The Moon Overview

Although the Sun is the most powerful entity for astrological consideration, in Vedic astrology it is not given as much importance as the Moon. This is because the soul power of the Sun cannot be experienced directly. Instead, the light of the Sun is captured and made more manageable by the other planets. I've said in previous posts that the planets are linked to us because they reflect the light of consciousness emanating from the Sun. The archetype of that power of reflection is the Moon.

So what we mean by "your mind" in the astrological sense is your inner reflection of the power you get from the Sun. And you don't experience the Sun only inside—you also see its effects in the world around you. Your mind stores both the inner and external feelings as memories. However, like the power of the Sun which animates all life, "mind" is like a substance that is shared by all. Everybody is subject to the transits of the Moon.

In this post, I am treating the Moon in isolation. I will save for a future post the intricate relationship between the Sun and the Moon that gives rise to the lunar cycle and its phases. For now, understand that your idea of being an individual who experiences things is really a local storage of memories on this sensitive medium called "mind."

Sensitivity, or the capacity to feel, comes at a price. Whatever house the Moon rules in a birth chart (always the sign of Cancer), shows some life area that is most weakened by emotional disturbance. It's in this house that you are more demanding of connection, and not the romantic connection of Venus. The "Cancer" in you can be very nurturing, but also very protective. So most people develop emotional strategies to shield their vulnerability.

When I look at the Moon in a birth chart, the first thing I'm assessing is where you tend to look for emotional peace. For example, someone with the Moon in Sagittarius may have a strong need for faith or hope, and when they can't have that, they become too disturbed to act on whatever the Moon rules. The Moon always prioritizes feelings over actions.

Second, planets that conjunct or aspect the Moon, are going to have an enduring influence on your psychological architecture. Again, this creates an emotional demand to feel the qualities of those planets. However, even though the Moon represents your passivity, it is not without its power to affect the other celestials. Wherever the Moon is spreading its influence in your birth chart, you have heightened sensitivity and intuition. These are two sides of the same coin. If someone has a Saturn/Moon conjunction, they're going to need responsibility and pressure in order to be at peace. But they're also biased to turn every experience into something worth fearing and stressing about.

These emotional habits that go all the way back to your early childhood. In infancy your mind might as well be totally pure, a blank slate, that knows only love. Assuming you weren't raised by saints, you then learn from your caregivers that love has all kinds of conditions attached. Whatever emotional demands your mother needed, you learned to perform in order to satisfy your need for love and care. This is reflected in adulthood by your attachment style.

So the Moon in your birth chart structures your psychological life in its entirety. It is your innocent capacity for perceiving whatever the world throws at you, cruel or kind. As you grow into an individual, you develop biases that color your emotional demands. Is it easy for you to become selfless? Or are there many obstacles to you nurturing and cherishing others? Are you comfortable with vulnerability? Or are you like a crab, mentally armoring yourself, and sidestepping difficult conversations? These are the questions a skilled astrologer can answer by the position of your Moon. If you would like to know more about how this appears in your life, book a reading now.