by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Aries New Moon chart. This Lunation will help us express our unique qualities and individual part to play in the greater Whole, give us new opportunities if we open our imagination, and allow us to get beyond old inhibitions. With the Lunation conjunct Uranus, it’s transformation time!
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 outer planets in 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.
At this time most of the inner planets have been and are moving through the span defined by Scorpio through Aries. Only Venus has emerged from that span, marking the beginning of expanding the spread of occupied signs in the Bowl Pattern. This will lead us to a new pattern once Venus makes it to Cancer and trines Jupiter.
The only time we don’t have a Bowl is when the Moon is in Cancer, Leo, or Virgo. The 2017 Virgo New Moon was the last to feature a Locomotive Pattern until June 2018, though we had a Locomotive at the late January Total Lunar Eclipse Full Moon in Leo, with the open trine between the Moon and Uranus in Aries.
Long term, as Jupiter closes in on its conjunction with Saturn during the next few years, there will be times when most of the planets will be compressed into very narrow spans centered around Sagittarius and Capricorn. Though the outer planets have been expanding out to a wide spread these past 20 years since the last Saturn conjunct Uranus, the outers are now compressing, with Jupiter and Saturn headed to a karmic rendezvous with Pluto and Neptune over the coming years. Due to the compression, by early 2020 we will see the first “Bundle” in many years, since the planets will all be within a 120 degree span.
The Bowl is now close to an ideal pattern, since all of the planets are in half the zodiac, with the other half unoccupied. This is important, since it will dominate the next 4 weeks.
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 in Scorpio leading this Bowl pattern, it shows us to need to take an expansive view of how to concentrate, eliminate all that is unnecessary or obstructive, shed skins we no longer need, and be aware of the magnetism around what we want and why we want it. If you’re unhappy or discontent, ask yourself why, and if you really need to go there. Learn to detach, and flow with what attracts you and what you see could lead to a form of liberation or opportunity.
This month Jupiter shows us the need to adapt our instincts to fit in better with our society, and allow our desires to be fulfilled in socially acceptable ways. Be assertive in finding what sustains you, be open to new forms of “exercise,” and fulfill what needs fulfilling to see how purposeful you really are. Be open to a greater adventure, be precise in your thinking and thought forms, and you can see them made manifest this year. Allow your inspiration to take shape in a practical way, and accept any and all challenges which can eliminate the obsolete detritus of your past.
In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the Lunation, Uranus, and Venus) is 4 planets in 23+ degrees, making that the major focus. Adding Mercury and Neptune at the front end expands the span to 6 planets in 64+ degrees, showing a LOT of activity wherever this span falls in our chart. We’ve now left many weeks with all the planets in a span of 153+ degrees, and with Jupiter retrograde and Venus in late Taurus, we now have all the planets in almost exactly 180 degrees!
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 5 signs, showing a widening hemispheric distribution with an intense cluster noted above, and another intense cluster in Capricorn. This month we have Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, Aries and Taurus 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 Aries. 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 Aries it has a sub-influence of 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 27th degree of Aries is "Lost opportunity regained in the imagination.” In the original Jones class notes, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “Beginning of mental maturity and slow growth of the creative faculty,” “revision of attitude,” and “mental house-cleaning.”
In the Astrological Mandala, he goes on to say that this degree symbolizes “revision of attitude and inner revaluation.” He states this symbol may be one of apparent defeat or failure in a situation meant “to be a challenge to the emergence of a new capacity; generally speaking, this capacity is what one calls ‘creative imagination.’ He adds, “the mind must first ‘imagine’ that which (it) will then be able sooner or later to actually experience.”
He says this symbol cautions us about judging “success” or “failure” too quickly, and offers “what counts is the development of undaunted faith in the pursuit of one’s ideals.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Examination, Act of Differentiation, and Scene of Potency on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones says this is a degree of practical “psychological maturity,” and of “the all-important and creative fluidity of character which makes (us) an immortal being.” He offers that experience is “a means by which (we) may become the author of (our) own destiny rather than a pawn of purely superficial events,” and our ability “to re-establish (ourselves) in (our) own world by (our) own efforts” when we want to create “a better foundation” for what we want to accomplish.
He offers us the keyword REFORMULATION. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is “the self’s effective command of itself in any situation brought to immediate issue.”
So the theme of this New Moon shows the Light for the next 4 weeks is illuminating our ability to use imagination to rethink, reconsider, or reclaim something, revise our attitude, show “mental maturity,” and ability to be fluid and claim our authorship of our world. Open your imagination, open to a new view or interpretation of things, open to new approaches to things you want to accomplish, and be as creative as you know how to be.
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. We have many more favorable than unfavorable forming or partile separating aspects, with several powerful serendipitous and specializing aspects featured prominently!
Frictional aspects include Mercury semisquare Venus and sesquisquare Jupiter, with Jupiter opposed by Venus. This gives us three points of a “Rhombus Diamond” octile configuration, with the void around 5-7 Libra. If you have anything near that zone, expect that planetary function in your to experience a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” friction which is leading you to awareness and the ability to act productively even in difficult conditions. Add Mercury square Saturn, and you can see that any planets in early Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn will be under pressure.
Those are literally all the frictional aspects except the waxing Uranus semisquare Neptune, marking a crucial point of shift in the opening of their very long wave cycle. Uranus semisquare Neptune is an indicator of our unsettled times, and specifically impacts those with planets near the late degrees of the Cardinal signs and any of the middle degrees of the Mutable signs.
This very frictional energy has been with us a while and will continue to be with us a LONG time! That aspect anchors a very frictional configuration that is kicked into play whenever planets pass through late Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, as well as mid-Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. It is especially powerful when a planet transits mid-Virgo and late Libra.
As the planets make various octile aspects to these Uranus and Neptune, those phase shifts generate a LOT of tension and friction in the atmosphere, creating a grind for us wherever we have mid-Mutable and late Cardinal sectors. 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.
Last Autumn, this “Rhombus Diamond” octile was created during the transits of the mid-Virgo and late Libra zones. Again, this is a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” type of frictional energy that can lead to awareness via the opposition(s) and the ability to act productively even in impossible conditions.
As I told you in the September 2017 Rhombus Diamond articles, 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 octile aspects testing our clarity. It has presented all of us with certain questions. What is your role as you would define it? Reject timidity and uncertainty, and find your place in the larger scheme of things.
Now to the favorable aspects. There are so many favorable and spiritual aspects going on that it’s a great time to make the most of what’s coming forth!
Inner planet favorable forming (and partile separating) aspects include the Lunation quindecile Mercury and Venus (cutting their semisquare in two!), triseptile Jupiter, tredecile Saturn, conjunct Uranus, and novile Neptune; Mercury semisquare Venus, quindecile Sun, binovile Mars, quindecile Uranus, vigintile Neptune, and quintile Pluto; and Venus quindecile the Sun, quadraelftile Saturn, bielftile Neptune, and trine Pluto.
Outer planet favorable aspects include Mars sextile Jupiter, biseptile Uranus, sextile Neptune and conjunct Pluto; Jupiter is triseptile Uranus, trine Neptune, and sextile Pluto, and Saturn is tredecile Uranus and bielftile Neptune. Again, partile separating aspects are still powerful, since they indicate the period immediately past which led to the NOW.
The Lunation so close to exactly triseptile Jupiter powers up the Jupiter triseptile Uranus again! This aspect indicates cooperative-collective “forks in the road of destiny” involving the planet of expansion and the planet of revolution, the planet of protection and truth in a by the last Solar eclipse, it’s a player for quite a while.
The first triseptile happened in January and February. That period brought crucial choices and changes in our trajectory, giving us clues about what to expect during this second forming triseptile. The third and final one will be in mid-October when Uranus is in Taurus. For now, hot zones include 22-26 Scorpio, 13-17 Capricorn, 4-8 Pisces, 25-29 Aries, 17-21 Gemini, 9-13 Leo, and 30 Virgo-4 Libra. If you have a planet or point in these zones, you’re sailing a spiritual tide into your destiny!
Saturn tredecile Uranus is an aspect of serendipity, so the understanding you got between these principles of bondage/liberation and responsibility/individuality during their trine last year should bring unique circumstances perfect for your gifts, and blessings perfect for your circumstances. Be cautious as you move into a more electric individuality and a new life order. Zones most affected include 2-6 Gemini/Sagittarius, 8-12 Capricorn/Cancer, 14-18 Aquarius/Leo, 20-24 Pisces/Virgo, and 26-30 Aries/Libra.
Taken together, the harmonious aspects seriously outweigh the frictional. We also have a very high number of specializing and spiritual harmonic aspects. Of the specializing aspects, we have 1 vigintile, FOUR quindeciles, 1 quintile, and 2 tredeciles. Of the spiritual aspects, we have 3 triseptiles, 2 noviles, 1 binovile, 2 bielftiles, and 1 quadraelftile.
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
This month we move back into a very skewed element balance, with two signs over-represented. Of the traditional 10 planets, in this chart there are 4 planets in Fire signs, 2 in Water, 4 in Earth, and 0 in Air. This continues the huge emphasis in Fire, and puts Earth in the place of Water in the last New Moon. That indicates a very heavy emphasis on inspiration and warmth (Fire) and practical grounding (Earth), with a slight deficiency of feeling/experiencing (Water) and a total lack of relatedness/communication element (Air).
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things will run a little hot, with the Earth power of Saturn in Capricorn to keep it all grounded. Fire and Earth create inspired practicality and practical inspiration, and there’s just enough Water to feel connected. Just remember that any desire to relate must come from within.
Because Mercury stationary direct in Aries leads the Lunation, the Light is being led by the mind getting ready to race forward for the next era in between retrogrades. This ushers in Illumination through our ability to envision a new dimension of Being, opening to a new way to express our most authentic and natural Self.
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, moving back into the pattern that dominated late February and March.
Over the next 4 weeks the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience involves leading with our vision, understanding, and thinking, and follow what’s being communicated and understood into decisions and actions. Then after the decision or action, sit with the feelings and experience them, bringing them to the surface of your consciousness and get clear about what you’re feeling and why.
This time you feel and experience will lead you back to new information, new vision, new ideals, and new understanding, which will naturally lead you to see your next set of decisions and actions. Then again go deep, and name what you’re feeling. That way nothing will get bottled up through underuse, and you can move through experiences with power and clarity. Allow your feelings to follow your actions, and allow your mind to follow your experience, and all will be in proper sequence.
Summing Up
2017’s Fire trine between Saturn in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries stabilized unique forms of heart expression, love, or creativity. This helped launch the final phase of our “escape from a narrow destiny” begun in the Summer of 2016. While the Fire trine is done, when we get to May the trine will form anew, this time from Saturn in Earthy Cap to Uranus in Earthy Taurus.
Much has been quickened since last Spring, and we have been eliminating all that would prevent our spiritual Self from demonstrating itself with ease. This is the fourth New Moon of the Saturn in Capricorn era, showing us “promises to keep, and miles to go before (we) sleep,” to quote the legendary Frost. We trained in 2017, and each will reap a promised blessing in 2018.
This is the seventh New Moon with Jupiter in Scorpio, and you can bet that as Jupiter transits the various Scorpio eclipses, Lunations, and planetary stations over the next 7 months, many things promised by those events will become blessings, opportunities, and liberating factors in life. With Jupiter in Scorpio leading the Bowl for many months to come, it’s clear our approach to life will have to become laser focused and as efficient as we can be as we live a grand adventure in going deeper and experiencing a greater intensity in our lives!
Because of the Bowl, things may seem very “divided” in many ways, but keep referencing your passion to “break on through to the other side” to find your way to embrace the adventure into a deeper Soul connection, faith in action, and courage as a magnetic force in your life. This Lunation moves that powerful magnetic “pulse” into a larger vision which prepares us for the future and allows us a deeper connection with Nature.
This New Moon allows us to bring forth a unique expression of our openly creative imagination, where we can move into elevated grounded states of happiness, and cut loose from inhibitions we no longer need. We are in the process of a long term major transformation period, so use your imagination to find a new way to turn old defeats into current and future triumphs.
This one gives us a review of our depth-journey into the magnetism of our Mystery, our “hero’s journey” and Quest for Self-Realization thanks to Jupiter. This will be great for seeing how eliminating past patterns clears the space for future patterns to emerge, and with Mars conjunct Pluto, this is a time to be disciplined as we learn to express our Spiritual Maturity. This will stimulate the core wherever this occurs in our charts, so take a look at the divine “Economy of Energy” opportunities to express your skill.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn is now in its home sign of Capricorn for the first time since 1991, it is the final dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius from now through 2023. It was a ruler of the last two eclipses, making it an important factor for the next few years, and it will continue to play a different and powerful part in world affairs between March and November because Mars will be transiting those signs during that time. That makes Saturn a major force to be reckoned with in 2018!
Add the fact that it’s doing a very interesting dance with Uranus all of 2018, and once they come back into trine between May and October involving Capricorn and Taurus, and it will be the next chapter in us learning how to blend past and future together and craft your future destiny. After the 2017 Fire trines between these planets stabilizing Electric Fire and distributive “Fire by Friction,” this will provide practical grounding to our efforts.
In 2017, we stabilized Electric Fire, harmonized 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, as well as every month when the Moon was in Leo. 2017 was the next step in understanding the movement of Fire in our lives, which will yield to Earth understanding in a few months!
This will help us organize and simplify our Saturn-Uranus “dance of individualization” in our charts. You can learn more about cooperating with Saturn and Uranus to create your future destiny by taking a look at the material in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and in Capricorn, will help bring an “organized personal 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 how 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 2018 Robert Wilkinson
Thanks Robert for two great post on this coming New Moon.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | April 12, 2018 at 07:58 PM
I never knew it was called a "Bowl Pattern". I have this configuration, with all my planets in one half, Leo-Aquarius, my first-house Scorpio at the bottom of the bowl. Thank you- I have learned an added something about myself today.
Love,
Terri in Joburg
Posted by: Terri Moore | April 13, 2018 at 04:58 AM