Kin - Full Moon Practice
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
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Welcome to the Wild Wisdom Monthly Practice
Each full moon you will receive this practice to help keep you on track with the lunar cycle and your new moon practice. These practices are crafted to keep you spiritually nourished, and to help you continue to expand your spiritual growth.
This month, our practice is Kin.
Our prayer is:
The guarding of the spirit of life be upon me,
The guarding of the loving Earth be upon me,
The guarding of my ancestors be upon me,
Each step of the way,
To aid and enfold me,
Each day and night of my life.
Inspired by Carmina Gadelica
There is an awakening rippling through the world.
A remembering of a deep, shared way of being that in the modern world we have largely forgotten. A shift back toward a more connected way of life. I am hearing more and more meaningful conversations about kinship — with the forest, individual trees, companion animals and spirit allies. With all aspects of life on Earth.
We need to return to this way of being in an intentional, meaningful, heart-centred way.
When I’m outside I never feel alone — I am at home in the rest of nature. This is for me an important understanding of who I am and where I belong.
“Who am I?” is a question we all ask ourselves at some point in our life. Perhaps many times.
This awakening can be felt as a growing sense of what is true. A yearning for something that can’t quite be named. A desire to live in a more nourishing, connected way.
Ancestral traditions remind us that we are part of nature. They teach that all we have comes from Mother Earth — our food, our homes, the tools of our daily lives.
The foundations of our ancestors support us as we move through the great shifts occurring on our planet.
Kinship is the framework of this support.
It is the understanding that we are part of the whole of life — not separate from it — and that how we live within that relationship matters.
In my tradition, some of our earliest prayers and poems are grounded in kinship.
It is said that when the first Celts reached Ireland, their bard, Amergin, chanted words to establish his connection with the land — fusing the human, natural and divine.
From the song of Amergin:
I am the wind that blows across the sea
I am a wave of the deep
I am a hawk on a cliff
I am a ray of sunlight
I am the strength of trees growing
There is nothing in which I am not
This is kinship.
Reciprocity is a vital part of kinship
When we live by our virtues, we are in reciprocity with life.
Virtues are the ways we live in relationship with life — ways that are good for the whole.
They are expressed through our actions, our words, and the way we carry ourselves.
How we greet the morning light, how we speak to the land we walk on, how we listen to the spirit of life.
The more we live in this way, the deeper our sense of kinship becomes.
We begin to experience life as responsive — alive, aware, and in relationship with us.
An ecosystem shows us this clearly.
Everything is interrelated.
To change one thing affects everything else.
Kindness is perhaps the most essential virtue that aligns us with being in kinship with the rest of life.
Kind, and kindness, share their root with kin.
To be kind is to be gentle, compassionate, caring and loving.
Kindness is kinship in action.
As an advocate for the natural world, I can think of so many stories of my kin.
I always have wild animals in my life — our wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre provides a place of sanctuary and healing. It is a place where orphaned wallabies can grow and thrive in preparation for their return to the wild. In return I have learnt so much about the wild and healing — how to flourish as part of the natural world, in accord with natural law.
There are the trees I know intimately — those I have known since they were seeds I gathered and germinated, those I frequently walk beneath, those whose leaves I harvest for remedies. The ocean holds a central place in my life — she invigorates my heart and soul, cleansing my mind and rejuvenating my spirit. In return, I advocate for the well-being of all ocean wildlife and ecosystems.
One of my daily expressions of reverence is to behold her and offer my love and gratitude.
When we live in a system of kinship, we come to know the protocols — ways of being in relationship that are respectful, sustainable, and preserving.
I remember the first time I went into the desert to gather sage and cedar for ceremony.
We received strict instructions:
Only take from the adult bushes and trees — never from the young or the elders.
And when you cut, cut above the growth node, on an angle. This enables the bush to grow naturally with vigour.
We learn that the young are the future, and yet to mature.
The elders hold the wisdom of the lineage, carrying the strongest genetics, providing seed for the next generations. They protect regeneration, plants and animals, offering shelter from their spreading branches and medicine drawn through the underground fungal networks.
The integrity of this law became part of the sage smudge sticks and cedar bundles we made for clearing, purifying and healing.
Without this integrity, they would not be power-filled.
THE PRACTICE
Experiencing our belonging to the great spiritual web of life is foundational to entering a new way of being.
2026 is a threshold year — a time where we have the opportunity to clear old ways that no longer serve us.
For too long we have forgotten our interconnection with all life. But now we are coming to see ourselves once more as part of an interconnected and guided whole.
This is the medicine we need. This awakening to our spiritual pathway — individual pathways — that all lead to the same place.
A place of belonging.
The time we are in is calling for new ways of being.
It is natural that new ways have their roots in ancient ways.
Ways that have continuously evolved to keep us safe inside the rhythm of life.
Kinship is one of these foundations.
To live by our virtues is also key.
This full moon offers a moment to notice how you are in relationship with yourself.
And to practice kindness toward yourself.
As we awaken, or strengthen our sense of kinship we can begin to shed all that is heavy.
All that holds us back from kindness. It is part of our self-love and this underpins our sense of belonging. Our ability to thrive through kinship.
During this full moon, identify one harmful pattern that you are done with.
Call in an element that you feel kinship with —
fire, air, water, earth, spirit. Perhaps your system embraces wood, metal, or other elements.
Honour the element by offering words, or a word, of thankfulness and praise.
Make a simple talisman that represents what you are releasing — you can write it on paper and roll it up with a ribbon, then burn it in the fire or candle flame, bury it in the earth where it will decompose, you might speak the words over water with the intention of them dissolving, or write or stitch them on a cloth which you fasten to the branch of a tree to be blown free by the wind in the moonlight.
Release this old way with thankfulness, for it has been part of your life, and no matter what, it has helped you on your journey of becoming who you are becoming.
Then bring your new inner spaciousness to your shrine, and sit before your altar - the inner sanctuary.
Light a candle and affirm all the good things about yourself — let this be your first act of kindness as you free yourself from old constraints that have bound you in the past.
Light some incense and call in the spirit helpers you feel aligned with. Make them an offering of milk and honey or something from your tradition.
In this clear space sit quietly and contemplate your dreams and open to receive messages from your guides, your inner guidance and inspiration.
You can do this ritual over the next few nights, and as we move from the full moon into the creative waning gibbous moon, set your intention for your nightly dreams to enhance your contemplations and visions of new ways of being.
With love
