Celebrating Gentle Strength: Welcoming the Buck Moon with a Rose-Infused Honey Cake
- Rose A. Merck
- Jul 3
- 6 min read
The full moon in July (July 10th) is in the sign of Capricorn. This means we really need to focus on home life, our work (ie. jobs), ambition, discipline, and practicality.
Often in the spiritual community, there is a want for escape, a rejection of life (especially the material), and detachment from those we may be meant to care about and for. (I went through this, too.) This is actually a necessary process because it's the process of deprogramming the mind (ie. what we've been told we should do). When we free our minds, we can then start to put ourselves back together and realign with what we actually want to do.
This is a long and difficult process (often called the Dark Night of the Soul; it's also what Carl Jung talked about as the process of individuation), but it's worth it. Not only do we come out of it knowing ourselves better, but when we return to the integrated and embodied Self, we are better people, more successful, joyful, and loving.
This being a full moon in Capricorn, take time to give gratitude for what you have accomplished in these areas, how far you have come, and set intentions for the next full moon in Capricorn, which is a whole year away in July 2026!
We often think of our intentions and manifestations full-moon-to-full-moon, but this isn't necessarily the case. If we take each full moon in its astrological sign, it usually takes a year for our intentions to manifest! This is why gratitude and appreciation are so key - when we look through a wide lens (a year), we have so much more personal growth we can appreciate.
While most society looks to astrology for their moon names and associations, there is a myriad of other names and ways we can understand the moon. The Indigenous population calls the July full moon the Buck Moon, and the witchcraft/pagan community calls it the Rose Moon. While these may seem disparate, they are very similar in their nature. Let's explore!
Buck Medicine
Deer are herbivores, which we often associate with benevolence. It's the same with sheep (lambs) in Christianity and cows in Hinduism. Rather than focusing on a predatory (or absolute strength) as we do in, say, Aries times, we can focus on gentle strength this full moon.
Buck teaches us that our masculinity can be both gentle and strong. It does not have to strive. It protects the herd, the young, the innocent, while maintaining its own innocence.
Bucks also grow and hone their antlers each year, growing a little more, shaping them up. We can learn from Buck in this way, each of us growing and honing our skills and our lives. We don't have to do everything omgrightnow. There is time. We learn a little more each year, get a little wiser, and get a little more skillful.
This full moon, focus on gentle strength. Here are some journal prompts to get you thinking:
What does gentle strength mean to me?
When have I shown quite courage?
Who or what is teaching me gentle courage? What examples of this do I have in my life?
What skills or parts of my life am I honing and growing more wise?
What areas of my life need a little more gentleness and kindness?
How can I honor the parts of myself where I show gentleness, kindness, and quiet strength?
How can I maintain gentle strength in boundaries I set or need to set?
What am I ready to shed this full Buck moon?
Rose Medicine
Rose is such an interesting plant medicine. When people think of roses, they often associate them with beauty, love, and romance. But there is so much more to this plant.
Not only does Rose represent beauty, we have to remember she has thorns. In this way, we can see how she is similar to Buck medicine - gentle, but strong. In my experience, she teaches us about boundaries in the same sense that she teaches us to love ourselves. We can’t really say that we love ourselves if we let people walk all over us. Boundaries equate to self-love.
The various colors of the rose represent different things, as well. The deep red we often think of is, of course, representative of romance and love. Light pink is associated with self-love. Yellow is friendship. And white represents purity of soul.
This full moon, I’m taking time to re-evaluate my boundaries through both Rose medicine and Buck medicine. How can I be both gentle and strong? What is gentle strength? And what does that look like in my life? You may find these questions (and answers) to be of benefit to your life if you take the time to reflect.
You can read my recent Instagram post on Rose medicine here.
Rose-Infused Honey Cakes
I chose rose-infused honey cakes for this post because we are still at the height of Fae season, and honey (and milk) are very traditional offerings. If you make this cake, I would suggest sharing some with the Fae and seeing how they react.
How do we know how they react? I suggest offering this cake outside, and when you do, create a small design in rocks and sticks (or other natural material). This design should be obviously “man”-made.
A day or two after making the offering, you can return to where you placed this design. Take a look at what has happened. If the design has shifted, changed, or been moved, your offering has been received. Sometimes the Fae will even create a new design! If you find that the design has not shifted, you may want to either reconsider your desire to connect with the Fae (especially your intention) or continue making offerings to build a relationship with them. Sometimes relationships take time!
I suggest infusing rose into the honey (you can even choose a flower color that aligns with your intention - just make sure they are organic) to also build your relationship with this beautiful plant medicine. She will help connect you to the Divine Feminine, as well as many other amazing and life-changing wisdoms.
I hope you love this cake as much as I do. Enjoy!
Rose-Infused Honey Cake Recipe
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients
For the Rose-Infused Honey
1 cup raw honey
¼ cup dried rose petals or buds
¼ cup dried rosehips
For the Honey Cakes
¾ cup rose-infused honey
2 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup hot water
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Rose-Infused Honey
Add honey, rose petals, and rosehips to a double-boiler. Heat over low heat for 4 hours, periodically checking to make sure water hasn't boiled away.
Allow to cool.
Strain well with a fine-mesh colander and cheesecloth.
Honey Cakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch cake pan or grease/line a muffin or cupcake pan.
Whisk together 1/2 cup of the honey, the oil, vanilla extract, and eggs. Carefully add the hot water and whisk well.
Add remaining ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
Pour into greased pans or muffin/cupcake pan and bake - 25-30 minutes for cake and 18-25 minutes for cupcakes, or until a knife comes out clean.
Pour remaining honey over the top of the cake(s).
Cool and enjoy!
Download the recipe for free:
Celebrating the July Full Moon
We are still deep in summer (here in the Northern Hemisphere), so the connection to the Fae is still strong! In the deep heat of July, we can also connect to the element of Fire. In some traditions, this is also a great month to connect to Bear medicine, as well as Elder and Oak tree medicines.
No matter what you decide to do with your honey cakes, if you create a ritual, make sure it is something you resonate with - trust your intuition.
The full moon is a time of celebrating our achievements and refocusing on the next phase, whether that is a moon cycle, an astrological cycle, or something else. Bathing in the light of the moon or taking an actual bath is both cleansing and rejuvenating. Above all, be gentle to yourself and celebrate your strengths!
If you make the above recipe, please be sure to share and tag me on Instagram (@hearthspellbakery), and be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter for recipes, rituals, and more delivered straight to you!
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