| Date | Sign & Degree | Intention Theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18 | 28° Capricorn | Structure, career, mastery | Year's first new moon |
| Feb 17 | 28° Aquarius | Networks, vision, futures | Annular Solar Eclipse |
| Mar 18 | 28° Pisces | Dissolving, dreaming, art | Just before equinox |
| Apr 17 | 27° Aries | New beginnings, courage | Post Saturn-Neptune window |
| May 16 | 25° Taurus | Body, sensuality, money | Between two May full moons |
| Jun 14 | 23° Gemini | Communication, curiosity | Near solstice |
| Jul 14 | 22° Cancer | Home, family, nourishment | Pre-eclipse season |
| Aug 12 | 20° Leo | Creativity, visibility, heart | Total Solar Eclipse |
| Sep 10 | 18° Virgo | Work, health, refinement | Pre-equinox |
| Oct 10 | 17° Libra | Partnership, balance, beauty | During Venus retrograde |
| Nov 9 | 17° Scorpio | Depth, intimacy, power | During Mercury retrograde |
| Dec 8 | 16° Sagittarius | Meaning, travel, expansion | Year's final new moon |
Exact UTC times vary by location. Adjust to your timezone for the local date.
A new moon is the moment when the Sun and Moon are in exact conjunction — same degree of the zodiac, same line of longitude from Earth's perspective. The Moon is between us and the Sun, lit from behind, invisible. From Earth, we see a sky empty of moon for roughly 24-48 hours. This is the dark moon window.
Astrologically, the new moon is the cleanest beginning of the 28-day lunar cycle. Whatever themes the sign carries get freshly seeded. Aries new moon seeds new initiative. Cancer new moon seeds new emotional foundation. Capricorn new moon seeds new structure. The cycle then plays out over the next four weeks: waxing crescent (days 1-7), first quarter (day 7), waxing gibbous (days 7-14), full moon (day 14, harvest), waning phases (days 14-28), back to dark moon and the next new moon.
For working with the cycle deliberately, the new moon is the planting day.
The new moon is the cleanest beginning available within a calendar month. Use it.
Find which house each new moon falls in: Enter your birth data in the free birth chart. The house containing the new moon's degree shows which life domain is being reset.
February 17 (28° Aquarius) and August 12 (20° Leo) are solar eclipses, not ordinary new moons. The astrological weight is dramatically higher. An ordinary new moon's effects play out over four weeks; an eclipse new moon's effects play out over six months and sometimes longer.
For dedicated coverage of these two eclipses, see the 2026 Eclipses Complete Calendar. The short version: the February 17 Annular Solar Eclipse in late Aquarius seeds a structural shift in collective systems (the Aquarian domain) that will unfold through 2026 and into 2027. The August 12 Total Solar Eclipse in Leo seeds a public-visibility, leadership, and creative-expression chapter that defines the back half of 2026.
Both eclipses sit at relatively late degrees of their signs (28° Aquarius and 20° Leo), which means they touch anyone with later-degree personal planets in the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). If your Sun, Moon, Ascendant, or any of your personal planets sit between 15° and 28° of those signs, expect strong personal echoes.
The April 17 new moon at 27° Aries deserves special attention because it occurs just two months after the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries (February 20). The new moon is at the far end of Aries — the last degrees before Taurus — which means it inherits the entire arc of Aries activated by Saturn-Neptune.
Aries new moons in any year are good for new beginnings, courage, and physical action. The April 17 new moon, sitting in the immediate aftermath of one of the century's defining transits, carries an unusually heavy invitation: name what is being born. Whatever Saturn-Neptune is asking to dissolve, this new moon offers the chance to seed what will grow in the new ground.
In Bazi (Four Pillars), the Chinese lunar calendar is structured around new moons, not the Western solar calendar. The Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice — for 2026, that is the February 17 new moon (which is also the Aquarius solar eclipse). The year's animal sign (Fire Horse, in 2026) is activated by this new moon in the Bazi framework.
In Hermetic Alchemy, new moons correspond to the nigredo phase — the blackening, the necessary darkness before any new transmutation. The dark hours just before the new moon are particularly potent: the alchemist's hour of stripping away before the next operation begins.
In the Tree of Life, the new moon corresponds to Yesod — the Foundation — at its dark phase. Yesod is normally lit by reflected lunar light; at the dark moon, Yesod is in its receptive, generative darkness. Practitioners describe new-moon-night meditation as descent into Yesod for renewal.
Twelve new moons in 2026, each in a different sign. For practical use:
Pick the new moons that align with your goals. If you want to build new structure or career momentum, focus on the Capricorn (Jan 18) and Virgo (Sep 10) new moons. If you want to deepen relationships, focus on the Cancer (Jul 14), Libra (Oct 10), and Scorpio (Nov 9) new moons. If you want to launch creative work, focus on the Leo (Aug 12 — eclipse) and Pisces (Mar 18) new moons.
Set intentions within 24 hours of the exact new moon. The lunar cycle is most receptive to intention-setting in the dark hours immediately before and after the exact conjunction. Write the intention down, speak it aloud, or share it with someone you trust.
Track which house each new moon falls in your chart. The sign tells you the quality; the house tells you the domain. A Cancer new moon in your 6th house seeds new approaches to daily work; a Cancer new moon in your 10th house seeds new approaches to career.
Twelve fresh beginnings in 2026, two of them eclipses, one of them riding the Saturn-Neptune Aries wave. The lunar year is a slow rolling reset — twelve chances to start something cleanly, twelve different signs of attention. Use the ones that matter; let the others pass.