New Moons have been associated with new beginnings since forever. Yet the practice of making wishes and setting intentions at the moment of the astrological New Moon is not consistent with historical practice.
The New Moon is a dark time, the Moon invisible. She has no light to carry our messages. This is a time for focusing inward, reflecting, asking ourselves which seeds wish to be planted during this cycle.
The time for making wishes and setting intentions is when the Moon is visible once more. In the past, this is what the New Moon meant: The Moon was made new when she reappeared in the sky.
The Moon needs light to carry our messages. We practice patience until the Moon has light again.
The keys are:
• Wait until the Moon is visible again, a minimum of 16 hours after the New.
• Choose an opportune time.
• Align your wishes with the energies of each New Moon and with your birth chart.
• Create wishes that resonate with your heart. If it doesn’t feel right, rephrase.
• Make your wish and release it to the Moon and the cosmos.
Wait until the Moon is visible
Astrology allows us to pinpoint the exact moment the Sun and Moon are conjunct: the New Moon.
But the Moon is dark. There is no light in the night sky.
When traditional societies spoke of the New Moon, they meant the time when a thin crescent could be seen in the sky again.
The Moon, the fastest moving body we track, is a messenger. How can my messages be received when there’s no light to carry them?
Setting intentions works better as the Moon regains her light.
Generally, the New Moon becomes visible about 16 hours after the exact, astrological New Moon.
I recommend waiting a minimum of 16 hours after the New Moon before making wishes and setting intentions.
But wait! Sixteen hours after a New Moon, the Moon may not be visible in my sky. Maybe there’s light pollution. Perhaps I don’t have a view of the horizon. The Moon might be visible somewhere but not to me.
I prefer to see the Moon. And my timing for making wishes depends on astrological patterns more than visibility in the sky. If I need to choose between good astrological timing and seeing the Moon in the sky, I will go with the astrology.
For me, the best window of time is 16 hours after the New Moon and before the Crescent Moon phase.
You are always welcome to choose your practices.
Choose an opportune time
What is an opportune time? There are several ways to choose.
I look for electional charts beginning 16 hours after the New Moon and ending as the Crescent phase begins.
Electional astrology is the practice of looking ahead for a chart favorable for what you wish to accomplish. Perhaps you’ve heard of people consulting an astrologer to help choose the best time for a wedding, or open a business. This is electional astrology.
My study of electional astrology continues! It turns out that the placement and condition of the Moon is vital to many, if not most electional charts.
I will now be ensuring that the Moon has enough distance from the Sun to have enough light astrologically, as well as the light in the sky.
Since I am looking for charts during a set, and limited, period of time, there will be some New Moon for which I cannot offer a chart. Then we fall back on making our petitions during the Moon’s hour, and (if there happens to be a Monday during the time we need), the Moon’s day.
I will be sharing New Moon electional charts in my new newsletter (when I find good ones!). If you’re interested, please sign up. The link is on my Home Page.
Work with the cosmos as you make your wishes
A lunar way of setting intentions flows better for me than will-based affirmations or the idea that we create our realities. I experience life as co-created, a space in which every being influences life.
Making wishes with the New Moon is a yin way of working. The Moon is yin to the Sun’s yang, and the New Moon is the yin part of the lunar cycle. As each point of this duality holds its opposite within, so this most yin time holds the greatest potential for bringing new things to light and to life
When we partner with life, our yearnings, our wishes, will manifest … sometimes in unexpected ways. Working consciously with the Moon brings opportunities for clarity and aligning ourselves with larger patterns.
If you feel drawn to ritual, making your wishes can be accompanied by any form of ritual that speaks to you.
You may see the effects of your wishing as early as the Full Moon, or they might emerge over the next six months as the Moon reaches a Full Moon in the sign of the previous New Moon.
Sometimes, of course, life does not unfold as we expect. This too is part of the Moon’s wisdom. Whatever happens, becoming aware of the Moon’s cycles and patterns brings gifts of its own.
Where to begin
To understand how a particular New Moon affects you, study your birth chart. (If you don’t have one, check out my Astrology Resources page for where to get one.)
Find the degree of the New Moon in your chart. Is this New Moon aspecting any of your planets? Your chart angles? The Nodes of the Moon? If so, the effect of this New Moon will relate to the planets and points connecting to this Moon.
The House in which the New Moon appears tells you which area of life will be most affected.
Also check which planets and points you have close to each Moon (add 5 degrees on either side of the Moon position). These will be hot spots in your chart for possible New Moon wishes and intentions, and Full Moon illuminations.