by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Leo New Moon Eclipse chart. This Lunation will lead us through radical and dynamic transformations, so stay balanced, elegant, stylish, and open to pioneering cooperative group endeavors. With EIGHT powerful septile-series aspects in play, destiny is on the move in all our lives these next 4 weeks (and 3+ years)!
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 Taurus. 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.
Two months ago we had an open trine span between Cancer and Scorpio, creating a Locomotive pattern. Now the inner planets are in Leo and Libra, augmenting and anticipating the Jupiter openings that happen when planets conjunct Jupiter each year. Since the inner planets continue to occupy the empty half outside the outer planets, once Mercury hits late Leo in September, we’ll be back in a Locomotive pattern with Earth signs opening and closing the pattern.
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.
Since all the planets are spread out among many signs at irregular angles, and there’s no empty trine, we’ve moved into a modified “Splay” Jones pattern. This will dominate the next 4 weeks and color the next few years in all things related to this Eclipse.
So What is a “Splay Pattern” and how does it work?
This chart is fairly spread out in terms of planets in signs, since the 10 planets occupy 7 signs and are fairly spread out around the zodiacal wheel. As the distribution is uneven, with clusters in two different zones far removed from the other planets, it is a very skewed, with all the planets in odd angles to each other, it creates a “Splay” Jones Pattern. As Marc Jones put it, “the arrangement is neither even nor symmetrical,” revealing “strong and sharp aggregations of the planets at irregular points.”
Dr. Jones states “This suggests highly individual or purposeful emphases in the life, where the temperament juts out into experiences according to its own very special tastes.” This pattern “makes its own anchorage in existence,” and has a quality of “rugged resistance to pigeonholing, either in the near conventional compartments of nature, or in the idea-pockets of associates.”
He goes on to state this pattern gives a “persistent emphasis on individuality,” and the “spokelike emphases of the planetary groupings” are random, but have a “tripod” footing and approach to life circumstances. He says this pattern “reveals a very intensive personality who cannot be limited to any single steady point of application.” This temperament is “particular and impersonal in its interests,” rather than “universal-impersonal” or “particular-personal.”
This implies that affairs will be diversely spread out, some will not mesh well with others, and there will be a “hub and spoke" quality to what happens these next 4 weeks, as well as 2+ years. This spread shows a wide diversity of things going on that promote individuality. As we also had a Splay at the June Solstice, these energies will surely continue to dominate our near and distant future!
The Outer Planets Anchor the Pattern of Half the Sky
In the past 5 years, Jupiter has at various times been the nozzle or handle for recurring Bucket patterns, focusing energies through Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio. When we haven’t had Bucket patterns, Jupiter has also been the leading edge of both Bowl and Locomotive configurations when no planets have occupied Leo, Virgo, and Libra.
Now it’s moving closer to the occupied span involving Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. As it will still lead the outer planet occupied span through December 2020, Jupiter continues to play a major part in how we enter or focus other planetary energies. It's why sometimes these past few years have seemed like a wild ride, an adventure, a quest, and more!
Saturn continues to lead the occupied outer planet span between Capricorn and Taurus, and is the ruler of both Mars and Jupiter at this time. That indicates we’re all dealing with social and cultural affairs as seen through the lens of Saturn. Want to “move Mars?” Use Saturn. Going through a Plutonic experience? Use good Saturn skills you’ve developed, and you’ll do fine. While things can be heavy with this placement, as I offer in my book on Saturn, it’s also the gateway to perfecting your personality and taking command of your life.
While it continues to make its trine with Uranus in Earth, look at your "response-ability," to see what you can do, or need to do, or need to learn to do, to anchor the new life that is opening. We are learning to innovate and revolutionize structures and rules, while organizing and stabilizing our genius or unique gifts using practical methods.
In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the Lunation plus Mercury) is 3 planets in 4 degrees, making that the major focus. Adding the very powerful balancing factor of Venus in early Libra, and we have 4 planets in 49+ degrees. Then we also have Mars, Saturn, and Pluto in the 27+ degrees between early Capricorn and early Aquarius, so that too will continue to be associated with a lot of activity wherever it falls in our chart.
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs, showing a widespread distribution with an extremely heavy presence in Fire and Earth with strong stabilizing Water. This month we have Scorpio, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Taurus, Leo, and Libra 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 19 Leo, the sign of nobility, integrity, rulerships, and the ability to hold a form of “Divine Law” in one’s realm of existence. It is said that the second third (decan) of any sign deals with the emotional, social, and cultural levels of life, and being the second decan of Leo 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 19th degree of Leo is "A houseboat party.” In the original Jones class notes from The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “The transforming power of pure joy over routine existence” and “human fellowship in the effort to make life happier, freer.”
In the Astrological Mandala, he goes on to say that this degree symbolizes “the enjoyment of temporary freedom from rigidly structured social behavior.” He states this is about an intimacy of association, where “men and women seek to at least get the feeling of the free flow of energies, as an escape from the routine activities” of their lives.
He offers that this degree “indicates the possibility of finding ‘release’ for natural energies in group entertainment and enhanced interpersonal contacts. It speaks of freedom from social rigidity.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Interpretation, Act of Stabilization, and Scene of Release on the Actional level.
Dr. Jones says this is a degree of “creative relaxation as a prelude to effective effort, and of (our) normal capacity for achievement through an everyday rehearsal of cooperative relationships with (others). He goes on to state that this is a “sealing off of some pleasant pocket of life” so we can intensify our skills and inspiration so we can make “a contribution to the world at large.”
He says “any dull routine of existence may be exalted as a common adventure in self-expenditure.” He offers us the keyword CONGENIALITY. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree “is a gracious eagerness of participation in the more worthwhile or enduring aspects of human affairs.
So the theme of this Eclipse turns on the Light of some sort of enjoyable freeing of ourselves in society or fellowship, where we can get a more natural sense of self-expression and make a greater contribution to our social life or the greater life of the society we’re in. This is the light of releasing energy in a way that opens us to a greater social freedom, showing us how to participate more wholeheartedly in making some worthwhile contribution through creative action.
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 previous parts, this Eclipse features a lot of frictional and non-rational aspects! We definitely have a lot of aspects, some powerful, some spiritual, some hard, some specializing, with the 7th harmonic dominating the landscape!
Forming (and closely partile separating) frictional aspects include the Lunation semisquare Venus, sesquisquare Saturn, tredecile Uranus, triseptile Neptune, and quincunx Pluto; Mercury is septile Venus, square Jupiter, biseptile Uranus, quincunx Neptune, and triseptile Pluto; Venus is novile Jupiter, triseptile Uranus, quadranovile Neptune, and biseptile Pluto, Mars is quintile Jupiter and semisquare Neptune; Jupiter is semisquare Saturn, trine Neptune, and sextile Pluto; Saturn is trine Uranus and quintile Neptune; and Uranus is semisquare Neptune and biseptile Pluto. As I’ve offered in previous articles on this Eclipse, taken together these give us a lot of friction, hard adjustments, and sacrifices, but also gifts, serendipitous circumstances and meetings, and a LOT of events that won’t make any sense, but will serve to throw us all into our future destiny, sometimes in abrupt or even rude circumstances.
So there are NO oppositions creating “Axes of Awareness,” but there are 3 quincunxes, involving hard adjustments and “expansions through sacrifice.” The Eclipse sesquisquare Saturn and tredecile Uranus shows that if we follow the annoying and agitating energies of these sesquisquares, we will find unique interactive experiences generating gifts that are perfect for our circumstances! Areas most affected by the tredecile are 1-5 Taurus/Scorpio, 7-11 Gemini/Sagittarius, 13-17 Cancer/Capricorn, 19-23 Leo/Aquarius, and 25-29 Virgo/Pisces. Expect serendipity if you have planets in these zones!
Even though it’s separating right now, Mars square Uranus has been in play since May, and primarily affects everyone born the last10 days of April, July, October, and January. As this will last through the end of September, grow through cultivating positive Leo and Scorpio energies.
The waxing Uranus semisquare Neptune marks 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, very early Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and 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 and/or spiritual aspects. Inner planet favorable forming (and partile separating) aspects include the Lunation tredecile Uranus and triseptile Neptune; Mercury septile Venus, biseptile Uranus, and triseptile Pluto; and Venus novile Jupiter, triseptile Uranus, quadranovile Neptune, and biseptile Pluto.
Outer planet favorable aspects include Mars quintile Jupiter; Jupiter trine Neptune and sextile Pluto; Saturn trine Uranus and quintile Neptune; and Uranus biseptile Pluto. Again, partile separating aspects are still powerful, since they indicate the period immediately past which led to the NOW.
I spoke of the Grand Irrationality and Uranus biseptile Pluto earier in this series. As this puts the entire world at multiple forks in the road of its collective destiny, and this Lunation adds Mercury and Venus to the mix, we literally have a very powerful non-rational field operating across 7 different zones of the zodiac.
Taking a look at the spiritual and specializing aspects, while they don’t outweigh the frictional aspects, they are strong. Of the specializing aspects, we have 2 quintiles and 2 tredeciles. Of the spiritual aspects, we have 1 septile, 2 biseptiles, 4 triseptiles, 1 novile, and 1 quadranovile.
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 – The Quintile and Biquintile, and Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Part 2 – The Decile, Tredecile, 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. Of the traditional 10 planets, in this chart there are 2 planets in Water (feelings and experiencing), 3 in Earth (practical grounding), 3 in Fire (inspiration and warmth), and 2 in Air (relatedness and communicating). This is a fairly good balance, with nothing lacking to any great degree. It is slightly more Fire and Earth than Air and Water, showing a bit more grounded inspiration.
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things will be balanced, with Earth to keep it grounded and Fire to keep it inspired.
We finally have a planet leading the Sun again! Yes, this Mercury retrograde now leads the Sun again until its next Superior Conjunction, so Mercury “leads the Light.” Use the retrograde mind to look back to see the future, or take a new look at demonstrations of love, power, and creativity in the past to get clues about how to cut loose from old “social rigidities” now and in the future.
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 New Moon Eclipse continues the pattern begun at the last New Moon.
As a process of moving through events, the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience at present involves leading with our thinking, followed by the need to make decisions or act on what we’ve seen or understood, and then getting in touch with our feelings, or how and what we’re experiencing based in acting on the vision or understanding.
So lead with your vision, understanding, and what’s being communicated 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.
That will lead you back to new information, new vision, new ideals, and new understanding upon which you can do your next set of decisions and actions. Then again name what you’re feeling. That way nothing will get bottled up through underuse, and you can move through experiences with power and clarity.
Because of the Mercury retrograde, the quickest way forward may be to reference something in the past we once saw, knew, understood, or envisioned, and then make some new decisions about what we know or think we know and what we can do differently to make the vision real. Just remember that beyond all the thinking, talking, research, rehearsals, and possible visions to be achieved, you need to be able to feel what you’re experiencing so you can be clear about your understanding and visions.
So for the next 4 weeks (and 3+ years!), take a new look at old understanding, and get a new plan or new way to execute the plan. Once you’ve done what you need to do, then take time to go deeply into your feelings about what was done that came from the initial understanding or vision. This pattern reminds us that though our lives are filled with actions and ideas, from time to time we need to stop and feel what we’ve done and check in with ourselves about what we’re experiencing. Be balanced in your assessments, and your transformation will take on a beauty of its own.
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 long gone, we can stabilize that inspired fiery energy via the long term Saturn in Earthy Cap trine to Uranus in Earthy Taurus.
Much has been quickened since the Spring of 2017, and we have been eliminating all that would prevent our spiritual Self from demonstrating itself with ease. This is the eighth 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 eleventh 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 3 months, many things promised by those events will become blessings, opportunities, and liberating factors in life. With Jupiter in Scorpio as our “lead-in” to our outer planet experiences, get a laser focus and be as efficient as you can as you live a grand adventure in going deeper and experiencing a greater intensity! Again, all of this is showing us our integrity under pressured conditions.
We are still in the process of a long term major transformation period, so see this time as a good exercise period, like getting ready for an adventure that's just begun and still has a long way to go. We’re learning cooperative interactive group work, understanding a new law of our Life, and are getting beyond the known and familiar.
As the planets swirl backward and forward at various speeds at various times, see what must be slowed down and redone, or re-planned, or re-configured so that it will move forward more easily in September. Take this time to finish what you have to, be practical and fluid, and keep growing through seeing the world of the 5 senses and the mind as “the playground of God and Soul,” enjoying both what is strange as well as what is familiar.
Jupiter continues to help us eliminate past patterns to clear the space for future patterns to emerge as Saturn continues to help us with the disciplines we need to learn to express our Spiritual Maturity. These two planets, along with Uranus and Pluto, have been part of the greater “irrational times” we live in, with a lot of things making no sense at all. Just remember that often success is found by not losing our cool when everyone else is, so that when the storm is past we haven’t made things worse, and may even have made them better!
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 Aquarius 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 is 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 now that they’re again forming a trine between May and October involving Capricorn and Taurus, it’s 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.
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 2018 Robert Wilkinson
Comments