by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Sagittarius New Moon chart. This Lunation can help us go deep into our inner power, let go of old dramas and struggles, and accomplish a lot! This will illuminate many things from the past while opening us to a new dedication and a new love.
For much of 2016 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 Jupiter in Libra, and proceeds through planets in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries. This is an almost ideal spread, with all the planets in half the signs. It will continue over the next few months as the inner planets continue within the span defined by Libra through Aries. This pattern, where all the planets are within the span of half the signs, is called a Bowl Jones pattern.
The Bowl Pattern and how it works
This type of spread, with all the planets occupying approximately half of the signs with an empty half opposite the occupies half, creates a “special type of conscious selfhood,” which Dr. Jones says “marks the Bowl type of temperament. He goes on to state “Fundamentally it is an extreme self-containment,” which “holds things, and a Bowl individual is one who always has something to bear.”
He goes on to state that with the Bowl, “the whole dynamic of man, his total power of achievement, arises in his instinctive realization that he is set off against a definite part of the world, that there is a complete segment of experience from which he is excluded in some subtle fashion. The Bowl not only holds something, but also places whatever it holds into relationship with a larger consideration.”
Dr. Jones continues that “the occupied segment of the Bowl horoscope reveals the activity and organization of the self, since planets are significant according to their place by sign and house, and the unoccupied segment becomes a challenge to existence, or the need and emptiness to which the native must direct his attention. The outstanding characteristic of the Bowl temperament is its marked sense of what is self-contained in contrast with what the self cannot hold, and this take an everyday form in an advocacy of some cause, the furtherance of a mission, an introspective concern over the purpose of experience.”
He concludes his explanation of how the pattern works with “The Bowl native always has something to give to his fellows, whether literally or psychologically, whether constructively or vindictively, because his orientation to the world arises from division; that is, frustration and uncertainty. The leading planets, determined in exactly the same way as for the Locomotive pattern, give a point of application, and shows where and how the native seeks to carry out his mission or gain his everyday justification for existence.”
He brings up another important point of analysis, as he states “the leading planet is of secondary importance in the Bowl pattern, unless it is found in a strong opposition or cosmic cross. The fundamental attack on the problems of life by the Bowl individual is indicated more significantly by the tilt or house-position of the Bowl-segment.”
He concludes this section by stating “the Bowl character is definitely more self-expending, or self-seeking, and more practically interested in what things mean and what they are. It continually throws the emphasis from the signs into the houses. It a general way the Bowl tends to ‘scoop up’ things and initiate experience when the position of the leading planet ranges from the fourth cusp, up and over the ascendant, to the midheaven cusp, and then inclines to “capture” things or consummate various phases of life when the leading planet is placed similarly from the tenth angle down over the descendant to the nadir.”
With Jupiter leading this Bowl pattern, it shows us the need to use “expansive balance,” “balanced truth and view,” and “abundant well-roundedness” to open our planetary experience. Take a large and generous view of the many ways a thing can be approached or understood in its larger picture. As Jupiter is in Air, understanding and a sense of how things are related in a balanced overview will open doors to experience.
In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the Lunation through Venus in Capricorn) is 42+ degrees, making that the major focus. However, if we add Mars, we have 7 planets in the 67+ degree span between Jupiter in Libra and Mars in Aquarius. Regardless of which grouping you use, this is a very intense cluster, guaranteed to set a lot into motion wherever it falls in our chart.
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 6 signs, which are fairly spread out around the occupied part of the zodiacal wheel. As noted, we have Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries represented, with no planet in the other signs.
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 8 Sagittarius. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 8th degree of Sagittarius is “Rocks and things forming therein.” In his notes from the Jones class, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “Irresistible determination to be,” “Infinite capacity for hard work,” and “Crystallization of purpose and will out of experience.”
In the Mandala he goes on to say this is a degree of "the alchemical fire which both purifies and transforms the very substance of man’s inner life.” He says this symbol involve forces “in the deepest layers of the psyche” which respond to our group interactions and the stirring up of a greater intensity of love. He offers that this creates “an alchemical process” which leads to a “kind of mutation” where we reach “a new level of awareness.”
He states this degree deals with “the basic rhythm of growth” and our reactions to other experiences which aroused our emotions. He says “the very substance of (our) nature undergoes modifications, on the basis of which a new step may be taken,” and we must become aware of the deep inner changes and the “Psychic gestation” taking place. He says this degree falls in the Span of Receptiveness, Act of Group Integration, and is the synthesizing degree of the Scene of Abstraction on the Social-Cultural level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the necessity that (we) create (our) own reality out of the actual situations in which (we) become involved” by taking control of circumstances. He offers the stability we find “be taken as a foundation for all consequent and individual initiative.”
He offers “each person in accepting his roots and capitalizing on (their) own endowment is enabled to proceed to high achievement, and offers us the keyword COMPOSITION. He states that when operating positively, the degree is an “exceptional ability to mold or remold the course of events.”
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, featuring a septile to Jupiter, conjunction to Saturn, square to Neptune, and decile to Pluto. Interestingly, while the Moon makes a novile to Venus, Venus makes a semisquare to the Sun. The conjunction to Saturn puts the spotlight on that planet and ends the old Sun-Saturn cycle while offering a promise of the new one to come at the conjunction in about a week and a half.
It also re-energizes the Saturn square Neptune at work in late 2015 and the Summer of 2016, giving us power and illumination as to why we had to narrow our focus to get a better grip on the whole of our life affairs. And of course it also will enlighten us about why Mars retrograde unfolded as it did in our charts, helping us see what began in March, reversed course in April, and resumed progress in August were really about in terms of initiative and/or what spurred us to action. It will definitely give light and power to whatever we began in late August at the Mars conjunct Saturn at 10 Sagittarius.
The septile to Jupiter is the first “fork in the road of destiny” in this Sun-Jupiter cycle that began in late September. This will put us at a turning point wherever we have mid-Libra and early Sagittarius, influencing houses and planets in our charts involving Cancer, Leo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. Those most affected have planets or angles near 15-19 Libra, 6-10 Sagittarius, 28 Capricorn-2 Aquarius, 20-24 Pisces, 11-15 Taurus, 2-6 Cancer, and 23-27 Leo.
Other forming aspects include Mercury quindecile Venus, vigintile Sun, quintile Jupiter and Neptune, and Venus semisquare Sun, quindecile Mars, square Uranus, and semisquare Neptune. Moving to the outer planets, we have the extraordinarily favorable “4 note chord” of productivity and harmony involving Mars trine Jupiter and sextile Saturn, Jupiter sextile Saturn and opposing Uranus, and Saturn trine Uranus. This will stabilize and harmonize the areas and planets we have in mid-Libra, mid-Sag, mid-Aquarius, and mid-Aries.
Besides this very favorable configuration, we find a host of spiritual aspects. Mars is bielftile Uranus and quindecile Neptune, Jupiter is barely separating from its square to Pluto, Saturn is binovile Neptune, and Uranus is novile Neptune.
The septile, novile, binovile, and bielftile 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.
The quintile and biquintile, with the sub-harmonic vigintile (18 degrees) and quindecile (24 degrees) are all specialization aspects. You can find more by going to Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Pt. 1 – Quintile, Tredecile, Decile, and Biquintile, and Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Part 2 – The Quindecile and the Vigintile.
You can find out more about the spiritual aspects (septile, novile, and elftile series) by referencing this brief overview of the Spiritual aspects, complete with glyphs for all of them, or purchasing the much more extensive in-depth class on the spiritual aspects, including the septile (7th harmonic) series, novile (9th harmonic) series, and elftile (11th harmonic) series aspects. If you want the class with powerpoint graphics and accompanying recorded tracks, email me.
Element Balance
Of the traditional 10 planets, there are 5 planets in Fire signs, 1 in Water, 2 in Earth, and 2 in Air. This indicates we have an emphasis on inspiration and future-oriented activity, with a balance between practicality and interactivity and a deficiency in feeling. This balance will shift once Mars enters Pisces, so expect rapidly changing atmospheres.
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things will be running fairly hot! The emphasis on Fire and Water can create a very volatile combination that creates steam power when focused or fogs and mists when uncontained, so try to be as cool and practical as possible. While emotions may run high, and It could be a wild ride energetically, Jupiter leading the pack offers us ways to stay balanced and use the combination of Air and Fire trines to broaden our view and take us higher as we blend the old with the new via the trine from Saturn to Uranus, opening up a huge long wave Love energy through the Leo void.
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. As a process of moving through events, this New Moon shows us that over the next 4 weeks the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience involves leading with our decisions and actions, and then searching for new information, new understanding, or a new vision that will help us to get clear about something, followed by the need to reference our feelings and what we’re experiencing as a result of those insights, memories, understanding, or vision.
After we decide or act and then think, research, revision, rehearse, or review our understanding, we then need to go deep within to feel the implications of those ideas and visions. So get it in gear, and then go get new information or new ways of seeing things, and then feel your feelings and check in about how you’re experiencing those thoughts, or that information or vision you are sensing.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Given Saturn is an important dispositor, conjuncts the New Moon, and makes some very powerful aspects with Jupiter and Uranus for many months to come, you will be assisted in navigating these strong tides of destiny by taking a look at the material I present in my new book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and Neptune, being the vast ocean of compassionate connectedness, will offer us opportunities to become clear about our Destiny and what we’re here to fulfill within Collective Consciousness.
This book takes an entirely new look at our inner Saturn and the power it gives us to take command of our lives and destiny. If Saturn represents all that limits us and holds us back, it’s only because we must master those lessons so we may become spiritual adults and fulfill our purpose for being alive on Earth. By knowing our Saturnian strengths, we can overcome fear and any sense of victimization or powerlessness.
It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and gives the reader the power to understand why some things happened when they did. Throughout the book, it offers ways for us to “make friends” with this part of our existence and take command of our destiny. As you read each chapter, you’ll become more aware of all the factors assisting Soul growth through understanding how our Saturn lessons relate to Dharma (our Highest Spiritual Function) and various types of karma, both those we cause and those which are "Sacred Wounds" leading us to a greater compassion and understanding.
And as you've just sampled, we explore the concept of Saturn representing our Ring-Pass-Not, or that part of us which is limited while we learn certain lessons related to our understanding of who we are and why we can or cannot do certain things. As our Saturn expands its understanding and wisdom, then our Ring-Pass-Not expands so we can find purpose and meaning in each chapter of life. It is the secret to our power to guide our own evolution as we become conscious of the meaning of why we are on Earth.
The second part of the book examines how Saturn cycles mark major points of choice and change throughout life, and what we can expect when Saturn makes conjunctions, squares, and oppositions to our planets and Ascendant. There are tables assisting the reader to know when Saturn was in each sign, so even those with little or no understanding of astrology can track the timing on their major life changes. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the Saturn Return, perhaps the most important times in life when our decisions profoundly shape our future.
Part two closes with a chapter on one of the most crucial factors in our personal unfoldment: how the progressed Moon and transiting Saturn cycles track each other throughout life and relate to our emotional growth, and a chapter on a global phenomenon happening since 2003 impacting everyone on Earth. The Epilogue offers a few insights about living “the spiritual life,” and opens dimensions of higher and broader possibilities of personal evolution, regardless of which path to Truth we may be on.
This is a book you will reference many times for many reasons, and each time you pick it up you’re sure to find undiscovered gems of insight on each page. This book can help you throw off all the attitudes and memories which have held you back from finding and living the life and purpose you’ve been searching for since you were young. Welcome to the journey of self-discovery, and finding your power to live your life on your own terms, fulfilling your reason for being alive as an Eternal having human experiences!
Please order your copy today! You can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page and order your copy of either the paperback or the ebook. It's also available as an ebook on B&N's Nook. I’ve been told that people who live overseas can get their copy much faster by going through Amazon. And if you would, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the bigger the boost on their site.
© Copyright 2016 Robert Wilkinson
Thanks for the clear information, it is always helpful.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | November 30, 2016 at 03:39 AM
A massive imbalance of tears and talent
And unrequited prayers
"For why?" Said his wife
From a previous life...
For the long a wasted years?
Posted by: sue | November 30, 2016 at 07:45 AM
Hi Robert.
Thank you for the valuable information. I follow your uploads on new and full moons. I think I could say with confidence I am going with the flow. They represent my stage of life. I started reading your boon on Saturn this morning. I don't think it's an accident I chose to read it at this moment. From the first page I felt I will get info very essential for me at this phase of my life. I am in the habit of underlining important sentences and phrases while I read. With this book I face the problem of not being able to pick the important sentences. I feel all sentences are important.
Posted by: Kate Minogianni | December 01, 2016 at 02:12 PM