Cycle 12: Aphrodite
Last full moon of the year.
Cold Supermoon in Gemini
December 4, 2025 • 6:14pm EST
The Choice
Life came to me while I lay dreaming
And in each hand She bore a gift for me
One held Love, the other Freedom
"Which do you choose?” said She
Cycle 12: Aphrodite
We close the year under the Elder Moon—the moon of renewal, soul-growth, and the long exhale before the Winter Solstice. One year ago, the last Elder Moon greeted us in Bali; now it returns to guide us through the myth of Psyche and Eros; the son of Aphrodite.
The beloved and the unseen. The ache, the trial, the initiation, the return.
A story shaped by Aphrodite’s own heartbeat—the ancient force of beauty, desire, and the making of the soul.
Psyche’s path through love, loss, and awakening is the path of every woman—
the soul learning, slowly and fiercely, to see with the eyes of the heart.
Aphrodite has many names—Isis, Auset, Inanna, Ishtar, Lilith, Rhiannon, Oshun, Hethru, Hathor, Venus—and all of them stir beneath this moon. She arrives as remembrance that nothing surpasses the wild, trembling power of falling in love…
even when the one you are falling in love with is yourself.
The Elder tree grows near water and carries its fruit well into December. Once feared by those uneasy with witches—whose flying brooms were said to be crafted from its branches—Elder has always been aligned with magic. Its flowers and inner bark purify; its blossoms are used in spells of love, blessing, and friendship. The Elder Moon invites us to honor the Crone, to accept that endings are part of the necessary medicine that makes new beginnings possible.
As the final moon of the thirteen-month cycle, Elder signals renewal and the soul’s continual turning toward deeper happiness and understanding. And as we approach the Winter Solstice—the shortest day and the longest night—it offers a narrow, crystalline window to listen for the truth of your heart’s desire.
Under this Gemini Full Moon, illumination comes through contrast:
the seen and the unseen, the lover and the Self,
the story you tell and the one that reveals you.
A perfect sky for Psyche’s myth to rise again.
First Passage: Gathering
Cycle 13: The Goddess Phase Intro
Cycle 1: Entry
Cycle 2: Altars
Cycle 3: The Maiden
Cycle 4: The Mother
Cycle 5: The Crone
Second Passage: Spinning
Cycle 6: Luna
Cycle 7: The Muse
Cycle 8: The Goddess Year
Third Passage: Weaving
Cycle 9: Divination
Cycle 10: Rituals & Spells
Cycle 11: Plant Magic
Cycle 12: Aphrodite*
Cycle 13: Return
𓆸𓆸𓆸
You come to the last passageway, the final cavern deep in the darkening earth. This one is lined entirely with rose quartz, the love stone of aphrodite. In the center is a round altar, made of the same rosy stone. Two rose-pink candles are aglow, filling the space with warm gold. At the altar’s center a crystal fountain of pure water murmurs…
Pher Ankh
THE WHEEL OF THE 13 CELTIC MOONS
1. Birch Moon — The Beginning
New beginnings, purification, the clean sweep.
The first spark of the path reveals itself.
2. Rowan Moon — Protection & Vision
A time of second sight and inner guardianship.
Rowan strengthens intuition and shields the spirit.
3. Ash Moon — World Tree
Connection between worlds.
Dreamwork, astral travel, imagination as portal.
4. Alder Moon — Emotional Courage
Alder teaches resilience, boundary-setting, and truth-telling.
Warrior heart, wise spirit.
5. Willow Moon — Lunar Power
The Moon’s own tree: tides, cycles, emotional intelligence.
Healing through softness, surrender, and intuition.
6. Hawthorn Moon — The Heart Gate
Sacred union, passion, and threshold magic.
The heart opens—sometimes by breaking.
7. Oak Moon — Sovereignty
Strength, leadership, the Solar Self.
The oak invites maturity, presence, and rightful power.
8. Holly Moon — Discipline of the Warrior
Strategy, protection, focus.
The inner warrior refines her aim and clears her field.
9. Hazel Moon — Wisdom Well
Ancestral knowledge, inspiration, bardic insight.
Hazel teaches that wisdom is a living current.
10. Vine Moon — Ecstasy
Harvest, fermentation, intoxication.
Vine reveals the spiritual medicine of pleasure and celebration.
11. Ivy Moon — Perseverance
Persistence, devotion, climbing even through shadow.
Ivy shows how spirit grows toward light in all conditions.
12. Reed Moon — Clearing the Path
Simplicity, purification, spiritual direction.
The reed bends but never breaks.
13. Elder Moon — Completion & Renewal
Death, rebirth, ancestral blessing.
The final and first moon, closing the wheel and opening it again.
