Lilith in Astrology: How to Find (+ What to Do About) Black Moon Lilith 🐍🌙

Okay, so, even in hella ancient dayz, Lilith was an OG. 🤘🏻

Technically, Lilith is an amalgamation, combination, and consolidation of all the prehistoric power goddesses, the Sumerian Beyoncés, boiled down by anxious rabbis into one bratty supreme, with the intention of scare-mongering female rebellion out of the human enterprise.

Kthx, rabbis. 🙄

the lilith archetype has been applied to a few different objects in astrology, the most notorious being black moon lilith. 🐍🌙

Other objects you could scout for in your birth chart would be asteroid Lilith (1881) and Dark Moon or Waldemath Lilith (H58). Black Moon Lilith isn’t an actual object (like a planet or asteroid), but empty space, the empty space furthest from Earth along the Moon’s orbital path, a.k.a. the literal lunar dark side.

Taken together, the astrological Liliths tell a story of how we get “tabooed”, and manage the consequences. We want to do our Lilith the way we want... without rules, accountability, or follow-through. She reveals where we're faulty, where we tend to insist on doing things our own way….

…and also where we’ll probably lose self-control. 😣

black moon lilith corresponds with a part of us tied to our natural self, but conditioned, so that expressing this natural self feels wrong, embarrassing, guilt-provoking… taboo. 👻

In a natal chart…

• Black Moon Lilith pinpoints our sovereignty issues, a.k.a. our power struggles, where we tend to manipulate, deceive, and subvert (perceived) rules and authority-figures… and also where we tend to be easily manipulated, deceived, and subverted by others. 😬😤

• Black Moon Lilith is also the aesthetic of our deepest conviction: the theme and persona of how we assert ourselves on our own behalf, how we express and go after what we need and want.

• Black Moon Lilith also indicates self-righteousness and “regretted desires,” or where we have historically ignored or misrepresented ourselves, and jeopardized our freedom.

• Black Moon Lilith is also considered one of the “erogenous zones” of the natal chart, the hot spot where we tend to crave intimate exposure and satisfaction, particularly in synastry. 💕

• Black Moon Lilith also reveals our inner witch, our secret sorcery, and instinctual intelligence… the more prominent our inner witch, the keener our most subtle psychic instincts, the better we’re able to “read” a person and situation.

In our natal chart, Black Moon Lilith tells a story about where we stand our ground, and also where we’ll abandon the cause. Our Lilith shows where and how we buck against consensus, compromise, and top-down authority. This is the area of life where we might throw a tantrum and disappear.

Like—dropping out of school, getting an abortion, moving out, going off grid, and never officially breaking up. 😳🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

“In an astrology chart, Black Moon Lilith represents a person’s primitive impulses and behavior in their rawest form. It reveals our repressed sexuality, together with what makes us feel most vulnerable; it expresses the dark side of one’s personality, buried deep in the subconscious realms of our psyche. Knowing where Black Moon Lilith is located in a birth chart can reveal information related to the shadow self, and can also determine possible hidden sexual fantasies and secret fetishes.”

— Vice.com, “The Point in Your Star Chart That Reveals Your Hidden Sexual Desires”

Black Moon Lilith is a point we repress, while also representing the point where we most crave validation. Black Moon Lilith is where we act out, trying to finally find acceptance of our most controversial traits, needs, and preferences. She is the cause, pursuant, and result of intimate betrayals and unjustified persecution, delivered through our earliest relationships with those we loved and depended on. 😔💔

Which is also why Lilith is often attributed to our kinky sex stuff, though Lilith herself is not intrinsically sexual. Seduction is where we’re allowed to “perform” our Lilith, where she’s allowed catharsis… to release built-up tension, and disclose our “other-ness.”

Basically, Black Moon Lilith represents a point where we vie for attention, while knowing from our most primordial memories that we’re technically not entitled to this kind of attention… not unless we can make it gratifying for others, or figure out how to tempt them into making us an exception to the rules…

…which is exactly how Black Moon Lilith not only represents conviction, the conditions for which we feel strongest about our own self-interest, but also the point where we tend to embroil ourselves in scandals, and become victims in our own power-mongering.

Thus, Black Moon Lilith describes where and how we want it… and also why we’ll run once getting it. 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

“I propose to give a value to Lilith/Dark Moon also in Karmic Astrology, where it could represent the regret for something that we did not carry out in the proper way, which afflicts us in this incarnation precisely because it was not achieved in our previous life experiences.

The absence, the regret, the desire represented by Lilith never coincide with Death. It is suffering because it identifies with the desire, but it coincides with that part of death that allows us to keep ourselves alive. It is a non-place, the un-said, a concept that cannot be formulated nor psychically/psychologically represented. A kind of Great Absent, considering that what we long for hopelessly is the precise identity of our desires. In this sense, Lilith/Dark Moon can be connected to:

Remorse, Regret, Nostalgia, Deprivation, Relics, Scars, Memories, Unfulfilled wishes, Negative experiences.”

— Astro.com, “Lilith - Black Moon: A Golden Ally in the Astrological Interpretation”

OBVIOUSLY, though it might be cringe-y to look into, Black Moon Lilith might give you an access point, a discovery session, or opportunity for healthfully reconnecting with your courage, conviction, and sacred self-assertion.

Tracing the Lilith story in our natal chart can bring us face-to-face with all the trouble we’ve caused other people, and all bad feelings we’ve ever felt…

…while also giving us a working blueprint for personal redemption, for tapping into our own power and meeting our own most primal needs and preferences, instead of trying to seduce others into giving us permission to want, need, and be. 🧘🏻‍♀️🧬

BUT, obviously, until you’re able to breech your own taboos and face your regrets, you’ll forever rely on the rabbis for personal validation, and remain embarrassed of your own feelings of conviction. ✊🏻

let me show you where to find and read for black moon lilith in your natal chart, as well as introduce you to a couple of shadow work how-to’s for applying your rad new astro insights into your lunar dark side…

…and hopefully help you separate out your powers of conviction from any guilt and embarrassment about acting on them. 🐍🌸💫

I’ll first provide explainers on all three different versions of Lilith in a natal chart, and then show you how to delineate Black Moon Lilith specifically.

You might want to already have or know where to get a copy of your natal chart, though I’ll summarize how to grab one from Astro-Seek, and also link to a “Black Moon Lilith calculator” below to get you started. ✨

In my next post, I’ll do a tutorial about Black Moon Lilith in synastry, a.k.a. relationship astrology, to help you figure out where + how this Lilith angst tries to explore and exercise itself through our most intimate connections… 💕

…and also how she works to sabotage them. 😳😅

HOW TO FIND BLACK MOON LILITH IN YOUR BIRTH CHART 🐍✨ >

OKAY, there’s actually three different versions of astrological Lilith we could examine in the natal chart, each a different facet of the same theme: taboo, repression, and release. 🧘🏻‍♀️🐍💕

🐍🌟 LILITH, THE ASTEROID (#1881) > The “demon” goddess of grief and regret, haunting us like her self-imposed exile from Eden (and subservience to Adam): "In this form Lilith may channel this grief into some shadowy themes by taking from others; her story details her stealing the seamen from men while they sleep or taking children from their mothers... Through overcoming hardships and making choices to be free from dependence on others even when the road is rockier and harder, in the end you will be standing in your own power. As a sovereign who has chosen your own path, directing your own destiny in an attempt to overcome the ‘fate’ side of life."

🐍🌟 WALDEMATH MOON LILITH (H58) > A.k.a. the “trickster” goddess (though astronomically… it’s mostly dust speckles ✨): "For the mysterious nature of this Lilith I feel her operating as trickster energy with humor and hidden meaning, keeping us guessing as to the validity and whereabouts of this mysterious shadow Moon. This energy is like Neptune combined with Mercury it is quick, spiritual, and hard to pinpoint. Using humor and laughter as medicine in moments of difficulty and change. In this form Lilith has wings, she uses her words of power to overcome, and she uncovers injustice through trickery."

🐍🌟 BLACK MOON LILITH (H13) > The apogee (a.k.a. furtherest point) of the Moon, a.k.a. the “death” goddess, the one that haunts our sense of propriety: "Lilith is asking us to sacrifice and shed off everything that defines us in order to authentically understand our true nature and true divinity. To know our spiritual name and find freedom in the deepest parts of our being. She represents the psychopomp of the underworld leading us through a symbolic Death as we enter through the gates of the underworld, our own personal shadow lands, in order to emerge on the other side enlightened and full of wisdom about ourselves and our personal journey. With this energy we are reconciling our base energies with our Higher Self. We may go through many periods of initiation like this throughout our life. Usually characterized by major external life events or internal spiritual crisis/breakthroughs."

IN THIS POST, I’M FOCUSING ON BLACK MOON LILITH (BML) > BML is not an actual body (like a planet or asteroid), but the Moon’s apogee, furthest point from Earth along its orbit (in empty space). 👌🏻

FYI > This article actually parses out and describes how to interpret all the Liliths in a chart, each one contributing to the gestalt of your personal shadow, each one able to illuminate a different facet of your story. Click the link to find out more about each face of astrological Lilith and how you might incorporate all three into your analysis (quotes from above also can from this article ✌🏻).

OKIE DOKIE, let me guide you through reading for Black Moon Lilith placement by sign, house, and aspects! ✨

ONE. GRAB YOUR NATAL CHART, THEN LOOK FOR LILITH'S RAD SYMBOL.

You can get a copy of your birth chart for free from Astro-Seek or Astro.com. Astro-Seek will automatically display Black Moon Lilith in your chart, but if you get your chart through Astro.com (as I suggest in this post ✨), you’ll have to select for ‘Lilith’ under the “additional objects” menu in step #6 (or type H13 into the box below the menu).

ALTERNATELY, you can also use the Astro Library Lilith Calculator. 💁🏻‍♀️✨

WANT A CHART THAT DISPLAYS ALL THREE ASTROLOGICAL LILITHS? > Hit up Astro.com, hover your cursor over “Free Horoscopes” in the navigation bar, then click “Extended chart selection” from the dropdown menu.

Follow the steps I outlined in this post, and when you get to step #6, type these three “codes” into the box under the section labelled “additional objects”:

• 1181 (asteroid Lilith)

• h58 (waldemath lilith), and

• h13 (black moon lilith).

The chart that will be displayed will feature all three versions of astrological Lilith. ✨

FYI > Whether you use a Lilith calculator or get your full natal chart from one of the softwares I just linked to, you’ll need your birth date, time, and location. ✅

I’m only covering Black Moon Lilith in this tutorial (from a chart produced via Astro-Seek), but if you want more information about the others, here’s the link again to that article parsing out various Lilith archetypes. ✌🏻

TWO. ONCE YOUR CHART IS DISPLAYED, NOTE THE SIGN (OUTER RIM) AND HOUSE (NUMBER ON THE INSIDE BETWEEN THE SPOKES). 

Lilith in a zodiac sign tends to accentuate the “darker” or negative versions of that sign.

For instance, Cancer is associated with the energy of tribal-level bonding, and on the chart, represents where we tend to express affection and caregiving. Lilith in Cancer tilts that energy towards smother-love, where affections can intensify, erupt into “you’re either with me or against me” ultimatums, and finally crescendo into… not only tribal eviction, but burn the house down scenarios. 🤭

By contrast, the Moon in Cancer tends to amplify and deepen Cancer’s themes for affect and nurturing. The Moon absorbs whatever it comes into contact with, drawing objects deep into itself, metabolizing experiences on a soul-level. The Moon also rules Cancer, amplifying the feeling of somatic-level personal connection to another person and/or an environment. 🌙♋️

In Cancer, Lilith craves that deep interpersonal connection and implicit belongingness, but also tends to alienate herself from it. Her soulful, intuitive, heart-felt connections become trigger points.

Un-woke to this tendency, Lilith tends to become emotionally enmeshed with the objects of her affection, and then ultimately (and quickly) begins to resent the feelings and neediness she’s inspired. 🐍♋️

Thus, Lilith’s trademark erraticism kicks in, and she flees the situation… usually leaving the others feeling bereft.

lilith in the signs ♈️♉️♊️ >

Lilith’s zodiac sign tells you a little about her manipulative tendencies. Lilith expresses herself through the “shadow qualities” of the sign. 

🌟 LILITH IN THE AIR SIGNS (Libra, Aquarius, Gemini ♎️♒️♊️ 🪶) > Lilith in an Air sign builds fast friendship and affinity through rapport, appealing to others’ sense of grace, or contorting the truth for relatability. She might rope others into a grand scheme, then turn a cold shoulder. She might say one thing (the nice thing she should say), then do the opposite. Airy Lilith often alienates through rule-mongering and should-isms, or uses her social advantage to annex contrarians. Prone to inventing rationalizations for discrediting perceived enemies. Others might feel they have to choose their words carefully, and that they can’t entirely trust the people Lilith brings ‘round. Twisted logic and fibbing abounds.

🌟 LILITH IN THE WATER SIGNS (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces ♋️♏️♓️💧) > Lilith in a Water sign bonds with others almost on sight, proclaiming new friends to be soul-mates and one-of-the-family, and by revealing secrets or relaying intense personal stories. She’s prone to taking emotional hostages, fabricating us against the world scenarios, threatening her own life if the bond should break. Might accuse others in her crosshairs as being “un-woke”, or emotionally vampiric while indulging in fits of inappropriate catharsis (laughing at a funeral, weeping on a first date). Needy, wants to be babied, desperately seeking a soothsayer (hi 🙋🏻‍♀️).

🌟 LILITH IN THE FIRE SIGNS (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius ♈️♌️♐️🔥) > Lilith in a Fire sign treats relationships, work, or life in general as her proving grounds. Firey Lilith warps collaborations into contests of will, building camaraderie through teasing (if not harassment), and reiterates where she and others rank (on anything, everything). She vies for kudos and a starring role, then bails on the opening or skips out on the awards night. Abandons apprenticeships, invents unnecessary rivalries, and often finds herself herself to be someone’s secret bully.

🌟 LILITH IN AN EARTH SIGNS (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo ♑️♉️♍️🌿) > Lilith in an Earth sign can be insatiable, critical of others’ self-indulgence (if not materialism in general), and obsessed with quality, excellence, and perfection. She can be repressed about her own need for pleasure and simple luxury, or prone to lording such over others. Earthy Lilith can be resentful of having mundane responsibilities, or over-controlling of minutiae. Pie-in-the-sky ambition, and Machiavellian genius.

lilith in the houses >

Lilith’s house placement reveals where she werks the darker tendencies of her zodiac sign, the particular circumstances she’ll to manipulate.  

🌟Houses 1 - 6 are the personal houses, and correlate with our interior experiences. We internalize these energies (planets) and themes (signs). We relate and interpret these energies through our identity (first house) or personal rhythm (sixth house).

🌟Houses 7 - 12 are the interpersonal houses, and correlate with experiences we have with others, either communally (eleventh house) or by reputation (tenth house). The interpersonal houses are separated from the personal houses by the horizon line running across the center of the chart, aka the Ascendent - Descendent axis.

Lilith in a house indicates the arena where we crave autocracy: the contexts and situations where we want control or leverage, while also resisting accountability.

Whichever house Lilith lands, the activities and attributes of this house will become taboo. You’re either super-hands off, or fanatical. My way or the highway…. Oh, but I really couldn’t, I’m not even sure how…

If the activities of the house involve others—whether kids (fifth house), pets (sixth house), spouses (seventh house), or colleagues (eleventh house)—those are who and what Lilith will manipulate.

“There can also be a binging and purging cycle involved with the traits of Lilith’s sign or house wherein we overdo or go all out, expressing these traits in extreme, then feel bad for doing so. This leads to a purging stage in which we reject or deprive ourselves of the traits. Eventually, the need for them is strong and we go to extremes again, perpetuating this self-destructive cycle.”

— CafeAstrology, “Black Moon Lilith in the Signs + Houses”

REMEMBER, Lilith is the part of our chart harboring shame and guilt over our needs and wants. Her sign and house placement describe what those needs are, and where she prefers to have them met… though she will eventually reject anybody who tries supplicating her, and abandon the situation.

OBVIOUSLY, regardless of her demand for autocracy (having the most amount of freedom with the least amount of accountability), over time Lilith will become weary and resentful of her own tendencies (more of which can be described and illustrated by…)…

THREE. CHECK FOR ASPECTS TO BLACK MOON LILITH.

Aspects describe the relationship between planets. Any aspects between Lilith and the other planets or angles of your chart will paint that planet or angle with her trademark snakes-on-a-plane vibe. ✨

If she’s in close aspect to one of your angles (i.e. your Ascendant or Midheaven), Lilith might make it hard to pick up certain signals. Angles make up the “antennae” of your chart, where and how we receive signals and facilitate yourself through life. Having Lilith close-by an angle can make those signals difficult to tune into, like trying to drive your car home at midnight but having left your eyeglasses at home. 😖

When Lilith aspects any of your planets, you can assume that she will tussle with those planets’ energy / instincts. Drawing on that energy / instinct might feel like trying to pick up toothpicks while wearing oven mitts, as Lilith’s taboo keeps that energy elusive, in our perpetual blind spot.

Some aspects are considered “easy” (trines, sextiles), and some are considered “hard” (squares, oppositions). Conjunctions (when planets are side-by-side) are considered both easy and hard. With Lilith in the mix, any aspect is a struggle, because Lilith’s taboo will make the energy and receptor-site foggy to locate… unless we’re concentrating on it, knowing that she’s throwing her ju-ju on that area. ✅

NOTE > If Lilith aspects any of your personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars 💫), you likely have a “strong Lilith”. Strong Lilith means that you identify with your own lunar dark side, which both eases and complicates any awakening process you’re fated to undergo once your own Lilith-related patterns become too heavy and obvious to bear (yay).

lilith aspects to the planets 🪐 >

In astrology, the Sun and Moon are considered our “lights.” When Lilith aspects our Sun or Moon (🌻🌙), she hues our life force. We feel raw, overexposed, as though the dark spots on our lens of awareness grow in proportion with that awareness itself. Alienation and sovereignty are major themes in our self-transformations. Sometimes we aren’t able to transform without risking our freedom or exile. We must strip down, peel away each layer, leave everything and everyone behind in order to find ourselves.

This is the part of Lilith’s mythology where she exits Eden forever and runs berserker into the outlands (and the rumor-mongering ensues).

Nature is a major motif for Lilith. Lilith-Sun and Lilith-Moon are allowed to be in their own truth, without the dread of blame and shame. Nature’s rules are intuitive, whereas cultural rules are learned, and malleable, according to whoever is wielding the power.

“I would imagine though that the fiery creativity of the Sun fused with the piercing intuition of Lilith would make these subjects sexually magnetic and intense. They are closely bound to the spirit world, and can perform powerful magic for good or for ill. Mostly it seems, even the combust subjects are exiled, they will create their own breed of sexuality or moral code. In effect then, Sun conjunct Lilith crowns itself.”

— Darkstar Astrology, “Sun Conjunct Lilith, Eclipse + Exiled”

NOTE > Lilith to your Sun or Moon often correlates with drug dependency and intimacy drama… or basically, faulty coping habits, and a penchant for toxic relationships. 😬

Both of which are, obviously, problematic (more so than carrying around this loaded-up Lilith vibe), but also help create the nutrient-dense soil where our transformation can root and eventually flower. 🏵

Same deal when Lilith aspects one of our other “personal” planets, Mercury, Venus, or Mars (🧚🏻🌸🔥). The energies of these planets are doused in her hunger, or taken hostage. Lilith hijacks these energies for her own purposes, which she might easily turn against.

Because she’s our blind spot, we don’t notice her toxic alchemy until there’s a consequence: We say, attract, or do something that invites blame and shame. 😡😞

Lilith aspects to Jupiter or Saturn (🕊🪐), the social planets, we see our Lilith drama playing out in our ambitions or station. Lilith brings an uneasy vibe, which Papa Saturn or Daddy Jupiter can either want to exploit, or knock down a few pegs. In a natal chart, Lilith aspects to either suggests a bit of naive realism (inflated sense of entitlement, unrealistic expectations), and well-learned, well-earned life lessons.

Depending on the aspect, this is either a tension (square, opposition), or a tickling-tugging (sextile, trine), prodding this inner conflict, tracing these creases and folds in our psyche, to play out in our lives and relationships, until we gather enough reference experience to understand… I am co-engineering this drama. 😳👻

lilith aspects to the angles 🧭 >

The angles of our chart reveal how our chart functions. When Lilith is close-by any of your angles, it means that Lilith’s themes will become part of the basic functioning of your chart.

🌟 LILITH CONJUNCT THE ASCENDANT (ASC) > If Lilith is hovering nearby the Ascendant, you might identify with the Lilith archetype as readily as someone with Lilith conjunct their Sun or Moon. On good days, that would mean feeling freedom and power of influence, but on bad days, feeling outcasted, exiled, the embodiment of wrack and ruin. I am the thing slouching towards Bethlehem. Internalized shame and guilt, feeling as though a shadow hangs over your face, feeling as though everyone was just talking about you before you entered the room. Our Ascendent is the “starting line” of our entire natal chart, corresponding with the First House of identity. The ASC is also known as the “magnetic axis”, meaning that you might attract and handily identify with many Lilith types, or those with strong or prominent Lilith’s in their charts (scroll down for more ✨). Find self-acceptance by finding strong, and grounded women to mirror and emulate.

🌟LILITH CONJUNCT THE NADIR (I.C.) > If Lilith is close-at-hand to the Nadir (bottom-most angle of the chart, aka the IC), you’ll not only identify with Lilith, but at home with Lilith, outcasts, the exiles, the excommunicated. Your heart beats with Lilith’s footfalls. She’s an honorary member of your family or Wolfpack. The nadir of our chart corresponds with our tribal heart, our lineage, and how we root into the world. With Lilith here, you might feel true belonging with Lilith, but at the risk of having your own needs trodden. You might find yourself beckoned into strange symbiotic relationships with Lilith-types, where you manage their lives and consequences of their own Lilith behavior, while burying or ignoring your own. Protect the Wolfpack by correcting power imbalances, practicing self-care, learning boundary-setting, and constant emotional grounding.

🌟 LILITH CONJUNCT THE DESCENDANT (DSC) > If close-by the Descendent, you might be able to relate well with Lilith, might notice Liliths organizing themselves around you. You might best understand yourself as a “Lilith whisperer”, or gifted at Lilith advocacy. You can broker peace amongst Liliths, with proper protocols in place. Placing these guidelines on others doesn’t really help with managing your own grand-standing erraticism, defense strategies, or manipulative tendencies. We tend to project the qualities of planets close-by our DSC onto other others. Nevertheless, by learning to balance against other Lilith-types, you find inner equanimity, or peace regarding your own capacity to play a Lilith.

🌟LILITH CONJUNCT THE MIDHEAVEN (M.C.) > Finally, Lilith conjunct the Midheaven (top most angle, aka the MC), you’re a reputed Lilith, notorious, and. a prime example. You don’t care whose dick you have to suck, you’re getting where you want to go. Our Midheaven corresponds with our highest potential and ultimate status. Lilith at the Midheaven is an autocrat, demands respect, and will take all the rest of you down with her. You might find yourself building a rebellion from the ground up, and also, sabotaging the movement in one fell swoop. Look to the previous descriptions of Lilith conjunct the angles (or in the angular houses: first, fourth, seventh, tenth) for tips about consolidating and harnessing those extreme Lilith tendencies. People NEED a Lilith to direct them, especially when all other leaders have proven themselves duplicitous and untrustworthy. Only Lilith at the Midheaven understands the depths of demoralization. Here at the top, instead of running berserker into the night and abandoning everyone who looked up to her, Lilith can take flight. 🦅

how to write out your lilith placement 📝 > 

Now that you know all the major elements of your Black Moon Lilith placement, write it all out, Mad Libs style. ✨

Black Moon Lilith in ______ [the sign] in ______ [the house]…

[conjunct, squaring, opposing, etc., whatever her aspects to other bodies] ______

[any planets or angles she's in relationship with].

Once you have all the intel, masticate on it in your mental-imagination until it resembles something you might compare to your feeling-based experience, and allow to ferment in a notebook, diary, video, or voice recording. 💫

Then decide if this insight actually says anything about your triggers or alleged rebellious streak.

Like—does Black Moon Lilith speak to anything?? 🤔🤨

Do you identify or relate with descriptions of your Lilith placement? Do you have any memories or experiences that reflect it? What events or situations triggered those experiences? What about your response to those moments seem trademarked Lilith?

Basically, do you actually agree with what Google and Internet witches tell you about your angst, resentment, and feelings of personal injustice?

At first, you probably won’t be able to relate to most of what you discover about your Black Moon Lilith. Lilith is the “face” of our shadow side, the part of ourselves we repress, deny, and project. We dissociate from her, because she feels like a bad touch on our consciousness. Lilith is the aggregation of all the sensations and experiences we cannot bear to sit with.

Studying Black Moon Lilith can also lead us into icky territory. Lilith’s faults and perversities are often rooted in something that was done to or at us, that we now feel a little nasty about, and which express themselves as our “triggers.” 😵‍💫

Other people are typically more aware of our Lilith than us, at least until we’ve gained enough data to realize there’s something working itself in our consciousness that we’re not managing, or that we believed we had sufficiently cancelled or “life-hacked” out of existence.

Basically, we learn about our Black Moon Lilith placement by trying to sort out her consequences. 😫😡😓

Because Lilith gets repressed for a reason. She’s “snakes on a plane” 😜, she brings the awkward, scathing, or chilling silences we associate with public shame, parental disapproval, or however else your Lilith-vibe got taboo’d.

But all that energy represented by Lilith doesn’t just… disappear. ✨

Instead, she crops up in the most closed off, private, intimate interactions…

…or creates seedy situations where she can rip, and then bail out. 🐍🏃🏻‍♀️

BUT NOW THAT YOU KNOW, you’ll be able to catch her in the act, and maybe clean up her reputation by clearing your conscience. ✌🏻

tracking your lilith transits might help, especially during a lilith return, which happens every 9 years. 🐍🗓✨

You can use this Astro-Seek calculator to track Lilith’s transits, and compare to your natal chart. Just enter your birth data and  select “Lilith” from the dropdown menu.

HINT > I also select “To Planets and Angles” from the dropdown menu labelled “to Natal”. 👍🏻

When the Black Moon starts pulling up side-by-side one of your other planets, document the events, activities, and main players in your life….

…particularly any trigger-moments, or moments where you caught yourself bitching out. 👹

Once you get the full scratch on your Black Moon Lilith placement, you might come up with a new approach, or secret move to soothe your most deeply internalized shame and angst…

…so you can run your own shit without falling prey to hidden motives (yours or others’). 👌🏻

where to find more descriptions about your black moon lilith placement🐍 >

🌟 This MindBodyGreen article has wellness tips for Lilith in the Signs, and here is the HoodWitch guide to your erotic style according to Lilith Sign. Here’s more about Lilith in the Signs.

🌟 Find descriptions of Lilith in the Houses over here to compare to these descriptions of Lilith in the Houses as well as these ones, and balance against the descriptions of the Sign / Houses in this post.

🌟 Go here to read more about Lilith aspects with the personal / inner planets (with celebrity examples), and balance against this article with descriptions of Lilith aspects with the Outer Planets, angles, and Nodes. 💫

🌟 This astrologer describes “prominent” Lilith placements, including Lilith on the angles, which you can balance against Dark Pixie Astrology’s descriptions of a strong Lilith.

🌟 This Beyond Binary fandom page hosts a complete database of Black Moon Lilith aspects in the natal chart, mostly quoting Tom Jacobs and Darkstar Astrology, but also listing celebrities with similar aspects. ✅

WHAT’S CONSIDERED A “STRONG” LILITH IN A BIRTH CHART? 🤔😬 >

look close at lilith in your natal chart, and you’ll know she’s “strong” if lilith is…

🌟 ☌ Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars (your “personal” planets, expressed in your personality)

🌟 ☌ the Ascendent, Nadir, Descendent, or Midheaven angles, or basically, in your  1st, 4th, 7th, 10th Houses (where our charts have the most oomph or energy)

🌟 ☌ the ruler of the Ascendant (go here to learn about finding your chart ruler 🤩💫)

🌟 ☌ the North or South Node (or basically, our “karma” and “dharma” points)

…or if lilith is…

• In the First House (identity, appearance, persona)

• "Anaretic", or at 29 degrees of any zodiac sign (read more about the anaretic degree here)

• At the "Aries Point” a.k.a. "0 degrees" of Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, or Libra (the cardinal or most assertive signs of the zodiac)

Lilith in close-relationship with any of your planets tends to make the instinct represented by that planet more chaotic or elusive, so that it feels unpredictable, or difficult to locate. This planet’s energy, and the way you prefer to express it, might be taboo. You might feel embarrassed about attracting attention (Lilith ☌ Sun) or guilty expressing need or tenderness (Lilith ☌ Moon).

A strong Lilith can also make you a “Lilith avatar” for whom other people encounter and explore their own taboos, particularly in synastry (when Lilith conjuncts one another’s planets / angles) or when the Black Moon is transiting another person’s planets. Some people might be excited to encounter you as an avatar, but just as many might feel wary, and treat you unfairly…

…or, pretty much, you’re inflaming both of your insecurities and having no idea how, it’s just a super low-key (but super cringey) vibe. 👻💫💕

with a strong lilith placement, the campaign for validation and self-acceptance becomes existential. 👽

Basically, living with a strong Lilith placement is straight up Nietzschean. If you have one, you're slotted into a hot, holy, lifelong pursuit for amor fati (“love of one’s fate” = the recipe for raw power, read more here ✨), for which only an exclusive, maximal-karmic few will be able to recognize and appreciate. 👯‍♀️💖

In fact, with a strong Lilith placement, you might have to train yourself to not obsess about this incapacitating social delusion that your infinite, alpha-soul has been stuffed into, and for which nobody can free you from…

…only you can free yourself.

“With Black Moon Lillith in hard aspect or prominent in the chart, there can often be an adjustment needed in one’s attitude towards passion. 

Healthy desire is one thing, obsession is another, and with BML strong we are prone to obsessions. Our obsessions can be about anything (see the houses involved) and can often be damaging to us without our knowing it. Obsession can lure us in until we dissolve within it, losing our separate sense of self along the way. 

This brings us back to BML and its role as ‘anti-Moon’—passion/obsession is ultimately about the desire of the screaming, hungry child to return to the breast.  The object of obsession is elusive; our desire to own the object raises fear, terror and threat of loss, with fantasy offering the only temporary release. 

When we are obsessed, those obsessions become our substitutes for living, and they replace a healthy participation in life itself.  We choose anti-life, and this is certainly the black moon’s realm. ”

— The Inner Wheel, “Some Thoughts on the Black Moon”

For Strawng Lilith, this otherness becomes a chronic soul pain, the source and cause for crazy, passionate behavior that feels so right at the time, but upon (much later) reflection, was probably just an over-the-top, much delayed defense mechanism from childhood and adolescence. 🙈

Which is why strong Lilith is haunted by the feeling of badness, of being wrong to the core, and unable to participate in the human project without scandalizing the rest of humanity. 😡😓

but… lilith, especially staaawng lilith, is also the liberator. 💪🏻

Lilith might get you into trubbs… but she’s also what gets you out of it. ✅

What the rabbis determined to be “lilith” is identical to the feeling of conviction and self-authority. All the astrological Liliths represent where + how we prefer authenticity, where + how we defer to our own authority…

…what complicates that faculty are all the scabby layers of social conditioning. 🤺

In early life, we’re shamed and blamed for acting from the energy correlating with our Black Moon Lilith, and ultimately conditioned to loathe this side of ourselves. If we have a strong Lilith, we experience a steady drip of confrontation and alienation, and a more grueling struggle to heal our otherness.

That’s why injustice is core to the Lilith archetype. Lilith is that part of us that’s politically incorrect, and also the part that feels most suffused through the rest of our existence.

“People with dominant Lilith vibe get no traction from wiles nor networking. They’re self-powered privacy addicts. Lilith energy is raw, cynical and worldly-seasoned. Symbolically, their ‘wings’ are like the mermaid’s tail, allowing them to thrive in the Air (Knowledge), the way a mer-tail makes someone proficient in the Sea (Emotion). Lilith energy becomes more – not less – potent with time. Age does not weary her. It energizes her, perhaps because of the increasingly lowered expectation that she play a flirtatious, appeasing or nurturing role.”

—Mystic Medusa, “Renegade Lilith in Pisces is Imminent” (circa 2019)

In later life, however, after gathering enough reference experience, we’re better able to inventory the trauma and drama surrounding Lilith, recover from self-alienation, and reset the control dramas borne from denying the truth in order to achieve complacency. ✊🏻

Healing this internal rift not only benefits strong Lilith in particular, but aids others in proximity, those who rely on stronger personalities to model what it looks like to act from raw instinct without fear of persecution….

…because, haters gon’ hate. 💁🏻‍♀️

And, as the story demonstrates, it’s not your task to convince others of your rightness (leading into more controversy), but to learn, heal, and soothe your need to be convincing.

Basically, Black Moon Lilith is your way of decoding and anticipating your own trigger-points.

BELOW, I have self-help tips, recovery tools, + magical recommendations for helping you deeper inventory your Black Moon Lilith situation, and begin cantilevering yourself out of your own Lilith-created power sagas (thank goodness)…

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…in the meantime, how about scoring A DIGITAL lilith altar card FOR YOUR PHONE, gratis for subscribing to my newsletter? 🐍💌

You’ll receive direct-to-inbox updates on new blog posts, announcements, as well as also receive access to a password-protected secret page with other astro-inspired digi-swag, including a collection of smart, printable worksheets for helping you learn + memorize your birth chart…

…so, that’s cool! 😌👍🏻

HAAAYYY! 🙌🏻✨

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strong lilith examples 🐍🌟>

V or Eve Ensler: Lilith ☌ Midheaven (lovvve this interview with Design Matters 🤤) 🐍✨ Marilyn Monroe (Black Moon Lilith ☌ ASC in Leo ♌️) 🐍✨ Christopher McCandless: Lilith @ 2° in the Tenth House (the true-life armchair-philosopher who inspired Into the Wild) 🐍✨ Our patron lady who delivered us Mean Girls, Tina Fey (Lilith ☌ ASC in Leo ♌️)

🌟 Go here to read more about Lilith aspects with the personal / inner planets (with celebrity examples), and balance against this article with descriptions of Lilith aspects with the Outer Planets, angles, and Nodes. 💫

🌟 This astrologer describes “prominent” Lilith placements, including Lilith on the angles, which you can balance against Dark Pixie Astrology’s descriptions of a strong Lilith.

OKAY, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT LILITH?

(A.K.A. HOW TO USE BLACK MOON LILITH IN SHADOW WORK 🐍👻👁)

SO, once aware of this Lilith vibe in your make-up… what are you gonna do about it? 😳🤔

I’m not the first to suggest this, but you can use your natal chart as a tool for shadow work, for becoming aware of and integrating your so-called dark side. 👻🌟

Black Moon Lilith offers a persona for which we’re able to face our shadow, this part of ourselves harboring the childlike audacity to respect its need for truth-to-self. Self-acceptance is the key to unlocking and resolving most of our Lilith angst, as well as learning to quit projecting anger and resentment and embroiling oneself in control dramas.

As we’ve learned, we’re conditioned to repress, deflect, project, or straight-up deny our Lilith. Our Lilith-angst gets trained into us, and that’s why it takes time and experience to spot where she’s worked her wiles…

…and to intuit when she’s about to pop up and complicate things. 😬😅

“But there are also people arguably with challenging charts who have not done ‘the work’, and may become, in a way, malefic or negative influences to the people around them. It makes sense if they have not owned their own darkness and persist in projecting their unowned shadows and wounds onto others. It does not help these individuals to seek astrology that is fear-based and oriented towards ‘protecting’ or coddling them from harm or hard lessons, which may in fact come from the consequences of their own actions and avoidance.”

— Janet Chui, “Astrology & Shadow Work”

Just like Mars, Saturn, or Pluto (planets known as “malefics”), Black Moon Lilith points to where we might justify damage we do to ourselves, relationships, and opportunities.

Taken all together (Lilith + the other malefics), you can assess your own hooks and hang-ups, and decide whether these behaviors are useful, or whether they create painful consequences that needle your insecurities (as well as attract people who manipulate you according to your insecurities).

Once familiar with the face of your shadow self, you can decide whether the “shadow work” you undertake is meditation, rituals, journaling, or just cathartic conversations with your friends or therapist.

“The shadow is the ego’s facade of personal power that is used to compensate for lack of faith in divine connection and fulfillment of desires through love of self and Source. It is instinctual remnant of the unconscious human ego drive for survival and self-gratification, which blocks the pathway to self-realization and self-actualization. It is the unconscious expression of the personality seeking dominance and protection in order to hide vulnerability.”

— “Black Moon: A Guide to Healing the Shadow Side”

Our Lilith is not just our taboo, but our seat of conviction. Black Moon Lilith correlates with the viscera that communicates whether or not the situation, circumstances, or other players are okay for us.

She stalks sacred ground that was once trespassed.

Lilith shows where we’re repressed, is linked to our sexual perversions, and memories of being perverted by others…

Even if it wasn’t “that big a deal.”

Like--being promised DisneyLand, but only if you “let the doctor do what he needs to do,” or whatever insanity was foisted upon you by the people you loved and depended on... and only if you don’t cry or embarrass them in any way… (Yayyyeee… tinker belle. 😕)

reclaiming our lilith is about reclaiming private territory within our psyche, the hotspot where true living alchemy is able to happen. 🐍🔮✨

Usually where Lilith shows up feels exciting, but also hella scary… 😬

…which is why we default to less-than-appealing behavior strategies, in order to protect this piece of ourselves from intense exposure, and the pain of disconnection.

This is totally why Lilith is part of our sexy kinks, why Lilith is read as one of the “erogenous” zones in a natal chart. Lilith is one of our most vulnerable placements, a space we tend to dissociate from. We thrill when there’s contact to this placement whether from a transiting planet or by way of someone else’s planet connecting to her through synastry. 💕

The eroticism linked with Lilith might help re-orient you towards remembering what you forgot you were repressing, and help you re-engage with the taboo sensations you’ve dissociated from—since whatever time you last experienced the sacred NO / YES, but were met with some kind of antagonism (caregivers, educators, peers, etc.).

and as long as your sacred self, your sacred no and sacred yes, are wrapped up in “taboo” feels, then you’ll be perpetually seeking permission to be in your own body.

Unconsciously, you are already validating-seeking and trying to vindicate your childlike “sacred self” in whatever arena your Lilith lands in.

“Many around us are still stuck in the state of needing external validation from others, suppressing wounds, shame or trauma; and in doing so continue self-limiting habits and possibly harmful relationships that are more endemic of our childhood conditioning than of our true selves.If our purpose is to grow, and the purpose of all souls is to learn and experience, we may owe it to ourselves to discover and reach our highest potential with the time and energy that is given to us.”

— Janet Chui, “Astrology & Shadow Work”

What makes Lilith part of our personal shadow, however, is that we do not want to be made aware of the regrets and cravings symbolized by the Black Moon. With our Lilith placement, we want plausible deniability, or at least total dominion over this context.

Thus, we willingly enter into control dramas that feel more comfortable to our false “ego self” (which is really just a scab over our soul-self), but create knottier, grimier alienation, once everything shakes out.

BUT…. but…. if you were to make a conscious effort to notice and exercise compassion for your Lilith tendencies, then you have a powerful, and definitely occult advantage.

Your advantage is that you are aware that there are aspects of your personality and ego that are not within your control…

…and not supposed to be.

basically, empowerment through black moon lilith comes from investigating the source and potential of your regrets, motivating you as they are from a secret spot that you don’t like to check, and therefore avoid.

This is how we end up “mean girl’ing” our own inner Lilith, even if she’s strawng in our charts, and we can’t not identify with her.

But of course… like… the kind of empowerment that comes with learning to apologize, and personal accountability. 👌🏻

“But we can reconcile the shadow side and move back into a higher state of consciousness when we become intimately familiar with the Black Moon. We can learn which primary fear we manifest and the specific interpersonal issues that are related to it. As we work with this information, we learn to identify when we are reacting from the fear of our shadow side and transcend it by remembering that it is really a result of feeling disconnected from Source and is not an inherent flaw on our part. We can consciously re-re our brains to overrule the reptilian brain when our fears are engaged. We can interrupt the circuit by choosing to respond differently. In essence, we can transmute our “Inner Reptilian” into “Puff the Magic Dragon.” In the process, we evolve.”

— “Black Moon: A Guide to Healing the Shadow Side” 🤘🏻

Black Moon Lilith safeguards our sacred ground, and shows where we draw conviction, and also, where we might self-sabotage (or running screaming into the night) when met with outside force or agenda.

Eventually, we tire of denying the problem, running from the consequences, and lamenting the people we’ve ditched (who we miss 💔).

With awareness of our Lilith, we can hazard against our own most taboo, self-sabotaging tendencies and maybe even use the scratch on Lilith in astrology to help us reframe some past situations we have to set right.

Along with other “shady” chart placements, you can assess your own hooks and hang-ups, and decide whether these are behaviors that bring useful people into your life, or people who manipulate you according to your insecurities.

Astrology is gonna make us right. 👍🏻

some general tips for assessing and soothing your black moon lilith 🐍✨ >

🌟 VALIDATE YOUR EXPERIENCE > Find independent, substance-free ways of giving your Lilith what she’s missing, and feels she cannot get for herself (without manipulation). Invent the initiations and ordeals to help purge your remorse and clarify your resolve. From this Psychology Today article about self-validation as means of accepting your internal experiences….

“Self-validation is accepting your own internal experience, your thoughts, and your feelings. Self-validation doesn’t mean that you believe your thoughts or think your feelings are justified. There are many times that you will have thoughts that surprise you or that don’t reflect your values or what you know is true. You will also have feelings that you know aren’t justified. If you fight the thoughts and feelings or judge yourself for having them, then you increase your emotional upset. You’ll also miss out on important information about who you are as a person.”

🌟 MAKE AMENDS > Find and apologize to the people pulled into your Lilith drama. This isn’t an opportunity to vindicate your behavior, but to acknowledge that the behavior was janky AF. Offer to help or clean up any consequences made by your Lilith angst. For inspo, here is a description of “making amends” in the 12 Step program, and an article from HealthLine.com, “Owe Someone an Apology? Here’s How to Make Things Right.”

🌟 GIVE IT UP TO A HIGHER POWER > All of this might be cool info, but it can’t necessarily derail the anger or upset that happens when you’re about to Lilith out. It’s controversial, but the first couple steps in AA are (1) admitting powerlessness, and (2) surrendering your drama to a higher power. Though Lilith is not at all like alcohol addiction (😳), many of us self-justify toxic behavior to remorse (😓). Acknowledging that  you will never “master” or “fix”this inner drama can take the edge of the those (soon-to-be regretted) moments.

In Angels & Archetypes, Dr. Carmen Boulter (producer of the NatGeo doc The Pyramid Code, hay now ✨), attributes Lilith as the divine feminine archetype or key for conviction >

“All those on the spiritual path can attain the stamina it takes to process the past, deal with karma, and face the challenges of life. There is a vortex of divine energy that gives us the spiritual determination to persist through the continual tests. 

We experience a loss of power when we are bettered, invalidated, or taken advantage of. Enormous grief and loss can cause an internal meltdown, and it feels as if we lose our strength. If we reach out into the cosmos and ask for assistance, we are inevitably fortified.

Of course, life challenges always push us beyond our capacity to cope, and in many situations we simply do not feel strong enough…

When we appeal for assistance, we enter into an energy that remolds and recasts the situation into a divine scenario for the good of all concerned. By facing our fears and standing up for what is right and good, we participate in the evolution in of consciousness and break the mold of oppression.”

If you’re not quite sure what people are talking about when they reference conviction, or can’t automatically locate its feeling-source in your body, or remember the last time you felt anchored into your true self…

…you might need to build a stronger relationship with your self (🌟), ground your body in nature, and make decisions based on instinct and personal experience, though they may be ineffable to everyone else in your life.

And you can do that process without losing Eden, Adam, or God, or learning to be contented on the fringe, basically knowing that everyone in town is spreading rumors that you’re a hairy-legged baby-muncher. 😩😓

i don’t have a pat-down method, system, or process for reclaiming + integrating lilith (once astrology has helped you alight upon her), but i can present some ideas and witchy swag options to help you start… 🙌🏻✨

Lilith is associated with witches and witchiness. Black Moon Lilith shows where we spell-cast, shows where we’re enchanted: unable to notice our own force of personality, and also where others can become enthralled (for better or worse). similar to the spells we all used to cast during imaginative play in childhood.

“Try to imagine all the forces of the material world, all the energetic essences, without the world itself to contain them. That’s what the Black Moon represents.

And that’s one of the reasons that BML, when she sacrifices destruction and gives up relating herself to the material world, is the true representative of occult abilities in the chart. She’s witchy, all right. More than witchy.

Far from being at the mercy of her hungers, once she realizes she doesn’t have to be hungry she has the powers of all the hidden knowledge of the universe at her feet. She just knows. Her knowledge is instinctual, and doesn’t necessarily fit any logical patterns of knowing. Her wisdom is an ancient one and allows her access to become mistress of those other-worldly forces.

There is a clarity, too, that can arise once the rage of BML is confronted and her anger and hunger quelled. Once we understand the seat of that rage, we can clear any debris from our soul’s path. ”

— The Inner Wheel, “Some Thoughts on the Black Moon”

Luckily, if you have the liberty and privacy to even be reading this silly, self-indulgent astrology blog (you’re welcome 👐🏻✨), you have the ability to begin undermining your own conditioning, and re-aligning with the natural magic you probably haven’t known since you were very young.

if black moon lilith can provide an avatar for shadow work, “witchy lilith” can be the sage, guide, or inner-gandalf to help you remain brave and stay the course. 🧙🏻‍♀️🐍✨

Our Lilith placement personifies our inner witch, the part of ourselves that most resembles Baba Yaga (if not Stevie Nicks), the part most willing and prepared to defunct out of normal society and take up residence in a cave in the middle of the woods, or a Chevy towing an Airstream.

Because she fled Eden, Lilith adapted to relying on natural instinct and magic-mysticism for survival. Lilith symbolizes our personal capacity for scratching our own eyes out of our head in order to heighten our psychic visions, as well as our capacity for chewing off one of our own limbs in order to flee confinement.

Basically, Black Moon Lilith can't be reasoned with, and can’t be rationalized, so if you’re trying to align with her, you best be prepared with some witch essentials.

Along with some of the self-help empowerment tips listed above, Witchy Lilith can help you soothe and re-frame the insecurities as outbursts of sacred protective energy.

If your Lilith episodes correlate with some pretty shameful memories (🤦🏻‍♀️), think of that energy as your witch powers erupting, but happening at a time when you lacked awareness, and solidarity.

articles about lilith magic 🐍✨>

Witch Powers According to Lilith ✨

Lilith & Other Signs of Witchiness in the Natal Chart ✨

How to Work With Your Lilith Sign ✨

Famous Witches & Prominent Birth Chart Markers ( 🤩 ) 

lilith for magic (provided by mystic) 🐍✨>

Flower: Lily ✨ Incense/Oil: Frankincense ✨

Tree: Willow ✨ Crystal: Emerald ✨ Animal: Eagle, Snake, Owl ✨

Element: Air/Fire ✨ Magic: Words of Power ✨

Temple: Deserts, Caves, Islands, Shorelines, Underworld, Liminal Spaces (see more ✨)

a lilith reading list for modern witches 🐍✨>

Alongside Angels & Archetypes ✨, I’d recommend The Holy Book by Zsusanna Budapest ✨ and Carolyn Elliott’s Existential Kink: A Method for Getting What You Want by Getting Off on What You Don’t ✨, because it has tons of totally non-astrological, non-magicky reference material for naming psychological taboos, with helpful exercises for reclaiming those feelings, for which Internet people such as myself were used as guinea pigs via Facebook-based magic classes, YOU’RE WELCOME.  💫

Basically, over time, we can neutralize our taboos, and become more sovereign over our body, feelings, and energy. We don’t break her, but douse her with compassion—as much compassion for her as we have for our adorbs’ Venus or goddess asteroids, while realizing that Lilith is not there to make us more likable, but to protect our best, most soul-intentioned interests….

…all of which would dissolve into the cosmic drip of unconsciousness, if we didn’t have this handy abstraction called Lilith to work with, to help exhume our “othered” side. 🤘🏻

Astrology is gonna make us right! 🙌🏻✨

(And maybe also therapy. 💁🏻‍♀️)

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DEEP-DIVE INTO BLACK MOON LILITH 🐍🌟 >

Whether to sate your Lilith-yearning or decrypt your own slippery conviction, this is your starting point!

• BEHOLD—Dark Pixie’s full-out intro to Black Moon Lilith! Mythology, astrology, personality characteristics and major transit/natal themes, plus links to all further Lilith reading and research. (Welcome to the rabbit hole… 🐍꩜)

• Dark Pixie Astrology’s 2021 transit dates and summaries for Lilith!

• Also, what can you expect from a Lilith transit?

• WITCHY LILITH 🧙🏻‍♀️> your guide to witchy Lilith, Hekate, and all the astro witches. 🤘🏻

• Also, clues to “witchy” Lilith by Sign. (Me: Lilith in Cancer ♋️ = intuitive witch vibes—lol, hella. 😉)

• Supplemental reading for Witch Lilith > 3 Hexes to Use When You Need to Make Your Stand

• What to do when Lilith goes retrograde? 🤔 > Mystic has tips from when Lilith went retrograde in Pisces (2019).

• Journal prompts for Lilith in the Signs and Lilith in the Houses. ✅✅✅

• EROTIC LILITH 💕> Lilith in the Signs symbolizing the dark side of your sexuality.

• BLACK MOON LILITH IN SYNASTRY 🐍💕> Black Moon Lilith and LOVE astrology!

• BLACK MOON vs. ASTEROID LILITH vs. “WALDERMATH” LILITH… 😵‍💫 > What’s the technical difference between all the astro Liliths—and which one(s) should you read for?

• Also, to go along with the technical stuff, this article actually parses out and describes how to interpret all the Liliths in a chart as a gestalt of your personal shadow: asteroid Lilith (1881), “the demon goddess,” Black Moon Lilith, “the death goddess,” and Dark Moon Lilith, “the trickster goddess.”

• FOR LILITH IN CANCER TYPES 🐍♋️ > I don’t have endometriosis, but I do have queerness + intense matrilineal drama: Lilith in Cancer, emotional codependency, and healing endometriosis, the “running away” disease in women. 🤯😱

• AN ONLINE COURSE FOR HEALING YOUR LILITH ISSUES > Loving Lilith, An End to Shame: “A collaboration between me and Ascended Master Djehuty (a.k.a. Hermes, Thoth, St. Germain, Merlin), this course explains the roots of the patriarchy and how to end it, how to understand sexual violence and heal it, how to live Lilith stories with self-respect in healthy ways, and much more.”

• Also, healing the Black divine feminine with Lilith, and where to buy a Lilith reading and join the collective. 🌀

• LILITH IN THE NEWS > Find more facts about Lilith in pop culture and more Lilith-astrology hacks on the Black Moon Lilith homepage via NeptuneCafe!

• ALSO BY TOM JACOBS, “THE LILITH PAGES” 📖🐍 > “We can choose to rewrite the perception that Lilith is a demon and not much else. As you will read, she offers us the opportunity to get in touch with the natural wild energy of the Earth because she shows us that our bodies are extensions of the Earth. The wisdom of the natural world exists within us and Lilith is how we can find and connect to it. The world will be a radically different place if we do.”

• USING BLACK MOON LILITH IN SHADOW WORK? > “One of the reasons I love astrology is that the shadow cannot hide in an astrology chart. This is a cause for celebration, even if many of us are uncomfortable with our areas of inferiority or lack. But, if we possess awareness and self-acceptance and remember that nobody is perfect, we’re better positioned to do shadow work, possibly with an astrologer who emphasizes empowerment over prediction.” Janet Chui’s article about using astrology in shadow work is the best and most and everything you need to start! 🥰

• PLUS > other indicators of “scandal” in a natal chart and by transit (hint > “Astraea, wut?”) 🤭

• UH OH, WHAT’S A LILITH RETURN?? ⏱ > Mystic explains Rose McGowen’s Lilith Return (coinciding with her outing of Harvey Weinstein—YAS, I CAN’T EVEN!) > “It is worth remembering that in terms of classically female archetypes, Venus is woman in relation to Other – relationships, seduction, the Moon is woman as maternal and Lilith is the outsider, the feminist, the rebel who defines and validates herself.”

• #IMHO, the best and most lucid filleting out of Lilith and the Dark Goddess archetype, and touching on the (Plutonian 👻) topic of genetic control > “When one wants to change and control the culture of a people, they do it through sex. Culture is literally what a cell feeds off when it is in a petri-dish. Culture will shape the human cell and change its civilisation forever. So it really is women who can bring the downfall of civilisation, because they carry the responsibility of what types of genes succeed and what do not. Lilith is the eugenicist, so the ‘forbidden fruit’ could be the control over breeding. Some say the forbidden knowledge is genetics and that humans are part star-child, part human hybrids. Whatever the case, Eris and Lilith seem to have a lot to do with the creation myth, genes, aliens, evolution and taboo subjects such as race.” 🤘🏻

We all have Lilith taboos, and bad moments.

Sometimes, we Lilith out. 🏃🏻‍♀️👻

And then we come back, and prove ourselves out.

We become conscious of our Lilith once we learn the visceral difference between “I’m getting my way on this no matter what!” and “I thoroughly understand your terms, but this is non-negotiable, and I’ve already explained why. Now please, let the girl go.”

It’s rad just becoming aware (+ sympathetic to) your Lilith-taboo, so that even if you can’t always control her in your behavior ( 😅👌🏻)…

…you might at least feel more empowered defending her in your narrative. 🐍✊🏻

In a few months (during my personal Lilith Return 🐍💫), I’ll have deeper intel and more resources for getting mileage out of your own Lilith Awakening-moments…

…subscribe here to find out when that post goes live, and to also score these hella cool printable Lilith altar cards! 😋👍🏻

HAAAYYY! 🙌🏻✨

How to Read a Birth Chart: An Extra-Chill Primer on Natal Astrology (+ Hella Cute Worksheet 📝)

“You and I are flesh and blood but we are also stardust.”

— Helen Curtis

In this post, I’m gonna show you how to read and interpret your own natal chart! 

But don’t you need some kind of astrological training for that?

Bruh. This is how you train. 👐🏻✨✨

But, ya, learning natal astrology is sort of rough ‘n tumble at first…  just because there’s lots of ground to cover, and once covered, takes a minute to come into focus. 

Here’s why it’s worth the effort, and will come in handy down the line: knowing your natal chart is like getting a Marauder’s Map of your psyche. 🤩🔎

Remember the Marauder’s Map in Harry Potter?
(No? …crap, this might be a problem… 😳) >

An enchanted map of the Hogwarts school and grounds, labelled by little moving glyphs of actual witches, wizards, and night-patrolling housecats moving in real-time through the castle, unaware they are being tracked via an enchanted map in the possession of a 12-year-old boy.

And through natal astrology, I want to help you become that 12-year-old boy. ✨

To get the most out of it, bookmark or Pin this post now, so you can come back whenever you’re about to wade back into your self-study.🌹

TWO QUICK THINGS BEFORE WE START >

FIRST, DO YOU HAVE A COPY OF YOUR NATAL CHART? > This post will take you to my three go-to sites for casting stars, all favorite for different reasons, with step-by-steps for through creating an account with Astro Dienst. 💫

TWO, DID YOU GET YOUR HANDY STATIONERY FOR FOLLOWING ALONG AT HOME? > Get a totally free printable worksheet for helping you delineate your natal chart by subscribing to my newsletter, which is not a strange request, but might get stranger afterwards. (HINT: I printed mine onto Astro Brights paper for fun and glory.  ☺️✨)

I'D LOVE A PRINTABLE WORKSHEET, THX! 🌟

Remember, this is totally extracurricular, and you’re gonna KICK ASS! 🙌🏻

But first, let’s dig into the nitty gritty, so you actually understand what’s up. 😎

WHAT EXACTLY IS A NATAL CHART?

…and how does one read one? 🤔

“Natal” means “birth.” A natal chart is a picture of the planets’ positions in the sky at the time and location you were born. Those positions are segmented by Houses and overlaid by Signs. The “house” is the quadrant between the spokes, corresponding with a different area of life, while the “sign” is the style that area of life expresses itself through. The relationships amongst the planets are described by the Signs and Houses they land in, as well as by their aspects to other planets, represented by the lines criss-crossing the center of the chart.

SO, reading natal charts, or astrology charts in general, is about learning to interpret the symbols based on what they reference (the planets), the quadrant or area of life they show up in (the House), the way they express themselves (the Sign), as well as their relationship amongst each other (aspects).

Okay, and what exactly are we translating all that into?

Like—what does “Mars in Taurus in the Seventh House” mean? 🤔

Chart interpretation depends on the interpreter. Meaning, however you think of the chart—the “concept” of what it represents, whether that’s a “soul” or a “personality” or “time + matter + evolution”—that’s what it’ll translate into.

So, your interpretation of your own natal chart might come out like an epic poem, or as a dossier, or maybe even as a robust essay about your secret gifts—never before articulated until trying to compare/contrast your true-life experience with astrological symbolism! 🤩

ways you can conceptualize, or think of, a natal chart >

I’m highlighting these perspectives, because they are the points of view EYE am reading from, and analyzing for—these were the perspectives I was studying astrology from before I knew there were perspectives in astrology. 😳

When interpreting a chart, you’re basically reading four layers of information (planet, sign, house, and aspects) all at once, then trying to collapse them into one cohesive idea, or aesthetic. You’re learning to read a language that, for our purposes, has codes for a certain kind of person—based on the quality and categories of experiences he or she will have, according to her trajectory through time and space, given this astrological disposition. ✨

So, ya, it’s kind of useful having a central theme or framework to hang all the little details that are about to start comin’ at you. 🙀

Consider each perspective as a lens that guides and filters all the finial particulars, like planets-in-’da, aspects, etc.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL. Dr. Jennifer Freed (psychologist, Use Your Planets Wisely) calls an astrology chart a map of the psyche. Carl Jung wrote in Memories, Dreams, Reflections that he would consult the natal charts of acutely psychotic patients, just to help him better frame what was happening for the person. Basically, a psychological interpretation of a natal chart seeks to explain your psyche, or personal experience, across your life, given this astro disposition. 💫

• METAPHYSICAL. An astrology chart as a map of time. Chart markers, and even the chart itself, describe a matrix (environment) where where energy collapses upon matter over time, producing my (or your) organism. In the metaphysical context, we wouldn’t translate the experiences described in the chart (that’s the psychological interpretation), but instead try to describe the lessons and everlasting truths represented in the chart. Steven Forrest, author of The Inner Sky, remarks that astrology is fundamentally metaphysical, and also, “a finger pointing at reality.” Basically, the astrological chart points to a metaphysical reality we might understand, though not very well, due to our psychological limitations.

• EVOLUTIONARY. Jeffrey Wolf Green (occultist, Evolutionary Astrology) explained that an astrology chart illustrates the soul as a genome. Astrological markers describe potential, and foibles to that potential. Reading for those markers helps the user optimize environment, knowing what’s actually in there to be unlocked and used, and also understand the intuitive boundary-line between the ego-Self and the Soul. In effect, the interpretation rests on reading for the intention or motive of the psyche the chart represents, and the “soul’s strategy” for evolving experientially in this life.

• ARCHETYPAL. Reading the natal chart as a symbolic journey. This might coalesce all interpretations, or at least in my nascent understanding. Richard Tarnas (philosopher, Cosmos and Psyche) also refers to the natal chart as a map, but an archetypal one: basically, a hero’s journey where the placements preclude certain experiences, karmic lessons, and the revelation and unlocking of one’s ultimate potential.

FOR ME, pour moi 💕 > I think of the insight I get from natal charts in the same way I think of insights gained from literature, movies, music… art in general.

Like—it’s all just a metaphor, and there is no right or wrong way to interpret it. As you learn more astrology (especially when you start layering on transits and progressions), you’ll start understanding

Also, must be said: you’re allowed to “veto” the astrologers. You’re allowed to say, But that doesn’t FEEL like what’s happening here, or even, But that’s not HOW THINGS WORK.*

With astrology, especially if you’re using it as a journaling tool, or as a guide for personal inventorying, you’ll have a literal chart, totally scientific, produced by software, in which to compare / contrast your own interpretation of your experience.

🌟 PRO TIP > Create space for documenting your chart study, so that you can revisit it whenever you need to.  I outline all my own astro learning tools and process in this post about finding your chart ruler, but it’s pretty straight forward: designate a notebook, Pinterest board, and new desktop file to store your research, where you toss in quotes, images, URLs, and recommended reading, watch, or browsing.

You’ll definitely want all that material in one space where you can pull it out and really rut in (probably during your next break-up or unlucky streak 💔😫).

HOW TO READ A NATAL CHART IN 4 EASY STEPS, LOL 😂

Yes, just FOUR STEPS ✨, but you’ll probably run jump back and forth and all around between them.

AND, OH, HAY—DON’T FORGET YOUR HYPER-CUTE, SUPER-HELPFUL NATAL CHART WORKSHEET ✅ >

I'D LOVE A PRINTABLE WORKSHEET, THX! 🌟

FIRST, ID THE SIGN FOR EACH PLANET. 

OKAY BISH, IN TOTAL, YOU HAVE TEN PLANETS TO READ FOR > Mercury (☿), Venus (♀︎), Mars (♂︎), Jupiter (♃), Saturn (♄), Uranus (♅), Neptune (♆), Pluto (♇), plus the Sun (☉) and Moon (☽).

We’ll also look at your Rising Sign, which isn’t really a planet, but an angle on your chart. Because it is the first angle, representing the hour through which you emerged from the womb into the light, the sign of this angle is your Rising, and the rest of your special planetary-zodiac seasoning filters through it.

So, you want the scratch on all ten planets plus your Rising Sign. 💫✨

GO THROUGH ALL TEN PLANETS ON THE LIST, AND FOR EACH PLANET, WRITE THE SIGN IT SHOWS UP IN > To find out the sign, look to the zodiac symbols on the outer rim of your chart. You might have multiple planets in one sign, and none at all in another.

So, for your first two columns, you should have written a planet, and its sign. Written out, it should read like: Mercury in PISCES, Venus in AQUARIUS, Mars in TAURUS… etc.

NEXT, ID THE HOUSE FOR EACH PLANET. 

GO THROUGH THE LIST AGAIN, THIS TIME LISTING EACH PLANET’S HOUSE > The “house” is the segment of the chart that the planet shows up in, each segment corresponding to a different realm of human life and experience.

To find out the house, look to the numbers near the center of the chart, between the spokes. You might have multiple planets in a house, and zero planets in other houses. You might have houses split between two signs, called “interceptions.” Focus on the individual planets, not the clusters (a.k.a. stelliums), though note the houses where you have stelliums, or lots of planet-play. ✅

For our purposes, just write one sign and house to each planet.

Each planet should now read like this: Mercury in PISCES in the FOURTH HOUSE. Venus in AQUARIUS in the FOURTH HOUSE. And so forth.

If you’re following along on your worksheet at home, you’re working with the first three columns: planet + sign + house. 

And if you’re ready for some freaking answers, man, start Googling for (1) the planet in the SIGN, and then (2) the sign on the HOUSE.

How do I search for my natal chart placements, tho? > First search: “Mercury in PISCES” (or “mercury” + [the sign]). Then search, “Pisces on the FIFTH HOUSE” (or “pisces” + [the house].)

Obviously, this is already a bit all over the place, so go slow. Be methodical. Go planet by planet. Each planet’s sign says how that planet expresses itself, and each planet’s house shows where that energy gets expressed.

And make sure you’re saving quotes + links to your favorite hits of intel.

HINT > the AstroFix “brainstorms” are my favorite place to get insight about the planets, signs, and houses.

Omg, you’re doing it, you’re an astrology student! 🤩

AFTER THAT, LOOK UP ASPECTS.

“The planets in the signs represent the basic urges toward expression and needs for fulfillment, but the aspects reveal the actual state of energy flow and how much personal effort is needed to express a particular urge or to fulfill a particular need.”

— Stephen Arroyo, Astrology, Psychology, and the Four Elements: An Energy Approach to Astrology and Its Use in the Counseling Arts

The fourth and last column is for aspects, or the relationships between the planets. Aspects are those red and blue lines crisscrossing the center of your chart. It’s not just about where and how the planets show up, but how they work together. 

(Psst, Cafe Astrology spits out a graphic explaining all your aspects, plus a summary, which you can enhance with a Google search! 🤩🥰)

Some types of aspects are more “desirable” than others, just like some planets are considered more “beneficial” than the rest. You might be more aware of your “hard” aspects, just because those might echo internal conflict or extra you’re working with.

• Hard aspects: conjunctions, squares, and oppositions. Planets squaring off or in opposition throw static on each other, whereas conjunct planets can be too close for comfort.

• Easy aspects: trines and sextiles. You don’t have to worry about planets with easy aspects. In fact, if it suddenly dawns on you that you have plenty of easy aspects working for you in your chart, permit yourself to lean more on that planetary harmony.

If you need more info than contained in the summaries provided by Cafe Astrology (or wherever you downloaded a copy of your chart), hit up Google. ✅

In case you don’t remember how to Google things: Just search for “[the planet] + [the aspect] + {the other planet].” 

FINALLY, START SYNTHESIZING ✨ EACH PLANET IN ITS SIGN, HOUSE, AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PLANETS.

Synthesis is critical to chart interpretation, and the reason why learning to read your own chart matters. Synthesis is the process of fusing disparate things together, like the concepts of a planet + a zodiac sign + the quadrant it showed up in on an astrology chart.

ALSO, you won’t find many articles about your planet in both the sign and the house, plus the aspects amongst everything. Once you gather up all the Internet astrologers’ brainstorms and summaries of all the little bits, you’ll have to do a little creative analysis, a bit of contemplative interpretation of all the details.

BASICALLY, you will not achieve synthesis in a single afternoon of astrology study.

(Psst—THIS is why you need a place to store quotes / links that you can come back to, and also where the worksheet might help, just sayin’. ✌🏻)

Here’s some guidance. 🌟

Your natal planets will show up in one of twelve signs and houses. The sign tells you something about the quality or style that planet is being expressed in, while the house tells you where in your life that planet is exhibited, in that style.

Here’s a pretty common analogy to help you take in the whole scene > imagine the planets as actors, the signs as their costumes, and the houses as the stage scenery. ✨

If scenes, vibes, and characters from a book or movie jump to mind, start writing it out: you’ll remember the placement better and make faster intuitions about what it means in the overall chart if you can synthesize the meaning of the placement with one of these little scenes you’re already familiar with, with all its splendid subtext you’re privy to.

Also, bear in mind that you are comparing and contrasting Internet astrologers’ descriptions to your own awareness. Pay attention to whether experts say a planet is strengthened or weakened, a.k.a. “exalted” or “debilitated” by the sign it’s in. Would you agree? Can you think of any ways this strength or weakness manifests in your life? How would you disagree? Have you actually proven otherwise?

This is when you can start an active comparison between what astrologers say your life is about, and what you feel your life is about. 🌀✨

I want to mention something about how the planets are grouped and interpreted.

Here’s the explanation:

• PERSONALITY PROFILE. Your Sun, Moon, and “Rising” Signs make up the hard strokes of your personality. Your “Rising Sign” is calculated by your birth time, and is the sign that was rising in the sky at the time/location you were born. Rising Signs are also how you discover your chart ruler, hayyy… ✨

• INNER PLANETS. Your Mercury, Venus, and Mars make up your preference-modes, almost like the moods of your chart.

• SOCIAL PLANETS: Your Jupiter and Saturn correspond with lucky streaks and hard knocks. Usually personified as the Good Cop and Bad Cop of reality. (Psst—most people know about their Saturn’s Return, but not about Jupiter’s Return: when good tidings come our way.)

• OUTER PLANETS: Your Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. These are the “meta” planets, the slow-moving titans shaping our big picture, higher self concepts. Often your Outer Planet signs are the same as your peers and siblings, though the house will be particular. Outer Planets are big energy, the kind humans tend to weaponize against themselves, but also important, representing evolutionary impulses in our shared psyche (wow astrology is so cool).

In your notes, try to create as clear a scene as possible for each of your natal planets. You can invent whole scenes, or borrow from books, movies, or Netflix. What scenarios best represent your placements? What mood does the information evoke? What aesthetic? 

(I will never stop asking you about the aesthetic, and if that’s gonna be a problem, get off the blog. ☠️)

What true-life incidences can you think of where these aspects came into play? Planetary aspects are basically like unconscious patterns, and studying them now brings them into light. You can get mindful, even strategic, about them. 

Do a little Googling for some ideas about making your aspects work for you, and see what insights happen. 😘

DEEPER ASTRO LEARNING:
FIND THE RULERS FOR YOUR PLACEMENTS 👑 

I like how Miriam explains the astrological learning process. ♥️ I’m going to highlight what she mentions here, and point you to where else you can go to continue your chart learnin’.

For Miriam (and most bonafide astrologers), synthesis isn’t just about understanding the planets in the signs, in the houses, and the aspects amongst them. That’s the cookbook approach to astro interpretation, or basically a “placement by placement” research process. 

(And basically what I’ve outlined for you here. You’re welcome. ☺️)

But to get a spooky-insightful understanding of your natal chart, as Miriam indicates, you have to understand how each placement works in relationship with the other placements… which you can’t Google. 🙈

Thus, dispositors. ✨

From The Astrologer’s Handbook:

“The dispositor of any given planet is the planet ruling the sign in which the given planet is found. A planet placed in the sign of its rulership—for instance, Mars in Aries—has no dispositor or disposits itself.

A dispositing planet will have some effect upon the affairs governed by the sign and house in which the disposited planet is placed. In other words, there is a sublte influence on a planet and sign and the house it is in by the planet it is disposted by. The house placements and sign placements of the disposited and dispositing planets are also subtly linked.”

Okay, so, a tiny bit complex, but only until you dive in and start feeling it out.

I’d prefer you’d just do what I say (in general) and write out your placements, just to see them, and have them in one place. ✨

After that, when you’re ready to start reading for depth and accuracy, do what Miriam says, and go around the chart, looking for the proper “rulers” of your planets, so that you can see glimpses into the spooky-creepy psychic mojo lurking within.

Start by going around the zodiac looking for the rulers for your Ascendent, Sun, and Moon signs…

Start with your Ascendent, the left-hand angle of your chart, which represents the “entry point” of your chart. The sign of your Ascendent is your Rising Sign. Which planet rules that sign? (Ask Google.) In which sign (and house) is that planet hanging out in your chart? …Where is the ruler of that sign hangin’ out?

You basically keep going until the dispositor you’re looking for happens to be in the sign it rules, OR you keep cycling between the same couple of planets. (Indicating that this particular planet has a vibe that toggles.)

(You might want to write dispositors down on a piece of scratch paper to help you keep track.)

(Also, this blog post goes into detail about chart rulers and finding the Ascendent. ✌🏻)

Now, do the same for the Sun and Moon! 😁

Make sure to throw keywords you find in astrology articles next to the placements, especially if they speak to and unlock unarticulated truths in your secret heart of hearts. 

How do the articles about the ruler compare to the articles about the literal placement? 

What are the Internet mages telling you about yourself?

Although going by dispositors is super-chilling and noticeably elevates your astro sagacity, it’s stranger, slower-going terrain to learn astrology through, especially if you’re just learning the lingo and still trying to “see” astrological relationships in your “inner eye.”

SO, BEFORE WE CLIMB OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND > If you’re just now learning to read and interpret your natal chart, start with writing out your placements, hitting up Google for the full scoop, antagonizing your friends by offering to look up their astro placements, and otherwise procrastinating on your grad school application. ✨

Then… once you’ve been at grad school for awhile (or chillin’ back at home), pull out your chart, and start going around the zodiac, looking for the dispositors, or rulers, of your placements.

You must do this if you want to know your chart with the spooky-zen accuracy that a pro astrologer might know it, although (as I appreciate Miriam also pointing out), chart interpretation always depends on the astrologer.

Miriam walks you through a chart example in this post. Fix some tea, grab your notebook, and enjoy!

Remember—this is all extracurricular, and so far, you’re doing fantastic. 😉👌🏻

RESOURCES FOR DEEP-STUDYING YOUR STARS:

I was totally serious, what I said about helping you go varsity with natal chart reading, so here are the links I think you need to really get going!

Have a question that isn’t answered by any of these? Drop your Q in an email, and I’ll try pointing you in a new direction. ✌🏻

• This post by Miriam @ Fugitive Umbrellas about learning to read a chart: start at your Rising Sign (then Sun, and Moon), and go around the zodiac, looking for the Rulers of their signs, and where those planets are hanging out on your chart.

• All about planets, the signs, and the houses! Looking for intel about which signs a planet is “strengthened” or “debilitated”? Cafe Astrology has great graphics illustrating the signs and houses each planet vibes with best.

• What exactly are 'aspects' in astrology? 🤔 Aspects are illustrated by those red and blue lines criss-crossing the center of your chart, and they explain the relationships between your natal planets. If you score a natal chart report from Cafe Astrology (see option #2), you’ll get a graphic AND summary of your planetary aspects!

• What are the House Systems, and why do they change the chart’s layout? Each house system is a different way of distributing the zodiac in the chart. If you want to compare your chart in all the different house Systems, use this generator.

• Need a visual aid for your natal chart? Employ the tarot. Corrine Kenner’s book Tarot and Astrology was my introduction to astrological tarot, and has lots of exercises that can show you how to map out your natal chart with the cards! 🤩

• Personal vs. Social vs. Transpersonal Planets: what you need to know. Hint: your ♅, ♆, and ♇ signs don’t much affect you as an individual. They actually reveal how similar you are with other people in your age group! But the house they show up in? Ya, that’s personal, and can tell you the realm of life / activities that plug you into the zeitgeist!

• Too much to do on your own? Aeolian Heart Astrology has a free eBook, HEARTBEAT, that walks you through all of your stars! (Psst—she’s also re-opening her class on natal chart reading, DISCOVERY, very soon! Get on her email list to find out when!)

• Want to continue your education? This post compiles all my fav astrologers, most of whom have books, programs, or resource pages about all things astrology. (Is there an astro-mage you luv who’s not on my list? Email me a link so I can check them out! ✌🏻)

When you make it through all 10 planets’ placements and aspects, think of a way to encapsulate the info…

…an art or literary project, or maybe a presentation you upload to your YouTube channel. Write poems about your stars, or vision boards. Readers have shared that they attributed celebrities or literary characters to their personal planets, or that learning their chart inspired them to write whole memoirs out in Mead notebooks, each chapter representing one of their planets. 🥰🥰🥰

The more you study and work with your chart, the quicker and more common the a-ha moments. Print off one or all three versions of your chart for your planner-grimoire, bulletin board, fridge, and bathroom mirror. Print your natal chart onto Astro Brite paper for coolness, or--if you're a savage with your printer settings--miniaturize and print your natal chart onto cardstock to make into a hella sick bookmark, which FedEx Office can laminate for you. ✨✨✨

(And if you've made something off-the-wall with your natal chart, you should definitely let me know.)   

This is the fastest way to internalize what you’ve studied! The faster it’s internalized, the sooner you’ll find yourself drawing on the insight from your chart, using it to delineate matters of preference from purpose, to forecast your hopes and ambitions, and overall, learning to spot omens all around us, everywhere.

And just before we end, this final word from Stephen Forrest (Inner Sky) about your natal chart …✨

“Your chart is perfect.

You yourself aren’t perfect. Me either.

But your chart itself perfectly reflects your karmic predicament and your optimal path forward from that starting point. Your chart is perfect; your personal imperfections can be best understood as your imperfect response to the challenges and evolutionary opportunities your chart represents. It models ‘your best life.

That is the gold standard – and like most gold standards, we can only approach it, never fully achieve it.”

OKAY, IN MY NEXT POST…

I’ll show you how I’ve loved-up on mah chart with music playlists, movie scenes, quotes, and various media, to help vivify and tighten up the aesthetic of my astrological soul. ❤️‍🔥🌟

Want to find out when it’s posted? Subscribe below! ✌🏻

P.S. DON’T FORGET YOUR HANDY-DANDY WORKSHEET, HAAAY… ☺️✨

I'D LOVE A PRINTABLE WORKSHEET, THX! 🌟

How to Find and Use Your Progressed Moon in Astrology 🌙⏰

OKAY SO, last time, we learned about progressions. 👐🏻✨

Although the technique of progressing your natal chart is kind of weird (adding one day to your birthdate for every year you’ve had a birthday 🤔), your progressions symbolize your evolving soul. 🌀

Or basically, where and how your soul has developed since you were born. If your natal chart shows your ultimate source and potential, progressions show how your natal chart is developing. As time scootches them into new zodiac signs and houses, your progressed planets take on new flavors (signs), concentrate down into new areas (houses), and switch up their interactions with other planets (aspects).

Your progressed planets don’t reveal themselves through external events (the way transiting planets do), but instead influence how you feel about those events…

…most importantly, how you might respond to circumstances and situations in your life.

but out of all your progressed planets, the progressed moon yields the most insight… 🌙

Astrologers use the Progressed Moon as a context clue, for insight into how you might be coping with your current transits, where you might retreat during introspective moments, and for hints about the timing of big opportunities and relationship changes.

“The progressed moon represents the cycle of our emotional evolution. We will always have our baseline emotional needs as part of our emotional makeup which is represented by our natal moon’s location in our chart.

Yet, we experience and express those emotional needs in ever-evolving, ever more mature ways as we grow older and, through trial and error, find better and better ways of getting our emotional needs met but still within the context of what our natal moon will always need.”

— Llewellyn, “A Deeper Look at the Progressed Moon and Saturn Cycles” 🌙🪐

In general, the Moon in your natal chart symbolizes your most subjective, personal inner wants and needs, a.k.a. your core vitals.

Your Progressed Moon in particular points to where + how your needs and preferences are evolving. Your Progressed Moon illuminates where in your intuition and somatic awareness is concentrated, whether you’re craving comfort, adventure, a new rhythm, or foundation-setting. Your Progressed Moon also dictates what sort of energy you’re unconsciously attracting into your life.

Essentially, your Progressed Moon tells astrologers whether you’re feelin’ it… whatever it is.

Also, the Progressed Moon is considered the official "trigger agent" in our charts. The Moon is the fastest moving planet in the sky, in our transits, as well as in our progressions. Your Progressed Moon spends about 2.5 years in each sign and house, and about 2 months aspecting other natal or progressed planets…

…as opposed to, for example, your Progressed Sun 🌻, which takes about 30 years to cross through a sign (and / or house), and can spend a whole year conjuncting another planet. 😳

Obviously, both the Progressed Sun and Moon are major trigger agents, but the Moon is the one who determines where and what in your chart is deep-felt and resonant. Your Progressed Sun might be a motivating factor in much of the unwritten story of your life, but the Progressed Moon determines the tone, mood, and feeling of that story.

Thus, the Progressed Moon writes the subtext, characterizes your intuitive hunches, and guides your gut-level feelings about the people and events in your life.

in this post, i’ll show you where + how to find out about your progressed moon 🌙, with instructions for accessing all your lunation charts (…there’s more than just one 😳), as well as link you to articles to help you interpret it by sign, house, and phase, via google and internet witches… 💫✨

…and also low-key demonstrate how to turn your research into an astrologically-lucid lifestyle guide to last you two and a half years (or basically, until your Progressed Moon moves into a new sign and / or house). 🌙✨

You’ll learn where and how to get charts showing your Progressed Moon, how to go about interpreting what you see in the charts (Google ✨), and then using that information to contextualize your current transits.

Remember, Progressions must always be compared to your natal chart. We’re basically reading for your Progressed Moon placement, and then comparing how that one placement influences the whole of your natal chart.

Because… your Progressed Moon is the trigger-man, the mostly-secret planet activating different features in your personal horoscope in confluence with your current transits... 😳😱

…and we need to understand its condition in order to understand its true motives, and why we might be responding (or not) to our circumstances.

HINT > You might want to review my previous post about Secondary Progressions ✨, just to familiarize yourself with “the rules” of progressing a chart, and to orient yourself to this pretend fifth-dimensional perspective on your secret inner-life. ⏰🌟

ALSO, AFTER WE SNAG AND LEARN TO DELINEATE YOUR PROGRESSED MOON  📝 > I’ll unpack what’s going on with my own Progressed Moon (in Aries ♈️ and my Sixth House ♍️), which will get kind of gnarled up in my own random observations, but might also hopefully help you see where and how you can apply the cool insight to your own weird life. 💗

AND MAAAYBE… the details about your Progressed Moon will inspire you to a find a therapist, break up with a creep, get your credit report, or generally make a choice that minds your Moon better than when you’re just auto-piloting your life according to your whims and janky rationale (or just going off what Oprah tells you to do 🙋🏻‍♀️). 

OKAY, let’s find that intel! 🔎✨

HOW THE PROGRESSED MOON “WORKS” IN ASTROLOGY

The Moon progresses (“moves” 😋) about 12° per year, or 1° per month, and takes about 2 1/2 years to progress through a sign / house. Your Progressed Moon’s sign indicates the theme, the house indicates the field of perception, and her phase suggests the tempo of your inner life.

As the Moon progresses within 1° of another planet (natal, progressed, or transiting ✨), that planet's energy tints your subjective time and inner mood for about one  - two months, until the Moon progresses over and away from that planet. ✅

When the Moon progresses towards or upon an angle (natal or progressed ✨), it often coincides with internal shifts, equivalent to major “I’ve changed my mind” moments that might not have correlating external events at fault.

FOR EXAMPLE, when the Moon progresses over your Ascendant (the “starting line” of your chart, on the left-hand side, cusping your First House of Identity, Appearance, and Persona ✨), it might feel like a total turnaround, a re-orientation, or attitude shift…

When the Moon progresses over your Midheaven (the “zenith” of your chart, the top-most angle, cusping your Tenth House of Status, Reputation, and Highest Potential ✨), you might feel ready for a change of course, for re-training your focus and reaching towards for something new…

…but if asked, you might not be able to pinpoint what exactly caused the change of perspective or ambition, it just felt like the cumulation of lots of quiet reflection. 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

When your Progressed Moon approaches and conjuncts a planet, angle, or other special point, there’s a quickening, an alchemical reaction happening on an unconscious, somatic level. You might notice more tricksters or warriors or super-pretty girls on the scene (mercury, mars, venus). You’re not necessarily learning anything from this archetype (that’s more related to transits 💫), but the archetype is bringing awareness to your mood and inner-balance.

Basically, the people you’re drawing towards you are mirroring a sub-persona, and bringing an energy your inner-Moon wants to internalize… beckoning these archetypes to you as the Moon tugs at the ocean tides… 🌕🌊

in terms of timing, looking up your progressed moon helps you understand the onset, duration, and offsetting of sudden feelings, whether enthusiasm for a project or opportunity, or affection for a new character who’s just appeared…

…and if you experience a sudden inner departure (a waning crush, lessoning enthusiasm, loss in momentum), your Moon might be progressing away from those planets it’s been canoodling with for the past couple months, or venturing towards a different planet.

In other words, conjunctions made by the Progressed Moon can feel like slow-detonating crises or awakenings, without any specific person or event to blame the feeling on. 😬😖😓

Your Progressed Moon might explain the hunger-pains in your gut during a hard-won job interview, the heavy-heartedness felt while on a much-anticipated date, or unexpected defensiveness in a discussion about vacay destinations.

You might think, OMG, this must be totally wrong for me, what am I doing, why do I feel like this…? 😬😓

But that random-seeming gut-rumble or sudden antipathy doesn’t mean what’s happening is wrong. It more indicates the direction the current in flowing. You showed up to the interview, date, or conversation expecting a certain outcome…

…but that’s not where your Moon is at. 🤷🏻‍♀️

studying your progressed moon might help you attune to her evolving state, and help you understand where compulsion or resistance might be coming from.

Basically, the Progressed Moon can help guide your introspection about those surreal moments, and (through time, attention, and practice ✨) can help you calibrate your inner “set-point.”

ESSENTIALLY, your Progressed Moon helps you recognize the voice of your intuition, and anticipate that your intuition is changing on an almost monthly basis, depending on what else is going down in your sundry charts. 🌟

AND USUALLY, if you already know where you’re at on your major astrology cycles (this post outlines the major transits we all go through ✅🌟), checking up on your Progressed Moon will help you plug back into your core vitals, and reset course.

WHERE TO GET CHARTS SHOWING YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌙✨

OKAY SO, there are actually two different Astro-Seek calculators you can use to get the full picture on your Progressed Moon.

I’mma show you how to look up and use both…

…then give you the step-by-steps for getting all the charts you need to read and start researching your Progressed Moon. ✅😊

🌟 First, we’re going to look up the Moon on the Astro-Seek Progressed Moon Calculator. ✨ From the dropdown menu labelled “Ingresses/Lunation cycle/Conjunctions”, you can select to know…

• When your Moon will progress into a new sign

• When your Moon will progress into a new house

• When your Moon will progress into a new sign and a new house

• When she’ll change phase 🌓🌕🌗, OR…

• When she’ll conjunct an angle or planet (🥵)

Basically, you won’t get all the details you want about your Progressed Moon on the same page results. You’ll have to toggle between-amongst all the choices in the dropdown menu for a holistic picture about when, where, and how your Moon is progressing through your chart. ✅

EVEN THEN, for the full scoop, we’ll need to visit a different calculator…

🌟 After that, we’re going to look up the Moon on the Astro-Seek Progressed Lunation 8 Lunar Phases Calculator. ✨ This is pretty much the same calculator I just linked you to, but with “8-fold Lunation Cycle (moon only)” already selected from the dropdown menu. This calculator displays the date, links to transit charts, annnd a visual map of where on your natal chart your Progressed Moon will switch phases.

Because… Moon phases matter. 😳

Moon phases determine the impact of the conditions of your Progressed Moon. Being full in a sign or house would heighten those themes and experiences, whereas being new in a sign or house would feel quiet, less obvious to intuit.

And that’s why your Progressed Moon phases need their own chart and interpretation. ✅

Don’t worry, I’ll explain more below, and show you how to make meaning (+ apply) all the intel from the signs, houses, aspects, and phases of your Progressed Moon… 👌🏻

BUT FIRST, let me show you how to actually procure the charts!

HOW TO LOOK UP YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌙✨ >

1. Go to the Astro-Seek Progressed Moon calculator, and type in your birth data

2. Next, from the dropdown menu (labelled ‘Progressed Planet’—there are options ✨), select the Moon 🌙

3. After that (more options ✨), you can choose to know when your Moon will enter…

• A new zodiac sign, OR…

• A new house, OR…

• A new sign and new house (what I selected ✨), OR…

• When your Prog’d Moon will conjunct other planets or angles ✅✅✅

4. Next, select the year you want to start from (I’ve been selecting 2020, because… maj’ year for everybody, amirite?)

5. After that, choose the house system (I didn’t adjust this… Placidus ftw ✊🏻)

6. Et voilá—on the next page, you get a list of dates for every change of sign / house your Progressed Moon makes! 🌙✨

7. To see the actual chart, click the orange hyperlink to the far right, labelled “chart”

8. On the page displaying the chart, you can toggle to compare your birth and progressed chart, or just look at your progressions alone, or even just refer to an aspects table, it’s literally everything right at your fingertips, EVERYTHING IS BECOMING WONDERFUL! ✨✨✨

HINT 1 > Find or create space to collate and compare your research about your Progressed Moon. You might want to integrate it with your journal, diary, or planner-system to compare what the Internet astrologers believe your Progressed Moon says about your concerns, pangs, urges, intuitions, and dream-life. 

You can basically take a screenshot of or download the chart, but I suggest writing it out in your little astrology grimoire ✨, or typing it into a spreadsheet that also stores all your upcoming transits alongside seasonal and administrative calendars (or however you organize your life). 💫

(Want tips and a free spreadsheet template for organizing your transits? Visit my post about learning to read your transit charts. ☺️💫)

HINT 2 > If you click a chart, and notice that your Moon will soon progress over an angle or natal planet, reverse back to the input page, and select “Conjunctions with all Natal Planets and Angles” from the dropdown menu. This will produce a different list of dates and links to charts showing when the Progressed Moon will pass over that planet or angle specifically. ✅👍🏻

HINT 3 > Want to see the phase of your Moon’s progress? I’ll unpack the meaning and use of your Progressed Moon Phase below ✨, but if you’re curious to find out, revisit the data input page, and select “8-Fold Lunation Cycle” from the dropdown menu. You’ll see a totally different list and visuals, but basically displaying where / when your Progressed Moon will wax and wane along your chart.

THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO NOTICE ABOUT YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌙⏰ >

• When your Moon progresses into a new sign or house

• When your Moon progresses upon a planet (natal or also progressing ✨)

• When your Moon progresses over one of your angles (Ascendant-Descendent, Midheaven-Nadir)

• When your Progressed Moon changes phases ✨

In the next section, I’ll explain how to figure out each of these elements in your Progressed Moon placement. ✨

HOW TO INTERPRET YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌙✨>

OKAY, so… now that we know where + how to get the charts, we’ll focus on interpreting them.

This is where delineating your Progressed Moon can get unwieldy and complex (especially the way eye do it 😌).

I’m going to basically guide you step-by-step through reading the actual charts, and you’ll probably flip back ‘n forth between a couple-few of them. You’ll need to pull on all your astro-knowledge about signs and aspects, as well.

DON’T FREAK OUT THO, because this might be the only time you really do this kind of intensive research on your Progressed Moon. Once you know the lay of the land, and how to combine the various elements (sign, house, aspects, phases, and dates, oh my 😵‍💫), you’ll be able to look up your’s or anyone else’s Progressed Moon and know what’s up at-a-glance.

I’ll also link to other astrologers and Internet witches to help you make meaning out of your current Progressed Moon placement, and then share a few of my own observations about the micro-changes in my own life correlating with my Progressed Moon, to give you an idea of how it “functions” in your psyche, and how you might use its rad insight! 🤩🥰

🌟 FIRST, IDENTIFY YOUR PROGRESSED MOON SIGN AND HOUSE >

If you’re using the Astro-Seek Progressed Moon calculator, you’ll be presented with a list of dates showing when your Moon will progress into new signs, or houses.

You can see that my Moon “ingressed” into Aries in March 2020. When you see the Moon (or any planet) at 0° of any sign, it indicates that planet as juuust squeaked into the sign.

By March 2021, a whole year after my Moon progressed into Aries, I felt that somatic-fever refocus itself on my rhythm and routines (I share all my crib notes about this transition below).

What I immediately recall about that time (…aside from… y’know, the pandemic 😳), was feeling angry-hot all the time, as though I’d entered a tunnel of wildfire. I remember waking up hawt and achey every night around 11PM, snarled up in sweaty bedsheets, feeling as though all the collagen was melting out of my joints, and soaking into the Tempurpedic mattress.

And then I’d stay awake until sunrise taking personality quizzes on my phone and texting my friends Lady Gaga lyrics and Donnie Darko memes… 🔥

“When our Progressed Moon enters a new sign – we take on a ‘new skin’ or go through a new phase.

Each skin we are in is very similar to the traits of each of the 12 signs of the zodiac. After a 24 year period, we’ll have made it through each of the signs – gaining experiences from each ‘skin’ we were in. ”

— Crystal B. Astrology, “Finding Your Progressed Moon: What Skin Are You In?”

REMEMBER, the Moon progresses about 1° per month, and spends about 2 1/2 years in a sign and house. The sign of your Progressed Moon describes the tenor or tempo of your inner life for those 2.5 years, while the house describes the matters and environment you will feel most concerned with, or fixated on. Your Moon might progress into a sign before entering a new house, or vice versa, like my Moon progressing into Aries a whole year earlier than progressing into a new house (the sixth).

“The house position of the progressed moon indicates, among other things, that we are becoming aware of that area of our life and that field of experience. We will be attracted to it unconsciously. The mind will not stop thinking about it. We will have to pay close attention to that area of experience during the time that the progressed moon is there: about two and half years, more or less.”

— Dane Rudhyar, “The Astrology of Transformation, ch. 8 Progressions and Transits”

You’ll have to peek at the actual charts (one showing when the Moon progresses into a new sign, the other showing when she progresses into a new house ✨) to see the difference (just click the orange hyperlinks on the right-hand side ✅).

WANT TO SEE YOUR MOON MOON ON THE ACTUAL CHART? > Click the orange hyperlink labelled “chart.” Your natal Moon will be blue and on the inside of the wheel, while your progressions will be orange and on the outside. 

HINT > Backtrack to the data entry page and select either “Into 12 Zodiac Signs” and “Into Natal Houses”, or toggle between the two, to see the full scope. 👍🏻

BECAUSE I LOVE YOU + WANT YOU TO SUCCEED AT ASTROLOGY  🙌🏻 💕 > I’m going to copy ‘n paste a radically-good description of the Progressed Moon through the Houses here, supplied by Dane Rudhyar in his book The Astrology of Transformation, which you can read the entirety of by following that link (enjoy ☺️).

There’s links to more resources to help you get dialed in on the “skin” and “turf” your Moon is progressing through below. ✨

“In the first house (♈️), a person tends to experience the results of being-an-individual; in the second (♉️), that of having to use and manage resources or possessions — and, more deeply still, the experience of ‘potency’ or lack of potency in any field.

As the progressed Moon passes through the third house (♊️), a person would do well to focus his or her attention on problems dealing with the family environment, the neighborhood or matters concerning a learning situation — and as the progressed Moon crosses the I. C. into the fourth house (♋️), the focus should shift to defining one’s personal space, whether in a physical or psychospiritual sense. This includes matters concerning one’s place in one’s home and/or country, and one’s relation to the parent who most deeply affects the roots of one’s feeling nature.

The fifth house (♌️) refers to experiences resulting from desiring to be or seeing oneself multiplied in a biological or psychological progeny; the sixth house (♍️) to the realization that it is necessary, willingly or not, to fit into some kind of sociocultural or interpersonal pattern of development — and often of ‘service’ at whatever level service may be asked of the person.

The seventh house (♎️) is the field of experiences produced by associating with, or merging one’s identity into, the life of another or several partners for an implicit common purpose. In the eighth house (♏️), a person experiences the results of partnership in terms of set patterns of social or ‘occult’ activities; this is the house of business (the result of contractual agreements), and of communal rituals (whether sociocultural or religious), in which a number of people participate.

As the progressed Moon passes through the ninth house (♐️), a person would do well to focus on the opportunities to expand and to fit, more meaningfully or successfully, into either legalistic, intellectual-academic, or religious-cosmic patterns. This should lead to a more significant or valuable type of participation in one’s community or nation — thus to professional or public experiences adding a larger dimension to one’s field of activity; all of which relates to the tenth house (♑️).

In the eleventh house (♒️), this tenth house type of participation will show its results — as various kinds of social and cultural enjoyments and entertainment, or as frustration and experiences of revolt or transformative activity. In the twelfth house (♓️), the results of an entire cycle of experience have to be concentrated upon, accounts should be closed, and a person should prepare to enter a new cycle, perhaps at a higher level of consciousness.”

— Dane Rudhyar, “The Astrology of Transformation, ch. 8 Progressions and Transits”

Go here for descriptions of the Progressed Moon through the Signs, and compare to Dark Pixie Astrology’s descriptions of the Progressed Moon through both the Signs and Houses. ✨

Also, if you’re focusing on the Houses, check out The 12 Houses of the Horoscope: Themes and Issues of Each, and balance it against Bustle’s Ultimate Guide to the Twelve Houses in Astrology. ✌🏻

ALSO also, do you have any intercepted houses, where a couple of the houses on your natal chart engulfs an entire zodiac sign (and its opposite sign)? Read more about that here. ✨

🌟 NEXT, CHECK UP ON ASPECTS TO YOUR PROGRESSED MOON >

Aspects describe the relationship between planets in a chart, whether the vibes are hostile or amicable.

With progressions, aspects also dictate timing. ⏰

For the Progressed Moon in particular, aspects to other planets can draw certain archetypes towards us, as though our “secret” Moon were craving that quality. We unconsciously attract people and situations representing that planet and its energy.

TO HONE IN ON ASPECTS > Select which chart you want to peek at, whether it’s when your Moon progressed into a new sign or into a new house, and click the orange hyperlink on the same line (scroll up for an image of where you’re clicking).

When the chart is displayed, click the tab furthest to the right labelled, “Aspect tables.” You’ll see a graph comparing each progressed planet’s aspect(s) to each of your natal planets.

Your progressions (orange, top) will be compared to your natal planets (blue, left-hand side). Those black, emphasized boxes indicate exact aspects. Exact aspects matter most. This means that your Moon is within 1 - 2° of another planet.

HINT > You’ll need to be familiar with the annotation for the aspects (for example, ☌ = “conjunction”). This article shows you how to interpret aspects, plus how to recognize the symbols you’re seeing in the Aspect Table. ✅

IN GENERAL, trines and sextiles are considered harmonious or “easy” relationships, while squares and oppositions are considered challenging or “hard”.

IN PARTICULAR, especially with progressions ✨, conjunctions are considered both harmonious and challenging. Conjunctions are where you really feel and attune to what’s connecting with your Moon, because the Moon internalizes the energies and environment it connects with.

“Harmonious aspects of the progressed Moon indicate periods when one feels natural or comfortable in the areas of life affected. Challenging aspects indicate periods of time when we feel that our natural responses do not bring us what we want in the affected areas.”

— CafeAstrology, “Progressed Moon’s Aspects”

Basically, whatever our Progressed Moon is in contact with becomes a deep-felt experience. Our progressions feel palpable, but in a vague, interior way, as though we’re tonguing a cavity, or digging our toes in the sand.

Like—even without knowing your Moon has progressed upon another planet, the intuitive-feeling is similar to coming home to your apartment, and sensing as soon as you’ve opened the door that your roommate has a guest in her bedroom… 🧐💡

when your progressed moon conjuncts a planet or angle, you’re essentially looking at one or two months window of time 🌙✨ >

• One month as the Moon progresses towards the planet (coming within an “exact aspect” or 0-1° orb)…

• And one month as Moon progresses away from the planet. 

REMEMBER, our Moon progresses 1° per month, meaning that the aspect formed with another planet is fleeting. Not as fleeting as when a swift, transiting planet comes upon our Moon (such as the Sun, Venus, Mercury, or transiting Moon, all of which only last a few days), but more fleeting than a long-term transit (such as Jupiter, Saturn, or one of the Outer Planets). 💫

WHAT ARE “ORBS”, THO? 🤔 > “Orbs” represent the distance between planets (and asteroids, math points, etc.). Astrologers might consider 5-7° orbs between planets on a natal chart, but only 1-2° orbs for progressions, otherwise you’re factoring in influences that might be hella dayz away from registering or having an impact. 🤷🏻‍♀️

SO, if you’re casting a chart and notice your Moon has progressed within a 4° orb of your Venus, you’re still about three months away from feelin’ it (but werk it anyway).

Sometimes archetypes of the planets in aspect to our Progressed Moon show up as actual people, but in my (limited) experience, they don’t stick around. They might deliver a message (Mercury) or mirror our inner conflict (Mars), but it’s slippery, almost dream-like. 🦄

SO, if you see your Progressed Moon forming an exact aspect to one of your other planets (natal or progressed), that planet is part of your world…

REMEMBER THO, ONLY FOR ABOUT 1-2 MONTHS! ⏱

And mostly in a surreal way that won’t be easy to translate to your friends, family, and fans.

also note if any transiting planets are in the same sign, and same degree°, of your progressed moon. 🌙✨

Transits impact our lives as events. Unless it involves a transiting planet, that experience described in our secondary progressions might not have any kind of correlating event or impact.

Like—the contact that happens between our Progressed Moon and other progressed planets might be totally subconscious, private, something we tune into during meditation, introspection, creative flow, or during our nighttime dreams. ☁️✨

How might we feel about the aspect? Depends on its nature. Sextiles and trines might feel inspiring or coaxing, while squares and oppositions feel more agitating. We might interpret squares to our Progressed Moon as a type of inflammation, or scratchiness somewhere in our somatic awareness.

Document real-life events (whether in your true-life experience or via news headlines) that you can revisit and review later on, after your Moon has progressed away (or the transiting planet has moved on).

HINT > Planet Watcher will show you what’s goin’ down right now, while this Astro-Seek calculator will show you a chart combining your natal, progressions, and current transits! 🤩

SO, is your Progressed Moon aspecting any of your natal planets?

Which planets?

What kind of aspects? …are they exact?

REMEMBER… prioritize exact conjunctions (0 - 1°) to your Progression Moon, and if you notice another planet in the mix, pay close attention to archetypes related to that planet that might show up on the scene, as well as any current transiting planets that might be moving across that conjunction in your progressions, and note real-life events. ✅

This Astro Library database links you to summaries for aspects amongst all your progressions, which you can compare to this introduction astrology aspects on the Cosmo blog, as well as to this overview on CafeAstrology. 🌟

And go here to learn more about aspects between your Progressed Moon and natal planets. 🌙🪐

🌟 AFTER NOTING THE SIGN ✅, HOUSE ✅, AND ASPECTS ✅, NOTE THE PHASE OF YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌖🌘✨>

OKAY, now we’re switching over to the Astro-Seek Progressed Lunation 8 Lunar Phases Calculator. ✨ This is pretty much the same calculator we’ve been using, but with “8-fold Lunation Cycle (moon only)” pre-selected from the dropdown menu. This calculator displays the date, links to transit charts, and a visual map of where your natal chart your Progressed Moon will switch phases. ✅

Your Progressed Moon phase basically describes how dilated your inner eye might be (whether ample or tight) for 2-3 year increments of your life. A crescent phase (when the Moon is a sliver) feels quieter, emptied out, while a last quarter phase (when the moon is about halfway between full and new) feels like dissolution, as though losing effervescence, or dialing down.

Your Progressed Moon goes through about 8 phases, lasting about three years in each phase. Each phase unfolds within a quadrant of your chart, with each quadrant encompassing about 3 signs and houses. It takes about 30 years to experience all 8 Lunar Phases, as the Moon progresses ahead, around, and behind the Sun.

Thus, each phase then sort of frames the illumination and exchange between the Sun and Moon in your progressed chart.

Or basically, the phase of your Progressed Moon illustrates the manifold of your most nonverbal, most subliminal self-awareness.

how to find out your current progressed moon phase 🌓🌕🌗  >

1. Hit up the the Astro-Seek Progressed Lunation 8 Lunar Phases Calculator, and enter your birth data. (Or just reverse back to the Astro Seek Progressed Moon Calendar input page, and select “8-Fold Lunation Cycle (Moon Only)” from the dropdown menu.)

2. On the next page, Astro-Seek will display the dates and links to charts of each phase change your Progressed Moon will undergo. 🤩🎉

3. On the furtherest right-hand side, you’ll notice links to charts that will show the transits that will be current as your Progressed Moon changes phase. Click to see the charts of when your Moon changes phase, and see if it yields clues about what will be going down in your life.

ONCE CALCULATED, take stock. Note the dates, phase, sign, and house where your Progressed Moon will change phases. ✅

Pick a date when your Progressed Moon changed or will change phases, and click to see the chart.

Once you have the chart, what aspects do you spot? Does the Progressed Moon form a “hard” (square or opposition) aspect to another planet? What are the energies of those planets? Are they natal, transiting, or a progression?

(HINT > Click on the tab labelled “Aspect table” to see the annotation instead of trying to discern the aspects from the cross-crossing lines. at the center of the chart. ✅)

What are the themes of the planets aspecting your Progressed Moon? Peek at the zodiac signs of your Moon and the planets aspecting her.

BUT WHAT DO THE PHASES MEAN?? > Your Progressed Moon phase tells you how pronounced its conditions might be in your psyche, whether dialed up (full moon) or dialed down (new moon).

there are eight phases in the moon cycle 🌓🌕🌗 >

(JUST FYI > These are copy ‘n pasted from my post The Truth About Your Moon. 😁)

🌑 PROGRESSED NEW MOON, 0 - 45°  > Just noticing something out of place, but not recognizing that it’s a clue. Sensing a stranger is about to arrive in town. Pregnant pause. Fresh new whims. Omens everywhere.

🌒 PROGRESSED WAXING CRESCENT, 45 - 90°  > Sudden pursuits. White rabbits to chase, flinging yourself down rabbit holes. Gathering momentum, pluck. 

🌓 PROGRESSED FIRST QUARTER, 90 - 135° > Showing up, meeting the resistance, learning the stakes. Passivity will be challenged by adversarial viewpoints and thought-provoking circumstances. Keeping the faith.

🌔 PROGRESSED WAXING GIBBOUS, 135 - 180° > Launch mode. Crystallization. Serendipity. Thunder cats GO!

🌕 PROGRESSED FULL MOON, 180 - 225° > Ripening. Fate. It’s all happening. From Steven Forrest: “Depending on our natures, this may happen on a grand scale or a modest one—and much of that depends on the nature of the original vision.” Stuff gets mystical and momentous for the 3-ish years you’re in this phase.

🌖 PROGRESSED WANING GIBBOUS, 225 - 270° > Waning motivation, interest, fervor. Clutter descends. Starting to take its toll. Gifting your final performances to the allies accrued during the hype and visionary ascent. Farming out what you worked like hell to cultivate. Take it, it’s your’s. I remember when… and at this point, you could make use of it than me.

🌗 PROGRESSED LAST QUARTER, 270 - 315° > Tired performance. Release waivers. Tying up loose ends. Johnny Cash playing Nine Inch Nails on an acoustic guitar. Delegating final touches. Last words. Leave it with my apprentice. What does it all mean now? Where will it all end up? Reparations, final handshakes. Sweet sorrow. Clarity.

🌘 PROGRESSED WANING CRESCENT, 316 - 360° > Witnessing. Waiting for inspiration, the miracle. Disintegration, becoming indistinguishable. Watching the world go by. Longer, lingering goodbyes. Delays, waiting games. Total eclipse of the heart. Amen.

Pay attention to when your Moon will be progressing through a NEW or FULL Moon Phase 🌑🌕, denoting important changes along the lines of new beginnings and culminations, as well as the QUARTER Moon phase, as this denotes a quickening (first quarter 🌓) or winding down (last quarter 🌗). Each phase lasts for about three and a half years.

🌟 WHEN THE SUN + MOON ARE CONJUNCT (SIDE-BY-SIDE), IT SIGNIFIES A NEW MOON PHASE > Newer, “dark” Moon phases (0 - 90 degrees) reflect the least about of Sun, offer the least amount of zest, but the stillest environment, heightening our inner awareness, making subtle motion and indicators the most noticeable, and most likely to surface in our consciousness.

🌟 WHEN THE SUN + MOON “OPPOSE” EACH OTHER, OR CAN SEE EACH OTHER IN FULL VIEW ACROSS YOUR CHART, IT SIGNIFIES A FULL MOON PHASE > Waxing and Fuller Moons (180 - 0 degrees) reflect the most and brightest light for inner focus, into nooks and crannies, illuminating possibilities formerly shaded by the nooks and creases of our psyche.

HINT > Enter your birth data into the Astro-Seek Progressed Full + New Moon Calculator to see a display, along with a list of dates with links to charts showing when your Progressed Moon will become full or new. 

Obviously, it’s a much smaller list, and you can use this calculator if you’re more focused on just finding out the most momentous phase changes. ✅

REMEMBER, phases are determined by the Moon’s relationship with the Sun, and suggests how “powerful” or luminous her position is. The Moon progresses about 12° a year, while the Sun progresses about 1° per year. This is why it’s not a bad idea to peek at what’s up with your Progressed Sun for a wider perspective on the conditions of your Progressed Moon (I link below to some resources to get you started). 🌻🌙

“The phases happen at different times in everyone’s life, depending on what phase the Moon was in when they were born. For example, someone born during a Full Moon will jump right into the Waning half of their cycle, while someone born on a Crescent Moon will begin life with their Moon growing brighter (Waxing). Exactly how each phase plays out depends on what sign and house the Progressed Moon is in. But there is a general theme to each phase, no matter where it occurs in your chart.”

— Sasstrology, “Your Personal Lunar Phases: The Cycle of Your Relationships”

OBVIOUSLY, none of the Moon’s phases (whether progressed or transiting) is better or more useful than the others, but the phase that feels most natural might be closest to your birth moon phase. Think of your birth moon phase as a descriptor of your natural set-point, and that you’ll always be primed to settle in or develop from that particular mood setting.

Compare to your current Progressed Moon phase for clues about where or how you might feel a bit wonky, if not totally on point (which we’re about to do in the next section ✨). Googling about the Moon phases’ affects can help you find questions and activities for calibration.

Go here for full summaries of your current Progressed Moon phase, and then compare to this other article’s summaries for a full picture. 

Go here to learn more about the Progressed Sun, and apply to Nic’s insight about interpreting your Progressed Sun.🌻⏰

🌟 FINALLY, COMPARE YOUR PROGRESSED MOON TO YOUR NATAL MOON 🌙 >

NOTE > Your Progressed Moon doesn’t replace the core temperament, needs and desires, luminosity, or past-life stuff represented by your natal Moon. 

Our secondary progressions do not change our source or potential. ❌

Progressions must always be read in reference to your natal chart. ✅

Your natal Moon is your native temperament, while your Progressed Moon describes your current mood-scape. Even if you’ve evolved far beyond the wants and needs described by your natal Moon, your progressing Moon hasn’t forgotten.

After all, our Moon holds our memory. 💁🏻‍♀️

NOTE > You’ll want to be familiar with the conditions of your natal Moon: sign, house, aspects, and your birthday moon phase. Go here to learn more about delineating your natal Moon. ✨

how do we compare a progressed moon to a natal moon? 🌙✨ >

Because we’re comparing two different Moons (natal + progressed ✨), we’ll do what Stephen Arroyo advises for basic chart comparison (similar to what we do in synastry ✨): blending the Moons’ elements. 🌿💧🔥🪶

How do we find out the Moons’ elements? By comparing their zodiac signs, as well as the signs that are native to the houses they’re in.

You’ll also want a grasp of the elements and modes of the zodiac signs… not every sign, but the ones that are in the mix right now. I link to some articles below, but if you need a refresher, start here. ✨

We also want to account for the element and mode of the sign that is native to the house our Moon is progressing through. For that, you’ll want to reference the natural horoscope, a.k.a. “god’s” natal chart, showing all the planets in their native signs, and the houses where those signs belong. This article has more intel about the natural horoscope. ✨

THIS IS THE NATURAL HOROSCOPE > You basically just align Aries on the First House, Taurus on the Second House, Gemini on the Third House, etc… ♈️♉️♊️

No matter the zodiac signs lined up against them (whether in a natal, transit, or progressed chart ✨), these houses naturally and energetically align with their native signs. ✅

• First consider the element and mode of your Progressed Moon sign

• Next, consider the element and mode of the sign that is native to your Progressed Moon house

For me, my progressed Moon is in Aries would be cardinal fire 🔥 (a.k.a. the element + mode of Aries ♈️), combined with mutable earth 🌿,  a.k.a. the element + mode of Virgo (sixth house of the natural horoscope ♍️).

AND THEN, compare that to your NATAL Moon….

• First consider he element and mode of your Natal Moon sign 

• Next, consider the element and mode of your Natal Moon house (according to the natural horoscope)

For me, my natal Moon is in Capricorn (☌ Neptune) in my Third House (kindred, interconnection, primary understanding). ♑️(♊️)

My natal Moon is cardinal earth ⛰ (a.k.a. the element + mode of Capricorn ♑️), combined with mutable air 🪶, a.k.a. the element + mode of Gemini (third house of the natural horoscope ♊️).

FOR ME, my Progressed Moon is in Aries (cardinal fire 🔥) and my Sixth House, native to Virgo (mutable earth 🌿). Moons progressing through Aries can expect a burning off, while Moons progressing through Virgo can expect a calibration of the systems governing minutiae.

Basically, no matter the house, Aries brings the theme of identity, and no matter the sign, the Sixth House governs how we self-regulate.

WITH ARIES ON MY SIXTH HOUSE ♈️💕, this will be an identity detox, concerned about refining who I am in the overall functioning of my life. 

Compared to my natal Moon, Aries ♈️ has set flame (aries = cardinal air 🔥) to my rocky-soiled emotional core (natal moon in capricorn ♑️🪨)…

…spotlighting and purging temperamental weaknesses incoherent with my Best Life (a.k.a. sixth house territory).  ♍️🪨🔥

OBVIOUSLY, you might want to review the elements + modes of the zodiac signs, and apply a bit of analytical intuition to feel out how each sign interrelates with the others. Here’s The Cut’s “How to Understand Every Zodiac Sign by Element”, to compare with Astro Style’s version of the same, and also Well + Good’s write up.

IF IT GETS TOO COMPLICATED 😣, ditch this, and ask Google. 💁🏻‍♀️

In fact, in the next section, I’ll present how I’ve collated articles from Google to understand mental, emotional, and functional pivots in my life coinciding with my Progressed Moon’s changing signs and houses.

Again, go here to learn more about delineating your natal Moon ✨, including how to interpret its sign, house, and aspects to your other planets. Even if she’s no longer aspecting those planets (or the nature of those aspects have changed), you’ll have insight into how your Moon defaults to those old patterns and dynamics despite her current progress.

For more examples of blending the elements and modes of planets-in-their-signs for comparison, revisit my (amateur) tutorial on synastry, where I compare the elements and modes between a random barista’s and mine’s Moons. 😊✨

HINT > Your Moon progresses back to her natal placement every 27ish years, basically revisiting (many) of her original conditions, unless faster-moving planets in close aspect have progressed away.

Under “More Resources” below, I have links to articles about your Progressed Lunar Returns, and subscribe to my newsletter to find out when my tutorial on the subject goes live! 🤩

Also, because it plays such a vital role in your Progressed Moon, here’s the link again to find and learn more about your birth Moon phase 🌙🎈

CRIB NOTES WHILE MY MOON PROGRESSES ARIES ♈️ + MY SIXTH HOUSE…

(INCLUDING ADVICE FROM GOOGLE WITCHES 🌟) >

OKAY SO, totally coincidental (I didn’t know about progressions yet ✨), but around the time my Moon progressed into into Aries (March 2020*), I quit Netflix.

(*Kind of funny, because that’s when the COVID lockdown hit, so while everyone was perfecting their #NetflixandChill, I was, like, Kevin Spacey in American Beauty trading in his sedan and pumping iron in his garage… 🤔🕊).

And when my Moon shifted into my Sixth House (March 2021), I quit my marriage.

There were actual true-life events prompting those decisions (🤐), but something had definitely shifted, like a Jenga tower (made of woe and delusion) finally collapsing.

And I was just… so… sick… of…

…coping. 🤢😒

Or rather, sick of relying on short-term palliatives to feel better about long-enduring dissatisfaction.

I felt like I was coming out of anesthesia (my moon leaving Pisces and entering Aries… ♓️♈️).

My Moon progressing into Aries may articulate my super unconscious mood shift, but not the outer events that were also happening in my life, which are better articulated by how transiting planets were impacting my chart.

My Sun, Jupiter, annnd North Node are in Aries. While my Moon progressed over my North Node, transiting Saturn was simultaneously scooting back and forth over my Nadir, the bottom-most angle of my natal chart. I got some surprise news that lit-er-all-lee pulled the rug out from under me (😓), while transiting Chiron (“soul wound”, “soul teacher”) came conjunct my North Node, and opposite my South Node, which is in Libra (“harmony”, “partnership”).

BASICALLY, all these little “astro moments” happened to coincide with pivotal mood-shifts, staging a couple major, recent turning points in my life. 👍🏻

REMEMBER, though it represents your ultimate source and potential, your natal chart isn't doing anything. Your natal chart is like your genome, housing all of our species’ genetic potential, refined and calibrated by your parents’ specific sexual alchemy…

…but… like… it’s not doing much at the moment… 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

Your natal chart is just kind of storing everything…

…until triggered. 😳🎯

Since I started hardcore tracking transits (circa June 10th, 2021 🌗✨), I’ve found that each event that has happened in my life can be traced back to an interplanetary gyration.

Since learning about my Progressed Moon specifically, I’ve been able to trace the arc of my moods, almost like tracking period symptoms over time. 🩸

Transits, especially correlating with our life cycles (Saturn transits, Nodal Returns, Progressed Lunar Returns, et. al….) definitely seem to coincide with external “triggers” or events that can force us to make decisions (such as Saturn transiting my Nadir and receiving that jarring email… 😓)…

…but our Progressed Moon, seems to be the trigger agent, the element in the astrological system that can make bad news seep in and become real…

…as in, flipping a switch, creating the thoughts and feelings that precede a pivotal decision.

Transits and progressions are basically epigenetics. 💁🏻‍♀️

WE. ARE NOT. CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

We are only… manipulating it. 👐🏻✨

Erstwhile, based on where my Moon is progressing (Aries, my Sixth House ♈️🌿), my mood and fixations have centered on a “lifestyle colonic”, clearing out the mucus and dross and plaque, erstwhile external events and people and other transit-coincidental “trigger moments” continue to present new twists, creases, and revelatory unpacking moments.

some other “random” stuff that coincided with my moon progressing into aries / my sixth house 🌙♈️♍️ >

🌟 FINDING A SUPPORT GROUP + DOING RECOVERY WORK ✊🏻 >

I started going to CODA, a.k.a. “Codependents Anonymous” (start here: "Patterns and Characteristics of Codependents"), and honing in on steps #5 and #10 ("admitting to wrongs" and “continue taking personal inventory”, see the rest ✨).

WHAT EXACTLY IS “CODEPENDENCY”? > Being a codependent is like being a child in an adult’s body. If you were abused or manipulated as a child, you’ll seek and repeat those same dynamics with other adults.

And here’s the thing. YOU, the codependent, will still be responsible for that car payment, that cancelled job, that ruined marriage, those kids, and your own reputation.

Annnd… you will still feel ashamed, lonely, and angry…

…as well as powerless over the circumstances of your life.

You feel crappy and powerless, and thus… seek another, more confident, more majestic person to serve and harmonize with, hoping that by enabling them, they’ll return the favor, and help parent you through your tragic foibles.

Codependency is undergirded by an inability to regulate your own moods and emotions. You feel angry and embarrassed about your debt, so you jump into Tinder, or start DM’ing your exes over IG. You feel burned out and scared, so you’re hitting up Rite Aid for that “better priced” Ben & Jerry’s and curling up with a 90s TV series you’ve already streamed.

Basically, being codependent is feeling incapable of having any useful or healthful impact on your life conditions, and validation-seeking in the form of parental-like affection and comfort.

WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING CODEPENDENT ON TOXIC LOVE? 🤔 > “It’s like eating ice cream when you’re thirsty. It can feel good for a time, but ultimately this approach leaves us wanting. In codependency, you feel your life force draining, and you stay anyway, because ‘you love him.’” 🙋🏻‍♀️😓

If you had told me ten years ago that I was a codependent and sabotaging opportunities and other relationships in order to elevate the significance I felt about a toxic relationship I was in, I would have shoved you out of the car and left you standing on the side of the road. 🚙💨

With a group like CODA, I’m realizing that my insecurities, bad habits, and gross inter-personal relationships are not special, but symptomatic of a deeper issue, something fetid and gnarled up in the living tissue of my psyche…

…and that literally nobody can protect me from it, because it’s inside me. 😱

So, CODA has been rad (👍🏻), especially in combination with the two other therapeutic endeavors I’m about to roll out….

🌟 ENERGY MEDICINE, SPECIFICALLY, “BIO-TUNING” 🧘🏻‍♀️>

By a twist of fate (😉) I started receiving totally free bio tuning sessions with my Lunar-Jupiterian friend Moira… 🌙🕊

(…beginning, coincidentally, on a Friday when transiting Chiron was exact-conjunct my North Node and exact-conjunct Moira's Midheaven… 😳🤯🤩)

WHAT THA’  HECK IS “BIO TUNING”? 🤔 > "Biofield tuning is an energy therapy that uses sound to bring balance to all dimensions of your health. Using specific tones generated through tuning forks, this therapy clears congestion and stress in your energy field, also known as your biofield. Your biofield is the energetic blueprint of the physical, mental and emotional aspects of your health. It envelopes you and is embedded within every cell and particle of your body."

SO BASICALLY…. it’s magic. ✨ Moira uses the reverberative-sound created from waving tuning forks around my body to identify pain points in my auric field, and then, without any physical contact (mostly), rings chimes and claps together cymbals to soothe and sculpt those areas as though they were play-doh.

After the first session, I cried my eyes out on Moira's bed, then went home and rearranged all the furniture in my house, and didn’t take an edible (Pomegranate-flavored Wyld 1:1s THC: CBD Sativa-Enhanced Hybrid Gummies ☢️) for TWO AND A HALF DAYS… the longest amount of time since I haven’t vaped or eaten edibles since… like… I was pregnant with my daughter (circa 2019 😓).

I also had a weird moment a few hours after the first session where it felt as though I'd dunked my head in kerosene and lit it on fire... it felt like the mercury fillings were melting out of my back molars. 😩😮‍💨

I’ve been returning to Moira for another session every week and a half while she logs hours (+ bodies) for her certification exam, and although I leave the sessions feeling like that super-charged crystal in Iron Man's chest (💪🏻), they haven't felt as intense as that first one.

If I've piqued your curiosity, check out Eileen Day McKusick’s Electric Body, Electric Health.

Also, shout outs to  Adrienne’s Detox and Reset yoga tutorial and 9th Limb Yoga (Morro Bay, CA), as well as Donna Eden’s Energy Medicine for Women for complementing Moira's work. 🙏🏻🌀

🌟 THE ENNEAGRAM + INNER CHILD THERAPY 🦋 >

This section is about the type of therapy I went into after my divorce. I started cognitive talk therapy with an Enneagram-certified facilitator. I got super lucky that SLO county has one credentialed therapist who uses the system, which I find helpful for helping me name and break down my emotional-defense-system. (Hi, I’m a Self-Preservation Four. 💁🏻‍♀️)

WHAT IS THE ENNEAGRAM THO? 🤔 > The Enneagram is a personality typing system that describes 9 patterns for interpreting the world and managing emotions. Each personality type lands somewhere on a nine-pointed diagram. For optimum emotional regulation, you’d want to be able to flow from one point to the next. Your Enneagram type reveals where you get stuck on that optimal emotional flow.

I discovered the Enneagram by accident through the Personality Hacker podcast, where I used to go for intel about applying the Meyers-Briggs personality system as a self-help tool. Sometime in 2020, the podcast interviewed Dr. Beatrice Chestnut, who specializes in applying the Enneagram in therapeutic and team-building settings. She explained the hella fucking occult history of the Enneagram, as well as the way that our “emotional defense system” operates as a foil in our personality.

The Enneagram helps me identify this defense system I’m walking around with (…you, too 😉), how that system protects me from re-experiencing a particular kind of emotional pain, and how that system also works against me… in particular, hijacking my intuition regarding what is “safe”, and subverting emotional growth.

Basically, your Enneagram type is an adaptation, a way of coping with emotional turmoil, and the “better” it works, the more difficult it is trying to heal and resolve emotional suffering.

Once wading into talk therapy with the Enneagram (where we use the Enneagram to articulate and dialogue about my triggers and defenses), I discovered this totally rad book combining the Enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, and inner child therapy (not the same as talk therapy), which has a couple badass, self-directed exercises for revisiting (and getting hands on) with old memories where my janky coping skills were adapted.

WHAT IS “INNER CHILD WORK”, THO? 🤔 > Inner child work endeavors to bypass your rational, cognitive, story-telling brain with activities that engage your body and senses…. or basically, the part of you that was most alive during childhood, prior to the development of your personality.

“[C]oping skills that were necessary to survive childhood are brought, fully operational, into adulthood. Dangerous territory to say the least. These coping devices are outmoded and often contradictory to who we want to be. However, after many, many years of living defended it is hard to realize there are alternatives. Even when psychologists and religious figures point out there is a better way, more than likely we are without a clue as to how to access that part of ourselves.” 😒😣🥺

From Three Keys to Self-Understanding: An Innovative and Effective Combination of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment Tool, the Enneagram, and Inner-Child Healing, where the author-therapist, Pay Wyman, describes guiding her patient "Reilley" through a visualization:

“I invited her to close her eyes and go back in her mind to the house in which she was raised. I asked her to imagine entering that house as the adult she is today. By asking her to note sights, colors, smells, textures and other sensory data that would compel her to completely enter the imagery, I anchored her in the experience.

I suggested that she move through the house until she found her inner child, age five, alone in the house that was devoid of furniture and carpeting. I encouraged her to enter into a dialogue with the child. Although she was willing, she found herself having trouble making eye contact with the child and could not touch her. I suggested she leave the child a gift by which to remember her and as a promise that she would be back. Reilley decided to leave the child ‘a jam box’ for ‘tunage’ because she knew the child was lonely and liked music.

We processed this experience, and I encouraged her to allow any feelings that came during imagery to surface because it is through feelings that we can trace the threads back to their origins and disconnect them.”

Did you ever seeThe Cell(1998), where JLo portrays a child psychologist who uses a futuristic hypnotic device to enter the psyche of a comatose serial killer (in order to find out the whereabouts of his last hidden victim), and is sidelined trying to rescue his inner child from the psychopathic monster of his adult-self as he stalks her through his tortured psyche…?

Like—in Wyman’s visualization technique, I was basically JLo (but on an hypnotic jaunt through my own abysmal psyche), and the experience felt so real, it became an actual memory (and my outfit was hella cute 💁🏻‍♀️), so… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*.

(*PRO TIP: Have a little hot chocolate and a weighted blanket waiting for you when you come out of it. 👌🏻)

Other recommended reading: The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut, but definitely also check out this book combining the Ennea, Meyers-Briggs, and Inner Child work, which I just quoted above, and kinda-sorta reads like a textbook for psych grads, but you can totally use in combination with other types of therapy. 👍🏻

if you’re also having a progressed moon in aries / the sixth house moment, please consider these other articles 💁🏻‍♀️✨>

• THE MOST VIRGO HEADLINE I’VE EVER READ ♍️> "Can You Have It All? Yes. The Secret is in Your Hormones." Pair with “Cycle Syncing with Herbs and Supplements", and also, "How to Biohack Your Orgasm" ☺️✨

• CONTINGENT WITH THAT 💫 > Start accounting for your Infradian Rhythm. ✅ "The infradian rhythm is one of your body’s two internal time keepers. (The other timekeeper is the circadian rhythm.) The infradian rhythm influences six different systems of the body: brain, metabolism, immune system, microbiome, the stress response system, and the reproductive system.”

• HERE, LET ME RUIN YOUR DAY: WOMEN AND CAFFEINE TOXICITY 😳😫😖 > "Women’s bodies are brilliantly designed to conserve energy (so we are better able to conceive and carry a pregnancy). Our bodies retain fluids longer and we metabolize the compounds contained in foods and beverages much more slowly. Men drink and excrete both alcohol and caffeine faster and more efficiently than women, meaning these substances don’t have as significant an impact on their physiology or lead to caffeine toxicity.”

• HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT MUSHROOMS? > Just stocked-up on Host Defense mushroom supplements. Also, here’s Rogan’s interview with mycologist / multiverse-crusader Paul Stametz.🍄✨

• Hella superfood soups ✅✨

• Mandala-shaped habit trackers! 🤩✨ ✨

• Virgo-inspired self-care rituals ♍️✨ and for the house ♍️ ✨

• SIXTH HOUSE READING LIST  📖 > Nadine Artemis, Holistic Dental Care + Renegade Beauty, and canvassing Dr. Kelly Brogan's recommended home-health-body resource page ✨

• FYI, THE SIXTH HOUSE IS ALSO THE DOMAIN OF DOMESTIC PETS  🐹> Just fresh-stocked my purse and SUV with those fancy treats (with the wolf in the picture on the bag, hay now ✨), and perving extra hard on the dog walkers in my neighborhood. ALSO, did you know pigs are delighted to eat your compost items?! I’m basically a Hocus Pocus witch, but coming for your pets. 🪄

OH, BTW, EVERY 27(ISH) YEARS, YOU GET A PROGRESSED LUNAR RETURN! 🥳

We might experience three Progressed Lunar Returns in our lifetime, at ages 27, 55, and 83 (…ish).

At age 27, we have our first Progressed Lunar Return, where the Moon has progressed through our entire chart, canvassed all 12 signs and houses, conjuncted every planet, angle, and point, and now has a full-circle, full-bodied feeling-perspective on our needs, desires, and patterns.

As Steven Forrest puts it in The Book of the Moon, by your first Progressed Lunar Return, you are optimized for “dreaming up” a future for yourself, just in time for Saturn to begin its return (ages 27-30). You will no longer be able to abide daydreaming, but instead crave some true life, real-world correlation. You’re ready to start feeling at home in your own skin, and building a life to accommodate your true needs and wants (as best you understand them at this point). 🌙🪐

By age 55, we have our second Progressed Lunar Return, where we are faced with becoming an elder, and less concerned with dreaming or materializing, and more concerned with consolidation and, ultimately, dissemination. We become natural mentors. Steven Forrest recalls his own private epiphany during his second Progressed Lunar Return as a preoccupation with “the fine art of becoming a happy ghost.”

Though the other transiting planets at the time of our Progressed Lunar Returns will always be different, the themes of each return are pretty much the same, based on the phases, signs, and houses your Moon has “returned to.”

Or basically, every Progressed Lunar Return, you “come home to” the condition of your natal Moon. 👐🏻✨

Because they detonate major coming of age moments, I have a post specifically about Progressed Lunar Returns, and tips for managing the true-life drama that might coincide, as well as consolidating all the experiences of your Lunar Progressions.

Subscribe to find out when it goes live. 😁

YAS, SUBSCRIBE ME, DO IT!

MORE ABOUT YOUR PROGRESSED MOON 🌙 > 

• NEED MORE PERSPECTIVE ON ALL THE REST OF YOUR PROGRESSIONS? ⏰ > Check out my tutorial on delineating your progressed chart ✨, and compare to this other tutorial on what you need to know (you’re becoming an expert! 🤩)

• MORE REFERENCES FOR GETTING THE FULL PICTURE ON YOUR PROGRESSED MOON  ✅ > What you need to know about your Progressed Sun🌻, and what each of the Progressed planets represents (Mercury, Venus, Mars…) Plus, this article lists all major aspects between Progressed and Natal Planets to help you delineate all the factors involved. Nic also says more about interpreting Progressed Suns and Rising Signs in this post, and finally, Your Guide to Interpreting Astrological Aspects. 🌟

• NEW MOON, FIRST QUARTER MOON, FULL MOON, ALL DA’ MOONS 🌖💫 > How to interpret the phases of your Progressed Lunation Cycle ✨ Robert Blaschke (via Leah Whitehorse in that article I just linked you to), recommends looking up the Sabian Symbols at the start of every progressed Moon phase > “[H]e suggests paying particular attention to the Sabians of the New, Full and Quarter Moons and I have found this to be valid. Bear in mind that the Sabian of the progressed New Moon will say something of the entire cycle for the next 29 or so years until the next Progressed New Moon.” Learn more about Sabian Symbols here ✨, and calculate the Sabian symbol for your changing Progressed Moon phase ova here (scroll down and click “Sabian Symbols of progressions chart). ✌🏻

• WHAT ABOUT TIMING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PROGRESSED MOON? > In terms of meeting someone new 💕, astrologer Alice Bell explains in this article all the transits that have to be in place (Jupiter, Saturn ✅), and what the Progressed Moon will be aspecting (natal or progressed Venus, natal or progressed Sun ✅) or progressing through (Libra ♎️, and/or the fifth or the seventh houses ✅) plus notes about the role of the Solar Return chart, and even ECLIPSES! (DUDE I HAVE ALL OF THIS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, WTF!! 😱✅😱✅😱✅ …Don’t the astrology fairies realize that I’m in CODA?? …is this a test?? 😓)

• THIS MIGHT BE KIND OF HEADY, BUT WHAT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT “TIMING RELATIONSHIPS” ALONGSIDE YOUR PROGRESSED MOON AND SATURN TRANSITS? 🌙🪐 > “Speaking of marriage, marriages at this time [Progressed Lunar + Saturn Return 🌙🪐] are not particularly recommended… They can be an indication of a desire to cling to the tribe, rather than individuate, and may be a doomed attempt at filling the gap of emotional insecurity we feel at this time. They may also fulfill, albeit temporarily, the urgings we have to ‘move on.’ I have no statistics, but from my client database I can see clearly that marriages at this time can be short-lived (or perhaps this is only true for people who consult astrologers). The other thing that occurs at this time is divorce, the divorces of those early marriages that may have been substitutes for other kinds of internal development.”  (via Dawn Bodrogi the astro queen. 🤤🙏🏻🕊)

• ALSO, FOR THE PROGRESSED MOON + SYNASTRY > Check out this astrologers’ forum concerning synastry connections between Progressed Moons, to compare with answers on this forum. Both have spooky-cute examples of synastry connections between parents and offspring! 😍

• “HOW DO I KEEP TABS ON MY MOON’S PROGRESS, THO?!” 😳 > Via transit apps (Time Nomad has an “add on” option for progressions 🤩), diary-keeping supplemented with self-care habit trackers (perhaps in your planner-grimoire ✨), and maybe working something out with your local astrologer for keeping you in-the-know about your Moon on-the-go. ☺️🤙🏻

• REMEMBER, YOUR PROGRESSED MOON ALWAYS REFERENCES YOUR NATAL MOON > Here’s my tutorial, The Truth About Your Moon. 🌙

• HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR PROGRESSED LUNAR RETURNS (ages 27 and 54) > “The progressed lunar return (PLR) can set off explosions in close friendships (especially those with people who remind you of your original mother figure) and partnerships. Heartache is par for the course, though some lucky people have a blast during this period. (It’s okay to hate them a little for it. They’re having so much fun they won’t notice.) How we hold those we love, how we want to be held, how close we actually want to be – all undergo the kind of nausea-inducing scrutiny that can make us fear we must choose between our self-care and the one(s) in whose hearts and familiar skin smells we make our home.”

SO, does your Progressed Moon speak to your emotional fixations du jour?

Did delineating it help you alight on any mysterious ambiance that’s settled in the past few months? Help reframe how and where you’ve felt out of step from the rest of your fam, friends, the world?

Do any of the “ingress” dates correspond with major life events, like throwing dilettante exes out on their asses (after locking yourself in the bathroom to get drunk on leftover birthday wine and stream Disney’s “Brave” on your iPhone)?

Knowing about and being kinda-sorta familiar with your Progressed Moon doesn’t mean you can articulate all of what’s happening 💫, but at least you’ll understand what that tingling awareness means when it comes ripping through your soma.

And perhaps knowing about your Progressed Moon’s current conditions actually does help elevate your perspective on some weird shit that’s been going down in your life, and having that leverage really does help you make the most of the time you have, though you can only grasp at it through intuition.

Anyway, GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR MOON, and feel free to email me if you get stuck and need more hints! 🤗🌙