Moon phase · 7 of 8
The Last Quarter Moon
A last quarter moon is the phase three quarters of the way through the cycle, when the Moon stands half lit again, now losing light on its way back to dark.
The facts
The last quarter at a glance
| Order in the cycle | 7th of 8, after the waning gibbous, before the waning crescent |
| Illumination | 50 percent, an exact instant, then decreasing |
| Days after the new moon | About day 22.1 of the 29.5 day cycle |
| Rises and sets | Rises around midnight, sets around noon |
| Best viewing | Pre-dawn and morning sky |
| Lit side | Left side in the Northern Hemisphere, right in the Southern |
| How long it lasts | The moment is an instant; the half moon look lasts a night or two |
Timing figures follow the U.S. Naval Observatory and NASA. The four quarter moments are instants; the phases between them are spans of nights.
The science
What is a last quarter moon?
The last quarter is the mirror of the first. The Moon has covered three quarters of its orbit, and from that right angle we again see exactly half of the day side, now the opposite half. It rises around midnight and sets around noon, so this half moon belongs to the small hours and the early risers, and it hangs in the morning sky long after sunrise, easy to spot in daylight.
The reading
What does a last quarter moon mean?
The last quarter is the clearing moon. In moon lore this is the phase for cutting losses, forgiving debts, and closing what will not be finished this cycle. Half the light is gone and half the noise goes with it; what still matters gets carried forward, and the rest gets put down.
Your Primal Zodiac Animal is what we call your Zodi Animal, and each of the 144 lets go in its own style. Reveal your animal for the version keyed to your nature, or see which sign the Moon is in tonight.
Keeper stones
Your keeper stone in this phase
In the stone rooms, the last quarter belongs to the release stones. Smoky quartz and black tourmaline are the ones most often kept for release and grounding, by convention the stones that hold steady while something is cut away. If you keep one, carry it through the endings this week asks for, and set it down when the work is done.
The five elements
The last quarter among the elements
Chinese tradition maps the five elements to planets and seasons, not to moon phases, so we will not pretend otherwise. In the Zodi reading, ours alone, the last quarter keeps company with Metal, the element of the clean cut: the blade that separates what stays from what goes. Walk the element halls and see where your own animal stands.
Metal 金 jīn · Wood 木 mù · Water 水 shuǐ · Fire 火 huǒ · Earth 土 tǔ
Common questions
Questions about the last quarter
How long does a last quarter moon last?
The quarter itself is an exact instant, the moment the Moon stands half lit, three quarters of the way through the cycle. To the eye it looks like a half moon for a night or two before it thins into the waning crescent.
When can I see a last quarter moon?
It rises around midnight and sets around noon, so the best viewing is the pre-dawn hours and the morning. It is one of the easiest moons to catch in daylight, hanging in the western sky through the morning.
What does it mean to be born under a last quarter moon?
In moon lore, people born at the last quarter are the editors, clear about what to keep and what to cut. Cross that with your birth date and you get something more specific: your Zodi Animal, one creature out of 144.
The cycle
Before and after
The last quarter follows the waning gibbous moon and leads into the waning crescent moon. All eight phases live on the moon phases page, in order, and tonight's sky is read on the Moon tonight.