Timing by the Moon

The phases are used across many traditions to time planting and harvest, ritual and magic, fasting and festival, work of increase begun as the Moon waxes, work of banishing as it wanes, and the lunisolar calendars of Judaism, Islam, China and India all begin their months at a phase of the Moon. Full and new moons in particular anchor countless observances.

The atlas gives each phase its appearance, its place in the cycle, and its traditional associations and uses. The phases connect to the lunar calendars gathered under Calendars & Time and to the ritual and festival categories.