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If We Didn’t Have a Moon

By Dana Gerhardt

How did our Moon come to be?  Most scientists today think Earth’s Moon emerged from a disaster.  A big planetary whack.  For millions of years, we were Moonless, until a Mars-sized planetoid whacked into us.  Just a five-minute blast.  But it hit with the force of a billion, trillion tons of dynamite, exploding a ring of debris into orbit around our planet.  Early proof that from great trauma good things can come.  For over time, fragments from Earth and that Shattered Nameless One collided and coalesced to become our Moon.  Giving us eons of high tides and dreamy Moonlit nights.

The Moon brought many blessings, but best of all was the gift of time.  The force of luna’s gravity slowed our rotation down.  Till then, we’d been spinning pretty fast.  The solar winds were terrible, but ocean tides were mild.  With only the sun’s urging, the sea hardly ventured up the land.  Lacking the Moon’s high tides and lows, life would have birthed more slowly, even timidly, despite the reckless speed of our rotation.  Those first Earth days were short, only six hours long.  We had our year around the sun, but no months to count the seasons in.  Just 1,098 days, all of them windy.

So it was the Moon who really mothered our creation.  She helped us stop and smell the roses, made roses possible at all, weaving quiet hours and wild tides, enabling a multitude of life forms to grow and thrive.  It was a miracle.  For some believe, had that colliding planet started its trip around the sun just a few inches to the left, or a few inches to the right, on that fateful day it would have swung right by.  Missing us completely.  And tonight, there would be no Moon.

Now it seems the Moon’s best work is behind her.  She’s fallen off most calendars.  Sailors don’t sail and gardeners don’t garden to her phases.  Lovers prefer a couch and romantic video to her light.  But have you noticed how fast everything goes now?  It seems the less we watch the Moon, the more rapidly we spin.  So I was not at all surprised to learn the following story from my good friend Jane.  She swears that it’s true.

One night Jane’s power-red business suit would not come off.  This was the suit she wore to her office for an endless string of important meetings.  She put it on early in the morning – before she got the kids dressed, packed their lunches, and dropped them off at school.  She was still wearing it when she picked them up, made their dinner, supervised their homework, mended a broken toy, and while everyone slept, paid the bills.

But alone in her room, she couldn’t take it off.  She pulled and tugged and lost her balance.  Suddenly the house went spinning.  Like a tornado.  The walls tore away.  She tied herself to a short gnarled tree to keep from going with them.  The sun came quickly up and soon went down again.  The night was dark and filled with lonely cries.  Each morning after that, she put a twig in her pocket to keep count of the days.  In thirty nights, she never saw the Moon.

But she did see strange creatures.  Thick skins, gray as the dirt, they waddled, low to the ground, grabbing berries with their noses.  No birds flew, no fish swam; just those hungry grabbing things.  Maybe they would grab her!  So Jane unhooked herself; with the wind at her back, she ran.  In her power-red suit she ran all around the planet, going so fast, she outran the night altogether.  She went farther and grabbed more than anyone.  The ugly creatures saw her and cheered:  “You’re queen of the Moonless things!”

She had it made.  She ran and they cheered.  But one day, going across a dry and craggy patch, she slipped and stumbled.  She lost her shoe and was forced to stop.  Dark came over her like a blanket.  She thought she could hear the voices of her children from far away.  Her heart grew sad.  For the first time in a thousand days, she lay down.  And dreamed.

She dreamed of Moonlight.  A forest.  A sandy beach.  Jane found herself pulsing in the dream’s seafoam with a little pink sea spider.  Together they rode the ocean’s fingers into the forest, all the way to a cypress tree, where the spider danced to a branch.  The ocean pulled away and the spider went to work.  She made a web, dropped her eggs; she danced again, as one by one, her babies shimmered into the Moonlight.  A night bird sang.  The trees stood tall, their leaves murmured.  A hundred pink sea spiders slept.  Until the Moon brought the ocean back.  And Jane, the little spider and her babies went swimming again.

Who knows what day it really was when Jane woke up.  But it was quiet.  The wind had stopped.  Her eyes slowly focused on the faces of her children.  Her power-red business suit was on the chair.  And there in her bedroom window, was an almost full Moon, smiling between the branches of a tree.  She smiled back.

For now she knew the secret.  How the Moon moves through everything and brings all beings, large and small, the gift of time.  We need only listen and feel — for the right moments to swim, dance, weave, and rest.  Jane doesn’t wear that red suit anymore.  You’ll find her in flowing dresses of many colors, shimmering like the Moon.
 


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The Moon is in its
Disseminating Phase

in the
Sign of Taurus


Today's Lunar Aspects (Greenwich Mean Time)
(subtract: PST -8 hours, PDT -7 hours, EST -5 hours, EDT -4 hours)

  • Moon trine Sun, 10:50am  Aug 17 2022
  • Moon square Venus, 3:54pm  Aug 17 2022

Venus is currently
The Morning Star

in the sign of Leo


Enroll in Dana Gerhardt’s Moon Workshop!
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Astrologers use a variety of house systems, or methods of dividing up the sky into twelve sections. I use the Porphyry house system; another popular house system is Placidus (this is the default on https://astro.com). If the chart I send you looks different from what you are used to seeing, then likely a system other than Porphyry was used. Whole signs, Equal House, Regiomantus, and Campanus are examples of other systems. If you find all of this confusing, do not worry. It is likely not critical to your report.

m  Conjunction:  Like peas in a pod, planets in conjunction tend to come from the same place. They act together, but it’s also hard to tell them apart. This aspect can increase talent, focus, and intensity (“two are better than one”). Or one planet can disappear as the other dominates. Their connection feels so natural, it’s easy to think everyone blends these planetary energies just as you do—but mostly, they don’t!.

p  Sextile:  Planets in sextile are compatible, though without any fireworks. This aspect doesn’t demand your attention. It quietly presents an opportunity. You can join these archetypal forces. Donna Cunningham has called this the “Oh, that!” aspect, because that’s generally what her clients say when she describes their benefits.  To get the most from sextiles you need to actively work them.

q  Square:  Squares are wild and wonderful—but difficult too. The power struggle between these planets was likely defined in your youth, when they were impossibly challenging. People are usually aware of their squares. They force the issues that make you to grow. And that’s their gift. They ensure you learn your lessons. When you rise to the occasion, they bless you with energy, action, and success.

r  Trine:  Michael Munkasey has dubbed this the “goddess aspect” because it’s so lovely. Identifying talents you may have perfected in a previous life, trines can bring you joy. There’s a nice flow of energy between planets in trine. They support and reinforce each another. But without any struggle, you might take them for granted—neither using nor developing their gifts. An unattended trine can sometimes trick you into negative behaviors.

t  Inconjunct/Quincunx:  Your quincunx planets are innately incompatible. Bringing them into harmonious expression requires constant adjustments. This can be stressful, also motivating. You’ve got to keep changing your process, opinions or attitude—which promotes highly creative solutions.

u  Opposition:  They say opposites attract—and planets in opposition are never far from each other, though they’re constantly bickering. You may be triggered into awareness of this aspect by other people who seem to resist or undermine you.  An opposition can make you feel uncertain, insecure, or discontent, until you can accept and see yourself in both energies. Typically people find it easier to identify with one side and project the other onto unsuspecting others in the outer world.

First House: Personality, physical body, beginnings. Includes the Ascendant and rules physical appearance, the image you project to others, your general outlook on life, how you start things; may describe your role in your family system, often guides your first impression of immediate environment.

Second House: Money and personal finances, sense of self-worth and basic values, personal possessions, talents.

Third House: Communication, thoughts, language skills like writing and speaking, early schooling, siblings and neighbors, short trips, coming and going around town.

Fourth House: Your home, psychological foundations and roots, family, parents, domestic life, instinctive behavior, ancestry, your connection with the past, sense of security, domestic life, real estate. conditions at the end of life.

Fifth House: Children, creativity, romance; pleasure, entertainment, self-expression; all forms of “play”, speculation, gambling, and attitude towards taking risks; hobbies, attitude towards romance, lovers as opposed to partners, attitude towards having fun.

Sixth House: Work and job (as opposed to career), daily life, attitude towards service and coworkers, helpfulness, pets, attitude towards routine and organization, how you refine and perfect your skills.

Seventh House: Partnerships, one-to-one relationships, marriage, the first marriage, the “significant other”, business partnerships, competitors, open enemies, lawyers, mediators, counselors, contracts, negotiations, agreements. clients/the public.

Eighth House: Transformations and crisis, your ability to meet and rebound from crisis and change, sexuality; sex, death and rebirth, rituals and personal growth, your partner’s resources, addictions, psychology, other people’s money, taxes, divorce/alimony, inheritance.

Ninth House: Attitude toward expanding horizons, religious beliefs and personal philosophy, higher education, long-distance travel, morals, foreign languages and cultures, personal truths, publishing, commerce, advertising, your sense of adventure.

Tenth House: Career and profession, your contribution to society, social status, public reputation, material success, how you carve out a public identity for yourself; attitude toward authority figures, parents, caregivers, bosses, governments, attitude towards responsibility, desire for achievement.

Eleventh House: Friends, groups, organizations; hopes, wishes, aspirations, personal goals; your philanthropic attitude, concern for the collective, humanity; like tenth, can bring recognition and honors for fulfilling hopes and dreams.

Twelfth House: What’s hidden beneath the surface, karmic dustbin, limiting childhood/past-life messages, self-undoing, hidden enemies, hidden weaknesses, dreams, secret affairs, lost items, hospitals and prisons, hidden strengths, spiritual studies and soul growth.

A  Sun: Our vitality and magnetism; self-identity, ego.
Roles: The Self, the Hero, the Performer, the King.

B  Moon: Intuition, emotion, nurture.
Roles: The Mother, the High Priestess, the Child.

C  Mercury: Mind; physical dexterity and mental agility.
Roles: The Thinker, the Communicator, the Student, the Trickster, the Merchant, the Thief.

D  Venus: Our capacity for pleasure, receptivity, creativity, and social connection. Also indicates our relationships, self esteem, and financial abundance.
Roles: The Lover, the Seductress, the Artist.

E  Mars: Desire, initiative, anger.
Roles: The Protector, the Athlete, the Warrior.

F  Jupiter: Luck, opportunity, expansion, higher learning, religion.
Roles: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Traveler, the Monk, the Professor.

G  Saturn: Hard work, commitment, focus, inadequacy, leadership, suffering, loss.
Roles: The Task Master, the Grim Reaper, the Wise Old Man, the Builder, the Cynic, the Boss.

H  Uranus: Change, breakthroughs, upsets, discoveries.
Roles: The Revolutionary, the Humanitarian, the Visionary, the Snob.

I  Neptune: Imagination, spirituality, idealism, addictions, deception, compassion.
Roles: The Artist, the Romantic, the Guru, the Addict, the Martyr, the Victim.

J  Pluto: Transformation, power, psychological dynamics, helplessness.
Roles: The Terrorist, the Detective, the Psychotherapist, the Dictator, shady people.

a  Aries: Pioneering, competitive, selfish, impatient, courageous, reckless, independent, dynamic, domineering, “Me first!”

b  Taurus: Patient, stable, lazy, dependable, practical, sensual, stubborn, artistic, possessive, greedy, gentle, loyal.

c  Gemini: Intelligent, curious, adaptable, quick-witted, restless, clever, scatterbrained, lacking follow-through.

d  Cancer: Nourishing, intuitive, protective, moody, sensitive, maternal, domestic, childish, cautious, creative.

e  Leo: Proud, dignified, vain, expressive, romantic, generous, childish, overbearing, self-assured, creative.

f  Virgo: Perfection-seeking, practical, methodical, petty, critical, studious, discriminating, cautious, never satisfied.

g  Libra: Charming, sociable, peace-loving, refined, diplomatic, artistic, indecisive, apathetic, easily deterred.

h  Scorpio: Passionate, secretive, penetrating, resourceful, suspicious, manipulative, jealous, sarcastic, intolerant, determined, aware.

i  Sagittarius: Freedom-loving, philosophical, optimistic, enthusiastic, careless, impatient, talkative, a know-it-all, broadminded, athletic, honest.

j  Capricorn: Serious, responsible, practical, hardworking, stubborn, brooding, inhibited, status-conscious, domineering, unforgiving.

k  Aquarius: Progressive, individualistic, unpredictable, cold, intellectual, artistic, eccentric, shy, impersonal, scientific.

l  Pisces: Compassionate, intuitive, ungrounded, romantic, impractical, self-sacrificing, seductive, musical, artistic.