The full moon is coming up, but you don’t have to be a Pagan or a Witch to use the phases of the moon to your benefit. You can use them as a guide in your daily, weekly, or monthly life. Here are some ways to use them to change your life.
New Moon
The new moon is seen as the beginning of the moon cycle, kind of like the beginning of a life cycle. This is where you can work on starting something new. It might be a hobby you’ve wanted to try, a book you wanted to read, or meeting someone new. The possibilities are endless. All you need to tap into is your creativity.
Waxing Crescent
The waxing crescent moon is when the moon moves from being dark toward being more light. Slowly as the days progress, the moon will shine brighter and brighter. This is a good time to commit to the thing you are working on. If you are working on a new habit, this is where you work on it each day, trying to cement it into your life.
Some people will also suggest that this is for slow moving projects or things that you are looking to manifest further down the road. So that might mean working on a work project that will come to fruition in six months.
First Quarter
This is where you will act on what you have been working on the past week or so. If you were looking to meet someone new, this would be the perfect time to meet said person, virtually or in person.
Waxing Gibbous
This phase of the moon is where you can edit what you are working on. You’ve now spent a little over a week working on something new. You gave yourself time to play with it. You have a sense of what might be working and what might not. Now is the time to tweak it and start making your new hobby work for you a little better.
This is also said to be the time for faster actions. If you are needing something in the near future, like money to pay a bill, this could be the time where you start looking for odd jobs to make a little extra.
Full Moon
This is the time to celebrate. It’s been two weeks since you started something new, and you’ve stuck with it. That’s a major feat because I think most people lose their interest after a few days to a week. Be excited for the work you’ve done.
Waning Gibbous
Now the moon starts moving from the bright light in the sky at night to the darker side. It can be a time of gratitude, where you recognize not only the work you’ve done for about half the month, but also other things in your life that are helping to support you on your journey. This can be friends and family, the job that allows you to work on your hobbies without stressing about how to pay the bills, or the fact that you have a phone or other device that lets you get a book in an instant.
This can also be a time of sharing what you’ve done. Tell your friends and family. Post it on social media. Write about it for a newspaper or magazine.
Third Quarter
This time can be used for what we witches like to call banishing. This is a time to look at getting rid of things in your life that no longer serve you. If you haven’t done it recently, you might want to get into the fridge and see what science experiments are growing in there and let them go.
Waning Crescent
The moon is nearly completely dark and the cycle will soon start all over again. Now is the time to rest. You can give yourself some time to marinate in the work you’ve done all month. Maybe take a nice nap in the afternoon, or sleep in on the weekend. Rest is important for the mind and body, so it’s good to schedule some time to do that.
If all of these phases seem a little complicated, or like there is just too much to do in any given month, you can also reduce it to the New, Full, and Quarter Moons. It doesn’t have to be overly difficult. By creating a relatively regular schedule, you will be better able to keep up with the new habit or whatever it is you chose to work on.
Dark Moon
The dark moon is right when the moon is fully dark. It's for a very short time, so many people don't think about it and don't use it. If you want, you can consider using this time to take a quick evaluation. Go internally and see what is going on with you. Forget about what is going on in the world. What are you feeling and what are you wanting right now? Meditation is a great way to do this.
How are you planning to use the phases of the moon in your life?