Women have been aligning their cycles, actions, plans, and lives with the moon for millennia. Only recently in the scale of human history have women stopped doing so. Yet many are remembering this ancient practice and tradition, including you, sister.

Grandmother Moon teaches us about our cycles. In ancient times, the elders and priestesses would be the ones to teach women about these ways in what were called the Mystery Schools. 

Why does the moon affect us?

Magnets and water. The moon has a magnetic force field that affects water rising in the ground, the tides, our bodies which are 65 percent water, crops, and other organisms can be up to 90 percent water. It is no wonder that the moon affects life on earth so much.

Historically humans depended on the moon for telling time, planting crops (because the moon affects plants), predicting the ocean’s tides, and harvesting the sea and the land. Traditionally farmers and gardeners optimize their crop growth through the guidance of the moon phases. In those times, the phases of the moon and its path through the sky were important to know.

These days, it is also important to know the moon phases in service of setting goals and achieving goals.

We humans and the ocean tides continue to respond to the moon’s magnetism even though we may not notice.

How does the moon affect your period?

Traditionally women’s cycles were aligned with their menstrual cycles:

• They ovulated with the full moon. It’s known as a time where there’s a lot of sexual energy running high. In ancient times, that’s how people knew that it was time to make babies. 
• They bled together in the Red Tent during the New Moon.

The moon and women’s menstrual cycles are inextricably linked. However these days, our circadian rhythms are disturbed because of the amount of light in our modern lives: street lamps, electronics, and access to electric light at all times can confuse our bodies and our menstrual cycles.

Further, disconnection with circadian rhythms, affects appetite, hormones, body temperature, alertness, and sleep timing. Today, we are deprived of darkness. Read more about aligning your circadian rhythm here.

Any who, thirteen times a year, for 28 days, the moon passes through a full cycle. A woman menstruates an average of 400 times in her lifetime. Clearly, it’s worth discovering how to access the power in our cycles.

How to work with the moon to optimize modern life

When we align ourselves with the energies and cycles of the natural world, we send a message to the unseen forces that we are ready to co-create with them. We also open channels in the psyche to receive information and messages from the spirit world.

Additionally, the way we tend to plants and gardens during the moon phases is a good metaphor to follow for how we can approach our lives during the moon phases.

When you set your goals, “charge your seeds on the altar” in the beginning of the moon cycle of the New Moon. Then “plant your seeds” as the moon waxes, and “harvest” at the full moon and as the moon wanes.

You’ll find guidance on how to set intentions and set goals on this schedule in the Life Design Planner.

The moon has eight phases per month, much like the quarter and cross quarter holidays that divide up the year.

• New
• Waxing crescent
• First quarter
• Waxing Gibbous
• Full
• Waning Gibbous
• Last quarter
• Waning crescent

In the following list, learn to focus your life and work during each moon phase: 

New (corresponds with the menstrual phase of your cycle): This is the time of dark nights and deep sleep. Pay attention to your dreams and any messages you receive from the other realms. Your priority is rest, hibernation, regeneration, and honoring yourself. Give yourself space, and do only what feels easy. Reflect on what went well and what did not in the previous cycle. 

Waxing (corresponds with the follicular phase of your cycle): Easily implement new ideas and new opportunities (plant seeds), harnessing your creativity and energy. It’s prime time to take inspired action and create opportunities to collaborate. Ground with your community.

Full (corresponds with the ovulation phase of your cycle): This is a time with abundant energy, creativity, connection, opportunity to play, and enjoy your sexuality. Organize projects in detail. Reflect on the cycle so far and give thanks as you harvest from all of the seeds you planted earlier in the cycle.

Waning (corresponds with the luteal phase of your cycle): As your energy (and hormones) wane, begin to look inward and prepare for the restful time of your cycle ahead. Prepare to make more space in your schedule for self care. Review what has transpired during this cycle.  

Build a right relationship

Although our society and culture values work all the time, when we look at Mother Nature, we can see that she created the perfect pattern and schedule for rest, play, and nose-to-the-grindstone work.

Creating a right relationship with Grandmother Moon is imperative if you are planning on living your life by the moon. It’s not enough to simply “google” when the new and full moons are. Go outside and look at the moon. Track her journey through the sky. Take notes. See what she teaches you. Listen.

In the Mystery School, tracking the moon and living by her cycles is a year-round practice and traditional requirement of priestesses. The energies of the cosmos, nature, and the unseen world are linked to what happens in our modern world, and it is our responsibility to create relationships with them so that we can co-create together.