The Ebb & Flow of Winter 2026 | a Restorative Tide

As the Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth, a rhythm emerges—an ebb and flow that raises and lowers our oceans’ tides. This powerful dance is also believed to influence our moods. During new and full moons, the Earth’s crust is lifted by a few centimeters, resulting in high tides known as spring tides—the highest tides. 

The chart on this page provides a visual of how winter’s lunar ebb and flow will impact us. Although both new and full moons cause higher tides (or intensified emotions), the emotional qualities experienced differ. Full moons lead to increased sociability, anxiety, insecurity, and imagination, with an emotional pull toward connection and deepening energy. New moons can evoke moods of depression and pressure, urging us to step up and solidify our character. Full moons assist us in maturing and refining with deep listening, while new moons encourage detachment and observation, helping us set new goals and plan with higher seeing. 

While the emotional tides may not be as intense around the quarter moons, there are still pronounced moods. The first-quarter moon transitions us from a dreaming and rejuvenation phase into self-oriented action, igniting our initiative and impatience. The last-quarter moon signals when to slow down, encouraging us to share and consider others, moving tensions toward harmony. It helps balance the self-focused actions of the first-quarter moon week with other-oriented cooperation and feedback.

Winter’s Tidal Quality

While our solar seasons have qualities of light and dark that give a tone to our days and nights, the lunar phases also add to this. Like winter starting at our longest night and ending at the equinox with equal day and night, the new moon is our fully dark moon, with the first quarter moon restoring us to a half dark, half light reflection.

The moon adds a mood to the tone of a season. When we layer a dark new moon that is growing in light, like winter itself, we layer a similar mood to the tone of the season. It's for this reason that I look to our new moon weeks in winter to get the purest winter energies within the season.

This year, our new moon weeks bookend the end and start of each solar season. Just as we shift into winter and Capricorn, we are in the midst of a new moon week. The next new moon, a Capricorn New Moon, will arrive just as Capricorn Season ends, and the week of the new moon, slowly growing toward equal light, brings us into Aquarius Season, and so on as we move through winter.

Look to the seasonal transitions around the 19th of each month as a time to be as wintery as you dare: removed, observational, resting, recognizing patterns, letting things fall apart, and dreaming of the new sunrise, spring, and waking. What are you incubating this year? And how is stepping back from life what is needed to help the incubation have space and dreams to tap into?

Get the most out of winter's purpose by paying attention to the new moon weeks, like taking an assignment seriously. This assignment happens to be rest, dreams, and detachment.

A Lag in Our Reflections

The start of winter may still feel like you are integrating aspects of autumn, and as we exit winter, we may feel like we are still stuck in its dreamlands. Be patient this year. Until autumn, there is a lag due to Luna's rhythm. She is sitting far back in a cushy chair as we enter the year, not seeding her reflective journeys in a sign until we are almost out of that sign's season.

While the Sun shows us our conscious side, the moon takes us into the unconscious. With the Sun in an always constant rhythm, what rises and sets in consciousness is always right on time. But our unconscious is a whole different ball game. Luna's new moons are what set her 29-day journey tones, and as each of these journeys shifts where they start from year to year, it's not predictable what our unconscious side is going to be up to, affecting mood, emotion, and response to life.

This year, for most of each solar season, our unconscious side will still be reflecting on the themes of the previous season. As I write this, it is Scorpio Season. Death is all around, and I am conscious of themes of darkness, esoteric musings, and intimacy. But my mood is still oddly peaceful about it all—Libra-ish. Yes, the moon is currently reflecting light from the Scorpio Sun, but its last new moon, where it seeded its intentions for the current 29 days, was in Libra. It is using Scorpio's light to reflect on Libra themes. Our unconscious is a bit behind, still contemplating and feeling into how to anchor trust and fairness into our bodies.

If you feel a lag this winter (and this year to an extent), be patient. Our unconscious side is taking its time to reflect on life.

The Lunar Rhythm of Winter (generalized Dates)

• 2nd–9th: Full Moon Week – Maturing & Flourishing
  Early in each winter month, the lunar light is full and slowly starts to wane. The moon rises at sunset, or a little after, and sets at sunrise, or a little after. This is a week to feel the ripeness of winter's holly berries and the stamina of evergreens. What is bountiful about winter? What is so hearty in you that it still ripens in the chill of the season? Tend to this and let it help you feel good and productive. Perhaps this is simply the joy of baking cookies in a warm kitchen with a glass of wine and a new record playing, or the thrill of snow sports on a bluebird day, soaking in extra vitamin D in the season's crisp air.

• 10th–16th: Last Quarter Moon Week – Relational
  A little further into the month, Luna's reflection is setting, like autumn's waning light. The moon rises at midnight, or soon after, and sets at midday, or just after, like it's asking us to shut down our days a little early. It's a time to consolidate resources and share with others. Stories around a fire, cocktails with a spouse, and dinners with those you are close to. What is intimate about the cold season? Blankets shared, dreams of what's next swirling with openness, and uncertainty exposed. Your want for meaning is less alone than you think.

• 17th–23rd: New Moon Week – Detaching & Rejuvenating (winter’s home tone)
  Moonless nights leave us in the expansive dark, where dreams are pointed to reach far into the center of our galaxy, where mysteries about our source lie. The moon rising and setting with the sun, or a bit after, our days are a bit more pressured, and our nights softer and freer. As the moon starts to noticeably pull back from the sun by midweek, we too seek to detach from the reach and need to be in the thick of things. By the end of this week, let yourself say no to events, to extra work, to any kind of life engagement that feels exhausting. Find escape in music, fantasy movies or books, long baths, and extra sleep. This is the time of rejuvenation and dreams in the season of rejuvenation and dreams.

• 24th–1st: First Quarter Moon Week – Initiating & Energizing
  If you are struggling to find energy in winter, look to this week's rising lunar light. A little boost of levity in the cold months. The moon rises around midday, or a little after, and sets at midnight, or a little after, like it's asking us to prolong our day. What do you want to initiate in winter, in the season of letting go? Maybe you gear your motivation toward rejuvenating activities—booking a massage, finding a sauna, going to a sound bath, or doing something active to get your blood circulating—trying out cross-country skiing. Maybe there's a movie you haven't had the energy to go see in a theater, or an art medium you've been dying to learn. Use the energetic boost to follow dreams and make life meaningful.

ebb & flow of Winter

Generalized Dates