Seasons of the Moon
I stumbled on an interesting idea in Astrology of the World II: Revolutions and History by Benjamin Dykes. He was talking about the way the ancient astrologer Ptolemy looked at events, and he mentioned that Ptolemy only worked with either New Moons or Full Moons during a given season. He didn’t go into the reason why Ptolemy did this. His reason for glossing over it was almost certainly because he was summarizing something he’d already gone into in depth in Astrology of the World I, but the mystery of it got me thinking about the significance of focusing on just Full Moons or New Moons for a season.
Symbolically and magically, New Moons and Full Moons have very different characters. Full Moons come at the end of the moon’s waxing period. After a couple of weeks of drawing things you want into your life, the Full Moon is a time of celebration, manifestation, and ripening. Spells cast during the Full Moon are particularly effective. Then the moon starts to wane, and it’s time to get rid of the things you don’t want in your life. New Moons are like the moment when you collapse and rest after cleaning the house. They are times to rest and recharge.
What would it mean to have a season of manifestation? A season of cleansing?
Practically, it would probably look like two weeks of intense focus on the theme while the period of the lunar cycle matches the cycle of the season. This would then be followed by two weeks to plan and recharge for the next two weeks period of productivity.
I am a person who struggles with the constant changes of the fast-moving moon. Instead of moving seamlessly from manifestation to purging, I feel like I’m always struggling to catch up and reorient myself to the energy of the moment. I really like the idea of having at least three months to focus on manifestation or cleansing instead of two weeks.
My usual approach when I encounter a new astrological idea is to look back through my journals to see if the idea matches my past experience. Ptolemy’s technique is predictive, but working with an energy for a season isn’t about predicting how you will feel. It’s about deciding where to channel your will.
What Season Is It?
The way to figure out if a season is a New Moon season or a Full Moon season is simple. Ptolemy says to find the date of the equinox or solstice and then check to see if it was most recently preceded by a New Moon or a Full Moon. If it is preceded by a New Moon, work with New Moons during that season. Otherwise, work with Full Moons.
I checked the lunations for Winter Solstice 2019 through the Winter Solstice 2020, and I discovered that seasons measured this way are extra long this year. Winter 2019 and spring and summer 2020 are all Full Moon seasons. That would have given us a nine month focus on manifestation this year. Fall and Winter 2020 are both New Moon seasons, which would give us six months to focus on cleansing—assuming the New Moon seasons don’t extend further into 2021.
Imagine what might be possible with all that time!
This post originally appeared on adapembroke.com.
