestation focus:
Stop feeding habits that keep you looping the same reality.
Drop the obsession with “perfect timing” as an excuse to delay things.
Call out scarcity thinking when it tries to dress itself up as logic.
Make space in your actual life instead of just your vision board.
Manifestation action:
Pick one thought, habit or fear you’re officially done carrying into the next cycle.
Not because you’ve spiritually evolved beyond it.
Just because it’s annoying you and taking up valuable mental real estate.
Let it go. Or at least stop giving it a monthly subscription in your mind.
The difference that changes everything
New moon: what am I calling in?
Full moon: what is quietly sabotaging it?
One keeps you moving forward.
The other clears the stuff you’ve been stepping over pretending it’s not there.
Most people love the “calling in” part and suddenly develop selective vision for the “what’s actually in my way” part.
Both matter. Annoyingly.
Because one gives you direction, and the other makes sure you’re not dragging your entire past along for the ride.
Want to work with the moon more intentionally?
For when you’re done doing moon rituals backwards.
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