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The Moon's Four Quarters

Emergence · Build · Harvest · Release

The Moon is in its First Quarter right now — the phase of emergence and intention. It's at 16.1° Scorpio, moving toward the First Quarter Moon in about 3d 5h.

— Right now

Which quarter we're in

Live from the ephemeris
QUARTER 1 OF 4
The Moon is in its First Quarter right now — the phase of emergence and intention. It's at 16.1° Scorpio, moving toward the First Quarter Moon in about 3d 5h.
Measured by the angle between the Sun and Moon — each quarter spans 90 degrees of that angle, roughly seven and a half days. Updates every three hours.

— The framework

Quarters, and Quarter Moons, are not the same thing

This is the one thing worth getting straight before anything else. A Quarter Moon — the First Quarter Moon or the Last Quarter Moon — is a single exact instant: the half-moon point, when the Sun and Moon sit at a precise 90 degree angle to each other. It happens twice a cycle and lasts, in astronomical terms, no time at all.

A quarter is different. It is one of four roughly week-long stretches that make up the full lunar cycle, each one bounded by a New Moon, a Quarter Moon, or a Full Moon at either end. The First Quarter Moon sits at the end of the First Quarter, not throughout it.

Both are useful, and both are real astronomy. This page covers the four quarters as a framework for thinking about where the whole month is heading, not just the single days when the Moon is exactly half-lit.

— By quarter

What each quarter carries

I
First Quarter
New Moon → First Quarter Moon
Emergence. Whatever was set as intention at the New Moon starts taking visible shape. Quiet, early, easy to abandon if you're not paying attention.
II
Second Quarter
First Quarter Moon → Full Moon
Build. Momentum and friction both increase. What was an idea now needs sustained effort. The traditional "first crisis" point of the cycle sits right at the start of this quarter.
III
Third Quarter
Full Moon → Last Quarter Moon
Harvest. Whatever reached completion at the Full Moon now gets shared, used, or distributed. The results become visible to other people, not just to you.
IV
Fourth Quarter
Last Quarter Moon → New Moon
Release. Deliberate winding down. A second crisis point sits at the start, over what to keep and what to let go of, before the cycle clears for the next New Moon.

"People treat the New Moon and the Full Moon as the whole story. They're the two loudest nights. Everything that actually decides how the month goes happens in the quiet week between them."

— Frequently asked

The four quarters, plainly

The Moon is in its First Quarter right now — the phase of emergence and intention. It's at 16.1° Scorpio, moving toward the First Quarter Moon in about 3d 5h. This page updates automatically from current ephemeris data.
The lunar cycle is divided into four quarters of roughly seven and a half days each, measured by the angle between the Sun and Moon. The First Quarter runs from the New Moon to the First Quarter Moon. The Second Quarter runs from the First Quarter Moon to the Full Moon. The Third Quarter runs from the Full Moon to the Last Quarter Moon. The Fourth Quarter runs from the Last Quarter Moon back to the New Moon.
No, and this trips a lot of people up. The First Quarter Moon is a single exact moment, the half-moon point exactly 90 degrees ahead of the Sun. The First Quarter is the entire week-long stretch leading up to that moment, starting at the New Moon. The Quarter Moon sits at the end of the First Quarter, not throughout it.
The First Quarter, from New Moon to First Quarter Moon, is the emergence phase. Whatever intention was set at the New Moon starts taking visible shape. It ends at the First Quarter Moon itself, traditionally read as the first real test or friction point for that intention.
The Second Quarter, from the First Quarter Moon to the Full Moon, is the build phase. Momentum increases, effort compounds, and things that were only ideas in the First Quarter start requiring real, sustained work. It ends at the Full Moon, the point of maximum illumination and culmination.
The Third Quarter, from the Full Moon to the Last Quarter Moon, is the harvest phase. Whatever reached completion at the Full Moon now gets distributed, shared, or put to use. It ends at the Last Quarter Moon, a second friction point, this time about what to keep and what to let go.
The Fourth Quarter, from the Last Quarter Moon back to the New Moon, is the release phase. Energy winds down deliberately. It is traditionally a period for rest, clearing, and letting go, in preparation for the next New Moon and the next First Quarter that follows it.
Each quarter lasts roughly seven and a quarter to seven and a half days, since the full lunar cycle from New Moon to New Moon averages about 29.5 days, divided into four. The exact length varies slightly cycle to cycle because the Moon's orbital speed is not perfectly constant.

See where your own Moon falls

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