Cosmic Piñata #6—a Moon Miscellany

©7-19-2010 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 The Cosmic Piñata is a series featuring choice bits of information taken from the comment section, questions from my correspondence students, readers’ emails, and letters to my Dell column. Since we’ve been looking at the Moon lately long enough to get moonstruck, this collection is about various ways it influences us.

On habits, from Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World:   The Moon rules habits–both good and bad ones. These patterns of behavior are learned so early or so long ago that we no longer recall when or why we started them. Many were transmitted by the mother or family members.

 Midsummer Night’s Dream (June 23rd) is traditionally considered an excellent time to break a habit forever. That happens to be the beginning date of the sign Cancer, which the Moon rules. If you can muster the determination to stop an unwanted habit under the sign Cancer, you can more quickly form a more desirable one.

The Moon rules not only habit but also the cravings you have for habit‑forming things. You can be imprisoned by habit and by your desire nature. Moon rituals and meditations can help in getting free of the cravings. Not all the cravings you have are for physical substances. You may crave excitement, attention, or sex, for instance. The Moon’s sign and aspects in your chart would give clues to your own habit‑traps.

 Excerpt from Astrological Analysis: We hear a great deal nowadays about comfort zones and how … well, how comforting they can be and how difficult it is to step outside them into the challenges presented by a new situation. A key to understanding what our comfort zones can be found in the Moon’s sign, house, and aspects in our birth charts. Looking at the Moon and its various meanings is most fruitful for understanding what situations make us feel safe and comfortable.

The Moon symbolizes security and the people, places, and things that make us feel secure, reassuring us in times of stress. Circumstances that require us to develop new behaviors and learn new skills can make us insecure and anxious until we acquire new and healthier coping strategies.

At least initially, most of us will procrastinate and resist taking a step forward; instead, we’ll fall back on comforting actions like compulsive shopping (Moon in Taurus) or talking on the phone for hours (Moon in Gemini). Breaking oral habits like smoking, drinking, or overeating is especially tough, because those repetitious behaviors are like security blankets.

The Moon strongly carries the imprint of our childhood, our family of origin, and especially our mothers. Much of how we approach even the most trivial events and activities in our adult life is carried over from what we learned in those earliest years. Our food habits are particularly resistant to change. Doing things the way we were raised and following the traditions of our family or hometown makes us feel rooted and gives us a sense of security.

A reader notes, “People have always said I was too sensitive. I never really knew what they meant, but now that I am older, I do. I was not being sensitive about myself, but I was being sensitive to the feelings around me. The problem is that I did not realize this and didn’t respond the right way. I didn’t really know why things bothered me, just that they did. Now I know a little better and can usually tell when I am picking up the negativity/pain from others. I have a lot of Cancer, so that brings out the feelings aspect of things for me. “

My reply: “What I’ve always noticed–being a Cancer myself–is that if we’re being sensitive to other people’s feelings, they say it’s a great characteristic. However, if we’re sensitive to our own feelings, then we’re labeled “hypersensitive.” It’s the same sensitivity either way, just given a different spin.”

  On Astrological Patterns within Families: Perhaps it is rare for two people taken from the population at large to share the same rising sign, but not two closely related people. Shared Rising Signs and shared Moons are extremely common among family members, and it is part of what makes for close family ties. When you clump all the planets from the charts of a nuclear family (Mom, Dad, and children), it is highly probable that you will find the same degrees repeatedly.

 Especially when there is a strong family resemblance physically, the Rising sign of the child is often conjunct the Sun, Moon, or Rising of the parent. The parent whose planet or angle is conjunct the child’s Ascendant or Moon is often one who has a profound impact on the child’s life—they are closely akin or strongly linked.

Noted elsewhere:  I sometimes think there’s such a thing as a ruling planet for a family. My mother had Moon in Aquarius in the 5th, and Aquarius described all three of us. I am an astrologer, my brother was an Aquarius, and my sister probably has Aquarius Rising and was married to at least three bikers of the Hell’s Angels type. My father had Jupiter and Uranus tightly conjunct in Aquarius right on his Midheaven. All in all, I’d say Uranus was the planetary ruler of my family.   

A reader asks: Do you have anything on the Moon as a vocational indicator?  I have Moon in the 10^th house and have been told that I should be a nurse, waitress or mother for a career. Clearly, I am not suited for any of those or other glass-ceiling, unfeminist work. I would like to hear your opinion, as so far you have been right on about the outer planets. 

My reply:  I, too, have my Moon conjunct my Midheaven, and I was the world’s worst waitress, cannot imagine being put in the position of nursing a sick person, and would be the world’s worst mother if I’d ever been misguided enough to make that my life direction.

 The Gauquelin research showed the Moon at the Midheaven as someone who would work with the public. Working primarily with women as clients and specializing in understanding their concerns and issues would also be indicated. I’d wager that that’s the clientele you’d primarily have a gift with.

Other Editions of the Cosmic Piñata:

• The Cosmic Piñata, Part 1 — Saturn Transits and Insights into the Houses 
• The Cosmic Piñata #2: Treats from other Astrology Blogs
• Cosmic Piñata #3: A Plutonian Potpourri
• Cosmic Piñata #4: Astrological Oddities—or Not?
• Cosmic Piñata #5—Mercurial Morsels 

More Posts about the Natal Moon:  

• How Strong is your Moon? Here’s the Score?
• Why Cancer Isn’t a Popular Sign
• How Outer Planet Transits to the Moon Affect Family Life
• The Moon Signs and their Emotional Habits 
• Outtake from a Moon-Pluto Life
• Readers Ask: Q & A about the 4th House

 

If you enjoyed this post, sign up for a subscription, and get a FREE EBOOKLET for Skywriter Subscribers Only: Mothers, Daughters, and the Moon, a 50-page excerpt from The Moon in your Life. Read more about it here: New: Free Booklet For Skywriter Subscribers! 

 If you’re already a subscriber and want a copy, forward the most recent email post to me at moonmave@spiritone.com. To sign up for a subscription, go to the top right hand corner of the blog and click on “Subscribe.”  Then send me an email with your subscription confirmation or an email post with a request for the booklet in the subject line.