A Last Quarter Moon of Reorientation

Thursday's Last Quarter Moon in the late degrees of Pisces represents another shift in the energy, even further toward contemplation, as we enter the Moon's final phase. The planetary patterning also serves as a reminder that as we live through these interesting times that we have somehow chosen, we never know what lies just around the corner. The Moon is inches away from Aries and the new outlook that pioneering sign represents. So near and yet so far. We might want to take notice of the fact that Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is still activated and residing also in Pisces, indicating where we remain deeply damaged and where we might yet be able to heal. Chiron was recently triggered by its close trine with Saturn at the time of the Full Moon, one week past, and that aspect remains active into this present phase. As the Moon aligns in Pisces in its chime with this particular timing of the quarter moon, we are pulled back into the inner reaches of our psyches, there to explore and attempt to discover the true roots of our deepest feelings and behaviors.

As we do we are enjoined to discover where we are caught, and where we want to move beyond this place of stuckness. Stodgy old Saturn remains in trine with Chiron and draws closer to its exact inconjunct with the freedom-loving nature of Uranus, this latter aspect now only little more than a degree away. Their connection gets closer and closer heading into late July, leading up to their mutual station on July 20th and 21st. This next thirty days or more is thus a bit dicey in this regard. Saturn and Uranus represent a distinct polarity; one says "stop" while the other cries "go, go, go!" We have a push within us to be getting on with it, whatever we feel that we must accomplish in the way of breaking free of old patterns, and yet there is that pull from within that holds us back into old and well worn tracks.

Mars is also coming into opposition with Uranus and is exactly contraparallel now as well, right at the time of this quarter Moon configuration. This is a creative aspect and yet can cause problems too, as impulsivity rises beyond all reasonable bounds. We have quite a lot to reflect upon as we move into a weekend and a follow-up week of contemplation, sorting out where we are at the moment, in terms of productive life change, and where we have still more distance to cover.

The Sabian Symbols could help to give us perspective on these cosmic challenges coming down. For the Sun, in the 29th or penultimate degree of Gemini, we have "The First Mockingbird of Spring" which reminds us of new potentialities, the very essence of Uranus as an astrological emblem. Marc Edmond Jones calls this "a Quickening;" and "a consistent stimulation to others." For the Moon, in the 29th degree of Pisces, we have "A prism." This is a lovely symbol of expansion under quite specific rules of limitation. The light bends, but only in this one precise manner. Marc Edmond Jones picks up on this idea when he refers to "exceptional accomplishment, through judgment." The amalgamation of the two indeed reminds us of what we have as our lot as part of this earthly plane of existence, caught between the unlimited potential of our heavenly dreams and the bounded reality of our actual worldly circumstance. As is also well symbolized by Uranus and Saturn in combination, we must somehow stay practical and accomplish what we can, and yet all the while dare to dream far beyond what we can concretely grasp from the standpoint of our current limited apprehension.