Lunar Phase

The Moon completes one synodic cycle — from New Moon back to New Moon — in approximately 29.5 days. Dane Rudhyar formalized the eight-phase system in The Lunation Cycle (1967, Aurora Press), treating the Moon's relationship to the Sun as a complete archetypal arc of development. The eight phases are: New Moon (0°–45°), a time of pure impulse and new beginnings; Waxing Crescent (45°–90°), the emergence of will against inertia; First Quarter (90°–135°), a crisis of action requiring a definite stand; Waxing Gibbous (135°–180°), a phase of analytical refinement and preparation; Full Moon (180°–225°), maximum illumination and the fullness of consciousness when the self can be seen in relationship to others; Disseminating (225°–270°), the phase of sharing and teaching what has been achieved; Last Quarter (270°–315°), a crisis of consciousness and reassessment; and Balsamic (315°–360°), the phase of release, surrender, and gestation before the next beginning. William Lilly (Christian Astrology, 1647) used the Moon's phase in horary to assess the strength of the querent's situation — a growing Moon favored increase; a waning Moon indicated decrease. The natal Moon phase describes a fundamental life orientation: born at a Full Moon indicates an objectivity-seeking nature who understands the self through relationship; born Balsamic suggests an old-soul quality oriented toward completion and spiritual work.