First Quarter Moon: The Difficult Exploration of New Territory

Monday evening’s First Quarter Moon takes place in the early degrees of Virgo, matching by square alignment the Sun’s own entrance into Gemini, hence in Mutable Signs. These signs indicate a flexibility to change, as do the alignments that the Sun and Moon also make to the surprising trickster archetype of Uranus, newly entered into Taurus, and Chiron, the Wounded Healer, in early Aries. The experimental and exploratory nature of this configuration is further enhanced by the recent New Moon being opposite Jupiter, while currently Jupiter is also emphasized, being found in partile trine with the nebulous other-dimensionality of Neptune, in mid-Pisces. New ideas never come easily. The difficulties inherent in the square alignment of the Sun and Moon are echoed in Venus square Chiron, Mars square Uranus, and two Yods, to Moon from Mars and Chiron, and to Mars from Venus and the Moon. This lunar phase indicates as well what Dane Rudhyar called a “crisis in consciousness” where the things that you learned in the first week of the cycle create a dissonance with what you are attempting, causing there to be tempestuous swerves and rapid-fire course corrections at this significant juncture.

With Mars and Venus closely inconjunct each other in this quarter Moon configuration, supported by the Sun and Moon, and involved with Chiron as well, we can presage a continuing issue with smooth interpersonal relations. The danger here is that reactivity might ensure, words spoken in anger that cannot be unspoken, resulting in general disarray. The plusses are there too, in that no difficulty is really wasted if we can learn from it. One factor in play is our early relationship wounding that we received from the casual cruelty of childhood years, when siblings or playmates, or eventually other children at school, in clusters or single-handedly, dealt painful blows to our self-esteem, passing on their own trauma stemming from parental neglect or over-control. The litany of potential trauma is endless, and some individuals survive it all better than others. The fact remains that rejection impairs us, at any age, and becomes a festering sore that could remain buried deep inside you behind walls of isolation and ignorance.

The recipe for relief is simple; it is to become as acutely aware as is humanly possible of what is going on in the deeper layers of your psyche. Of course this is easier said than done, but you don’t have to try to change any behavior at first, but just be a witness to all that you do, to others and to yourself, and the ultimate motivation for your actions. With darkly destructive and helpfully transformative Pluto emphasized in these May-June skies, there is in any case a propensity to focus on the hidden material of the unconscious psyche. Angel guidance, when it appears, cannot be a bad thing either. There is plenty of Jupiter rolling around in these current skies, especially with Jupiter opposite Mercury now and thus encouraging us to at least try to think our way out of the messy truth of our all-too-human condition.

With Mars also prominent, and in sextile with Chiron, we might also be afraid of macho posturing directed our way, or, equally, our own anger and its capability of hurting others. Put this into the compost bin as well, or the cooking pot, and allow these contents to simmer and transform themselves into useful growth. Careful understanding is your very best friend right now, together with the willingness to explore different points of view, even those not your own.

The Sabian Symbols for this First Quarter Moon have, as usual, something important to add. We have, for the Sun, in the second degree of Gemini, “Santa Claus filling stockings, furtively.” This reminds us of the offerings to us from the cosmos that we must nevertheless take somewhat lightly, to earn rather than to own outright. Marc Edmund Jones comments that, “implicit in the symbolism is the necessity for complementing nature’s largess, and society’s favors, with high personal appreciation.” He goes on to warn of “childish” responses in seeking a normative “richness of living.” For the Moon, in the same degree of Virgo, we find, “A large white cross upraised.” This brings to mind the true symbols of spiritual significance in this world, along with the potential mis-use of such symbolism. Jones has, “the conscious stewardship through which one sustains his or her more enduring values,” and cautions against, “witless dogmatism and misdirected efforts for causes of great pretension but little real worth.” Indeed we must often go against the grain of consensus thinking to arrive at the true merit of any particular situation, and strive to find our own inner honesty and character in the face of societal values that seem out of alignment with what we most deeply hold inside. In this way, we win when we can shun what we cannot abide, while encouraging the inner light deriving from all that we can unequivocally espouse.

First Quarter Moon: The Difficult Exploration of New Territory

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Chart for the First Quarter Moon on May 21, 2018

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