A Last Quarter Summing Up of Intensity

Saturday evening's Last Quarter Moon, taking place late night further east, or early on Sunday morning in Europe, is an interesting one, following as it does the intensity of the two very potent eclipses of late March and early April. This final major phase therefore represents a summing up of the intensity of these earlier lunations in the cycle, and traditionally for this phase also a noteworthy alteration in point of view, which Rudhyar called a "crisis in consciousness." This shift in perception is based upon successfully digesting the experiences of the previous three weeks of the lunation cycle thus far. Additionally, this configuration places the Moon in Pluto's current sign of Capricorn with the Sun in square, in Aries, the sign Uranus occupies. The Sun there also conjuncts Eris, the planet beyond Pluto, one degree away. This new planetary energy, which according to my own research represents an astrological archetype that can be termed a Spiritual Warrior for Soul Purpose, speaks to standing up for one's inner calling, that task that you can recognize that you have come into this lifetime to fulfill. This is thus an important and powerful emerging archetype for these times that we are currently living through. For those interested in reviewing my research, conclusions and the evidence that has led up to this characterization of Eris, see the current April issue of The Mountain Astrologer magazine, or check out my new book on Eris, The Tenth Planet, due to be released at the end of May from The Wessex Astrologer.

This Last Quarter Moon comes after the significant moment of last month's final collision of the planetary archetypes of Uranus and Pluto this decade, the seventh exact hit out of seven, a series that began in June of 2012. This important lunation also follows the station to direct motion of Jupiter, in aspect to both ends of their square alignment. All of us have been feeling the urge to transform, in a major way, so that some part of the very structure of our lives is irrevocably changed. This is aptly reflected by the symbolism of Pluto in Capricorn combined with the revolutionary vision for dynamic change represented by trickster Uranus, giving us an alternative glimpse into the working out of cosmic principles in our lives and in the life of the surrounding culture. This latter energy, that astrologer Jeffrey Wolf Green famously referred to as "freedom from the known," has the ability to liberate us from prior conceptions that have grown into well-worn ruts of mental tracks that inhibit further growth in comprehension. This is part of a cultural shift as well, that we find ourselves in the midst of, because we are in many ways still working ourselves out of the one-sided reliance on rationality as a (woefully incomplete) means of understanding our human situation.

The quintessential 18th Century mystical poet and visual artist William Blake termed his own period's reliance on strict rationality "Newton's sleep," while astrologer Robert Hand calls its origin in the 17th Century "the Endarkenment." In any case it seems clear that our own society is only quite slowly working through what modern physics long ago discovered, that there is more to subatomic and interstellar, as well as interpersonal, reality than can be accounted for by simplistic Newtonian cause-and-effect analysis. But if slipping out of the rut that we have lost ourselves in is only the first step, where do we go next? This then becomes the subject of our imaginings and speculations as we surrender to cosmic circumstance, break ourselves free of early conditioning and antiquated models of Spirit, and begin contemplate what might actually turn out to be an open future for ourselves.

In this regard it is extremely interesting to note in this Last Quarter Moon configuration the triple conjunction of Sun, Eris and Mercury in the final third of the sign of Aries, with Uranus nearby. We are thus being encouraged by a benevolent universe to think for ourselves, outside of any box, and to make a strong pitch for what we most deeply believe. Only in an uncompromising stand for life and for love will we really come to ourselves and begin to make a difference in our own lives that will also serve the pressing needs of the culture, and of Earth itself.

The Sabian Symbols for the Sun and Moon degree in this quarter Moon offer synchronistic support; they are, for the Moon, in the 22nd degree of Capricorn: "A general accepting defeat gracefully." In this we can discern the concept of surrender. Marc Edmund Jones has "an uncompromising loyalty to the long-range ends in view... a genius for learning from experience and transforming setback into accomplishment." For the Sun, in the 22nd degree of Aries, we find: "The gate to the garden of desire," should we have the courage to go deep inside ourselves to find it, while the symbol for the very next degree, the one that Eris now occupies, adds to this understanding: "A woman in pastel colors carrying a heavy and valuable but veiled load." Jones takes this to represent inner realities: "a symbol for the soul's basic anchorage in the privacy of its functioning and of the centering of real personality in the elements of its own particular genius... unimpeachable integrity." Indeed while our liberation is at hand, it yet takes a special courage and form of self-reliance. We win when we acknowledge the primacy of soul concerns, and recognize and begin to act on the true intentions of our own higher Self.

A Last Quarter Summing Up of Intensity

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Chart for the Last Quarter Moon on April 11, 2015

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