Born Under a First Quarter Moon

The Waxing Half-Moon Phase

Half Moon
Stijn Dijkstra / EyeEm / Getty Images

At the First-Quarter Moon, the tension builds and something has to give! If you're born under this Moon, you live with this intensity and are often a catalyst for breakthroughs.

The First-Quarter is also the waxing Half-Moon phase, and a kind of showdown before the Full Moon reaches its crescendo. It's considered a critical point of no return, and sometimes there's a sacrifice of what's not working.

It's a point when change is forced upon us, and clashes with who we've been.  

Astrologer Dana Gerhardt writes for Astrodienst, "We decide our futures at the quarter Moons. 'Caught,' as Rudhyar said, 'in the wheel of change,' we turn ourselves towards fulfillment or failure, as an incoming tide of possibilities slams against the momentum of what we've already known."

The complementary phase is the waning (decreasing) Half-Moon or Third-Quarter Moon. And that's the phase of crisis leading to the New Moon, and it's also a Sun-Moon square.

Both are confrontations with the familiar, and a demand to make big adjustments, to prepare for the next lunation (New Moon) or lunar peak (Full).

The Sun and Moon Square

This friction can be a motivating factor, bringing a sense of urgency to your life. You get things done!

You know instinctively what needs to be adjusted and can be decisive (even ruthless) about making changes. This makes you a capable leader who is willing to question the status quo.

The tension comes from the Sun and Moon being at a hard angel -- the square.  These get a bad rap, but what would we do without those times of peaking stress, when we're compelled to change!

The square pits the mission (Sun) against the comfort zone (Moon), and a new force busts through from the collision.

You'll want to look closely at your Sun and Moon signs, and the Sun-Moon relationship in your birth chart. The square means they are in the same modality (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable). This gives you the flavor of the tension that your Moon phase imprints on your personality.

Crisis of Confidence 

You may often find yourself in situations that provoke a crisis of confidence.  You might also often have to defend your ideas, particularly the ones that rock the status quo.  

You're at home in this kind of crucible, and might be bored in work where there's no friction.  At times, you might back down from the challenge of the moment, since emotions are so high.  

This is definitely a Moon phase for feeling the fear and doing it anyway.  But it's also one for discerning the best course, while under extreme pressure.  

It’s a point when crucial decisions are made, about what to leave behind, and what to develop further. You can work with the tension, and allow it to keep you on a forward path of growth. But you can also live with a lot of drama, and a feeling that there’s never any peace.

You make the most of these tensions when you consciously direct that intensity toward positive change. Through trial and error, you gain confidence in your own ability to push through resistance in an effective way. You may be a big personality that others see as relentlessly provoking change.

You’re at your best when your forceful assertiveness is directed toward a higher purpose.

Here's a way to Find Your Moon Phase:

  • On the Lunar Calendar: 7 to 10 1/2 days after the New Moon
  • Degree: 90 to 135 degrees ahead of the Sun
  • Inner Directive: to provoke change, seize the day