STARFIRE

September 2008

The Sky Hasn't Fallen, but the Moon is Out of Bounds

The sky may not be falling down on us, but we’re breaking through ceilings, pushing limits, and either coping with or celebrating extremes this year. The Moon, representing families, and feelings, and the public as a whole, has been out of bounds and inviting extremes for six years.

Did you notice, for example, that the newest Olympic sport is bicycle moto cross racing, which is as extreme as it gets in the bicycle racing world?

And did you see all those Olympic records crashing as the 2008 Olympic stars broke an extremely high number of records?

Have you noticed that your friends aren’t calling about bad hair days and hangnails this summer? It’s either great news or a crisis.

We can blame the extremes on the out of bounds Moon.

When the Moon is void of course, we get unexpected results. When the Moon is out of bounds, we get predictable results—just more of them.

The out of bounds Moon phenomena is often linked to extreme hurricanes, including both Katrina and Rita. Sometimes it shows up in extremes of public reactions; the Moon began its current out of bounds cycle on September 12, 2001, one day after 9/11.

So what is an out of bounds Moon?

As the planets move around in the sky, we measure their movement both horizontally (as they move through the signs of the zodiac) and vertically. We have eclipses, for example, when the Sun and Moon are in both the same longitude (Zodiac signs and degrees) and the same declination (measured in degrees north and south of the equator if its imaginary line were extended out into space, where we call it the celestial equator).

The Sun’s declination or position north of the celestial equator reaches approximately 23.5 degrees north at the summer solstice and 23.5 degrees south at the winter solstice. Declination in space translates into latitude when you’re marking it on the surface of the earth. On the earth’s globe, we mark the latitude of those extremes of solar movement as the Tropics of Cancer and Tropics of Capricorn lines.

Whenever a planet’s declination is less than 23.5 degrees north or south, we say it’s in bounds. It’s no further from the equator than the Sun would go in its seasonal journey. But when it goes further north or south than the Sun would appear to move, we say the planet’s out of bounds. (Galileo was right, but the Sun’s annual “journey” is one of those things we still measure from the Earth’s viewpoint.)

"Bounds" is a word that describes whatever limits or confines. When the Moon is out of bounds, the usual cultural, societal, moral, peer limits just don’t stop us. We laugh out loud in quiet places and take actions we might not take in quieter times.

In the years since 2001, we’ve seen extremes (both good and bad and some good or bad depending on your personal point of view) that include Olympic medals, reality TV shows, the rise of erotica in romance novels, dramatic hurricanes and tsunamis, and changes in public opinion. Tsunamis do seem to be linked to out of bounds Moons. The other events occur with or without the out of bounds Moon, but they’re more extreme when the Moon is out of bounds.

Why this summer?

As the graph of the Moon’s movement shows, the Moon is never consistently out of bounds. For half its 18.3 year cycle, it stays totally in bounds. During the other half of the cycle, it moves in and out of bounds, staying out for about three days at a time. The upper and lower loops get longer very slowly, changing almost imperceptibly. Halfway through the extreme half of the cycle (in this case, the spring of 2006), the loops peak and begin to diminish imperceptibly.

Astrologers who specialize in weather research and other mundane events follow the cycles. It’s as much art as science because strong transits actually direct our attention first here then there. The point isn’t that we can predict from an out of bounds Moon—it’s that we can predict emphasis.

In the absence of major transits, we can predict that individual emotions will be high. We’ve had a quiet time between transits this summer, time to deal with the personal implications of everything that’s bombarded us (politically and privately) in recent years. So first the disasters hit, then we discover how we feel about them—exactly the way heroic myths are constructed.

And who cares?

Major transits are coming back into play in September, and the out of bounds Moon will make their effect more intense for all of us.

Jupiter goes direct September 8th, and Pluto follows September 9th. The Moon in Sagittarius (out of bounds, of course) will be conjunct Pluto on the 8th just before Jupiter goes direct. After a short void period, the Moon moves into Capricorn on the 8th, forming a conjunction with Jupiter just after Pluto goes direct. The Moon essentially carries the light from one planet to the other in this instance, connecting them and creating an opening for intense personal transformation and change.

If nothing else were happening, people around the globe would face changes within themselves and in their outer worlds. In addition, September 8th marks the beginning of Pluto’s slow movement into Capricorn on November 27th, a shift that is known as generational because it marks the changing paradigms and beliefs that separate generations.

Jupiter and Saturn, in a harmonious trine aspect between Virgo and Capricorn, make the 12th degree of any sign temporarily sensitive. Jupiter and Saturn in trine aspect would normally give us economic assistance, probably in the form of government assistance and rebates. Venus in the 11th degree of Libra and Mars and Mercury together in the 13th degree of Libra, intensify the 12th degree (their midpoint) and square Jupiter. So on the national level, we’ll get a little good news. On the personal level, we’ll face new challenges to our personal visions and get precious little relief.

For example, New Mexico is offering a tax rebate as this energy comes into place—but most families would spend their rebate on groceries within a week. The overall spending is significant, but the individual benefit is minor.

The Moon will be out of bounds the day before the election, suggesting last-minute emotional voting. In January, look for an out of bounds Moon and something unusual for the Presidential Inauguration. Part of the frustration of predicting this election is the last-minute impact of emotions and the fact that either ticket could produce an unusual inauguration.

Notice that all the planets fall onto one side of the chart, forming a bowl of contained energy. The good news on September 8th is that the contained energy, which finds its first expression through Saturn’s limitation, ends with Uranian change. As a result of these problems and transformations, the world is moving into new stages of creativity—and toward individual freedoms. It may be a long haul—but there is a promise of new technology, new ideas solving current problems individually, nationally, and internationally.

We’ll have out of bounds Moons for three more years.

Change is certain. Embrace it. Holding on to old ideas that no longer work will only make the transformation more difficult.

Mary O’Gara, Ph.D.