The chart covers one lunation
Each Lunation Chart presents one lunar cycle as a circle, from one new moon to the next, about 29.5 days. On the chart the period begins at the seam at the bottom, sweeps clockwise, and ends at that same seam.
The Lunation Chart reveals a single cycle of the Moon.
How the chart works
Features are arranged in bands
The outer part of the chart is organized in concentric bands, each of which shows a different kind of information as described the following sections.
Some features continue through the seam
Some feature bands fit the lunation exactly and so continue smoothly through the seam at the bottom. Other feature bands do not line up perfectly with one chart, so they leave a small gap there, indicating that they began on the previous chart and continue on the next.
Feature bands
Moon at culmination
The outer Moon images show the Moon's appearance near its highest point in the local sky. They give a visual cue for how the Moon looks as the lunation unfolds.
Moon and Sun elevation
The elevation band shows when the Moon and Sun are above or below the horizon, and how high each one climbs during the day.
Moon phase
The phase band shows the Moon's illuminated shape through this lunation, from new moon toward full moon and back again.
Moon in the zodiac
This band marks the Moon's passage through zodiac signs. It can be read alone or compared with phase, date, and event markers at the same point.
Gregorian day and hour
This band helps to look up the date of any event, or to look up the events that happen near a date of interest. A diamond marks the start of the day and each tick mark indicates an hour.
Rare events
Rare Events mark astronomical, astrological, and other significant occurrences.
Center and reference
Lunation name
The lunation name identifies this cycle within the larger Lunation Year.
Chart date range
The date range names the Gregorian span covered by the whole chart. The outer date band then lets you locate individual days inside that span.
Location
Location-dependent features, including Sun and Moon rise and set times, are calculated for the a specific place. This in turn determines the time zone, which affects the Gregorian dates. Longitude shifts the local timing of the sky itself, by about four minutes for each degree east or west; latitude has a more subtle effect on celestial observations.
Moon's orbit around Earth
The orbit diagram gives a visual anchor for the Earth-Moon geometry behind the cycle. It helps connect the outer bands to the central relationship they describe.
State table
The state table collects compact symbolic information that would be too dense to read as another outer band. The center column names the heavenly body. The left column shows the zodiac sign or signs it traverses during this lunation. The right column shows the Sun's season, or for the planets, their direction of motion. Superscripts relate those changes to events in the Rare Events band.
Next Chart
Read the Year Chart
The two chart types use related visual language, but they answer different questions. Use the Lunation Chart for the close reading: Gregorian date, Moon phase, sky position, and nearby events. Use the Year Chart for seasonal context, the sequence of lunations, and year-wide patterns.