Everything Under the Moon

i have been trying to distinguish moons, i need an in depth explanation about them. i also tried the search button here, but.. eitherway, you get the point.

which type of moon is the best type to cast a spell?

how do i tell which is which?

i have tried searching in google, but it all just made me more confused. from what i understood it needs to be a waning moon? if so which kind is waning moon? & what is the difference with waxing?

is full moon = waning?

any soft of explanation will be appreciated.

In order to differentiate between waxing and waning I look to the movie Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi instructed the kid to wax on -wax off when polishing car. Remember wax ON is the "growing" moon. From dark moon to full is considered waxing (getting fuller and brighter). The other side of that is waning....fom Full to Dark.
Spells of growth and abundance should be done on the waxing phase. Spells to remove unwanted energies or removal of illness (for example) is done on waning moon.
That is a basic guide line. The Full moon is used for all kind of work including good health, abundance, and prosperity.
The Dark moon is for removal of unwanted energy or for looking deep within.
Bb, Firebird

Just a side note here: when in Need, work your magic at anytime of the cycle, sometimes we cannot wait until the moon is in a perfect position.
Alternatively one could use time of day instead. Midnight to noon, waxing day. Noon to midnight, waning day.
There is also planetary hours in every day, one could choose to work with those as well.

i hate to take more of your time, but is there a trustworthy website that says which is which?

which dates do they appear?
is 'new moon' = full moon?
so is after the full moon = waning

i sincerely apologize for the abundance of noobness

I had a heck of a time getting the moon calendar into my head when I was beginning, even though I'm a sky watcher & had some astronomy in school. I sympathize with your plight. The easy way: moon phases are printed on some calendars, or just look up a moon phase calendar for the year https://www.space.com/18880-moon-phases.html. &'print one. Also, the current moon phase is also given daily on most web Local Weather forecasts.

Moon phases move thru 29.5 day cycle because that's how long it takes the moon 28 days to go once around the earth plus 1.5 days added to get out of the Earth's shadow because while the Moon's running around the earth, the earth isn't standing still. It's running around the sun so the shadow it casts & angle of light it reflects shifts. Moon phase is the same for everyone at the same time all over the planet & doesn't matter where you are standing, although visibility isn't the same at the poles.

Moon phases are caused by the angle of the sunlight bouncing off earth & hitting the moon, not as popularly thought, caused by the Earth’s shadow. That only happens at eclipses. The moon only reflects light & doesn't make any light of its own. Of course neither does Earth.

The only useful thing out of all this is that a full moon will always rise as the sun sets & reach the highest point in sky around midnight. Adjust for day light saving time. The full moon then sets as the next morning sun rises.

This is simply because the earth spins once every 24-hours. The moon will rise about 50 minutes later each day of a cycle as the moon catches up with the orbit of the earth as they nudge along further around the sun. We always see the same side of the moon because the earth & moon rotate at the same speed...called geosynchronous.

New Moon is the opposite of Full Moon. New is a brand-new cycle when reflected light misses the moon completely so it’s dark, then that sliver crescent as the moon begins to move into the angle of reflection & begins a new cycle. The horns point to the left because the light moves right to left across the moon. The new crescent shows horns pointing to the right. About summer solstice the horns point up. Go figure. 2 spheres playing tag with light.

The phases approaching full moon are called waxing (waxy build-up) & after full moon is called waning.

Magical Uses:

When the moon is getting that waxy build-up it's increasing in size so, by association, when we want to increase or gain/attract something we use the waxing/increasing moon to support our intentions. When you look at the moon in the sky, the amount of light you see increases from right to left in appearance.

Full moon power is used for ful-fillment. The day before, the day of & the day after full brightness have the same impact. Full moon is when the Esbats are observed. These times are good for self-empowerment or any manifestation works.

After the full phase the moon light decreases & seems to shrink as the shadow grows from right to left. The amount of light we see is decreasing so, by association, when we want to reduce something or banish it then we use the decreasing, shrinking light to support our intent.

The last phase again is the date before, date of & date after being completely dark. Personally, I abstain from magic but some people use the dark moon for "shadow" work, balancing one's personality shadow. We need our shadow-self as much as we need our light-self.

Then the whole 29.5 day cycle starts over with a brand new moon..."new moon"...

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/physic ... h-advanced

Firebird Love your explanation :kids

Indeedhelp there are even Apps for your cellphone and most calendars tell you when the moon is full/dark.
This Part of it really isn't metaphysical or mathematic. The cycle has 28 days from new to full to new to full.

Here's a good graphic to help with moon phases:


A "full moon" is when you can see the entire moon illuminated. A "new moon" is when the whole moon is dark; ie you can't see the moon. I personally use this app on my phone, which shows a picture of the moon and what phase it's in on my homescreen (android). But just remember that the moon grows to full from new, and then shrinks to new from full. The growing is called waxing, and the shrinking is called waning.

This might make things more confusing, but hopefully not...
Astronomically, the new moon is when the moon is 0% illuminated. This is also sometimes called the dark moon in modern paganism. It's when the moon isn't visible at all. But there are some old sources where the new moon is actually the new crescent moon. That is, the first sliver of visible crescent moon right after the dark moon (or what in astronomy is called the new moon). This usually doesn't come up unless you are looking at old calendars that were based on the moon, such as the old Greek calendar (or, modern Jewish and Islamic calendars still use this, as well.) So you may never come across new moon being used that way, to speak of the new crescent moon, but I've seen it coming up a lot lately for whatever reason, so maybe it will save some confusion in the future.

If you have a science museum or planetarium near you, sometimes they have good exhibits on the moon where you can actually go and see models, move them around, etc, which can be very helpful in learning the phases and understanding when and why they occur.

Excellent points, Siona.

Oooo ya, Planetarium. Where are you located? We'll direct you to the closest one. I go the Griffith Observatory frequently. Parking is a mess but it is free to go in.
Bb, FF