There’s something so majestic about the moon. We’re instinctively drawn to it.

Even my 4 year old daughter has loved the moon for years. As a baby, one of her first words was “moon”!

Looking up at the moon on a clear night reminds us that the universe is vast and incomprehensible. Even though we understand why the moon phases happen, there’s still so much mystery as to how they connect to us.

What can the moon phases teach us about who we are and what we’re here to do? Read on to find out.

1. The new moon will impact you differently based on where it falls in your natal chart.

The New Moon falls in the same zodiac sign for everyone every month. But the house, or area of your life that is impacted, changes based on your birth chart.

That means there’s a unique opportunity for you to make an intention based on where the New Moon is happening in your chart.

For example, if the New Moon falls in your 1st house, it is an opportunity for you to refresh something about how you present yourself to the world. If it falls in your 2nd house, it’s a chance for you to focus on how you acquire resources. If it falls in your 3rd house, you can set an intention about learning and communication. And so on.

Knowing where the New Moon falls in your birth chart can help you hone in on an intention that is most powerfully supported by the current moon cycle.

2. During the waxing crescent moon, you’re supposed to struggle.

The waxing crescent moon phase is right after the new moon, and it’s all about struggling to let go of what’s holding you back.

When you decide to shift something in your life, the first thing you have to do is confront the reasons you haven’t made that shift yet. And the waxing crescent moon phase is here to support you in doing that hard work.

And let’s be real, this is where so many people get stuck. This is why so many new years resolutions don’t make it past January 14th.

So on the next crescent moon, you may feel totally excited and motivated to go after your intention….and then you may feel completely stuck. If that happens, don’t worry. It’s supposed to be like that.

Instead of trying to push forward and make it happen, be present with what’s coming up for you. Get curious about why you feel stuck. Check in with your inner child. Instead of berating yourself, give yourself a dose of self-compassion. That’s how you will get through this phase.

3. There are 2 points during the moon cycle when conflict leads to change.

During the moon cycle, the sun and the moon make every possible aspect to each other, from 0 degrees (the New Moon) to 180 degrees (the Full Moon) and back. These aspects are what make up the different challenges and opportunities of the moon cycle.

One of the most challenging aspects is the square. If planets are square, they form a 90 degree angle to each other. The theme of a square is change through conflict.

You will know the moon and sun are square if the moon looks like a half-circle in the sky.

This happens twice in the moon cycle – once halfway between the new moon and full moon – one quarter into the moon cycle, and the next time, halfway between the full moon and the next new moon, 3 quarters into the moon cycle. That’s why these 2 phases are known as the First-Quarter Moon and the Last-Quarter Moon phases.

(It used to confuse me that they’re called quarter moon phases because you can see half of the moon, not a quarter of the moon. Hopefully this explanation clears up that confusion for you, too.)

The theme of the first quarter moon is inner change. After the hard work of confronting what’s holding you back during the Waxing Crescent Moon phase, the First-Quarter Moon phase is that pivotal moment when you make the shift needed to move forward with your intention. Something shifts inside of you that allows you to be the person you need to be to make the change you want.

However, it may feel hard or confronting, because it requires that you fully let go of whatever was holding you back. And what was holding you back was doing so for a reason – whether it was making you feel safe of comfortable, or it was a part of your identity.

The theme of the Last-Quarter Moon phase is making an outer shift. Whereas in the First-Quarter Moon Phase, you need to shift internally to make change, in this phase, your inner shift moves to the outer world. This progression shows so beautifully how important it is to shift internally before you can make any external changes.

4. The moon cycle allows for redirection and changing your intention.

As I mentioned, the moon cycle is made up of many different aspects between the sun and the moon. In the waxing gibbous phases, one of the aspects is the Inconjunct. This happens when the moon and sun form a 150 degree angle to each other.

The theme of the Inconjunct is distraction and obstacles. Yep, you read that right. In your pursuit of your intention, part of your path is getting distracted and coming up against obstacles. And that’s a good thing.

At this moment, I wouldn’t blame you if you were sitting there thinking, “Geez Daniela, I thought the moon cycle was here to support me in making my intention a reality. But you’re telling me that first I have to let go of something that’s comforting but holding me back, then I have to make a change in my inner world, and after all that, I’m going to face an obstacle to my goals? Wtf?”

Yup. If you want to make your intentions real, it’s going to be challenging. The moon cycle isn’t here to make it easy for you, it’s here to help you move through the challenges that arise so that you can evolve into the person you need to be in order to make your intentions a reality.

And when you encounter obstacles and distractions in pursuit of your intentions, they may actually be there to help you.

The key in this phase is to pay attention to what’s happening so that you can decide whether to move forward with your intention or whether you want to pivot or change what you’re doing.

If you’ve ever started to work towards a goal only to realize that it’s not what you really want, or to be inspired by something and end up moving in an entirely new direction, that was an Inconjunct moment.

You may decide to keep moving forward in the same direction, which is great, too! In that case, overcoming some obstacles just reinforces how important it is to keep going with your intention.

5. There’s a big shift during the full moon – and it has nothing to do with manifesting.

Everyone wants to manifest on the full moon. It’s big and beautiful and inspiring.

But that’s just one part of what’s possible with the full moon.

The full moon provides the opportunity to integrate the missing pieces into your intention, because during the full moon, the moon and the sun are in opposite signs in the zodiac.

Opposite signs are like the white and black parts of a yin yang symbol – they need to come together to create wholeness.

Let’s take Capricorn and Cancer as an example.

Capricorn is focused on outer success, career, and following the rules. Capricorn wants to scale all the mountains and do all the things to achieve greatness. Capricorn is also associated with the father – the masculine protector and structure holder. (The “father” is a part of you – not necessarily your father. You have a strong protector and structure holder inside of you. This role could also be your mom, or another person in your life.)

On the other hand, Cancer is focused on emotional security. Cancer wants to create a welcoming home, to feel deeply and to nurture the inner world. Cancer is associated with the mother – the feminine caregiver and loving nurturer. (Again, the “mother” is part of you, and doesn’t have to refer to your actual mother.)

Capricorn needs Cancer, because without emotional security and a soft place to land, it’s hard to have the fortitude to go out into the world and do great things. And Cancer needs Capricorn, because without accomplishing what you want to do in the world, it’s hard to feel secure emotionally.

The full moon is a time when the sun and the moon can bring together these opposite energies in order to achieve wholeness.

It’s also a time when the moon cycle shifts from being about the inner world – which is where all things must begin – to the outer world.

It’s not the pinnacle of goal achievement, but the moment when you begin doing the things to make your intention real, when all of your inner work begins to come into your external world.

The next time there’s a full moon, spend some time reflecting on the other side of your intention. If you have an outer intention, what can you do internally? And vice-versa.

If your intention is to make more money doing work you love, what inner work must you do for that to happen? If your intention is to attract a loving partner, what can you do to love yourself first? Or maybe your intention is to develop self-trust. What do you need to do externally to show yourself that you can trust yourself?