Period on the Waning Moon? Here's the Meaning of your Purple Moon Cycle...

Do you bleed during the waning Moon? This pattern of menstruation is known as a purple Moon cycle, and for spiritual women, it can indicate a profound time in the journal of life.

The purple Moon cycle describes a menstrual cycle that begins during a waning moon. This means that you get your period when the lunar cycle is past its climax (full Moon) and it on its way towards the next new Moon. Then your ovulation phase coincides with the waxing Moon, when lunar energy is brightening and building.

Whether menstrual cycles and lunar cycles correlate remains a disputed subject. A lot of scientific evidence says no. Yet a lot of women experience there being a strong connection between the Moon phases and their periods.

If you’re curious, then do your own research. Track your period, alongside the changing Moon phases, and you’ll soon find out…

Phases of the Moon

Every lunar month, our Moon goes through a series of phases, caused by its orbit around the Earth. These phases are a result of the relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Moon cycles are often separated into eight distinct phases, which are:

One lunar cycle lasts approximately 29.5 days. This is the time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth.

Waning Moon meaning

A waning Moon is a Moon phase that occurs after the full Moon and before the new Moon. During this phase, the illuminated portion of the Moon visible from Earth gradually decreases over two weeks, until it’s completely invisible, and the dark Moon phase has arrived.

The waning Moon phase is generally associated with inner reflection, and surrendering old habits, patterns, and emotions. Spiritually, it is a time to reflect on what’s no longer serving us and to release it, to make space for new growth and opportunities.

The waning lunar phases are also a time for self-care and healing, as well as for completing unfinished projects or tasks, in preparation for the fresh energy that will come with the new lunar cycle.

The waning Moon is comprised of three different phases: waning gibbous, last quarter and waning crescent. Each of these has a slightly different kind of energy, and therefore a different influence when coinciding with your menstrual phase.

woman in red dress with lunar and menstrual phase

What does it mean when your period is on a waning gibbous Moon?

To bleed when the Moon is in her waning gibbous phase means there is still a lot of lunar light and energy available to you while you’re menstruating. You’re being invited to take this light within, and engage in self-reflection.

A waning gibbous Moon occurs just after the full Moon, when illumination has started to decrease. If you get your period during this lunar phase, you have a purple Moon cycle, and it means you’re entering a time of increased clarity, gratitude and release.

Purple Moon cycle women are encouraged to take their personal growth seriously. They’re going through a powerful time in their lives, reaching new levels of independence, and autonomy.

What does it mean when your period is on a last quarter Moon?

If you bleed on the third-quarter Moon, you have a purple Moon cycle, and this signifies a time of time of deep realisation and release. As dark and light reach a moment of balance on the Moon’s surface, your body is inviting you to descend, and and it’s time retreat into the darkness of your inner world.

The third quarter phase occurs when the illuminated part of la Luna visible from Earth is about 50%, and the Moon is 270º from the Sun. In astrology, it’s known as a square, and often coincides with a time of tension.

A woman who menstruates during the last quarter Moon is being asked to face up to her inner struggles, and fully release any programmes, habits and attachments that are keeping her small.

The Purple Moon cycle woman is related to the wild woman archetype, and she’s unapologetic in her truth. Yet this requires the purple Moon woman to be brutally honest with herself too – and to do the work to release anything no longer aligned.

What does it mean when your period is on a waning crescent Moon?

To menstruate during a waning crescent Moon means you are entering a time of deep retreat, introspection and rest. Also part of the purple Moon cycle, this menstrual cycle is experienced by women almost ready to birth new creations into the world, yet still some more time, reflection and insight are needed.

The waning crescent Moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the illuminated portion of the Moon visible from Earth decreases from 49% to just over 1%. Also known as a balsamic Moon, it happens between the last quarter and the dark Moon and lasts for around a week.

Although women who bleed under a waning crescent Moon are known as purple Moon women, this cycle comes close to the white Moon cycle. White Moon women bleed around new Moon time, and they tend to be in the more fertile phase of their lives, where family and children are a priority.

If your menstrual cycle aligns with the very end of the waning cycle, you maybe transitioning into a new, more maternal phase of life.

Woman with purple Moon cycle under a purple sky

What is the purple Moon cycle’s spiritual meaning?

Spiritually, the purple Moon cycle can indicate a profound time in a woman’s life. To get your period on a waning Moon means your intuitive and psychic abilities are heightened, and you’re being called to turn your awareness inwards, to seek inner truth, wisdom and clarity.

After the full Moon phase, lunar light naturally decreases, and this is when your body is calling you inwards too. But this needn’t always be a quiet time of gentle retreat. For the purple Moon woman, her work is only just beginning – like the wild woman archetype, you’re seeking freedom, autonomy and the rawness of a woman untamed.

As your own blood is shedding, so are the masks, identities and contracts keeping you from expanding into the truth of who you are.

Spiritually, the purple Moon cycle brings menstruating women in closer alignment with their core. They’re being supported to strip away the pretence, and make space for authenticity.

The purple Moon cycle can be a powerful opportunity for women to tap into their inner wisdom, get clear on their needs and desires, and release anything that no longer serves them on a soul level. Emotions may run high as past experiences, patterns, and energy are cleared out. But purple Moon witches – as these women can sometimes be known – are ready for the insights this brings.

5 Tips to Harness your purple Moon cycle

So your periods are falling on the waning Moon? Identifying your purple Moon cycle is the first step.. but how can you begin to work with this wild and transformational menstrual cycle?

We’ve got you covered! Here are 5 ways to harness the energy of your purple Moon cycle…

1. Get outside

You may just want to snuggle up indoors, but make the effort to spend time in the natural world, especially just before your bleed, when in the luteal phase.

Mother nature will help to harmonize and recalibrate your system, enabling you to receive insights much more easily and clearly.

Take a walk in the woods, spend time by the water, or simply sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.

2. Practice journaling

Journaling with a pen and paper will help you to access parts of the unconscious that hold the keys to many of your hidden beliefs, conditioning and patterns. When you are bleeding and the Moon’s cycle is waning, all of the energy available to you is supporting this inward gaze. Make use of it.

3. Practice shadow work

Under the waning Moon, shadow work is always a potent practice. When a woman’s menstruation aligns with the waning lunar phases, the drop into your personal underworld can be deeper and more profound.

Harness your purple Moon cycle by doing your shadow work at this phase. This will support both your body and mind to let go, so that you can truly feel inspired by new projects and potentials, and embrace creative energies under the new Moon phase.

Curious to try out shadow work (or find new ways to do it?) Then check out these posts:

4. Try womb healing

The womb holds so much pain, trauma and memory. Practising womb healing (either on your own, in the safe space of home, or with a womb healing practitioner) can be a profound way to help move stagnant energy, along with the blood also leaving your body.

5. Try shamanic journeying

During menstruation, you have greater access to the spiritual realm, meaning you can receive messages from beyond the veil, with greater ease. Shamanic journeying has been practiced since ancient times, and is a profound way to connect to your spirit guides and allies.

Many women with a purple Moon cycle women are more attuned to a shamanic way of seeing, as it’s a technology that belongs to the Goddess!

Other menstrual cycle and Moon phase patterns

Menstrual cycles and the Moon can synchronize in many different ways. This can change throughout a woman’s life, and is affected by many different factors too, from diet and exposure to stress, to hormonal birth control and pregnancy.

Here are the most common Moon and menstrual cycle connections:

Red Moon cycle

The red moon cycle describes a menstrual cycle that begins during a full moon. This means that you get your period when the lunar cycle reaches it’s climax, whilst your own ovulation phase coincides with the new Moon.

White Moon cycle

The red moon cycle describes a menstrual cycle that begins during a new moon. This means that you get your period when the lunar cycle is just beginning, and your ovulation coincides with the full Moon when the cycle reaches its climax.

Pink Moon cycle

.The pink moon cycle describes a menstrual cycle that begins during a waxing moon. This means that you get your period when the lunar cycle has already begun, and is moving towards the full Moon. For the pink Moon cycle woman, ovulation coincides with the waning Moon. So the pink Moon cycle is a mirror image of the purple one.