We relieve the tension only to find out the master’s name.
— Jon Anderson and Steve Howe from “Close To The Edge”
The first quarter square from the Cancer Moon to the Aries Sun at 8:32 am EDT Thursday will likely find you feeling some sort of edge. What type will depend, in part, on how the day is approached. Anticipating the sharp and precipitous will increase chances of such an encounter. An alternative focus will contribute to an alternative outcome.
In the sky, the luminaries are at right angles during the lunar first quarter. On the zodiac, the same is true, placing the Sun and Moon in signs that share the same quality.
On the zodiac circle, any four signs sharing the same quality (cardinal, fixed or mutable) are positioned at right angles to each other. Four right angles define a geometric square.
That is how objects in the same degree of different signs that share the same quality are said to be in square aspect to each other. Square aspects often translate to being in conflict with yourself, in the nature of the objects involved. The luminaries correlate to consciousness. The Moon for where you come from, the Sun for where you are going. Hence, any first quarter Moon represents inner tension on your way from one place to another. Because inner tension is uncomfortable, square aspects get a bad reputation as something to be dreaded. That reputation is not useful.
Dreading square aspects often results in needlessly ascribing your inner tension to others, who in turn, lose empathy with where you are coming from, and compassion for where you are going. That predicament solves nothing and stunts your personal growth, to say nothing of the damage done to others. Discerning the conflicts that originate within you as your own is an essential first step for turning tension into growth and avoiding damage.