Learn about the Moon in Astrology
Learn About: The Moon
Gracious Leader of the Nocturnal Sect
Learn about the Moon in Astrology
If you ask Bear, the Moon is the most important planet in astrology. It's the planet that naturally signifies not only bodies, and digestion of food, but also birth, and materialization of things... generally.
We're not on team objectivist rational materialism in this den, but given that we're physical beings and all... One has to work hard to fully overstate the importance of matter, and thus: the Moon.
The Moon is Central to Astrology
In astrology, the Moon is a planet – not merely Earth's satellite. As the fastest moving planet in the sky, the Moon can be thought of as the ultimate connector in astrology. Associated with birth, bodies, and becoming it can truly be said that nothing happens in astrology without the Moon.
In every branch of astrology the Moon is vital. In natal astrology the Moon signifies our body, our needs, and the things that nourish us. In mundane astrology the Moon represents the people and the masses. In electional astrology, nothing can happen or come to fruition without the assistance of the Moon. In horary, the Moon indicates whether answers come, or recovery of what was lost is possible.
In fact, daily horoscopes are more about the Moon's movements than they are about any other feature or facet of the skies.
The Moon as the Gateway into Time
Astronomically, the Moon was the gateway into humanity's ability to reckon time. Even today the weeks and months that we count by are related to the Moon's cycles.
In the model of the celestial spheres, everything on the Earth is said to exist in the sub-lunar realm and to be subject to generation and decay.
Generation and decay, just like the Moon's light waxes and wanes.
The Moon as the Reflection of the Sun's Sovereign Light
Just as the Moon up in the sky reflect the light of our solar systems central star, the astrological Moon reflects the light of the Sun.
The Sun in astrology is our conscious awareness.
The Moon digest and reflects this consciousness. Hence we become what we eat – not just physically in the sense of the nutrients from food being the building blocks of our bodies, but also in the sense that when we digest (that is, when we internalize) things that we've observed we convert awareness into experience, consciousness into memory.
It's in this sense that the Moon is said to be a translator of light.
The Function of the Moon in Astrology
All of the planets in astrology represent actions (verbs), and functions (processes).
The Moon represents the function of digesting food to nourish our bodies.
That's the most literal physical metaphor. Also birth. And cycles – especially cyclical growth and decay. And I probably don't have to explain more than that because we can all look up any given (clear-ish) night and see it.
Working with the Moon
Building a relationship with Luna's Sphere
The Moon's Patterns and Cycles
Each month the Moon makes contact with every planet and sign in the sky. The waxing and waning of the Moon's light and face in the sky give rise to many of the significations and associations of the meanings of aspects in astrology.
For each of us, the Moon will visit each and every house in our chart once a month. Most years, each house of our chart will play host to a new and full Moon. (And the times they don't give us just as much information about what we can expect and what's developing in our lives, if not more.)
The Moon as the Roots of Self-Discovery & Self-Empowerment
Bear presented a talk for the Fresh Voices in Astrology summit several years ago. Though the specific sign and dates mentioned for the Moon are in the best, the fundamental concepts remain the same.
