Quarter of a Lune; Venus square Pluto

Please scroll to the bottom of today’s post for a literary trivia question about the new Hanna Montana movie/DVD.

Dear Madam or Sir:

In the United States, we awaken to the first quarter lune. She is in the sign Cancer and through the next 24 hours will square the Sun, Mercury and Eris; make a trine to Mars; and a sextle to Saturn. That’s a busy Moon day, though the aspects are diverse and they don’t involve a conjunction until the Moon reaches an alignment with a distant point called Varuna early tomorrow. No conjunctions, these days, means a little less bumpy of a ride.

Also, the Moon aspecting the Sun in a square, sextile or trine almost always has a refreshing feeling. The New and Full moons are their own critters and can of course be more than a but tumultuous. (If you’re reading natal astrology this is, of course, all on a case by case basis.)

In case you’re wondering what was going on last night (such as something super-intense, an[other] emotional breakthrough or some profound revelation) the Moon in Cancer opposed Pluto in Capricorn. The Moon was moving at just about full speed; her speed varies from just over 11 degrees per day to just over 15 degrees per day, and she’s currently at 14 degrees and change. This happens every month as the Moon swings around the Sun in her egg-shaped orbit, though it’s only occasionally that the speed reaches 15 degrees. (Lunar motion and other planetary motion are found in Raphel’s Ephemeris.)

A “slow Moon” as it’s called by the old-timey astrologers can feel like a retrograde Moon, according to a Mr. William Lilly, who left us the first astrology textbook in English (dating to 1647).

Oh, and one other thing. Venus Retrograde is at the crux point. She is now retrograding into a square with Pluto, which is a setup for self-aware emotional breakthrough; an encounter with one’s true inner feelings; the affirmation of a sense of emotional independence that is so rare to find in this world. Even after three waves of feminism, a plus couple of Robert Bly books and tree hugging workshops for men, we are still struggling to figure it out that we need a modicum of emotional independence; and furthermore that it’s a helpful thing to have.

This is a cathartic aspect between the Sun and Venus, though if you ask me in particular it involves women in particular taking responsibility not only for orienting their feelings on themselves but for recognizing that there is more to life than feeling. This aspect looks like burning off emotional karma and coming into a place of self-aware consciousness. I keep visiting that region myself, it feels great and I am starting to make up my heart and mind that it’s the place I need to be.

Thanks for checking in. Catch you another time. Today my day is (in part) finishing Thursday’s edition: a special edition horoscope on all this Venus action, and a very short piece looking at this extremely interesting Venus to Pluto sequence we are currently in. That will be in Friday morning’s subscriber edition.

And apropos of the astrology, one of my very talented and beloved models Simone Housen, a good friend of the late Kaila Watson, is heading out west with her boyfriend and his family, and is coming in for a farewell session. She’s about to discover how good it feels to go west for the first time.

PS, about our friend Hannah. I am aware that there’s a newish movie wherein she meets a guy and falls in love and has to make a choice between her career as a rock star and being with The Guy. Can anyone point me to a website on that movie, and provide a better plot summary?