The Moon
and the Implications of Its Satellite Position
22.3
page 3 of 24
Almost the same
The image of the Moon as handed down to us by traditional astrology, can be easily recognized in all of these five points. Yet this does not apply to her traditional role as ruler of the Sign of Cancer. It may be understandable, due to her border guard position, that many observations of the Moon’s characteristics show an analogous correlation with the ruler of Cancer. But because of her fixed connection with Earth, the Moon is not available for this function. This makes it even more intriguing for us to discover the Moon’s proper function by adhering to the approach that we have followed so far (18.1).
In service
Because the Moon does not rule over any Zodiacal Sign, her core meaning is not based on the same foundation as that of the ‘other’ planets. However, this does not mean that her function is an empty one. The lack of a developmental assignment of her own, together with her inextricable connection to Earth and her shielding function, evokes the image of a protective and nourishing figure who is in the ideal position to dedicate herself completely to her task: the image of a fully devoted mother.
In this role, as we will see, she serves Earth and its inhabitants, mankind, in many different ways.
A pure intermediary
The Moon’s orbit forms an effective monitoring layer around Earth. All outside influences can only reach Earth through this checkpoint. For the Moon to be able to fulfil this special function in a pure way, she must remain neutral in her intermediary role without colouring these influences in any way as she passes them on. Therefore, the Moon’s purest role is a passive, well-attuned, subservient function. We already encountered this Moon quality before (6.2 , 9.1 and 16.2). Needless to say, her exalted placement in Taurus provides wonderful opportunities for these qualities of receptiveness and fertility.
Turning around and transforming
Yet her role as protectress also requires her to be watchful. Incoming tensions with too high a charge might harm her protégé. Therefore she must be able to step in and adapt the voltage level to the receiver, like a kind of transformer kiosk.
This function requires the ability to sense both the tension level of incoming influences and the absorption capacity of the receiver.
To be able to perform this double-sided attunement, the Moon must be able to turn herself around, in order to connect with both sides. Uranus also plays a role in this.
In this context, we have already mentioned the Moon’s similarity to a semi-permeable membrane (21.1).
This double-sidedness of the Moon, which we have also come across before (6.2 and 18.3), will now be explored in greater depth here.
Children and grown-ups
In our caretaking and raising of children, this regulation of tension is of vital importance. Damage should be prevented. By contrast, adults may display a need for greater tension than is offered by their environment. In these situations, too, the Moon functions as a transformer, albeit in the opposite direction. We will come back to this later.
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