The Moon and Psychological Needs

Aeons ago, 93,000,000 miles from the Sun, two forming nuclei of gas and dust began to differentiate into distinct spheres. As these two planetary bodies solidified and separated, the body with the greater mass and gravity (Earth), stripped and therefore deprived the smaller body of its atmosphere and ability to nurture and sustain life (Moon). As the Moon moved further from its counterpart Earth in their shared and dual orbit, its chances to ever recoup this life giving nurturance disappeared. Like the child's unconscious, the Moon retains the trauma and impact of this deprivation in the form of unconscious overcompensation. Its dispersonalized potential for development remains in the limbo state. It reflects the reigning psychological need to nurture as the effect of deprived participation in nurturing. In life on Earth this nurturance and deprivation is provided by the parental structure. Physically and therefore most notably, the mother. The sign and house placement of the Moon in the horoscope is where we will find this sense of nurturance deprivation belief as the effect of maternal interaction. This archetype (sign and house placement of the Moon) then establishes for the astrologer the reigning psychological need of the personality. The aspects tie in and bring other planets as parameters of fulfillment of this reigning need. All factors within the horoscope, including the Sun, work to fill this deprivation void. The identity then finds emotional security through the fulfillment of these needs, which continues with the parameters rising to higher and higher levels. Where Saturn is we are satur-ated with the archetype involved. Where the Moon is we need to absorb and nurture the archetype. Deprive means to "remove or withhold something from the enjoyment or possession of". Where the moon is we feel deprived, the archetype which we believe our mother failed to nurture us with. This corresponds to The response deprivation theory of reinforcement proposed by William Timberlake and James Allison (1974: Timberlake 1980) in psychology. That behavior becomes reinforcing when the organism is prevented from engaging in it. The more empowered an individual believes themselves to be, the less negative will be the expression of the reigning need. Self-empowerment being defined as the ability to create whatever is desired by the identity without having to act out of integrity. It is the fulfillment of the reigning needs that allows the nurturing of the perceived Archetype deprivation. The Moon serves the Sun and acts as a filter through which the Sun sign is distributed. This distribution finds fulfillment and support through sextiles and trines, because they reflect the positive aspects of belief maintained by the identity. The need to resolve aspects of other archetypes (other planets and signs) is brought into developmental need fulfillment and resolution through the squares and oppositions because these are the areas of negative or dis-empowering beliefs maintained by the identity. Tension as well as resolution are required for growth. This is why we teach best what we are learning. The following definitions indicate an individuals overcompensatory reigning need in response to perceived maternal deprivation. Fire Moon signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) reflect the need for energetic ego recognition and a fear of being ignored; Earth: functional and practical efficiency and adequacy, with a fear of losing control; Air: social acceptance and a fear of being unappreciated; and Water emotion (energy- motion) and a fear of being taken advantage of. There is no such thing as "just feeling" a certain way, a feeling is a reaction to a belief. We must believe a certain way before we have a feeling about it. A fear therefore is a belief. We create our reality by what we believe. Fearing something will happen, heightens the probability that it will, until trust replaces the fear. Understanding the self leads us to this trust. Cardinal sign moons (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) believe action and assertion has been deprived. Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) believe structure and accumulation (some form of power) has. And Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) believe that they have been deprived of change and learning. With the moon in Aries the reigning need is to be ego important and first. To nurture the pioneering sense. To trust natural aggression. Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Jaqueline Onassis. The moon in Taurus' reigning need is to build and maintain a structure. To nurture stability and accumulate security. Bill Clinton, Shakespeare, Mick Jagger. In Gemini to be thought of as diverse, knowledgeable and intelligent, as an effect of diversity deprivation. Farrah Fawcette, Sigmund Freud, Fred Astair. In Cancer the reigning need is for emotional security itself. This may be the sign of adoption or the loss of the mother at an early age, or in some other way she was exceedingly important in the identity's development. Dr. Benjamin Spock, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ross Perot. The Leo moon has a reigning need to be dramatically ego important. The performance of the identity is believed to have been ignored. Peter Ustinov, Barbara Streisand, Mahatma Gandhi. Virgo-To be correct and proper on a less aware level, or to be analytically correct through discernment on a more expanded level, is the reigning need of this moon. Or correct in practical terms. John F. Kennedy, Joseph Stalin, Oprah Winfrey. Libra-Social acceptance is the reigning need of the moon in Libra. Appreciation through popularity. There can be a superficial focus on the acceptability of behavior. Sylvester Stallone, Billy Joel, Katherine Hepburn. Scorpio-A strong need for emotional significance can lead to obsessive behavior or strong devotion. The fear of being taken advantage of is strong in this sign. Harry Truman, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews. Sagittarius-To have the beliefs, opinions, intellect and ideas accepted by others is the way this moon seeks ego importance. The identity's fears of being ignored may be too close to the opinions it holds. Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Johannes Brahms. Capricorn-Strategic effectiveness, and an impact on the world and physical reality, is believed to have been denied. Overcompensation ensues in this direction as the reigning need. This position is usually associated with some early environmental limitation that deprived the identity from full expression. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Adolf Hitler. Aquarius-Needs are fulfilled through being recognized for ones unique attributes and contribution to society. Needs appreciation for helping humanity or being a good friend. Richard Wagner, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe. Picses-The reigning need of this moon is to be recognized as compassionate, sensitive, and self-sacrificing. The concept that was believed taken advantage of was the sensitivity to self. Martin Luther King, O.J. Simpson, Benjamin Franklin. The following examples definitely reveal the individual's reigning needs. The first is a male born June 18, 1942, 2:38 am 002w55, 53n25. The element count shows relative balance except for a low count in water (2 points for Sun/Moon 1 point for all other planets). There may be an inclination to take things too personally, and with the Aries ascendent and Mars/Pluto/Moon conjunction, a bit pushy. However, Venus in Taurus is in its natural house and sign. This would tend to social grace and passivity (as well as material prosperity). All the planets are below the horizon and there are no oppositions. There would be a push to externalize the self , first to empathize with others (water reference), and second because there is great self worth and social insecurity reflected by the Moon in five (love given) square Venus in two (self worth, and Venus rules the seventh, social acceptance). Saturn conjunct Uranus in two also reflects upon the worth profile (the fear that uniqueness in diversity will not be recognized). The reigning need Moon in Leo is to be dramatically ego important. Performance is part of that need. The Moon is in five (the natural Leo house) conjunct Pluto (personal perspective) and Mars (the need to prove the identity's validity, rules the first) and is the ruler of the fourth and fifth houses (the early environment, the mother, and the fifth is creative extension just like Leo!). The Sun (life energy and dispositor of the Leo planets), Mercury (the way he needs to think), Saturn (fears to overcome), and Uranus (individuality recognition) are all in Gemini. The Sun is square Neptune, developmental tension with the life energy to communicate (Gemini and third house) and the artistic or musical (Neptune) is brought into the stellium in Leo and five back to the reigning need through the Sun's dispositorship of the Leo planets. The way this is resolved is through the two twelfth house rulers (Uranus and Neptune) trine from two (worth) to six (work). This person must create, express and perform. Saturn rules ten and is in two. The greatest fear is not being appreciated for the intelligence. Writing could be the career. Self worth is fulfilled through giving love and creations, a romantic. The mother had a powerful effect on this life direction and is the primary emotional link (Jupiter in Cancer exalted on the fourth house cusp). Creating fulfills an emotional void. This is the horoscope of one of the most prolific and consistently popular singer/songwriters in history, Paul McCartney. Pluto is associated with generational consciousness, its conjunction with this reigning need allowed him to fulfill it while connecting with a generational perspective to make him one of the most popular (along with the Beatles) performers of all time. Pluto rules the eighth, others values, money and the transformation of perspective, in the sign of the "do your own thing", and creative extension generation. In the second ring are the planetary positions when as a Beatle he appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show" on February 9,1964. The Sun (Leo in five), Mars (the ascending sign), and Saturn (ruling ten-status, and eleven-the future and income from career) are all trining the natal Sun (rules all the Leo planets in five) from twelve (others perspective). Transiting Jupiter has just crossed the ascendent (opportunity) and trined all the Leo planets in five. Transit Uranus (ruling twelve) is retrograding back over the node (new beginning in work). Transit Venus (music and money) opposes Neptune (music) from six to twelve (perspective), and transit Neptune opposes Venus from eight to two (money)! There was some deception financially here it appears also. Chart number two is a male born March 14, 1879, 11:26am, 010e00, 48n24. The Moon rules the ascendent and is conjunct the sixth house cusp in Sagittarius. The reigning need is to have the intellect and opinions respected (Sagittarius) for their analytical correctness or discernment (sixth cusp is like Virgo). The Moon's ruler Jupiter (expansive ideas) is in the ninth house (expansive ideas) in Aquarius (the avant garde or forward garde, uniqueness), and opposes Uranus (same connotation) in Virgo (analytical discernment!) from the ninth to third houses, (the mental axis) ruled by Mercury (mental set) in Aries (pioneering new directions) conjunct Saturn (focused application). Saturn and Mars are in mutual reception reflecting great concentration, discipline, and effort (Saturn conjunct Mercury and Mars disposing of Mercury). Pluto squares the Jupiter/Uranus opposition from eleven, creating a T-square that discharges into the fifth house. He had great remorse over the creation of the atomic bomb. The Sun sextiles Pluto and Mars and rules the third house (mind). It is elevated in the tenth. Who is more known for the manifestation of mind than Albert Einstein? His reigning need was nurtured very well. When he published his theory of relativity in 1905, his perspective was so expanded that it would be 14 years before the scientific community could confirm them! His publications coincided with the Uranus/Neptune opposition (the avant garde needs resolution with other worldly perspective, and the disruption of illusions). The opposition was exactly on his ascendant/descendant horizon (identity). He shattered the smugness of the scientific community. He was the Uranus/Neptune opposition! In the second ring are the transits for the morning of November 8, 1919, when he awoke to worldwide recognition from the confirmation of those theories. Transit Jupiter, dispositor of the reigning need is exactly trine Venus in the tenth, and the Moon on the sixth, from two. A Fire Grand Trine reflecting great inspirational self-sufficiency and identity affirmation. Neptune, his Sun sign ruler, joins in this Grand Trine along with Mercury, which brings his natal Mercury/Saturn conjunction in as well. Transit Uranus is exactly conjunct Jupiter in nine! A tremendous triggering of the expansive networks discussed in the natal promise. He above all, lead us to the recognition of how little we use our abilities and creative potential. With Cancer on the ascendant and the ruler, the Moon, in Sagittarius, it is no wonder that he is remembered for having said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Our sense of lack, leads this imagination to fulfill deprivation perceived or real, and there would be no manifestation in physical reality (Capricorn) without it. As John F. Kennedy said "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Imagination may not make them easy, but it makes them real. Like the snake sheds its skin, the Moon in developmental cycle (the phases) sheds its shadow. It is this reflection and affirmation of life and its progression that the feminine side of polarity pairs (the other being the Sun), illuminates. This is the reason Eve (in the garden of Eden) was offered the fruit from the tree of knowledge by the serpent. The Moon reflects our need to image in or to create the fulfillment of our imagined personality. We visualize ourselves into the image we believe we were cut off from. We then become that image. What we imagine ourselves to be in the fourth house and Cancer, becomes the externalized version in the tenth house and Capricorn. What do we prefer to image in? We may seek our place in the Sun- but it is on the Moon that we actually land.