Blood Moons are moments when shadow meets light. The Sun, Earth, and Moon align, and our planet’s shadow stains the Moon red. Symbolically, this is when the unconscious rises, when what is usually hidden steps boldly into view. In mystical traditions, the Moon represents the subconscious, memory, and emotional tides. When eclipsed, these forces are not destroyed – they are revealed. The blood-red glow is life-force made visible, a reminder of mortality, legacy, and the threads of ancestry that pulse through our veins.

What is physically manifesting

In the pre-dawn hours of Monday, 8 September 2025, Australians will witness a celestial event that has stirred awe and mystery for millennia: a total lunar eclipse – the Blood Moon. For about 70 minutes, the Moon will be swallowed in Earth’s shadow, glowing a deep crimson red before slowly returning to silver light.

This eclipse is visible across the entire continent:

  • ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC: Totality from 3:30am to 4:52am AEST
  • NT, SA: Totality from 3:00am to 4:22am ACST
  • WA: Totality from 1:30am to 2:52am AWST

It is more than spectacle. From an occult perspective, this eclipse is a portal of endings, revelations, and initiation, aligning with the closing of 2025 which, like I’ve been talking about is a 9 year in numerology, the year of completion before the Seed Year of 2026 begins.

The Blood Moon as Mythic Mirror

Throughout history, eclipses have been seen as omens. The sudden reddening of the Moon was never neutral, it was a cosmic drama of shadow and struggle, often framed in myth as a devouring, a hunt, or a divine confrontation.

  • Norse Mythology: In the Völuspá and other Eddas, two wolves – Sköll and Hati – chase the Sun and Moon. A lunar eclipse was the moment when Hati caught the Moon in his jaws, staining it red with blood. To the Norse, this foretold Ragnarok, the great ending and rebirth of the world. The symbolism fits: we stand now in the final chapter of a cycle, the devouring before renewal.
  • Babylonian & Mesopotamian Lore: Eclipses were considered attacks on the king. The blood-red Moon was a warning that shadow forces threatened the realm. Rituals of substitution were often performed, placing a “mock king” on the throne temporarily to absorb the curse. In modern occult terms, this reminds us that collective shadow seeks projection – the danger is not what appears, but whom we cast it upon.
  • Mayan Cosmology: The Moon was linked with fertility, cycles, and feminine power. A lunar eclipse was seen as a time when dark forces threatened the divine feminine, requiring collective ritual to restore balance. This resonates now, as the Blood Moon invites us to protect and honour the feminine within and without, the body, the Earth, the intuitive mind.
  • Chinese Tradition: A red eclipse was often described as the Moon being consumed by a celestial dragon. The people would bang drums, clang pots, and make noise to drive the dragon away. Occultly, this is the recognition that shadow intrudes when ignored, we must meet it with sound, presence, and energy, not silence.

Collective Energy: Endings and Exposures

Eclipses often coincide with turning points, and this one is no different. Collectively, the Blood Moon may bring:

  • Exposures in leadership or systems, truths that cannot stay buried.
  • A reckoning with collective shadow, from environmental crises to societal fractures.
  • A deep ancestral stirring, reminding us that cycles of history repeat until they are healed.

The challenge here is not to spiral into fear. Blood Moons can feel destabilising, but they are invitations to step into clarity and responsibility.

Shadow Work Under the Eclipse

Just as the myths describe the Moon being swallowed, this eclipse symbolises the devouring of illusions. Collectively, it may bring exposures, reckonings, and endings that feel abrupt or violent. We are in the jaws of Hati, in the shadow of the dragon.

Yet myth reminds us that devouring is not the end, it is part of the cycle. The Moon always emerges. The Seed Year ahead requires that the old be stripped bare. As a Pagan, I can say this symbolic cycle of death and rebirth is something we embrace, I guess you could say we are gluttons for balance. Our wheel of the year follows the Dying God and Pregnant Goddess, but in fairness I know it’s odd to some to celebrate endings, unfortunately. However, this is something wecan use to our advantage both in personal growth and as a tool for correspondence magick. Living in conscious awareness of this cycle is something we should be doing collectively – yet unfortunately the word Death puts a lot of walls up immediately – a topic for a later article and specifically how Death (like this symbolic moon phase) does not mean the end.

On an individual level, expect emotional intensity. Old attachments, wounds, and patterns may rise. The shadow aspects include:

  • Sudden endings or relationship ruptures.
  • Irritability, overwhelm, or projection of inner fears onto others.
  • Being blindsided by truths long ignored.
  • Temptation to escape into distraction, avoidance, or numbing.

Occult wisdom reminds us: eclipses are not times to chase answers, but to stabilise your inner temple. Rituals of grounding, cleansing, and intentional release are most potent now.

In personal terms, the myths above remind us that:

  • We may feel devoured by emotion or circumstance.
  • Our inner feminine dimensions (intuition, receptivity, softness) may feel under siege.
  • Shadow will demand projection: blaming others, scapegoating, or collapsing into fear.

But each story also gives us a key:

  • From the Norse: the end is also a rebirth. Ragnarok clears space for a new world.
  • From Babylon: beware of projection, don’t crown a scapegoat to carry what is yours to face.
  • From the Mayans: ritual restores balance consciously protecting what is sacred.
  • From China: raise your voice against the dragon – sound, breath, and movement dispel shadow, in other words – action, noticing, reclaiming your power.

The Empowering Opportunity

Despite the chaos, the Blood Moon is a gift. It points us directly toward what is draining us, what is false, what is outdated. This is a ritual of cosmic pruning. By severing illusion, space is made for the seed to be planted.

As we prepare to enter 2026 – the #1 Seed year– this eclipse is the final purge. It clears the field. It says: “You cannot carry this weight into the new cycle.” Your work tonight is to notice what is surfacing and consciously release it. This eclipse is the final scythe that cuts away what cannot grow. It is the wolf’s bite, the dragon’s swallow, the red omen – not of doom, but of truth.

If you feel called, here are ways to work with this energy, I invite you to share some of these ritual practises with me – and let me know what comes up for you:

  • Sound your truth. Whether through prayer, chant, drumming, or simple breath, use your voice to dispel fear and reclaim presence.
  • Witness, don’t run. Sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of numbing them. Name what rises.
  • Face the devouring without fear. What is taken is what is ready to die.
  • Ritualise release. Burn or bury what you cannot carry into the Seed Year.
  • Anchor in the body. Practice grounding breath, touch the earth, or place your hand on your heart as a stabilising act.
  • Anchor in your lineage. Call on your guides; let their presence remind you that endings are never endings alone. Invoke ancestors, deities, or guardians for protection and clarity. Blood Moons are powerful, but also chaotic; set spiritual boundaries.

Closing the Cycle

As the Moon bleeds red in the sky, we are watching the eternal myth repeat: shadow devours light, only for light to return. The Blood Moon is not punishment. It is initiation. As crimson light floods the Moon, ask yourself:

What must I allow to die so that I may truly live?

This eclipse is the knife that severs illusion, the fire that cauterises old wounds, the threshold before the Seed Year begins. Tonight, we are each invited to end what cannot come with us. The dawn that follows belongs to the brave, the discerning, and the devoted.

The wolf’s jaws open. The dragon swallows. The Moon disappears, and returns. And in that cycle, we are reminded: endings are never the end. They are the gateway.

Blessed Be xo