Waning Moon Spells for Love: Banish, Clear, and Release
Most love spells are cast under a waxing moon, when the energy is building and drawing things toward you. But some of the most powerful work in love magic happens in the opposite phase, when the moon is shrinking back toward darkness and the natural current of energy moves toward release, removal, and clearing.
The waning moon is the time between the full moon and the dark moon. It is the phase of endings, of letting go, of dissolving what no longer belongs. In love magic this means something specific: it is the time to banish interference, to clear away the weight that accumulates between two people, and to release connections that are no longer serving your highest good.
These three waning moon spells are among the most honest forms of love magic there are. They do not chase. They do not grasp. They clear space. And what gets clear space very often finds its way to something truer.
What Are Waning Moon Spells?
Waning moon spells are rituals performed during the phase when the moon appears to be shrinking, from full moon back toward new. During this phase the energetic current naturally supports releasing, banishing, clearing, and removing. Anything you want less of in your life, your relationships, your energy field, the waning moon helps you let go of it.
In love magic specifically, waning moon spells are used to:
Remove the influence of a third party or rival
Cleanse accumulated tension and resentment from a relationship
Release a connection that has ended or needs to end
Break unhealthy patterns between two people
Clear energetic residue from past relationships that affects present ones
The three spells below each work with the waning moon's energy in a different way. Choose the one that speaks most directly to where you are right now.
What You Need to Know Before You Begin
Timing. Cast these spells anytime between the night after the full moon and the night before the new moon appears. The closer you are to the dark moon, the stronger the releasing energy.
The black candle is not a curse. All three spells below use a black candle at some point. Black in candle magic represents banishing, releasing, absorbing, and protecting. It is one of the most useful tools in love spell casting and has nothing to do with harming anyone.
Clarity over anger. Waning moon work is most effective when done from a place of clarity rather than rage. The energy you bring into the ritual becomes part of the working. Calmness, certainty, and intention will take you further than emotional volatility.
Dispose of materials properly. With releasing spells, what you burn, bury, or discard carries the energy you have cleared. Always dispose of these materials outside your home, ideally away from your front door.
1. Spell to Banish a Love Rival
To remove unwanted interference from your relationship
This spell does not seek to harm anyone. It simply creates a clear and protected boundary around your relationship, dissolving the influence of anyone whose presence threatens what you have built and redirecting their energy away from what belongs to you.
Materials
1 black candle
1 white candle
Black pepper (for banishing)
Sea salt
Dried rosemary
A small piece of black tourmaline
A piece of paper and a pen
A length of black thread
Ritual
Begin on a waning moon when energy naturally moves toward release and removal. On the piece of paper write the word interference, or if you know the person's name write it clearly. You do not need anger here. Clarity is more powerful than rage.
Light the black candle and say:
What does not belong in my relationship I name it now and I remove it. Your influence dissolves. Your hold releases. You turn away and find your path elsewhere.
Safely burn the paper using the black candle's flame. Sprinkle black pepper and sea salt over the ash, then gather it and dispose of it outside your home, as far from your door as possible.
Light the white candle and scatter rosemary around it. Place the black tourmaline in front of it as a protective anchor and say:
What is mine is protected. What we have is sealed. No outside energy finds its way in. So mote it be.
Tie the black thread in three knots and bury it away from your home to keep the banishment fixed.
2. Spell to Remove Negativity from a Relationship
To cleanse, clear, and restore harmony between two people
Every relationship accumulates weight over time. Misunderstandings, old arguments, unspoken resentments, and the general wear of daily life can create a heaviness between two people that dims what was once bright. This spell is an act of energetic housekeeping. It clears what has built up, releases what no longer serves the connection, and restores the natural warmth and ease that brought you together in the first place.
Materials
1 white candle
1 black candle
Dried sage or loose sage for burning
Sea salt
Lavender oil
A small piece of black tourmaline or obsidian
A small piece of rose quartz
A piece of paper and a pen
Ritual
Begin on a waning moon. Open a window before you start, allowing whatever you release to have somewhere to go.
On the piece of paper write down every specific heaviness you wish to remove from the relationship. Old arguments. Patterns that repeat. Words that left marks. Jealousy, suspicion, distance, coldness. Write it all without holding back, as honestly as you can. This is not a list to keep. It is a list to release.
Light the black candle first. This is your clearing flame. Hold the paper and say:
What has gathered between us that does not belong, I name it now and I release it. Old wounds, old words, old weight. You do not live here anymore. So mote it be.
Safely burn the paper using the black candle's flame, letting it turn completely to ash. As it burns, visualize the heaviness lifting from the relationship like smoke dispersing into clean air.
Sprinkle a small line of sea salt across your space and then sweep it away, physically moving the cleared energy out.
Now light the white candle. Place the rose quartz in front of it and anoint the candle with lavender oil. Set the black tourmaline beside the rose quartz, one to continue absorbing negativity, one to restore love and softness. Say:
What was heavy is now light. What was closed is now open. What was cold is now warm. We return to each other. So mote it be.
Sit with the white candle burning as long as feels right, holding the image of the relationship as you want it to feel. Easy. Warm. Safe. Let the white candle burn all the way down.
Place the rose quartz somewhere in the shared space between you, a room you both spend time in, to anchor the restored energy. Dispose of the black tourmaline outside the home, burying it in the earth to ground what it has absorbed.
3. Spell to Let Go of Someone You Love
To release a connection with grace and restore yourself to freedom
This may be the most courageous spell in this entire collection. Letting go of someone you still love, someone who is not right for you, not available to you, or simply not coming back, requires a particular kind of strength that magic can support and hold. This spell does not erase your feelings. It honors them fully and then, with great tenderness, helps you set them down so that your hands are free to receive what is truly meant for you.
Materials
1 black candle
1 white candle
Dried rosemary
Sea salt
Rose oil
A photograph of the person or their name on a piece of paper
A length of cord or thread
Scissors
Ritual
Begin on a waning moon when the energy of release is strongest. Allow yourself a few moments before you begin to simply feel everything. The love, the grief, the longing. Do not push it away. This spell works with your feelings, not against them.
Take the cord and hold one end in your hand. Tie the other end loosely around the photograph or name paper. This cord represents the energetic tie between you.
Light the black candle and say:
I loved you and that love was real. I honor everything we were. I honor every moment that mattered. And I release you now. Not because you were not worth loving but because I am worth more than holding on.
Take the scissors and cut the cord cleanly in one deliberate motion. As you do feel the releasing, not as loss but as an opening. Safely burn the photograph or name paper using the black candle's flame.
Now light the white candle. Anoint it with rose oil and scatter rosemary around it. Sprinkle a circle of sea salt around the white candle to protect the space you have just cleared. Place one hand over your heart and say:
The space this love occupied is now sacred. I fill it with my own light. I return to myself completely. What is truly mine is still coming. So mote it be.
Let the white candle burn all the way down. Dispose of the black candle remnants and the ash outside your home. Keep nothing from the release ritual inside your space.
Return to this ritual as many times as you need. Letting go is rarely done in a single night, and there is no shame in that. The magic holds even when the heart takes a little longer.
How to Know Which Spell Is Right for You
All three of these waning moon spells work with the same underlying energy but they serve different situations. Here is a simple way to choose.
Cast the banishing spell if your relationship is intact but something outside it is threatening what you have built. A person whose attention is unwanted. An interference you can feel but perhaps cannot fully name. This spell draws a firm line around what is yours.
Cast the negativity clearing spell if the relationship itself has become heavy. Old arguments that never fully resolved. A coldness that settled in without either of you choosing it. Distance that grew gradually. This spell is for two people who still want each other but need to clear the air between them.
Cast the letting go spell if you are holding on to someone who is no longer in your life in the way you need them to be. This spell is not about giving up. It is about trusting yourself and the larger story you are living enough to release what is no longer yours to carry.
Frequently Asked Questions
When exactly should I cast waning moon spells? Anytime between the night after the full moon and the night of the dark moon. The last few nights before the new moon carry the strongest releasing energy, making them ideal for any of these three workings.
Can I cast these spells if the person I am releasing still has feelings for me? Yes. The letting go spell honors the connection fully before releasing it. It does not negate what was real between you. It simply frees both of you to move forward.
Is burning a photograph or name paper dangerous? Not if done carefully. Use a fire safe dish, burn small pieces, and never leave a flame unattended. The burning is symbolic as much as practical: it transforms the physical representation of something into ash, which in magic signals a complete release.
Do these spells work if I am not fully ready to let go? The spell to remove negativity and the banishing spell do not require you to let go of the relationship itself, only the interference or heaviness within it. The letting go spell works best when there is at least a genuine willingness, even if not total readiness. Magic meets you where you are and supports the direction you are genuinely moving.
Can I combine any of these spells? The banishing spell and the negativity clearing spell can be done in the same lunar cycle, ideally a few nights apart. The letting go spell is best performed on its own, with your full attention.
Looking for more? Explore our guides on 5 spells for love, spell to strengthen a relationship, and the honey jar spell.
