Throughout history, the Moon has been wondered about, studied, deified, and honored. Ancient societies essentially gave her the reputation of being primal and untamed. She became known as the goddess who ruled over the night. Keeping in mind that back in ancient times, much less knowledge was accessible, and so, like most things that humans donât understand, they began to fear the Moon and her ever changing surface. The Moon reflects the Sunâs light and is a very feminine luminary, and itâs not a secret that she has become associated with womenâs menstrual cycles. The Sun is very masculine, as it represents your basic self and your ego. The Sun is very active & assertive. Itâs nocturnal counterpart, on the other hand, is very receptive, passive, and represents what makes you feel comfortable. Astrologically, the Moon has come to represent your mother, what makes you feel nurtured & how you nurture others. The Moonâs changing phases and appearance is a gentle reminder that itâs okay to retreat into safety & privacy during her waning phase, whereas during her waxing phase, sheâs a reminder to extend some of your nurturing energy to others. The Sun is your Yang energy; The Moon is your Yin. The Moon is ruled by Cancer and exalted in Taurus, putting her in detriment in Capricorn and in fall in Scorpio.
The crescent that we use to symbolize the Moon (â˝) is the alchemy symbol for silver. The crescent element in an astrological glyph represents human spirituality. It represents the pieces of us that are put on display and illuminated through the energy of others, and the pieces that we keep to ourselves (emotions, memories, etc. that we keep below the surface). It represents the subconscious mind.
Rulership/Exaltation/Detriment/Fall
The Moon is ruled by Cancer and is exalted in Taurus. Cancer represents the Moonâs watery, nurturing, and receptive nature. Cancer is ruled and is driven by emotion, theyâre notoriously moody and the sign has a natural connection to the maternal figure. Taurus represents the Moonâs predictable and routine patterns. Both Cancer and Taurus seek security and safety in family, money, and material goods. They both have strong connections to their families, most notably their mothers, and neither of them allow their lives to become too chaotic. They both retreat at any inkling of conflict or chaos. Both Taurus and Cancer know how to create steady lives for themselves and others. They also provide for and nurture others, which is a key aspect of what the Moon offers. The Moon is also very introverted, which can be said for both Cancer and Taurus. Cancer, in particular, needs time to recharge their energy after being around people for a while because theyâre so empathetic and can feel other peoplesâ vibrations. If you think about that, that is a direct correlation of the Moonâs phases, because she serves as a reminder that you cannot shine your light all the time, that you need to retreat every so often to recharge and come back shining brighter than before.
This would put the Moon in detriment in Capricorn, falling off in Scorpio. Capricorn and Scorpio are two very emotionally volatile and chaotic signs by nature. Capricorn intellectualizes emotions, and Scorpio bottles them all up until they explode and weaponize them. Capricorn may be sentimental and nostalgic, but this Moon placement comes with a resentment towards their childhood, probably because natives of this placement never really got to experience childhood. Capricorn is also very detached by nature. However, because their emotions, deep down, are so strong, they bottle everything up and they need an escape. This normally happens for Capricorn through workaholism or some other self-destructive vice. Scorpio, on the other hand (oh boy), is a water sign that is very aware of their volcanic emotions. All Scorpio placements are afraid of what happens if they allow their emotions to show because of the catastrophic damage they may or may not cause, however, Moon in Scorpio particularly keeps everything below the surface and tries to push their emotions out the back door. Both signs find themselves in recurring cycles of resentment for their roots, bottling up their bitterness, and exploding. They try to push their emotions away and control them. They also hate change. However, emotions canât be controlled. Both signs need to heal themselves, forgive, and let go. They need to find productive means to pour their emotions out for catharsis for their own sanity.
In Astrology, the Moon represents your emotional nature. Itâs indicative of what you naturally gravitate to in order to feel safe & secure. She is intuitive, receptive, and empathetic. The Moon represents your instinctual immediate reactions to things and what you involuntarily/subconsciously gravitate towards if you want to feel safe. The Moon is everchanging, but the changes are predictable. Your emotions come in cycles and are heavily influenced by experiences, memories, and traumas. Your earliest emotional experiences and memories all stem from your birth when you exited the womb crying and were entirely dependent upon your mother. In many ways, your Moon sign determines if your mother was nurturing, loving, caring, and warm or if she was the complete opposite; detached, uncaring, or entirely not there. Regardless, we all need to feel cared for and protected. We all yearn for something that makes us feel protected; for some, this manifests as a yearning for family, a home, material goods, etc. For others, this yearning manifests as a need for lovers or friends. Your Moon represents your fight or flight response, how you deal with sadness, loneliness, anger, or how you express your happiness.
The Moon needs to be healthy. When your Moon feels nurtured and safe, sheâs stable and youâre at your best. You feel relaxed, calm, and secure. You have a thick skin and find security in the fact that you always have something or someone to fall back on for comfort. When the Moon is at her healthiest, sheâs loyal and receptive. Positive attitudes are easy to maintain and youâre confident and optimistic. A healthy Moon means no grudges, stress, or rage. All your emotional baggage has been healed, and you find it easy to forgive and release.
The unhealthy Moon is chaotic and primal. This Moon is paranoid, vindictive, weak, and vulnerable. This is when youâre essentially either at rock bottom or you feel as if youâre falling into a pit of despair. Your emotions are wrecked with stress, rage, and youâre holding onto grudges. Unhealthy coping mechanisms rear their ugly head and youâre essentially spiraling. Â You become unpredictable, angry, and childish. This Moon comes out when you feel your most threatened and insecure. This is when you become irrational. This Moon ultimately comes out after youâve bottled up your emotions for far too long, and the aftermath is the volcanic eruption that I described above. The only way that you can have a healthy Moon is by feeling all of your emotions, understanding them, and coming to terms with them so that they can be released with ease. Emotions canât be repressed, fought with, controlled, or ignored. Eventually, theyâll come out. Society has conditioned us to think that emotions are weakness and that theyâre an issue that needs to be resolved, but the reality is that theyâre energies that need to be honored.
Crystals: Selenite, Moonstone, Opal
Deities: Selene, Artemis, Hekate, Cerridwen, Diana, Thoth
Aries: independent, impulsive, impatient, defensive, easily bored, the line between âneedsâ and âwantsâ are often blurred
Taurus: needs familiarity, materialistic, lazy, rooted in their own ways, steady, avoids chaos and conflict, romantic, reliable, serene
Gemini: witty, loves inside jokes, nervous, prone to anxiety, always changing their environment, intellectualizes their emotions, open to new ideas, can be really snappy when irritated
Cancer: fighters, in touch with their feelings, empathetic, receptive, intuitive, calming presence, can dwell in the past, holds grudges, hilarious, can be crabby
Leo: surprisingly not as outgoing as you might think, can be controlling over their families, wants to be center of attention, ulterior motives, needs to feel special/valued, a nonconformist, fair, dramatic display of emotions
Virgo: finds security in the mundane day-to-day responsibilities of life, naggers, complains like no other, can be underachievers, low self-confidence, content with âboringâ lives, needs a steady job, organized, practical displays of affection, probably loves marijuana
Libra: strong yearning for partnership, codependent habits, sympathetic, deeply concerned with fairness/justice/the law, addicted to retail therapy, points out flaws in others/the environment, idealistic
Scorpio: seeks out emotional intensity, sees directly through peoplesâ bullshit, nihilistic, uses dark humor as a band-aid for the inner chaos, prone to paranormal experiences, wants a deep relationship but probably uses sex to fill a void, fear of abandonment, chaotic upbringing, probably doesnât remember much from their past other than trauma, intelligent, have huge hearts
Sagittarius: needs adventure, personal freedom is essential, friendly, enjoys travelling, sometimes annoyingly optimistic, finds peace outdoors, blind faith, free spirited, can be extremely gullible
Capricorn: needs to feel useful and productive, needs to provide for others, turbulent & extreme emotions below the surface, harbors bitterness/resentment for their roots, respectful of authority, hates risk taking, finds comfort in having a strong finance to fall back on, entrepreneurial, doesnât let go easily
Aquarius: observant, always studying human nature, philosophical, detached, outcasted, progressive, can be emotionally blocked/distant, have a strong need to do things just for shock and awe, probably crazy children, humanitarian, focused
Pisces: daydreamers, rarely in touch with reality, romanticizes people/situations, creative, perceptive, easily drained/overwhelmed by life, soft-hearted, canât tell the difference between sincerity and manipulation, very accepting, boundless compassion/kindness/love, needs to feel accepted
