By Len Wallick
Continuing from yesterday, this is the last of over four consecutive days when Luna will be situated in a sign opposing the sign where the Sun is. That is an extraordinary length of time for that particular aspect to last. What’s even more impressive is how this functionally extended Full Moon is winding up. If we count only the conjunctions in Gemini and the oppositions in Sagittarius, our luminary of the night chalks up no less than 18 aspects to various planets, exotics and asteroids in one day. That’s one every 80 minutes. That’s more than one for every degree. Once again, that is counting only the Moon’s conjunctions and oppositions to objects in only two signs over the course of one day — today.
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Synchronicity would thus dictate that wherever Gemini and Sagittarius fall in one’s chart would bear witness to a fast and furious variety of alliances and confrontations. It could get confusing. It certainly looks taxing. It might do well to review how to deal with those two aspects. In the process of doing so we might find a singular, typifying extrapolation to simplify your day.
Conjunctions are when two bodies occupy the same degree of longitude from our point of view here on Earth. The orbit of influence that makes the conjunction functional will depend on the source you refer to. In general, anything less than five degrees apart is considered to be a single conjunction. That would make the early lunar sweep from Siwa to Diana to Psyche one committee meeting, merging the energies of all four with the sign of Gemini and the third house. Neatly opposing those three asteroids conjoining the Moon are three bodies in Sagittarius (in order): Pallas, Mars and an object that orbits out past Neptune named Quaoar.
As a way to sample and narrow things down, let us select the first pair of opposing asteroids the Moon encounters and see if we can find a theme. While the name Siwa is a way of saying Shiva in some parts of the world, it does not appear as if the Hindu god of creation and destruction is what the discovering astronomer had in mind. In 1874, when Johann Palisa identified this object of the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, he apparently drew upon a faded local mythology. In this case, Siwa was named after a fertility goddess of the orally-transmitted pagan tradition of the Slavic peoples.
The Gemini Moon in conjunction with Siwa would seem to combine to tell a tale. A story of our own personal emotional and intuitive recollections from a time long past. Perhaps childhood, perhaps a previous generation, maybe even a previous species. Now that story wants to be expressed as a feeling long held or belief somehow forgotten.
Pallas is on the other side in Sagittarius, geometrically and thematically opposed to Siwa. As an influential member of the Greco-Roman pantheon Pallas is repeatedly commemorated in writing, sculpture and architecture. As a goddess she is strikingly modern, representing the human potential of women above and beyond fertility and reproduction. But as Joni Mitchell implied, there’s something lost with something gained. You don’t have to be Freud to figure out what it means to be born in a full suit of armor, emerging into the world from the head of a male deity.
The word opposition makes the aspect almost self explanatory. It is an external thing about being in between polarities, something like being in a bind between two people or traditions or institutions. When experiencing a bind, introducing the two sides and asking them to talk amongst themselves probably won’t work. Instead, it is for the party in the middle to negotiate with each part separately, becoming the solution as much as creating one.
Turns out that one example summarizes what the Moon is going through today, a process of mediation between expression on one side and manifestation on the other. What’s being negotiated is a pathway between opposing notions of identity as assumed not through the intellect but through emotional attachments and inherited conditioning which we are only intuitively aware of. How are we made and what we can make of ourselves?
So a complicated multitude of conjunctions and oppositions is made simple and what begins as a bewildering day becomes routine. We encounter people with expectations. We bring desires of our own. We negotiate our way through polarities and define ourselves in the process. Sounds pretty normal now, right?
And what should synchronicity provide us with but a supporting sextile immediately after the Moon has traversed those three successive oppositions. A sextile to Eris, the dwarf planet out there on the edge of the solar system, up there in the middle of Aries, representing the post-modern challenge posed by the issue of identity.
Earlier this month Mike Brown, co-discoverer of Eris and a number of other minor planets, described how Eris itself is still in the process of being defined. Seems that when this body passed directly in front of a star, the measurements yielded by the occultation clearly indicated a smaller diameter and denser composition than previous thermal and photographic observations predicted. This further distinguished Eris from Pluto, a more familiar dwarf planet that was originally assumed to have a lot in common with the newcomer.
The Moon is simultaneously engaged in a rapid series of oppositions and experiencing a preternaturally long standoff with the Sun. This signifies the process of defining identity and encapsulates developments since the Moon went full two days ago. Add to that yesterday’s beginning of Solar Sagittarius with the onset of Mercury’s echo phase. By new characters taking the stage, the plot develops. When the plot develops, the identity of the characters is defined. But even as the wheel turns, the continuity is sustained. The essential elements are drawn out as if for emphasis while the ephemeral moments congeal into a stable theme.
Speaking of theme, now more than ever, Jupiter rules the sky. That’s where we shall take up again in two days when the fortunate among us get to celebrate the occasion of a square meal.
Offered In Service
Tracy,
Thank you for the benefit of your erudition and sound judgement.
be,
Thank you for the additional information. That’s one long Moon void. It’s very cold here, by the way. Set a record low for the date and area last night.
With great astrology teachers like the two of you, one can only be thankful regardless of the time of year.
Len,
Time of nuptials not posted anywhere yet, to my knowledge. I agree, as long as the Moon is aspecting the GC she isn’t void, whereas most astrologers (esp. old world types) see her void of course if there are no major planets making major aspects before she leaves the sign. I did a chart for noon in London and the Moon was at 26 Pisces 46. It would be late in the evening (9ish if I remember right) before she would enter Aries, and because Saturn would have been her last aspect, a quincunx (I consider it major) at 12 degrees Libra, she would have been void since the day before I guess. (that could cause problems for the wedding planner!)
You know, I think this couple could be setting new rules, big ones and little ones, so why would this not be true for their astrology? They follow a different drummer (say the GC!) and the world will follow them.
FYI, the chart for noon had Leo rising (about 12 degrees) and Eris was right on the midheaven at 23-24 Aries, with the Taurus Sun in the 10th, all the Aries planets in the 9th and all Pisces planets except Moon in the 8th. Pallas and Vesta conjunction on the descendant. Saturn in the 3rd and Pluto and north node in the 5th, although Pluto is only 5 degrees from cusp of the 6th.
How’s the weather up there?
be
That’s an interesting point re void of course Moon 🙂
I think it’s easier to decide how and when it may apply in an event chart, if you think about the main purpose of the VOC concept, which is for use in horary judgements. In horary, the chart is set to answer a specific question e.g. “Will my lost cat come back?”
The Moon’s forthcoming aspects in horary charts can indicate when and whether something will happen. So if the Moon has no forthcoming aspects (void-of-course) it may well mean the answer is “no it won’t” (of course it depends on the whole chart).
In true traditional horary you don’t really use Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, let alone the Galactic Center, so in that system a square to the GC would definitely not stop the Moon being void of course. Purely on the basis that traditional techniques work, and admitting that square in an horary chart would give you the wrong answer, I tend to agree (even though I’m a big fan of minor planets etc. for other purposes).
But that’s only my opinion. It’s a contentious area and lots of astrologers would disagree. I don’t like to criticise either camp (yeah, Libra Moon), because I notice traditional techniques can tell you things that modern/psychological astrology cannot. And vice versa.
I think perhaps the main point is that the condition of the Moon in the event chart for the royal wedding is at least questionable and needs looking at. To add to the confusion, William Lilly said that a void of course Moon in Cancer, Taurus, Sagittarius or Pisces is not so bad anyway. These are the signs where the Moon rules or is exalted, and the signs that Jupiter, the great benefic, rules.
To quote John Frawley’s Horary Textbook, “It is rumoured that Quentin Tarantino was inspired to make Reservoir Dogs by the sight of astrologers discussing the meaning of void of course.” 🙂
be,
i’m confused. Please help. If the Moon is squaring the Galactic center, how can it be considered void? Isn’t that like using a double-negative (“ain’t no”) that is also either colloquial or archaic? Also, please help just a bit more. Just how many days/hours will this ostensible void of course be? Many thanks from someone who could not find anywhere what the precise time of the nuptuals would be.
aword,
I think I am that friend today…..I dumped alot of toys out on someone I really respect and like and I didn’t mean to do it to cause any harm; I just could not seem to help it. ::::sigh:::: Now I regret doing it because as you said, it probably left that person with a lot to deal with all at once.
Today seemed like “All of it, everything, Out and Center All at Once”.
Like having a friend over to play and they insist on emptying the toy box. Even though one toy comes out at a time, finally it’s all out on the floor but the friend goes home and you’ve got to deal with what now is lying visibly about you – a dislay including some toys you’ve not seen in years or just pushed aside and ignored while digging for newer ones – and your emotional response to each.
Len,
Unlikely any astrologer would risk picking a wedding time that included a void of course moon like this one. However, that moon in late Pisces will square the Galactic Center, the wedding day north node, both William and Kate’s natal Neptune, as well as William’s ascendant. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but I suspect for a while it will cause disappointments. With the Moon in late Pisces perhaps it can camouflage itself as an Aries Moon conjunct Uranus!
It will be interesting to see how all that Aries will be manifested as neither William or Kate has any planets in that sign. They both have plenty of Libra though, and their Saturns are conjunct. Maybe they will be inseparable and just appear as one.
be
Wow, Len. Your words mirror my life this week: finding a place in the middle of an emotional part of me and figuring out what it all means and who I am in the process. How to balance who I think I am with what I feel, who I am with how I relate to people of both genders, how I am sexually both in and outside my permanent and stable relationship; these are all going on this week.
Thanks for clarifying.
be,
i’m sure all Planet Waves readers are as thankful for you as i am. Way to go with the analysis of next year’s royal wedding. Heck, they just set the date, what, today? yesterday? And you come up with such a beautiful reading so quickly. Looks like the royal couple may have consulted an astrologer (unlike a certain former president’s daughter recently wed during the peak of some challenging relationship astrology).
As to Eris, thank you for sharing your recent reading. It seems as though there is going to continue to be some shift and flux in our understanding of what is going on our there past Neptune. Dwarf planet or not, Eris, Pluto Sedna, et al will not be ignored. And that orbit-clearing parameter? Don’t even get me started on that one.
Len and all,
I’d like to start with a wish for everyone for a pleasant and fulfilling Thanksgiving day and to express my gratitude for making your acquaintance and getting to know you. A special thankyou for Len and Eric and the PW team and all they provide us.
michele, I bet a lot of that flowy feeling stems from Venus’ recent direct movement, and probably Jupiter as well. I know I always dread the Venus retrograde periods and feel such relief when she ends it.
In keeping with the Moon in Gemini, I’d like to offer a morsel of food-for-thought. Prince William and Kate have chosen the date of April 29th for their wedding. On this day, Eris (21 Aries 59) will be joined by Jupiter (21 Aries 56), Mars (21 Aries 01) as well as the other Aries travelers, Mercury (direct at this time), Venus and Uranus.
In addition, the Moon in Pisces will be sharing this sign with Ceres, Chiron and Neptune. What’s left of the major planets is the Sun in Taurus, Saturn, retro in Libra and Pluto, retro in Capricorn. The north node is at 24 Sagittarius 29.
With such a tightly packed group of symbols in the first and last signs, they would seem destined to represent and lead a transformation of great dimension. A challenge by the status quo Saturn in Libra, and yet a Sun in Taurus trining Pluto in Cap would suggest a rather determined intent to create a pathway for change that will appeal to many. So great is our need for symbols that invite us toward positive change rather than forcing it, what better way than with this charming young prince and his lovely young bride?
A thought-provoking article in the new Dec/Jan Mountain Astrologer magazine by Heather Ensworth entitled “Eris (or is it really Xena?)” explores the reason why this newly discovered heavenly body is catagorized as a dwarf planet. “. .the requirements for being defined as a planet were that the body has to be in orbit around the Sun, have sufficient mass so as to be nearly round in shape, and to have ‘cleared the neighborhod around its orbit’.”
Of the dwarf planets, Pluto, Ceres, Eris and Sedna who have not cleared the neighborhood, she goes on to say: “All of these planetary bodies are an integral part of a larger community of asteroids and planets; they perhaps bring into our collective consciousness a corrective to the idealization of individuation and a new perspective about connection and community.”
With that in mind, might not the royal couple’s wedding date give us a clue as to the larger purpose for their union? With the blessing of Jupiter conjunct Eris on that day, and with the purposeful Mars for added emphasis, could this not be a positive expression of Neptune in his own sign, at last, with all his pagentry and beauty? His working with Chiron to heal and transform on a massive scale the pain of divisiveness and fear?
Ms. Ensworth theorizes that Eris represents the nature of the character Xena in that “Xena followed her own path, guided by intuition and life experience” and that “her spirituality was an embodied one, not one of religious beliefs or dogma.” She discusses the placement of Eris in the charts of Lucy Lawless, Gloria Steinem, Joan Baez, Al Gore and Richard Tarnas who feature this dwarf planet prominently. I hope this scenario has interested you and would love to see this idea explored further here at PlanetWaves.
be
michele,
Thank you. Seems as if you and your choices deserve at least as much credit as your natal chart for being in the flow. You could probably teach the rest of us a thing or two right now. Stay on that winning streak.
Soooo… I haven’t felt this unassailed in what seems like forever. In fact, it feels as though for the past many weeks the planets and I are cooperating. Especially in the last few days. It all feels… right. Flowy. Could the ease of the last few days be as simple as being born under a sun-moon opposition?
However, the sun hasn’t yet risen and I haven’t been out there yet… I’m feeling curious about this day…
I don’t think the English language has enough adjectives for me to laud every piece that’s posted on this site. Truthfully, I don’t think I’ve quite found the language to show my appreciation and gratitude.
Thank you.