Moon Signs: The Key to Your Inner Life 0345347242, 9780345347244

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Also by Donna Cunningham: AN ASTROLOGICAL GUIDE TO SELF-AWARENESS BEING A LNNAR TYPE IN A SOLAR WORLD HEALING PLUTO PROBLEMS ASTROLOGY AND VIBRATIONAL HEALING THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF HEALING ADDICTIONS (with Andrew Ramer) FURTHER DIMENSIONS OF HEALING ADDICTIONS (with Andrew Ramer) ASTROLOGY AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

MOON SIGNS The Key to Your Inner Life

Donna Cunningham

Books published by The Ballantine Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000.

BALLANTINE BOOKS

•

NEW YORK

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to re· print previously published material: Astrolabe, Inc.: for permission to use their Nova software program to generate the Moon sign tables published in this book. Aurora Press: for permission to cite ideas on lunar phases from THE LUNATION CYCLE by Dane Rudhyar, ©Aurora Press, P.O. Box 573, Santa Fe, NM 87501, 1986. Ca1zAm Publishing: for permission to reprint ''Taking Stock of Yourself the Astrology Way" by Donna Cunningham from the Starcraft Horoscope Yearbook, 1979. Leonore ·Cantor: for permission to quote from the lecture, "Marriage: Unconscious Reasons for Choosing to Make Commitments or to Remain Alone," given by Lenore Cantor at the May 1985 National Council for Geocosmic Research conference in New York City.

Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as "unsold or destroyed" and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.

Michel and Francois Gauquelin: for permission to use birth information on notables taken from THE GAUQUELIN BOOK OF AMERICAN CHARTS, San Diego, California, Astro Computing Services, 1982. Michael Lutin: for permission to use the Rising Sign Finder by Michael Lutin from MADE IN HEAVEN, Ballantine Books, 1987.

A Ballantine Book Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group Copyright© 1988 by Donna Cunningham

Neil Michelson: for permission to use time changes information from THE AMERICAN ATLAS in compiling daylight savings time tables for this book. Published by Astrocomputing Services, San Diego, California, '· '·

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Lois M. Rodden: for permission to use birth information on the notables used in this book, taken from her excellent reference works:

m8.

http://www.randomhouse.com Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-91971 ISBN 0-345-34724-2 Printed in Canada First Edition: January 1989 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

ASTRO-DATA II, San Diego, California, Astro Computing Services, 1980. ASTRO-DATA III, Tempe, Arizona, The American Federation of Astrologers, 1986. "Data News," a periodic newsletter on birth information of notables, edited by Lois Rodden, Yucaipa, California. PROFILES OF WOMEN, Tempe, Arizona, The American Federation of Astrologers, 1979. Tom Savarese: of HEAVEN KNOWS!, P.O. Box 39336, Los Angeles, CA 90039 for permission to use the Moon sign tables which he generated from AGS's Nova Software program and which he then reprogrammed into table format. In addition, birth dates but not times for a few of the currently most popular stars were secured from sources like Who's Who, Current Biography, and the Information Please Almanac.

-

This book is fondly dedicated to Norman and Harriet Ishimoto of San Francisco, for all the hours of debriefing.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Tom Savarese, who generated the Moon tables from the Nova Program by Astrolabe, then restructured them · into table form, all for friendship's sake. Appreciation for the time, intelligence, and labor involved. To Lois Rodden, for her meticulous work in tracking down birth information on famous people, and for making it available to the astrology world in her three books. To Kathleen Payne, for pouring over journals and microfilms to locate definitive studies on the Moon's effects. To Liz Davito, for double-checking data on famous people to find any errors I may have made.

Contents

That Old Devil Moon

1

The Moon Sign and Emotions The Moon and Your Emotional Needs Ignore the Moon at Your Own Risk The Concept of Emotional Weather Getting an Accurate Chart to Work With How to Use This Book

2 3 4

INTRODUCTION:

6 6 8

The Daily Moon Sign and Its Effect on You

11

Many Moons Ago-Our Lost Connection with the Moon

13

PART ONE:

CHAPrER ONE:

The Moon's Mysterious Hold over Humankind The Lunar Calendar Why are Mondays Blue? · The Old Religion The Ancient Connection Between the Moon and Women's Cycles The Moon's Effects on Plant and Animal Life How the Moon Affects the Human Body The Lunar/Lunacy Link Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics Who's Right? The Loss of Our Natural Rhythms What Can We Do to Get Back in Touch with the Moon?

:xiii

13 14 15 16 18 20 22 23 25 26 27 28

xiv

Contents

The Daily Moon Signs and the Emotional Weather Forecast

Contents

CHAPrER TWO:

The Moon Has Twelve Signs, Too Moon Sign Categories: The Four Elements and the Three Modes of Being The Transiting Moon The Zodiac-A Perfect Circle Shifts in Moon, Shifts in Mood How to Find Out What Sign the Moon is In Now That You've Got It, What Do You Do with It? CHAPrER THREE:

Planning

32 36 37 39 42 45

46 47 51 55

56

CHAPI'ER SIX:

117

There's More to You Than Your Sun

Sign

119

The Astrological Difference Between the Sun and Moon What Your Moon Sign Tells About You How Lunar Losses Contribute to Stress Women and the Moon What the Moon Means for Men Finding Your Moon Sign The Concept of Planetary Interference The Difference Between Direct and Indirect Interference Getting an Accurate Picture of Planetary Interference Planetary Interference with the Daily Moon How the Daily Moon Sign Fits with Your Own Signs Your Monthly Lunar Return

120 121 124 126 127 129 131 132 134 135 138 140

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Personalizing the Daily Moon's

68

How Your Rising Sign Changes the Impact of the Daily Moon Taking Daylight Saving Time into Account Finding Your Rising Sign Plotting Your Houses What the Daily Moon's Path Through Your Houses Mean . The Daily Moon's Path Through Your Houses Combining the House and Sign Energy The Next Step

69 70

Using the Moon's Cycle for Timing Hurricane Watch-How the Lunation Map Can Help You How the New Moon Affects Your Chart How the Full Moon Affects Your House Map Mapping Your Lunations for the Year Meditations and Affirmations for the Lunations The Significance of Eclipses Using the Goal-Setting Worksheet The Personal Inventory-A Guide to Progress Your Birthday Moon

of Your Birth Moon

66

Effects

CHAPTER FIVE: Your Yearly Lunar Path

Sign

30

Using the Daily Moon Sign for

Using the Emotional. Weather Forecast The Best Moon Signs for Various Activities What If It's a Bad Day? Meditations for the Daily Moon Signs How Does the Daily Moon Sign Apply to You? CHAPI'ER FOUR:

PART TWO: The Effect

30

XV

71

73 75 79 82 83

84 85 86 89 89 93 97 98 99

104 ll5

Birth Chart CHAPTER mGHr:

The Twelve Moon Signs· in the

141 Your Lunar Phase at Birth

The Moon's Cycles and Phases Fmding the Lunar Phase The Lunation Cycle of Dane Rudhyar Interpretations of the Lunar Phases The Lunar Phases at Birth-Another Facet of Yourself

175 175 176 178 179 193

How the Rising Sign and Houses Modify the Birth Moon

194

Why the Rising Sign is Important The Rising Sign and Your Role in the Family Drama Planetary Interference with the Rising Sign The Twelve Rising Signs How the Rising Sign Modifies the Moon Finding the House Position of Your Birth Moon The Effect of the House Position of Your Moon Putting Together the Moon's House and Sign

194 195 196 197 202 204 205 209

CHAPTER NINE:

Contents

xvi PART THREE:

World

You in Relationship to Your

"When the Moon is in the Seventh House": Moon Signs and Compatibility

Contents APPENDIX TWO:

211

CHAPTER TEN:

213

How Men and Women of the Twelve Moon Signs Relate Prewritten Personal Ads for Each Moon Sign

213 229

More About Compatibility: Lunar Links and the Moon Phases

232

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Calculating Your Moon's Degree

Who Needs Fine-Tuning? A Fast Check The Steps in Calculating the Degree of Your Moon The Allowed Leeway for Aspects Between Planets Fine-Tuning Your Sun Sign As Well Getting a Peek at Your Future Fine-Tuning Compatibility What More Can You Do?

248

Nurturing Yourself-A Key to Weathering the Storm

249

233 238 243 245

245

CHAPTER TWELVE:

Learning to Mother Yourself What is Lunar Burnout? The Battle of the Bulge-A Consequence of Lunar Burnout? The Importance of Self-Nurturance Tools You May Need for Your Moon's House Position The Twelve Moon Signs and Their Special Emotional Needs Now That You've Landed on the Moon...

Fine-Tuning-What To Do Till The Astrologer Comes

250 251 252 253 254 261 271

APPENDIXES:

APPENDIX ONE:

More About the Ascendant

More Precision About Daylight Saving Time Instances Where the Rising Sign Finder Could Be Off What If Your Birth Time is-Unknown? An Explanation of Intercepted Houses How the Moon's House Placement Could Vary

273 275 275 280 281 281 284

286 287 292 300

304 307 310

311

ADDmONAL TABLES:

-1989 New Moons and the Houses They Affect How Your Lunar Phase Affects Your Relationships Carl Jung's Research on Compatibility and the Moon Additional Compatible Signs How You Match on Important Moon Issues How Lunar Links Affect Other Kinds of Relationships Other Dimensions of Relatedness

xvii

-1990 New Moons and the Houses They Affect -1991 New Moons and the Houses They Affect -1992 New Moons and the Houses They Affect -1993 New Moons and the Houses They Affect -1989 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect -1990 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect -1991 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect -1992 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect -1993 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect -Moon Tables for 1920 through 1999

313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323-483

A List of the Tables in This Book CHAPTER TWO:

TABLE CONTENTS

1 2 3 4

THREE:

5

6 FOUR:

7 8

9 F1VE:

10 11 12

SIX:

13

14

The Breakdown of Signs into Categories Moon Table for Year 1989 The Symbols for the Zodiac Signs Time Equivalents for the TwentyFour-Hour Clock The Twelve Kinds of Emotional Weather Activities and the Best Moon Signs for Them Finding Your Sun Sign Probable House Cusps for Each Rising Sign Moon's House Positions for Each Rising Sign The 1989 New Moons and the Houses They Affect The 1989 Full Moons and the Houses They Affect The New and Full Moons and Their Signs Symbols for the Planets Influences of the Outer Planets,

1989-1993 15 EIGHT:

16 17

NINE:

18 19

How the Daily Moon Sign Fits with Your Own Signs Finding the Phases of the Moon Moon Phases and Their Meanings, with Examples Your Part in the Family Drama How Your Rising Sign Affects Your Moon Sign

PAGE

35 40

42 43 47 52 73 74 77 88 90

94 134 136 139 177 180 196 203

Compatibility Table The Signs Rated on Various Lunar Concerns

244 246

APPENDIXES

Fine-Tuning-What to Do Till the Astrologer Comes

273

APPENDIX ONE

More About the Ascendant

275

Outside Dates for Daylight Saving Time, U.S.A. State-By-State Listing of DST Changes Rising Signs Most Often Affected by Interceptions

276

Calculating Your Moon's Degree

286

Outer Planets' Movements Through Signs Types of Aspects Between Various Signs Table of Time Equivalents Number of Degrees Allowed for Planetary Aspects Outer Planet Movements,

287

ELEVEN:

20 21

22 23 24 APPENDIX 1WO

25 26 27 28 29

1920-1939 Outer Planet Movements,

1940-1959 Outer Planet Movements,

1960-1979 Outer Planet Movements,

1980-1995 30 31

Approximate Sun Sign Degrees on Various Dates 1989 New Moons and the Houses They Affect 1990 New Moons and the Houses They Affect 1991 New Moons and the Houses They Affect 1992 New Moons and the Houses They Affect 1993 New Moons and the Houses They Affect

277 284

289 294 301 302 303 304 305 306 313 314 315 316 317

32

APPENDIX THREE

1989 Full Moons and They Affect 1990 Full Moons and They Affect 1991 Full Moons and They Affect 1992 Full Moons and They Affect 1993 Full Moons and They Affect

the Houses

318

the Houses

319

the Houses

320

the Houses

321

the Houses

322

Moon Tables for Years 1920 through 1999

323

A List of the Figures in This Book CHAPTER

FIGURE CONTENTS

FOUR:

1 2

3 4 FIVE:

5 6 7A 7B 7C 8 9

SIX: APPENDIXES ONE: TWO:

10

11 12 13

The Blank Chart Wheel The Rising Sign Finder House Map for Aquarius Rising House Map for Aquarius Rising with Moon Map for March 1989 Recognizing the Phases of the Moon Blank Yearly Map of New and Full Moons Sample Yearly Map of New and Full Moons for Gemini Rising Sample Yearly Map for Pisces Rising Sample Yearly Map for Libra Rising Inventory and Goal-Setting Guide Inventory and Goal-Setting Guide for Rita Johnson The Sun vs. the Moon Sample of Intercepted Houses Moon Calculations Worksheet Sample Moon Calculations Worksheet

PAGE

70

72 76 78 85 91 92 95 96 101 102 121 282 291 299

()1)00()1)0() INTRODUCTION

That Old .Devil Moon

Thi's is the first book in recent years for the general reader that deals with the astrological and psychological nature of the Moon. Most popular astrology books are about your Sun sign, and while that's a strong and valid part of you, the Moon is equally important. The Moon sign is the missing dimension in Sun sign astrology, a reason why some people swear astrology doesn't work. They read descriptions of their Sun sign and say "I'm just not like that." Others, more favorably inclined, admitit works for certain people, yet have to stretch to make it fit themselves. What's the mysterious element in some people, the indefinable something that makes them different from others of .the same sign? Everyone says you can't rely on Geminis, yet don't you know some who are the Rock of Gibraltar? Haven't you wondered why some Cancers are clinging and others aren't? Or why some Pisces are drugged out of their minds and others are so clear and present? What about· the Virgos whose houses are pigsties? Or the Capricorns who are shiftless and unreliable?

1

2

MOON SIGNS

Introduction

Maybe you, too, have been puzzled by some blatant contradictions in Sun sign traits. One reason is that the Sun sign only gives part of the picture. The Moon sign can be as characteristic of the person as the Sun. As a matter of fact, some Moons are so strong, they override the Sun-especially Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces Moons. Any two people born on May 10 will have the same Sun sign-Taurus-but unless they're born the same year, their chances of having the same Moon are only one in twelve. Thus, there are twelve brands of Taurus out there, as well as twelve brands of Leo, and twelve brands of each of the twelve signs. Astrologically the Moon represents a number of very important facets of the personality, describing your emotional nature and moods, as well as what you need to maintain that all-important feeling of security. Simple tables will give you the Moon signs of yourself, your friends and family, and anyone else you need to understand better. We'll be looking at the astrological implications of the Moon's sign when you were born and what it says about your character.

override your gut responses and ignore your instincts. Since all these areas-feelings, needs, instincts, and responsesare connected with the Moon sign, you often make the biggest mistakes of your life when you're ignoring the Moon. Some people who ignored their own or key people's Moon signs made big mistakes ... and big headlines. If Mary Beth Whitehead had paid attention to the strongly maternal qualities of her Cancer Moon, she'd never have signed away Baby M in the first place. If Joan Crawford had been more conscious of the warlike qualities of her daughter Christina's Aries Moon, she might not have made the mistake of writing Christina out of her will, and Mommie Dearest might never have been published. Perhaps assassinated San Francisco mayor George Moscone would still be with us today if he'd known Dan White's Moon in Scorpio could make him react so vindictively to being fired. How about you? Have you made some big mistakes? Perhaps as you come to know your Moon sign, you can avoid repeating them. Not only does the Moon sign describe your predominant emotional reactions and how you deal with them, it also shows your immediate, instinctive responses to crises, which are'predominantly emotional and unconscious in nature. Thus, the Moon sign represents complex parts of the personality that are extremely important to understand, precisely because they are less conscious than the Sun. You learned the characteristics related to your Moon sign in your mother's arms, so early you can't remember or verbalize them, certainly before you left the family circle to start school. Thus, your Moon sign has much to do with the kind of mother you had and what parts of your own nature and reaction patterns you learned from her. Since we live what we learn, it also shows what kind of parent you would be.

The Moon Sign and Emotions Even though this book is about the Moon, it's really about emotions, and most of us could use some insight into this area. Living in a mechanized, high-pressure world, we become divorced from our feelings, at the cost of much emotional pain and self-defeating behavior. Some of us spend a great deal of money on therapists, who guide us in exploring our buried emotions and the reasons we keep acting in predictable, self-destructive patterns. Not that therapy doesn't help, or that this book will replace therapy for those who really need it, but your Moon sign can provide valuable insights into less conscious parts of yourself, serving as a guidebook to the dark side of your Moon. So, even though the book is about astrology, it's really about you and how you deal with these mysterious and ever-changing emotional responses. If you take a look at. the biggest mistakes of your life, many of them happen when you're not paying attention to your real feelings and needs-or worse, when you're trying to

3

The Moon and Your Emotional Needs Likewise, knowledge of the Moon sign you were born under can give you insight into your own personal ~motional needs. What are your needs? Many of us don't really know what they are; we just know they're not being met. We live in a world that is no longer organized to nurture people. Once it was a

4

MOON SIGNS

little easier-the whole family tended to be close by so if Mo~ couldn't take care of you, an aunt, grandmother, or cousm could pick up the slack. Today there are fewer nurturing institutions and more complex pressures and demands. . Th7 most basic needs are shown by the birth Moon signmcluding what you need to feel emotionally fulfilled, secure, and nurtured. Your Moon sign is a guide to your own personal needs-what they are, and how to meet them. Although some needs may be universal, we don't all need or want the same things. There are very different sets of needs, based on the Moon sign at birth: For instance, Aquarius Moons need space an~ freedom, feehng confined by close family attachments, while Cancer Moons desperately need that connection to their roots. Virgo Moons need the comfort of predictable routines while Gemini Moons need constant change. ' It's essential ~o learn to ,recognize, respect, and meet your ow~ needs, for 1f you don t take care of them, you wind up f~hng needy and unfulfilled. As the sense of deprivation butlds up, you may find yourself struggling with your weight. The Moon has to do with all forms of nurturance and food is a very basic and primal form of nurturance. If y~u don't pay attention to the needs and feelings of your own Moon sign you may wind up stuffing your face. ' Ignoring your needs can ·also have a profound effect on your relationships. You may wind up twisting your relationships by depending too much on others to meet your needs. Or you may become resentful that your lover or mate doesn't read your mind and meet your needs without your having to askeven though you yourse.lf aren't at all clear what they are. When two lovers or friends have very conflicting sets of needs, the conflict can be lessened once they understand that the two Moon signs involved are different and need equal time. Being mo~ conscious of the nature of both Moon signs can help the pair allow that both sets of needs are taken into account. ·

Ignore the Moon at Your Own Risk In ~ long f!Jn, the Moon cannot be ignored: needs too long demed, feelmgs too long buried, insecurities perpetually

Introduction

5

pushed aside, all eventually fester and can ultimately build up to a kind of crisis we'll later describe as lunar burnout. Essentially this is a kind of breakdown in which you are so drained from giving to others and ignoring your own needs that life's demands become too much for you. You wind up going off the deep end when the Moon is full. Or since the Moon is astrologically connected with the menstrual cycle, women whose needs are ignored too long may suffer from a bad case of premenstrual syndrome. This book, with its Moon sign tables and Moon descriptions, can help you prevent lunar burnout and keep you from baying at the Full Moon. The Moon sign descriptions will enable you to recognize your emotional needs and the emotional needs of others important to you-mate, children, friends, boss. Throughout this book, but especially in the final chapter, you'll learn more about your needs and how to meet them. The Moon is important to everyone, but especially to lunar types. These are people who are inherently more sensitive to the Moon and its daily fluctuations as well as more invested in the, areas of life governed by the Moon. Lunar types include Cancerians-popularly called Moon Children-along with those born at the Full and New Moon. The United States, with its July 4 birthday, is a Cancerian nation, so the lunar areas of home, family, roots, and security have traditionally been important to Americans. That these areas of life have changed so drastically in the course of the twentieth century has been a source of pain for all lunar types. Remember, the Moon is not negative, even though we've been pressured to ignore it in favor of being rational and productive. Paying attention to your own natural rhythms and cycles, as you'll learn to do in this book, can make your life easier and even increase your productivity. When rightly handled, the Moon sign can even be the source of your greatness. Again and again, with the famous people we'll be using as examples, you can see t!te abilities and qualities they are remembered for much more in their Moon signs than in their Sun signs.

6

MOON SIGNS

The Concept of Emotional Weather We looked at the ways knowing your Moon sign can help you avoid big mistakes. The Moon can help you avoid smaller mistakes, too, on a daily basis. Haven't you noticed that there are certain days when strangers snarl at you in the street if you look at them wrong and other times when they're disposed to be helpful and cooperative? There are days that drip with gloom, and other days when people in general seem to be in a cheery, talkative mood. There are times when a party just can't seem to fail and others when it limps along despite the right guests, the right ambience, and the right gourmet foods. Have you ever wondered what causes these mood changes in the world at large? A major factor in these daily fluctuations is the day-to-day position of the Moon, which creates a certain kind of mood in the general public we'll call emotional weather. Although some people are more sensitive to it than others, the daily Moon sign affects most of us either directly or by virtue of having to cope with the masses who are affected. You'll be learning about the twelve daily Moon signs and how to use them to your advantage, while avoiding the less constructive facets of each Moon sign's energies. You'll discover which signs are good for various activities and which are not. The more you know about this special form of weather, the better equipped you'll be for life. You'll know when the world is in a Leo heat wave, a Piscean fog, or a Capricorn cold snap. And when it's going to be a cold, cruel world out there, you'll be prepared with the psychological equivalent of a heavy overcoat.

Getting an Accurate Chart to Work With For many of the sections of this book, you'll be working with your birth chart, particularly the Moon's sign, any other planets in the solar system it may have been linked with, and its position in a twelvefold division of the sky at the moment of birth. The explanations and calculations in the text have

Introduction

1

been kept as simple as possible in the interest of not swamping readers with heavily technical and mathematical information. A section in the Appendix on fine-tuning provides simple formulas for placing your own Moon and house divisions more accurately. Some of you, however, won't care to tackle the math and yet will either need or prefer greater precision. For those people,. the options are either to have your chart done by an astrologer or to order one from a computer service. To order your chart from a computer service, specify your date of birth (month/day/year), time (including A.M. or P.M.), and place of birth. Fees vary, depending on exactly which services you want, but most birth charts are five dollars or less. The following places are highly recommended by astrologers. Astro-Computing Services Box 34487 San Diego, CA 92103 (800) 826-1085 Heaven Knows! Box 39336 Angeles, CA 90039-0336 (213) 669-1722

Los

Llewellyn Publishing Box 64383-429 St. Paul, MN 55164-0383 (800) THE MOON (Charge Accounts) (612) 291-1970 (Questions) Astrolabe Box 28 Orleans, MA 02653 (617) 255-0510

You may also wish to order a computerized interpretation of your chart, in the neighborhood of twenty to thirty dollars for a printout of twenty to thirty pages. Although they once left much to be desired, computerized horoscope interpretations are beginning to come of age. Some of the country's finest astrologers have been commissioned to write balanced interpretations of various chart factors, based on their years of experience. The machine determines which factors are present in your case and selects the relevant interpretations. Granted, these printouts aren't going to replace a really good astrologer's skill at synthesizing the multitudes of factors in a chart, but if there aren't any professionals in your area-or if you find the cost of an astrologer prohibitive-the computer charts are a good beginning. Two places you could order them from follow:

8

MOON SIGNS

Heaven Knows! Box 39336 Los Angeles, CA 90039-0336 (213) 669-1722

Astrolabe Box 28 Orleans, MA 02653 (617) 255-0510

These computer services offer other readings as well. For instance, you can order a twenty- to thirty-page printout about your future for the next year or any number of months. They also do long write-ups about a relationship, for which you supply the birth data of both parties. Naturally you wouldn't make major life decisions based on computer-generated advice, yet the resulting insights into the various factors involved can be helpful and interesting.

How to Use This Book There are three sections to this book. In Part 1, you won't even know your own Moon sign. Instead, you'll be getting a profound sense of all twelve Moon signs by following the Moon through its monthly path around the zodiac as well as the yearly path of the New and Full Moons. Relax. You can do this-it doesn't require any complex astrological calculations, just some simple tables. That's where you'll begin to understand and use the concept of emotional weather. Paying attention to the Moon's daily changes and its monthly cycle, using the tables given in this book, is a route to increasing your well-being and leading a more manageable life. In Part 2, you'll learn about your birth Moon sign-or the Moon signs of people you need to understand better. You'll also learn how the phase of the Moon you were born under affects you, your approach to life, and your connections with other people. Again, you should be able to determine your Moon sign and birth phase through the tables. For those who are more serious about studying astrology or for those who fall into certain exceptional categories, more complex information is provided in the Appendix. In Part 3, you begin to see yourself in relationship to your world. You will discover how your Moon sign interacts with the Moon signs of those important to you, and what Carl Jung found out about the importance of lunar links in lasting rela-

Introduction

9

tionships. Here again an understanding of Moon signs is invaluable. When we're divorced from our emotions and needs, we tend to project them onto others, and our relationships may become distorted by these projections. The final chapter addresses the important concept of lunar burnout, which can result from long periods of ignoring your own needs in favor of others. This chapter offers specific ways you can nurture yourself to alleviate burnout. Now that you understand how important the Moon can be, let's get into the launch and shoot for the Moon. Have a soft lunar landing!

()1)00ctf)00 PART ONE

The Daily Moon Sign and Its Effect on You

()1)00()1)00 CHAPTER ONE

Many Moons Ago-Our Lost Connection with the Moon

The Moon''s Mysterious Hold over Humankind What is it about ~e Moon that evokes curiosity, awe, and . even a twinge of dread? Why are there so many legends about witches, vampires, and werewolves coming out at the Full Moon? Why is it that the specter of wolves or wild dogs baying at the Moon sends chills down people's backs? And what happens to the minds of unstable people at the Full Moon to have made the word lunatic associated with insanity? On the other hand, why do we look at the Moon and yearn for romance? Why do so many love songs, poems, and stories feature the light of the Moon? And why did primitive people the world over worship the Moon, carrying on ceremonies, rituals, and revels at the time of the Full Moon? How did a lunar mystique evolve that can be seen in mythology of all eras and on all continents, including among the Greek, Roman, and a variety of native cultures? Lunar images appear as a powerful symbol of human consciousness throughout world literature from ancient to modern times.

13

15

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

Few people can fail to be moved by the beauty of the Full Moon and intrigued by the cycle of changes the Moon undergoes in a month. Today we pride ourselves on being scientific and rational, so we tend to ridicule what our "primitive" ancestors believed about the Moon. Yet, if the Moon has no power, how do we explain the almost universal preoccupation and fascination with it? As it turns out, there does seem to be some basis for the common belief that the Moon affects our lives. Scientific studies over the past several decades have begun to validate connections between the Moon and human, plant, and animal life. We'll explore the beliefs of our ancestors about the Moon, the suppression of such beliefs by the knockout team of the Church and science, and the natural principles scientists are now rediscovering. We'll look at some controversial research findings and some.ways that modem life may have masked or altered our natural rhythms, causing tension and stress. In doing so, we'll draw on the work of two painstaking and pioneering researchers into the Moon's history and the scientific evidence for its power. I highly recommend that you read E. L. Abel's comprehensive review of lunar lore and research Moon Madness. (NY: Fawcett, 1976.) Also excellent and somewhat more scientifically oriented is Dr. Arnold Lieber's The Lunar Effect (with Jerome Agel; NY: Anchor Press, 1978).

Many Moons ago, Native Americans kept track of their months the same way, naming them for happenings during that particular Moon. January was the Wolf Moon, since packs of wolves would roam the empty countryside, looking for food. April was called the Pink Moon, for the flowers that suddenly burst into bloom that month. July's rainstorms earned it the name Thunder Moon, and the heat of August was given the name Red Moon. The Hunter's Moon was in October, showing both the opportunity and the preoccupation of that month. The Hawaiians also had a lunar calendar, and for them, July was the Wet, Sticky Moon. The Jewish calendar, which is dated differently from our own, still has a lunar basis. If we were ever to revert to a lunar calendar, perhaps for synchronizing our rhythms with nature's once more, we'd have to give the months modem names. February would be the Gray and Dreary Moon. April would be the Moon of the IRS. June would be the Many Wedding Moon. August would be the Shrinks' Vacation Moon. September would be the Back-to-School Moon. December would be the Bottomless Wallet Moon.

14

The Lunar Calendar In ancient cultures and in many modem ones until recently, the Moon's cycles were the way we marked the passage of time, a natural, easily visible calendar. The Full or New Moon against the backdrop of the constellations was a sign that a particular time of year had arrived, with its own set of activities and conditions. The word month itself derives from the word Moon. A month lasted from one New Moon until the next, and each quarter was one week long. There were thirteen Moon cycles in a typical year. Each period was named for its characteristic quality or events. We still call autumn dances the Harvest Moon Ball, but we've forgotten that in earlier times the harvest was celebrated by a huge feast and merrymaking.

Why Are Mondays Blue? Just as the calendar was once based on the Moon, the Moon also had its own special day of the week -Monday, or Moonday. Each of the seven major heavenly bodies visible to the naked eye was assigned a day of the week: Sunday was the Sun's day; Monday was the Moon's; Tuesday was Mars's day; Wednesday was assigned to Mercury; Thursday was Jupiter's day; Friday belonged to Venus; and Saturday was for Saturn. The nature and concerns of the day in question seemed to the ancients related to the concerns of that planet. This belief and the planet assigned to a particular day of the week remained the same in all the European cultures. Perhaps this practice was, again, related to centuries of observation, and perhaps we would find some validity to it if we looked into it. So, what kind of a day was Monday, that it was assigned to the Moon? We're going to find out, when we get into the astrological sections, that the Moon has much to do with the home, food, family feeling, and attachment to one's roots. Thus, it may primarily have been a day to stay close to the

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

nest and take care of the family and roots. I can remember, back in the 1950s and earlier, when it was still rare for women to work outside the home, that almost all housewives washed on Monday. In fact, when this connection was established, centuries ago, not only women but men and children all worked at home, for it was prior to industrialization. Monday is no longer a primary time for those old-fashioned home-related tasks like washing, gathering food, or making clothing. Instead, Monday is associated with leaving home behind and returning to the stressful world of work. Not too coincidentally, vast numbers of people dread its arrival, and it has been labeled Blue Monday. Perhaps Mondays weren't always blue; maybe at one time, when we were closer to the lunar parts of our nature, people looked forward to Monday's renewal of the home fires and felt nurtured by it.

the energy and power of the Moon, which we will become familiar with as we work with the processes in this book. The Full Moon revels may have constituted a safe and possibly even healthy outlet for the emotions that build up throughout the monthly cycle and tend to need release around the Full Moon. Halloween and Easter are actually holdovers from celebrations of that era that were shrewdly preempted by the Church fathers. Now known by the names of wicca, paganism, or witchcraft, the Old Religion was not a matter of witches and goblins and was certainly not a matter of devil worship or satanism. Instead, it was a spiritual practice based on centuries of observation of how the Moon and other natural forces interacted with plants, animals, and human beings. The old Angle-Saxon word wicca simply means knowledge, and it embodied knowledge of when to plant, hunt, and fish, and of how to heal using plants, herbs, and other natural means. Even now good farmers know to watch the Moon for planting and harvesting. They find, as the ancients did, that seeds sprout far better just after the New Moon, especially the New Moon in Taurus, which falls in late April or early May. Likewise, avid fishermen buy Moon calendars telling them the times when fishing is best. The Moon corresponds to the more feminine side of people, whether male or female, and the Old Religion itself was a celebration of the feminine aspect of nature, with a goddess and with priestesses rather than priests. As Christianity grew more powerful, the Moon religion came to be regarded as dangerous and wicked, along with the corresponding, more feminine side of ourselves that is in touch with the Moon and with emotions, natural rhythms, and instincts. The decline of the Old Religion paralleled a period in history when society became strongly patriarchal and women were put in an inferior and powerless position. The Old Religion was suppressed by religious persecution, by forceful conversions, by witch-hunts and witch burnings, but it was once the religion of the people. Perhaps you've seen statues of Mary with a crescent Moon under her fooL This symbolizes the stamping out of the Old Religion. And yet, in places where the Old Religion was strong, Christianity won out only by establishing the worship of Mary, in which the cult of Diana persisted, thinly disguised. In forcibly suppressing wicca, we unfortunately also suppressed much of the

16

The Old Religion The Moon was once an object of worship for people the world over. As explorers from the West traveled throughout the earth's islands and continents, they found people everywhere sharing a fascination and reverence for the -Moon and even many identical beliefs about it. There was a linkage of the Moon with fertility and childbirth, and some connection was made between women's menstrual cycles and the cycle of the Moon. Was the universal reverence for the Moon an example of primitive superstition by ignorant people, or did it reflect centuries of observation of the powerful effect the Moon had? Before Christianity became the dominant religion in Westem civilization, there were many gods. Among the most commonly worshipped was the Moon goddess, who was known by many names, including Diana, Artemis, and Hecate. People looked to her to insure fertility, safe childbirth, good crops, and success in hunting. In those days, there was a high rate of infant mortality and death in childbirth, so her temples were popular ones. No woman who wanted a child and wanted to live through her pregnancy would neglect Diana. Throughout Europe, in the millennia before Christianity, the Moon religion was the dominant one. Rituals, ceremonies, and revels were held routinely at the Full Moon. Certain Full Moons were considered especially powerful and holy; perhaps these so-called p~mitives were attuned to the fluctuations in

11

18

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

knowledge of healing and natural rhythms that accompanied it. I'm not for a moment suggesting we go back to worshipping the Moon, but at least we can stop ignoring it and start paying attention to the rhythms and cycles it represents. As we'll find out in the course of this book, there is a cost to ignoring this part of ourselves, in terms of stress, fatigue, frayed nerves, and exploding tempers. This ignorance leaves us feeling deprived, as well as out of touch with ourselves and our needs. We can relieve stress by not working against the grain. We can come to know the periods when our bodies, minds, and spirits need rest, as well as the periods most productive for work. In order to do that more consciously, you'll find information here about the best uses of the Moon's signs and cycles, as well as tables to help you keep track of the Moon's daily and monthly course.

periods at the New and Full Moon than at any other time. A study of over seven thousand women in 1962 by the Czech scientist Dr. Jeri Malek showed that the onset of bleeding occurred at the Full Moon more often than any other phase.' Folk wisdom also held that there were more births at the Full Moon. So did hardworking nurses in maternity wards Doctors began to be fascinated with the question and to com pile statistics. The foremost French medical journal, La Presse Medical, reported that the birth rate doubled just after the Full Moon. A German physician, Dr. H. Gunther, reported increases in birth rates in Cologne around the Full and New Moon in 1938. Studies continued, and in Roanoke, Virginia, and Tallahassee, Florida, reviews of several hundred births found peaks of deliveries at the Full Moon and New Moon. Some researchers felt that the prevalent practice of induced labor, to avoid weekend deliveries cutting into gynecologists' free time, might be distorting the natural pattern of births. Thus they eliminated induced births from their study. 2 After reviewing a number of older and smaller studies that seemed to support a lunar effect on births, Dr. Walter Menaker decided to take a very large sample. He reviewed the records of over half a million live births in New York City from 1948 to 1957 and found that the highest frequency of births occurred at the Full Moon. A second study by Dr. Menaker of another half-million New York City births from 1961 to 1963 again pinpointed the peak rate of births around the Full Moon. It was speculated that perhaps the pull of gravity on the amniotic fluid increased with these lunar phases. 3 Research such as this inspired a woman named Louise Lacey to speculate that in ancient times, most of the women in the tribe were fertile at the Full Moon and that their menstrual cycles were synchronized with one another. It has been seen that women who live together tend to adjust their menstrual cycles to one another. Biologists postulate some sort of subliminal olfactory perception of the released hormones as an

The Ancient Connection Between the · Moon and Women's Cycles As noted earlier, the ancients prayed to Diana, the goddess of fertility, for safe childbirth-not something to take for granted in those days. Among many different peoples the world over, there was a common belief that the Moon had her own menstrual cycle. Even those not involved with Moon worship spoke of the Moon as having her period when the Moon was dark. Many different tribes, ignorant of the facts of life, believed that women were impregnated by the Full Moon. Where did such beliefs originate? Were these beliefs the products of confused, primitive thinking, or was there in those times a close, readily-observed connection between the Moon and women's cycles that would cause them to leap to that conclusion? Research seems to indicate an actual connection. As long ago as 1898, the Nobel prize-winning scientist Svante Arrhenius made careful studies of the menstrual cycles of twelve thousand female patients of a Swedish maternity hospital and found that the Moon did have a special effect on their cycles. In 1936, ten thousand German women were charted by Guthmann and Oswald, and more of them were found to have their

19

1. All the studies in this paragraph were reported in E. L. Abel's Moon Madness, (NY: Fawcett, 1976), pp. 78-79. Additional studies, reported in other sources as late as 1981, confirm the Full Moon as the peak period. 2. These studies were reviewed in Abel, Moon Madness, pp. 85-87. 3. Abel, p. 86.

20

Many Moons Ago

MOON SIGNS

explanation. Imagine living in an encampment or tribe where most of the women were ovulating at the same time, and at their most responsive sexually, while overhead the Moon was full, and emotions were at their peale. The connection between the Moon and fertility would be strong, in this worldview, and so would the link with childbirth, since nine lunar months later, also at the Full Moon, children would be born. 4 Lacey postulates that we don't see such a powerful synchronization of women's cycles and their strong association with the Moon today because various factors in modern life throw our rhythms off. Light-including moonlight-has been shown to have an effect on the pituitary gland, and through it, on other metabolic rates. Modern inventions like electric lighting, birth control pills, and induced labor all interfere with natural reproductive cycles. She feels that women's cycles are also no longer synchronized because we no longer live so closely together in tribes and grass huts or tents. Instead we live in separate houses or concrete structures, generally including one woman of childbearing age per dwelling, so the group effect on hormones that used to synchronize menstrual cycles is greatly lessened.

The Moon's Effects on Plant and Animal Life We've mentioned that the Old Religion embodied certain beliefs about the Moon's effects on plants and animals. The botanists, herbalists, and agriculturists of ancient and medieval times may have been unlettered, yet they had a body of knowledge about their work that was passed down rather than written down. They knew to treat root crops differently from leaf crops, planting and cultivating them under specific Moon signs. In order to be at their most potent, particular healing herbs were gathered at certain phases of the Moon and under certain Moon signs and not at others. Animals were dehorned or altered at certain phases of the Moon, in order to avoid excessive bleeding and other complications. Through religious and later scientific suppression, the collected wisdom of these 4. Louise Lacey. Lunaception: A Feminine Odyssey into Fertility and Contracep· tion, (NY: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974).

21

naturalists passed out of g~neral kn?wledge.. . . . One repository of this mfo~atton that 1s sttll avrulabl~ 1s Llewellyn Publications' bestselhng almanac, The Moon Szgn Book and Gardening Guide. Since 1906, farm~rs and gar~ deners have sworn by this annual calendar and gutde based on the Moon. A large portion of this guide's readership doesn't know or care a thing about astrology yet use Moon s1gns as an aid in their work. It tells gardeners the best times for planting, pruning, fertilizing, and harvesting. It also tells farmers fh:e best times to breed livestock, set eggs to hatch, and alter ammals. For urban folks, the book also covers a .variety of domestic activities, from cutting your hair to buymg a new car. (The yearbook is available at Walden ~dB. Dalton outlets as well as metaphysical bookstores, or 1t can be ordered from Llewellyn Publications, Box 64383-429, St. Paul, MN 55164-0383.) What of the ancient belief that the Moon affects the .s~ccessful planting and gathering of crops? Is there any val1d1ty to it? Numerous modern studies show that plants are profoundly affected by the Moon, in that the vanous p~ases are accompanied by shifts in biological fuD:ctions .. An ltal1~ botaili.st from the University of Padua, Gmvanru ~bramt, found that growth spurts in common plants occurred m peat:' at ~e New and Full Moon. Dr. Jane J. Panzer of Thlane Umvers1ty found that seedlings took on twice as much water on the ~ull Moon as at other times in the monthly cycle. After plantmg patches of wild licorice at different times in the lu~ar cycle, an Indian researcher c. R. Karnick, found that the ttme of planting profoundly illected the flowering and fruiting of these plants. 5 There are also well-documented effects of the Moon on animals and their mythms of feeding, activity levels, and mating cycles. For instance, biologists fou~d that there are more mosquitoes out at the New Moon, while more of the!D are dormant at the Full Moon. Dr. Frank A. Brown, a .b10logy professor at Northwestern UD:iversity, h~ .made studies of a variety of animals under a vanety of conditiOns over the years and finds them strongly affected by the Moon:s p~ases. He couldn't get any wolves or wild dogs to work w~th hif:D, so he had hamsters and white mice running on wheels m therr cages 5. These studies were cited in Jeff Cox's Organic Discoveries (April 124-5.

1981), PP

23

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

He found that they were far more active around the Full and New Moon. Since the strength of the tides varies greatly with lunar phases, it ~ould be _anticipated that sea creatures are strongly affected. Like grumons, sea urchins, and many other marine species, the Atlantic fireworm breeds only at selected parts of the Moon's cycle, and when this event occurs, entire areas of the ocean light up with a phosphorescent glow. Careful observations by oceanologists showed that even when oysters are removed from. the_ ocean and J?laced in tanks, they open and close for feedmg m rhythm with the Moon. Likewise, it has long been known that fish bite better at certain phases of the ~oon. Commercial fis~ermen in New Zealand routinely put m longer hours at certam phases of the Moon since they've found their catch is better at those times. For th~m the bottom line is that paying attention to the Moon inc;eases their profits. 6

He found that 82 percent of the cases where there was exc~s­ sive bleeding after surgery came between the first and third quarter, with the peak happening at the Full Moon. The c~n­ clusion Andrews reached was the same as held by folk WISdom-that you shouldn't allow yourself to be operated on at Full Moon. 7 Laboratory tests show that changes i~ the_ Moon p~ases bring on changes in brain waves and electncalimpulses m the brain. A number of studies of epilepsy, as early as 1627 and as late as the 1950s, showed a correlation between epileJ!tiC a~­ tacks and lunar phases. Nowadays, naturally, eptlepti~ se~­ zures are well controlled by medication, so the connection IS not so clearly seen. It has also been noted by physicians, but not systematically. studied, that the Full Moon s~ems to pr~­ cipitate migraine headaches, a phenomenon that IS neurologically related to epilepsy. 8 .

22

How the Moon Affects the Human Body ~e

like to think. that because we have greater reasoning abilities than the ammals, we aren't subject to the same natural laws and forces. All living things have consciousness so maybe the ~imals ~en 't less. conscious than we but m~rely more conscious of different things. There is no reason to believe that we human beings are any different from other animate objects in being influenced by the Moon, just because we aren't aware of it. We are part of the earth's biosphere and like the earth, our bodies are 90 percent water. The M~n's gravitational pull on the tides also acts on the water in the body, thus on the emotio~s. Just as the tides are influenced by the M~n, so are metabolic rates and other physical functions. For mstance, Dr. Harry Rounds of Wichita State University found that heart rates after exercise were far greater at the Full Moon and to a lesser extent at the New Moon than at other times of the month. People with heart trouble should be aware of this finding and not unduly strain themselves. In another study, Dr. Edson J. Andrews of Florida, stimulated by the observations of one of his nurses, reviewed records of one thousand of his tonsillectomy cases over a three-year period. 6. These and a variety of fascinating studies of marine and animal life are explored in Abel, Moon Madness, pp. 55-58.

The Lunar/Lunacy Link If changes in brain waves and the electrical impulses in ~e brain have been documented at the Full and New Moon, this may begin to explain the historical connection betw~n the Moon and insanity. It's no accident that luna, the Latin word for Moon is the root of the word lunatic. Throughout history, it was ~lieved that the Moon caused people to go insane periodically and to become violent. This was one of the reasons the Full Moon was dreaded by the general public. In their struggle to suppress th~ Moo~ religion, _the early Church Fathers spent several centuries trymg to convmce the~ flocks that it wasn't the Moon but demons that were responsible for insanity. The Fathers believed that if it was admitted that the Moon had an effect, people might then be tempted to go back to the Moon religion. ~any of the people_ who were burned at the stake during the witchcraft purges with accusations of being possessed by the devil were actu~ly insane and deserved humane treatinent rather than persecution. The medical and legal professions in their early days, however, were convinced of the Moon's effect on the emotions. 7. These and other physiological effects were reported in Abel, Moon Madness, PP·

20-22. 8. These brain studies are cited in Abel, Moon Madness, pp .. l07-113.

25

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

As late as the eighteenth century, lunacy. was used as a legal defense, in which people subject to it were not held accountable for their crimes. The law recognized different categories of insanity, and one of them was lunacy, in which people were lucid most of the time yet would go mad from time to time at the behest of the Full Moon. Up until 1808, British insane asylums used to routinely flog their patien$6 at the Full Moon to deter them from violence. (The violent tendencies of the staff, which found an outlet in this brutal practice, were apparently considered perfectly sane.) In the mid-1970s, a psychiatrist named Dr. Arnold Lieber became curious about the effect of the Moon on his patients, since many of them, particularly the elderly, seemed to react badly to the Full Moon. A number of researchers were working on the issue of the Moon's effects, and Dr. Lieber reviewed all of their research and did some of his own. The outcome was his book The Lunar Effect, in which he theorized on the effects and their causes. Although he was extremely scornful of astrology, calling it "a cosmic pseudoscience," his work constitutes one of the more valuable and exciting validations of astrology to come along in a long while. Sometimes an intelligent skeptic can be the astrologer's best friend. Lieber's study documented a marked increase in homicides during the Full and New Moon in Florida. Dr. Porkney in Texas and Dr. Osborn in Ohio documented that significantly more patients were admitted to a state mental hospital during the Full Moon and last quarter. Another psychiatrist, M. H. Stone, found that his manic-depressive patients went through more manic episodes at the New Moon and Full Moon. There were increases in rape, assault, and drunk-and-disorderly conduct during the New and Full Moons in Cincinnati. Studies of arson in Philadelphia, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles showed a rise at the Full Moon. (All these studies and a large number of others are cited in more detail in Lieber's book, The Lunar Effect. Abel also devotes several chapters to reviews of research on insanity, arson, homicide, and suicide.) By way of explanation of these findings, Lieber postulated that the right half of the brain-having to do with emotions, intuition, and creativity-was the lunar hemisphere, while the left brain-having to do with logic, reason, and mathematics -was the solar hemisphere. Again, remember that he is not speaking astrologically when he talks of the Sun and Moon,

but he seems to come up with conclusions that astrologers would agree with. He felt that the rituals of the Moon religion and meditations at the Full Moon served as healthy outlets and as ways of integrating that part of consciousness. He says that the lunar hemisphere and the lunar way of operating were suppressed over the centuries, w~th our growing emphasis on industrialization and technological advancement. He concludes that the solar mode won out but that the growing statistics on crime, ~ental ~llness, psyc.hosom~tic disorders and other emotional difficulties are the pnce society is paying for this alienation from the lunar he~spher~. He concludes that the individual whose lunar hermsphere IS repressed responds to the Full Moon and New Moon with emotional distress and emotional eruptions. 9

24

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics The work by Lieber and others had scientists at one another's throats for a while during the sixties and seventies. Scientific minds were outraged at the illogic of believing the Moon had any power, propounding that the light of the Moon is less. than a fourth that of a candle, and that the pull of the Moon IS no more than the weight of a flea. How could it be that the Moon had any effect? Debunkers scurried to find fault with the research methods used by other researchers. And, sure enough, some of them came up with contradictory results and with explanations of why the original researchers had been misled by the ordinary person's superstitions about the Moon. 10 The controversy over lunar/lunacy research continued into the early 1980s. One set of researchers would find a correlation and then another set, reworking the data with a different set ~f statistical techniques, would find a reason why it wasn't so. Some of the contrary viewpoints deserve looking into. For instance, one criticism was that the time of death from homicide was used rather than the time of injury, so there was a 9. Arnold Lieber, The Lunar Effect (New York: Anchor Press, 1978), p. 3. 10. The most comprehensive review of Moon research methods is by the team of James Rotton and I. W. Kelly, who are admittedly antagonistic to the idea of the Moon having any effect. Their review is published as "Much Ado About the Full Moon: A Meta-Analysis of Lunar-Lunacy Research," Psycholcgical Bulletin, Vol. 97, No. 2 (1985), pp. 286-306.

26

MOON SIGNS

loss of scientific precision. Yet we've seen that more bleeding and other complications arise at the Full Moon, so critically wounded individuals could be expected to do worse at the Full Moon, and this does not disprove the Moon's power. Another criticism of the studies on homicides was that when Full Moons occurring around the weekend were excluded, the difference was insignificant-suggesting that the weekend was a more important factor than the lunar phase. But does this finding necessarily disprove the pull of the Moon? Given the rigidly imposed Monday-to-Friday workweek, is it not possible that many employed people hold themselves together until the weekend? They do this in order to function on their jobs and retain their means of survival, and yet they still build up a load of stress from the Full or New Moon. Then, under the looser structure and greater freedom of the weekend, they may cut loose to release the stress, perhaps tying one on, and the result is more explosive behavior. Rather than discarding the data about weekends that fall at the Full and New Moon, a more conclusive study might be undertaken correlating the weekends closest to the Full and New Moons with the data on violence and other emotional upheavals. Where findings about the lunary/lunacy link are weak, it may be because modem life has in certain respects developed override mechanisms. For instance, the vast majority of people who once were labeled lunatics-that is, the mentally ill -are now so sedated as to be virtual zombies. When schizophrenics, manic-depressives, and other psychotic people are heavily medicated with antipsychotic drugs, the influence of the Moon may retreat to the background. Uncounted others who are not psychotic but who nonetheless suffer from serious emotional difficulties are giv7n milder tranquilizing medications to flatten out their depression or rage. In our increasingly drug-oriented society, many who don't want to think of themselves as troubled blot out lunar pressures by knocking themselves out with excesses of alcohol, marijuana, ~-Pills, or illegal drugs-or even food binges.

Many Moons Ago

27

begin to measure or elucidate the Moon's romantic fascination and its mysterious capacity to excite the human psyche. Where does its hold over us originate? Why have religions all over the world been based on it? Why does all this research fail to convince the public at large that the Moon isn't important? Why do emergency rooms, police stations, and fire departments continue to dread the approach of the Full Moon? Maybe crime statistics aren't ~e best me~s~ement of the Moon's impact. People who don t bum butldmgs or batter their families may nevertheless experience significant distress at the Full Moon. What about the man who doesn't assault the stranger who took his parking space; but who instead slams the door in a quarrel with his wife? A quarrel that, come to think of it, erupts about once a month, right about the ti~e of the Full Moon. What about the woman who doesn't sht her wrists but does cry herself to sleep regularly once a month just as the moon reaches its fullest? In short, we don't have to be crime statistics or psychiatric admissions to be affected by the Moon. One further question we might ask is, why do all the researchers bother: if the Moon's so inconsequential, why have they devoted so many hundreds of thousands of hours to painstaking tabulations of suicides, births, and other even~ to disprove any correlation with the Moon? Why are the scientists so threatened by the possibility of astrological or planetary correlations with human behavi?r? . . In their quest for pure rea~on, sc1ent1sts_ stnv~ to ~ontrol or even to suppress their emotlons, unconscious, ~nstmcts, and intuition-the very qualities of human expenenc~ we are going to find that the Moon is associated with. Therr way ~f handling these aspects of human life is_ to la~el th~m superstition and to deny their existence. Yet, m conJunction w1th the influence of the Church, it is precisely this scientific, su~rra­ tional mind-set that has caused us to suppress our lunar s1de to begin with. And, as Dr. Lieber suggests, the suppressi~n of the lunar side of our nature and the natural rhythms associated with it has its consequences.

Who's Right?

The Loss of Our Natural Rhythms

If the antilunar researchers are right, how 'is the fascination the Moon has had throughout history explained? Statistics don't

As we've seen the Moon was once very much a part of our lives. We lived in tune with it, watched it, and guided our-

29

MOON SIGNS

Many Moons Ago

selves by it. Now we've lost touch with it and the instinctive rhythms it was synchronized with. There was a solunar (that is to say, Sun/Moon) cycle of the seasons in addition to the monthly cycle-periods of hard work and periods of rest, periods of fertile growth, periods of barrenness, times of feasting, times of fasting. Like hibernating animals, people tended to be less active during the winter, sleeping more, working on crafts and other indoor activities, and eating more. Where we once understood and operated on the natural rhythms and the natural light of the Sun and Moon, over the centuries, society-if not the human body-has evolved further and further away from these rhythms. Today artificial lighting, heating, and air-conditioning allow us to work at any time of the day or night, all year round. Except for a couple weeks of frenetically paced vacation, most of us have taken on a rigid superstructure of working nine to five, Monday to Friday, all year round. No wonder we have blue Mondays! While our control over our environment is in many respects a triumph, it is not without cost, environmentally, biologically, and emotionally. We've allowed the awareness of our close interrelationship to our environment to go underground. With less conscious awareness of our emotional and biological needs and rhythms, we easily grow out of balance, and, all too often, we react to the imbalance in destructive ways. These interactions with the Moon and other natural forces are no less profound just because we are forced to function within a rigid workday structure. The concerns and functions of the right brain-the lunar hemisphere-aren't inherently negative. Feelings, instincts, intuition, and creativity can all enhance our lives; it is only when they are ignored or suppressed that they become troublesome. Psychology has discovered that the material we repress from consciousness has enormous power, guiding our actions in disruptive ways and creating symptoms. In fact, these disowned parts of ourselves may have more power over us exactly because they're less conscious.

been the inspiration for religious worship, music, legends, ~d literature in cultures all over the world. The popular.pastlme of moonwatching is often the stimulus for romance. The hold the Moon has on the human imagination was seen in the way the whole world was emotionally stirred when humankind landed on the Moon for the first time. The purpose of Moon Signs itself is to make the Moon less. of a mystery-although it will doubtless still be magical. You'll get to know the Moon's effects in all twelve ~ign~ of the zodiac and in all its phases. We've explored the histoncal fascination an

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Your Yearly Lunar Path

89

written inventory of each house in your chart and for setting goals to improve each of these important areas of life .

How the New Moon Affects Your Chart Get out a copy of your birth map, for we're going to plot the course of this year's New Moons and Full Moons through it . The New Moon is a time to initiate projects and activities for the greatest success in completing them. Because both the Sun and the Moon are in one house of your chart at that time, there's a tremendous burst of energy to put to work in improving that area. You'd naturally be drawn to concentrate on that area, but the concentration could go either way. Negative emotions and actions are also possible if you aren't consciously examining yourself and putting forth your best efforts. Thus, when the New Moon falls into a particular house, you have a way of knowing what activities may successfully be initiated. You'll be learning how to map out those positions. The readings for each house given later will not only tell you what concerns to work on but also pose key questions to facilitate examining your part in any difficulties you may be experiencing. For instance, when the New Moon falls in your second house, it's time to take stock of yourself financially and seek out new sources of income and ways to economize. When it falls in your seventh house, devote energy to improving your most intimate and long-lasting relationships. Table 10 shows the New Moon cycle for each Rising sign for 1989, including which houses are affected. Tables for the years 1990 to 1993 appear in the Appendix.

How the Full Moon Affects Your House Map Table 11 shows the Full Moon's cycle for each Rising sign for 1989, including what houses are affected. Tables for 1990 to · 1993 appear in the Appendix. At the Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs, thus the Full Moon's axis falls across two houses-the Sun in one house and the Moon six houses away. There is tension between the two houses, and

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