CapricornThe phase of the Moon on March 12, 2026 was a Last Quarter.
The Last Quarter is for closing loops before the next cycle starts. Whatever hasn't worked over the past two weeks doesn't need forcing any further. Tie off what's finished and clear space instead of starting anything new.
Capricorn rarely quits anything once committed, but the Last Quarter calls for cutting a goal that costs more than it delivers. This phase rewards admitting when a strategy has failed and moving on from it. Free up the effort for a target actually worth the climb.
Today’s recommendations for haircuts, gardening, and surgery are on the Moon Phase Today page.
Length is the wrong goal today. Regrowth runs at its slowest through the second half of the cycle, and most lunar calendars steer bigger cuts away from these days. Spend the time on the things that don't involve scissors: a deep conditioning treatment, or a wash that clears out product buildup. Taking damaged ends off is still worth doing, and arguably better timed here than in a waxing phase, because what you remove stays gone for longer.
Skin and hair both fall under Capricorn in the old system. These are strengthening days: deep conditioning, scalp treatment, cutting damage off the ends, all of it lands well now. What grows back comes in slowly and holds up.
Haircut Moon Calendar
Nothing new goes in the ground. The old reading is that the soil is at its emptiest now and won't carry new growth, so the month's maintenance gets done instead: weeding, mulching, cutting out dead or diseased wood. Pruning is well timed here, since a cut made while the plant is quiet bleeds less and heals cleaner than the same cut in a waxing phase. Leave the beds tidy and they're ready to sow the moment the next cycle starts.
Capricorn closes out the root days and is the sign associated with keeping. Root vegetables lifted now are said to store longest, so aim the main potato harvest at these days if the weather lets you. Sowing works too. Growth off a Capricorn day is just slow to get going.
Gardening Moon Calendar
The almanacs mark this stretch down. Healing capacity is read as dropping off and the cycle as favoring rest, so the old advice is that an operation which can wait should wait for a waxing phase. Note the condition in that sentence. It applies to elective procedures with a movable date and to nothing else, because an operation scheduled for medical reasons should happen when your surgeon scheduled it. Small work that can't be postponed isn't something the tradition objects to either.
Capricorn rules the knees, and the bones and joints more broadly, which is why almanacs move orthopedic work off these days. The sign is linked to skin as well. Some tables extend the rule to dermatological procedures and others don't, one of several places where the tradition disagrees with itself.
* Lunar timing is folk tradition, not medical advice. No research supports scheduling surgery by moon phase. Always follow your surgeon's recommendation on when to operate.
Surgery Moon Calendar
