New Moon and Dark Moon Differences

New Moon and Dark Moon – are they the same thing?

No, they are not the same thing, but it’s easy to see why they are confused and interchanged, they overlap.

Excuse the shitty diagram, but some people are visual learners.

Let’s start with the basics.

• A complete moon cycle is about 29.5 days. (I rounded it up to 30 for convenience)
• The New Moon is the exact moment the next cycle begins – which is why the exact time of the New Moon varies. 6:27pm one month, 11:14am another and so on.
• The New Moon phase is generally agreed to be the the day before, the day of, and the day after the exact time the moon switches from the old cycle to the new cycle.
• New Moon Rituals (held at the beginning of the new cycle) are about setting intentions, planting seeds that you want to grow or get bigger during the waxing moon phase

• The Waxing Moon is when to moon is getting bigger and peaks at the Full Moon – ideal for magic that relates to growing things, ideas, relationships etc.
• The Waning Moon is when the moon is getting smaller and peaks at the New Moon – ideal for magic that relates to shrinking things, ideas, relationships etc.

• The Dark moon is a phase, not an exact time
• The Dark Moon phase are the 3 days before the exact moment the moon cycle clicks over
• The Dark Moon and New Moon overlap for 1 night.
• This is when we do a Dark Moon Ritual for releasing anything you don’t want to bring with you into the next cycle.

I hope this makes some sense and explains why there are different rituals for Dark and New Moons.

CAVEAT: This is how I personally practice Moon Magic. Others may differ, but I’m confident that this maximises the power of the moon which increases your chances of manifesting your intentions.

If you have questions, post them in the comments below and I’ll pop in and answer them as best I can.

If you want a clean slate to start start growing the life you want, you should join me for my Dark Moon Ritual with Hekate.

If you want to grow parts of your life, you should join me for my New Moon Ritual over at our sister site Witchucation