As artists, we’re often our harshest critics.
We wish we could be “more productive,” as if that would solve our existential angst. 

Maybe, you wish your creative work could look as effortless and flawless as a Georgia O’Keefe painting, or feel as fun and fountainlike as the latest Instagram artist influencer reel looks. 

Here’s the things that the highlight reels won’t tell you: 

It’s normal to experience ebbs and flows in your practice.
You aren’t a robot, you are a human being.
You need times of rest, reflection, and time to recharge. 

Expecting yourself to persevere doggedly through each day with your creativity endlessly expanded in a world where life is getting more chaotic by the second is self-harm.

You aren’t static and fixed. Thank Goddess.
You are a dynamic, ever-evolving galaxy of possibility, meant to change. 

You move in cycles and seasons, just like nature.
Because you are nature.

Cue the Moon.

Our anchor in the sky. Our cosmic mirror.
And, your guide to creative cycles and seasons.

The Moon is a reflection of many of the cyclical journeys our creativity takes.
Below is a brief overview of how the Moon can guide our creative practice.

The Lunar Phase As A Creative Cycle

We get a spark of inspiration: that’s the New Moon.
It’s ripe for writing things down, setting intentions, and allowing inspiration to fill you up. 

Even if you don’t get to all the ideas floating in your head immediately, the New Moon is a great time to create a “bank” of colors, links, idea and story fragments, or even playlists to match the vibe of your project.

The Waxing Moon is when we get to work. After the ideation phase, one has to start to materialize their creative ambitions. While the Moon waxes, so do the aligned actions you take around your creative idea. This is when you might want to add structure, accountability groups, and outline your plan. This is when you apply devotion and discipline to your ideas, and put pen to page, brush to canvas, song to tape. This could also be the phase where you bring in collaborators, coaches, and helpers. Remember: a planner, a schedule, and a due date are all helpers! 

The Full Moon is when we reach our first cohesive pass, the first finished sketch, and we take a step back, in order to expand further. It is harvest time, something has ripened. This is when we decide if we want to share what we’ve done with someone—or the greater world—or continue to refine or develop the fruits of our labors. The Full Moon is that illumination moment that comes from having enough work in front of us to sense what else is there. We understand more of all the other, greater themes of our work—maybe that sonnet about the flowers is actually a meditation on redemption. Perhaps that melody is reaching back into the rhythms of our ancestry. 

After the Full Moon, we enter the Waning Moon phase. It’s when you respond to the revelations that the development of your creative practice has brought you. You prepare your studio for a visit, send the tune to a friend to hear their thoughts, put the manuscript on the shelf for a few weeks, or decide to send your piece to edits.

The Waning Moon time is also when we go inward even more, even more deeply, so that we might excavate our soul for inspiration. (At this time, you might want to ask your ancestors, the earth, guides, or your therapist for support.) 

This is also a time for greater refinement, a pause, or rest. 
Creatives need time away from our work, time in nature, moving our bodies, or simply time to be bored. When we return to our practice, we will be that much more refreshed. 

The Dark Moon is the end of a cycle. It’s when you alchemize everything you’ve learned through what you’ve experienced. It’s when you compost what isn’t working, so that you can make your creative practice even more regenerative, even more meaningful. This is also when one sheds a particular identity they’ve held as an artist. Maybe you decide to try another medium. Maybe you decide to radically switch up your practice for a bit. All of this germinates within the period of the Dark Moon.

So, there it is: the most basic overview of the creative process, as mapped with the natural cycle of the Moon. 

Over time, you can get even more refined, and can pair your creative process onto an entire lunar cycle—or a season. You’ll see where you ebb and flow. You’ll see where you need more time, practice, or support. This sort of practice becomes meta, and you can notice what aspects of the process are easier for you. 

To start, grab Many Moons 2026 for use as your creative guide. 

Many Moons is the quintessential creative guide for artists, intuitives, mystics, and spiritualists. Many Moons is a completely functional, beautifully designed planner that has phenomenal spiritual additions you will find nowhere else. Think: an abundance of Tarot spreads.

Think: channeled monthly overviews, archetypal deep dives, and full-length ritual, spell, and practice guides for every single New and Full Moon for 2026.

Many Moons contains an astrological overview of the year, as well as every single major transit of 2026 for all you astrologer buffs. We also love the language of archetypes, and so, we use the Tarot archetypes of the year as a guide, teacher, and anchor. 

Many Moons is the guide to living cyclically and seasonally. It’s a way to connect your creative practice to the larger world and to the cosmic energy of the universe. Become the creative you were meant to be this year, with Many Moons as your support.

Get your copy here!