full moon astrology – Page 3

The Astrology of Lobsters

Today I am writing to you from the shore of the Kennebunk River which feeds into the Atlantic Ocean up here in Maine. Maine – where you can sleep on the second floor with your windows open in August…where you fall asleep to the distant mournful call of the ever alert fog horns and wake up to the clanking of the ship bells. Maine – where you can start growing claws from eating fresh lobster but get all your antioxidants from the blueberries which are everywhere. Ah…..

It is here on the banks of the river that you can also see astrology in action. Every morning and every evening the tides rush to an recede from the shores – every 12 hours and 24 minutes without fail. When the tide is out the river basin is so exposed that you can actually walk across the rocky floor. When the tide comes in the water is so high it rises the boats that had been asleep on the rocks and you are lucky to get an inch or two into the river bed without falling to your hips in water. Cold water I might add – the water never heats up here even in August.

That my dear friends is astrology in action. It is taken for granted even in the least spiritual circles (although I can’t account for birthers or non-evolutionists because who knows what goes on in their heads) that the Moon controls the tides. Let me repeat that – the Moon controls the tides.

We also get the word lunatic from the Latin for Moon –Luna– because people act oddly during the full Moon. When I worked as a lobbyist for an engineering association many button down collar, conservative engineer types admitted that many nuclear power plants put extra security on during the full Moon because of the increased threats.

OK so the Moon controls the tides and our emotions. Why then is it so odd to think that the Sun influences our inner life force and Mercury our thought patterns and Mars our masculine warrior energy? Is it OK for the Moon to do things because we can’t help but prove it’s power over our lives so we have to accept it?
So many people who accept the concept of full Moon madness scoff at astrology without realizing how incongruous their argument.

Think about it – I know I will but first it is time for another lobster roll.

What in the universe is a “house”?

You know sometimes the simplest questions never get asked or answered. We astrologers forget that words and phrases we so often toss around without thinking are not ones that everyone else uses in their every day lexicon! Nothing is more annoying that someone addresses me in “shop talk” so I want to take a few minutes today to get back to fundamentals.

For instance, what is a house? The famous song talks about the Moon being in the 7th house. Where is that house, 7 Moon Lane? A house is nothing more than a 30 degree swath of the sky. Because we live on a relatively circular planet that travels in a relatively circular path around the Sun, we perceive the sky above us as a circle and a circle has 360 degrees. Because there are twelve houses, each house is 30 degrees of the circle. But why twelve houses?

The ancient Sumerians and Babylonians are credited with devising the astrological system we now use in the West although it is entirely possible that some other civilization came up with the whole thing and these guys get the credit because they had a written language. So the Sumerians and Babs could have cribbed the whole system from someone else and just wrote it down. Regardless of the oddities lost in the mists of history, twelve is a very powerful number. It is a number that vibrates to the wisdom of a powerful circle. There were twelve tribes in Israel, twelve disciples followed Jesus, there are twelve months in the year, and our modern clock is divided into two groups of twelve hours. It is considered to be the ancient number of completion as it signals the end of childhood and the beginning stages of adulthood. Additionally, the ancient numbering and measuring systems are based on this number, as evidenced by terms such as a dozen (12), a gross (12 times 12), a shilling (12 pence) and a foot (12 inches). So 12 was a number of power, wisdom and a power circle – makes sense they would use it for the zodiac as well. Therefore, the zodiac pie is divided into 12 equal 30 degree pieces.

We anchor that pie in the sky, if you will, with the Eastern and Western horizons. The Eastern horizon is the point where the 1st house begins and then the circle moves in a counter clockwise direction down to the second house and up and around again so that the 12th house borders the first.

Each house influences a part of our life but more on that later. I will spend some time on each house in the next few months.

Happy 4th all — of July not house…although the 4th house vibrates to home, hearth and patriotism!

Full Moon Baby

My niece had her second child last week and yes, I am one of those wacky astrologers who tracks the chart and see how it moves and what the possibilities are as labor progresses. Those of you who read “In the Lion’s Den” where I chronicled my life among Leo rising people, will be amused to learn that the new baby is Leo rising! Come to think of it, my niece is also Leo rising. Lions, lions all around!

The baby has another astrological distinction in that she was born during the Full Moon. We consider the Moon “full” when it appears totally lit and totally round and we can see it as clearly as we ever can. This is because it is the furthest from the Sun and is out of the grasp of the it’s rays. The Moon is always “full” we just can’t see it when the sunlight is normally hogging a lot of the space. On a chart, we can always spot someone born under the full Moon because the glyphs for the Sun and Moon are on opposite ends of the chart – they are 180 degrees from one another.

I was amazed when, years ago, I worked for an engineering group and learned that many nuclear power plants add extra security during the full Moon. These button down science types acknowledge that something happens to some people during that time. How astrological of them! Of course, we are all aware of the term “full Moon madness.” Since the Moon controls our emotional energy, people with high strung Moon placements do feel the difference when the she is at her most powerful.

What does this mean for people born under the full Moon? While I am certain that my little great niece will not turn into a werewolf, she will have a hard time connecting her emotions. Expressing her emotions, understanding them, feeling and channeling them will all be hurdles for her to conquer. And during those times when the Moon goes “full” every month, if it is a constellation that activates her Natal Moon, she is going to be a bit off kilter for a day or so.

Fortunately, by making her parents aware of this they will be able to guide her over the rough spots. That is one of the most wonderful aspects of doing baby charts. Because they are road maps, they show parents what they are in for! Seriously, you don’t start a journey without a map, why start a life?

Baby charts make excellent gifts!

A New Year’s Eve Blue Moon

I just wanted to give you a little heads up. On this New Year’s Eve there will be a blue moon. While there are several definitions of a blue moon, the most common is the second full Moon in one calendar month. What does this mean astrologically? Well, not much – other than the implications of any full Moon on your chart. If the full Moon is sitting on top of one of your personal planets (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars) then you are going to feel it emotionally whether it is blue, green or chartreuse. If BOTH full Moons in December (the first being Dec. 2, 2009) impact your personal planets, well it will be a wild holiday season for you for sure!

The reason I bring this up is twofold. One, can you imagine what a full Moon will do to already crazed New Year’s revelers? Two, I might suggest a more meaningful way to ring in 2010; instead of joining them in drunken revelry why not sit outside and look up at the beautiful Moon and see what messages it has to tell you for the future.