The Moon in Astrology: Everything you Need to Know.

Aleena Glinski
Feb 5
20 min read

*I will often refer to a Zodiac Wheel through the video which includes the Zodiac signs, their planetary rulers, element assignment, quadruplicity, and gender. This is extremely helpful as you begin your studies in Astrology. If you would like to download a free, high quality version of this graphic, click here.

Introduction

If you are interested in harnessing the full power and potential of astrology to shape change in your own life and the world around you, keep watching. My name is Aleena and I am the astrologer for creatives and change makers with a Physics B.S. from Yale.

Today we are talking about the moon!

The moon is completely foundational in Astrology. Much of astrological thinking is actually based around moon cycles. Of course, the moon is one of the two luminaries—one of the big bodies that light up the sky. That's what a luminary is: a luminary is either the Sun or the Moon, the biggest, brightest planets (as they're considered in astrology) in the sky. I believe it is extremely important to understand each planet on its own terms before understanding the planets in the contexts of their sign placement.

Why focus on just the essence of the Moon?

There are a lot of videos out there where they will tell you, “this is what the moon in Aries means,” and ,” This is what the moon in Gemini means.” I'm not going to do that in this video. In this video, we're going to focus on getting to the essential essence of what is the moon's nature. If you are interested in deepening your studies in astrology, I think that this is a good approach to take: to first understand each of the planets on their own, and then understand each of the zodiac signs on their own, the work them together to create your own delineations as they apply to you specifically in your life.

Through understanding the deepest, most essential nature of the qualities of these things—the houses and the aspects too—then you'll be able to actually understand how to apply these symbols in your own life and make the meaning out of them that will actually start to stir up and change things on a deep level for you. It would be as if you were trying to learn French, so you went to France and you took a translator with you. That's just never going to hit quite the same as if you were able to speak French and have the conversations with the people there in your own way, and understand their language and their culture in their own terms directly. I'm interested in getting you into this sort of direct, unfacilitated experience with the symbols of astrology, starting with the moon. I'm going to go through each planet in this series, so stick with me and subscribe if you're interested in following me through on that journey.

Basic Significations: Body, Emotions, and the Mother

The moon in its most basic significations is associated with the body, the emotions, and the mother. It is the luminary that comes out at night, so people associate it with being the more private aspects of who you are. The sun is more like what you radiate into the world, the light that you shine, and the way that people see you. The moon is more of almost an internal or private light—the way that you show up in relationships and in more private settings. It's a little bit more intimate. People don't see you at night as often as they see you during the day.

Sect: Day Charts vs. Night Charts

This is going to make a big difference whether or not you were born during the day or at night. Oftentimes, people who were born at night actually identify more with their moon sign. This is when we get into sect, or looking at day charts or night charts. You might check that out for yourself looking at your birth time. If you're born at a time where you're like, "I don't know if this was the day or night," maybe if it's around sunrise or sunset, you can look at your actual chart.

If you see the ascendant-descendant axis—this line that goes across the chart—if the sun is above this axis, that's generally considered a day chart. If the sun is below this axis, that's generally considered a night chart. If your sun is very close to the ascendant or descendant, or if you're very close to the sunrise or sunset time for that day, then it can be a little bit tricky. You might have to think about it because if the sun is below the ascendant, but it is just barely below the ascendant right before sunrise, sometimes it's still actually bright out. It's more about the subjective experience of if it feels like daytime or if it feels like nighttime. You can look at your chart and see what makes sense for you.

The Moon as the Mother

In a more psychological sense, people also talk about the moon as being related more to the subconscious, where the sun is more the ego. Sometimes the moon qualities can be a little bit more hidden than the sun qualities. When we look at interpreting the moon as the mother, for instance, I might ask you if you experienced your mother similarly to the zodiac sign that your moon is in.

For instance, if you had an Aries moon, then I might wonder if you experienced your mother to have sort of a warrior energy, which is sort of the archetype of Aries. It's not that the moon is literally your mother; it's your experience of your mother. The totality of who your mother is is not just a mother. She's got all other parts of her life and who she is. That's just one part of who she is. That part is again not even the way that she experienced herself as a mother—not her idea of her mothering—but because astrology is all about our subjective experience from our point of view, it's your experience of your mother in ways that you might have received her or perceived her in your childhood or to this day.

The Moon as Emotions and the Physical Body

Again, this is going to be your emotional body, the way that you experience your emotions. For instance, a fire moon might have a lot of physical energy. An air moon might tend towards intellectualizing the feelings. An earth moon might tend towards maybe even lethargy or comfort, sort of sensual pleasures and having a real kind of grounded emotional presence. A water moon will be swimming in the emotional waters very easily, merging and submerging in their own emotions and those of other people. This is just general; we would have to look at the specific zodiac sign, of course, and lots of other stuff.

As a representative of your physical body, this can again represent the energy that you have, the way that you relate to food, the way you relate to your body, and the amount of physical energy or athleticism that you have. You would look at both the sign that the moon is in and also any aspects and also the houses to really dive into that a little bit more.

The Archetypal Feminine

The moon is very much the archetypal feminine in a way. Of all of the planets in astrology, we have only two that are feminine: the moon and Venus. Venus is sort of the love, beauty, sensuality, romance, finer things, and creativity. The moon is more of this archetypal mother energy—this nurturing, emotional, supportive, soft, very earthy essence.

It can also be extremely helpful to understand the planets through their opposites. If you look at the zodiac wheel—and you can also download this image through a link below if you're interested in blowing this up—I would recommend printing it out and having it as a reference. It's super helpful to be able to look at the zodiac wheel like this to be able to see each of the symbols and signs and also the words. The symbol of this wheel, in the way that I created it in this graphic, has so much potency. There's so much here that studying this alone will probably take you a while in the beginning of your studies. I'm just going to dive into this one aspect of it here.

Planetary Rulership: The Queendom of Cancer

We can see here the moon rules Cancer, and therefore what this means is that the zodiac sign Cancer is an embodiment of the moon. Planetary rulership is extremely important in astrology. The way that ancient astrologers understood the zodiac was that each of the zodiac signs is like its own kingdom. There's this sky world, just like our world but in the sky, that is divided into these different regions, these different countries, these different kingdoms that are the zodiac signs. They each have their own culture and their own way of being. They each have their own king or queen.

In this instance, the moon is feminine. Each of the planets rules one of these zodiac signs that is the kingdom. For the moon, the moon rules Cancer. The idea in astrology, the way the mythology plays out, is that these planets wander around the sky world. The planets move through the different zodiac signs, and wherever they find themselves, that influences their character and the way that they act. They might find themselves in a place that's particularly supportive to their nature, or they could find themselves somewhere a little bit difficult or more challenging. Then we can look at the aspects, which is the relationships between the characters. Are they fighting? Are they in a harmonious relationship? This is the narrative that plays out in astrology that becomes the story of who you are.

The Multivalent Nature of the Planets

Each of these symbols is a symbol; it's an archetype. It's not that there's only one way that this can manifest. When we look at the moon as your mother, for instance, that's not going to necessarily land for everyone. Some people actually identify where the sun is more like the father and the moon is more like the mother. For some people, this is switched. Some people experience their moon sign as more of the father and the sun sign as more of the mother. Usually this will work out in one of those two ways, and most often it's the moon as the mother and the sun as the father. Depending on the relationship and your childhood, this could work out differently for different people. This is another reason it's important to understand the essential essence and nature of each of these symbols, because not every delineation or every signification will apply to every situation in your life. If you understand the multivalent nature of each of these symbols, then you can relate yourself directly to what part of your life this is resonating with and how it shows up for you uniquely.

Symbolic Qualities of Water

Back to the zodiac wheels: the moon rules Cancer, and we have Cancer right here at the bottom. Here's the moon. This ring here is all of the planets. I have the label right here so you know which planet it is, and then the symbol of the sign and also it written out in English so we can translate. I also have the element. Cancer is a water sign. The moon is very watery. Of course, we understand the moon rules the ocean, literally the tides. The moon is very much connected to the water, also ruling things like menstrual cycles for people who have them and also things like fertility. Lots of mating cycles in nature are aligned with moon cycles.

The moon is very much watery in essence, in this literal way like the tides and menstruation, but also in this archetypally watery way. Archetypally, water is connected to the emotions, intuition, and healing. Cancer is also a healer. The moon also has this healing energy and the subconscious depths. The water is very interested in going into the depths, going deep within yourself and other people, and just getting underneath of things. For Cancer and the moon, often this is emotional. "Let me connect with you on this really deep level." This would be the essence of Cancer as a manifestation of the moon, but also the moon's natural inclination.

If the moon is found in an air sign, for instance, air signs are much more "up here." They're not so much into the depths and not so emotional. They're more interested in what we are thinking about, what is interesting, and what is intellectually stimulating. "How can I be playful and social?" If the moon is found in an air sign, that might be a little bit more challenging for her because she is wanting to be this deep emotional being. The way that might play out for someone could be that maybe you tend to intellectualize your feelings. Maybe you have a really strong understanding of emotions and a lot of emotional intelligence, but maybe it's not really felt. Maybe it's harder for you to really feel the feelings. This would be especially like a Gemini or Aquarius moon, for instance—air signs.

The Cancer-Capricorn / Moon-Saturn Opposition in the Zodiac Wheel

We can think about the moon through its opposite. The moon here is opposite Saturn-ruled Capricorn. Cancer is opposite Capricorn. Everything is meaningful; there is symbolic significance to everything in this graphic. The essential function of Saturn is to say no, to set boundaries, and to create structure. These are things that Capricorns are very strong at. Those are all things that are opposite to the moon's nature. The moon is more of a merging—"Let me merge with you"—like emotional merging, especially when we think about Cancer or Pisces. These water signs tend to be very empathetic in a way that can blur boundaries between self and other, where you're connecting very deeply and you have this emotional, empathetic, nurturing, connective ability that can make it hard to distinguish between your own feelings and that of other people. This is more the nature of water. If you think about water literally, it's going to just subsume and take the shape of the container that it's in. Water is not setting boundaries; water is flowing and water is merging. This is the emotional nature of the moon. We can see this in its opposite of Saturn, which is the structure, setting boundaries, and saying no. The moon is more, as a function, saying yes.

There are two luminaries—the sun and the moon—that are both opposite to Saturn. We have the moon opposite to Saturn in this Cancer-Capricorn axis, and then we have the sun ruling Leo, which is opposite to Saturn in this Aquarius-Leo axis here. Leo is very much a celebration of the self. The sun is the ego and the self. In that opposition of the function of Saturn saying no and the sun saying yes, Leo and the sun is sort of saying yes to the self, celebrating the self, and radiating the self and the ego into the world. Saturn in this axis of Aquarius, which is opposite to Leo, is very much saying no to the self. Aquarius is much more interested in what is best for humanity. It doesn't really matter who I am or what I need; it's about what's best for the collective. In this Cancer-Capricorn axis, Cancer in its function of saying yes is more saying yes to others—yes to supporting my family, supporting my lover, and supporting my friends. "How can I be nurturing and supportive to these people around me?" It is very much saying yes and struggles to say no or to set boundaries. Cancer does this for other people more so; it's hard for Cancer to say no to others or to say no in relationships and disappoint.

Light and Shadow Sides of the Moon

We've gone through some of the big-picture archetypal essences of Cancer and the moon. Now it could be good to get into some of the light and shadow sides of the moon. Like I have mentioned many times here, the moon is exceptionally good at healing, connecting, nurturing, supporting—very much loving, nourishing, and motherly energy. These are the strengths of the moon and of Cancer.

On the shadow side, there's two sides to every archetype. Nothing is just good and nothing is just bad. The shadow side of the moon can be that it can be difficult to set boundaries. It can be difficult to say no and also to emotionally understand that the feelings of people around you are not your own. This will be especially true if you are a Cancer sun or Cancer moon, or just have a lot of Cancer placements in general. This can be an issue that comes up—that difficulty separating your own experience and your own emotions from those around you and feeling pulled towards saying yes to nurturing and caretaking, and taking on things that aren't really yours to take on. Or maybe having an impulse to heal others that may not really be your work to do. That can be hard to understand for a Cancer, for someone who's very much a moon person.

Another shadow side of the moon is that the moon is famous for its cycles. The moon loves to wax and wane, and it's the fastest-moving planet of the zodiac. Symbolically and metaphorically, this looks like what can sometimes be emotional volatility—having these emotional cycles and these ups and downs that can shift radically. This is something that comes up for Cancer a lot, or people who maybe have an afflicted moon, a moon that's not doing so well.

Evaluating the Condition of the Moon

If the moon is in a very good place or a good sign—a sign that is supportive of the type of energy the moon wants to bring into the world—or if the moon has good relationships with the benefics (Venus or Jupiter), these planets that want to say good things and do nice things for the other planets, that'll bring out more of these positive sides. A moon that's very afflicted—that's maybe in a more challenging sign or in a relationship with one of the malefics (Saturn or Mars) that have these more difficult, challenging things they want to bring into their relationships with other planets—then you might see more of this shadow side of the moon come out.

In general society, I can speak to America mostly as an American, the moon is not an energy that we really celebrate or support so much. I think if you are a very strongly moon-oriented person, have a very strong moon energy within you, or are even just watery, that is not a quality that's so much supported or celebrated here. We have a much more masculine fire-air type of society. I think it can be difficult for the moon to really express herself fully and for Cancers in general to be supported in the way that they would like to be.

Moon Cycle Symbolism

Another thing that you might like to look at is the moon cycle that you were born under—if you were born under a waxing or a waning moon, a full moon or a new moon. Oftentimes you might notice that people born under a waxing moon, when the moon is still growing and working towards a full moon, are people who might have more physical energy. The moon is a manifestation of the physical body and your physical energy. People born under a waning moon might have a little bit less of that vitality physically. But it'll depend on a lot of other things.

Understanding the moon cycle is also foundational to so much of astrological thinking. In case you're not familiar with moon cycle symbolism: the new moon is when the sun and moon are in the same place in the sky. This is when it looks like there's no moon. This represents a new beginning, planting the seed, and a new cycle. The full moon is when the sun and moon are opposite. This represents the culmination, the manifestation, and the peak. We are harvesting the fruit at this point symbolically. We're reaching sort of the peak of whatever seed was planted during the new moon. Then the waning phase is the dissemination period. We're spreading our fruit out, we're sharing, or letting everyone know what we have learned, and then in the last quarter, we are preparing for a new cycle. This is the general symbolism for the moon cycle: new moon planting the seed, a new cycle; waxing, building up towards what will be the peak, the culmination, and the manifestation; and then disseminating our knowledge and getting ready to start a new cycle again.

This way of thinking can be applied to any two planets. For instance, you could look at Mercury and Saturn. When Mercury and Saturn come together, that's the beginning of their cycle during the conjunction. Then they reach some sort of peak during the opposition when Mercury becomes opposite to Saturn, and then a new Mercury-Saturn cycle happens when they come back together again.

Eclipses

It can also be really interesting to look at if you were born under an eclipse. This is another special feature of the moon. Eclipses happen with the moon. An eclipse is when we have a new moon or a full moon that is in alignment with the nodes, also known as the ecliptic in astronomy. An eclipse is sort of just like an exclamation point—like a big "woof" on top of the new moon or full moon energy. It'll be similar symbolism to the new and full moon but just extra "blown up," bold, and all-caps exclamation points. If you were born under an eclipse, usually this could mean that eclipses will have special significance when they come around—that you may be affected by eclipses more so than other people.

Born under a New or Full Moon

Being born under a new moon or a full moon in general can mean that maybe you are destined to initiate a new cycle—that you are meant to start a new chapter in some way. Depending on what house the moon is located in and other things happening in the chart, we can try to figure out what that symbolism means for you and the cycle that you are initiating in your life. With the full moon, maybe you are at a peak visibility—that you're meant to be seen or really manifest something. Again, this will depend on the house placement. It can also just give you a lot of energy. If you ever worked in schools or hospitals, you know that during the full moon, energy is just frenetic and buzzing and there's a lot of activity. It can give you an imprint of that full moon electric buzz into who you are in your life.

Further Remarks on Evaluating the Condition of the Moon

We talked about aspects to the moon a little bit. You would look at the relationship that the moon has to the benefics (Jupiter and Venus) for some extra positive moon energy, or some aspects to the malefics (Saturn and Mars), planets that are doing more challenging things. That can give us more information about the quality of the moon, your emotional body, your mother, your subconscious, and the way you show up in relationships.

We can also look at the house placement of the moon. For instance, if your moon is located in the 6th, 8th, or 12th house, those can be people that oftentimes don't really relate to the moon energy so much. They're "dark houses" in ancient astrology. These are houses that don't aspect the ascendant, which essentially means they're not places that have a relationship to the self. Sometimes planets that are found here can indicate qualities that you don't relate to as much, or the zodiac sign there can be an archetype that you don't relate to as much. If you've ever felt like, "I don't know if I'm like my moon sign at all; that doesn't sound like me," you might check out what house it's in. Also, if you have a day chart, you might not identify with the moon sign so much.

If you have the moon in the third house, this is the place where the moon has its "joy." The third house in ancient astrology was called the House of the Goddess. The third house has to do with things like divination, communication, short-distance travel, grade school, your community, your neighborhood, and things happening around you. If you have the moon in the third house, then you might feel especially fluid and comfortable in these parts of life. Oftentimes, people with the moon in the third house could also be—with the moon being the body and the third house being short-distance travel—people who might really enjoy road trips or might be very interested in dancing, using their body in these ways. This will again depend on the sign that the moon is in for you, but that is a place where the moon is especially happy; that's where the moon has its joy.

I should mention as well that the moon rules Cancer. This is the place where the Queen is in her queendom, in the sign of Cancer. This is the moon's favorite place. It is also exalted in Taurus. The moon is very, very happy in Taurus. It is a lovely place for the moon. Taurus is an earth sign—very grounded and stable—and the moon also loves earthy things. Being an archetypal feminine, both the earth and water are feminine elements. Air and fire are masculine elements. Taurus is ruled by Venus, which is the other feminine planet doing nice, lovely feminine things. The moon is very happy here. People with the moon in Taurus often are very connected to the earth, have a nice grounded, stable emotional energy, and just really enjoy sensual comfort things—food, coziness, gardening, things like that. That's a very nice place for the moon.

A more challenging place for the moon, like I talked about, could be Capricorn. The moon is in "detriment" in Capricorn. This is a more challenging place. Like we talked about, Capricorn is opposite to Cancer, opposite to the moon's home, and has an opposite nature to what the moon wants to do. That's a more challenging place for the moon potentially. Although people with a Capricorn moon oftentimes can be very spiritual, it's often something that they struggle with, especially when they are younger. As they're older, they sort of develop more of a relationship with this more spiritual, mystical side to them. But there's just a harshness to Capricorn that does not really suit the moon's nature or what she wants to do. There can be some difficulty around emotions sometimes for a Capricorn moon, or difficulties regarding the mother, as the moon is also often indicative of the relationship you might have had with your mother or your experience of her—maybe some harshness, punishing, distant, or removed vibes from the mom.

Conclusion

There are many different ways that all of these things can play out. This is just giving you a general understanding; there's lots of nuance to unpack. If you would like me to do a video where I go through each of the moon signs, let me know in the comments because I can do that. I think that first off, it's important that everyone understands the planets on their own terms and their essential nature. That way you can have a direct relationship and direct connection to these symbols and really tap into what they mean for you. Once you understand the multivalent nature of these symbols, then you can start to apply them to your own chart and make your own delineations, which will just make the power so much stronger that astrology can offer you as a tool for transformation.

If you're interested in having some guidance on that journey, I do offer astrology consultations for 60 or 90 minutes. In 60 minutes, we'll get into who you are—the birth chart as a symbol of your personality, different aspects of your life, and potential strengths and weaknesses. In 90 minutes, we go through all of that while also talking about your timing, things that you can expect coming up in your future, and how we can connect things you've experienced in your past to predicting future events. I also get into more of your purpose and what astrology suggests could be peaks in your career. We look at the timing for career things, looking at the year ahead and the year now. There's just a lot more techniques that I start to apply when I do my analysis.

Both of these readings involve 15 to 20 pages of write-up that you can keep forever to understand the birth chart in the way that I use astrology. You can take notes and you get a recording so you can refer back to all of these things. They really do keep giving. The more that you relate to the symbols—every time you look back and try to understand more deeply and with more nuance the different pieces of it—it really does come alive more and offer you more awareness and therefore control of your own life.

If that sounds interesting to you, there's a link to my website below to book a consultation with me. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop them in the comments; I will definitely respond to all the comments. If you're interested to hear more about my philosophy and approach as someone who studied physics and then became an astrologer, I also have a video that is about how I understand astrology through this lens of modern science and psychology, and trying to really get to the bottom of how it really works and why it works because I feel that I'm uniquely positioned to answer these questions as someone who has been trained formally in the sciences. I hope you enjoy! Be well.

Check out the other planets in Astrology here

Zodiac Deep Dive Here