Moon Phases and the Lunar Calendar

What are the moon phases, and what do they mean?

The moon phases are the shapes the Moon shows in the sky as its position relative to the Sun changes over a cycle of about 29.5 days. The Moon makes no light of its own; it reflects the Sun’s. When it passes between the Sun and the Earth, its lit face is turned away from us and we cannot see it: that is the new moon. When it moves to the far side of the Earth, its whole lit face turns towards us: that is the full moon. Every day in between it grows or shrinks a little.

The cycle is divided into eight phases, and in astrological tradition each is read as a stage of a cycle:

Phase	In the sky	Traditional meaning
New moon	the Moon is not visible	beginning, intention, seed
Waxing crescent	a thin crescent in the west after sunset	first step, courage
First quarter	half the Moon lit	obstacle, decision, action
Waxing gibbous	more than half lit, growing	adjusting, fine-tuning
Full moon	the Moon fully lit	culmination, visibility, awareness
Waning gibbous	more than half lit, shrinking	sharing, gratitude
Last quarter	the other half lit	release, review
Waning crescent	a thin crescent in the east before sunrise	rest, closure

Over the cycle the Moon also passes through all twelve signs, staying roughly two and a half days in each. In astrology the Moon’s sign describes the emotional weather of those days, and its phase where we are in the cycle. The Moon rules Cancer and is exalted in Taurus; in those two signs its themes of safety and nourishment find their easiest expression.

Two special moments in the cycle are eclipses. When a new moon falls near the Moon’s nodes there is a solar eclipse; when a full moon falls near them, a lunar eclipse. Astrological tradition reads eclipses as stronger points of beginning and ending than ordinary new and full moons; they come a few times a year, usually in pairs.

The moon phases are not a calendar of fate. Tradition describes the new moon as a time for intentions and the full moon as a time of awareness, but whatever the phase, you decide what to do. A lunar calendar suggests a rhythm; it does not set an obligation.

How to use a lunar calendar in seven steps

1. Get to know the eight phases

First learn the eight phases and their order. Look at the evening sky: a thin crescent in the west means the Moon is growing; seeing it late at night in the east, or in the morning, means it is shrinking. Noticing that the Moon rises about fifty minutes later each night, and that the full moon rises around sunset, teaches the phases better than any table.

2. Find today’s phase and sign

Check a lunar calendar for today’s phase and the sign the Moon is in. The phase tells you where you are in the cycle, the sign the emotional weather of those days. With the Moon in Scorpio, feelings deepen; with the Moon in Gemini, talk and curiosity come forward.

3. Write your intention at the new moon

On the day of the new moon or the day after, write one to three short intentions for the next four weeks. Make them about something in your own hands: “This month I walk for ten minutes every evening.” The darkness of the new moon is like a seed that is planted but not yet visible.

4. Meet the obstacle at the first quarter

When half the Moon is lit, return to your intention: what have you run into, what is getting in the way? Tradition reads the first quarter as a moment of decision. Adjust the intention as needed and take one more step.

5. Review at the full moon

At the full moon, look at your intention and the past two weeks: what has come into view, what has ripened? The full moon is a pause in which a month’s build-up is lit. The Sun and Moon stand opposite each other in the sky, so the full moon also invites you to see a balance between two needs or areas: work and home, giving and receiving, yourself and others. Ask: what should I celebrate, and what is it time to let go of?

6. Release and rest as the Moon wanes

After the full moon, as the Moon shrinks, focus on letting go of habits, tasks and thoughts you no longer need. The last quarter and waning crescent are a time of rest and closure, preparing for the next new moon.

7. Follow one cycle in your notebook

Through one lunar cycle, make a short note at each phase: your intention, your mood, what happened. At the end of the cycle, read the notes from the start. If you also add the card you draw each morning, you will notice links between your card of the day and the Moon’s phase. After a few cycles you start to see where your own rhythm meets the Moon’s.

Example: one lunar cycle, one intention

New moon in Virgo. Intention: “This month I bring order to my desk and my diary.” Virgo’s energy of order and detail gives the intention fitting ground.

First quarter. The obstacle appears: with a busy workload, you don’t want to touch the desk in the evenings. Adjustment: just fifteen minutes a day.

Full moon in Pisces. The desk is half sorted; the diary is still a mess. The Pisces full moon brings something else into view: under the disorder lies a tiredness that comes from never finishing one thing. To celebrate: keeping to fifteen minutes every day.

Last quarter and waning crescent. To release: the thought that “everything must be perfect within a week”. To rest: leaving the weekend free.

Together. The lunar cycle did not say whether the intention would succeed; it gave it a rhythm. Beginning, obstacle, culmination and release turned one month’s intention into a four-step process. At the next new moon the intention will be more realistic: “I sort my diary once a week.”

Common misconceptions about the moon phases

• Treating the moon phases as a calendar of fate. The Moon suggests a rhythm; it does not decide what you do.
• Expecting everything to go wrong at the full moon. Tradition reads the full moon as a time when feelings rise and things become visible, not a time of disaster.
• Writing intentions about other people. “This month he will call me” is an expectation, not an intention. Build intentions on what is in your own hands.
• Looking only at the new and full moons. The phases in between are part of the cycle; the real work often happens at the first and last quarters.
• Feeling you must start a new intention every cycle. Sometimes an intention runs over several cycles. Keeping one going is as valuable as writing a new one.
• Ignoring the Moon’s sign. The phase gives the stage of the cycle, the sign the weather of those days. Read them together.
• Never looking at the sky. If the lunar calendar stays on a screen, the rhythm stays abstract. Stepping outside in the evening to see which way the crescent faces is the easiest way to follow the cycle with your own eyes.

Where to go from here

The easiest way to start with a lunar calendar is to wait for the next new moon. Write one intention that day and add a short note to it at each phase for four weeks. After three cycles, the Moon’s rhythm becomes a natural part of your calendar.

To see today’s moon phase, open the Moon Calendar in the Larisa app: it calculates today’s phase, how many days into the cycle you are, and the next intention window. Before writing your intention, glance once at the phase and the Moon’s sign.

To read the Moon’s place in your birth chart, see how to read a birth chart, and for how the moving sky touches your chart, astrology transits explained. To read a month with cards too, month-ahead and year-ahead tarot covers time spreads; a Monthly Tarot Spread laid at the new moon makes a good map beside your intention. In tarot, the Moon as a planet is matched with the High Priestess, while the Moon card is paired with Pisces and speaks of feelings rising from the subconscious. The Moon’s pull causes the tides, and that bond between Moon and water shows in the language of dreams too: dreaming of the sea reads that image. To track your dreams through the moon phases, see how to keep a dream journal.