A Last Quarter Moon Time of Thoughtful Action

Monday evening's Last Quarter Moon is an interesting and thoughtful lunation, with potentially an impulsive side, resulting in unexpected activity and inner exploration. This is because the trickster energy of Uranus is once more emphasized, located in the middle degrees of Aries. The nature of this phase also represents something of a curve ball, when we are reevaluating what has gone before this moment in the lunar cycle. We may be re-thinking nearly everything that has taken place in our lives over the course of a rather intense three weeks. Furthermore, as we do so, we are likely to be paying closer attention to our inner world and its ancient trauma, as signaled by the presence of Chiron, the Wounded Healer, at the middle degree of Pisces and aspected by Uranus and also by Venus and Jupiter. This important configuration could therefore signal a time when we take heed of the dark places that we are able to detect inside us.

Mars is also newly entered into Sagittarius, a compatible Fire sign with Aries, the sign that he rules, and where we currently find Uranus. The impulse for action is clear. Uranus is also aspected by Mars, a sesquiquadrate, while Venus, Jupiter and Saturn make significant aspects to Uranus. This Uranian emphasis implies surprising events that have the potential to nudge us further in the direction of new and different perspectives upon our situation, and the symbolism promises as well that the power of deep intuition could now come to our aid to guide us.

The presence of Venus in this Last Quarter Moon configuration is also very interesting; Venus aspects Pluto and closely opposes Chiron, bringing shadowy and relatively unknown parts of ourselves to our attention. We all have these dark areas within us, the result of repressed prior wounding, crying out to come forward into the light of increased awareness. The circulation of consciousness through these hidden places is extremely valuable. Another indicator of important internal content is given by the presence of the new dwarf planet, Eris, the planet beyond Pluto that was only recently named, in the fall of 2006, and that represents a reservoir of power that can be channeled toward finding inner components of soul purpose. Eris is also emphasized in this quarter moon, being closely inconjunct the Sun and sextile the Moon. With all this dark energy building up inside us, as we are simultaneously occupying our outer persona, some entirely other area of our being is knocking on the door of interior awareness. This is a potent part of ourselves, indicative of numinous other-dimensional guidance and possessing authority of tremendous scope. We do well to pay the closest possible attention to inner as well as outer needs over the course of this quarter moon, and in the following week.

The Sabian symbols for this Last Quarter Moon support this idea. For the Moon, in the 24th degree of Gemini, we have "Children skating on ice." This suggests successful self-expression that yet has a hidden and dangerous component. Then for the Sun in the 24th degree of Virgo, we find: 'Mary and her white lamb.' This reminds Marc Edmond Jones of "artlessness," and the "childish expectation of goodness." We all have similar expectations emanating from our inner child, still very much alive within us. We can get back to such a state of grace only rarely, the more frequently the more we explore our shadowy inner realms that guard the door to that greater wholeness that we can find within ourselves, when we sincerely try.