The Different Phases

• Twofold division
  • Waxing hemisphere
    • Moon increases in light
    • New Moon 🌑 to Full Moon 🌕
  • Waning hemisphere
    • Moon decreases in light
    • Full Moon 🌕 to New Moon 🌑
• Threefold division
  • Personification of Artemis, Selene, and Hekate
  • Stages of a woman’s life
    • Maiden, mother, and crone
    • Menstruation, lactation, menopause
  • New Moon 🌑
  • Full Moon 🌕
  • Dark Moon
• Fourfold division
  • 🌑 -> 🌗 -> 🌕 -> 🌓 -> 🌑
  • New -> First Quarter -> Full -> Last Quarter -> New
  • Moisture -> Heat -> Dryness -> Cold
• Eightfold division
  • 🌑 -> 🌘 -> 🌗 -> 🌕 -> 🌓 -> 🌒 -> 🌑
  • New -> Crescent -> First Quarter -> Full -> Gibbous -> New -> Disseminating -> Last Quarter -> Balsamic -> New
  • 45 degree increments
  • Cross quarter days
  • Winter solstice -> spring equinox -> Beltane/May Day -> summer solstice -> Lammas -> summer equinox -> Hallmoas/Halloween
  • Seed -> shoots -> roots and stems -> bud -> flower -> fruit -> harvest -> decomposition
• Elevenfold division
  • New (0) -> Coming Forth (1) -> Rising (15) -> Cresence (45) -> First Quarter (90) -> Gibbous (135) -> Nearly Full (150) -> Disseminating (225) -> Last Quarter (270) -> Balsamic (315) -> Setting (345) -> New (0)

Lunar Rejoicing

• Waxing rejoices in a diurnal chart
• Waning rejoices in a nocturnal chart

Interpretation

Modern astrology prescribes personality traits to the phases of the moon. Hellenistic astrology does not. The lunar phases in Hellenistic astrology just describes different cycles.

Valens also says that predictions could be used for the phases. He also associates some planets that favour certain phases (hard to interpret with birth charts).

Rhetorius predicts “how well-born, renowned, and fortunate” someone¹ would be.

Medical implications.

Time Lord technique called “Quarters of the Moon.”

Conjunction Phases

• Reputation
• Power

Rising Phases

• Length of life

History

• Porphyry thought it was just seven phases for the seven planets
  • 60 degree sextiles
  • 90 degree square
  • 120 degree trine
    • 180 degree opposition
• Phalus added three phases to Porphyry
  • Conjunction
  • Coming forth
  • Rising
  • Mention “nearly full” at 150 degrees
• Valens and Rhetrorius used different degrees
  • 60 -> 45
  • 120 -> 135
  • The 15 degree difference is before and after conjoining the sun