Lunation Calendar · — Year Chart Legend

The chart covers one annual cycle of lunations

Each Year Chart presents one annual cycle of named lunations as a circle. It begins at the start of one Wolf Moon lunation and ends before the start of the next. The cycle contains 12 or 13 lunations — about 354 or 384 days — depending on whether it includes a Blue Moon. A Lunation Chart for every lunation in that cycle is included in the calendar package, along with any additional Lunation Charts needed to span the complete calendar year. The Year Chart starts at the seam at the bottom, moves clockwise, and returns to the seam.

Lunation names deep dive

Features are arranged in bands

The outer part of the chart is organized into concentric bands. Each band carries a different feature, described in the sections that follow.

Some features continue through the seam

Some features repeat at the seam and so continue smoothly from one chart to the next. Features that do not repeat there are rendered with a small gap, indicating that they began on the previous chart and continue on the next.

Lunation Names Band

Names each lunation in the Year Chart’s annual cycle.

Lunation names deep dive

Eclipse Band

Reveals when the alignments that produce eclipses recur. Its waveform traces the Moon’s motion north or south of the ecliptic through its tilted orbit. New and Full Moons are indicated with dots and radial lines; eclipses are marked with circled dots, whose clusters reveal eclipse seasons.

Eclipse deep dive

Seasons Band

Divides the solar year at the solstices and equinoxes and names the seasons between them. Because the solar year does not divide evenly into lunations, seasonal boundaries fall at different points within the surrounding lunations.

Wheel of the Year Band

Locates the four quarter-day festivals associated with the solstices and equinoxes, together with the four cross-quarter festivals between them, using names common to many modern traditions. Each festival runs from the preceding sunset through the following day.

Gregorian Month Band

Divides the cycle into Gregorian months and marks each day with a tick.

Location deep dive

Rare Events Band

Pinpoints selected astronomical and astrological events within the annual cycle. Label colors group related events: lilac for astrological events, gold for solar eclipses, blue for lunar eclipses, and gray for other Rare Events.

Rare Events Legend Symbol Reference

Zodiac Bands

Trace the Sun and classical planets moving through the tropical zodiac. Each sign has its own color, shared across every planetary band and the Lunation Chart. Retrograde passages keep the sign’s hue but use a thicker rail with stronger contrast. Conjunctions are indicated with a whisker connecting the bands. The text appears in lilac, visually grouping the bands with the chart’s other astrological features.

Astrology deep dive Symbol Reference

Gregorian Year

Names the chart for the Gregorian year it mostly covers.

Chart Date Range

Identifies the calendar dates spanned by the annual cycle of lunations.

Location

Identifies the location for which the chart is calculated.

Location deep dive