The Moon Cycle

Why Explore Moon Cycles?
As we feel the internal drives for healing, self actualization and service become strong, we look for roadmaps to guide and support the small steps we take day to day. Recognizing the wisdom of the natural cycles and awakening our natural resonance with these cycles helps to ground the healing work in the body, mind and spirit, bringing focus and strength to the physical world of daily routines and relationships; it deepens our relationship to the natural world. When we explore the opportunities and challenges of the monthly moon cycle, we bring focus to a process which often leaves us feeling overwhelmed by choices and possibilities, which often asks us to surrender to the unknown. With focus of our energy and intention, the healing process becomes a journey of exciting challenges, small victories that awaken self confidence and loving compassion to our process.
The moon cycle describes the relationship between consciousness and sub-consciousness, active understanding and reflective understanding, manifest and un-manifest potential, reflected by the light and dark phases of the moon. As we re-integrate the value of the Divine Feminine in our lives, the moon cycle guides us to honor both active and reflective perception.

How do we experience the energy of a Moon Cycle?
Where the moon is untouched by the light of the Sun, our experience is more internal than external, so as we start the cycle at the new moon, we're waking up to something in ourselves. That something is the theme described by the astrological sign in which we find the new moon. It's the time to plant seeds of consciousness around this theme; knowledge of the theme brings heightened awareness to the opportunities and challenges present in daily life and consequently awareness of our relationship to this theme. As the moon’s reflection waxes from new to full, our understanding grows as well and the theme is brought to full consciousness in the full light of the sun. The sign in which we find the full moon describes the potential for maturity of the theme, where we're being asked to bring our conscious focus. As the moon wanes from the Sun into darkness again, our attention turns inward, and we become more reflective than effective about what we've learned. This is an integration period. In the last days of the dark moon before new moon, what started as seed consciousness has had the chance to grow and mature before coming back in spiralic motion around the zodiac to the sign where the cycle began. The reflective, internal focus of this time allows integration of the theme in our deepest sub-consciousness to awaken seeds for the theme of the next new moon.

Interesting references:
Virtual Moon Phase Ephemeris: Will show you the phase of the moon at a click
Navy Online Lunar Ephemeris: Determine the exact day of the moon cycle
Lunar Phases Description: Discover the meaning of each phase of the Moon, including the meaning of the lunar phase at birth
Moon Goddesses: Determine which Goddess rules the phase of your birth.