The moon cycle
The fastest rhythm: twenty-nine and a half days.
The Moon goes from new to new in twenty-nine and a half days. It is astrology's fastest and most used rhythm — the only cycle with a beginning and an end inside a single month.
The four phases
- NEW MOON — Moon and Sun in the same sign. A dark sky. Read as a time to begin and to set intentions.
- FIRST QUARTER — half lit and growing. Where the first resistance shows up; it asks you to keep going.
- FULL MOON — Moon opposite Sun. The brightest point. What becomes visible, what ends, what comes out.
- LAST QUARTER — half lit and shrinking. Letting go, simplifying, closing.
The sign of the full moon
The sign a full moon lands in tells you what comes to light. A Cancer full moon brings home and family forward; a Capricorn full moon brings career and responsibility.