Every month, somewhere between the new moon and the full moon, an evening comes when I feel it's time. A quiet feeling in the body — the pull to take half an hour for myself, to light Palo Santo, and to write a single intention for the weeks ahead on a piece of paper.
This year I've started taking this ritual more seriously, and I notice it keeps drawing me back during the waxing crescent — those first few days after the new moon, when the moon is barely visible and the energy pulls me forward.
What the waxing crescent means energetically
The waxing crescent is the first phase after the new moon, when a thin sliver of light appears in the sky. In many traditions, this time is considered a period of planting seeds, beginning, and laying foundations. The energy slowly rises — like the earth after winter beginning to push the first shoots up through a layer of fallen leaves.
For me, the waxing crescent is the moon that whispers: begin. Begin small, begin quietly — but begin. Because when you wait for the full moon to take your first step, you've already missed weeks of rising energy that is available to you right now. Planting your intention during the waxing crescent means placing it in a time when it has room to grow alongside the moon.
How to choose a single intention for this lunar cycle
This is the part of the ritual I found hardest for a long time. I had a habit of writing five, six, sometimes ten things I wished for, and then I didn't feel any of them deeply. Now I do it differently. I sit down, close my eyes for three minutes, and ask myself just one thing: what in my life needs the most attention right now?
Sometimes the answer is very concrete — something like "I need three quiet evenings a week without my phone". Sometimes it's more inward, like "I want to trust the process, even when I can't see the results". What matters is that you choose an intention you feel in your body when you say it aloud. If your chest warms a little or a smile starts to form, it's the right one.
Write it in the present tense, as if it's already happening. For example: "Every evening I take time to be still and connect with myself." This form tells your mind and body that the intention is already in motion — you're simply accompanying it on its way.
An evening ritual, step by step
I like my rituals to be simple, because if they require too much preparation, I simply don't do them. Here is my flow for a waxing crescent evening, which has served me well for months now.
Space and stillness
I turn off all screens and all technology at least ten minutes before I begin. I sit down in my favourite corner — usually on a cushion by the window, where I can see the sky. If I have a candle, I light it, but it works without one too. What matters is that I am still for at least three minutes, letting the day settle. The body needs this transition from fast to slow.
Smoke cleansing
I light Palo Santo and let the smoke drift gently around the space. That warm, lightly sweet scent helps settle my thoughts and creates a sense of sacred space before I write anything down. I slowly move the stick around myself, over the cushion, along the window — as if drawing a soft circle of safety and calm.
Smoke cleansing before a ritual is not simply a pleasant fragrance. The smoke physically airs out the space, transforms it aromatically, and energetically acts as a kind of clearing of the slate. When I breathe in this scent, something in my body releases — as if my mind receives the signal that now is the time for something different from the everyday.
Writing the intention
I take a piece of paper or a notebook I use only for lunar rituals, and I write down my intention. Beneath it I sometimes add one more question: what can I do tomorrow as a first step toward this intention? That first step matters enormously, because an intention without action remains nothing more than a beautiful thought on a page.
Closing
I place the paper somewhere I will see it every day — usually beneath a candle holder or beside the mirror. I close my eyes, take three deep breaths, and speak my intention aloud. Then I let the evening flow as it will. Sometimes I read, sometimes I draw, sometimes I go straight to bed. The ritual takes fifteen to twenty minutes, and that is enough.
Why smoke cleansing helps with focus
For a long time I thought I used smoke cleansing simply because it smells lovely, but the one time I left it out of my ritual, I noticed the difference. Without it I was more scattered — thoughts drifting from the shopping list to tomorrow's obligations — and the intention I wrote down felt more surface-level.
Palo Santo has a quality of grounding you very gently, but with quiet certainty. The scent is distinctive enough that the body recognises it as a signal to slow down. Over time, your nervous system learns that this fragrance means: we are here now, we are present.
If you find the scent of Palo Santo too intense, or if you prefer something more earthy and woody, try cedar. Cedar brings a deep sense of protection and rootedness — like wrapping yourself in a warm cloak in the middle of a forest clearing. Both are beautiful for ritual smoke cleansing; choose whichever helps your body settle more fully.
How to follow your intention through to the full moon
The waxing crescent is the beginning; the full moon is the time to look back and see what has shifted. This year the full moon falls on 3 April, and until then you have more than a week of rising energy supporting your intention.
I recommend taking five minutes every three or four days to write down briefly what you notice. What has changed? Where do you feel resistance? Where has something unexpected opened up? These short notes will show you, come the full moon, the path you've walked — even if it feels like nothing much happened along the way.
You can light Palo Santo or cedar again at each check-in, to return for a moment to that quiet space you created at the waxing crescent. This repeated gesture deepens the connection between you and your intention — like watering the seed you planted, each and every time.
At the full moon on 3 April, take an evening, read through your notes, and ask yourself honestly whether the intention still feels like yours. Sometimes so much shifts in two weeks that the intention takes on a new shape, and that is completely fine. The moon teaches us that the cycle is always in motion.
What intention would you set for this lunar cycle, if you took just five minutes tonight?
