The Moon’s placement in a birth chart can show where and how we nurture, as well as where and how we seek nurturance. It is responsive and adaptable and embodies unconscious patterns from our past. It also represents the instinctive, sensitive and emotional side of the self that reacts to the world. The Moon shows how we respond to life through the body, feelings and instincts, and how we are plugged into the changing rhythms of the larger physical world of which we are a part.

Whereas the Moon reflects a changing principle, the Sun is a constant. The Sun symbolizes the essential self, which hopefully grows in consciousness in a lifetime, but which preserves an unchanging core of me-ness which gives us our permanent identity.

The lunation cycle is divided into eight geometric relationships between the sun and the moon. Dane Rudhyar, in The Lunation Cycle, was the first astrologer to write definitively on this topic. More recently, in Finding Our Way Through the Dark, Demetra George expanded on his work. As you will gather from the descriptions below, knowing which phase we were born under gives us valuable information about our own nature.

If you have your natal horoscope handy, there is an easy way to eyeball all but two of the lunar phases. Turn the chart so that the Sun is at the bottom of the page, then look to see where the Moon is in relationship to it. If the moon is to the right, it is waxing, to the left, waning. If the moon is about 90 degrees to the right (west), it is a first quarter moon; if it is opposite the sun, it is a full moon; and if it is about 90 degrees to the left (east), it is a third quarter moon. If the moon is very close to the sun but still to the right, it is a new moon, and if it is very close to the sun but on the left it is a balsamic moon.

If you can't determine your phase from these directions, but do know both your Sun sign and your Moon sign, Nicoli will be glad to tell you what phase you were born under. Just send her an E-mail with those two pieces of information. If you don’t know your Moon sign, that is a legitimate question to ask Nicoli during your session with her.

NEW MOON PHASE — Dark Dawning:

(Up to three and a half days after the new moon) In the absence of light, the vision is felt, not seen. The symbolic seed germinates underground. The flow of solar-lunar energy emerges, initiates and projects in an instinctive, subjective manner. Lunar receptivity to others is overshadowed by the burning solar need to realize the self. Nothing and no one gets in the way of a New Moon type.

Keywords: Incarnate, Emerge, Project
Notables: Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, the Dalai Lama; Prince William

CRESCENT MOON — Light Quickening:

(Three and a half to seven days after the New Moon.) As the light is stirring, the first glimpses of the vision may be perceived. The symbolic seed breaks out of its seed casing and pushes its first shoots above ground. The life impulse encounters a challenge, as it must mobilize its energy and resources and move forward. Crescent people need to make contact with the physicality of their environment and discover the resources available to them.

Keywords: Overcome, Focus, Move Forward
Notables: Martin Luther King Jr, Simon de Beauvoir, Indira Gandhi, JFK

FIRST QUARTER MOON — And Dark in Balance, Light Ascending:

(Seven to ten and a half days after the New Moon) The symbolic seed establishes its root and stem structure. Like pioneers settling new lands, these individuals must forcibly clear the way so they can actively build new structures to contain their purpose. Because of their experience in meeting crisis after crisis, many have an instinctive sense of how to take control of energy, manage and redirect it so problems can be solved and business can resume as usual.

Keywords: Decide, Act, Build
Notables: Liza Minelli, Neil Armstrong, Queen Elizabeth II, Shirley MacLaine; Timothy Leary

(Ten and a half to fourteen days after New Moon) This phase analyzes whatever was developed in the previous phase and perfects the form so it can operate efficiently and effectively. As the light becomes dominant, the symbolic seed buds. The Gibbous desire is to become as skillful an artisan and technician as possible in its chosen field of vocation or expression. These are the apprentices of the moon phases. Their capacity to continually adjust and refine the structures demands perseverance and flexibility.

Keywords: Evaluate, Analyze, Perfect
Notables: Hillary Clinton, FDR, Prince Charles, Barbara Walters

(Fifteen to eighteen days after the New Moon) This is the flowering of the cycle, the peak of the light and total illumination of the vision is the promise. The symbolic seed flowers. Through relationships with others, full moon people develop objectivity and clear sightedness about the larger meaning of their life purpose. The inner drama between the sun and moon polarity manifests in outer relationships.

Keywords: Culminate, Illumine, Fulfill
Notables: William Blake, Judy Garland, Princess Diana, Krishnamurti

(Three and a half to seven days after the full Moon. This is the fruition of the cycle. The symbolic seed bears its fruit. Having become aware that life can be lived with meaning in the full phase, Disseminating people want to live out this purpose and spread the meaning. This is often a life of teaching and sharing wisdom.

Keywords: Distribute, Disseminate, Convey
Notables: Bill Clinton, Winston Churchill, Ram Dass, Helen Keller

(Seven to ten and a half days after the Full Moon.) The life impulse has completed its mission and now begins to reorient to a dimly intuited future. The symbolic seed withers on the vine and decomposes. Rebellion against old patterns characterizes the inner revolt and crisis in consciousness. Often their lives are marked by a continual turning away from what they have accomplished. They must sever and let go of the conditioning into which they were born.

Keywords: Reevaluate, Turn Away, Revise
Notables: Amelia Earhart, Mohandes Ghandi, Carl Jung, Anaïs Nin, Mick Jagger

BALSAMIC MOON — Depth of Dark:

(Ten and a half days after the full moon to the New Moon.) The symbolic seed once again turns back into itself. The final phase of the cyclic process bridges the death of the old and rebirth of the new. These complex types straddle both the past and the future — and they often find themselves involved in intense, but short-term encounters. These visionaries often feel a sense of destiny and urgency — that there is something they must do.

Keywords: Distill, Transform, Envision
Notables: Bob Dylan, Elizabeth Kübler–Ross, Dane Rudhyar, Abraham Lincoln