Today: Waning Gibbous ◕

The moon phases in order

The Moon moves through eight phases in a cycle of about 29.5 days. Four are principal phases, single moments in time; the four between them each last about a week.

• New Moon: not visible; the start of the cycle and a time for intentions
• Waxing Crescent: a growing sliver in the evening sky; first steps
• First Quarter: half lit, growing; a point of effort and decision
• Waxing Gibbous: more than half lit, nearly full; patience and refinement
• Full Moon: fully lit, up all night; clarity, gratitude and release
• Waning Gibbous: still bright but shrinking; sharing and giving thanks
• Last Quarter: half lit, shrinking, seen in the morning; review and letting go
• Waning Crescent: a thin sliver before dawn; rest before the next new moon

What causes the moon’s phases?

The Moon makes no light of its own. Half of it is always lit by the Sun, just as half the Earth is always in daylight. As the Moon orbits the Earth, we see different amounts of that sunlit half: none of it when the Moon is between us and the Sun, all of it when the Moon is on the far side of the Earth. A common misconception is that the Earth’s shadow causes the phases. It doesn’t; the Earth’s shadow only falls on the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

How long is each moon phase?

One full cycle of phases, from new moon to new moon, takes 29.53 days on average. This is longer than the 27.3 days the Moon takes to orbit the Earth, because the Earth is moving around the Sun at the same time and the Moon needs about two extra days to line up with the Sun again. The new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter are instants, though each looks much the same for a day or so either side. The crescent and gibbous phases between them each last about seven days.

Moon phases in the northern and southern hemispheres

Everyone on Earth sees the same phase on the same night, but the view is flipped. In the northern hemisphere the Moon grows from right to left: a waxing Moon is lit on the right and a waning Moon on the left. In the southern hemisphere it is the other way round, and near the equator the crescent lies on its back like a bowl. The dates in this calendar are in UTC; in some time zones a phase falls on the previous or next calendar day.

The spiritual meaning of the moon phases

Many traditions read the lunar cycle as a rhythm for life and practice: an intention is set at the new moon, acted on as the light grows, refined as it nears fullness, seen clearly at the full moon, shared and released as the light wanes, and allowed to rest in the dark before the next beginning. The astrologer Dane Rudhyar described eight lunation phases, from new and crescent through gibbous and full to disseminating and balsamic, that many modern moon guides still use. Each phase page here offers reflection prompts, a yoga pose and a practice to match.

The Moon in yoga and the Hindu calendar

The Moon runs through yogic and Indian tradition. A popular reading of hatha yoga takes “ha” as the sun and “tha” as the moon, a practice of balancing heating and cooling, active and receptive energies. The Hindu calendar is lunar: each month is divided into 30 lunar days (tithis) across a bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) as the Moon waxes to Purnima, the full moon, and a dark fortnight (Krishna Paksha) as it wanes to Amavasya, the new moon. Many festivals and fasts, such as Ekadashi, Guru Purnima and Diwali, follow these lunar days, and many Ashtanga Yoga communities rest on full and new moon days.

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