The moon, like us, has cycles. These cycles repeat every month. There is a waning cycle and a waxing cycle and within these cycles the moons phases change. Each waning and waxing phase has within them a crescent, quarter and gibbous phase. Then there is a full moon and a new moon. A few times a year there is also a dark moon.
The 8 phases of the moon:
🌑︎ New Moon: We cannot see the moon when it is a new moon.
🌒︎ Waxing Crescent: We see the moon as a thin crescent (sliver) of light on the right.
🌓︎ First Quarter: We see the moon as a half-moon with the light on the right half.
🌔︎ Waxing Gibbous: The waxing gibbous phase is between the half moon and the full moon. Waxing means it's getting bigger.
🌕︎ Full Moon: The moon is completely illuminated.
🌖︎ Waning Gibbous: The waning gibbous phase is between a full moon and a half moon. Waning means it is getting smaller.
🌗︎ Third Quarter: We see the third quarter moon the same as the first quarter moon, but the illuminated side is on the left half.
🌘︎ Waning Crescent: We see the moon as a thin crescent of light on the left.
The moon goes through these 8 phases as it moves though it's cycle each month. It takes 27.3 days for the moon to orbit the earth. However, because of how the suns light hits the moon, it takes 29.5 days to go from one new moon to the next.
Now that we have learned the basics on the moons cycles and phases lets begin to learn how we apply these phases to our magical practices and our own phases.
New Moon: A clean slate and new beginnings. A new moon is an opportune time to do release work and to start a new project, diet/health routine or business and journal/set goals for what it is you would like to manifest for the whole month ahead. We release what no longer serves us so we can fill up the empty space with what it is we do want.
Waxing Crescent: The waxing crescent is a good time to put into action those manifestations you worked on during the new moon. This is a time to put the fire under your feet, to hustle and work towards your goals and continue manifesting. Make sure you celebrate you and even your "small" wins. Keep moving forward. This is a good time to work road opener, creativity, sacral chakra and block buster spells. Work with orange and red candles. Work with Fire Agate or Fire Quartz.
First Quarter: Remember, KEEP MOVING FORWARD. This may be the time where doubt/fear/blocks may arise, but breathe through this and keep going. Those manifestations need you to continue setting those wheels in motion and keep going. This is your willpower and a great time to do Solar Plexus meditations. This is the time to also work on balance, motivation, growth and solutions and to try to remain focused. Great crystals to help you during this time would be Citrine, Tigers Eye, Carnelian and Red Jasper. Remember to go easy on yourself. If you fall back it's ok, just breathe and get back up and re-connect to your manifestation vision. You can create a vision board, continue journaling and perhaps watch a motivational video. Road opener, solar plexus, self love and block buster spells are great to work during these times. Work with yellow, orange, pink and red candles.
Waxing Gibbous: This is a time to check in with yourself. Do you need to make any adjustments or re-fine anything? Any tune-ups? What's working for you and/or what is not working for you? Is your timeline realistic? What type of support do you need? Where can you find that support? For the things you have worked on give yourself praise and let this be the confidence you need to keep pushing forward. This is a great time to learn and practice breath work. You can re-peat spells used during the Waxing Crescent phase or re-peat a blockbuster or road opener candle to get that final push before the Full Moon.
Full Moon: Celebrate yourself and the wins you have made both big or small and reap the benefits for what you started manifesting during the New Moon. Even if it didn't turn out how you imagined, know that any work you did do already set the wheels in motion to go forward and you have the upcoming New Moon to begin new again. During the Full Moon many of us like to take this time to reflect. We bask in the light of the full moon (even if fully covered by clouds you still reap all of the benefits) and we set our crystals out in the moonlight to re-charge them as we re-charge ourselves. We celebrate ourselves; we speak to The Goddess, and we acknowledge the Goddess or feminine divine within us. We work with water, we may visit the ocean, lake or river or take a spiritual bath. We light silver candles to honor the feminine mother aspect. We might attend a sound bath and meditate. We focus on gratitude and enjoy our harvest no matter how big or small. Put on some music and dance to your own rhythm. Your intuition is heightened during this time so go ahead and practice your favorite form of divination, such as tarot, oracle cards, pendulum, runes, scrying or anything else you enjoy or wish to learn.
Waning Gibbous: Releasing and letting go. What would you like to release that has been hindering or blocking you and your growth? What past situations, old patterns, belief systems, pains, people, habits or addictions do you want to let go of? This is the time to start working on those areas in your life so you can make room within yourself and your life to work on manifesting the things you do want during the New Moon. Spell work that involves cord cuttings and banishing's. Work with black candles and black obsidian. After release/banishing work do deep spiritual cleanses on self, home, property and vehicles.
Third Quarter Moon (last quarter): Opportune time to reflect and work on what may be imbalanced in your life and what boundaries need to be set. You can continue to work on releasing and banishing what no longer serves you and set in intention if you wish for what you want to re-place it with, which is what you will begin manifesting during the New Moon. Begin eliminating things in your life that you wish to eliminate. Is it bad eating habits? Then go through your kitchen and toss out foods that are no good for you. Great time to de-clutter your spaces. Candle colors are black, brown and white. Work on grounding/earthing techniques, meditations and grounding salt baths. Black Tourmaline and Picture Jasper are both great stones to work with during this time.
Waning Crescent: Rest, rest and rest! This is an opportune time to practice self-care, rest, recuperate, re-charge to avoid burn out.
Now that you have the most important basics of moon phases down let's learn a bit about the Astrological associations the moon phases can be placed in. As the Moon orbits around the Earth, it is constantly moving through the different constellations of the Zodiac – changing signs every 2-and-a-half days. You can incorporate these astrological signs into your Moon Magic.
Aries – ♈︎ : Taking initiative, starting new projects, putting yourself out there.
Taurus – ♉︎ : Security, pleasure, getting things done.
Gemini – ♊︎ : Communication.
Cancer – ♋︎ : Connect with feelings, home and domestic life.
Leo – ♌︎ : Leadership, confidence.
Virgo – ♍︎ : Service, well-being, self-care.
Libra – ♎︎ : Balance, harmony, compromise.
Scorpio – ♏︎ : Healing, rebirth. Fresh start.
Sagittarius – ♐︎ : Adventure, take a risk, try something new, get out of your comfort zone.
Capricorn – ♑︎ : Structure, long-term goals.
Aquarius – ♒︎ : Passion/love, unconventional ideas & approaches.
Pisces – ♓︎ : Creativity, passion, reflection.
For instance, as I type this, we are currently in the Waning Crescent phase and the Moon is currently in Aries. I actually took the day off from going to the shop to get some extra sleep and rest. But as you can see, I am also still working in the Aries energy while in my bed with my laptop in my lap where I started and finished this new page on my website.
If you need further guidance on Moon Magic, please stop by our shop and feel free to ask questions. We also have some great books on Moon Magic and an assortment of Tarot cards, Oracle cards, Pendulums and Runes for divination. We have assorted candles, baths, oils, incense, herbs and more for your Moon Magic workings. We have journals and magical inks for your journaling or spell work. We also have books on Psychic development and attunements.
We offer classes, ceremonies and events including Moon phase sound baths. Check out our Classes & Events page here on our website.
