voxcaelorum | Entries tagged with lunation

Here is the chart for the New Moon on May 11, 2021, as seen from Washington, DC:

1. The Lunation

This month's New Moon takes place in the sign of Taurus, in the Ninth House. The New Moon is separating from a conjunction with Uranus and closely sextile a very powerful Neptune.

The Lunation, taken on its own, suggests the following:

1. The Ninth House rules a number of different matters: Religion, Higher Education, Science and Philosophy, Courts of Law, and International Travel. A Lunation falling in this house will tend to bring these matters into the foreground. In our case I would especially expect to see some kind of action by the federal government on immigration. Legal matters will probably also come to the foreground this month.

2. The Lunation is afflicted by Uranus, but the conjunction is distant, and separating. I suspect that we will continue to see the after-effects of last month's Chauvin Trial. The ruler of the 9th House is Venus, who is not doing particularly well-- cadent, peregrine, and square Jupiter, in Gemini. Expect acrimonious debate and public rancor to continue.

3. The Lunation is sextile Neptune. Neptune is in the Seventh House and in Pisces, the sign of his rulership. The sextile is a helping aspect; The Seventh House rules foreign nations generally. Foreign affairs will come into the fore as well this month, and the news will be good-- for now. Neptune rules idealism and delusion, and suggests that trust in a foreign nation may be misplaced.

2. The Ascendant and Its Ruler

The Ascendant is in Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is very well placed in this chart-- in Gemini, which he also rules; conjunct benefic Venus and trine Saturn. This suggests that the news this month is, overall, rather good. As Mercury also rules the Tenth House, the Biden Administration will enjoy a genuinely high approval rating, bolstered as always by the perception managers in the entertainment industry (Venus Conjunct Mercury; Saturn, ruler of the Fifth, trine Mercury).

3. Other Items/Where's the Bad News?

As I've written before, the main event I'm tracking this year is the Uranus-Saturn square, which should lead to ongoing chaos and disruption. This month, the square's effects are probably going to be mild. Both planets are in more-or-less out of the way Houses. The Lunation's distant conjunction from Uranus suggests that the country as a whole is moving away from chaos at this time.

That doesn't mean there is nothing to worry about, though. As I write this, the news (Third House) is that there is a fuel shortage, largely impacting the Southern states. Do we see this in the chart? Yes, as it happens. The Third House rules transportation, and the ruler of the Third House is Mars, who is in his Fall in Cancer. Mars is also sextile Uranus. A sextile is ordinarily a positive aspect, but, in this case, both of these planets are in the sign of their Fall-- Mars in Cancer, Uranus in Taurus. A planet in Fall expresses its energies in the most destructive manner that it can. Given that, it's worth pointing out that Uranus rules the Sixth House of public health, the working class, and the military; and that Mars rules the Eighth House of mass death.

I want to try to simplify these New Moon charts. It's not clear to me that they provide the same kind of detailed information that an ingress chart does, since they cover such a short period of time. On the other hand, it may simply be that I don't know how to read them yet-- and that's quite likely, since I'm still experimenting with Mundane Astrology.

And there is another issue, which is that there may be a distinction between what is predicted in a mundane chart and what is reported on the news, because news in America is largely about narrative management. If the media companies decide to start reporting on shootings in order to push gun control legislation, how will this appear in the chart? A mass casualty event is an Eighth House event, but mass casualty events happen all the time-- what determines whether or not they will appear in a chart? It seems that a media obsession with a mass casualty event should actually be forecast by a malefic in the Third House of newspapers, not the Eighth House of death.

So there are some open questions about how lunation charts work. So I want to simplify my discussion of them, in order to limit the number of items we have to track over the next month.

Here is the New Moon chart for April of 2021. This chart is operative from April 11, 2021 to May 11, 2021, the day of the next New Moon. Let's take a look, and see what we can find.

For Lunations, for the time being, I'm going to take the following approach.

We'll look, first, at the Lunation Itself, its House and Sign placements, and aspects; next, the Ascendant, and its meaning; the Luminaries, considered individually; finally, any other major placements that stand out.

1. The Lunation.

This month's New Moon takes place in the sign of Aries, in the Fifth House. The New Moon is conjunct Mercury and Venus and sextile both Mars and Jupiter, the latter of which are trine one another.

All and all, this is a very good set of omens. The Fifth House rules children and child-bearing; early education; arts and entertainment; and the stock market. A New Moon in this house ought to be very favorable in all of these areas, especially if well-aspected, and this New Moon is very well aspected indeed.

In our particular situation, I would expect the following:

1. The mobile energy of Aries and the benefic energies of Venus and Jupiter suggest children returning to schools.

2. The same, as well as the involvement of Mercury suggest that we'll see at least one major new hit TV show or movie-- success for Hollywood.

3. This is going to be a very good month for Wall Street. Aries says buy; Jupiter and Mercury are both excellent omens as well. If you were planning on piling on the latest stock market craze, this is probably a good time to do so. The presence of the Sun, plus the rulers of the Tenth and Eleventh Houses here suggest that the government is going to be involved in inflating the bubble as much as possible. This is not financial advice-- Bubbles always pop, and Mercury's movement toward conjunction with the Sun tells us that much of the activity on Wall Street is based in delusion. But the bubble won't pop this month.

2. The Ascendant and Its Ruler

The Ascendant is in Scorpio, which means that this chart is ruled by Mars. Scorpio suggests that public health continues to be an issue, and it also suggests anger festering under the surface. On the other hand, Mars is very well dignified in this chart, being trine Jupiter and sextile Venus, the Moon and the Sun. He gains power from these and also from the simple fact that four other planets, including the Lunation, are in a sign he rules, thus granting him rulership over them all.

Mercury and Mars are also in mutual reception in this chart, meaning that each is in the sign ruled by the other. One rule for mutual reception is that each planet can be regarded as being in the position of the other planet-- either in addition to or instead of its actual position. If that's the case, Mars is very powerful indeed in this chart. He rules the chart as a whole, and he is in his own sign, conjunct the Lunation and sextile Saturn.

Mars suggests conflict, but also energy. I suspect that what this chart is talking about is a combination of the usual expansive energy of Springtime with the explosive energy of people who have been locked up for more than a year. All that energy is coming out over the course of this month. Will it come out in a positive way, or as conflict? That's the question. Considering Mars on his own, I'd suggest that his energy is going to be expressed in economic activity and baby-making. But if you instead give him Mercury's placement, a slightly different picture emerges. He is sextile Saturn, who is himself in the Third House of media and the internet, and conjunct the the Lunation, casting his shadow over it. The conjunction to the Lunation has a blinding effect on Mars himself, though, because of the Sun.

It may be that a badly reported (Mars combust) news story (Third House) of a death (Saturn) will lead to Mars expressing his power through a return to last year's rioting, abetted by Hollywood (Fifth House). I would be surprised if this was the case, though-- Saturn's beneficial aspect to Mars in this chart suggests that he will provide a stabilizing force to Mars's energy.

EDIT 4/13/21: Welp....

3. Other Items

The ongoing story this year is the square between Saturn and Uranus. That aspect should, over the course of the astrological year (that is, March 2021 to March 2022), contribute to tensions, violence, economic disruption and unrest. Will we see an inciting event this month? If so, I wouldn't expect it in the next two weeks. On the other hand, the Full Moon on April 26 is directly involved in the Saturn-Uranus square, as Uranus conjuncts the Sun and opposes the Moon, and Saturn squares both. After that, we may see something-- until then, enjoy the sunshine!

Below is the chart for the New Moon as seen from Washington, D.C. on the 11th of February, 2021.

As always, please take the foregoing as hypothesis, not prophecy.

The Lunation falls in the 9th house. The 9th house rules the courts and legal matters, religion, higher education, and international commerce. The Lunation falling in this house highlights these matters.

In our particular context, of course, this refers to the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The Lunation is afflicted by a square from Mars in the Eleventh House. The Eleventh House is the house of Congress, which is ruled by Mars. Mars's position is relatively weak in this chart, though, as he is in his Fall in Taurus and afflicted by squares from five(!) other planets. This suggests that as acrimonious as the trial will become, there will be no conviction.

Immigration may also become a major public issue during the next month, possibly also involving an ineffectual response from Congress to executive action by President Biden.

Let's Talk Aquarius

A full six planets are in Aquarius in this chart, so it's worth discussing the meaning of that sign all on its own.

Aquarius is a fixed air sign, associated with the thinking mind, change and eccentricity.

The ruler of Aquarius is Uranus. As we've seen, Saturn and Uranus are square to one another, and it's that square which dominates the astral world at this time. I've called it a kind of War of the Gods, between Saturn, representing conservatism, stability and the Old Order, and Uranus, representing sudden, revolutionary change, with other planets occasionally intervening one one side or the other by way of conjunction with the two major contenders.

The position of each of these planets is important. Uranus, the planet of sudden change, is in Taurus, the sign of fixed earth-- so the ruler of revolution is moving through the sign of stability, breaking up everything that is solid. Saturn, the planet of conservatism, is in Aquarius. Until the discovery of Uranus, Saturn was considered the ruler of Aquarius. It's an open question among contemporary astrologers whether Saturn still has dignity in Aquarius, or whether Uranus is that sign's sole ruler, now. Either way, the image is that of an old guard attempting to re-assert its power in the face of revolutionary change.

Keep this in the back of your mind during the discussion to follow.

The Sun, representing Joe Biden, is in very weak condition in this chart-- in Detriment, in a Cadent house, square Mars. He is very distantly conjunct a retrograde Mercury. As Mercury rules the Fourth and Twelfth Houses in this chart, I wonder if that doesn't suggest some of Biden's allies-- whatever rural, union voters may have supported him, for example-- experiencing a sense of buyer's remorse.

The Moon and the First House both represent the people generally in a mundane chart. As the First House is in Cancer, the Moon is its ruler, and so we can discuss the two together.

The Moon is in a better position than the Sun, but only just. Like the Sun, the Moon is weakened by her location in a cadent house, but unlike the Sun, she doesn't receive any special debility in Aquarius. The location in the Ninth House suggests that the trial of the former president, along with whatever other Ninth House issues come up this month-- I strongly suspect something pertaining to immigration-- are going to be on everyone's mind at this time. The square to Mars suggests division and conflict among the people, especially in relation to Congress and the outcome of the trial.

The Second House, which rules the nation's wealth, is in Leo. As such, its ruler is the Sun, with all that that entails in this chart. The economy continues to suffer, and the stimulus passed by Congress (Mars square Sun) is unlikely to help.

The Third House rules travel and communication, and the internet. It is also in Leo, and so also ruled by the Sun. Don't look for an end to the Covid restrictions in the next month, and in fact, both lockdown measures and internet censorship may be exacerbated by congressional action (Mars square Sun).

Expect the postal service to continue to struggle during this time. As if to illustrate that point, while writing this delineation, I checked the mail, and found that I'd just received a Christmas card from a friend. It was sent out the week before Christmas.

The Fourth House rules the nation's physical land, mines, farms, and the countryside. Here the news is very mixed. The Fourth House is in Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury. Mercury has no especial dignity or debility in Aquarius. He benefits from the conjunction to the Moon and by conjunctions to the benefics, Venus and Jupiter, but is harmed by the conjunction to the Sun and the square to Mars; he is also retrograde.

The Fourth House also rules the opposition to the government. I suspect that, in this chart, Mercury as leader of the opposition specifically refers to Donald Trump returning (retrograding) to Washington for his second impeachment trial in the Ninth House.

The Fifth House rules arts and entertainment. In this chart, the house cusp is in Libra, and so Venus is its ruler. Like everything else in this chart, Venus's position is mixed. She benefits from a strong conjunction to Jupiter, ruler of wealth and religion and, in this house, ruler of the Sixth House. During the Super Bowl there were a number of ads in which celebrities attempted to raise money for small businesses impacted by the Covid lockdowns. The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter suggests that these efforts will continue, and will have some success. On the other hand, the squares to Mars and Uranus suggest that the ongoing evisceration of the leaders of the entertainment industry, their exposure as abusers, exploiters and even pedophiles, will continue apace. Joss Whedon is apparently the latest casualty, but we should see at least one more high-profile denunciation during this time. (Don't look to Hollywood to suddenly grow a capacity for self-reflection and ask "How did we manage to create an industry based on abuse, exploitation, and rape?" No, in all likelihood they'll continue on in their delusion bubble, congratulating themselves for their commitment to social justice while denouncing you as a racist.)

The Sixth House rules the military and the working class, and public health. As the house cusp is in Saggitarius, the ruler of the House is Jupiter. Jupiter's condition is also decidedly mixed. He benefits from his conjunction to Venus, but is afflicted by a separating conjunction to Saturn and ongoing squares to Mars and Venus, as well as a conjunction to retrograde Mercury. While there may be some good news on either jobs or the Covid situation, for the most part matters continue to be very difficult in these areas.

The Seventh House rules foreign nations in general and international conflict. The house cusp is in Capricorn, and so Saturn is its ruler. Saturn is in the Eighth House, which rules foreign money specifically. He benefits from his conjunction to Venus and Jupiter, but is afflicted by the ongoing square to Uranus. Expect conflict with at least one foreign nation to come into the public spotlight at this time. Its position will probably be stronger than that of the United States.

The Eighth House rules death generally, and also foreign trade. The Eighth House is very active in this chart, with Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury all found here. As the house cusp is in Aquarius, Uranus is its ruler. Saturn in the Eighth House warns of death and sorrow. In his Fall in Taurus, Uranus remains a highly malefic influence, highlighted by his square to Saturn. Covid isn't going away anytime soon. On the other hand, the Jupiter/Venus conjunction in this house is a positive omen-- and indeed, case numbers in the United States have been dropping considerably.

Traditionally, a planet being located in the Eighth House suggests deaths among members of the social classes ruled by that planet. In this case, that would include the elderly, the wealthy, famous women, and well-known writers. Let's see what celebrity deaths occur during the next 28 days, and compare to this list.

The Ninth House rules legal matters, the Supreme Court, religion, higher education and immigration. As discussed above, I believe that, in this chart, this primarily refers to the second impeachment of Donald Trump. As the House Cusp is in Aquarius, the ruler is Uranus. Uranus is afflicted by squares to Saturn and to Venus and Jupiter. The impeachment will result in no benefit for the nation; it is altogether malicious.

The Tenth House rules the Executive Branch. Here the news is rather interesting. The cusp of the Tenth House is in Pisces, which is ruled by Neptune, and Neptune is on the house cusp. Neptune is therefore very powerful in this chart, but the only aspects he makes are a sextile to Mars and a semi-square to Saturn. What this suggests is that, as indicated by other charts, President Biden himself has relatively little power. Instead, the Executive Branch, in cooperation with some in Congress (sextile Mars) is largely running itself.

Neptune on the Tenth House also suggests, in Raphael's words, "socialistic agitation against the king and government." In our context, this probably suggests further agitation by Black Lives Matter and Antifa, potentially bringing them into conflict with the Biden Administration.

The Eleventh House rules Congress, especially the House of Representatives. In this chart, the Eleventh House is in Aries, and so its ruler is Mars; Uranus is also found in this House. As we've seen, Mars and Uranus are both badly afflicted, highly malefic influences in this chart. Debate, trouble, and conflict rule the day in Congress. The only positive action from that corner that we may see during this time will be legislation which will aid the more-or-less socialistic aims of the Executive Branch bureaucracies (Mars sextile Neptune).

The Twelfth House, finally, rules national institutions, hospitals and prisons, and the nation's hidden enemies. The ruler of this House is Mercury, with everything that goes with it. Mercury is highly active in this chart, making aspects to six other planets. His retrograde status has a chaotic impact on everything he touches, leading to chaos and unexpected reversals of fortune.

****

And so there you have it-- 28 more days of drama, scandal and conflict in the crumbling American republic. Stay safe out there, everybody.

I had this partially written up, but then my computer crashed and I lost it. Let's try again, one day late.

I wasn't sure I was going to do Full Moon charts; it seems that a New Moon is more important for predictive purposes and should be enough to work with in any case. But both for the sake of having more to do and to further test the accuracy of traditional Mundane Astrology, let's add Full Moon charts to the mix.

Below is the chart for the Full Moon of January 28, 2021 as seen from Washington DC.

In a Lunation chart such as this one, the position of the Full or New Moon, considered by itself, sets the tone for the chart as a whole and the two or four week period which follows.

This month's Lunation takes place in the sign of Leo, conjunct the Third House cusp. The Lunation is marked by oppositions from Jupiter and Saturn, and squares to Uranus and Mars. For the sake of the Lunation itself, we ignore the opposition to the Sun, but this will come into play later when we discuss house rulerships.

The Third House rules a nation's transportation and communication systems, and in our time it rules the internet. The Lunation falling in this house suggests that issues related to the Covid lockdown, ongoing internet censorship, and, of course-- though this can hardly count as a "prediction" a day after the fact-- the GameStop stock rebellion.

The Lunation is badly afflicted in this chart, as mentioned above. It's important to note that it is, in effect, under attack from two sides-- the Mars/Uranus conjunction and the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction afflict the Moon, but also one another. This suggests that the current mood is a feeling of being caught between Scylla and Charibdis in various forms.

I'm going to talk about the Moon when we discuss the First House, but let's take a brief look at the Sun as representative of the President.

The Sun is in a very bad way in this chart. He benefits from a conjunction to Jupiter, suggesting support from a certain segment of the very wealthy, but that's about all. He is in Detriment in Aquarius and Cadent in the 9th house. Both of these are signs of weakness individually; taken together, they suggest that, at this point, Biden is little more than a figurehead. The Sun is afflicted by the conjunction to Saturn and by squares to Mars and Uranus. As Saturn rules the 8th house of Death in this chart, and the Sun is also afflicted by Mars, ruler of the Sixth House of illness, it seems very possible that Biden's health has taken a turn for the worse. We will see what comes of it as time goes on. In any case, Biden himself seems to have little control of things at this exact moment.

The First House rules the common people. As the First House is in Cancer, the Moon is its ruler. The Moon is exceedingly weak in this chart, as we have seen. She is peregrine in Leo, meaning she gains no extra strength from that sign, and is weakened further by being in the cadent Third House. Meanwhile, she is afflicted by the hard aspects previously mentioned.

I have described the ongoing square-aspect between Uranus and Saturn, with sporadic participation by other planets, as a kind of War of the Gods. In this chart, the war has come home, and the people are caught between two contending forces.

Did you ever see the 90's science fiction series Babylon 5? (If not, I'm about to spoil it, so read on at your peril.).

The central plot of the show revolves around two extremely powerful and ancient alien races who battle with each other for control of the younger civilizations in the galaxy. The Shadows believe in growth through conflict and chaos, and emerge from hiding every thousand years or so to start wars and stir up conflict, so that only the strong will survive. Their rivals, the Vorlons, are described as "Lords of Order," and they believe in raising up the younger raises through discipline and obedience. Eventually their conflict explodes into the open in a colossal war that destroys whole planets.

That's roughly where we're at right this year.

Specifically for the next two weeks, we're going to see the people impacted badly by entrenched institutions (Saturn), high finance (Jupiter), the federal government (the Sun), the impact of technology (Uranus) and the ongoing social conflict in the country (Mars), and there isn't going to be much we can do about it, except to stay out of the way.

The Second House rules the nation's economic life, and as the house cusp is in Cancer, it too is ruled by the Moon, with all of the problems we've just seen. If you were looking for a $1400 check signed by Joe Biden in the next two weeks, prepare to be disappointed.

The Third House rules communications networks and transportation infrastructure, as we've seen. As the house cusp is in Leo, the ruler is the Sun. Considered as ruler of the Third House, the Sun is in a very bad way in this chart. The conjunction to Saturn indicates the ongoing lockdowns. The square to the Uranus/Mars conjunction suggests ongoing internet censorship as well as the use of technology in popular revolts against the elite. The opposition to the Moon, meanwhile, suggests popular anger generally, though the placement of both Sun and Moon in Cadent houses suggest that, as yet, there isn't much the people can do about it.

The Fourth House rules mines, farms and the countryside. Think of it as the Flyover House. As the House Cusp is in Virgo, the House Ruler is Mercury. Located in Aquarius and in the 10th house, Mercury is peregrine, meaning he has no special dignity or debility, and cadent in the 9th house. Other than that, he makes no aspects to any other planets. Conditions in Farm Country are not great, but expect the news from there to be relatively muted for the next 2 weeks.

The Fourth House also rules the Opposition to the government. As I've written before, I suspect that that increasingly means both the populist wing of the Republican Party and the left wing of the Democratic Party. While we may hear (Mercury) some new ideas (Aquarius) from those quarters in the next two weeks, don't expect them to accomplish anything.

The Fifth House rules the entertainment industry in all its forms and also financial speculation-- that is, Wall Street. As the House Cusp is in Libra, the Fifth House is ruled by Venus. Venus's position in this chart is interesting, given the news. She is in Capricorn, and so under Saturn's rulership; in the Eighth House of Death and Foreign Money, and conjunct Pluto, the gangster of the Solar System. Both Wall Street and Hollywood are awash in dark money. But you already knew that.

The Sixth House rules public health, and there is no good news here. The House Cusp is in Scorpio, a sign which naturally signifies disease, and its ruler, Mars, is in Detriment in Taurus, conjunct malefic Uranus and square the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn. Expect no good news at all on the Coronavirus front. As the Sixth House also rules the working class generally, the same applies; hard times for American workers won't be reversed any time soon!

The Seventh House rules foreign nations and war. The House Cusp is in Capricorn, and so Saturn rules this house.

Let's talk about the Seventh House together with The Eighth House of foreign trade and foreign money, as both are in Capricorn. Saturn, the ruler of both houses, is conjunct the Sun, suggesting the close involvement of various foreign powers with the Biden administration. Saturn benefits from a distant conjunction to Jupiter, suggesting that foreign powers are seeing some return on their investment in the United States, but afflicted by the conjunction to the Sun, the opposition to the Moon, and the squares to Mars and Uranus. All of this suggests public anger and even some movement toward an investigation in Congress regarding foreign influence in national affairs.

The abundance of planets in the Eighth House refers to the ongoing death toll from the Coronavirus, which especially impacts the elderly (Saturn).

The Ninth House rules religion and the Supreme Court. The Ninth House is active in this chart, containing the Sun, Jupiter, and Mercury. The House Cusp is in Aquarius, and so Uranus is its ruler. Uranus is badly afflicted in this chart, as we know. There may be news regarding "Supreme Court reform" (i.e., court packing) in the next couple of weeks; if so, don't expect it to be met with popular favor. Executive Orders on various topics will continue, and new regulations of commerce will be discussed, if not implemented.

The Tenth House rules the Executive Branch of government. As the House Cusp is in Pisces, the ruler is Neptune, who is here in this house and in his own sign. Neptune is far and away the most powerful planet in this chart. He is strengthened by being in the Angular Tenth House, and in the sign of his rulership. It's interesting to note that he makes no aspects to any other planets-- including the Sun, significator of the President. What we see here is a very strong Executive Branch that is basically operating under its own power at this time. As Neptune rules both socialism and delusion, expect any new executive orders or Executive Branch actions taken at this time to be more or less socialistic in nature, and also more or less detached from reality.

The Eleventh House rules Congress, and especially the House of Representatives. As the House Cusp is in Aries, Mars is the ruler. By himself, Mars suggests conflict and dispute in Congress. In this chart, Mars is in Detriment, conjunct Uranus, square to Saturn, the Sun and Jupiter, and approaching the cusp of the Cadent 12th house. Expect a lot of fighting in Congress, and don't expect anything to come of it.

The Twelfth House, finally, rules hospitals in prisons, hidden enemies, and national institutions generally. As the House Cusp is in Taurus, Venus is the ruler. As ruler of both the sixth house of public health and the twelfth house of hospitals, in the Eighth House of Death, Venus's position in this chart tells us that the death toll from the ongoing crisis will continue to mount. As the Twelfth House rules hidden enemies and Venus is conjunct Pluto and in the Eighth House of foreign money, we can certainly expect that the foreign enemies of the United States are taking what advantage they can of the situation.

And so there you have it-- Another two ordinary weeks in what is a very un-ordinary time. Stay safe out there, until next time!