Last Quarter
Half dark. Traditionally a release point — the phase for letting go of what did not work rather than forcing it to work.
What This Phase Suits
Letting go, clearing out, forgiving
Where It Sits
Half lit again, ninety degrees from the sun on the other side of the cycle. The last quarter rises around midnight and is highest at dawn, so it belongs to the early morning sky.
Visually it is the mirror of the first quarter - the opposite half of the face is illuminated.
How It Is Read
The second square of the cycle, and read as the crisis of conscience to the first quarter's crisis of action. The traditional emphasis is on release: deciding what to stop, what did not work, and what to let go before the cycle restarts.
As with the first quarter, the reading follows from the square aspect rather than from anything specific to the moon, which is at least consistent.