The Lunar Cycle, its effects, and how to relieve them

Tomorrow will bring daytime activity, and so will the next day, so I hope it’s OK if I fire off another post while I have the time tonight.  (I might find that I have time in the next few days to write, but that’s far from guaranteed, so I’ll take my chances tonight.) 🙂

I realize that I wrote recently along astrological lines, but given the Full Moon we just had (and its movement into the sign of Aquarius), I think it’s probably timely that I write along these lines again.

After all, the Moon “got me”.  As in, it snuck up from behind and zapped me, with a smug and gleeful “gotcha!”

After nearly 25 years of awareness of this phenomenon, one would think I might have learned by now.

I wasn’t watching, although I’m not sure if it would have done me any good to do so.  Still smarting just a little from this last lunar sneak-attack, in my own recovery stages, it’s probably time to: 1) do some explaining, and 2) channel that energy in a positive, constructive, helpful direction.

First, a personal explanation…

I’m not an astrological professional.  I can’t predict shizz.  Astrology is a particular interest of mine, and I study it intensely but casually, if that makes sense. ;).  I use it as a tool to help me understand others with a sort of empathy and respect, given that I can “worm” their birth data “out of them” (in a purely innocent, non-manipulative manner, of course; my intentions are always good).

Chapter 2 of my personal explanation is that in my own astrological chart (the natal one, cast at birth), I have the Moon opposing Uranus (hello mood swings!  Although I’ve gotten them mostly under control in my adult life), and Venus is situated “squarely” (sorry for the pun) at one of the midpoints.

What this looks like for my fellow visual learners is that the Moon and Uranus are sitting across a round table from each other–at, say, the noon and six o’clock positions on a clock.  In astrology, sitting directly across from anyone else is going to fight.

Then comes Venus, who takes a seat at this round table, which would be the nine o’clock position on the clock.  Anybody sitting at the three or nine o’clock positions is going to fight with both the noon and six o’clock positions.

So we have this threesome.  There are three different fights going on, because they’re all “square”, making 90-degree angles (and a 180-degree angle) to each other, which breeds tension, a lots of it.

The fights in my chart are:

• Between the Moon (in Taurus) and Uranus (in Scorpio) (the ones sitting opposite each other, at the 180-degree angle)
• Between the Moon (in Taurus) and Venus (in Leo) (making a 90-degree angle)
• Between Venus (in Leo) and Uranus (in Scorpio) (also making another 90-degree angle)

That’s known as a “T-square” in astrology, because it makes the shape of a capital “T”.

I hear some of you starting to get understandably antsy.  I know.  You clicked on a post about the Lunar Cycle, which implies that there will be some talk about the Moon, and here I am, droning on about Venus and Uranus, too.

There’s a very simple explanation for this, I promise.  It’s that since I’m not a pro, but more like a hobbyist, I have to approach this from a personal standpoint, which includes illustrating why this is so important to me and using myself as an example of how you might be able to extract the informational nuggets in this post for your own benefit. 🙂

I first learned about the Lunar Cycle (or at least, one way of looking at it), by getting hit upside the head with it.

I remember, back in high school when I was first getting really interested in astrology, I had a really crappy morning.  In fact, most of the day sucked.  My emotions were all over the map, and I couldn’t explain any of it.  I knew that I was prone to the throes of female hormone yins and yangs, but this wasn’t one of those times.  Something else was Up.

Having just gotten my first astrological calendar, I checked it out, trying to see what, if anything, might be exerting influence from the direction of the stars.

The only finding that stuck out at me was the two wavy lines next to the Moon.  Moon in Aquarius.

My astrology-oriented friends right now are saying, “oh man!  No wonder!”

The moving Moon was currently occupying the chair at the round table that would correspond with the so-far-empty three o’clock position.  And this was creating three more fights in what is already a really tense, fight-thick atmosphere.

That transiting (moving) Moon in Aquarius was creating the following additional fights, at the same time, for several hours:

• With my Moon in Taurus (making a 90-degree angle)
• With my Venus in Leo (making a 180-degree angle)
• With my Uranus in Scorpio (making another 90-degree angle)

All four of these planets were each fighting with the other three.

The good news is, it doesn’t last very long.  The bad news is, it happens every month or so.

Good times.

And every time the Moon goes into one of the other signs involved, it ups the ante on the fight that’s always occurring.  Basically, every time it sits next to one of my other planets at the round table, it eggs the others on.  In my experience, I’ve found that when it sits by my own Moon or Venus, it’s usually not as bad.  But when it goes and sits in Uranus’s lap, or it occupies that empty chair of Aquarius to create the three new fights, it’s not pretty.

That’s my own chart, though; that’s not true for everyone.  Not everybody has those same aspects.  Yours may be different.  And rest assured, not everybody has a T-square.

I use this long, drawn-out example of mine to illustrate how the Moon, when it runs around the zodiac, wreaking havoc with different people and their charts at different times, it can become a real issue.  But again, your specifics will be different.

You can see why I had to find relief, and fast.  With the moving/transiting Moon picking serious fights with my spirit at least twice a month, it definitely put a damper on things.

So…how does one relieve the emotional effects of the transiting Moon?

That, too, will be different for each individual person.

I forget where I read this, but I did read it:

The secret lies in what is known as the Part of Fortune.  This is one (and probably the best-known) of a family of Arabic Parts.  These are not planets themselves, but merely formulas, and you can calculate these fairly easily now by adding and subtracting different planets in your chart.  Different formulas help you find different Arabic Parts.  A good computer program or personal professional astrologer will usually calculate this one for you and include it in your chart.

What you want to do is find out where which House (of the twelve Houses in a chart) your Part of Fortune resides in, and engage in the activities “governed” or symbolized by that House.  You’ll probably want to engage in these activities as a general “rule” to keep yourself on an “even keel”, if you feel the need to do so, but you’ll probably want to step it up during times when you’re feeling the force of the Moon.

That is to say that you feel phenomena such as (and these are just my own examples; yours may vary):

• Feeling antsy or aggressive
• Feeling an acute streak of depression
• Feeling as though nothing is going right
• Feeling a sense of inner tension
• Feeling down without being able to explain why

(I should probably add my usual disclaimers that it’s important not to substitute this for medical or psychiatric advice, because I don’t intend it that way.  If it lasts longer than a mere few hours or you’re otherwise fragile or prone to mood swings, highs and lows, etc, it’s probably not the Moon, and I want to make sure you take care of You).

After all, just like Ferris Bueller said about life, the Moon moves pretty fast.  Any tension or discord you feel associated with the Moon when it’s highlighting tough aspects of your chart will likely be gone tomorrow, or otherwise in a matter of hours.

Continuing with my personal example, my own Part of Fortune is in my Ninth House.  This House has “dominion over” or associations with philosophy, religion, higher learning, law and justice, soul-searching, spirituality, foreign travel, exotic places and cultures, publishing, and so on.

Therefore, for me, I find that if I study world religions (either in combination or one at a time), or I meditate and expand my mind (all of which are Ninth House-related activities), I can shield myself to an extent from the influence of the Moon.

Someone with their Part of Fortune in the Fourth House might clean, organize, shop for antiques, embark on a home improvement project, or spend time with family or a particularly nurturing person.

Someone who has their Part of Fortune in their Tenth House may actually relieve Lunar stress by working or engaging in professional self-improvement, motivation tapes or videos, or perhaps spending time with a mentor, especially one whose approach is one of tough love, but yes, love.

Someone for whom the Part of Fortune occupies their Seventh House might find solace in a marriage or business partner.

If the Part of Fortune sits in your Fifth House, creative activities or hanging out with your kids (if you have them) can bring special strength and support.

For those with their Part of Fortune in the Eleventh House, hanging out with friends is ideal.

…And so on.

Getting Started ~ Finding Your Part of Fortune:

If you haven’t ever had your chart done, I always recommend the pros first.  Susan Miller is a great resource; I don’t think she does individual charts anymore, but she has some tools and information here.  You’ll need your birth date, time, and place, as exact as possible.

You can always, always cast your own chart using the same data (you’ll always need your birth date, time, and place to cast an accurate natal chart), with a free tool on Astro.com, directly linked here.

Once you have this in hand, you can calculate your Part of Fortune for free here.  The calculator will tell you the sign and degrees, and from there it’s usually not too tough to determine which House it fits into.

What Activities Are Associated With Each House?

An excellent summary of general associations for each House can be found for free here.  These keywords can give you some ideas about which activities to engage in during those tough Lunar Cycles.

When Do I Know What My Tough Lunar Times Are?

This is a stickier question to answer, because it’s going to vary a lot from person to person, and maybe even from time to time.

There have been times when the Moon’s movement through my traditionally hard signs of Aquarius and Scorpio didn’t affect me one bit.  Sometimes a Moon in Pisces or Capricorn got me, for whatever reason.

That’s how I came to understand that engaging in my activities related to the House in which my Part of Fortune resides is probably something I want to do fairly often.  It’s like taking Vitamin C; everybody doubles up on it when they think they might be coming down with something, but it’s pretty well-known that taking it regularly, especially during the cold/flu season, as a preventive measure, is an even better practice. 🙂

The best advice I can give (short of getting an analysis of your chart by a professional astrologer) is to journal your emotional state on an astrological calendar and try to become aware of which Moon signs tend to affect you the most.  It’s probably the most accurate way to discover your weak spots, but it’s also a bit cumbersome at times, not to mention that you might get blindsided a few times.  But usually, after a few months or so, if there’s a particularly sticky or tough time, a pattern will emerge soon enough.

I hope this helps!

Over and out. 🙂

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