serena’s printable lunar calendar 2022–23

Time took on a strange new form in the pandemic. I’ve noticed myself grow increasingly detached from the nominal week / month view of the Gregorian calendar. As my detachment grew, I began to observe time passing in nature: the moon changing shape, flowers budding and blooming, trees shining cool green, brilliant orange, and then bare. In a time when everything seems to happen in a digital space, paying extra attention to the world outside feels grounded, replenishing, real.

I’ve also been taken with this idea of “Wintering” as described by author Katherine May. This reminder that life goes through cycles of ups and downs, of frantic excitement and of pensive sadness. That these periods of quiet, of detachment, are important. That so much of our ailments result from us trying to avoid and distract from sadness, or any kind of emotional pain. How easy it is for us to forget that after every winter, no matter how bitterly cold, comes growth. After survival, a flourishing.

This minimal lunar calendar is an attempt to be more cognizant of the world outside our screens. The “months” flow from one new moon to the next, with the solstices, equinoxes and mid-seasons marked. Days flow from top to bottom, then left to right. The weeks are bookended by weekends, which are denoted with thicker lines. The first day of each column is the start of a new phase of the moon (new, first quarter, full, third quarter). The exact time of each phase might be occasionally one day off depending on where you are in the world. Astronomical events such as eclipses, notable meteor showers, are also noted. Planets in opposition are marked also — a great time to find them in the night sky, when they’re shining at their brightest.

As the world outside goes through its own cycles of summers, winters; phases of light and dark, I hope this calendar reminds us to be patient with ourselves as we go through our own phases in life.