Notes on the Full Moon / Lunar Eclipse

It is hard to believe that this is the solar/lunar anniversary of finding my current home. That is to say, it was during the Full Moon in Scorpio, in early May 2012, that I managed to use astrology to my advantage. It's not all that easy to pull off, because astrology is not this abstract concept, but life itself, and life tends to be pretty unpredictable and messy. Understanding the meaning of an aspect (e.g., Full Moon in Scorpio) does not automatically lead to understanding how the aspect will manifest. You might know what chord will be played, but not how loud it will sound or how long it will reverberate.

I always think of Siddhartha, aka Buddha, during this Sun/Moon combination. Specifically, I wonder how the hell anyone born with the Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio could be detached or calm about anything, much less found a religion (which many prefer to label a philosophy) that most assuredly does not have to do with accumulating material goods and various sensual pleasures (Taurus). As for that Scorpio Moon...

Well, the Moon in Scorpio is often misunderstood, even by those of us born with this Moon placement. In its "fall" (according to traditional astrology), it tends toward extremes, with an aura of danger and a natural inclination to provoke (in a far more unsavory way than rebellious Aquarius). The sexual wattage and seething intensity often eclipse this placement's mystical, sensitive qualities. Just off the top of my head, the Lunar Scorpion Pantheon includes James Dean, Edie Sedgwick, George Harrison, Charlie Chaplin, Warren Beatty, Pat Benetar, Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Scarlett Johansson, Bjork, Miles Davis, and Isadora Duncan. The only one on this abbreviated list who might not be considered a sex symbol is Hitchcock -- but his writing was certainly not for the faint of heart, and his name was worthy of an A-1 porn star!

One of the dicier qualities of a Scorpio Moon is its tendency to test people. As a lunar Scorpion, I can attest to this and roll out the excuses while gloomy-doomy music plays in the background: we do it because we don't trust easily; we were betrayed early and repeatedly by the very people who were supposed to love and protect us; we need to know if you'll still love us after we usher you inside our darkness and explosive sensitivity, and one declaration or "proof" of fealty probably won't be enough. It can get pretty tiresome and crazy-making, but we do try to make up for it in other ways that you probably won't find in other, more genteel and balanced Moon signs. To repeat: we are not for the faint of heart.

Perhaps ol' Siddhartha might have been the most evolved type of Scorpio Moon by testing himself above all else. By breaking through all the taboos and don't-go-theres of his comfortable Taurus background, he lived out his Full Moon with great intensity and consciousness.

And only a Head Cheese of the Scorpio Moon variety could inspire this Zen koan: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." Like practically everything else about the Moon in Scorpio, this instruction is not meant to be taken at face value. But the imagery is pure Full Moon in Scorpio: enlightenment may not come from letting go, but from killing your know-it-all-ism before it makes you insufferable.

On this imaginative, spiritually oriented Moon-Neptune trine shortly before the Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse, try to take a brief break from the mundane, and stretch out that minute or hour as long as you can.