The Moon passes through eight phases in a 29.5-day cycle, each with specific energy and recommendations. The reading displays the current phase and its impact on emotions, energy and intuition, as well as a lunar calendar for the selected month with daily advice. Covered phases include: new moon (beginnings, setting intentions), full moon (culmination, manifestation, release), waxing and waning phases (building and letting go). Monthly rituals and recommendations are also included.
Where it comes from
The lunar month is the oldest unit of timekeeping there is — tally marks on bone from the Upper Palaeolithic are widely read as lunar counts. Lunar and lunisolar calendars governed agriculture and ritual across Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Greece and the Hebrew world, and several remain in official use: the Islamic calendar is purely lunar, the Hebrew and Chinese are lunisolar. The synodic month, from one new moon to the next, averages 29.53 days, which is why lunar dates drift against the solar year.
How the method works
The cycle is divided into eight phases. New moon is read for beginnings and for what is not yet visible; waxing crescent for first effort; first quarter for the decision that has to be made when the initial push meets resistance; waxing gibbous for refinement; full moon for culmination and for what becomes undeniable; waning gibbous for distribution; last quarter for release; waning crescent for rest. Alongside the phase, the sign the Moon occupies changes every two and a half days and is read for the flavour of that period.
What a reading covers
A calendar gives the phases for the period ahead with the sign the Moon occupies, the days traditionally used for beginning and for finishing, the eclipses if any fall in the window, and the void of course periods when the Moon makes no further aspects before changing sign.
Common questions
- Does the full moon affect behaviour?
- Reviews of the research find no reliable effect on hospital admissions, crime or birth rates. The belief is persistent and well studied, and the studies do not support it.
- What is a void of course Moon?
- A period when the Moon will make no more major aspects before entering the next sign. Traditional practice avoids starting anything significant then, on the reading that it does not take hold.
- Why is the lunar month not a whole number of days?
- Because the Moon's orbit and the Earth's motion around the Sun are independent. The 29.53 day figure is an average; individual months vary by several hours.