january 3rd full wolf moon on the rise
yes. you're ready for it.
The January 3rd New Moon arrives as the Wolf Moon.
And it’s worth saying this clearly:
This is not New Year, New You.
It’s New Year, honest inventory.
This moon doesn’t ask you to reinvent yourself or declare a bold new identity.
It asks for discernment. A calm, steady look at what actually supports you, and what you’ve been carrying out of habit, obligation, or a story that once made sense as duty and no longer does.
The Wolf Moon carries an energy of release and expansion, but it’s not loud about it. This is a sweet moon. A loyal one. The kind that doesn’t rush you forward, but walks like a friend alongside you down a snow-filled street.
This is the friend who stays with you as you meet joy, love, grief, and long stretches of quiet contemplation. One that doesn’t disappear when things get complicated.
And when you walk through those snowy streets, this moon allows the ambient noise to soften. The pressure to perform, decide, or optimize fades just enough for you to hear yourself think.
And in that quiet, what’s real becomes clear.
Not what you’ve told yourself you should want.
Not what you’ve convinced yourself you have to do.
The Wolf Moon has a way of opening the heart while gently staring down the places where ego tries to hide. Not to shame you. To wake you up.
Those feelings that have been nagging at you?
That intuition that keeps tapping you on the shoulder?
The circular thinking running through your mind?
They aren’t distractions.
They’re your instruction manual.
It’s information trying to land without being overridden. The Wolf Moon doesn’t ask you to solve it. It asks you to stop arguing with what you already know.
This moon also brings a clear-eyed reckoning with responsibility, and the illusion many of us have inherited about what that word means. We were taught that being responsible requires digging deeper, pushing through, and doing what’s expected no matter the cost.
The Wolf Moon gently releases that belief.
It reminds you that responsibility does not mean depletion, self-erasure, or carrying what was never yours.
You can remain ethical, secure, and trustworthy without proving your worth through endurance. This definition of responsibility is rooted in alignment, consent, and sustainability rather than obligation and strain.
And in all of this, and as it rises, it illuminates the very thing your soul is asking for…are you listening?
A writing prompt for this moon
Take ten minutes and write without editing:
As I move into 2026, what do I want to protect and carry forward because it genuinely supports me?
And what am I ready to release, not because it’s bad, but because it’s no longer mine to hold?
Let the answers be simple. Let them be practical. Let them tell the truth.
If you want more writing like this, grounded, reflective, and useful, I write a newsletter called The Margin Notes.
It’s a place for writers ready to tell the story that’s been living inside. You’ll like it there.
You can sign up here:
xo,
Licia
P.S. This moon isn’t asking you to be louder, better, or more resolved.
It’s asking you to pay attention and trust what you already know. Comment below and let me know: What are you trusting right now?
I’m cheering you on from the sidelines.