A Last Quarter Moon of Changing Perceptions

Tuesday morning's Last Quarter Moon comes along at a very interesting time. We are at a key moment in the very thoughtful Mercury Retrograde period that has been eye-opening, perhaps more so for those who like to look within themselves, and we are also settling into the aftermath of the famous Uranus-Pluto series of exact square formations that finalized last mid-March. At that time, Pluto was at the 15-degree mark of Capricorn, or the 16th degree as I like to call them, in line with the way that these individual degrees of the Zodiac are referenced in the Sabian Symbols oracle. In thinking of the ongoing metamorphosis that we are in the midst of, we might note that Pluto was closely aspected by Jupiter at the timing of the mid-May New Moon that began the current cycle, remaining at the 15-degree mark of Capricorn, and now retrograde, while in this final quarter moon configuration, the Moon and Pluto form a yod to Jupiter. The Moon also conjuncts Chiron, provided further food for meditation on the subject of inner wounding, as well as the impulse for healing. We are thus in a heightened time of deep reflection that is signaled as well by the culmination of the Mercury Retrograde period, with Mercury standing almost dead-still in the sky, stationing in two days' time, and opposed to Saturn, equally lending extreme focus. We indeed have quite a lot on our minds, not least the cultural transformation that we are still in the midst of recognizing.

The funny thing about the Uranus-Pluto square in Cardinal signs — in many ways the defining symbol for this amazing decade — is that it isn't over yet, although the final exact hit was nearly three months past. As noted astrologer Richard Tarnas has pointed out, the total span of this alignment will continue until about 2020, and it is in the aftermath of the series of exact hits that we might find our greatest challenge and impetus to grow, because of the momentum that has been building for these last few years. For the remainder of this year of 2015 we find ourselves in a more thoughtful and reflective mode as we ask the big-money questions of where we are headed as a society and as individuals, and of how much we have to give up in order to stay sane for the remainder of this first half of 21st Century and beyond. It certainly seems to be true that what is increasing exponentially is the number of folks who recognize that we are in many ways on a path that needs to radically change if we, and our world, are to survive.

This Last Quarter phase is a time of changing perceptions, or what seminal 20th Century astrologer Dane Rudhyar referred to as a "crisis in consciousness." It is our understanding of what we are about that will be the determining factor in what we can do to change things. The resources are there, on a planetary level, to make of this world a virtual paradise were we to pull together. Many brilliant minds are at work to improve the lot of all people of this earth, when the rising tide of popular opinion is overwhelmingly in support of these proposed solutions. Neptune is quite prominent as well in this current lunation cycle, and it is in fact a spiritual mandate that we are called to, that we become more aware, and that we begin to honor by word and deed the concept of one global human tribe, transcending individual greed and nationalistic boundaries. This is of course easy to say and hard to do.

The Sabian Symbols, as usual, have something to contribute. They are, for the Sun in the 19th degree of Gemini, "A large archaic volume," reminding us that in finding our way through to Spirit, it is our ancient future to which we are trying to return. Marc Edmund Jones references "the ultimate indestructibility of experience" and "a broader self-discovery [leading to] recovery of prior advantage ... the effective disentanglement of present involvements." For the Moon in the same degree of Pisces we find another symbol of Perennial Wisdom: "A master instructing his pupil," for which Jones elaborates "This is a symbol of ... the demand of human intelligence for the self-refinement and self-orientation by means of which a greater understanding is possible." May it be so!

A Last Quarter Moon of Changing Perceptions

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Chart for the Last Quarter Moon on June 9, 2015

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