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Observations: Our Moon & Maternal Modeling

Mother & child © Christian Degroote | Dreamstime.com

Is there a connection between our Moon sign and the modeling imprinted from our mothers? I ended speculating about this the other day after realizing it turns out I’m good at being married. My Libra Moon is content with being part of a committed, formal partnership and intuitively knows what to do in this situation. Could this be related to what I absorbed from my Libra mom growing up? From my perspective I knew she loved us kids but my dad was number one and I was OK with that. However I also realized my siblings had a different experience than I did and it is reflected in their Moon signs. My older sister has her Moon in nurturing Cancer, my brother’s is in detached Aquarius and my younger sister has a Capricorn Moon. Here is where the speculation begins . . .

My Cancer Moon older sister as the first born had our mother all to herself the first year of her life though I came along very quickly. . .our birthdays are only one year and two days apart. It is her two daughters who are the center of her world. She has been married twice, the first time to her children’s father and then a second brief marriage in her thirties. Since then she has been single and devotes most of her time to doing elder care.

Now my Aquarius Moon brother is a highly successful nerd. He has a doctorate in engineering and has always excelled in the sciences. He was a straight A student and all that good stuff. When we were small children, my mother was frantically busy. She often gave my brother and me toys, pets and books to entertain ourselves with and we were content. As long as he excelled in school, he didn’t have to exert himself to understand what made people tick . . . he relied on me to explain those things to him. :D

Our baby sister with her Capricorn Moon got the message she was best off conforming to the parental rules to get her strokes. She is still the most conventional of us though she has loosened up with age. Of all the siblings she is the only one actively involved in organized religion and devotes a great deal of her time to her church family. A certified teacher, she successfully homeschooled her two children.

I’m sure other people’s experience with their mothers is quite different than mine or my siblings. How our Moons are aspected is one factor as is the Sun sign of the mother. It is fun to speculate about though! :D

May 24th, 2013 | Tags: | Category: natal aspects, Observations | 15 comments

Observations: Uranus square Pluto . . . One More Time

Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn

Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn

On Monday, May 20, Uranus in Aries will square Pluto in Capricorn for the third time at 11° 13′, so once more I’m taking some time to contemplate what this square means.

On Tuesday the Moon in Cancer took its turn triggering this square by opposing Pluto and squaring Uranus. These days each time the Moon passes through a cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) the tension increases. Those of us with our Sun, Moon or Ascendant in the cardinal signs feel each of these lunar passages no matter how brief. So four times a month, we twitch . . . hence my writing this post.

Uranus and Pluto along with Neptune are the outer planets and as such represent archetypes we puny humans have difficulty getting our minds around. They are present in everyone’s natal chart though not everyone has the pleasure of being forced to deal with them via aspects to personal planets. As I’ve mentioned before I’m one of the lucky souls who has all three aspecting my gentle, peace loving Libra Moon. Neptune conjoins it, Uranus is trine and Pluto sextile . . . which is why I’m attempting again to talk about these planets.

As I see it Uranus in Aries pushes hard to feel absolutely unfettered. To do whatever whenever with no regard to consequences. Fiery Aries is driven to take action and tends to be very certain the course they’ve chosen is right . . . courage of their convictions and all that good stuff. Uranus in Aries may be the soul of revolution driven beyond reason to follow those convictions.

Pluto in Capricorn seems all about control. Saturn ruled Capricorn likes order and believes someone competent needs to be in charge, usually them. Pluto sends most folks scrambling for control because they deeply fear what would happen if their dark side were to be let loose. Like those who suffer from OCD, Pluto drives us to align all the tiny details in our lives to perfection rather than risk the chance the monsters within will break out.

Obviously both sides of this square firmly believe their way is the right way. Is there any way to work around this? Perhaps if they are willing to listen to the other two cardinal signs, Cancer and Libra, it might help. Cancer is good at softening Capricorn’s rigidity and Libra can usually get Aries to see there is more than one side to every issue. Squares have a way of highlighting the most immature facets of the signs involved allowing for the possibility of resolution.

In the end we might want to consider surrendering both the need for total control AND unrestrained choice. Life is best lived somewhere in the middle nourishing ourselves with deep connections to others and learning to appreciate the value of compromise.

May 15th, 2013 | Category: Observations, transits | 13 comments - (Comments are closed)

Observations: A Taurus Solar Return

Happy Solar Return, Mr Taurus!

Happy Solar Return, Mr Taurus!

© Diane Lang

My Taurus grandson turned two this past week and of course I looked at his Solar Return. Talk about the “terrible twos”! He has Sun, Mars and Mercury in Taurus widely opposing Saturn in Scorpio with the Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn. Mom is going to think her child only knows one word for the next year . . . “NO”.

With a preponderance in fixed earth this little guy will be even more stubborn in a rather passive way. Natally his chart is dominated by cardinal fire (Aries) so this represents a change in tactics. Usually he is an upbeat energetic little fellow.

It has been a busy week for me preparing for today’s gathering. I took it upon myself to make a homemade red velvet birthday cake, deviled eggs and make sure there is plenty of good food. Hey, Taurus appreciates his food. :D

May 11th, 2013 | Tags: | Category: Observations | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)

Observations: Speculating on Aspects to the Moon’s Nodes

Zodiac by Alphonse Mucha

I’m inclined to believe we are more aware of the power of the Moon’s Nodes in our charts if there are planets conjoining them or if they are part of a pattern such as a T-Square, Cradle or Kite. The Nodal axis is always an opposition and as such can form the base of a T-Square or Cradle. In the Kite the axis is the central “arrow”. By the way, I suggest using a small orb of 2-3° for planets aspecting the Nodal Axis. The Nodes are calculated points and do not have the same pull as a planet.

Aspects from the Nodes to the Sun and Moon are the strongest with the Nodal axis aligned with the Ascendant-Descendant axis the next. Those are the most up close and personal points in our natal charts after all. Next would be Mercury, Venus and Mars. The impersonal or transpersonal character of the planets from Jupiter thru Pluto tends to be experienced as archetypes. For instance having Venus conjunct the North Node is much more intimate than say Uranus. A Uranus lesson is sort of like abruptly getting dumped into ice cold water . . . harsh but effective. Venus gently seduces us into acknowledging our North Node qualities and interests.

I have a Cradle Pattern with my Gemini North Node-Sagittarius South Node as the base with sextiles and trines to my Libra Moon and Pluto in Leo. Cradle Patterns are always comprised of compatible elements as is the Kite. I enjoy helping others connect the dots and helping connecting the right people with the right information. Having Pluto in the mix adds depth and purpose to who I am and what I do. When I stop and think about it, I do understand my Nodal Axis and am comfortable my journey along it.

In the case of the T-Square the apex planet is more important. If you have the Sun and/or Moon as the apex planet, you will notice the dissonance much more keenly than any of the other personal planets. T-Squares demand attention and will keep nagging until they get it. Often when transiting planets such as Mars opposes the apex planet completing a Grand Cross, it triggers issues related to the Nodal Axis making those harder to ignore.

Does anyone else have any of these patterns activating their Moon’s Nodes or do the signs and houses where the Nodes fall remain in the background with no aspects. How engaged are you with themes of your Nodal Axis?

May 8th, 2013 | Tags: , , | Category: natal aspects, Observations | 13 comments - (Comments are closed)

Observations: Choosing a House System

zodiac-wheel

The most commonly used House systems are Placidus, Koch and Equal Houses. Personally I like Koch Houses for those of us born north of about 45°. Astrodienst uses Placidus Houses as their default – a strong recommendation and I have friends who swear by Equal Houses though I’m not too crazy about them myself.

Placidus and Koch agree on the Angular House cusps with shifts on the other house cusps. Equal Houses uses the degree of the Ascendant to determine all the other house cusps and has the Midheaven as a separate degree point.

Check to see what planets change houses when you switch systems to help figure out what feels most accurate to you. If you have a stellium including personal planets playing musical houses that is a good place to start. Using Koch and Equal Houses my Sun, Mercury and Mars are all in the twelfth house. Placidus places my Sun and Jupiter in the eleventh with my Moon. However, I feel far more like a twelfth house person than an eleventh type. I am content spending quite a lot of time by myself rather than needing to belong to this group or that organization. The twelfth house is one of the water houses and my preference for the intuitive approach is a good fit.

Do you have planets shifting back and forth between the first and second houses? People with a strong first house presence are almost always more forthright and active like Aries whilst second house types are more concerned with the practicalities and making sure they have a degree of financial security. The difference between second and third is third house types are far more social and intellectually inclined.

One obvious difference between a fourth and fifth house emphasis is how engaged you are with family matters. A fifth house type would rather make art or play than spend time with mom and dad. Sixth house types tend to be very involved in their vocation or are diligent about taking care of their health instead of having a good time.

Seventh house people love having a partner or companion around whilst eighth house people could care less. Lots of planets in the ninth could mean you are a perpetual student or love traveling . . . getting all caught up in personal angst, not so much. No question tenth house folk are high profile and enjoy it whilst eleventh house people like being one of the gang.

You can also carefully follow Mars as it moves around your chart to help determine where your house cusps are. Mars moves quickly and usually carries enough “punch” to make his presence felt.

Whatever house system works best for you is the right one. I’m also a big fan of keeping things simple and it is far too easy to over think astrological details. There are so many of them after all.

April 26th, 2013 | Category: natal aspects, Observations | 13 comments - (Comments are closed)
 
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