Third Quarter Moon

Third Quarter Moon Reflections

Fewer people notice the moon during the day from about the last quarter on, because the sun’s glare begins to drown the moon from view. – EarthSky 

When to View

• The Third Quarter Moon rises just after midnight.
• It is high overhead at dawn.
• It sets around noon.

Astronomy Basics

• The Third Quarter moon is also called the Last Quarter Moon.
• The Third Quarter moon occurs about a week after the full moon. (Moon Phases: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter and Waning Crescent.)
• When seen from above, the First and Third Quarter Moons occur when the moon is at a 90-degree angle to a line between the earth and sun.
• The official astronomy term is “Third Quarter” as opposed to “Half” because the moon is three quarters of the way through its cycle of orbiting the earth, as measured from one new moon to the next.

Appearance

• The First and Third Quarter Moons are also sometimes called “half moons” because we see exactly half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow.
• One half of the moon (50%) appears illuminated.

More

• At the Third Quarter Moon, the part of the moon that is illuminated is decreasing; darkness is increasing.
• Tension and transition are common themes.

Readings

LIGHT & DARK IN BALANCE

In the third quarter moon, light and dark are in balance, with darkness increasing. The moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. As the last waning cycle begins, it is a good time to focus on completing creative projects. – Shiva Rea 

TENSION SEEKING RELEASE IN CHANGE

Whatever occurs at the Quarter Moons, we’re invited to see it as two forces in conflict. Something wants to move; something else resists. This tension seeks its release in change, involving struggle, or assertive and decisive action. Forces in square don’t work together easily. One blocks or thwarts the other; the other must reorient its direction to get what it wants. Squares bring stress-and a potent thrust of energy that makes necessary changes possible. – Dana Gerhardt 

RESTLESSNESS, DECISION TIME

It is a time of transition, transformation, and evolution.  There is a restless, sometimes uneasy feeling… As the dark overtakes the light… we feel the energy of waning and decreasing… The mysteries of the shadows are now more alluring than the discoveries of the light. The energy is deep and powerful, but not so easy to decipher as the extroverted and illuminating energy we felt in the First Quarter.

Half light, half dark.  We are looking back, and looking ahead.  Often we find ourselves at a cross-roads during the Last Quarter Phase, sometimes trying to (or needing to) take both roads at once.  Things begun early in the phase are coming to fruition.  There are things that still need to be done, perhaps another big push to finish up.  Maybe they should be continued, or revived.  It’s decision time. – astromagickal.com 

INTERNAL DISCIPLINE

The first and last quarter Moon phases both embody the critical tension of the Square aspect between Sun and Moon.  But in contrast to…the First Quarter, things are focused inward… Sure, there is critical tension between the Sun and the Moon that needs to be worked out or resolved, but the method of doing this at the Third Quarter is by making inner adjustments in one’s state of consciousness and internal discipline rather than trying to effect changes in outer world conditions… And now, the focus and drive of our consciousness and life path lies in transcending our outer world conditions, gaining detachment, and letting go of them.  Inner principles to uphold start to take precedence over outer world entanglements… In the Third Quarter phase, the native has grown tired and weary of the excessive outer world involvement and entanglements of the preceding bright hemicycle, and desires to be free of them, greeting the realization of impermanence with detachment and true wisdom.  The Shadow side of this weariness can easily turn into a spirit of resignation and despair.  Also necessary to master in this phase is the art of graceful endings. – David Osborn