A Demanding First Quarter Moon

The First Quarter Moon of late Saturday evening is an interesting occurrence, in part because Mercury has reached its station, and will return to direct motion on the very next day. As it does so it makes an exact trine to numinous and confounding Neptune, which means that this particular weekend is even more filled with illusion and mental confusion than recent days. It is also interesting that Venus, having entered Capricorn a few days ago, where Pluto also resides, is now making a sextile aspect to both ends of the trine. In her newly entered sign, Venus is enjoining us to pay closer attention to how we can change the world around us corresponding to a soul-level connection with what we most hold dear. As Venus gets closer and closer to Pluto over these next few days, we might have the occasion as well to explore greater depth in all our relationships.

Another factor in this First Quarter Moon is the spiritually motivating and expansive planetary archetype of Jupiter in mid-Cancer, aspected by the Sun and Moon in their square with one another. Jupiter is standing still in the sky, having just recently stationed retrograde, and is therefore more powerful, signaling full speed ahead to the cosmic engine room inside us. This can be well-placed enthusiasm for the best within us, or actually, energy for almost anything else that we can think of. Since the Sun in this quarter Moon configuration widely conjuncts Saturn, we have withholding as well as generosity on the part of the universe. The push and pull of a stop-and-go mode of being is a little crazy making, but perhaps holds valuable lessons for us. When we run into difficulties over this intense weekend we might want to remember the fundamental beneficence that actually underlies everything that we are going through.

These interesting and demanding cosmic presences are also of course acting on us in the context of the Solar Eclipse one week ago, when Uranus and Pluto were emphasized in their square, presaging the powerful changes currently taking place in our lives. Equally, the society that surrounds us is going through its major metamorphosis. The idealism of Neptune is now additionally invoked, because stationing Mercury makes an exact trine to Neptune with the Moon in parallel to both.

As we move through the inspiring and yet daunting energies of these times, any way we turn, we are allowing some particular aspect of our own future selves to spring into being. The Sabian Symbols for the degree of either end of the trine in Water Signs is revealing. As alluded to a couple of weeks back, the symbol for the degree that Neptune occupies, the 3rd degree of Pisces, is "A petrified forest." That of stationing Mercury, in the 3rd degree of Scorpio, is "A house-raising." Rather than remaining stuck in the past, at this turning of the Mercury Retrograde period, the time has indeed come for constructive action in our own lives and as well in the life of the enclosing collective.