Critical Degrees and the Progressed Moon

Beginning with its natal position in the Zodiac, the progressed Moon symbolically advances approximately one degree per month. Therefore, the Secondary Progressed (SP) Moon makes a handy timer for the natal and progressed horoscopes with the SP Moon reflecting influences of about one month's duration. If important transits or other progressions conjoin the SP Moon's position at any given time, a fuller picture is created especially when clues are considered such as the natal house through which the SP Moon advances, the SP Moon's sign, the condition of the natal Moon, the pertinent houses ruled by the Moon, and the houses ruled by the planet/s being aspected.

Is your SP Moon in Cancer? Then home and domestic scene are areas of focus for the two-and-a-half years SP Moon is in that sign along with possible mother/daughter/family concerns, nurturing issues, and real estate matters such as moving residence, renovation of environment, a family member entering or leaving the home, etc. SP Moon in Leo may involve solar issues of creativity, entertainment, children, romance, ego, the hero's journey in life, and other Leonine matters while SP Moon in Virgo hints at Virgoan issues such as health, work, service, criticism, teaching, purification, dedication, and/or discrimination. Naturally, in Astrology the opposite sign and house polarity must be considered as well. (Ex: 4th house matters tie in with or affect 10th house career matters.)

A example from December 24, 2008 in Political Astrology is America's SP Full Moon @4Vir10 (We the People at critical degree--Sun (leadership), too, @4Pis10; the SP horoscope may be viewed at Jude's Threshold if you wish. This culmination phase in progressions timed the Financial Crash of 2008 and on an evolutionary scale marked the limit of America's thrust into the wider world as our National Treasury was raided. With the public's Moon in Virgo, we were critical and suspicious (with good reason) of US leaders who were murky and deliberately confusing on all issues even to the point of deception.

As you know, Pisces folk have that swim-up-or-down vibe which can express either positively (compassion, spirituality, creativity) or negatively such as theft and fraud--which is what we got from leadership--and have now with SP Sun still in Pisces.

Another Luna-related post is Using the Moon in Electional Astrology which concerns using the transiting Moon as a timer for starting or debuting projects or events--and not necessarily in the area of #politics.)

In case you need it, here is a list of critical degrees (degr) of each sign:

Cardinal signs (Aries-Libra, Cancer-Capricorn) 0 degr, 13 degr, 26 degr; Fixed signs (Taurus-Scorpio, Leo-AQ) 8-9 degr, 21-22 degr; Mutable signs (Gemini-Sagittarius, Virgo-Pisces) 4 degr, 17 degr. Plus, 0 degrees of any sign may act as a critical degree along with the impatient 29th degree. Other degrees are sometimes considered critical due to important events occurring there such as Eclipses, Great Conjunctions, etc.

Basically a critical degree has been sensitized and indicates emphasis or stress on the planet/s or point/s and the issues involved. There may be a deal-with-this-Now crisis occurring as matters come to a head as timed by the SP Moon. (Mars is a traditional timer as well but here we're discussing the Moon--and much of the sensitivity of the degrees may be due to the degrees of Mansions of the Moon which are not discussed here.)

Now critical degrees may not 'work' all the time and their expression is certainly affected by whether there's a transit to that point or another progressed planet joining in by conjunction or opposition. In such cases, the crisis may last longer with other planetary involvement but as stated, if it's the SP Moon conjoining a critical degree, approximately one month will be the duration of the influence.

Another consideration is the Modality of the affected sign: Cardinal signs tend to work faster and more directly, Fixed signs denote a lagging or delayed affect, and Mutable signs indicate more of a mental or internal influence.

Using the SP Moon in chart interpretation and synthesis is an important tool in the astrologer's kit particularly as the SP Moon triggers a critical degree so I do hope this post will be of some use to you.

The Moon as Timer in Electional Astrology

Jude's Treshold has been favored this evening with a new entry on nine rules for using the Moon in Electional Astrology which is a way of choosing the most propitious times to begin projects or events.

Oh--I did the favoring.

Freemasons of Washington DC

In Washington sits the southern home of Freemasonry, the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite where you can walk a curving mahogany corridor and view the likes of their I-didn't-know-he-was-a-Freemason portrait collection of members including:

Arnold Palmer, Sam Ervin, John Glenn, Will Rogers, John Wayne, J. Edgar Hoover, and Harry Truman--are only some of the enlightened bunch.

Well, everyone knows Truman was a Mason, but the identities of some of the others might shock even your Aunt Granny Fanny, if you dare inform her (in her day she had such a huge crush on John Wayne, you know.)

And the hairs may stand up on the back of your neck as you gaze at the beautiful stained glass window with its familiar Eye of Providence staring splendidly back atcha. (My recommendation is to have a barber take care of those wayward hairs before you get to the Temple.)

Here's a related post on Founding Fathers/Freemasonry from 2005 about the naming of this blog: Why 'Stars Over Washington'?

Sep 17: US Constitution's Saturn Return 2007

The post just written by your reluctant astrologer for Jude's Threshold has a sprinking of Astrology, karma, progressed charts, and neurosis, but is primarily about the US Constitution's Saturn Return today and which handily coincided with Bush's Rose Garden announcement of Judge Mukasey as his nominee for Attorney General.

Seems the few remaining DOJ employees are simply rattling around in that big old building and could use a pile o' perking up with some clear direction and a show of honest character. (If you've read this blog before you'll know I'm clutching at straws with the honest character part, more's the pity.)

So we have a nominee announced, and we have a Saturn Return--and Saturn rules Capricorn, sign of politics, business, and law. Saturn signifies lawyers, in fact, and lower court judges.

Coincidence? Synchronicity? Or electional goings-on by Sacred Geometry types? In this case the word electional refers to timing an event by looking at horoscopes for the most propitious time (and not to our near-sham elections of political types.)

Anway you might be interested in following the above link where you'll find Saturnian things...but also one of my revolving slide.com Cosmic Art Cubes waiting for your little mouse to point and spin it all about while you listen to a sweet Diana Krall tune!