Wishin’ and Dreamin’ in the Dark of the Moon
When the dark nights invite us to turn inward
Three night of total darkness every month
To Astrologers, Wiccans and others, the Dark of the Moon is the term describing the period of about three days just before and after the New Moon every month. It’s the time when the final crescent of light fades on the left … and before the thin crescent of the New Moon appears again on the right. It’s what happens when The Moon is positioned so that from Earth we can see no reflected sunlight from it.
The Moon generates no light of its own. Everything you see from it as it travels the night sky is a reflection of sunlight, and depending on its angle and position relative to The Sun, The Moon cycles through its different phases every month as the days pass. When The Moon and The Sun are on opposite sides of the sky, we get the benefit of its total surface reflecting sunlight. That’s what we call The Full Moon.
But when The Moon gets close to The Sun and the opportunity for reflected light disappears, The Moon appears to vanish also. It’s still up there in the sky, of course, but we can’t see it. Basically, The Moon goes dark. And because it’s aligned for a while with The Sun, when The Sun goes down (and before it comes back up again), The Moon tags…
