“
A friend. What is a friend, in a world where any friend may be a lover at a new phase of the moon? Not I, locked in my virility: no friend to Therem Harth, or any other of his race. Neither man nor woman, neither and both, cyclic, lunar, metamorphosing under the hand's touch, changelings in the human cradle, they were no flesh of mine, no friends; no love between us.
”
”
Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness)
“
a woman’s phases are inconsistent or unreliable, they can be realigned by strengthening her affinity with the moon, the tides, and other lunar forces
”
”
Judika Illes (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World (Witchcraft & Spells))
“
The 5/6 ratio was devised to count the lunar phases and the rest sixth portion was dedicated to the House of the Sun (i.e. the Eastern Portal) whence the Royal Cubit were derived!
”
”
Ibrahim Ibrahim (The Mill of Egypt: The Complete Series Fused)
“
We came together
like months
in a lunar year, measured in nights, dividing
perfectly into female phases. Like women anywhere
living in groups we had synchronous menses. And had
no need of a wound, a puncture, to seal our bond.
”
”
Olga Broumas (Beginning with O (Yale Series of Younger Poets))
“
You can deny me from your bed, Deva. You can reject my touch. But you will never be alone again, even if it means I have to watch from the shadows.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
I should punish you, Deva, for letting another man put his hands on you. If I couldn’t tell that your heart didn’t beat for him, he would be dead.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
When Cinder had suggested they go somewhere that was in reach of New Beijing while they figured out the next phase of their plan, Wolf had paced back and forth in the galley, cradling a can of tomatoes.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3))
“
Cage,” I sighed. “It’s like you want to lose your hands.” “I love you saying my name,” he admitted, flashing me a smile. “Although my full name is Micajah. I usually hate it, but I have no doubt I would love it on your lips.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
Long ago, darkness reigned over the night. People were afraid and remained inside their shelters from sundown until sunrise. The goddess Selene saw their fear and gave light to their nocturnal world by driving her moon chariot across the starry sky. She followed her brother Helios, who rode the sun and caught his shining rays on her magnificent silver chariot, then cast them down to earth as moonbeams. She felt pride in the way the earthlings were comforted by her light.
But one night when she had abandoned her chariot to walk upon the earth, she noticed that in times of trouble many people lost all hope. Their despair bewildered her. After considering their plight, she knew how she could make her moon the greatest gift from the gods.
From then on she drove around the earth and each night caught her brother's rays from a different angle. This way the face of the moon was everchanging. People watched the moon decrease in light every night, until it could no longer be seen from the earth. Then after three nights of darkness, a crescent sliver returned and the moon increased in light until it was fully illuminated as before. Selene did this to remind people that their darkest times can lead them to their brightest.
The ancients understood Selene's gift in the lunar phases. Each night when they gazed at the moon, they knew Selene was telling them to never give up hope.
”
”
Lynne Ewing (The Secret Scroll (Daughters of the Moon, #4))
“
The reason for the great number and variety of Old European images lies in the fact that this symbolism is lunar and chthonic, built around the understanding that life is in eternal transformation, in constant and rhythmic change between creation and destruction, birth and death. The moon's three phases-new, waxing, and old-are repeated in trinities or triple function deities that recall these moon phases; maiden, nymph, and crone; life-giving, death-giving, and transformational; rising, dying, and self-renewing. Life-givers are also death-wielders. Immortality is secured through the innate forces of regeneration within Nature itself. The concept of regeneration and renewal is perhaps the most outstanding and dramatic theme we perceive in this symbolism.
It seems more appropriate to view all of these Goddess images as aspects of the one Great Goddess with her core functions-life-giving, death-wielding, regeneration, and renewal. The obvious analogy would be to Nature itself; through the multiplicity of phenomena and continuing cycles of which it is made, one recognizes the fundamental and underlying unity of Nature. The Goddess is immanent rather than transcendent and therefore physically manifest.
”
”
Marija Gimbutas (The Language of the Goddess)
“
It is no accident that the heavenly body universally associated with witchcraft is the moon, whose shape changes continually, although her rhythm is constant • It is no accident that the element universally associated with witchcraft is water, whose tides are ruled by the moon; water appears, disappears, changes shape, shifts continually, but remains rhythmically constant • It is no accident that the human gender most associated with witchcraft is the female one: the female body, like lunar phases and ocean tides, changes continually, often to the despair of the individual woman herself, although the rhythms also possess consistency if we let ourselves feel them.
”
”
Judika Illes (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World (Witchcraft & Spells))
“
No direct evidence yet documents Earth’s tidal cycles more than a billion years ago, but we can be confident that 4.5 billion years ago things were a lot wilder. Not only did Earth have five-hour days, but the nearby Moon was much, much faster in its close orbit, as well. The Moon took only eighty-four hours—three and a half modern days—to go around Earth. With Earth spinning so fast and the Moon orbiting so fast, the familiar cycle of new Moon, waxing Moon, full Moon, and waning Moon played out in frenetic fast-forward: every few five-hour days saw a new lunar phase. Lots of consequences follow from this truth, some less benign than others. With such a big lunar obstruction in the sky and such rapid orbital motions, eclipses would have been frequent events. A total solar eclipse would have occurred every eighty-four hours at virtually every new Moon, when the Moon was positioned between Earth and the Sun. For some few minutes, sunlight would have been completely blocked, while the stars and planets suddenly popped out against a black sky, and the Moon’s fiery volcanoes and magma oceans stood out starkly red against the black lunar disk. Total lunar eclipses occurred regularly as well, almost every forty-two hours later, like clockwork. During every full Moon, when Earth lies right between the Sun and the Moon, Earth’s big shadow would have completely obscured the giant face of the bright shining Moon. Once again the stars and planets would have suddenly popped out against a black sky, as the Moon’s volcanoes put on their ruddy show. Monster tides were a far more violent consequence of the Moon’s initial proximity. Had both Earth and the Moon been perfectly rigid solid bodies, they would appear today much as they did 4.5 billion years ago: 15,000 miles apart with rapid rotational and orbital motions and frequent eclipses. But Earth and the Moon are not rigid. Their rocks can flex and bend; especially when molten, they swell and recede with the tides. The young Moon, at a distance of 15,000 miles, exerted tremendous tidal forces on Earth’s rocks, even as Earth exerted an equal and opposite gravitational force on the largely molten lunar landscape. It’s difficult to imagine the immense magma tides that resulted. Every few hours Earth’s largely molten rocky surface may have bulged a mile or more outward toward the Moon, generating tremendous internal friction, adding more heat and thus keeping the surface molten far longer than on an isolated planet. And Earth’s gravity returned the favor, bulging the Earth-facing side of the Moon outward, deforming our satellite out of perfect roundness.
”
”
Robert M. Hazen (The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet)
“
Hearth-brothers, or friends,” he said, and saying it was remote, out of reach, two feet from me in a tent eight feet across. No answer to that. What is more arrogant than honesty? Cooled, I climbed into my fur bag. “Good night, Ai,” said the alien, and the other alien said, “Good night, Harth.” A friend. What is a friend, in a world where any friend may be a lover at a new phase of the moon? Not I, locked in my virility: no friend to Therem Harth, or any other of his race. Neither man nor woman, neither and both, cyclic, lunar, metamorphosing under the hand’s touch, changelings in the human cradle, they were no flesh of mine, no friends; no love between us.
”
”
Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness)
“
we should conclude that the Hebrews—though their calendar was essentially a lunar one, based upon the actual observation of the new moon—had never noticed that the moon changed its apparent form as the month wore on, for there is no mention in the Bible of the lunar phases.
”
”
Edward Walter Maunder (The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture)
Frank Bawdoe (Moon Spells for Beginners: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Power of Lunar Phases, Wiccan Magic, Rituals, and Witchcraft (Wicca Spells and Witchcraft Rituals))
“
Full Moon Ritual Ground yourself: Find a comfortable place to sit and commune with the full moon. Ask Mother Moon to help you be present in the
”
”
Frank Bawdoe (Moon Spells for Beginners: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Power of Lunar Phases, Wiccan Magic, Rituals, and Witchcraft (Wicca Spells and Witchcraft Rituals))
“
Life's A Lunar Cycle (The Sonnet)
Life is like the lunar cycle,
sometimes it is full shining,
sometimes it is half shining,
other times it goes totally dark.
But one thing is certain,
no one phase lasts forever,
it all just keeps changing,
thus light is sustained
through life's brief encounter.
The unpredictability of life
is what makes life predictable.
Sometimes it rains cats and dogs,
the next moment sunshine is unavoidable.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets)
“
The Osirian stride on the zodiac corresponds to the lunar and solar calendrical phase shift.
”
”
Ibrahim Ibrahim (The Calendar of Ancient Egypt: The Temporal Mechanics of the Giza Plateau)
“
Ancient peoples who lived close to the earth and in harmony with nature recognized the powerful energy that emanated from the moon and governed life on earth. The ever-changing phases of light and darkness created a balance in nature, and people lived in accordance with the moon's cycles and seasons. They observed the correlation between lunar cycles and the monthly menstrual cycles of women, and therefore gave the moon a female identity.
”
”
Janet Lucy (Moon Mother, Moon Daughter)
“
The sexual cycle averages 26 to 28 days (they tend to speak of it as 26 days, approximating it to the lunar cycle). For 21 or 22 days the individual is somer, sexually inactive, latent. On about the 18th day hormonal changes are initiated by the pituitary control and on the 22nd or 23rd day the individual enters kemmer, estrus. In this first phase of kemmer (Karh, secher) he remains completely androgynous. Gender, and potency, are not attained in isolation. A Gethenian in first-phase kemmer, if kept alone or with others not in kemmer, remains incapable of coitus. Yet the sexual impulse is tremendously strong in this phase, controlling the entire personality, subjecting all other drives to its imperative. When the individual finds a partner in kemmer, hormonal secretion is further stimulated (most importantly by touch—secretion? scent?) until in one partner either a male or female hormonal dominance is established. The genitals engorge or shrink accordingly, foreplay intensifies, and the partner, triggered by the change, takes on the other sexual role (? without exception? If there are exceptions, resulting in kemmer-partners of the same sex, they are so rare as to be ignored). This second phase of kemmer (Karh. thorharmen), the mutual process of establishing sexuality and potency, apparently occurs within a timespan of two to twenty hours. If one of the partners is already in full kemmer, the phase for the newer partner is liable to be quite short; if the two are entering kemmer together, it is likely to take longer. Normal individuals have no predisposition to either sexual role in kemmer; they do not know whether they will be the male or the female, and have no choice in the matter. (Otie Nim wrote that in the Orgoreyn region the use of hormone derivatives to establish a preferred sexuality is quite common; I haven’t seen this done in rural Karhide.) Once the sex is determined it cannot change during the kemmer-period. The culminant phase of kemmer (Karh. thokemmer) lasts from two to five days, during which sexual drive and capacity are at maximum. It ends fairly abruptly, and if conception has not taken place, the individual returns to the somer phase within a few hours (note: Otie Nim thinks this “fourth phase” is the equivalent of the menstrual cycle) and the cycle begins anew. If the individual was in the female role and was impregnated, hormonal activity of course continues, and for the 8.4-month gestation period and the 6- to 8-month lactation period this individual remains female. The male sexual organs remain retracted (as they are in somer), the breasts enlarge somewhat, and the pelvic girdle widens. With the cessation of lactation the female reenters somer and becomes once more a perfect androgyne. No physiological habit is established, and the mother of several children may be the father of several more. Social
”
”
Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness)
“
love is mostly like the moon. Whereas the moon and all its phases are predictable, love is not. Where I once thought I could predict how my relationships would turn out, I now realize that was as foolish as trying to keep the tides from rising and falling.
”
”
Lauren Kung Jessen (Lunar Love)
“
I—” My voice choked. “I have no idea what I’m doing.” “That’s okay, Deva. I promise I won’t let anything hurt you.” My eyes widened as I nodded, unable to accept his promise because after everything I’d been through, I knew it wasn’t possible. I should run. Fast. As if knowing, he continued, “You’re not leaving. Any chance you had to escape is gone now, starlight.” I believed him.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
You know what happens to liars, right? They get punished. If you want to walk around talking to other men, then it better be with my cum between your legs.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
Grimshaw…” “Don’t,” he warned, his gaze snapping up to mine. “Don’t try to leave, Deva. Not right now. I don’t know what’s going on here, but if you leave, I will hunt you back down.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
You dated?” Alek produced a low noise, but his gaze was on Dylan. “You dared to take her on a date?
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
There was only one other person I knew who didn’t have a pulse… I prayed to the fates, for the sake of everyone at this school, that it wasn’t for the same damn reason.
”
”
M. Sinclair (Lunar Witch (Phases of the Moon, #1))
“
When you are in darkness, stripped of visual cues, you are steered toward the well of wisdom that lies within.
”
”
Ezzie Spencer (Lunar Abundance: Cultivating Joy, Peace, and Purpose Using the Phases of the Moon)
“
The only way is through.” And the way through is to feel.
”
”
Ezzie Spencer (Lunar Abundance: Cultivating Joy, Peace, and Purpose Using the Phases of the Moon)
“
Dark Moon: During the day right before a new moon, most witches won’t work magic. They choose to refresh their energy for the next waxing cycle. There are others who find the dark moon is the best time to work the magic that is related to closure and this will bring things to a full circle. The moon’s energy holds a destructive potential that you can use to release any karma that keeps popping into your life over and over again like things related to betrayal, abandonment, or lack. Some gems you can use during this time are clear quartz, obsidian, and tektite. Waning Moon: This would be the time for you to release energy outwardly and align yourself with inward energy. This will eliminate all negative experiences and energies. Your main goal is to do spells that help you get rid of anything that is causing sickness, resolve conflicts, and overcome obstacles. Some gems you can use during this time are unakite jasper, angelite, obsidian, petalite, black tourmaline, and calcite. Full Moon: This moon phase is the most powerful in the whole lunar cycle. Most Witches consider the day of the full moon the most magically powerful day during the whole month. They usually save their spell work that is related to important goals for this day. All magic is favored when done during a ritual under the full moon. Some gems you could use during this time are quartz, selenite, and moonstone. Waxing Moon: This is the perfect time to take action toward your goals. Beginning these goals during this time will bring you to them faster. This energy is action energy and it will push your intentions out into the Universe. The magical work you do during this time should be related to strengthening or gaining partnerships with other people. It might be a business partner, romantic partner, or making new friends. It is also a time to improve your well-being and physical health. Gems you can use during this time are emerald, rainbow moonstone, citrine, carnelian, and fluorite, and nuumite. New Moon: This is the start of the lunar cycle. This is the time to dream about what you want to create in life. Magic meant to begin new ventures or projects are great to do during this time. Basically, anything that involves increasing or attracting the things you desire would be great. Some gems you can use during this time are the clear quartz, obsidian, tektite, iolite, black moonstone, and labradorite.
”
”
Harmony Magick (Wicca 2nd Edition: A Book of Shadows to Learn the Secrets of Witchcraft with Wiccan Spells, Moon Rituals, and Tools Like Runes, and Tarots. Become a Witch by Mastering Crystal, Candle, Herbal Magic)
“
Women are sacred and powerful because they can give life, because their bodies reflect the lunar phases, because the emergence of womanhood and fertility is announced by the rhythmic shedding of magical blood (and in many tribal societies, just as in many offices or wherever women live closely together, menstruation becomes synchronized and frequently linked to a specific moon phase).
”
”
Judika Illes (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World (Witchcraft & Spells))
“
...it was only natural that this mutual connection between sea and observer be forged: they were kindred spirits. The same, however, could not be done with the implacable moon: that imperious stalwart, which agitated the currents and spurned its beholder. This aloof satellite was formidable, yet neurotic, and so in spite of its ferocity, its movements were simple to predict, thereby granting this fearsome creature a veil of placidity. Its magnitude of torque was easily outmatched by that forceful heave of fear portending any misalignment with its anticipated schedule of phases. It cycled through these on time and without hesitation, experiencing, all the while, a wide array of emotions in response to the dissatisfied countenance of the Master it served. And yet, these changes in mood remained prosaic and careful, dutiful to its Patron; thusly, betraying nothing of its own resentments or intentionality either to its dismissed observer or to its demanding Patron, divulging nothing even of the influence which it potentially wielded over the Patron Planet, but which, in its lunar insecurity, never reached full expression save for the idle touslings of liquid fur. Perhaps it was diffident or bashful—otherwise, it was simple and had little prevailing ambition. Its motives were immaterial, in fact, for its aspirations were easily eclipsed and often countermanded and so one could not help but anticipate in its withered mien a certain resignation, a retreat to introspection away from the gazes of those who mistook its surrender to deterministic forces as a duty held most solemn. To be sure, it was a specter oft-romanticized by dullard poets and priests who admired it for its calming reserve, its gentle wisdom in juxtaposition with the histrionic impatience of the sea: like a tired guardian and a screaming toddler with primacy afforded counterintuitively to the guardian.
What mattered more, in fact, was the subject of its influence: the willful and disobedient medium which spurned that hands that molded it. The moldings were more like jostles really and for a time they felt just and reasonable, but soon they came to confine and until verily there was no movement available that was not otherwise preordained by the will of the master.
The accursed moon!
”
”
Ashim Shanker (Inward and Toward (Migrations, #3))
“
When a new series of manned lunar missions had initially been proposed back in 2004, the plan had been to slowly phase out the reusable but tragically unreliable shuttle fleet in favor of Apollo-style one-shot capsules, with the goal of reaching the Moon sometime in the next decade.
”
”
Christopher Mari (Ocean of Storms)
“
Another way to say it is that when you’re seeking to bring something into your life, you work with the waxing Moon, and when you want to banish or release some unwanted element of your life, you work during the waning phase.
”
”
Lisa Chamberlain (Wicca Moon Magic: A Wiccan's Guide and Grimoire for Working Magic with Lunar Energies (Wicca for Beginners Series))
“
the Maiden is asked for assistance in the waxing phase, the Mother at the Full Moon, and the Crone when the Moon is on the wane.
”
”
Lisa Chamberlain (Wicca Moon Magic: A Wiccan's Guide and Grimoire for Working Magic with Lunar Energies (Wicca for Beginners Series))
“
Dianna looked at the moon. That night it was barely a crescent cradling earthshine, a white wisp of silk or a sliver of creamy birch bark. Incomplete, but there. It would grow, as night-blooming jasmine would grow, or a blot of spilled milk, or a hillside gathering snow.
”
”
Marissa Byfield (The Soft Fall (Lunar Siege Book 1))
“
Then she got to work.
Thinking a bit of organization would help, Rapunzel took out the wanted poster of Flynn and made a chart on the back, dividing the rectangle into twenty-eight days. She wrote the moon phases neatly on each. On Day One, New Moon, she wrote Murderhair. Now it was Day Six; Waxing Crescent. Under this she wrote Transformative-- Lizard to Dragon. Day 8 would be Waxing Half Moon-- that would be exciting, right? Maybe that would mean a really big change in her powers. For Day 15, Full Moon, she wrote Healing?
She looked at her neat little chart and felt very pleased with herself.
Projects.
They were the best.
”
”
Liz Braswell (What Once Was Mine)
“
The moon repeated her phases on the exact same solar calendar day once every nineteen years.
And she had just turned nineteen! So nineteen years ago, at this time, the moon would have been new.
She would have been just born, and her magic would have been deadly. So that explained the nurse.
But the other times?
She couldn't remember. All she could clearly think of was that once when she was very, very upset about killing a game hen- more than usual- she had gone to weep and look out the window for hours. The sky was as black as her mind and spirit felt, and the usually comforting stars were pinprick harsh, untwinkling. Each was a stab into her heart. There was no moon.
”
”
Liz Braswell (What Once Was Mine)
“
DIAGRAM 4 - One cycle of Kriya includes the different phases of each lunar month.
”
”
Paramahamsa Hariharananda (Kriya Yoga: The Scientific Process of Soul Culture and the Essence of All Religions)