Getting Married Under a Full Moon

July 9, 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/july9.html

 

Eric:

 
I plan to get married about a year or year and a half from now. I'd like to have an outdoor wedding on a clear night, with lots of moon and starlight. Is it a good idea to get married on the night of a Full Moon? I'd like to plan it for a time when the planets will promote romance and serenity; both on the night of the ceremony and also for the duration of the honeymoon. Can you make some suggestions, or direct me to some easy to use resources for further research? We are open to the seasons of spring, summer, and fall.

 

With Warm Appreciation,

Michelle (and Steve)

 

 

Dear Michelle,

 
It's a fine idea to use astrology as a way of choosing a wedding date. This has been done since time immemorial. But it's complicated by two factors: one is finding an astrologer capable of the work; and the second is that there are so many factors in choosing a wedding date that many people who actually do what is called an 'electional' chart for their wedding cannot use the data because (for example) the catering hall or church are not available. Still, there is no way on God's green Earth that I would get married without choosing the date astrologically; in my view that's just common sense.

 

While it may seem romantic to have the Full Moon rising over your wedding, I don't personally think it's particularly auspicious marriage astrology. Marriages are a beginning; the Full Moon is the culmination of a story -- the peak of something, in this case, the peak of the lunar cycle, and from that day forward, the Moon begins to wane, that is, to shrink -- not to grow. It is like using astrology to put the middle of the story before the beginning of the story, or beginning a football game in the third quarter.

 

While it's not easy to coordinate everything else that has to happen around a marriage with the astrology, I would recommend getting married some time between the New Moon and the first quarter. If you get married around the 3rd through 5th nights of the Moon you'll have a dramatic new crescent setting right behind the Sun, assuming you don't have clouds that evening.

 

It is possible to make a case for a Full Moon wedding chart by saying that the male principle and the female principle are in balance and are in their full points of expression. But it's not a very compelling argument. I can't imagine any farmer or gardener who uses astrology to plant their crops would plant at the Full Moon, not if he wanted a good crop. The 'new' side of the lunar cycle is the seeding moment.

 

There are other factors involved if you want to do a proper wedding electional chart -- two of which should be the positions of Venus and Mars. It can take quite a bit of juggling, and weighing and balancing of the cycles to come up with a good wedding date -- but it can be done, particularly if you are flexible, and you can convince your friends and family to humor you along.

 

I wish you the best, and a joyous wedding.