Three Moons: the ritual

Three Moons is a small altar for the shelf, built around a beginning and an end. You ring a brass bell with the triple moon once before you light anything, burn one stick of white sage and palo santo incense in a bowl painted with the phases of the moon, and ring the bell once more when the stick is ash. It is the simplest form a ritual can take, and a good first altar.

Where the custom comes from

A bell at the beginning and the end is one of the oldest ways to mark sacred time. In Buddhist temples a bell opens and closes each sitting. In Christian churches a small altar bell has been rung at the most solemn moment of the Mass since the Middle Ages. In Hindu homes a hand bell is rung during the evening aarti, when a lamp is waved before the household shrine. The idea is the same everywhere: a clear sound draws a line in time.

The triple moon on our bell is much younger. It shows the waxing crescent, the full moon and the waning crescent side by side. It is a modern pagan symbol from the Wicca tradition of the twentieth century, linked to the idea of a threefold goddess that the poet Robert Graves made popular in his book The White Goddess in 1948. We find it a beautiful picture of what the bell does: one ring at the start, a full middle, one ring at the end.

The habit of keeping a small altar on a shelf, with a bowl for smoke and something to ring, comes from many homes and many faiths. Ours is not tied to any one of them.

Why a flame

Three Moons has no candle. Its flame is the brief one that lights the incense: you hold the tip to a match or lighter until it catches, then blow it out, and a glowing point and a line of smoke remain.

The bell takes the place a candle usually holds. Where a candle says "now we begin" with light, the bell says it with sound. If you like a candle too, set one beside the bowl on a fireproof plate.

The scent

The incense is by Tribal Soul and carries two scents: white sage and palo santo. Together they smell herbal, woody and a little sweet.

White sage is a shrub of Southern California and northern Mexico. It is sacred to Native peoples there, among them the Kumeyaay, Luiseño, Cahuilla and Cupeño, and wild plants have been overharvested because of its popularity. We do not use the word "smudging" for what you do at home, because it belongs to ceremonies that are not ours to sell. Here it is simply a scent: green, herbal, a little sharp, like a hillside in the sun.

Palo santo, "holy wood", comes from the dry forests of Ecuador and Peru. It smells sweet and woody, with a hint of citrus, and softens the sharpness of the sage.

We chose this blend because the two scents complement each other: one bright and herbal, one warm and sweet.

Why these pieces

The triple moon altar bell. A brass altar bell, 10.5 cm high, with a clear ring. Its job: once when you begin, once when you are done, so the ritual has a beginning and an end.

The zodiac moon phases incense bowl. An enamelled aluminium bowl painted with the phases of the moon and the zodiac. It catches the ash and holds the Om disc. Metal gets hot, so it stands on a heat-resistant surface.

The Tribal Soul incense, white sage and palo santo. Incense sticks, one for each evening.

The Om incense burner disc. A small disc of mango wood with the Om sign, the sacred syllable of Hindu and Buddhist practice. You push a stick into its hole. Inside the metal bowl, the falling ash stays contained.

The pieces repeat one picture: the moon. Three moons on the bell, all its phases on the bowl. Between the two rings of the bell, the smoke rises from a bowl that holds the whole month.

Triple Moon Altar Bell

Zodiac Moon Phases Incense Bowl

Tribal Soul Incense · White Sage & Palo Santo

Om Incense Burner Disc

How to do the ritual

1. Choose your shelf. A stable shelf or table with nothing hanging above it, away from curtains and books.
2. Set up the bowl. Put the moon phase bowl on a fireproof surface and the Om disc inside it. Keep the bell within reach.
3. Pause for a moment. Decide what this evening is for. A single word is enough.
4. Ring the bell once. Before you light anything. Listen until the tone has faded.
5. Light one stick. Hold the tip to a flame until it catches, then blow out the flame so it glows. Push the stick into the Om disc. Never leave it burning unattended.
6. Stay with the smoke. Sit while the stick burns. Read, write a few lines, or simply watch the smoke.
7. Ring the bell once more. When the stick is ash, ring the bell a second time. The evening is closed.
8. Tidy up. Once the bowl has cooled, tip out the ash. The bell and the bowl stay on the shelf for the next time.

What the ritual gives you

Three Moons gives you a beginning and an end, nothing more and nothing less. Two rings of a bell turn an ordinary half hour into something you chose. It makes no promises beyond that.

You can do it every evening, or only on new and full moons. The bell, the bowl and the disc stay; the incense can be refilled. The bell also works on its own: one ring before you start anything you want to do with care.

It is a good gift for someone starting out: a first sound for a first altar.

Why we put it together

We wanted a first altar that is clear and calm, with nothing to learn before you start. A bell, a bowl, a stick of incense. We chose a metal bowl so the ash and heat stay contained, and a bell with the triple moon because it shows, in one picture, the shape of the ritual.

The bell, the bowl and the Om disc come from Ancient Wisdom, a British house we trust for altar pieces. The incense is by Tribal Soul. We keep asking our makers how white sage and palo santo are sourced, because both plants deserve that care.

Safety

• Never leave burning incense alone.
• The aluminium bowl gets hot. Stand it on a heat-resistant surface, away from curtains and paper.
• The Om disc is mango wood, and wood is never fireproof. Use it only inside the metal bowl and keep the glowing tip clear of the wood.
• Air the room after the smoke. Keep children and pets away from glowing incense.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions