A Last Quarter Moon of Perceptual Shifts and Transformation

Sunday’s Last Quarter Moon, taking place late Saturday evening on the West Coast and early Sunday morning for the East Coast and Europe, represents a rather intense configuration with an emphasis on transformational Pluto, in the darkness and obscurity of a reflective period of deep perceptual changes. The Mercury Retrograde time, an especially potent one in this instance, coupled with the natural mode of this late lunar phase, indicates that new attitudes and understandings are more likely than not. We are indeed living in times of major structural changes, in ourselves individually, and in the society itself. This is true for the entire decade of the teens, perhaps particularly so for this pivotal year of 2018. We as a culture are in the midst of a societal crisis of increasing magnitude; more so perhaps than for any recent years since the volatile and life-changing 1960s when Uranus and Pluto were also in significant connection, as they are now. Then it was their conjunction in Virgo; now it is the opening square from that seedtime, in Aries and Capricorn. This quarter Moon lunation, with the Sun in Aries and the Moon close to Pluto’s position in Capricorn, highlights the fading Uranus-Pluto square that remains active throughout the decade, until 2020. The Sun’s position also emphasizes the new planet, Eris, Feminine Warrior for deep soul intention, in her forming square to Pluto which becomes exact also in 2020, near the end of that climactic year. We thus find ourselves collectively giving loads of thought to the looming societal transformation, the beginnings of which we are currently living through.

The thoughts we are having at this time are potentially positive ones, and yet also perhaps despairing. In this regard it is quite interesting to note that in this First Quarter Moon configuration, Jupiter, retrograde in Scorpio, is making a close forming sextile to Pluto, and that Saturn remains in parallel with Pluto, within one degree of celestial declination. With the Moon closing in on Pluto as well, and Eris about two degrees away from a perfect square, forming to exact, as stated above, by the end of the decade. This is really quite a lot of Pluto now, implying that things need to change in a major way for each of us personally, in particular those with concentrations in the Cardinal signs, especially around 20-24 degrees. Change does not ever come easy. The recipe for dealing with Pluto transits is to accept that something in your life needs to be let go – a behavior or an ingrained habit pattern perhaps, or treasured material possessions, or in extreme cases, even a loved one. So the secret is acceptance. Major change is a given of the situation. You can go kicking and screaming, or you can go quietly, but the transformation is inevitable, for life itself is change.

Regarding this concept, with Chiron, the Wounded Healer, powerfully configured in this lunar cycle, a certain amount of pain and healing is definitely indicated. And transformation itself is usually painful. The caterpillar turns into a butterfly, which is wonderful, although as my friend Rick Levine likes to put it, this is not much fun for the caterpillar. In nature, as the insect’s body turns to jelly, imaginal cells arise which will be the genesis of the new beauty in flight. The caterpillar’s immune system fights these with all its might in a sort of a Trumpian fit of pique, but the new cells win out and the butterfly emerges from the cocoon. May we all be blessed with a peaceful transition.

This end of the decade is also when Pluto conjuncts Saturn, and then Saturn and Jupiter, in a rare triple conjunction, just before the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of late 2020. We are thus in for two or more years of interesting times, leading up to the most powerful transformational thrust of all as the decade draws to its close.

The Sabian Symbols for this First Quarter Moon have, as usual, something to add. They are, for the Moon, in the 19th degree of Capricorn, “A child about five with a huge shopping bag.” This symbol reminds us of our young ego, and our young civilization’s manifold expectations, needs and desires. Marc Edmund Jones has this to say: “There is a wonderful recompense for the individual willing to share the total of their potentialities, and to enjoy those of his or her fellows.”

Then, for the Sun in the same degree of Aries, we find, “The magic carpet.” Jones references “participation in idealistic possibilities,” and “the broad endowment which every man and woman may make his or her own.” Indeed it is high time to recognize that magic is afoot in this world, and that we have only to turn toward it, to “just do it.” In this way, by partaking of this offering on the part of the universe, we just might discover an unexpected escape from the perilous clutches of the many-horned dilemmas of modern times.

A Last Quarter Moon of Perceptual Shifts and Transformation

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Chart for the Last Quarter Moon on April 8, 2018

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November 2024