A Spiritual and Perplexing Last Quarter Moon

Saturday's Last Quarter Moon, with the Sun conjunct numinous Neptune in Pisces and the Moon in square from Sagittarius, is another in the recent series of interesting lunations. This phase in any case represents a reevaluation of what has gone before during the three preceding weeks of the lunation cycle, in what seminal Western astrologer Dane Rudhyar called a "crisis in consciousness." We are therefore engaged, in one way or another, in summing up our experience thus far into a seed idea to carry forward. Our next cycle is signaled by the coming New Moon of February 28th that stimulates, once again, Uranus and Pluto in their storied square alignment presaging radical changes in our society and for individuals. Bringing Neptune into this equation, we are trying our best to understand in spiritual terms the current societal dilemma. It may in fact be true that as awareness grows concerning our true situation, all our troubles are paving the way for a better world to eventually emerge.

Since Mercury is also currently retrograde in Aquarius, turning to direct motion on the same day as the New Moon, while Mars is simultaneously slowing down and preparing to station retrograde on March 1st, we are in the midst of a thoughtful period and questioning nearly everything. In particular we have the potential collision of the wishes of the individual, symbolized by Uranus in Aries, versus what social needs are being met by a concerted action on our part toward the advancement of the surrounding collective. This latter is as represented by Pluto in Capricorn, and by Capricorn's ruler, Saturn in dynamic aspect to Uranus, signifying collective versus individual requirements.

We are full of ideas at this time that can help to resolve ourselves to what we are all about, especially since the amplification of expansive Jupiter also aspects Uranus. Everything that we say and do has the joint purpose of getting us further down the road of our own spiritual growth and also helping the surrounding collective move itself forward into what will soon be the quarter mark on this challenging new century. With Neptune so emphasized we might also find ourselves on the point of the fundamental realization that the universe is our protector and that with Spirit in mind, everything will come out all right in the end. This may well be true, and yet still leave open the vital and important question of what concrete steps we need to take in order to get ourselves there, and how our own needs must be balanced by the needs of others.

The Sabian Symbols of this Last Quarter Moon are instructive. Since the Sun and the Moon are each a mere 2 minutes of a degree away from entering the fifth degree of their respective signs, they are, for the Sun in the fourth degree of Pisces: "Heavy traffic on a narrow isthmus," with the keyword CONVERGENCE, and in the fifth: "A church bazaar," which Marc Edmond Jones calls "a special genius for the organization of society"s real concern for the general well-being." This last statement might have been easier to make in the early 1920s than it would be today.

For the Moon in Sagittarius we have "A child learning to walk" which nicely describes the state of our current society, and "An old owl, up in a tree," which Jones calls "exceptional wisdom and effective self-restraint." These are qualities that will come in very handy as we navigate the remainder of this turbulent decade. We must indeed, as a society, come together around our common concerns as well as for the cause of our own individual evolutionary growth, or else face the disintegration of our chances for the success of either.