Circle Talk · Circle Podcasts

Manifesting by the Moon

March 18, 2026·1 hr 5 min·5 clips

At 14, Jen Samke turned to the moon's phases to manifest money and stability while couch-surfing.

1. Circle Talk host Debra Rose interviews Jen Sankey, author of 'Manifesting by the Moon: A Guide to Lunar Magic,' published author, professional witch, and former OBGYN nurse with 30 years of tarot experience. 2. Sankey has also created the Stardustwanderer Tarot (first edition self-published via Kickstarter, mass market edition picked up by U.S. Games, gold edition pre-order now available on Amazon), the Enchanted Forest Felines Tarot, and the in-progress Goblin Whispers Tarot (inspired by David Bowie's Labyrinth). 3. The episode's core purpose is to introduce Sankey's lunar manifestation framework and give listeners a practical entry point into working with all eight moon phases. 4. Sankey traces her path to age 12, when she received her first tarot deck from the library and began reading about the moon in fantasy books, recognizing a connection she did not yet have language for. 5. At 14, couch-surfing between friends' houses after leaving home, she began using moon phase tracking as a practical survival tool — timing efforts to earn more money waitressing (illegally, she notes) to specific lunar phases. 6. The central distinction Sankey makes throughout the episode is between popular 'manifest it in three days' culture, which she calls passive attraction, and her practice of using lunar phases as an organized action plan with defined steps at each phase. 7. She explains that each moon phase has a distinct energy: new moon is planting intentions, the waxing phases build energy and action steps, the full moon provides balance and release, and the waning phases are for nurturing, clearing, and confronting resistance. 8. Sankey argues the waning phases are the most overlooked and the most important: as an intention grows and life changes, the ego activates during the waning period and tries to halt the process — a response she frames as confirmation that the practice is working. 9. She recommends the dark moon (the night before the new moon) for rest and integration, noting that this is 'the phase everyone wants to skip' but where the biggest internal changes consolidate. 10. On manifestation vs. spell work, she argues that a spell without an embedded practice is 'a fancy wish,' while spell work within a lunar cycle functions as a tool that focuses and directs energy toward active steps. 11. Her book is divided into two parts: Part One covers the foundations (spell work, ritual, moon phase energies, working with goddesses, chakras) and Part Two gives a dedicated chapter to each moon phase with tarot spreads, correspondences, and practices for each. 12. Sankey recommends the simplest starting practice: download a moon phase app, start a daily notebook tracking mood and energy alongside the current phase, and use that data to understand how the moon affects you personally before attempting formal spell work. 13. She describes the moon as a 'big sister' energy — always there, occasionally bossy, but consistently offering guidance — and argues that people who claim to feel no lunar effects usually turn out to be the most strongly influenced when Sankey walks them through what happened at specific phases. 14. As a former OBGYN nurse, Sankey notes that even her non-magical colleagues predicted busy shifts whenever a full moon was approaching, and that every unexpected event seemed to cluster around those periods. 15. On moon water, she gives a complete practical recipe: set a purpose first ('give it a job'), put crystals on a dish under the container rather than in the water, place it on a windowsill or outside, label the jar with date, phase, and purpose, and use within the month. 16. She addresses overcomplicated online versions of moon water, noting that morning sun exposure does not ruin it, that direct moonlight is not required, and that some crystals are toxic when dissolved in drinking water. 17. The episode has a warm, conversational interview format; both Debra and Jen are clearly practitioners who share the same broad tradition, and the conversation moves between practical instruction and personal narrative with ease. 18. Sankey's tone is encouraging and accessible — she repeatedly emphasizes that 'done is better than perfect' and that a small ritual performed imperfectly is worth more than a perfect ritual never attempted. 19. Beginners to pagan practice, anyone exploring lunar magic or manifestation, and tarot practitioners looking to deepen their work with seasonal cycles will find the episode directly actionable. 20. Listeners looking for scientific or secular approaches to goal-setting, or who find the magical framework uncomfortable, are unlikely to find the episode useful.

As heard by us

A clear guide to lunar rhythm that makes rest and reflection feel like part of the practice.

Circle Talk lays out the moon phases as a simple, workable rhythm, moving from the new moon through the waxing phases, the full moon, and the dark moon in plain language.

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Why you'd press play

A calm moon-phase guide that treats rest as necessary integration.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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