To begin a happy new year, I cracked open Tracy Marks’ brilliant The Astrology of Self-Discovery and am enchanted by all the gems which pour out from its pages. Not content to simply give us key words for planets and signs, she asks us to consider our planetary placements as actions to take and processes to follow. The inner work of becoming a thriving human being is celebrated in this book, and we can use Tracy Marks guide to working with our Moons, the Lunar Nodes, and the transits of Neptune and Pluto to our natal planets.
Focusing on our Moon’s sign is a good place to start. Born with an Aries Moon, we can overemphasize self-sufficiency and the need to have everything all at once, now. As an Aries Moon, Marks tells us, “One of our tasks may therefore be learn how to differentiate impulse from deeper wants and needs, and to come to know what we really want beyond the thrill of momentary satisfactions.” Finding what truly makes us happy and sparks desire helps us to eliminate the impulse to scatter our energies.
As a Taurus Moon, Marks writes, “We may coddle ourselves into too easy a lifestyle or defend against our needs by maintaining too rigid a self-sufficiency. To successfully reparent our Taurean inner child, we may have to reassess those internal messages which keep us bound in unsatisfying habits and behaviors, and to develop new messages which…encourage us to experience and satisfy the most essential need of our bodies rather than become mired in patterns of laziness…and let go of our possessiveness or compulsive self-sufficiency and experience our capacity truly to give and receive warmth and devotion.” Learning that it is ok to be uncomfortable sometimes in pursuit of something truly worthwhile is a key lesson when we have the Moon in Taurus. As a Gemini Moon, Marks writes, “Our task may be to reconnect with our feelings and bodies in such a way that we may think communicate and structure our lives to make our mental activities and relationship truly nourishing.” A Gemini Moon is perpetually seeking new experiences and stimulation, but using our intelligence to explore what will be rewarding to experience in the long term helps us focus the delightful energy of our Moon sign. As a Cancer Moon, Marks tells us, “One of our most important tasks may be that of fully mourning the symbiosis our inner child had to relinquish…as part of maturation. We may have to experience the depth of our need to nurture and be nurtured and as adults establish patterns of behavior and interaction which fulfill those needs without catering to them.” Its hard for us to let go of the need to be taken care of when our Moon is in Cancer, and it’s after we learn to develop that inner caring parent or connection to a spiritual source that we are freed from a path of self-pity and dependence – and are now free to bring that wonderful nurturing energy to others.
We can see, then, that Tracy Marks is guiding us towards an emotionally richer and more satisfying life by growing from the gifts found in our Moon signs. A Leo Moon needs to become one’s best audience, appreciating the spontaneity of our inner child. We must keep our hearts open to all emotional experiences. A Virgo Moon must guard against the tendency to use our minds to defend ourselves against unwanted feelings. We need to use our powers of analysis to explore our feelings and work from the impulse of our most heartfelt needs. Libra Moons must acknowledge the need for harmony and balance in our world – but be willing to work through disharmony and imbalance to get there. Acknowledging our feelings does not threaten relationships; it strengthens them. Scorpio Moons fear losing control. Our strength develops as we discover “our inner power and draw upon our own capabilities to meet our needs rather than manipulating other to give us what we are unable or unwilling to give ourselves.”
Those of us with Sagittarius Moons may become mired in the philosophical framework we grew up with and so need to strike out on our own to find the beliefs and philosophies which work for our lives. We must balance our generosity towards others by giving ourselves the same grace, developing “the internal freedom capable of existing within limitations and commitments.” With a Capricorn Moon, we take pride in our accomplishments and crave recognition for them. When this fails to materialize, we can fall into depression and self-criticism. The more positive path, then, “involves developing our internal source of security and giving ourselves the validation and recognition we may have originally sought from others.” With an Aquarian Moon, we must learn to appreciate our uniqueness and seek out those who respect our values and interests and even share them. At the same time, we need to cultivate “the internal freedom which results from full openness to our emotional natures, and learning to be our own friend.” A Pisces Moon gives us the need for space “to drift and dream.” While we are very drawn into the feelings of others, our task is to “learn how to respond constructively to our own feelings and needs, to serve our selves and give to ourselves rather than attempt to lose ourselves in others.” Finding our own creative or spiritual source gives us that sense of oneness we desire.
