More to Moon than meets the eye
By: Janette Dalgliesh – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
If you hang around astrology sites for about five minutes, you’ll run into lots of info about New Moons and/or Full Moons.
Which is very cool and very useful, for sure.
And they’re not the whole story.
Moon is the fastest moving of the planets in our astrological symbol system, moving into each sign for only 2.5 days at a time. Astrologer Joanne Wickenburg likens this to a mother quickly popping her head in the door of each child’s bedroom to check that all is well, and I like that metaphor very much.
New and Full Moons are both very important because they each represent a turning point or change of direction in the Lunar cycle.
But it’s actually the cycle itself which helps us understand the benefit of Moon as she travels through our charts, not just those two points in isolation.
It’s like breathing, a cycle of increase then decrease, then increase then decrease.
Astrologically, the waxing (increasing) Moon in the two weeks following a New Moon is seen as a favourable time for new inspirations, endeavours, ideas, projects and so on.
This part of the cycle gets plenty of attention from those of us who want to grow and evolve and flourish.
But right now, we’re in the waning period after the recent Full Moon in Scorpio, and I think sometimes we ignore the importance of this part of the cycle.
Most athletes and trainers will tell you that the growth of muscle actually happens in the rest periods between exercise sessions.
This is similar.
Certainly we want to proactively leverage the energy of the New Moon. We use that time to set fresh intentions, start new projects, implement new habits.
But we can’t be in growth and expansion mode permanently.
That’s like inhaling without remembering to exhale.
Exhausting, tension-raising and, eventually, explosively destructive.
Full Moon is the turning point between waxing (increasing) and waning (decreasing) in the Moon’s cycle. At Full Mon, the Sun and Moon are opposite each other in the sky, from the perspective of Earth.
As Moon races round the zodiac, she moves to form several different angles or aspects with Sun, until she reaches a 90 degree angle, known as the square.
In traditional astrology the square is seen as a challenge (i.e. trouble!) – but I prefer the idea that it is through the so-called challenging angles that change becomes easier, more possible.
The square after Full Moon is known as the Third Quarter Moon, when we see half the Moon lit up, half in darkness, halfway through her waning phase.
This is a good metaphor for the concept of being able to see both sides – light and dark, full and empty, fire and ice.
Not because we have to choose, but so that we can see all perspectives.
Because this is the time for pausing and reflecting on the cycle so far.
If we’ve worked with the New Moon, we will have set in place something new two to three weeks ago. At Full Moon, we will have “harvested” it in some way.
Obviously many projects take longer than the few weeks of the lunar cycle, but we will usually have some smaller steps or milestones we can reflect upon at this point.
We don’t necessarily stop everything midstream.
But we take our foot off the accelerator just enough that we can take a pause, a breath, and check in.
We release, we empty ourselves, we allow.
We create space and time to look for meaning in the small details of life.
And the placement of the Moon and Sun in the zodiac in any Third Quarter Moon can help us work out what questions to ask ourselves.
Let’s explore this specific waning cycle in May-June 2019, so we can proactively make the most of it, and find the balance between the inhale and the exhale.
With the upcoming 3Q Moon on 26 May, we’ll see Moon in dreamy, intangible Pisces creating a square angle to Sun in articulate, curious Gemini.
Some of the questions you might like to ask yourself could include:
- What outmoded beliefs have I noticed, and successfully replaced with new thoughts?
- What dreams have I become aware of, and am now able to articulate as clearly spoken desires? (Not to-do lists – not yet!)
- What does my soul need for sustenance and nurturing, especially what kind words do I yearn for (and what kind words could I give myself?)
- What small things can I engage to give my life meaning?
- In what ways have I allowed myself to surrender to resonant joy in my life?
- With whom can I talk through my most vulnerable dreams and wishes? (aka your compassionate witness – be picky)
The reason for starting to ask these questions at the Third Quarter Moon is that they will give you very useful intel you can use, to line you up with ideas and inspiration for the New Moon in Gemini coming up on 3 June (exact times below).
Of course you can create your own approach to reflection. Anything goes!
Just be sure to keep it gentle, non-judgemental and spacious.
You might not get an immediate answer. No worries. Be open to the possibility that an answer or answers will pop into your awareness while you’re folding laundry.
You can definitely make this a ritual if you like, as long as you remember it’s about the questions, not necessarily about pinning down the answers right now.
My preferred ritual involves a cafe, not too quiet and not too rowdy, plus a big unlined journal and a favourite fountain pen. Sometimes it’s enough to play with the questions I’d like to explore. Sometimes that triggers answers in the moment, sometimes not.
Your preferred ritual might involve a picnic blanket, wine and a thermos of green tea.
Or candles, incense and a glass of wine.
It’s a conversation with yourself, designed to get you lined up and ready for the New Moon (without the pressure of OMG-it’s-New-Moon-tomorrow-EEEK).
Allow answers to come to you without needing to act upon them instantly.
There’s a week between this lunar phenomenon and the New Moon.
Plenty of space and time to tap into the synergy of dream-adept Pisces and articulate Gemini, letting both work together to help you line up your proverbial ducks.
Exact times (Eastern US)
- 26 May 12:33 PM Third Quarter Moon in Pisces
- 3 June 06:01 AM New Moon in Gemini
Janette Dalgliesh has a simple mission in life – to help every person unlock their capacity for resonant joy, and live it. A keen student of astrology, brain science, chaos magic, law of attraction and positive psychology, she serves her people through strategic astrology, coaching, teaching and writing. Her clients rave about her wildly accurate, individualized approach to strategic astrology, and her highly empathic and life-changing coaching. Find Janette on Facebook or via her website – or you might like to pick up her free brain-rewiring resource, Identity Shift 101 here.
