I have been studying a chart where Cancer is Rising and the Moon is in Aquarius.

As a rule, the Moon is always one of the top indicators. She is the Queen.

As another rule, the ruler of the Rising sign is also very important. It’s the Prime Minister so to speak.

Mama Mia! For Cancer Risings, the Moon holds the two functions! Don’t ignore the Sun, but ignore such a Moon even less!

How can I picture an Aquarius Moon?

When a planet is in a sign, it doesn’t become another planet. Even in Aquarius, the Moon is the Moon, and what it means is a Moon thing.

With the Moon we often talk about cocoons, homes, roots, burrows, places of safety where moms take care of children, and in Aquarius, the sign ruled by Uranus, God of the Sky, the Moon might well be a nest.

Traditionally Saturn rules Aquarius. It opposes the Sun, ruler of Leo. Nature is the Great Metaphor that holds the door to Spirit. What is able to obscure the Sun and cast shadows? A big dark cloud. A water bearer. An Aquarius.

As a child, I used to wonder why birds build their nests without a roof. Chicks are safe from below, but when it rains, they get drenched. If there is a storm, they feel it to the full. That’s how birds live. They can’t go knock at the foxes’ door to ask for shelter. The little chicks live under the big wide sky, soaking in immensity. As they grow, they train flapping their wings on the edge of the nest, preparing themselves for the big jump.

How do these images translate in terms of human life, for someone who has Cancer Rising and the Moon in Aquarius?

I belong to the Placidus tribe: for me, an Aquarius Moon in a Cancer Rising chart is not necessarily in the eighth house; it may be in the ninth and be born to be alive and migrate, or in the seventh and be born to fly along with their mate without being able to hold hands whilst doing so.

However a good deal of Aquarius Moons in Cancer Rising charts will be in the eighth house, which is fitting to the sign of thunderstorms and flashes of lightning disturbing suddenly the peace of wide blue skies or starry nights.

In his “Traité Pratique d’astrologie” André Barbault, who had the Sun, Moon and Jupiter in Libra, describes the psychology of the signs as dialectics between two types.

About Aquarius, he tells us that one type is the wise type, detached, taking some distance from down to earth reality and the world of instincts, loving clarity, ideas and ideals; to the extreme it may even be completely spaced out… the other type is the adventurous type, the eccentric, the rebel, who lives in a state of high tension. It’s the one who plans to steal Fire from the Gods, for the benefit of humanity. The first type loves humanity as well, but would rather suggest meditation.

Following my own thread of the birds in the nest and the weather forecast, I would call these two kinds the Great Blue Sky Type and the Thunderstorm type; I would expect an Aquarius Moon in the eighth house to belong to the storm, especially if there are tense aspects to the Moon or other placements in the chart, like a Scorpio Sun for instance.

In human life, such storms may be arguments between the parents, separation, divorce, fight over questions of money and custody, sudden loss of loved ones (“Child, they are in Heaven now”), it can be falling from the nest, not finding the strength to fly with one’s own wings, or maybe too much space, too much freedom at an age when we need to feel contained, held, supported and given boundaries…

It may mean being exposed to anything that is too wide, too open, too unpredictable for a child to feel safe. Finding about porn on the internet at the age of five, becoming aware that Mother Earth and the climate are dangerously changing at six, or being suggested that you may not be a girl after all at seven are possible illustrations; human madness is not limited to nowadays creativity…

Now, what if this Moon in Aquarius and the eighth house was a happy one? Even in the eighth house, it may enjoy the benefit of harmonious aspects and the chart all around it may be full of happy promises. No challenge means doom anyway.

A Moon in Aquarius could be a home full of friends, a family well integrated in the community, a flock of birds, an uncle who is an inventor, exciting holiday camps, open minded parents, intellectual opportunities… and, for the eighth house, a natural perception of otherworldly realities, transparent friends, choirs of angels, animal spirits, telepathic communications, the ability to fly out of the physical body... Why not? One day we will get there.

This was my way to follow the thread for today.

Symbols are magical doors. Another day, you may come across a Moon in Aquarius in a chart, go for a walk to empty your head and daydream, and find another thread, which may, for instance, emphasise more the community and future oriented traits of Aquarius, and start with Mother rather than home. Enjoy the flight!

Jean-Marc

Margory Orr, a seasoned astrologer and author, has written a wonderful review of my book: Magical Doors.

You can read it here: https://star4cast.com/astrology-a-gateway-into-a-magical-universe/

You can also go back to my homepage (yes, you are on my website here!) and contact me for a reading, a class or an astro story.