Photo Credit: Marcus Dall Col (Unsplash: @marcusdallcol)
A little mindfulness goes a long way to having us paying a lot more attention to the moon cycle every month! So here goes…
A moon cycle takes one month (also known as a ‘moonth’) as it takes the Moon one month to revolve around the Earth. There are four Main Moon Phases.
(1) The New Moon
(2) The First Quarter Moon
(3) The Full Moon
(4) The Last Quarter Moon
There is ONE WEEK between each moon phase, so the energies of each Moon phase apply to the week following it, and each carries its own significance…outlined below:
Week #1 – From the NEW MOON to First Quarter Moon
Each month we have a New Moon, when the Moon and Sun ‘appear’ to be together in the sky from Earth’s vantage point. The Sun represents our masculine side, the Moon our feminine…also corresponding to the right and left hemispheres of our minds. Naturally, when these two come together, things feel more balanced. An old cycle has completed and a new one is beginning.
In the first week from the New Moon to the First Quarter Moon, we want to pay particular attention to new situations ‘seeding’ in our lives (if it is a SOLAR ECLIPSE, this will play out even more dramatically), as undoubtedly there is more parts to their ‘stories’ as the moon cycle unfolds.
A New Moon is always a great time to SET INTENTIONS for ourselves.
Week #2 – From the FIRST QUARTER MOON to the Full Moon
The FIRST QUARTER MOON marks the first critical point of tension between the Sun and the Moon, as they are in a 90° angle from each other (also known as a square aspect).
Tensions begin to rise at this time, and we are called to action or FACE CHALLENGES related to the situations that ‘seeded’ the week before. This week is often associated with ‘SHADOW WORK’, as we are called to work on subconscious programs that block us from manifesting our desired intentions we set the week before.
Naturally, this week is one of the more challenging weeks of the moon cycle as we are called to make some internal shifts within ourselves, essentially charting new territory when it comes to a new version of ourselves.
Week #3 – From the FULL MOON to the Last Quarter Moon Moon
We reach the highest point of tension with the Full Moon. Many of us have heard that things can get crazy around a Full Moon, and there is certainly reason for this as the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth, in a sense creating an internal tug-of-war between our masculine and feminine sides, or right and left brain hemispheres (even more dramatic if it is a LUNAR ECLIPSE).
With this heightened point of tension, there is enough momentum built…kind of like a ‘point of no return’, where if we have done the internal work throughout Week #2, we begin to see realities start to shift towards the intentions we have set for ourselves. This is why the Full Moon week is often associated with BREAKTHROUGHS.
Week #4 – From the LAST QUARTER MOON to the NEXT New Moon
And alas, we reach the last week of the moon cycle when we get to the LAST QUARTER MOON, the last critical point of tension of the Moon cycle, again as the Sun and Moon are again at a 90° angle from each other (just this time on the other side from the First Quarter Moon).
The last week is associated with the theme of RELEASE TO RECEIVE, this is because we often find ourselves being tested to see if we are truly ready to ‘level up’ to the new version of ourselves (the universe will always ask us for confirmation) or revert back to old patterns of ourselves.
In this week, we may find similar situations crop up that did so around the time of the First Quarter Moon (maybe from new characters, yet similar plots), and it is up to us to acknowledge the release of old behaviors by embodying new ones. Doing so then opens us up to HARVESTS related to the intentions we set for ourselves in the week of the New Moon.
I love visuals and the 4 part seed analogy is a great one for how the Moon cycle works.
At the time of a NEW MOON, new situations ‘seed‘. So in this first week, we always want to pay attention to new situations unfolding in our lives, as well as set intentions on how we would like them to unfold.
We enter into Week #2 with the FIRST QUARTER MOON, and just as the seed’s sprouts have to struggle upwards through the soil, this is typically a week of facing challenges as it relates to situations we need to address in our lives.
The FULL MOON ushers us into Week #3, the week of breakthroughs, where the ‘seeds’ of our New Moon intentions begin to show signs of tangibly manifesting (just as the sprouts of the seed start to rise through the soil).
And finally we reach the LAST QUARTER MOON, which marks the beginning of Week #4. It is the week of ‘release to receive’, where we must acknowldge the release of an old version of ourselves, to receive in the harvests of the new version of who we have grown into.
Heads up…I use this same visual to illustrate how Eclipses work too (check out my article ‘Understanding Eclipse Cycles’). ☺️
In summary, there is SO SO SO SO MUCH to learn about ourselves when we start paying more attention to the natural rhythms of the Moon cycle. But don’t take it from me, experience it for yourself over the next moon cycle! And if you need a little guidance as well as daily reminders to stay present, consider checking out one of my monthly subscriptions.
This is so good to know! I am loving all of your articles so much Lyra! Excellent job, and thank you as always ❤️
Hi Dakota! Thank you so much for all the love! Sending you oodles of abundant blessings! 🙏🏼 🙏🏼