A Last Quarter Moon of Difficult Yet Optimistic Evolution
Posted on March 7, 2018 in Configurations
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By Henry Seltzer for ASTROGRAPH Horoscopes
Friday morning’s Last Quarter Moon presents a revised vision of the outer planet themes that have been present in the astrology all this year, most especially as revealed in the New Moon eclipse from mid-February that began the current cycle. These have been difficult for us to navigate, and yet also exciting, to the extent that we can rise above obstacles and make important progress with higher goals, implying that by so doing we advance our own spiritual evolution in a significant way. This lunar phase in any case represents a shift in attitude in response to what has been learned through the course of the past three weeks, as we move through these challenging and yet stimulating astrological currents. In this current timing the Sun is conjunct Neptune, a planet that was also quite significant in the recent March 1st Full Moon, while the antithetical presence of Saturn, in early Capricorn, is also emphasized now. There is a close quintile from the Sun to Saturn, as well as one from the new planet Haumea, plus a forming square to Saturn from a slowing Mercury in early Aries, due to retrograde on the 22nd. Although the Uranus-Pluto square is no longer very close, and currently widening, it is nevertheless also currently triggered because Eris remains in conjunction with Uranus, and sharply emphasizes Pluto by the square that Eris makes to the transformational lord of the underworld, just a bit over two degrees, and closing to perfection in two years at the advent of 2020. We are thus brought further into the major structural changes of these pivotal times, both individually and in terms of the rapidly evolving culture that surrounds us.
Jupiter is also highlighted, in these early March skies, by his close inconjunct as he stations with Eris, the new planet named as recently as 2006 for the sister of the Greek god of war. Eris has been shown to be an archetypal spiritual warrior energy in support of soul purpose, and is proving to be quite powerful in natal charts, bringing whatever planet that she aspects to greater significance along the lines of profound life intention. With Jupiter thus emphasized, even though now retrograde, there is a fundamental optimism at work within the collective as evidenced in the strength of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements on the gender equality front, and as well the growing AR gun control movement being brought forward in the wake of the most recent school massacre in Parkland, Florida. These progressive ideas that seemed quite hopeless six months ago are currently being seen as inevitable.
This burgeoning progressive movement might have environmental consequences as well, even though this is not yet obvious, because of the prominence of the new astrological archetypes Haumea and Makemake, officially named by the IAU as planets of the dwarf variety, a designation that also characterizes Pluto and Eris. These, the first planets to be officially named for indigenous gods and goddesses, are themselves quite prominent in this Last Quarter Moon configuration, and seem to have an archetypal character relating to a profound connection with Nature. Makemake leads the planetary bowl shape, while Haumea is found in a lovely quintile arrangement with the Sun and Saturn, and is also closely opposed by Uranus, indicating a growing enlightenment concerning earth issues that may become more visible in this mid-March timeframe. As the emergence of all these new planetary archetypes indicates, especially Eris, the time has now come to recognize as far more urgent that we express whatever it is that we hold inside, and to strive to avoid hopelessness and to make a substantive difference in the fate of our culture.
The Sabian symbols for the Sun and Moon in this Last Quarter Moon configuration have, as usual, something to contribute. They are, for the Sun, in the 19th degree of Pisces, “A master instructing his pupil,” signifying higher mind asserting itself for our ultimate benefit. An optimistic Marc Edmund Jones mentions “initiative of spirit,” together with “genuine psychological insight,” and comments, “this is a symbol for the unlimited potentiality of existence in any larger dimension, and of the demand of human intelligence for the self-refinement and self-orientation by which a greater understanding is possible.” For the Moon in the same degree of Sagittarius, we find, “Pelicans moving their habitat.” In addition to perhaps implying a current prevalence of earth issues, as we humans are beginning to responsibly assess the dangers posed by unlimited industrial development, we are reminded that things in general are philosophically shifting. Jones references, “the ultimate integrity of individual character, with each particular skill and capacity incorporated in selfhood as a potential for self-competency and subsequent refinement…. when life becomes unprofitable in one phase there are additional areas of realization possible [by making] the fullest use of one’s own immediate genius.” Indeed, as indicated by the new planets coming into prominence on our symbolic horizon, we are challenged by the implicit difficulty of these transitional months and years to rise to the highest within ourselves that we can muster. Only by this means, during these troubling and yet exciting times, will we be ultimately satisfied that we have done our best to advance our personal agenda, and the cause of civilization.
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