Modern lunar astrology · Symbolic interpretation
Born under this Moon: birth-phase symbolism
Some astrologers read the phase of the Moon at the moment someone was born as a clue to their temperament. The idea has a named author, Dane Rudhyar, and a precise definition. Here is both, and how to hold it lightly.
Where the idea comes from
In an article called “Your Lunation Birthday” (opens in a new tab), published in Horoscope Magazine in January 1950, Rudhyar sorted people into eight types by the angle between the Sun and the Moon when they were born, and he built on it in his book The Lunation Cycle. His types are the source of two names still used for phases in astrology, disseminating and balsamic; the Historical beliefs side documents the full-moon type among others.
The eight types
| Sun–Moon angle | Type | In Rudhyar's description |
|---|---|---|
| 0°–45° | New Moon type | impulsive and subjective, meeting life head-on and learning by doing |
| 45°–90° | Crescent type | determined and self-assertive, pushing through what holds it back |
| 90°–135° | First Quarter type | strong-willed and organising, a builder of structures, sometimes a rebel |
| 135°–180° | Gibbous type | set on improving things, itself and other people included |
| 180°–225° | Full Moon type | objective, seeing relationships clearly, turning ideals into form |
| 225°–270° | Disseminating type | a demonstrator, someone who spreads and shares ideas |
| 270°–315° | Last Quarter type | reform-minded, organising people around ideas and outgrowing structures |
| 315°–360° | Balsamic type | future-facing, serving something larger, closing one cycle and seeding the next |
This site's summaries of his 1950 descriptions, not quotations and not predictions.
Why the angle, not the name
Rudhyar's types are equal slices of 45 degrees measured from the new moon. That is not how phases are named for the sky: on this site a full moon is the stretch within about a day of the exact moment. So someone born two days after the full moon has a waning gibbous Moon in the sky and, in Rudhyar's scheme, is still the Full Moon type. The angle moves about 12 degrees a day, so near a boundary the hour of birth decides the type.
Find yours
The birthday explorer works out the angle for any date from 1900. In Astrology & myths it names the Rudhyar type for that moment, at 12:00 UTC unless you give a time and time zone.
How to hold it
Rudhyar described his types as typical tendencies. This site presents them as symbolism and nothing more. Everyone born within the same three or four days shares a type; it is not a birth chart, it does not decide who anyone is, and it has nothing to say about compatibility or the future. A phase is not a sign, either.
Sources
Practitioner sources tell you what those practitioners say. They are not evidence that the Moon does it.
- Practitioner Dane Rudhyar, Your Lunation Birthday, Horoscope Magazine (1950), Rudhyar Archival Project (opens in a new tab) for the eight lunation types, their 45-degree arcs and Rudhyar's descriptions
- Astronomy NASA Science, Moon Phases (opens in a new tab) for what a phase is, astronomically