by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Libra New Moon chart. This Lunation opens the door to getting to a peace beyond the stresses and dualities of life, and marks an important turning point in several cycles at work in our charts. We now have the creative power of Solar Fire that came forth in the 2 New Moons in Leo and the inspiration of the Grand Fire Trines stabilized into our Hologram.
As you understand by now, different months bring us different Jones Patterns, depending on the position of the Moon and the inner planets relative to the outer planets. These patterns operate their own independent influence, regardless of which planet is in which sign.
Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Jupiter in Scorpio, and proceeds through planets in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, and Aries. This is a hemispheric distribution, with all the outer planets in about half the signs (excluding TransPluto, since Jones didn’t use it in defining his patterns). That means the pattern du jour is primarily influenced by the position of the inner planets, shifting the pattern every so often.
As I offered in part 1, now that all the inner planets are about to move through the span defined by Libra through Aries, for the next few months we’ll mainly have a Bowl Pattern, except when the Moon is in Gemini, Cancer, Leo, or Virgo. Last month’s New Moon was the last to feature a Locomotive Pattern until June 2018, though we will have a Locomotive at the early January Full Moon in Cancer, with the open trine between the Moon and Jupiter in Scorpio.
The Bowl will become more perfect once Mars enters Libra, and will be ideal once Mars gets to the degree of this New Moon.
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 Mars in Virgo leading this Bowl pattern, it shows us the need to use “precise action,” “exact focus,” “and “initiatives of service” based in a mature wisdom to open our planetary experience. Virgo is a very meticulous and discerning signs, and offers us forms of active service and practical initiatives in every area that needs correction. Humility in action is the key to success.
In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the Lunation, Mercury, and Jupiter) is 4 planets in 7+ degrees, making that the major focus. Adding Venus and Mars as the lead-in planets, and the expanded specific emphasis is the span between Mars at 29 Virgo and Mercury at 4 Scorpio. This involves 6 planets in 35+ degrees, showing a LOT of activity wherever it falls in our chart.
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs, showing a closing hemispheric distribution with an intense cluster noted above. This month we have Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, 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 27 Libra. It is said that the last third (decan) of any sign deals with the individual, mental, and spiritual levels of life, and being the third decan of Libra it has a sub-influence of Gemini. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 27th degree of Libra is “An airplane hovering overhead.” In the original notes from the Marc Jones class on the symbols, Rudhyar ways this is a degree of “dwelling above the normal stress of existence,” “superior mental vision,” and “Calm objective observation; quiet inner strength.”
In the Mandala he goes on to say this is a degree of “a consciousness able to transcend the conflicts and pressures of the personal life.” He says this degree “symbolizes the capacity… to contemplate the stress of existence in our world of duality from a higher level,” using our minds and supported by the thought forms of generations of others, we can “gain a new perspective on human problems and reach freedom and peace in a supernal realm of being.”
He says in this symbol we are “introduced to a realm of unity beyond polarity” and “transcendent realization. He states this degree falls in the Span of Revelation, Act of Group Integration, and , and it’s the counterpoint degree in the Scene of Reconstruction on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of our “psychological maturity” in some ideal form, and of “the imaginative resourcefulness of character which makes (us) immortal.” We are told experience is “a means for achieving an overall view of the world,” and “the self-satisfaction which follows from seeing things in terms of their consequences and relationships.”
He offers that this degree indicates that from time to time, we will find ourselves “the momentary epitome of every human potential,” and gives us the keyword REFLECTION. He states that when operating in a positive way, this degree is “high effectiveness in self-adjustment or real skill in meeting the crises of life.”
So the theme of this New Moon shows the Light for the next 4 weeks is illuminating our power to come to a “superior vision,” dwelling “above the stress existence,” and finding quiet, calm, and strength in seeing what we see. We will all have opportunities to get a bigger view of things, and find peace in that broader understanding. This is a degree of transformation, as well as adventure. Make the most of it!
Obviously, as this is very near Saturn’s SRX degree in February 2012, and the degree Saturn transited in December 2011, April 2012, and August-September 2012, events of the next 4 weeks will directly relate to our responsibilities and lessons of those periods. We should be able to use our experience from those times in dynamic ways, either to find peace and a clearer vision, or see how we have come to these as a result of our choices during those periods.
It also will directly affect born during certain times: December 1952 through August 1956, November 1957 through January 1958, March through September 1958, October through December 1969, May through August 1970, November 1972 through August 1975, October 1980 through July 1984, with a particular focus on Oct-Nov 1981, Oct-Nov 1982 and Jun-Aug 1983), and September through November 1993.
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 chart has a mixed bag of aspects, with only two frictional aspects and a lot of favorable and specializing aspects! We have one distinct configuration which I touched on in part 1, and quite a few 5th and 10th harmonic energies making for gifts and serendipitous “cut to the chase” circumstances.
The configuration, of course, is the ongoing Libra transits opposing Uranus in Aries and sesquisquare Neptune in Pisces. The opposition defines the axis and the octile semi-square and sesquisquare coming off Neptune, the driver, throws a frictional void into mid-Virgo.
The energy is anchored by the ongoing Uranus semisquare Neptune, indicating a LOT of tension and friction in the atmosphere, creating a grind for us wherever we have mid-Pisces and late Aries. I believe this semisquare is entirely behind the inner hard choices all of us are considering right now in how our individuality fits into the collective atmosphere, and why there is so much friction between the transpersonal Uranian forces and the transpersonal Neptunian forces at this time.
During recent transits of these zones, a “Rhombus Diamond” octile was created. This creates a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” type of energy that is frictional and can lead to awareness and the ability to act productively even in impossible conditions.
Thought this New Moon at 27 Libra is just past the opposition to Uranus, because it is literally partile, it still acts like a forming opposition. As I told you in the last Rhombus Diamond article, we can expect solar flares and plasma eruptions, warping in the electromagnetic field, breakaway impulses, sideways explosions, and all equivalent human behavior symbolized by these types of octile aspects. As the Lunation sesquisquares Neptune, clarity will be tested. What is your role as you would define it? Reject timidity and uncertainty, and give voice to what others don’t understand.
Remember this is a long wave friction, and will be set off any time any planet moves through the middle degrees of Virgo or the late degrees of Libra while the semisquare is in play, which it will be through the end of 2017 in those signs. That also means this octile opposition-semisquare-sesquisquare will generate action when Venus transits the Libra zone the first week of November, and when Mars transits the Libra zone the last 5 days of November through the first 5 days in December.
I’ve given you several articles about the Rhombus Diamond configuration and how it works, as well as which resonant points are activated every time a planet opposes Uranus and sesquisquares Neptune. Please take a new look at those articles, since the semisquare will be strong through December, and again in early 2018.
The Lunation also makes out of sign conjunctions with Mercury and Jupiter, showing this to be an “anticipatory” New Moon, where new transformational adventures will open once a threshold is passed. Other inner planet forming aspects include Mercury decile Mars, trine Neptune, and quintile Pluto; Venus vigintile Sun, quindecile Jupiter, quintile Saturn, and triseptile Neptune; and Mars triseptile Uranus, pentelftile Neptune, and tredecile Pluto.
Outher planet aspects are very favorable overall! Jupiter septile Saturn, trine Neptune, and quintile Pluto; Saturn trine Uranus, and Uranus trielftile Pluto.
Partile separating aspects are few, but strong! The Lunation is just separating from its opposition, Mercury from its septile to Saturn, Venus to its quadranovile to Uranus, Saturn to its quindecile to Pluto, and Uranus semisquare Neptune. All these are so tight as to be active, though separating.
The seeds of transformation and adventure are to be found in the quintile from Mercury and Jupiter to Pluto. When we couple Mercury decile Mars, and Mars tredecile Pluto, we have 10 extraordinary zones of high specialization and “seeds of serendipity” for those affected, with circumstances perfect for your expression, and seed gifts for those who demonstrate the right personality focus. Areas most affected are around 2-6 Taurus-Scorpio, 8-12 Gemini-Sagittarius, 14-18 Cancer-Capricorn, 20-24 Leo-Aquarius, and 26-30 Virgo-Pisces. The seeds of highly specialized transformation are about to sprout in your lives!
Besides the aspects listed above, the septile series aspects promise us all “forks in the road of destiny” in just about every area of our life! We have Venus triseptile Neptune, Mars triseptile Uranus, and Jupiter septile Saturn. That’s 6 planets, including all of them between Venus through Neptune. That impacts houses with cusps in Aries, Taurus, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, as well as any planets we may have in any of these signs. It will work on the personal, social, and spiritual levels, and given the signs those planets are transiting, the influence will be intensified, and include Virgo as well.
Jupiter septile Saturn will impact planets and points near 9-13 Virgo, 1-5 Scorpio, 22-26 Sagittarius, 14-18 Aquarius, 5-9 Aries, 26-30 Taurus, and 18-22 Cancer.
Mars triseptile Uranus will impact planets and points near 27 Virgo-1 Libra, 18-22 Scorpio, 10-14 Capricorn, 1-5 Pisces, 23-27 Aries, 14-18 Gemini, and 6-10 Leo.
Venus triseptile Neptune will impact planets and points near 5-9 Libra, 26-30 Scorpio, 18-22 Capricorn, 10-14 Pisces, 1-5 Taurus, 22-26 Gemini, and 14-18 Leo.
The novile (9th harmonic), septile (7th harmonic) and elftile (11th harmonic) series all feature spiritual aspects. All novile series aspects represent gestative energies that can lead to great spiritual realizations. Septile series aspects in this New Moon, they represent forks in the road of destiny, while the elftile series aspects represent issues requiring we resolve some sort of duality by making a leap of faith to attain a form of mastery over that type of duality.
The quintile and biquintile (5th harmonic) and related 10th (decile and tredecile), 15th (quindecile), and 20th harmonic (vigintile) aspects 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.
Element Balance
We just did another significant element shift, this time away from Earth and into Air and Water, with the stable Fire anchored by Saturn trine Uranus. Of the traditional 10 planets, in this chart there are 2 planets in Fire signs, 3 in Water, 2 in Earth, and 3 in Air. This element spread is fairly balanced, interestingly with the slightly deficient Fire and Earth very strong. So we have a balance between practicality (Earth) and stable inspiration (Fire), and a balance between our feeling/experiencing (Water) and relatedness/communication element (Air).
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things are perfectly balanced, with inspired practicality and practical inspiration running high, as well as a broader and deeper sense of relatedness. With the harmonious Fire trine still strong, shine the Love brightly, and joyously adapt, allowing Soul force to come up naturally and spontaneously.
Because Venus leads the Sun from Libra, the Light is being led by a calming, moderating, and diplomatic Queen in Her own domain. As it is the dispositor for the Lunation, it is very strong at this time.
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 has shifted again, showing that over the next 4 weeks the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience involves leading with our feelings, then deciding, then thinking.
This pattern leads with feelings, and then makes decisions and acts based in those feelings. While it is tempting to move back into more feeling after the actions, after we make our decisions and/or act, it will be important to get new information to come to a new vision or understanding. Once we get the right view or understanding, then a new feeling-experience will naturally arise that points the way to the next action.
So when you are moved by a feeling or experience, it will naturally lead to decisions on the basis of those feeling experiences, which should be followed by a search for new information, new ideas, new interpretations, and new views. We’ll be “feeling our way” into new experiences, then deciding and acting on the basis of those feelings. After a decision or action, then we’ll have to find newer, more up to date information, facts, and understanding so we can get a new vision.
So learn and teach through anecdotes, seeing how others handled things practically, or how you handed things practically in the past. Let your thinking and communicating and envisioning follow your actions, and let your feelings follow a new understanding, a new perception, or a new view.
Summing Up
Now that we’ve experienced our heart expression, love, or creativity in stable ways this Summer, and gotten to work, now it’s time to get a bigger view and a deeper peace. We’re still in process of closing out two important year cycles, and this begins the Jupiter in Scorpio era in a big way!
Things may seem very “divided” in many ways, but keep referencing your wisdom as you take care of details and figure out what needs to be protected in your emerging adventure in transformation! Cooperate in building whatever you’re called on to build, see the power in symbols as you go deeper into life and relationships, and those who have made Saturn their friend will find tremendous happiness.
As the focus is on cooperative activities at major turning points in life, and with so many specializing and serendipitous energies in the air, even if something seems weird, it’s there for your consideration. Remember that many adventures don’t make sense, either in terms of how they come, how they are presented, or whether they make any sense at all! Use your imagination to reclaim opportunities you thought were lost, do what you must in your own way and bless others to do the same, and let go of your inhibitions, since the adventure beckons!
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn is important as a stable leg of the Fire trines happening during these months, it’s a great time for seeing how to blend past and future together and craft your future destiny. We have just finished a season of stabilizing Electric Fire with Distributive Fire by Friction, and learned to express it in loving, creative forms of Solar Fire between July and September during the Grand Fire trines.
You can learn more about mastering the Saturn and Uranus part of generating your future destiny by taking a look at my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and in Sag, will help bring an “expansive structure” to the Uranian energies infused with concentrated doses of spiritual energy that is making our spiritual life come alive.
Our inner Saturn gives us the power to take command of our lives and destiny. Saturn shows us those things we must master to 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.
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 2017 Robert Wilkinson
How convenient!
"An airplane hovering overhead." Just like Sita and Ram arriving home after
long venture on Divali festival time.
Perfect time to Invite the Purest mind for the coming season. <3
...and light the candles!
Posted by: helina | October 20, 2017 at 06:59 AM