  We present new narrow-band Ha, [N II], and [O III] high-resolution images of
the quadrupolar planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6309 that show in great detail its
bipolar lobes and reveal new morphological features. New high- and
low-dispersion long-slit spectra have been obtained to help in the
investigation of the new nebular components. The images and spectra unveil two
diffuse blobs, one of them located at 55 arcsec from the central star along the
NE direction (PA= +71) and the other at 78 arcsec in the SW direction (PA=
-151). Therefore, these structures do not share the symmetry axes of the inner
bipolar outflows. Their radial velocities relative to the system are quite low:
+3 and -4 km/s, respectively. Spectroscopic data confirm a high [O III] to Ha
ratio, indicating that the blobs are being excited by the UV flux from the
central star. Our images convincingly show a spherical halo 60 arcsec in
diameter encircling the quadrupolar nebula. The expansion velocity of this
shell is low, 66 km/s. The software SHAPE has been used to construct a
morpho-kinematic model for the ring and the bipolar flows that implies an age
of 4,000 yrs, the expansion of the halo sets a lower limit for its age 46,000
yrs, and the very low expansion of the blobs suggests they are part of a large
structure corresponding to a mass ejection that took place 150,000 yrs ago. In
NGC 6309 we have direct evidence of a change in the geometry of mass-loss, from
spherical in the halo to axially-symmetric in the two pairs of bipolar lobes.
