The Crescent “Symbol of the Moon, Motherhood & Fertility” The goddess of motherhood, healing, magic, and fertility Isis was the inspiration behind a number of symbols and amulets such as the Crescent moon symbol which is believed to bring good fortune to all mothers and their children. Note: The Crescent is an ancient Egyptian Symbol of the lunar power of the moon, Fertility, Motherhood, Rebirth, and the Birth cycle. The crescent moon symbol is known as the sun shining at night, the eye of Hours, and can be found with the god Khonsu.

The crescent symbol is primarily used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, “crescent” or “increscent” refers to the waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called “decrescent”. The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver (as the corresponding metal) in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes. In the 2nd-century Bianchini’s planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon (as symbolised by a crescent) representing the female principle (as juxtaposed with the Sun representing the male principle), and (Artemis-Diana being a virgin goddess) especially virginity and female chastity. In Christian symbolism, the crescent entered Marian iconography, by the association of Mary with the Woman of the Apocalypse (described with “the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” in Revelation) The most well-known representation of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse is the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Shape Examples of lunes in planar geometry (shaded areas). Examples in the top row can be considered crescent shapes, because the lune does not contain the center of the original (right-most) circular disk. An astronomically correct crescent shape (shaded area), complemented by a gibbous shape (unshaded area).
The crescent shape is a type of lune, the latter consisting of a circular disk with a portion of another disk removed from it, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs which intersect at two points. In a crescent, the enclosed shape does not include the center of the original disk. The tapered regions towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the “horns” of the crescent. The classical crescent shape has its horns pointing upward (and is often worn as horns when worn as a crown or diadem, e.g., in depictions of the lunar goddess, or in the headdress of Persian kings, etc.