The Lunation Cycle in 60 Seconds
Every 29.5 days the Moon makes a full circuit of the zodiac and comes back to the Sun. The two cardinal points of that cycle are the New Moon (Sun and Moon at the same degree — 0° apart) and the Full Moon (Sun and Moon opposite — 180° apart). Astrology has tracked these two moments for thousands of years as the natural "seeding" and "harvesting" beats of any month.
What makes this view different from a generic moon-phase calendar is that we don't stop at "Full Moon at 22° Scorpio." We tell you which of your natal houses the lunation lands in, and flag any of your natal points it activates within 5°. A Full Moon on your 7th-house cusp reads completely differently from a Full Moon in your empty 12th.
How to Read a Lunation
- House first. The house tells you where in your life the lunation lands. The 2nd is money/values; the 10th is career; the 4th is home.
- Phase second. New Moons are about seeding — what's beginning, what you're initiating. Full Moons are about culmination — what's reaching peak visibility, what reveals itself, what climaxes.
- Activation third. If the lunation conjuncts or opposes one of your natal planets within 5°, that planet's themes get amplified for the lunar cycle that follows. We tag this on each row.
- Sign fourth. The sign colours the energy — a Full Moon in Aries is fierce and immediate; in Pisces, dissolving and emotional.
- Influence window: ±3 days. The peak is a single minute, but the energy ramps up for about three days before and fades for three days after.
New Moon vs Full Moon — The Polarity
Sun + Moon conjunct. The dark phase — Moon invisible. Subjective, inward, seeding. The traditional moment to set intentions, start projects, plant whatever you want to grow over the next month.
Sun + Moon opposite. The Moon fully lit. Objective, externalised, harvesting. What's been hidden becomes visible; what's been brewing reaches a tipping point. The traditional moment for endings, completions, release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Tools
- Full Transit Chart Calculator →
- Monthly Transit Calendar → — sees the lunations in context of all the other transits in the same month.
- Retrograde Transit Calculator →