A First Quarter Moon of Getting Your Bearings

Friday's First Quarter Moon is an extremely interesting lunation, bringing a degree of tension into the equation. In addition to the framing factor of Sun square Moon at a significant degree of the signs of Taurus and Leo, this configuration also supports two major squares of much larger significance: Jupiter square Saturn, and Uranus square Pluto. This particular mid-month phase also represents one peak of the current Mercury Retrograde period, because Mercury and Venus, moving in opposite directions, come together in mid-Taurus to stimulate the grand trine in Earth between their meeting point near the 17-degree mark, together with Jupiter in mid-Virgo and Pluto in mid-Capricorn. Let's see how this plays out in terms of first the astrological facts themselves, and then their significance on both personal and societal levels.

Jupiter having this week stationed to direct motion, on May 9th, is now moving toward his upcoming exact square with Saturn, the third of three hits, completing on May 26th. Thus, between now and the end of the month, their natural polarity of optimistic, forward-looking leaping ahead, versus the conservative holding back represented by Saturn, will become more and more noticeable. We are already seeing these trends played out on the political stage here in the U.S. and we can feel the heat of this archetypal interaction in our individual lives as well, expressed most poignantly perhaps as love versus fear. Where are you striving to entirely leave the past behind, and where are you holding steady? The other question that you will also want to investigate is why. You will very much want to distinguish a sensible dose of caution and common sense, which might well be your best move, from another kind of holding back based on distrust of the unknown. This is the issue for everyone on an individual level, and for the country as a whole.

Just as the square between Jupiter and Saturn is triggered by this First Quarter Moon configuration, so also is the decade-long square between Uranus and Pluto. As has been discussed many times in these pages, this aspect, or what noted astrologer Richard Tarnas refers to as their 'world transit', is a reflection on their conjunction from fifty years ago, in the revolutionary sixties, when many dissatisfactions with the established social order were clearly and loudly stated, resulting in the civil rights movement and the shifting mores that we remember from that earlier period of time. We have seen their current expression in our times as well, when feminist and gay rights have come to the fore, along with the first black president. Ever since 2008 or even slightly earlier, this aspect has been growing in strength, up to a year ago, in March 2015, with the last exact hit of seven. Now we are in the aftermath and adjustment period of this revolutionary / evolutionary astrological period that will last to the end of the decade, to 2020. The further momentum for change, as a society and individually, and as well the reaction to that move forward in conservative holding back, have in truth never been more evident than in recent months.

There is also a great deal of the new planet, Eris, in this First Quarter Moon configuration. Eris is at 23 degrees of Aries as of this timing, with Uranus hovering nearby at 22. The conjunction between them completes when Uranus catches up to Eris on June 9th. They remain no more than about a degree apart for the remainder of the year, so that is quite a lot of Uranus, and we might understand that surprising and unexpected events will continue to be the norm. Eris too is magnified by these circumstances, and by the Sun and Moon in this quarter Moon configuration. Both ends of Uranus-Pluto are thus stimulated in this mid-month lunation. We are also getting a solid hit of the Eris archetype of spiritual warrior, so that we are arriving at a better understanding of our deepest intention for ourselves, going forward. With the Sun and Moon at the 23-degree mark of their respective signs, there is an exclamation point on this Uranian flavor, and as well the startling break-through in awareness inspired by glimpses of our own in-depth values and of finally beginning to comprehend what it is that we are in fact truly up to.

We are indeed spending much of our energy in attempting to figure out where we truly stand, and how to make our next move, aided by the thoughtful introspection symbolized by inner planet retrogrades of Mercury and of Mars. As we do this, we are tuning in to what we most deeply believe, and that only we ourselves can completely understand. This tests the courage of our convictions, and our faith in the universe to guide us, as we can come to this, thereby allowing space and time for the thorough-going transformation that we are in the midst of to really start to take hold.