Moon Calendar July-August 2026
Moon Calendar – Reading the skies
By Monique Macfarlane
As we pass through the natural โnew yearโ in the southern hemisphere, now is the perfect time to witness the tohu (signs) of the coming seasons. As the stars reappear on the horizon at dawn, take note of how bright they are, where they sit in the sky, the luminosity in reference to each other โ for all of this is vital information. What does it mean? What are they telling us? It depends on your local environment, and the nuances of your ecosystem.
Gathering data, or notes, on reading the skies is part of being in active conversation with everything surrounding you and within you, and fostering the relationship in letting nature lead. Her intelligence, wisdom, and grace is a beautiful thing to witness.
In the coming months, you can gather many more tohu to understand the significance of the stars that rise in the dawn to herald a โnew yearโ. It might be that the blossoms come earlier in spring, or later, it might be that a spring or water source dries earlier, or flows with abundance. It might be birds arriving at a certain time, animals you may not have noticed before in your environment, whether the seas are abundant or not in food in the forthcoming months. Winds also are an indication of the unfolding, as with rainfall, clear days and crop abundance.
Witness. Take notes. Catalogue. And over time, an understanding will emerge, deepen, and reconnect you to the wisdom of the world.
Research News companion: Beyond the dates themselves, recent plant science explores how seedlings sense full moonlight โ a practical companion to this calendar. Read Your plants can see the moon (Organic NZ Research Desk).
IMAGE above: Te Wฤnanga o Aotearoa
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Monique Macfarlane is a holistic food systems facilitator, teaching biodynamics, planting by the moon, no-dig food growing and self-sufficiency. See www.natural-wisdom.net
Monique co-creates with organic, biodynamic, regenerative, no-till, and natural principles on eight hectares in Waihi that includes a small market garden, orchard, pastoral grazing, chickens and agroforestry.
Images: Arina-Ulyasheva, VeraPetruk
