The Moon: phases, signs and calendars
The Moon changes sign every two and a half days and runs through its eight phases in about 29.5 days. This page explains what astrologers read into each; the monthly calendars list the exact times.
The eight phases
New Moon
At the new Moon, the Moon sits between Earth and Sun — the angle between them near 0° — so its lit side faces away and nothing is visible. In symbolic terms this dark point opens the roughly 29.5-day cycle, the span a phase takes to return. You might treat it as a prompt: what's still forming in you, unproven, that you'd like to name before anyone else sees it?
Waxing crescent
The waxing crescent sits about 45° ahead of the Sun — a phase is just that Sun–Moon angle seen from Earth — a thin, growing sliver visible after sunset, early in a cycle of roughly 29.5 days. The symbolism it carries is intention turning into tentative action. Worth considering: what you began at the new Moon, and what small next step it actually needs from you now.
First quarter
At first quarter, the Sun and Moon sit 90° apart — half the disc lit and growing, high in the evening sky. In the symbolic language of astrology, this point in the roughly 29.5-day cycle carries friction: what you intended earlier meets what it actually asks of you. A useful question is which part of a plan needs adjusting, and which part you'd rather hold steady.
Waxing gibbous
The waxing gibbous Moon sits 135° from the Sun, give or take 22.5° — a phase being just that angle between them as seen from Earth — more than half lit and still filling. In a cycle of about 29.5 days, this is the stretch before completion, and the symbolism points to refinement: something you began is visible, not finished. Worth noticing what it needs, and what you added out of habit.
Full Moon
At the full Moon, the Moon stands opposite the Sun — 180° apart, the whole face lit, rising around sunset. Roughly halfway through the 29.5-day cycle, this is the symbolic peak of visibility: what you began is now showing its shape. It's a good moment to notice what has come into focus since the new Moon, and what you want to do with seeing it.
Waning gibbous
The waning gibbous Moon sits about 225° from the Sun — more than half lit and shrinking, rising after dark. In a roughly 29.5-day cycle, it marks the turn from doing toward digesting. Astrologers associate it with reflection, and you might try that on: name one thing the full Moon showed you that's worth keeping, and one worth setting down.
Last quarter
At the last quarter Moon, the Sun and Moon sit 270° apart — half the disc lit and shrinking, visible in the morning sky. Roughly three weeks into a 29.5-day cycle, the symbolism here points toward release: a stretch of the arc for editing rather than starting. What have you learned since the new Moon, and what could you set down without regret?
Waning crescent
The waning crescent sits about 315° from the Sun — a thin, shrinking sliver rising before dawn, closing a cycle that takes roughly 29.5 days. Astrology reads that angle as the pause after effort: less building, more releasing. You might use it to notice what you've been carrying out of habit, and what you'd rather set down before the next month begins.
The interpretations on this page were drafted with software assistance and checked against our voice guidelines by an automated reviewer.
The Moon in each sign
The Moon in Aries
With the Moon in Aries — a fire sign of the cardinal kind, the group that initiates rather than sustains, and traditionally ruled by Mars — astrologers read a mood that moves first and reflects later. You might notice impatience with slow conversations, or a clean flash of knowing what you want. The Moon clears the sign in under three days: try it on, see what it catches.
The Moon in Taurus
With the Moon in Taurus — a fixed earth sign ruled by Venus, and the sign of the Moon's exaltation, where astrologers say it works unusually well — attention slows into the body: food, texture, familiar routines, what already feels steady. The transit runs a couple of days, and it's the same sky for all of us. A question to sit with: what would be enough right now?
The Moon in Gemini
With the Moon in Gemini — an air sign of words and ideas, and a mutable one, meaning built to change course — traditionally ruled by Mercury, your attention may prefer breadth to depth: tabs open, a question half-asked, a wish to talk something through before you feel it fully. The Moon spends about two and a half days per sign, so this weather is shared. Does naming the restlessness ease it?
The Moon in Cancer
With the Moon in Cancer — the sign it rules, meaning the placement where it's considered most at home — feeling tends to arrive amplified rather than filtered. For the short stretch before the Moon moves on, memory, family, and the pull toward familiar comforts sit closer to the surface. Notice what your attention keeps returning to, and what tending it might look like.
The Moon in Leo
With the Moon in Leo — a fixed fire sign, steady in its burn, traditionally ruled by the Sun — astrologers link these two days or so with wanting to be seen doing something you care about. Warmth may come easily, and the sting sharper when it isn't returned. A question you might sit with: what would you make if applause weren't the point? This transit belongs to everybody at once.
The Moon in Virgo
With the Moon in Virgo — an earth sign in its mutable, adaptable mode, traditionally ruled by Mercury — attention narrows to the fixable: the inbox, the counter, the ache you've been ignoring. In this symbolic language, the Moon's roughly monthly pass here reads as a mood that soothes itself by tidying and refining. Notice whether care shows up today as usefulness rather than words.
The Moon in Libra
With the Moon in Libra — a cardinal air sign, meaning initiating and sociable, traditionally ruled by Venus — your attention may drift toward the space between people: who's comfortable, what's fair, what stays unsaid. Read it as a mood that weighs and balances. The Moon spends about two and a half days per sign, and it sits over every chart at once — a description to test, not a ruling.
The Moon in Scorpio
With the Moon in Scorpio — a fixed water sign, steady and slow to shift, traditionally ruled by Mars — attention goes deep rather than wide: fewer conversations, more honest ones. Astrologers call the Moon here in fall, meaning less at ease in this sign, which can read as guardedness. A useful question: what are you protecting? It clears the sign in about two and a half days.
The Moon in Sagittarius
While the Moon is in Sagittarius, a mutable fire sign traditionally ruled by Jupiter, astrologers link the mood to a restlessness for the wider view — the bigger picture, the honest answer, the trip you haven't planned yet. Notice where your attention keeps reaching past what's immediately in front of you. The Moon spends about sixty hours in each sign, so this mood is a monthly, collective one.
The Moon in Capricorn
With the Moon in Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign ruled by Saturn, feelings often want structure before comfort. Astrologers call the Moon in detriment here — in the sign least suited to its nature — so tenderness may arrive as competence instead. Notice what you quietly handle rather than name. The Moon clears the sign in roughly sixty hours, and everyone is under it with you.
The Moon in Aquarius
With the Moon in Aquarius — a fixed air sign, steady in mode and mental in element — feelings may arrive translated into ideas, easier to explain than to sit inside. Astrologers tie the Moon's brief passage here to wanting perspective: caring from a slight, clarifying distance. If warmth feels cooler, it isn't absent, just thinking. A monthly condition, not a personal one.
The Moon in Pisces
While the Moon is in Pisces — a mutable water sign, so adaptable and feeling-led — attention softens at the edges. Astrologers link these couple of days to moods that blur into music, sleep, other people's feelings. See what it turns up: where do your boundaries feel porous, and what does that tell you about what you need? The same sky is overhead for all of us.
The interpretations on this page were drafted with software assistance and checked against our voice guidelines by an automated reviewer.
Monthly Moon calendars
How these times are computed
Every time here comes from our own engine, built on astronomy-engine, an open-source ephemeris, and checked against independent references: the U.S. Naval Observatory's Moon phases, NASA's eclipse canon and Swiss Ephemeris outputs. The page is written in Eastern Time (ET); your browser shows the times in the zone you pick.
Void of course, traditional rule: from the Moon's last exact major aspect (conjunction, sextile, square, trine or opposition) to the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, until it enters the next sign. The modern rule also counts Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, so its voids can begin later and run shorter.
Astrology is a symbolic language, not a science: the positions are exact, and what they mean is interpretation.