New Moon: Meaning and Energy
See the moon phase for any date: a drawn moon disc, illumination percentage, lunar age and the traditional meaning of the phase.
New Moon
The sky's blank page: a traditional moment for setting intentions, starting quiet drafts and resting before the build-up begins.
About this tool
At new moon the moon sits between the Earth and the Sun with its lit side facing away from us, so for a night or two the sky simply has no moon in it. It is day zero of the 29.5-day lunar cycle — the point every other phase is counted from.
Folk tradition treats the new moon as a blank page: the classic moment for setting intentions, starting quiet drafts and resting before the visible build-up begins. Lunar calendars and planting almanacs alike mark it as the seed moment of the month.
Not sure whether tonight — or your birthday — falls on a new moon? The calculator behind this page shows the exact phase, the illumination percentage and the lunar age in days for any date, computed right in your browser.
Example. The date 21 January 2000 returns a full moon, illumination 100 percent, and a lunar age of 14.7 days.
Limit. Age is a single synodic month of 29.530588853 days counted from the 6 January 2000 18:14 UTC new moon, not a full astronomical ephemeris.