Moon planning + 2021 lunar phases
The moon affects the earth and its inhabitants in many ways — and for those of us who are highly sensitive, the moon’s effects can be felt even more strongly. Over the past few years, I’ve been playing with aspects of my routine to find more ease through cadence and rhythm, and harnessing the power of the moon’s cycle seemed to be a natural progression.
Moon planning works through aligning your intentions, hopes, and dreams with the lunar cycle. This practice caught my attention some time ago, and idea surfaced during the mid-autumn festival on October 1st. As I was eating moon cake and pondering what to do for the rest of the evening, I thought to myself, “why not try moon planning tonight?” Why not, indeed. And so I did.
I’ve since held five moon planning sessions — on three full moons and two new moons. While I’m still honing my process to find my place of just right, I’ve felt enough connection and synchronicity with this practice to continue into 2021.
Moon planning provides me with a beautiful way of checking in regularly with my intentions and emotions.
A bit about my practice:
I hold a moon planning ceremony every two weeks or so, during each new moon and full moon.
The session is centered around reflective questions to harness the power of each phase of the moon. For example, the new moon is widely known as a good time to start new projects, and the full moon usually signals celebration, gratitude, and release.
Each new moon and full moon also has specific characteristics according to Western astrology, so I read a little bit about that. This provides me with some focus when planning.
As part of the ritual, I also pull a tarot card, which provides me with additional perspective, insight, and questions to ask myself.
After taking time to reflect, I write some brief notes in my bullet journal — I include the characteristics of the moon, interpretations of the tarot card, and responses to the reflective questions. Typically, these notes focus on what I’d like to accomplish and how I’d like to feel moving forward.
I split my new moon and full moon planning sessions into four segments, each with its own overall theme and set of reflective questions:
New moon — dreams
Waxing crescent moon — courage
First quarter moon — momentum
Waxing gibbous moon — adaptabilityFull moon — gratitude
Waning gibbous moon — connection
Third quarter moon — release
Waning crescent moon — rest
Then, over the next two weeks, I refer back to my notes and jot down any other thoughts as they arise.
In the section below, I’ve shared some moon planning tools in a downloadable PDF file format. I’ve also included a calendar of key dates in 2021 in case you’re interested in experimenting with this way of planning in a bullet journal or notebook. If you have a similar practice or if you end up trying out this one, I’d love to hear from you here.
♥︎
planning tools
For the New Moon:
Click here to access the new moon planning document with reflective questions and 2021 key dates.
Click here to access the new moon planning worksheet that you can print and fill out on each new moon.
For the FULL Moon:
Click here to access the full moon planning document with reflective questions and 2021 key dates.
Click here to access the full moon planning worksheet that you can print and fill out on each full moon.
2021 Moon Calendar
*** All times are in the Eastern time zone. ***
New moon — January 13 @ 12:02 am
Waxing crescent moon — January 14 to 19
First quarter moon — January 20
Waxing gibbous moon — January 21 to 27
Full moon — January 28 @ 2:18 pm
Waning gibbous moon — January 29 to February 3
Third quarter moon — February 4
Waning crescent moon — February 5 to 10
New moon — February 11 @ 2:08 pm
Waxing crescent moon — February 12 to 18
First quarter moon — February 19
Waxing gibbous moon — February 20 to 26
Full moon — February 27 @ 3:19 am
Waning gibbous moon — February 28 to March 4
Third quarter moon — March 5
Waning crescent moon — March 6 to 12
New moon — March 13 @ 5:23 am
Waxing crescent moon — March 14 to 20
First quarter moon — March 21
Waxing gibbous moon — March 22 to 27
Full moon — March 28 @ 2:50 pm
Waning gibbous moon — March 29 to April 3
Third quarter moon — April 4
Waning crescent moon — April 5 to 10
New moon — April 11 @ 10:32 pm
Waxing crescent moon — April 12 to 19
First quarter moon — April 20
Waxing gibbous moon — April 21 to 25
Full moon — April 26 @ 11:33 pm
Waning gibbous moon — April 27 to May 2
Third quarter moon — May 3
Waning crescent moon — May 4 to 10
New moon — May 11 @ 3:01 pm
Waxing crescent moon — May 12 to 18
First quarter moon — May 19
Waxing gibbous moon — May 20 to 25
Full moon — May 26 @ 7:14 am
Waning gibbous moon — May 27 to June 1
Third quarter moon — June 2
Waning crescent moon — June 3 to 9
New moon — June 10 @ 6:54 am
Waxing crescent moon — June 11 to 16
First quarter moon — June 17
Waxing gibbous moon — June 18 to 23
Full moon — June 24 @ 2:40 pm
Waning gibbous moon — June 25 to June 30
Third quarter moon — July 1
Waning crescent moon — July 2 to 8
New moon — July 9 @ 9:17 pm
Waxing crescent moon — July 10 to 16
First quarter moon — July 17
Waxing gibbous moon — July 18 to 22
Full moon — July 23 @ 10:37 pm
Waning gibbous moon — July 24 to 30
Third quarter moon — July 31
Waning crescent moon — August 1 to 7
New moon — August 8 @ 9:50 am
Waxing crescent moon — August 9 to 14
First quarter moon — August 15
Waxing gibbous moon — August 16 to 21
Full moon — August 22 @ 8:02 am
Waning gibbous moon — August 23 to 29
Third quarter moon — August 30
Waning crescent moon — August 31 to September 5
New moon — September 6 @ 8:52 pm
Waxing crescent moon — September 7 to 12
First quarter moon — September 13
Waxing gibbous moon — September 14 to 19
Full moon — September 20 @ 7:54 pm
Waning gibbous moon — September 21 to 27
Third quarter moon — September 28
Waning crescent moon — September 29 to October 5
New moon — October 6 @ 7:05 am
Waxing crescent moon — October 7 to 11
First quarter moon — October 12
Waxing gibbous moon — October 13 to 19
Full moon — October 20 @ 10:57 am
Waning gibbous moon — October 21 to 27
Third quarter moon — October 28
Waning crescent moon — October 29 to November 3
New moon — November 4 @ 5:15 pm
Waxing crescent moon — November 5 to 10
First quarter moon — November 11
Waxing gibbous moon — November 12 to 18
Full moon — November 19 @ 3:59 am
Waning gibbous moon — November 20 to 26
Third quarter moon — November 27
Waning crescent moon — November 28 to December 3
New moon — December 4 @ 2:44 am
Waxing crescent moon — December 5 to 9
First quarter moon — December 10
Waxing gibbous moon — December 11 to 17
Full moon — December 18 @ 11:37 pm
Waning gibbous moon — December 19 to 25
Third quarter moon — December 26
Waning crescent moon — December 27 to January 1