by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Leo New Moon chart. This Lunation takes what we have left over from Great Fracturing of June, and reintroduces the Mutable T-square so we can creatively reintegrate our energy in a form of strength, power, and honesty. We get a new idea at the turning point of what limitations we will and will not live with.
At this time, the planetary layout has moved between many different Jones Patterns, depending on the position of the Moon. These patterns operate their own independent influence, regardless of which planet is in which sign.
Currently, the occupied span begins with the inner planets in Leo, and proceeds through planets in Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, and Aries. If there was more than one opposition it would be a See-Saw, but because of the clear 1/3 gap between Uranus in Aries and the Lunation in Leo, this spread is called a Locomotive Jones pattern.
The Locomotive Pattern and how it works
This type of spread, with all the planets occupying 2/3 of the signs with an empty third, creates an imbalance that leads to power if we can find the compensatory “weight” to make things move forward smoothly rather than rock side to side creating friction. Target what is needed, and provide compensatory energies accordingly.
As Marc Jones put it, “this type of horoscope reveals a balance of this sort in the life. A third part of things… consisting of a free span in experience, is set against a two-thirds part, embracing a related but limited span in experience…. The basis of the dynamic is found in the native’s resulting strong sense of a lack or a need, of a problem to be solved, a task to be achieved in the social and intellectual world around him.”
Dr. Jones states “The temperament reveals a self-driving individuality, an executive eccentricity that is not … unbalance but rather is power. It exhibits a dynamic and exceptionally practical capacity which is neither the broad universality of the Splash pattern, nor the special obsession with some particularly narrowed aspect of experience characteristic of the Bundle people.
He goes on to state “The Locomotive classification is … moved more by external factors in the environment than by aspects of its own character. The point of application for the powers of the self is shown … by the “leading planet,” or the one of the two in the empty trine which forms its aspect clockwise in the zodiac, irrespective of any distinction as “applying” or “separating.”
The Sun and Moon are the leading planets in the Locomotive. This should bring power and focus to whatever was promised back when Jupiter was in Leo and the leading planet of the Locomotive patterns prevailing between the Autumn of 2014 and the Spring of 2015. This is the power of the mature heart interacting with others in elegant ways, life as art and art as life. Lead with it, play with it, express it, and have fun with it! Despite the imbalances, you could find power, strength, and truth in the approach.
In this New Moon, the span occupied by the innermost planets (in this chart the Lunation and Venus in Leo with Mercury and Jupiter in Virgo) is 41+ degrees, showing the major focus in play. This is a very intense cluster, since it features 5 planets bunched in a narrow span of degrees.
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 6 signs, which are fairly spread out around the zodiacal wheel. As noted, we have Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, and Aries represented, with no significant cluster outside of the Leo-Virgo span.
The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon
A New Moon sets the seed forms for what the following month will demonstrate. This Lunation falls at 11 Leo. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 11th degree of Leo is “Children on a swing in a huge oak tree.” In his notes from the Jones class, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “the sustaining and protective power of ancestral background against emotions” and “appreciation of inborn cultural restraint.”
In the Mandala he goes on to say this is a degree of "the power of tradition as it shelters the beginnings of individual self-expression,” where we “play with words and concepts which ‘hang’ from the branches of the Tradition” aka the Tree of Life, or Tree of Knowledge. He speaks of the “release of emotional intensity at various levels” of individualized consciousness as we discover “newly developed potentialities of the mind,” or “the spontaneous activity of the innocent mind.”
So the seed forms for the next month involve exploring ideas stemming from the Universal Wisdom Tradition, and playing innocently with concepts that help us release intense energies to individualize our consciousness. We may find protection in our ancestral wisdom or “inborn restraint.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Assurance, Act of Stabilization, and Scene of Combustion on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “satisfaction in the normal exercise of selfhood” and the dependability of what sustains us physically and socially. He says this implies “a special refreshment of the spirit” as we continually develop our responsibility to our most genuine self-expression.
He states that this is a degree where “as we accept the overshadowing of a universal life and order we can achieve a better conception of our personal reality.” He offers the keyword DELIGHT. He states that when operating positively, the degree is a “consistent zest for every possible phase of living and a real generosity of self-expenditure.”
Important Aspects
Remember that in reading a Lunation chart (as well as a horary, inceptional, electional, or any event chart) the forming aspects show things to come, while separating aspects show things already past. This section covers only forming aspects.
As mentioned in part 1, the Lunation makes several important aspects. It is tredecile both Mars and Uranus, anchoring a configuration affecting 10 areas very favorably. It is also novile Jupiter, quincunx Neptune, and triseptile Pluto, triggering the Grand Irrationality. While just separating from a trine to Saturn, since Saturn is on its stationary degree we will still feel the stable fire of the trine, opening 10-11 Aries.
The quincunx indicates forced adjustments to create a new rhythm or balance to things resulting from creative reorganization of something in your Capricorn sector. I spoke of the Grand Irrationality in part one, and the novile to Jupiter is powerful in that it shows a spiritual harvest for some, and the gestation of other things to come forth in about 80 days. Most affected are 1-3 degrees of Water signs, 11-13 of Fire and 21-23 of Earth.
The tredeciles to Mars and Uranus (which are in biquintile) open up serendipity and unique interactive gifts and blessings. Zones most affected include 1-2 Gemini/Sagittarius, 4-8 Cancer/Capricorn, 10-14 Leo/Aquarius, 16-20 Virgo/Pisces, 22-26 Libra/Aries, and 28-30 Scorpio/Taurus. If you have a planet or angle in any of these zones, unique and highly specialized favorable events are on the way.
Other important inner planet aspects include Mercury quindecile the Sun, square Saturn, quadraelftile Uranus, and opposition Neptune; Venus square Mars (out of sign), quindecile Jupiter, biseptile Saturn, and sesquisquare Pluto; and Mars quintile Jupiter, conjunct Saturn, biquintile Uranus, and semisquare Pluto.
Mercury square Saturn shows the need to open to more flexible views of things using imagination and attention to details in order to take control of the momentum and get back on track while mastering discouragement and learning to navigate in obscure realms. The opposition to Neptune shows the need for clarity in knowing what role to play and what ideal to articulate. The void of the T-square into Gemini shows some things will melt down as we learn techniques of “mind over matter” and “land gracefully.” The quindeciles of both Mercury and Venus show the beginning of something specialized, as yet not well formed but on the way.
Venus square Mars out of sign shows something must transpire before the square comes into clear focus. The sesquisquare to Pluto shows the need to be gracious when dealing with irritating people and situations, and the biseptile to Saturn shows major forks in the road of our lives in areas where we have Taurus, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. This is culminative, and most affects those with planets or angles near 25-29 Leo, 17-21 Libra, 8-12 Sagittarius, 30 Capricorn-4 Aquarius, 21-25 Pisces, 12-16 Taurus, and 4-8 Cancer.
Mars quintile Jupiter lends to the uniqueness of the period, and shows emergent specialized situations where our training will bring us to “fighting spirits” who are our spiritual “kin.” The conjunction to Saturn quickens the endings around the old Mars-Saturn cycle, and we now begin to anticipate the coming conjunction which promises those who are ambitious “win the prize.” The semisquare to Pluto deals a death blow to old Plutonic manifestations, with Mars entering Pluto’s Twilight Zone until their next conjunction on October 19 at 16 Capricorn.
The major outer planet aspects have mostly passed, except for Jupiter quintile Saturn and quincunx Uranus, and Saturn sesquisquare Uranus and decile Pluto. As noted earlier, even though the Saturn square Neptune is temporarily separating, it’s put back into play via Mercury. This square will continue to create friction in the collective consciousness between authoritarian thinking or the aspiration to a more spiritual structure (Saturn in Sag) and collective confusion or the need for a vaster compassion and sense of connection with all of Life (Neptune in Pisces.) This friction will be with us for many months to come, so keep an open mind, be adaptable, and use Divine discernment to figure out what works, what doesn’t, what fits where, and what is no longer useful.
Jupiter quintile Saturn indicates specialization, gifts, or genius, all of which come to a focus in the near future as Mars activates it. Saturn sesquisquare Uranus is a general agitation that will be prominent the next few weeks, and the decile is a partly developed uniqueness or gift in the long terms cycle of these two planets.
The biseptile, triseptile, novile, and quadraelftile are spiritual aspects. All novile series aspects introduce an element of gestation, whether something is going into it or coming out from a gestative period. These aspects hold the promise of realization and revelation, pointing us toward whatever spiritual pulse governs the planetary interaction.
The elftile series aspect all show some phase of learning to overcome some form of duality by making a leap of faith that will lead to mastery. Mercury quadraelftile Uranus shows the leap of faith we’ll need to make to come to master how our imagination can be shaped to receive a spiritual harvest in the future, and though separating in this Lunation, the Uranus trielftile Pluto is the next phase in their larger cycle previously defined by the years’ long square that will yield a biseptile in 2017.
Element Balance
Of the traditional 10 planets, there are 6 planets in Fire signs, 1 in Water, 3 in Earth, and 0 in Air. This indicates we are again very short on interactivity and feeling, and very strong in inspiration and practicality. The preponderance is on practical inspiration, and grounded inspiration, with almost nothing else but these two energies in play. So keep feeling what you can, and when possible, generate an interactive vibe.
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things will be running hot, with only practicality providing “cool.”
The current sequence at present of Deciding, Feeling, and Thinking
We’ve been through several different sequences over the past few months. There are six patterns, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. This one continues the last Full Moon pattern.
As a process of moving through events, the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience during the next 4 weeks involves leading with our deciding or acting, and following that with feeling or experiencing what follows that decision or action. Then after you feel what you need to feel, don’t simply go back to more actions, but instead move into new ideas, a new vision, new understanding, or a communication so that you come to a new way of viewing what’s going on.
So over the next four weeks we’ll lead with our decisions and actions, after which we’ll need to reference our feelings and experience about those decisions and actions. After we decide or act and then feel, we then need to find newer, more up to date information so we can get a new way of viewing those actions and our experience of those actions.
So get it in gear, and then go to your feelings and check in about how you’re experiencing those decisions and actions, after which find a new view, a new understanding, new information, and new interactions that can help you see clearly what must be done and how. Then do it, and again feel what you must on the basis of that decision. Periods of solitude may be required after a critical decision or action. After that direct experience of feelings the results of your decision and action, then find the information from which a new understanding or vision will arise.
Summing Up
We’re now moving forward after the long Mars retrograde period, and Mars will be speeding up in motion for many months, promising a quickened pace to whatever we’re trying to get done (thank heaven!) We approach a period of needing to be honest and childlike as we explore various new ideas and get to work using imagination and training to develop our precision and attention to details.
Everything is concentrating, with the momentum moving us into the multiple conjunctions in late Virgo and Mars conjunct Saturn in the second half of August. This will bring a lot of activity into clear focus wherever we have late Virgo and 10 Sag. The fact that these areas are in quintile shows a lot of unique and highly specialized activity in this period of all the inner planets getting closure by making waning aspects to Saturn.
This New Moon will generate activity wherever we have mid-Leo through late Virgo in our charts, so be as creative as you want to be, see where your heart is in any situation or what you want to make manifest, and get a plan, or stick with the plan you have already formulated that will move your practical affairs forward. As the New Moon is in a decan ruled by a double Jupiter influence, work toward the spiritual ideal, allow things to gestate if they need to, and know you have rewards and opportunities coming in late September and October if you set your sights in the right direction.
Jupiter and the North Node continue to help us grow and claim the promise of the new adventures initiated when Mercury, the Sun, Mars, and Venus were in Virgo making their conjunctions to Jupiter between August and October 2015. This is assisting us to learn a grounded practicality and productive use of power that will be a permanent part of our tool box. These will be re-set at the next conjunctions with Jupiter beginning with Mercury and Venus at the end of August at 27-28 Virgo, and Mercury RX conjunct Jupiter again in early September at 29 Virgo. This year’s group will finish with Sun conjunct Jupiter at 4 Libra in late September, and the final Mercury conjunct Jupiter in October at 7 Libra.
There is great productivity promised over the next 4 weeks, and even though things are widely spread out, there is a huge potential for serendipitous events to occur via the Lunation tredeciles to Mars and Uranus in biquintile. There could be powerful reunions for some, and promises to be fulfilled in 2017 for others.
There is strength to be found and/or demonstrated in honesty of self-expression which will lead to peace. Open your imagination, get clear about what to do and when, as well as the roles you want to play and do not want to play, break free of negative or narrow thinking, and if necessary, change direction, pull out of the nosedive, get a new trajectory, and let go of old ghosts. And of course, play, play, and play!
© Copyright 2016 Robert Wilkinson
Great post. Looks like times are moving forward and there is a wide field or many fields in which things and/or ourselves will be moving forward.
Thanks for the information, very useful as it always is.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | August 02, 2016 at 02:45 PM
Robert, I am also watching Persephone and Mercury, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, and Pallas Athene in five points of a grand sextile. The Divine Mother is very active! The void is active in Capricorn.
Love to have your comment on this.
Posted by: Jo Garceau | August 02, 2016 at 05:03 PM
My ephemeris seems to be off by one degree....
Posted by: Diana | August 03, 2016 at 07:31 AM
Yikes! Thanks for this! The day before the new moon I received a totally unexpected job offer. The position would involve leading a team most of the time from a remote location (my current office), relying on telephone, email, online chat and video-conferencing (very Uranian) with periodic visits to the place most of the team lives - a fairly remote US city that is geologically unstable (one of the reasons I turned down a previous offer to move there - I could feel it). The person offering the job is indeed a feisty kindred spirit. I have Moon 13 Leo, Asc. 26 Virgo, Sun 15 Aries, Jupiter 24 Aries.
Posted by: Denise | August 06, 2016 at 08:26 PM