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The moon is where we are coming from and the sun is where we are
going.
The moon is soul, the sun is spirit.
The moon
represents our backgrounds and memory.
The sun represents our
conscious quest for individuation.
The sun is self-contained and self-sustaining [from our relative/ mortal point of view]. In this sense it is independent - autonomous - and it relates to our quest for individuation - to become ourselves. It sustains all life in this solar system. This is why we relate it astrologically with Spirit - which is the Life that inhabits us - that gives us life. Spirit EXPRESSES itself through us, and the sun symbolises our self-expression. We [the rest of the solar system] have been CREATED from the sun and the sun is the symbol of creation. It creates - the moon just tends to repeat or reflect. We also relate the sun to POWER ~ and it is the chief indicator of our physical vitality and our purpose - which is like an engine that drives us.
We, the earth, are powered, parented and sustained by the sun . The sun is the signifier of the Father, the parent of power, the parent most connected with the world beyond the home. We have to go beyond the home in our quest for individuation [our solar journey].
The moon, signifier of the mother, is parented [we think - but it might be adopted] - powered and parented by us - the earth. The moon orbits around us - just as our mothers [moon] tend to us. And we orbit around the sun. We can take that to mean that the mother is with us, attending to our needs without our efforts, but the father, the sun, has qualities that WE have to SEEK.
Astrologically, the moon's qualities are built in to us - they are automatic, we already have them because the divine Mother just gave them to us, but the father's qualities are something that we must go forth for and win.
The moon doesn't have its own light - it reflects the sun. This makes it dependent on the sun for its light. THUS THE MOON OFTEN SIGNIFIES DEPENDENCY. It also signifies belonging since its attachment to the earth can be seen this way. In a chart the moon shows the family / tribe / group that you originate from as well as the group that you immerse yourself in now - in many cases this is a surrogate family.
The moon has phases. Lunar energy is cyclic. It's changeable - it fluctuates. It grows and shrinks, gives and takes, - and strongly solar people believe this indicates a lack of reliability or even treachery [which is really how the rationalists view the instinctual mind]. So the moon relates to these un-constant qualities of human emotion and attitude - which are products of our past. The lunar phases only occur from our earthly point of view. Viewed from space, the moon is actually always half-lit by the sun, so a shadow is inevitable - just as it is within our psyche. From the sun's point of view - it only ever sees the light face of the moon, but we on earth have to deal with its darkness. In the lunar phases, at first when the sun and moon are together the moon is invisible - the new moon. Our knowledge is invisible in this phase - instinctive. Slowly the moon emerges and eventually becomes full, when our knowledge achieves objectivity or ILLUMINATION. And then the moon wanes, sliding back into the light of the sun again, becoming reflective and inwardly thoughtful and reawakening the instincts. We relate this to cycles of growth and maturity, or consciousness and unconsciousness. It represents cycles of building and reviewing what has been built. Lunar phases show us the unfoldment of life.
The moon rules the tides - the movement of water that symbolises the emotions. The emotions and instincts arise from lunar memory deeply hidden in the subconscious mind - where we act blindly, without reason [reason is solar].
We could say that we have 3 minds: the body mind, the reasoning intelligence, and the divine intelligence/mind. The moon is the body mind [which is virtually unconscious] and the sun is the conscious intelligence. Ultimately the sun and moon join and rise in vibration and we access the divine mind.
Think of the miraculous nature of the body-mind. We digest, breathe, circulate our blood automatically - our body-consciousness does it for us. This sort of automatic function is very typical of the moon's action.
Instinctive lunar wisdom is profound and a great mystery. Rational Solar types have always tried to blot it out - look at intellect-based modern allopathic medicine as an example. But today we have the privilege of witnessing the return of feminine lunar wisdom in myriad new and ancient methods of healing. Being able to express the moon means being able to experience and express the body's needs and appetites, without having to justify these through the solar reasoning mind. Instinct is direct, tangible and immediate. Thought is slow by comparison. The moon is a lot faster than the sun - and this is also observable astronomically.
Instincts are there to ensure our survival. Anything around our survival is urgent, which is why a lunar person - or the lunar part of us - can get quite frantic or ferocious when our safety is threatened. Early life problems of our needs not being met [lunar needs] are a chief cause of anxiety later in life. Compulsions can develop out of this - especially around food. As we get older, lunar survival symbols can be not just food, but money, houses, clothes, people, anything.
In the final resolution, although the sun is greatly larger than the moon in actual terms, from our earthly point of view the sun and moon are equal in size. And they claim equal attention in our lives as we endeavour to balance their qualities. Even as we separate from our lunar past, we must find ways to continue to honour its presence in our developing solar selves.
Note the house locations and signs of your sun and moon, and ponder their polarity in your life. Can you see in which way the moon signifies your background and emotions, and your sense of security? Can you understand something of your solar journey - your mission in life? Can you begin to define your moon as where you are coming from and your sun as where you are going?
Write a few paragraphs on this topic, and don't be afraid to apply your lunar instincts as well as your solar objectivity.
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