What is a Moon Family?
Before I had discovered Moon Families and the longer Lunar Gestation Cycle, discovered by Dietrich Pessin, I felt overwhelmed by all the things there are to learn about the Lunar Cycles, the Moon and her wisdom. I had trouble remembering when the moon was having certain phases and was eager to find a way to streamline it and begin a Moon Ritual Practice.
Pessin’s important work allows astrologers and students to understand the longer cycles of the Moon Families associated with it to further their understanding and discovery of predictive astrology. I’ve used it to understand and work within the energies of the moon, instead of pushing against them.
I’ll be sharing what Moon families are, how I use them in my own Moon Rituals and practice and give tips to use them too.
What is a Moon Family?
In short, a Moon Family is a series of lunations that are determined to happen within the same sign and approximate degree over a 27 month period. Key points of the cycle include the New, First Quarter, Full and Third Quarter Moons. Dietrich Pessin, the astrologer who discovered the longer Lunar Gestation Cycle, gave this series the name.
It’s important to note that the family is determined by the New Moon, the first in the series of the lunations in each family. Knowing which sign and degree of the New Moon determines which house of the chart will be affected.
If the New Moon happens in the sign of Libra, the First Quarter Moon that happens nine months later will also happen in Libra, around the same degree. And so on as the Moon makes its journey through the longer Lunar Gestation Cycle.
I have found a few exceptions to this rule.
Sometimes, the New Moon happens at an early or late degree of the sign. What happens is that the subsequent points of the lunar cycle falls back or forward into the previous/next sign. It helps to have the Solar Fire astrology software in order to see the moon families. There is also an ephemeris in Pessin’s book, Lunar Shadows III. (affiliate link)
I’ve also produced a Moon Family Ephemeris for my Moon Play Moon Journal. It separates the families by the lunations and shows when the next lunations will happen in that family.
Why is Understanding the Moon Family Important?
Using this information for my weekly moon rituals and planning in my business has been so beneficial in helping me understand the moon, her cycles and how I manifest with them.
By understanding how a Moon family plays out within the lunar cycles, I can pinpoint the specific house the Moon is focused on with her energy. Of course, I can usually clearly see (and feel!) which house is being triggered by what is coming up in my life. But it’s always nice to check in with the Moon and see what she has to say about the subject!
Each lunation reveals a part of the story until the full manifestation, and according to Pessin, you can use any point of the cycle to understand the lesson or what’s coming in this particular experience.
“The use of the nine-month cycle is applicable to any given point in time, with or without the use of an entire Moon family.”
Dietrich Pessin, Lunar Shadows III The Predictive Power of Moon Phases and Eclipses
By watching the longer lunar cycle, I feel the support of the Universe and know that this is just part of the story and I have the power to decide how I will respond in each circumstance when each lunation comes up. Empowering, yeah?
3 Tips for Working With Moon Families
I know it can feel overwhelming to think that these lunar cycles are going on and on with or without you. It’s exactly how I felt when I first learned about this work.
As I’ve been studying her work, and digging deeper into my own astrology practice, I have a few takeaways for working with the Moon Families.
Look to the Past
The basis of Astrology is to study cycles and make sense of them in order to somewhat predict which energies will be at play at any given moment. We can’t predict the future, of course, but understanding the quality of the energies can help us gauge how we need to show up in each circumstance.
Exercise:
Think back to some key points in your life, maybe some big turning points in which you were led to make a decision. Did they happen at a certain lunation? Which Moon Family was that lunation a part of? If you track back and forward through the entire Moon Family, you may see that the circumstances played out with the energy of that family of lunations.
Begin a Daily Tracking Practice
I had already been tracking my days with an energy tracker when I learned of this work. Which helped me understand it even more than simply thinking back to big events in my life. I don’t know about you, but I simply can’t remember ALL. THE. THINGS. If they aren’t written down, I forget…
Use a Moon Journal or BuJo to begin tracking your life as you move through life. I created the Moon Play Moon Journal to help you keep this information all in one place. The Daily Snapshot page can help you document what events are coming up, dreams you may be having, oracle cards that may be reflecting back to you your vibe, as well as a place to keep notes about the daily occurrences that may reveal clues to the Moon Family story.
Add a Weekly Moon Ritual
Layer on a weekly moon ritual for analysis and understanding of the entire Moon family cycle. Once you have a good amount of daily pages filled out, you will have historical evidence of the way each Moon Family has been playing out in your life. In order to begin to understand the guidance of each Moon Family, documenting the last 9-27 months is helpful.
Start where you are.
My journey to understanding the Moon Families and the wisdom contained in each began with a daily documentation of my life. I then added New and Full Moon rituals, and later added the quarter lunations of the Lunar Cycle. It is a work in progress, especially if you aren’t an astrologer!
Oh but the progress and wisdom you can learn from practicing with the Moon Families and the longer Lunar Gestation Cycle. I’d love to be your guide on your journey. Be sure to hop on my mailing list in order to learn more about the Moon, her cycles and how to align you life and business to the wisdom contained.
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