Full moons

[rachelcat]

Dandelion, thank you so much for your informative reply! I'm going to print it out and look at all the links you sent and be in moon heaven! (And I'll probably follow up with more questions, too!)

Thanks again!

[Tara2007]

Originally Posted by Gemini Rising

For the past few months, I've been trying to link phases of the moon to my moods, and have come up with this conclusion: the moon has NO effet on me whatsoever! I have a moon in Leo, much different from moon in Cancer...and trust me, if I had ANY planets in Cancer I'd kill myself--Cancerians and I don't exactly get along well...

Reviewing this post I had to laugh when I read this entry....don't feel too bad, Gemini Rising, my mother-in-law is a cancer....me? I'm an Aries....no questions about that one please!

[Tara2007]

Originally Posted by dandelion

Greetings,

Here are a few of my thoughts in response to your questions. I’m sure others will have more to share! (It may be easier to disconnect this discussion thread from the full-moon-at-beginning-of-month subject into a separate discussion about blue moons... perhaps the mods can help us there).

Blue Moons – there are several different definitions of what constitutes a “blue moon;” one common definition is when two consecutive new or full moons occur in the same sign within a “solar month” (that being, while the sun walks through a single sign, the new moon occurs at the beginning and again at the end of that period).

Another definition is when there are four full moons in a single solar season. Yet another describes a blue moon as two full moons in a calendar month (which I think is more of a colloquial definition than it is an astrological definition).

Ok, leaving all that confusion aside, the last blue moon (according to the first definition I suggested) occurred in 2006 to my knowledge:

The moon was new in Virgo on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 and again on Friday, September 22nd, 2006.

Try looking through your date book again, paying close attention to the sign the moon is in when it conjuncts and/or opposes the sun. If I have time, I’ll take a look as well and see what I can find. The colloquial use of “once in a blue moon,” referring to something rare, truly applies – I do not believe that every year has a blue moon, so 2007 may not.

You question about moon names is a fun one. I think I saw someone else in this thread who likes to name the new moons – I know many of us like to do the same. Lots of cultures assign their own names and symbolisms to lunar cycles, and if you want to have a little fun, you may enjoy this woman’s blog (she makes a long list of names associated with each full moon and posts them when they pass):

Beyond the Fields We Know

Beyond the Fields We Know – Label: “Moons”

For more basic information about lunar phases, here is a good place to look:

Phases of the Moon
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.html

They state that the moon has a “complete phase cycle of 29.5 days average duration.”

Here’s another site with more information with the numbers you seek:

Calendars – keeping track of time
http://www.science.org.au/nova/051/051key.htm

They estimate the lunar cycle “takes an average 29.530589 days,” and that the solar cycle is down to “365.24219 days;” if you read the article you’ll see that there is much discussion to be had concerning the latter number!

I hope that information helps!

dandelion

Great links here, Dandelion, and thank you!

[Voron]

The next Astrological Blue Moon will be on Mon, May 19, 2008 at 10:11pm EDT (May 20, 2008, 02:11 UT) at 29 Sco 27'.

Due to the shape of the Earth's orbit, when it's going really fast in the winter, all of the Full Moons line up at about the same degrees, so the Full Moons in Cancer thru Libra (i.e. late Nov '07 thru late Mar '08) all line up between 1 and 2 degrees of their respective signs.

[vision777]

I live in New York City and i have notice people tend to act "crazy" three days before the actual full moon comes like for instant if the full moon happen to be on a 5th, strange things will happen on the 2nd. i was wondering does location have something to do with the effects of the full moon?

[dandelion]

I'm not sure about location, but I know from experience that not only does the full moon affect me tremendously, but it does the same for many people. A dear friend of mine who is bipolar feels the effects with extreme intensity, and I know that there is plenty of evidence – anecdotal and reported – that shows an increase in crime, hospital visits, and other excitement around full moons.

The moon affects the tides big and small… be they oceans, or our bodies. We are, after all, “ugly sacks of mostly water.” (Any Star Trek TNG fans out there? )

PS - glad you folks enjoyed the links - I hope they're helpful!

[GoddessArtemis]

How do you know if you're a Lunar person, as Dave suggested in one of his posts in this thread?

I rarely know if there's a full moon out, or if the moon is in a particular sign, but I notice a tremendous swing in my mood/perception when there is a Full moon around...OR if the moon is in any of the water signs.

I've been fully "moody" the past few days, and only realized a couple of days ago that it's a Full Moon time. I've also noticed that people around me tend to act "looney" or crazy around the times of the full moon, and I know to stay away from some people when the moon phases occur.

Still, why would the moon affect some of us more than others?

GA

[dadsnook2000]

You can't always tell from a chart. Some people seem to "ignore" certain factors in their charts. It doesn't have much to do with aspect patterns, although an aspect tends to really involve the planets involved. In my chart I have a non-aspected Pluto. Pluto plays virtually no role in my life or in the chart's correlation with events and developments in my life.

I have a daughter born hours before a solar eclipse. She doesn't respond much to Sun events in her chart. She does respond to the new moon cycle, the house the new moon occurs in seems to drive her life, along with any planets aspecting that new moon.

That is why astrologers dialog with their client, to see what triggers them, what doesn't seem important. That's why I personally tend to develop simple views of what a client's chart shows in terms of five or six planetary-pairs and their phase angles. I have covered this technique in the Planet Series threads. Once I have a simple outline of the five or six key components in a chart-person, then the dialog fills in the details. From that point I can do my job as an astrologer.

So, its all quite personal. Each person can determine if they have planets that they ignore. Many will likely use all/most of their chart, but not everyone. Dave

[GoddessArtemis]

It's difficult for me to respond to points regarding the specifics in a natal chart, only because I can't seem to comprehend it that much. But here's what I know about my chart: It's ruled by Pluto, with Scorpio rising.

Here are the moon aspects of my chart:

Sun (Pisces) Square Moon (Sagittarius), 6°05
Moon Trine Mercury (Aries), 7°47
Moon Sextile Uranus (Libra-rx), 6°17
Moon Conjunction Neptune (Sagittarius), 5°56

I don't know what it means to have planets that one ignores, but the moon is a big factor in my life, it seems--especially as I get older.

GA

[dadsnook2000]

Yes, the Moon is involved in several aspect patterns -- even if those aspects are not close, they are all close enough. The Moon, by being entangled with Sun-Mercury-Uranus-Neptune, can easily have its bell rung. The Moon will not be ignored in this chart.

As I noted, in my chart Pluto is not aspected and it doesn't not seem to play a role in my life. I wish it did as I had several Sun-Jupiter-Pluto contacts awhile back which would have spelled SUCCESS in a big way -- nothing much at all occurred. Oh, well. Dave