The new moon is the dark phase, when the moon sits between the earth and the sun and nothing is visible in the sky. In practice it is a date in the calendar that gives you a regular reason to sit down and think about what you are starting. That is most of the value of a new moon spread, and it works whether or not you attach anything cosmic to it.

Before you shuffle

Pick one area of life. New moon spreads go wrong when people ask about work, love and money at once and get a muddle back. Write a single sentence about what you want to begin. Ten minutes and a quiet room are enough; incense and candles are optional and change nothing about the reading.

The five-card spread

  1. Where I am starting. The honest condition of things right now.
  2. What I am planting. The intention itself, and how the cards frame it.
  3. What supports it. A resource, a person or a habit already in place.
  4. What gets in the way. Usually the most useful card in the spread.
  5. First step. Something you could do this week.

Lay them left to right. Read card four against card three before you interpret card five, since the first step is usually the answer to the obstacle rather than to the intention.

Working with the whole cycle

  • New moon: set the intention, five cards as above.
  • First quarter, about a week later: one card on what needs adjusting.
  • Full moon, about two weeks in: two cards, what has grown and what to let go.
  • Last quarter: one card on what to keep for the next cycle.

Four short readings a month beat one long one, because the check-ins are where you notice whether anything actually moved.

Keeping a record that is worth rereading

Write the date, the moon phase, the cards in order and two or three sentences of interpretation. Leave a gap at the bottom of the page. When the next new moon comes round, fill the gap with what actually happened. After three or four cycles you will have something more useful than any single reading: a record of how you read the cards when you were hopeful, and how it turned out.

If you would rather have someone read for you

Plenty of readers offer lunar-cycle sessions, and some run monthly memberships around the new moon. Our tarot reader listings show who works in your city with contacts and reviews. If timing is what you are really after, an astrologer works from your chart rather than from cards, and our introduction to astrology explains what that involves.