Posted on December 8, 2017 by Henry Seltzer of ASTROGRAPH.COM
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Saturday evening’s Last Quarter Moon (late evening on the East Coast) has some quite interesting features, especially when viewed in the context of what we already have going on in this particular lunation cycle stemming from the Scorpio New Moon from last month. That powerful lunation featured Uranus and Pluto, with Neptune also invoked in the recent Gemini Full Moon. All three outer planets, plus Saturn parallel Pluto, and now a Mercury Retrograde that began in close conjunction with Saturn… this is a potent recipe indeed, so that all kinds of issues are rising to the surface in our individual lives, hopefully for some form of resolution, or the beginnings of resolution. In the fraying social fabric we see as well indications of major structural transformation and often along the lines of supporting a feminine perspective. Now, with this Last Quarter Moon, the closing phase that has the effect of summing up what has gone before it within the lunar cycle, we find all three outer planets again emphasized. The Moon, at 18 plus degrees of Virgo, trines Pluto in the same degree of Capricorn, while making a close bi-quintile aspect to Uranus. The Moon is additionally in parallel to Neptune. We are thus in for another very strong nudge from the cosmos that we get our act together at this mid-month timing, as December and the year of 2017 continue to wane. The challenge for each one of us at this juncture is to take the high road, doing our best to understand what the universe intends for us as we continue to evolve.
Another interesting feature of this Last Quarter Moon configuration derives from midpoints. The midpoint of Neptune and Chiron, both located in Pisces, and at a separation of nearly 13 degrees, comes to 17 Pisces 56, while the Moon occupies 18 Virgo 23. This opposition, being extremely close, is therefore quite telling. The symbolism of Neptune and Chiron in combination, triggered by this quarter moon, is that we find the spiritual inner meaning for our fears and also for existing painful places inside ourselves, the likely result of early childhood trauma that has been locked away. This is a core level complex within us that is frozen, unable to be comforted or even consciously integrated. When we can allow ourselves to compassionately go to the aid of the lost, lonely, and hurt child inside, we make great strides toward healing this residue of ancient trauma. Because Neptune is in the mix, we might expect a confusion of motivation; we could think that it is our partner who is frustrating us, rather than seeing the significant part performed by our own secret pain, and choose to play the blame game, or to withdraw from contact, rather than looking to the actual dynamic involved. The situation in which we currently find ourselves is thus the trigger for our pain and rage, rather than being its cause.
In another way of regarding this same symbolism, we could also suffer from the loss of a comforting illusion, from being brought down to the real. This is especially so since another midpoint is highlighted in this configuration, namely that of Venus/Saturn, conjunct the Sun at 18 plus of Sagittarius. The restrictions and rule-following implied by Saturn do not sit well with freedom-loving Sagittarius, nor with Venus there. Venus in Sagittarius is intending to celebrate the cause of discovering freedom in the relationship arena, while instead we may feel the burden of responsibility in this area.
The Sabian Symbols for this Last Quarter Moon form, as usual, an interesting counterpoint to the symbolism described above. They are, for the Moon, in the nineteenth degree of Virgo, “A swimming race,” reminding us that we must go to the frequently ill-considered realms of deep emotional involvement, symbolized by the Water element, in order to fully compete in life’s challenges. Marc Edmund Jones refers to controlling “every separate factor of [one’s] being … [while remaining] in unstable balance [so that] survival is in terms of effectiveness and excellence which is best able to prove itself.” For the Sun, in the same degree of Sagittarius, we find, “Pelicans moving their habitat.” This suggests a response to life’s dilemmas that could involve a change of scene; or of perspective. Jones references “the ultimate integrity of individual character,” also “indomitable originality” and “the illimitable resources of experience.” Indeed, we may need to stretch to remain functioning in the best version of ourselves that we can muster, and also at times acknowledge that difficulty breeds character. As 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche would have us recognize, “What doesn’t kill me makes me strong.”
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