A wet moon is the visual phenomenon when the “horns” of the crescent Moon point up at an angle, away from the horizon, so that the crescent takes on the appearance of a bowl or smile.

In the evenings during the spring (March, April, May), and in the mornings during the fall (September, October, November), for “temperate” (mid-northern) latitudes, the crescent Moon is oriented in such a manner so as to resemble a “smile” or “boat” with the “horns,” or “cusps,” of the crescent pointing straight up.

The cusps of the crescent moon point upward, and that’s what’s referred to as the Wet moon, because it looks as if the moon may be holding water, like a boat. The shape also resembles a smile, so that’s where the Cheshire nickname derives from—that cat had a mischievous grin.

This Moon is also known as a “Cheshire Moon” because it looks very much like the smile of the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s story about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The moons’ lit side faces the sun. That makes the waxing crescent moon look like a smile, or a boat, or the old moon in the new moons’ arms once light reflected off the Earth – called earthshine – reveals the unlit disk of the moon lit by reflected from Earth.

“We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad”

“ I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: *was* I the same when I got up this morning?”

Lewis Carroll

Waning Moon

As the Moon decreases in size, it goes from full to dark, and this is a time of letting go, it is also a time of completion. If you have been wanting to change something in your life, this is the perfect time. It is also a time of ending anything that doesn’t work in your life, this may be a habit, a relationship, or paying attention to issues  associated with legal matters, this is a time to pay attention to anything that you have been procrastinating about.