I recently travelled to Scotland's Outer Hebrides to witness the 2024-2025 Major Lunar Standstill – a cosmic event that occurs every 18-19 years over an 18-month period. It was amazing being up at the magnificent Calanais stone circles, close to the Arctic Circle, in the middle of the night with dozens of other mad stargazers.
Lunar standstills occur when the moon reaches her most extreme point in relation to the horizon, i.e. when she is at her highest and lowest point in the sky, and appears to hover or stand still for a brief period before retracing her steps. When the moon is closest to the horizon, an optical illusion makes her seem much larger and brighter. And the further north or south you travel, the more impressive this phenomenon is.
Lunar Standstill at Calanais III, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, May 2025
Image: Megalithic Portal – peterthedancer
At Calanais I, the moon, low on the horizon, can be viewed shining through the tall megaliths as she “walks” across the body of the Cailleach or “Old Woman of The Moors”, a range of hills in the far distance. The Calanais sites were built 5-6000 years ago, and from the stone circles you can see the moon skimming or disappearing behind various parts of the old woman’s body, sometimes referred to as ‘Sleeping Beauty’.
Major Lunar Standstill – Calanais I
Image: Margaret Curtis
Lunar Standstill & Emotional Balance
Native American tribes, Celtic Druids, Mayan shamans and Australian aboriginals all used the moon to track time and connect with spirit. Some cultures saw the moon as a goddess.
Sacred places like Calanais in Scotland, Carnac in France, Stonehenge in England and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico have stone structures aligned to the extreme positions of sun and moon, especially at solstices and lunar standstills. These sites were not merely observatories, but centres of spiritual connection and emotional balance.
Lunar cycles are deeply linked with dreams, feelings and intuition. While the Major Lunar Standstill is an astronomical event, it also holds profound significance for the human soul. The moon at the most extreme point of her cycle can open a portal to different dimensions, inviting us to light up the darkest corners of our lives. What are we hiding? What emotions have we buried? What are we ready to let go of? How can we pause with purpose, remaining quiet and still?
You may feel emotional or out of balance at this lunar standstill, but this is all part of the process of understanding and accepting limits. Be kind, gentle and patient. Stop pretending, stop rushing and start healing. Let the moon’s stillness be your stillness. Let her stretch be your growth. And let this rare cosmic moment herald a quiet, sacred beginning.
Major Lunar Standstill Themes (2024-2025)
- Emotional release: an opportunity to process old grief, anger or sadness.
- Ancestral connection: understanding and honouring family lineage through dreams, symbols, rituals and memories.
- Karmic closure: life lessons endlessly repeated can now come to an end.
- Heightened intuition: messages, synchronicity and epiphanies offer a sense of clarity.
- Balance: weighing up light and shadow; rest and effort; body and spirit.
- Coming home: the moon does not travel in a straight line. She rises, curves, climbs, sinks, and pauses. She teaches us about the cycles of life and knowing when we’ve reached our limit.
