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| Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces | |
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The Moon’s proximity to the Earth combined
with the fact it moves through the Zodiac much quicker than the other
heavenly bodies (i.e., once a month) make its influence
particularly significant. If you’re a Cancer, the Moon is your
ruling
planet and you’ll notice its influence even more. This is why Cancers
are often moody, unless stabilized by an Ascendant, Moon or stellium (3
or more planets) in an
Earth sign. Natal and Progressed Moon Signs Your Moon Sign, determined by the sign in which the Moon resided when you were born, rules your core emotional nature. However, as your Sun Sign changes according to the explanation found under Progressed Charts, your Moon Sign also changes by the same principles. Particularly note that while it takes 30 years to progress through an entire Sun Sign, your progressed Moon Sign will change roughly every two to two and a half years. The fundamental nature instilled by the Natal Sun and Moon Signs will affect a person for their lifetime at a very deep level. The affect of the aspects in the progressed signs are felt as well, somewhat similar to a person who is born and raised in Texas then later moves to another state. The person is still a Texan, but will experience new things and even adapt new behaviors based on the change. Thus, your Natal Moon will continue to rule your core emotions but the ones on the surface will be greatly affected by your Progressed Moon. Moon Sign progressions can have a dramatic effect on a person emotionally. If you suddenly find that you’re reacting to situations differently than they’d affected your previously, chances are you recently changed. For example, if in the past you reacted to emotional situations mainly by talking them out, then suddenly find yourself less vocal, but easily moved to tears, chances are your Moon recently progressed from an Air sign to a Water sign. Or if you suddenly find yourself much more down to Earth about emotional subjects and less likely to get angry than before, you probably changed Moon signs from a Fire sign to an Earth sign. Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces) and Fire signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) tend to be the most sensitive and ruled by emotion. Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) and Air signs (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) tend to be less emotional and more inclined to make their decisions based on logic. The effect these different reactions can have on relationships goes without saying, much less if someone suddenly changes signs and starts reacting entirely differently than they did before. The Moon’s affect goes even beyond these core and behavioral influences. As the Moon travels through the Zodiac each month, it will pass through your Natal and Progressed Chart and conjoin every planet in each of them along the way, even if it’s only for a matter of hours. These influences are transitory and are barely noticeable. However, whichever House the Full and New Moon occurs in for you each month is going to have slightly more emphasis. For example, you’re likely to be a bit more egocentric than usual, much as you are when the Sun is transiting your Natal or Progressed Sun Sign, if there is a Full or New Moon in your 1st House. If a New or Full Moon occurs in your 6th House, you may start an exercise program or diet or possibly have something at work affect your more than usual. In the 4th House, you might put more energy than usual into fixing up your home, etc. Lunar phases in astrology are known as lunations. The most common ones are the New and Full Moon, though the term itself refers to any of its many faces. Besides the Moon’s general influence as it transits your Houses or the added punch it gives when a lunation takes place in one of them, Full and New Moons in particular are also known to trigger aspects in your Chart that had previously been dormant. When major events occur in your life the chances of them having been triggered by a lunation are quite high. If you want some tips on how to use New and Full Moons to advantage, visit our Timing is Everything page. Eclipses can also have a major effect. In my experience, Conjunctions seem to have the most influence, where there is a New or Full Moon within a few degrees of a Natal or Progressed planet, with that planet possibly making an aspect with another. Remember that the Moon moves through the Zodiac on a monthly basis so will be conjoining every planet every month, but when this occurs when the Moon is New or Full, you’re more likely to notice it. Ordinary horoscopes, even the personal ones available from our Reports page, don’t address Lunations. However, we have personal Lunation Reports available that directly address either the Full or New Moon and give you an idea of what themes to expect during the two-week period in effect following each one. Generally a New Moon indicates a beginning and a Full Moon an ending, though sometimes it’s easy to confuse the two since they’re usually intertwined, depending on the situation involved. If you have a copy of your Natal and Progressed Chart, you can see the position of the Moon and use our Daily Astrocast chart to watch for conjunctions or other significant aspects. What triggered my study of the astrological influences in effect for the three major NASA accidents was the observation that they all occurred during NASA’s solar opposition. (All three occurred between January 28 – February 1, which is opposite NASA’s "birth" date of July 29.) Other NASA missions occurred during this time, however, and didn’t suffer any ill-effects. The difference, I found, was that lunations had triggered a Grand Cross aspect immediately prior to each of the three tragedies, which were all well over a decade apart. The well-known problems that occurred for the Apollo XIII mission occurred in April and various other aspects contributed to the fortunate ending. As the Moon makes its trek through the Zodiac, there are various times when it makes no major aspects to the planets until it leaves its current Sign, at least as far as the transits are concerned. These periods are referred to as "Moon void of course" and many astrologers have observed that anything attempted during these periods will usually come to naught and advise not scheduling any important events at that time. Conversely, the Moon is usually the trigger for major events in your life as it transits your chart, in concert with the other planetary influences in effect at the time. There is also what is called the Lunar Return, which is when the moon returns to the exact location it was in when you were born, i.e. conjoins your natal moon. This will occur roughly once each month. A chart cast for this time will provide a "map" of what you can expect emotionally for the coming 28 days.
Lunar Nodes
Then there are the Lunar Nodes, important
astrological elements that are typically active during key
lifetime events by either planetary transits to natal node
placement or the transiting nodes to natal planets. The Lunar
Nodes represent the intersection of the Moon’s orbit with the
ecliptic, or apparent path of the Sun. These change with time
in a retrograde direction and are always on opposite sides of
the Zodiac. The North Node (NN), a.k.a. the ascending node, is
where the Moon crosses the ecliptic going toward the north; the
South Node (SN), a.k.a. descending node, is its southern-bound
counterpart. Eclipses only occur when the Sun lines up within
approximately 18 degrees of the nodes. Since the Nodes are
sensitive points astrologically anyway, you can see why the
Sun’s presence there would contribute further to the power of
eclipses and why they tend to bring significant events.
You may hear reference to the "True Node" and the "Mean Node" in astrology. If you look in an ephemeris at the nodes' progression it will appear to be consistently retrograde, provided you only look at the degrees. If you look at the minutes and seconds of its location, however, you'll notice that some days it inches forward a bit. The "True Node" is where the nodes actually are whereas the "Mean Node" is the average movement, taking those blips into consideration. Which one is designated by a subscript "T" or "M" next to the node's symbol.
The most basic delineation of the NN is
where we’re going and the SN where we’re coming from. The nodes
can be interpreted at a variety of levels and are particularly
important in karmic astrology which looks at past lives where
the SN represents our previous life and the NN what we’re
supposed to attain in this one. For typical events, they
indicate when something is coming into our life (NN) or going
out (SN); further detail regarding what this might be is
determined as always by the planets and houses involved with the
transit. One textbook example I’ve encountered was on the chart
of someone who was quitting their job to become a full-time
mother and homemaker who had the SN on their 6th
House cusp. Thus, when life-changing events are upon us
the Nodes are a reliable indicator.
Since the NN and SN are always in
opposition, if one or
the other is squaring a planet it creates a T-square, symbolic
of the process of change involved; letting something go or
something new coming our way can both be stressful, even if it’s
something good. For example, when a child is born it is usually
a joyful time, yet it introduces new responsibilities. If two
planets in opposition square off with the Nodes then a Grand
Cross results, a powerful aspect that is highly likely to
produce a significant event. On a more positive side, if a
planet sextiles or
trines one of the nodes it
creates a
Triangle of Potential, indicating an opportunity is coming
your way to either gain or get rid of something, further
determined by the planet and houses involved.
The Nodes work well for timing events and
are thus helpful for such activities as rectifying a chart for
an unknown birth time. Their effect is entirely colored by the
planetary contacts and houses involved; the Nodes themselves are
simply energy points that are themselves neutral. Think of
being in a dark room and shining a flashlight on the objects in
that room; the light indicates what it is but doesn’t change
it. Thus, the Nodes are more like a doorway with the NN the
entrance and SN the exit with what goes in or out respectively
irrelevant to the door’s function.
Books have been written on the influence of the Moon astrologically and this is only intended as the most basic primer on the subject. However, the next time you look up at the Full Moon, you might ponder what tides it’s affecting other than the rise and fall of the oceans. * * * Personalized Lunar Return Report --Timing is Everything--
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