What Are Astrological Moon Families?

A life on Earth without a Moon. Can you imagine it? Shallower tides, shorter days, a different ecosystem filled with forms of life we likely couldn’t imagine, let alone recognize.

What is Earth’s Moon?

Scientists think that Earth collided with another planet around 4.5 billion years ago. This planet, named Theia, was roughly the size of Mars. 

After Earth and Theia collided, each reformed, commingling parts of each other into their new forms. What was Theia, now smaller, became Earth’s Moon. Its orbit around Earth began. Click here to watch a really cool simulation of this collision and formation from NASA.

Earth’s Modern Moon

Today, we tend to take the Moon for granted. If you look up at the sky, you can see it everyday. 

(Raise your hand, if like me, you say hello to the Moon when you see it.)

Many people don’t give the Moon a lot of thought. But it affects lots of things like tides, weather, animals, and seasons. It affects the rhythms of life. 

All of this is impacted by the Moon’s presence and relationship to Earth.

Astrology and the Moon

Astrology is a practice that’s evolved over roughly four to five thousand years. As you can imagine, that means there have been a lot of chefs in the kitchen testing out its various techniques.

In Astrology, the Moon has come to represent various areas of life such as daily routine (how you do your work), the home and family, emotions/moods/attitudes and how you nurture, the feminine archetype and mothers.

For this piece, I want to focus your attention on the point of routine. Of getting your work done. How and when you do it. 

Fundamental to the practice of Astrology is tracking cycles. When you track them you begin to see how they interplay with your life. 

The Moon moves through a synodic month, the time it takes to progress through each Moon phase (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter) approximately every 29.5 days. It also moves through the zodiac signs the fastest of each of the planets, entering a new sign each month.

With how fast the Moon progresses, when I first began to study astrology I struggled to get a sense of how to work with the Moon in regard to common practices like setting intentions, releasing rituals, etc. While symbolic and a good way to direct my thoughts and energy, I felt like there wasn’t enough structure and time to see things through.

Enter Moon Families. 

The Lunar Gestation Cycle was discovered and devised by astrologer Dietrich Pessin. While you may have already been familiar with the four Moon phases that complete over a 29.5 day period, Pessin discovered that the Moon phases also play out over 9 month intervals. Each full cycle (called a Moon Family) occurs over a period of 27 months.

A Moon Family begins with a New Moon and every succedent 9 months the moon reaches a new phase in the cycle (First Quarter, Full Moon, Last Quarter) around the same astrological degree as the New Moon. The “arch” or focus/story of the Moon Family cycle is defined by the New Moon but it will take time for the story to shape. You likely won’t understand the story of the cycle until you reach the end and reflect back on the dates as milestones in the story. I do still think it would still be worthwhile to set intentions at the New Moon.

From Pessin’s book, Lunar Shadows III: “The subjects of our lives are not a string of isolated or random events. They intricately connect to a bigger picture. Often just the knowledge of the four dates in a Moon Family will trigger a journey through your memory, leading you to a deeper insight as to how your own stories unfold within nine-month intervals. You’ll also develop a remarkable relationship with the many stories in your life as you map their developing stages.”

Knowing the dates and phases of current Moon Families can be a great asset for understanding situations that you’re dealing with. So, I’ve created an easy to use PDF with all of the dates for the Moon Families of 2026.

More ways to work with Moon Family data

There are many, many Moon Families layered during the year. Each of them will not have the same impact on your life. Outside of your felt experience, a good way to gain a sense of your personal relationship with them is to create charts for each of the phases and review them compared with your own natal chart. 

Moon Families are a way to see how a story can unfold in your life. How you can engage with it and take action. You don’t have to be militant about it. Let it unfold. Knowing the dates can help you see some sense of any madness you're experiencing and give you an idea for when things may shift in the story. Inflection points that give you strength to act in alignment.

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