The Green Witch's Guide to Moons, Margaritas & Everyday Magic 🌿
What If We Started Paying Attention Again?
I think we have become very good at moving through our lives without actually noticing them. We know what day it is, what the weather is supposed to do, and what is on our calendar, but how often do we stop and pay attention to the world we are actually living in?
The moon changes. The seasons change. Plants grow, bloom, disappear, and return. Our own lives move through cycles, too, but it is surprisingly easy to move through all of those changes without really noticing any of them. I have been thinking about this a lot lately because I don't think wellness always needs to mean adding another thing to our list. Sometimes it can mean becoming more aware of what is already happening around us.
We've Always Used Nature to Mark Time
Long before we had digital calendars and weather apps, people paid close attention to the natural world because they needed to understand it. The changing seasons affected food, travel, work, celebrations, and survival. The movement of the sun and moon helped people mark time, and observations of plants, animals, and weather became part of cultural knowledge.
Different communities developed their own ways of understanding those patterns, and those traditions are not interchangeable. The names, stories, practices, and relationships people developed with the natural world belong to particular cultures and places. That is part of what makes learning about them so interesting. We can discover how other people have observed the world without flattening those traditions into one universal system.
For me, that is a much more interesting way to approach nature-based practices. Instead of asking, "How can I turn this into a gain/win/profit?" we can start by asking, "What can I learn from the people who have been paying attention to this for a very long time?"
Why Are There So Many Names for the Full Moons?
If you have ever looked up the names of the full moons, you've probably noticed something: there isn't actually one official list that everyone uses. Different communities and regions have used different names to describe the full moons throughout the year. Many of the names that circulate widely today are associated with seasonal observations in North America, while other names come from specific Indigenous traditions and communities.
For example, our Green Witch's Field Guide explores full moon names drawn from commonly used North American traditions alongside names used by the Anishinaabe Nation. Rather than presenting these as one universal "witchy" moon calendar, we wanted the guide to give you an opportunity to learn about the seasonal relationships behind the names and then use that knowledge as a starting point for your own observations.
Because the most interesting question isn't necessarily, "What is this moon called this month?" It is, "What is growing? What is changing? What are the animals doing? What does the weather feel like? What is happening in my own life?". Once you start asking those questions, the moon becomes a way of noticing time rather than simply another date on the calendar.
A Plant You Know Is Different From a Plant You Recognize
There is another small shift that can completely change the way you experience the world around you: learning to recognize the plants you encounter. You don't need a garden to do this. You don't need to become an herbalist, and you certainly don't need to start harvesting everything you see.
Start with one plant. Learn its name. Notice where it grows. Look at its leaves. Pay attention to when it flowers or produces fruit. Watch what happens as the seasons change. Eventually, something interesting happens. You stop seeing "a plant" and start seeing that plant.
You begin recognizing it before you consciously think about it. You notice when it appears, when it changes, and when it disappears. That is a very different kind of knowledge from simply reading a list of plant facts. It's more than observation. Its intuition and awareness, as a skill.
Side Quest: Pick One Plant
The next time you are outside, choose one plant you see regularly. Don't worry about turning it into anything useful. Just spend a few minutes looking at it.
What do you notice that you hadn't noticed before?
Where is it growing? What is growing around it?
Does it look different from the last time you saw it?
Write down what you notice. Then come back to it another day. You might be surprised by how quickly something unfamiliar becomes something you actually know, and look forward to seeing.
Ritual Works Better When You Can Actually Experience It
I think this is also where ritual gets misunderstood. We sometimes imagine ritual as something elaborate that requires candles, special tools, perfect timing, and a very specific sequence of actions.
It can be that if you enjoy it, but it doesn't have to be. Ritual can also be an ordinary activity that you intentionally slow down enough to experience. The important part isn't whether the activity looks magical. It is whether you are actually present for it.
Making tea.
Cooking dinner.
Tending a plant.
Writing in a journal.
Sitting outside.
Making a margarita.
There is a difference between drinking something while answering emails and intentionally making a drink, noticing the smell of the citrus and herbs, sitting somewhere you enjoy, and actually tasting what you made. The activity is similar, but your experience of it is not.
And Yes, We Said Margaritas
This is where I have to admit that I think a little playfulness makes all of this better. There is nothing inherently more meaningful about drinking herbal mocktail or margarita under a full moon, maybe sitting outside with someone you love.
Sometimes the ritual is allowed to be fun. The Green Witch's Field Guide pairs its twelve full moons with margarita-inspired mocktails, plants, seasonal context, reflections, and small rituals. You can use recipes like these to give you something sensory and tangible to do while you explore the larger theme of the moon and season.
And you can make the drink because you want to learn about the ingredients, because you want to mark the full moon, because you want to try a new recipe, or simply because margaritas are delicious. You don't need to justify enjoyment.
You Don't Need to Make Your Whole Life Magical
This is probably the part I care about most. I don't want "everyday magic" to become another wellness trend where you are suddenly expected to turn every morning into a five-step ritual and feel guilty when you don't show up. We already have enough pressure to optimize ourselves.
Sometimes paying attention means doing less, not more. The 14 Days of Everyday Magic challenge inside our Field Guide is built around that idea. Over two weeks, you'll have invitations to spend time outside, meet a plant, read for pleasure, create without needing an outcome, gather with other people, practice gratitude, rest intentionally, and notice your energy.
The point isn't to complete fourteen perfect days, but to gather information about your own life.
Maybe you discover that being outside changes your mood. Maybe you realize you miss creating things. Maybe you notice that you have been craving more connection, or that you feel better when you give yourself permission to rest. Those observations can become useful, because understanding what supports you is part of learning how to care for yourself.
The Seasons Give Us Another Way to Check In
One of my favorite parts of working with seasonal practices is that they give us a reason to ask questions we might otherwise avoid.
What supported me this season?
What challenged me?
What am I carrying forward?
What am I ready to leave behind?
Those questions don't require you to believe that the season itself has magical powers. They simply give you a recurring opportunity to stop and take stock. You can use the same questions every year and still get completely different answers. That's because the seasons aren't the only thing changing. We are, too.
Maybe We Don't Need to Escape Our Lives
Fantasy has always given us places to go when we need a different perspective. We can become witches, mystics, assassins, healers, shieldbearers, or people who live by a completely different set of rules for a little while.
But, I don't think stories have to only help us escape the world we live in.
They can also help us imagine pieces of the world we would like to build in our own lives. That is a big part of why Fantasy Fitness, the Legends Nexus app, and the Order of Legends exists for me. I didn't build this because I became the answer. I built it because I realized the world was missing a place where many answers, many cultures, many disciplines, and many lived experiences could exist together.
Sometimes that means building a workout. Sometimes it means creating a space for a book. And sometimes it means giving people a reason to look at the moon, learn the name of a plant, make something with their hands, and spend a little more time noticing the life they are already living.
Side Quest: What Will You Notice?
You don't have to completely change your life to start paying more attention. Tonight, you could look up at the moon. Tomorrow, you could identify a plant you pass every day. You could make something slowly, sit outside without your phone, or make yourself a drink and actually taste it. You might be surprised by how much you begin to notice once you give yourself permission to actually look. And maybe that is a kind of magic worth practicing.
That is what we wanted The Green Witch's Field Guide to Moons, Margaritas & Magic to be. It is part field guide, part seasonal workbook, part ritual book, and part invitation to exp
lore.
Inside, you'll travel through the 12 full moons of the year (+2 bonus moons), explore moon names drawn from commonly used North American traditions alongside names used by the Anishinaabe Nation, meet eight featured plants, make moon-inspired margarita recipes, complete the 14 Days of Everyday Magic challenge, keep observation and ritual notes, reflect with the seasons, and begin your own Witch's Garden.
You don't need to already be a green witch, have a garden, or know exactly what you're doing. You just need to be willing to slow down enough to notice what is already around you.
The Green Witch's Field Guide to Moons, Margaritas & Magic is available now in the Fantasy Fitness Trove. [Explore the Guide →] 🌿🌙🍸✨
Love you Legend, until next time.
Author
Coach Brenna Vidal
Founder of Fantasy Fitness + Sovereign of the Order of Legends
CPT, CNC, YFFR, RYT, KYT, PSYC BA, BSW, CWCM, 1st Dan
References & Further Reading
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Diaz, Juliet. Plant Witchery.
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run With the Wolves. Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.
Lister, Lisa. Witch.
Native Land Digital. Native-Land.ca — Indigenous territories and cultural geography.
McKeown, Greg. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
McGonigal, Kelly. The Willpower Instinct.
McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress.
Murphy-Hiscock, Arin. The Green Witch.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Norton, Michael I., and Francesca Gino. "Rituals Alleviate Grieving for Loved Ones,
Lovers, and Lotteries." Journal of Experimental Psychology.
The Old Farmer's Almanac. Full Moon Names.
Stone, Merlin. When God Was a Woman.
No content on this site is intended to replace direct medical advice from your doctor or another qualified clinician. Always consult with a healthcare professional for personalized guidance.
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