Something I’ve been doing for about a year is tracking the moon phases alongside my own self-discovery/growth, month by month (or moon cycle by moon cycle), in a chunky notebook. I will usually start the month with a blank notebook page writing the main month of focus at the top.
And then under it I will tape a print out of the moon phases/signs schedule for the month (it will help me label the coming pages as I go). As I have pointed out in many other posts on here, you can find this moon schedule on Astro-seek. I just copy and paste it into Google sheets and then scale it down to print it. I write in extra days for the New and Full moons since they last about 3 days, and I also add in the Balsamic phase for myself.
What I am tracking for each month is the New moon to New moon cycle which lasts about 29-30 days, alongside my own personal growth within that same timeframe of 29-30 days. You will notice the above print out is of partially August and partially September because when it comes to the New moon to New moon cycle it does not follow a regular calendar month (it does not start on date 1 and end on date 31). In this case it is starting on August 23 and ending on September 20.
Phase 1: the seed of something new
So for this cycle, on the next page I will write at the top:
And from the New moon to the First quarter on all the following pages I will journal about what’s going on in my life at any given time between those dates. Only what’s meaningful, and only what comes up that I want to write about, so not everything. This is not an attempt at daily journaling per say just want to take note.
What I noticed: There is almost always a seed planted in the way of a situation, self-knowledge, relationship, etc. in my life at the New moon. Something will come about at that time the theme of which will extend and carry throughout the entire moon cycle over the 28-30 days - this is why I do this at all, because each cycle holds new revelations. Sometimes the seed will present itself even a day or two before the New moon since the energy is closing in, so keep that in mind too. I may be confused at this time not really fully understanding what has presented itself. It is because I’m lacking more info, which will start to appear as the moon waxes.
Phase 2: emerging issues that require action (now or later)
When I get to 8/31, I will mark the next page at the top again with the next phase period:
And from the First quarter to the Full moon, I will again journal about anything going on in my life (only when I feel it is necessary like I said you do not need to journal every day which keeps this minimal-but you can if you want to-I at times have only journaled twice within one period say of First quarter to Full and everything still made sense at the end of the cycle upon reflection) keeping close in my mind the theme that was brought up at the New moon.
What I noticed: Something will make itself known that builds on what happened before, and it will start to make sense although I still might have questions. But I won’t get too frustrated because that’s what the Full moon is for. It’s a time of real illumination and usually I end up being like okay now I am starting to understand this situation/event/person/relationship/etc.
Phase 3: culmination, fruition, full exposure of plans/issues
When I get to 9/7, I will write the following at the top (you get the idea):
At this time I will journal from Full moon to Last quarter about anything that came up in life, again keeping in mind that same theme from all the way back to around the New moon time because everything is linked up and I always realize this at the end of the cycle.
What I noticed: Things come full circle and I may realize why this or that happened before, or whatever seed was planted I understand its meaning. Other things that have happened to me (but not every single Full moon) is relationships (of all kinds) have ended and I can use the next phase to rest in and work through coping with that if necessary. Relationships at times for me have also ended as the New moon is coming in, and then the entire month may be about helping me understand everything that happened in that relationship, although it can also take a few moon cycles for that to come to the fullest clearest light.
Phase 4: closure, review, recap, reward
At 9/14 I will write the following at the top for the last phase:
And then journal to the end of the cycle until the next New moon, again not every day for me. Sometimes I will use this time to reflect on everything that unfolded this cycle and how it all made sense to me or didn’t.
At the end of the entire moon journaling cycle I go back and revisit what was the seed from the New moon? What did I find out during the First quarter? What happened at the Full moon that related back to the seed? What did I have to sit with/rest in/cope with/reflect on during the Last quarter leading into the next New moon? And I just sit with all of it.
I call this article “self-medicating” with the moon because truly you can nurture yourself with this process. Journaling once or twice during each of the 4 phases can tell you so much about what went on during the last month and make sense of things that maybe often don’t make sense to you and drive you nuts or maybe you just want more clarity in general about whatever is coming up for you at this time. The titles of each phase are from London School of Astrology which has amazing resources.
Go deeper
The New moon cycle tracked above was in Virgo, and it’s good to note this too each cycle you track because the zodiac sign archetype can be meaningful and shed light on what you are discovering in general. Because the Sun was also in Virgo for this whole month, the energy of Virgo was woven throughout the entire moon cycle. Virgo is of course about introspection, routines, systems, how you take care of yourself, healing so you may get an answer to something you have wondered about all year simply because at no other time of the year is the energy of Virgo so present for so long. This applies to each moon cycle you go through (although this year we are getting two New moons in Virgo, which is rare and fascinating, both moon cycles containing strong ending and beginning energy-Full moon in Pisces and Full moon in Aries-the second New moon happening this weekend right at the Fall equinox, you can read about it here).
If you want to take it further at the end of the year you can list all the moon cycles and write out all the seeds and discoveries in one sentence form in a chart, which is something I am doing for this year since it was so intense for me. In doing this I noticed that what was revealed each month was one singular topic and a different detail about it over the course of the year (this also had a lot to do with the profection year I was in, the theme of which is meant to unfold for you over the entire year little by little).
Another thing you can do is if you know your personal wheel of the year, you will know which house/life area you are working on during the month long moon cycle and that will also play a part in your discoveries.
Jennifer Diane is a writer, artist and intuitive based out of New Jersey. Healing with the Occult is a publication that shares hidden, transformative knowledge.