Move Over Cold Supermoon, the Gateway Supermoon is Here!

Snowy Landscape

This month’s full moon in Gemini — peaking December 4, 2025, at ~5:14 PM CST — is not only the final full moon of the calendar year, but also the last of four supermoons in 2025. That means it will appear especially large and luminous in the sky.

The full supermoon in Gemini allows us a chance to let go of any negative thoughts that might be dragged into the new year. Clear your head of anything you know you need to release for your own health and well-being. It could be fear, a regret, shame over something, an upset or something else entirely. Whatever it is try to face up to it and know that once you rid yourself of those toxic thoughts you can create the reality you most desire! Communication is highlighted this Gemini full supermoon, so if you've been wanting to end an ongoing argument, do it. If you feel your mental state is waining, talk to a professional, whether traditional talk therapy or an alternative health practioner. Adopting a positive mindset is crucial; but none more imperative than truly and authentically forgiving and healing yourself!

Because December ushers in deep winter for much of the Northern Hemisphere, this full supermoon has earned many evocative names across cultures.

🌕 The December Full Moon & Its Many Names:

Name (Tribe/Peoples) | Meaning / Emphasis

Cold Moon (Mohawk) | Reflects the winter chill and cold nights.

Long Night Moon (Mohican, Anglo-Saxon) | Honoring the long, dark nights nearing the winter solstice.

Frost Exploding Trees Moon/Hoar-Frost | Evokes frost, cold, and the natural

Moon/Moon of the Popping Trees (Cree, landscape entering winter dormancy.

Oglala, other tribes)

Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki) | A recognition of winter’s arrival — the moon as herald of the season.

Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers/ | Symbolizing winter cycles, simplicity,

Snow Moon/Winter Moon/Moon Before survival, and preparing for the return of

Yule / Yule Moon (various Native American light (Yule).

& Celtic/Old-World origins)

Spirit Moon/Great Moon/Canada Goose | Emphasizing connection with animal spirits,

Moon/Eagle Moon/Bear Moon/Black Bear survival through winter, and inner resilience.

Moon (various tribes: Cree, Ojibwe, Tlingit,

Dakota, Haida)

Gateway Moon (Cosmic/Galactic) | Completion, portals, higher timelines,

year end reflection & set cosmic intentions

for next year.

✨ Spiritual & Metaphysical Meaning — What the Gateway Moon Invites

*Reflection, Release & Integration — As the final full moon of the year (and the last supermoon), the Gateway Moon is a natural threshold: a cosmic drawing-board before the new solar cycle. It’s ideal for closing old chapters, releasing what no longer serves, integrating lessons, and preparing energetically for renewal.

*Inner Stillness, Deep Contemplation, and Grounded Peace — Winter’s dormant energy supports rest, inner listening, and soulful reflection. The Gateway Moon invites us inward, encouraging us to hibernate emotionally and spiritually, to conserve energy before new growth in spring.

*Truth, Clarity & Illumination — Moonlight under frost and long nights symbolizes clarity piercing through darkness. This is a powerful time for seeing hidden truths, shadow work, inner healing, and cleansing illusions.

*Gratitude, Generosity & Earth/Human Connection — The Gateway Moon also reminds us to appreciate what we have: warmth, shelter, love, community. It's a time for giving internally and externally, honoring Earth, ancestors, and collective abundance even in the stillness of winter.

This is a perfect time to look inward, reflect on the year past, release traumas and burdens, anchor gratitude, and set intentions for spiritual renewal.

🔮 Crystals, Herbs & Essential Oils — Allies for the Gateway Moon

Crystals:

* Moonstone — lunar, intuitive, emotional balancing; aligns with the heightened sensitivity of the full moon.

* Clear Quartz — amplifies intentions, cleansing, clarity, anchoring new energy.

* Selenite — ethereal, high-vibration, excellent for clearing and elevating energy fields.

* Labradorite or blue-tone crystals (e.g. blue lace agate, aquamarine) — for inner vision, psychic attunement, and connecting with higher consciousness/light realms.

* Optional: grounding or protective stones like black obsidian, especially if doing shadow or release work — helpful when cleansing dense energy before the new year.

Herbs & Plants / Smudge & Essential Oils:

* Evergreen herbs/trees: pine, cedar, juniper — resonate with winter, grounding, and connection to Earth / ancestral roots.

* Sacred cleansing herbs: sage, rosemary — for smudging, clearing energy, releasing what no longer serves.

* Mistletoe, holly, ivy — winter plants associated with ancient and ancestral traditions of protection, renewal, and continuity.

* For emotional healing & soothing: consider soft herbs like lavender, rose (or rosebuds), mugwort, or milky-oat — they support nervous-system calming, introspection, dream work, energetic receptivity.

Essential Oils / Aromatics

You can create a blend or bath/incense using: cedar, pine or fir essential oils (winter-earth grounding), rosemary or sage (cleansing), lavender or rose (peace, emotional softness), juniper (protection & purification).

Use these oils in diffusers, in a ritual bath, or in anointing oils (e.g. on third eye, heart center) — infusing your energy with both Earth-rooted grounding and lunar receptivity.

🧘‍♀️ Somatic & Movement Practices — Yoga, Qigong, Breathwork for the Gateway Moon:

Gentle Winter Grounding Yoga

* Slow, restorative poses — supported child’s pose, gentle hip openers, heart-opening backbends, and grounding seated poses. Focus on surrender, letting go, and closing out the year with softness.

* Use long, conscious exhales to release tension, stress, old emotional weight — imagine exhaling old stories, old pain, and making space for new light.

Qigong / Energy Flow Work

* A Moonlight Flow: slow, circular, wave-like movements mimicking lunar tides — raising arms slowly overhead, flowing energy down through the body into the Earth, then lifting back up. Good for grounding and connecting with Earth and moon energies simultaneously.

* Use visualization: as you inhale, draw in moon-light energy; as you exhale, send release into Earth, letting the ground transmute or transfigure the energy for healing.

Somatic Breathwork + Meditation

*Three-part breath (inhale-hold-exhale): imagine inhaling silver moonlight, holding it in your heart center for clarity and integration, exhaling into the Earth to release what no longer serves you.

*Moon-water meditation: if weather/season permits, gather moon-water (in a bowl or jar) under the full moon — then hold, breathe, and infuse your intentions into it. Use it later to anoint crystals, ritual tools, or for cleansing space.

*Sound + Chakra Bath: combine crystal bowls, tuning forks, Tibetan bowl, or drum — a gentle, slow, soothing sound bath under moon-light (or after moon-rise) to realign chakras, release dense energy, and anchor high-vibe frequencies.

🕯 Ritual & Witchy Ceremony Ideas — For Release, Renewal & Embodiment

Here are some ritual ideas that align with the Gateway Moon’s themes of release, introspection, truth, clarity, and preparation for new beginnings:

1. Year-End Release & Letting Go Ceremony

* Write down what you want to release: old pains, limiting beliefs, traumas, regrets (this one's huge!), unresolved emotions.

* On a silver or white candle, light the flame, meditate on each item, and when ready — burn or safely release the paper (or burn a small portion, or dissolve ash in water to return to Earth). Use sage, cedar, rosemary, or juniper to cleanse the energy field after release.

* Use crystals (moonstone, quartz, selenite) around the candle for amplification, clarity, and energetic clearing.

2. Moon-Water Blessing & Intention Drawing

* Before moonrise, set out a bowl or jar of purified water (spring, filtered, rainwater, etc.) to charge with moonlight.

* Once moon is full and visible, bring water inside, hold it in your hands, ground, bless it, and silently or aloud set intentions for the coming year.

* Use this moon-water later to anoint (water friendly) crystals, ritual tools, or sacred spaces.

3. Crystal Grid & Energy Clearing for New Beginnings

* Create a crystal-grid on a sacred altar area. Use moonstone, clear quartz, selenite, perhaps labradorite or other high-vibe stones. As you place each stone say an intention for the coming year.

* Once grid is set, do grounding breathwork / qigong / sound bath to seal the energy and anchor your intentions.

4. Sound Healing & Chakra Balancing Ceremony

* Using crystal bowls, Tibetan bowl, tuning forks or even music tracks — do a slow, deep sound bath under moonlight. Focus on cleansing, releasing, and realigning chakras.

* Lie down, hold a crystal (or two) on your heart or third-eye, and breathe deeply. Visualize the moonlight washing away old energies, filling the space with clarity and light. If you'd like all this done for you, book a sound healing session with me today!

5. Winter Appreciation & Gratitude

* Journal what you are grateful for: warmth, community, inner growth, survival, lessons learned.

* Incorporate evergreen boughs (pine, cedar, juniper) — perhaps tie small bundles or bundle-smudge before end of ritual as symbol of grounding, longevity, resilience.

6. Ancestral & Earth Connection Ritual

* Honor ancestors, animal spirits, Earth spirits (especially resonant now that nights are long, Earth is quiet). You might call in animal totems associated with winter (bear, eagle, goose, deer, stag — as many traditions link these with December moon).

* Combine with meditation, drumming, or chanting to connect deeply with Earth, ancestors, and inner wisdom stored in your cells.

Let me know in the comments which crystals & herbs called out to you and which exercises & ceremonies you did this full supermoon!

One Love,

Ash