7 Self-Care Rituals Perfect for This Full Harvest Moon

Friday the 13^th is more than just your typical spooky stuff this year—it’s also the beginning of 2019’s Harvest Moon. This Harvest Moon will appear full for approximately three days, from Thursday evening through Sunday morning. September 2019’s full moon, also known as the Harvest Moon, signifies transition between summer and fall. Historically, this is one of the most well-known full moons, given its proximity to the Autumnal Equinox. Interestingly, this Harvest Moon is also a micromoon, meaning that the moon is at it’s furthest point from Earth in its rotation.

But what does a full Harvest Moon actually mean?

Given that this full Harvest Moon is in Pisces, it’s going to be a deeply transitional time, not unlike the seasonal change either. This can have all the signs deeply in their feelings and maybe even spending more time with grief than we anticipated. We live in a culture where death isn’t widely talked about. We have short attention spans, expecting ourselves and others to speed through the middle and move on already.

Well, this Harvest Moon is all about stopping. The truth is that you can’t strong-arm yourself into moving on or getting over anyone or anything. You can try, but only by giving these feelings space or acknowledging them will you actually be able to change your attachment to people or unmet expectations.

Pisces loves to dream and looking for distractions or mild mayhem to keep you from drowning in unwanted feelings may come a little quicker than usual. But try and confront these feelings. For people who love scary movies enough to make a multi-million dollar industry around them, we sure are afraid of conflict. Discomfort.

But the sooner you face whatever you’re dreading—that overdue doctor appointment, break-up, friendship unravelling, etc.—the sooner you can be out of that pain.

This Harvest Moon, try not to be afraid of all the scary stuff. It’s one of those things where if you stand still enough and flip on a light switch, you’ll realize that spot in the darkness was just your shadow all along.

Self-Care Activities to Help You Recharge During This Full Moon

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1. Clean and Organize Your Bathroom

Depending on your bathroom situation, this can be a mini or big project. Start small by clearing off your counters and wiping down all surfaces. Throw away empty products or ones that you haven’t used in years (be honest). That by itself is cleansing AF, but new towels or shelving is an indulgence that will make you smile every single day, too. You spend so much of your life in the bathroom—make it pretty and functional. 

2. Read or Unwind in a Café

It doesn’t matter what you read—or even if you do. Draw instead or just stare out the window at the world happening all around you. The important thing is that you go to your favorite café, order your favorite thing on the menu and then do absolutely NO work.

3. Prune Your To-Do List

Some things in life are unavoidable. But what about everything else? Do you really have to organize your various piles of magazines? Or read all those open tabs on your computer that have been up for weeks? Or go to that girl’s improv show just because she keeps asking you to? Consider what would happen if you didn’t do that thing you keep putting off and instead made space for more significant tasks (or free time for yourself). Will it matter in five years whether you did it or not?

4. Give Your Lover One of Your Baby Teeth on a Gold Chain

Make sure it’s a molar, as those frontal baby teeth are so flimsy and fragile as to be concerned low-grade porcelain. Your lover will be charmed by your unique and moving gift, and you will feel your third eye blink with rampant delight.

5. Create a Realistic Morning Routine

I hate when people spout the importance of a morning routine and then show you their 12-step process that requires you allot, like, three hours. But I will grudgingly admit that a morning routine really can change your day. What can you do in the morning to improve your day? Make your bed? Have your purse and outfit laid out for you? Do the minimum amount of prep and planning to get the maximum amount of sleep possible. We all need it.

6. Prep Tasty, Healthy Snacks for the Week

Listen to your fave music (also, omg, new Bon Iver, new Lana Del Ray, new Taylor Swift—wheeee!) and cut up some fruit and veggies and cook some rice and beans, ya’ll. Food prep can seem kind of punishing to me, personally, but I will advocate for the benefits of snack prep until my demise.

7. Wash Your Crystals in the Reflection of a Unicorn’s Horn

And by moonlight, if possible—but we’re not too picky. The water should be from a natural source and ice-cold to the touch. Make sure the crystals clink together softly and that you feel so powerful you want to do the moonwalk. You should feel like you could punch Jupiter if you so wanted to.