Dark Moon Musings

Noblet Tarot, Flornoy 2014

It's the dark moon. Well, nearly. at the moment it's 1% of full waning crescent, but close enough. The moon is passing between the earth and the sun, and thus the side of the moon that is illuminated by the sun is facing away from us. We can't see the moon in this phase from earth except during moments of solar eclipse, when the moon passes in front of the sun, and the night portion of the moon becomes visible to us, surrounded by the sun's fiery corona. Once each month, the moon comes all the way around in its orbit so that it passes more or less between us and the sun. If the moon always passed directly between the earth and the sun at new moon, a solar eclipse would take place every month. Instead, in most months, the moon passes above or below the sun as seen from earth. On the day of a new moon, the moon rises when the sun rises, and sets when the sun sets. It crosses the sky with the sun during the day. The new moon is too close to the sun's glare to be visible. Plus, its lighted hemisphere is facing away from us. The dark lasts about three days before the crescent appears. Many people use the terms dark moon and new moon interchangeably. For some, the new moon begins as soon as the moon becomes invisible. For others, not until the first sliver of crescent appears. Tradition holds that no magic should be practised during the dark moon. Traditional yoga practice holds that you should not practice yoga during the full or dark moon, and some traditional yogis fast during the dark moon.

To me the dark moon is a time between times. A waiting period. It just seems natural that you would pause your practices, rather like the moment between breaths.

Today I've drawn 9 of Cups, traditionally the 'make a wish' card. This dark moon will be a time of harmony and happiness for me. Just hanging out waiting for developments. That's cool.