I want to make this post short and sweet, because I’ve posted about moon phases and specific spells before and I’ll link those somewhere below.

But, in case you’re new to magick or witchery, the phase of the moon (and even where other planets are in the sky) can greatly impact your spells or rituals and how effective they are.

Moon Phases

First, a quick run down of the moon’s phases:

Dark moon: this is the first day of the moon cycle; it is the one day that the moon is completely dark and no sliver of light can be seen.

New moon: the first day after the dark moon through approximately day 3-4 after the dark moon

Waxing crescent: from day ~4-7 after the dark moon

First quarter moon: from day 7 through ~10 after dark moon

Waxing gibbous: from ~ 11 days to 14 days after the dark moon

Full moon: 14 days after the dark moon/new moon

Waning gibbous: from ~16 days through ~20 days after dark moon

Last quarter moon: from ~21 days through ~24 days after dark moon

Waning crescent: from ~25 days through ~28 days after dark moon

Dark moon: 28-29 days after previous dark moon

Here is a visual, since that is usually easier for people to look at and understand:

Types of Spells by Moon Phase

The first half of the moon’s cycle is focused on planting, growing, and building, while the second half of the moon’s cycle is focused on letting go, releasing, and preparing.

Dark Moon/New Moon

• intention setting
• ‘planting seeds’ literal or figurative
• starting over on something or some aspect of our life
• asking for ideas and inspiration

Waxing Crescent

• same types of spells as new moon, but also
• growth of any kind, especially self-esteem, self love, relationships
• intuition
• healing/health

First Quarter

• gaining anything
• jobs
• relationships
• recognition
• opportunities
• success in an endeavor

Waxing Gibbous

• still growing and attracting things
• results-oriented spells
• clarifying questions and divination

Full Moon

• you can do pretty much any kind of spell on the full moon; some of the more popular or ‘big ticket’ items usually are:
• success
• money
• love
• protection

Waning Gibbous

• now starts the half of the moon cycle that involves letting go or clearing out
• here is a good post on waning moon magick in general, non-specific to the part of the cycle
• re-evaluating people, things, habits, situations
• releasing negative energies or habits
• clearing out your home/cleansing
• banishing
• removing obstacles
• getting over emotional things or experiences

Third Quarter

• you can still do things that involve removing, releasing, or letting go
• moving on from things
• putting things in the past or rear view mirror
• clarity (once obstacles are removed)
• working on your shadow self

Waning Crescent

• still getting rid of, letting go, releasing, and banishing
• anything you’re still hanging onto from the rest of the month, now is a good time to let it go and prepare for the next dark moon in a few days
• shadow work

If you want to read more in detail about this, there’s a great little book called Moon Spells by Diane Ahlquist you can pick up that is full of useful and simple guidance for using the phases of the moon to get what you want and change your life.