We live in two worlds – an outer reality and an inner. The Moon represents our inner experience. You can see how this makes it difficult to define, what with the 7 billion inner realities on this planet alone.
The Moon has been characterized as our feelings, and that’s a big part, but nowhere near the whole. It’s our moods, which are prolonged feeling states; our hearts, which can be touched surprisingly at any moment by a glorious sunset, a piece of music, the upturned face of a child. It is identified with the ego which is the only way many of us experience life. It is also a symbol of the Soul. It is our deepest need, desire, longing. It is the “secret of happiness” according to Steven Forrest, a renowned Evolutionary Astrologer. It’s what makes life worthwhile by lending texture, depth and mystery. It’s the source of our resilience, our ability to heal our psychic wounds. The Moon is the ineffable that inspires wonder.
The Moon has been associated with the Mother archetype. Male astrologers are arguing that this is sexist. In today’s world Fathers have as much to do with nurturing as Mothers. I find it encouraging to see fathers wearing baby-slings, working from home to care for their children. This is a big step toward healing the rift between the sexes. The point is that while the Moon is associated with the feminine energy, it is not exclusive to women. Each of us carries both masculine and feminine energies. It is the union of the two that creates an integrated whole. That is the Mother Archetype that informs us all.
The Moon represents our roots, our home, the environment in which we were raised. Not all of us had nurturing environments, but we all have an experience of home. The moon is our longing to find a home, a safe place to relax and be ourselves, where we belong, temporary as it may be.
We experience life through our lunar function. We respond or react according to our temperament which is the product of our attitudes, feelings and beliefs about our feelings. As the moon cycles through all 12 Zodiac signs each month, we get to experience life through different lenses, but it is always colored by the sign in which our natal moon lies. For the USA, that’s Aquarius. According to Steven Forrest, an Aquarian Moon signals the soul of a revolutionary, a genius, an exile.
Like the moon, Aquarius is a bit enigmatic. It has two rulers – Saturn and Uranus. Already it has a split personality. As do all the air signs, by the way. The symbols for Gemini, Libra and Aquarius all contain double lines. The challenge is integration.
Saturn colors Aquarius with a work ethic, a sense of responsibility, duty, discipline, seriousness. Of course it can lead to ego issues of control and domination, but Saturn creates structure and organization, so we can get things done. The Saturn side of Aquarius organizes our thoughts into systems, our citizens into society.
Uranus on the other hand likes to stir things up. It is the rebel. It arouses individuality, a yearning for independence, freedom. It urges us to break out of stereotypical roles, stifling workplaces, outworn belief systems.
Uranus was discovered in 1781, five years after the American Revolution, eight years before the French. It was a time of unrest all over the world. Nations were throwing off their shackles and declaring their independence, their right to choose their own fate. Of course that was no guarantee that everything would turn out right, but the world was responding to the Uranian impulse.
So the USA Moon has two rather incompatible sides. It longs for freedom, it requires structure. I think we all can identify with that. We want a relationship, the security of a job, a home, a community of friends. And we envision liberation as we begin to see the safety turning into a prison from which we must escape.
It is this very tension that we live with, that informs our inner life. Right now it’s a tug of war for many, but the challenge of our Aquarian Moon is to find balance between them, to learn to live with both by integrating them into a greater whole.
Aquarius being an Air sign means that the energy is expressed in the mental realms. The creative tension of the Aquarian Moon generates new and original ideas. That’s where the genius comes from – our science, our technology, our innovation, our brilliant thinkers.
This is both a gift and a nemesis. We live in our heads. We identify completely with our minds. We believe the stories our minds tell us about reality. We have been conditioned to see things a certain way. Whatever doesn’t jive with our preconceived notions, is either wrong, an anomaly or something to be investigated. How we interpret our experience depends upon how open our minds are.
A typical expression of our Aquarian Moon is the “Know-it-All.” We believe we Know. We know what’s good for everyone else, how everyone should think and behave. We are so certain we are right, that we will argue, defend, take umbrage, get into fights, even go to war to prove it. This is the source of our Arrogance.
This is where exile comes in. We feel isolated. Captive within the fantasy world of our thoughts and beliefs, we are cut off not only from each other, but from our own depth. The whirl of chaos in our heads usurps our energy. We lose touch with our hearts, with our bodies, with nature, with the outer world, and each other. When the loneliness gets too painful we escape into a different fantasy – news, entertainment, video games, drug or alcohol induced numbness.
We could talk about the Moon forever. I highly recommend Steven Forrest’s The Book of the Moon if you want to dig further. Getting to know your own moon can be enlightening. It will reveal your predilections, show you how you react to experience, show you where your comfort lies and ultimately your happiness.
I promised last week to talk about the USA Ascendant, but I think there’s enough mystery to absorb this week. We’ll look at our Sagittarian Ascendant and its ruler, Jupiter, next week. In the meantime think about this watery moon in an airy sign. What do air and water create? Fog, clouds, mist. The inner moon is shrouded in mystery – the very mystery of Being. Hang out in there this week and see what questions arise. Connect with your inner mystic.
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