What to do during the New Moon in Gemini: How to build your own Rituals and Practices

New Moons are incredibly potent times for connecting to new beginnings and energetic resets. They help us to gain perspective on some patterns that are no longer working in our lives, while also helping you set new goals or intentions. This New Moon is asking us to open up our minds, evaluating where we need to find the balance between listening, learning, and sharing. The Gemini New Moon invites us to connect into the energy of socializing, communication, discovery, and expressing our thoughts and emotions more clearly. It also helps us to strike more of a balance between hyper-structured discipline and enjoying our lives for the present moment. You may find yourself drawn to connect with people more; whether that is through hanging out with long time friends and family or taking that plunge and deciding to deepen a relationship with an acquaintance. You might also discover a need for deeper expression or to be understood: think of writing, journaling, yapping to your friends, or even trying out your hand at creating some art. So let’s talk about some rituals and practices you can do to help you connect into the energy of the New Moon. 

Setting the Space

The first thing we’ll talk about is setting up space for your rituals and practices. This is a crucial step that turns what could simply be fun, into an excellent practice for pouring back into your self care. 

Cleaning Your Space

I am a huge proponent of cleaning during New Moons and Full Moons. It is genuinely part of my rituals every single month. It helps you to actually move and release stuck energy (oftentimes that you don’t even realize is there), and for me adds a little fun motivation of a ritual to do at the end. This is all about setting the mood for your time and space to focus on you; your needs, desires, and lessons to learn. So try using cleaning products with scents you enjoy, or resetting the space so that you feel calm and centered. 

I do want to point out for fellow people who overthink, get frozen, and then don’t end up doing rituals and practices because they think this step is absolutely crucial; it’s not. It’s something fun I like to add in, but if your home is messy, the magic will definitely still work. And maybe you’ll get a little spark the next day that will inspire you!

Creating Sacred Space

What I really feel like is important to do is energetically clear your space before you begin ANY kind of ritual. This helps you to release any energy from the day like frustration, anxiety, sadness etc that might make it harder for you to relax into the ritual itself. It also helps to clear any lingering energy in your home to provide you a clear slate. You can clear with smoke from herbs or incense, with an energy or aura clearing spray, sound, or even walking around the space with Selenite. 

Now is the time to set up your sacred space. This is all about what you like and what would make this feel like a ritual for you. Dim the lights, put on clothing that makes you feel good (whether it's your favorite pajamas or something that makes you feel witchy), put on some music. If it’s fun for you, you can make a playlist that fits the energy of each specific New Moon, or just make a general one. I also like to recommend lighting a candle. You can give that candle a “job” like holding energetic space for focus, self love, energy, or inspiration. I will even sometimes make myself a little healthy snack to eat during the ritual.

Creating Your New Moon Ritual

Now that we’ve covered setting up the space, let's talk about some rituals and practices you might feel inspired to incorporate during the New Moon. Remember that you get to pick and choose to create something that you are drawn to. Figure out what your intention for the New Moon is first, and then craft your custom ritual to that. 

How to figure out your Intentions

If you are feeling something come up inside of you leading up to the New Moon, it is a good chance that is an area you should work on. That "something" could be extreme frustration in a specific area of life, sadness or melancholy, intense dreams, or even a physical sign in your body. Trust that and let yourself investigate deeper. If you are looking for more guidance, then it’s time to look to the stars!

I am a big fan of looking at the astrology for each specific New Moon to help guide me on where I need to reflect in my life. Becca, who teaches classes at our space, recommended looking at both planetary placements and House placements in your chart. Your planetary placements in astrology focus on your Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and so on. If the sign of the New Moon (or its sister sign) is heavily featured in your chart, it may indicate that you will feel that moon more strongly than others who do not. 

For instance in the Gemini New Moon, you would be looking at where Gemini and Sagittarius both show up (if at all) in your planets. 

The same rule applies to your Houses. Your houses will indicate the area of your life that may be strongly affected during a New Moon. If you know your houses or your rising sign, I wrote a little about where you may be affected most during the New Moon in Gemini

Unsure of your astrological chart? Check out this tool which shows you both your planets and houses! 

I also do one-on-one Astrological readings, if you want to ask questions or go further in-depth!

Once you have your intention, then you can start figuring out your own ritual’s part and components.

Crystals

Obviously we love crystals here at Sienna Moon, so incorporating them is a no brainer. When I was thinking of crystals for the Gemini New Moon, I wanted to focus on some bigger general themes that people might struggle with when being in a time of a lot of socialization; sharing and being your authentic self and listening to others and the universe. So here’s a list of some of my favorite recommendations based on the New Moon generally:

Apatite: This is a moon cycle where you are supposed to connect with others, socialize, and experience life. If you struggle with feeling unlikable, insecure, or like you don't belong, Apatite might be an incredible option for you. Apatite helps you find confidence in being the most authentic version of yourself. Helping you feel safe to express your thoughts, desires, and experiences with bold energy and self-assuredness.

Amethyst: This lunar cycle is a period of expansion and learning. When we are absorbing, learning, and communicating so much, it can feel a little mentally overwhelming. Amethyst helps you to get some clarity on what it is you are trying to understand and what you should do with that.  

Tigers Eye: When you are in a space of gathering more information and listening to signs, an equally as important skill to develop is discernment. New ideas and possibilities are being thrown to you (especially with Uranus in Gemini), but frankly they don't all need to be followed. Check in with your gut and instincts to help recognize the path that is best to follow right now.

Sodalite: If you tend to struggle with listening to not only other people, but to the universe, Sodalite might be an excellent addition for you over this moon cycle. It helps you break down fear blockages that might be stopping you from hearing what you need to hear. It can also help you be more present when listening to others.

If you find yourself focusing in on a specific intention, feel free to use crystals specialized to that.

Divination Practice

All of my rituals for the New Moons tend to have some form of divination practice incorporated in them. It could be working with your pendulum dowsing rods, auto-writing, or channeling. I personally really love doing tarot readings and asking my guides to help pair them with crystals from my collection. It’s all about the questions you ask and listening to the messages that they’re sending you. One thing I tend to do is journal about the card given and the context surrounding the card, to see what I need to be more open to or actions I need to take in the upcoming lunar cycle.

Spell Work

There are so many different types of spell work that can be done surrounding New Moons. Open Roads and Uncrossing spells help you to create new pathways, a Sweetening Spell can help with calling in self love and worth. If you’re interested in this, this is something I recommend you research more on your own and see what is calling out to you for your specific intention.

Setting Intentions

Once I’ve done my practices and spells, I try to sit down and figure out my intentions for the upcoming month (or Moon Cycle). What practices should I be incorporating? What areas do I need to change habits around? What do I want to bring into my life? It’s not always a clear word or phrase that I could explain to someone else, sometimes it’s just a feeling or a vague idea. Take that and try to create a list of actions and behaviors you can practice. I’m a big fan of writing down new affirmations for myself to help me keep on my desired path.

After this I usually close whatever sacred space that I have, treat myself to a nice bath or shower, and head to bed. Allow yourself to reflect over your ritual and see if anything comes up for you over the next few days. Things can become clear and you may start to see the things you worked on manifesting in your physical, day-to-day life.