In The Luminaries, Howard Sasportas’s lecture on the Moon covers aspects to the natal Moon, and how they color one’s inner life. The sign of our Moon placement describes how we experience the Mother, how we respond to events in our environment and to others, and where and how we retreat to find comfort and rest. But the aspects formed to our Moon specify in more detail where we might experience difficulties as an emotional being in the world.
Mercury aspects to the Moon (particularly conjunctions, squares, and oppositions) suggest problems communicating our own needs or understanding others. Venus aspects describe a conflict between what we consider beautiful and what we need for our own security. Mars and the Moon suggest a need for space and yet a need for closeness and intimacy. Jupiter aspecting the Moon can suggest an emotional roller coaster, with the highs of great expectations and the low points when expectations are not met. Saturn aspecting the Moon brings a coldness to the emotional life, with an underlying belief that one can be loved and cared for only if one is extremely responsible and successful.
The Moon in Meghan Markle’s chart demonstrates how aspects sharply color one’s experience of emotions, connections, and need for security. The Moon is especially important in Meghan’s chart because, as a Cancer Rising, she is ruled by the Moon. The Moon is also angular in her chart, in the 4th house, and it is just 5 degrees away from the IC. From this perspective, she would crave a strong attachment to home and family and would base much of her inner security on these attachments. With the Moon in Libra, she needs lovely, harmonious surroundings, and she would also have a strong sense of fairness, striving to balance the Libran need to please others with her imperative to speak out when she perceives injustice.
By itself, this Moon could suggest someone immersed in a loving and supportive family. But we know from Meghan’s biography that her parents divorced when she was six, and she now has a strained relationship with her father and even more of a difficult relationship with a step-sister. Currently, she and her husband Prince Harry are estranged from Harry’s family. Meghan has been extremely vocal about what she believes to be grave mistreatment by her in-laws. Hers is a very stressed Libra Moon.
The aspects tell the tale. Meghan was born with the Moon applying to conjoin a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Libra. This once-every-twenty-year conjunction indicates the death of old traditions and the rise of a new era. Her personal energy fuses with this dynamic turning point, telling us that while she may by drawn to tradition (such as marrying a royal prince), she will need to bring her own stamp to the experience – and with the Moon in Libra, she will not hesitate to speak up when she feels she has been wronged and how things should be made right.
Saturn with the Moon brings the coldness of an estranged father (and now father-in-law), while the Moon with Jupiter suggests a mother who herself broke through boundaries and now encourages her daughter to do the same. It also reminds us of the Moon-Jupiter rollercoaster – the great expectations of her fairytale wedding to a prince, and the reality of the limited role this cast her in.
Further stressing Meghan’s Libra Moon is its applying square to Mars, which is strong in her first house. This Mars in Cancer struggles to be loving and yet to find the security it demands, so Meghan’s needs are often at odds with her family’s – setting up the rock vs hard place dynamic of a Mars-Saturn square. We see this today in the “fish bowl” Meghan and Harry live in as international celebrities challenging their need to create a safe and private life for their children. This dynamic is also emphasized in the loss of the royal security team Harry and Meghan enjoyed when they were members of the royal family, and their need to now earn vast sums of money to pay for their own round-the-clock security. The specter of Harry’s Mother losing her royal security detail after divorcing Prince Charles – which led to her losing her life in a high-speed car chase – cannot be far from their minds.
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