By August, the year’s light and energy is beginning to shift.

The sun softens, the nights start to stretch out a little longer, and somewhere beneath it all, a quieter rhythm stirs. The Sturgeon Moon, rising this year on August 9, is the full moon of deep waters and ancient knowing.

This isn’t a flashy moon. It’s a moon of depth – of sitting with the first glimpses of your shadows, tapping into the whispers of your intuition, and listening for the messages that only silence can reveal

Named for the great sturgeon fish, a creature that has lived in Earth’s waters since prehistoric times, this full moon carries themes of resilience, emotional endurance, and ancestral memory. It reminds us that wisdom isn’t loud – it’s patient, rooted, and earned.

Energy of the Sturgeon Moon: Depth, Stillness & Sacred Listening

While the Buck Moon in July is bold and wild, the Sturgeon Moon is more subtle, and quiet, urging us to tap into a deeper current moving under the surface of life. It calls you to slow down, go inward, and look beneath the obvious.

This is a time for reflection, shadow work, and intuitive clarity.

In Native American cultures (where the name of this full moon originates) the sturgeon symbolises survival, sacred cycles, and ancient wisdom. These fish have outlived ice ages, mass global pollution, and centuries of change. They represent what endures – what lasts even when the surface world transforms.

Spiritually, this moon asks:

• What truths have you been avoiding?
• What are you finally ready to face?
• What guidance could be waiting in the quiet places you usually ignore?

There is no rushing required by the sturgeon moon. Just presence, practice, and the deep gift of seeing clearly – maybe even for the very first time.

5 Rituals to Try Under the Sturgeon Moon

Let this moon guide you gently inward. These rituals are designed to help you connect with the Sturgeon Moon’s watery, emotional, and intuitive energy. They’re ideal for deep soul work, emotional healing, and honouring the wisdom within.

1. Moonwater Mirror Gaze
2. Deep Depths Journalling Ritual
3. Blue Smoke Shadow Release
4. River Stone Intuition Grid
5. Ancestral Offering to the Deep

Read on for the full rituals…

1. Moonwater Mirror Gaze

For Clarity and Deep Intuition

This ritual blends moonwater and mirror magick to help you see beyond illusion – perfect for times when you’re craving truth or spiritual insight. Place a bowl of water outside to charge in the moonlight.

Later, in a dark room with a single candle, use the water as a mirror.

• Gaze into the bowl of water and allow your mind to soften.
• Ask a question and allow images, feelings, or words to rise. Trust what you see or feel, even if, at first, it doesn’t seem to make any sense.
• Write down your impressions and sit with their meaning over the next days and weeks.

August’s Sturgeon Moon is deeply intuitive – this is a beautiful time to receive answers you may have been avoiding. 

2. Deep Depths Journalling Ritual

For Shadow Work and Emotional Release

Full Moons are incredibly potent times for shadow work, as the moon’s illumination can help us to see far below the surface of ourselves. Under the Sturgeon Moon, shadows come to the surface not to scare us, but to free us.

• Begin this sacred journaling ritual with the prompt: “What am I afraid to see?”  Write honestly, even if it’s messy.
• Next, write a second entry: “What truth do I choose to carry forward?” This will help to anchor you in transformation, not just release.
• Burn or bury the first page.
• Keep the second on your altar, in your journal, or beneath your pillow.

Want more shadow work prompts, practices and tips? Get your workbook HERE!

3. Blue Smoke Shadow Release

For Letting Go of What’s Been Haunting You

The Sturgeon Moon helps with release that’s slow but lasting. This isn’t about instant healing—it’s about unwinding what’s stuck, so you can move onwards in your life with truth and grace.

• Burn dried sage, mugwort, or lavender plants known for dreamwork and psychic protection (make SURE you source these locally and sustainably).
• As the smoke rises, speak the fears or memories you’re ready to let go of.
• Let the smoke carry them away, trusting they have been released.

4. River Stone Intuition Grid

For Emotional Resilience and Trusting the Flow of Life

The Sturgeon Moon is a moon of endurance – emotional, spiritual, and psychic. It reminds us that we can survive what we once thought might drown us.

This ritual helps you anchor into your own quiet strength and learn to trust the flow, even when it’s dark and uncertain.

• Begin by collecting five stones, ideally ones you’ve found near water, or that feel heavy and grounding in your hand.
• Cleanse them under moonlight or with smoke.
• Arrange them in a spiral or circle on your altar or floor, creating a “pool” of stillness.
• At the centre, place a bowl of water or a symbol of something you once thought you wouldn’t survive – but did.
• Sit before your grid and say: “I have weathered much. I flow with the current of my own becoming. I do not fear what is deep.”
• Spend a few moments in silence. Let the grid hold you. Let the water teach you how to soften, without breaking.

5. Ancestral Offering to the Deep

For Connecting with Old Wisdom and Spiritual Resilience

The sturgeon has survived for millennia! It reminds us that we, too, carry ancient strength – through bloodlines, spirit lines, and stories.

• Create a small offering for your ancestors or guides: water, herbs, a stone, or something symbolic that you have made by hand.
• Leave it near a natural body of water or a bowl of water placed on your altar.
• As you do, speak their names, or simply say: “Thank you for guiding me. I honor your strength within me.”

This sweet, simple ritual will help to root you in lineage and remember that you are not alone.

You don’t have to be loud to be strong.

You don’t have to rush to grow.

And you don’t have to fear your own reflection.

The Sturgeon Moon is a mirror in deep water – mysterious, powerful, and ancient. Let it show you who you are becoming, not through force, but through surrender.

This month’s moon is here to remind you: Your depth is your magick.