- The Sun (Greater luminary)
- Rulership: Heart; general health; healthy flow of energy; recuperation
- Native house: 5 th House
- Rise: Aries
- Rest: Leo
- Detriment: Aquarius
- Fall: Libra
- The Moon (Lesser luminary)
- Rulership: Digestion; regular movement of fluids in body; water retention; natural rhythms; adrenal glands
- Native house: 4 th House
- Rise: Taurus
- Rest: Cancer
- Detriment: Capricorn
- Fall: Scorpio
The Sun holds a prominent place not just in astrology but also in mythology and world religions. Countless traditions have begun in praise of the Sun: even the most widely known Solar religion, Christianity, descended from worship of Osiris, Zoroastrianism, and the Cult of Mithras. For Spiritual reasons, people around the world continue to sunbathe in the winter months as a way of reconnecting with the life-Spirit of the Sun. More connected to health, people in northern climes who don’t get enough sunshine suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and are directed by physicians to sit under lamps which recreate sunlight. This exposure improves their mood and restores their sense of “self.”
From Zoroastrianism, and the Cults of Mithras, Apollo, and Asclepius, to the rise of the God of Abraham, Sun worship – like Moon worship – has and will always be present. For example, the “Son Rise” early-morning worship service has become a popular fixture in many Christian churches, and many others use “Sonrise” as part of their name. In this case, the play on words between Sunrise and Sonrise is simply truth in advertising! Some Christian denominations may criticize pantheism, but that won’t change the Sun’s central role in their religion.
The Sun describes strengths, confidence, potentiality, drive, ambition, desire, performance. The Sun is a source of great strength and it doesn’t turn off – it’s always on. It is those areas of a person’s life which he simply can’t deny and in which he or she must be engaged. Start asking your friends and family their Sun sign – I’ve found that to be among the fastest ways to learn the true nature and character of the signs of the Zodiac and to be a much more engaging experience than reading from a book.
On a bad day, the Sun just isn’t acting like himself. He isn’t living his truth, he refuses his nature, and he insists on being somebody or something he isn’t. He feels like he has to be active and he creates, generates, or contributes things which have no personal meaning. He creates or contributes simply because he feels that he must. On a bad day, the Sun doesn’t doesn’t display his usual personality or temperament. This could be because the Sun doesn’t do well with the Shadow; once the uncomfortable aspects of himself are revealed and confronted, he can return to being his usual self and keeping us warm with his glowing personality. The Sun is the ruler of Leo, the sign of fixed Fire, and is at home in the fifth house of pride, vanity, children and lovers. The Sun’s heat and light is only useful if there’s somebody around to receive it and reflect it back to him (like the Moon.)
Equal to the Sun, the Moon is among the most written, celebrated, and observed of the heavenly bodies and books (countless series of books) have been written for her mythology, mystical properties, and effect on Earthly life. Such is the Moon’s prominence that she was a focal point of worship for early humans and continues to be a focal point of worship today: indeed, entire religions have been formed in worship of the Moon and her passage through the heavens. Neo-that's pagan religions such as Wicca place an almost exclusive emphasis on the importance of the Moon in context to holy days, Spiritual rites, and religious practices. Nor will it change the Moon’s central role in Christianity: for example, why does Easter fall on a different date each year? Because Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Page, Father, and Sage; or Maiden, Mother, and Crone: the triune godhead in both the masculine and the feminine is here to stay.
The Moon is not a planet, but she is recognized by astrologers as having the same profound influence of a planet. The Moon is called the Lesser Luminary and is paired with the Sun to provide the full nature of an individual’s personality. An individual’s Moon sign (the sign in which the Moon resides in a natal chart) describes the inner-most part of a person’s self which is only known to that person and to those who know that person very well. As the Earth orbits the Sun, its shadow covers more or less of the Moon at regular intervals; thus, the Moon is said to wax and wane through her regular phases. The Moon has three phases: waxing, full, and waning. Because of this, the number three is associated with the Moon who embodies the archetypal triple-goddess: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.
Anecdotally, I have heard from nurses that the number of patients seen in the emergency room, mothers delivering children, and mentally unstable patients admitted for observation all happen with more frequency at the full of the Moon. A crime scene investigator and college professor who taught police investigations told me that although no statistics confirm that humans suffer from lunacy, he himself is convinced that such phenomena do occur. What do you believe?
The Moon governs the sub- or un-conscious as well as regular rhythms and cyclical order. Like Venus, the Moon shares sensitive, feminine qualities and imparts a measure of receptivity and openness, like the gentle crescent of the new Moon. On a bad day, the Moon can be irrational, eccentric, or erratic. She may also use her darker side to manipulate others or play at politics (openly or behind closed doors) to get what she wants. Make no mistake: the Moon is as variable as the hearts and minds of men and as fickle as the oceans whose tides she pulls. The Moon can be lucky and an omen of good fortune, or when crossed can be described by Credence Clearwater Revival’s song “I see a bad Moon rising.” The Moon is at home in the 4 th House of home, roots, one parent, and end-of-life circumstances. The Moon also governs Cancer, the sign of cardinal Water. The 4th House describes the ideal of motherhood and the parent referenced here is typically the nurturing mother.
The Solar System is named such because everything orbits around the Sun. Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, dwarf planets, smaller moons, asteroids, dust, ice, and more all move around one central point whose gravitational pull permits their beautiful dance of synchronicity. Astrologically and astronomically, our yellow Sun is where it all begins. Without the Sun, nothing (including ourselves) would be as we know it.
More so, without Earth’s Moon, nothing here would be as we know it either. Without the Moon, the tides of the oceans wouldn’t follow a predictable pattern and the natural rhythm and order we enjoy would be nothing. The Moon controls the tides of the oceans and because the body is 70% Water, she has a profound effect on human life. The terms “lunatic” and “lunacy” directly reference the effects of the Moon on an individual. At one time in my life I worked as a security officer in a shopping mall. Although none of the other officers on staff were interested in astrology, they all knew the phases of the Moon and took extra precaution on duty when the Moon was full. For whatever reason, there were more fights, conflicts, arguments, drama, and other unusual events around the full Moon than at any other time of the month.
The Sun is classified as a star and the heat or light it releases varies by no more than one percent. The Sun is called the Greater Luminary and is considered the most powerful indicator of a person’s personality in a horoscope. The Sun shows where we shine, what’s important to us, sources of pride and ego (for better and for worse), and what fuels or drives us in life. The Sun and the Moon, members of the Balances of Fire and Water, respectively, are opposites but astrologically are connected. The Moon is called the Lesser Luminary; it of course emits no light of its own but reflects the Sun and its wax and wane is only because of Earth’s shadow. None the less, the Moon is not simply a mirror, but a major force which affects all life on Earth. For the glorious strength of the Sun, the Moon provides a gentle caress.
The union of the Moon and the Sun is so clear that one would have to be nearly blind not to see it. For example, Dianic Wicca is a neopagan religion which observes the phases of the Moon and venerates the eternal feminine as manifested in the three faces of the Goddess: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Moon worship is as old as, well, the Moon. As many ancient and contemporary Moon-worshipping religions are known, the same number can be found for Sun-worshipping religions.
The difference between the two Luminaries is important: the Sun imparts vitality, strength, stamina, and the ability to quickly recuperate from illness, injury, and exhaustion. As the ruler of the sign of fixed Fire, it is the Fire in our breast like the furnace which heats and powers a home. The Moon governs the natural rhythms of the body, Water retention, and the regular movement of all fluids in the body. Besides these functions of the Sun and the Moon, there are two more to introduce: the heart and the stomach.
The heart is the fist-sized organ which rests above the diaphragm and behind the sternum and grows to maturity between ages 12 to 25. Though the Heart is ruled by the Sun and through its pumping action is responsible for the circulation of blood, this is only accomplished through a partnership with the rhythmic influence of the Moon. The heart is protected by the tough outer layer of the fibrous pericardium and the smooth, lubricated layer of the serous pericardium. This tough outer jacket protects the heart, while the smooth inner jacket provides a frictionless environment for the ever-moving heart.
The four chambers of the heart are the atria and ventricles: two upper atria, and two lower ventricles, both separated by the septum, a part of the heart wall. The two upper chambers, the atria, receive blood from veins and alternately relax to receive blood and contract to pump blood. Upon contraction, the atria push blood into the two lower ventricles. The ventricles are the chief pumping mechanisms of the heart and are significantly thicker than the thin atria.
Like the one-way valves in the arteries, veins, and lymphatic vessels, the heart also benefits from structures which permit fluid to travel only one direction. The atria are protected by the atrioventricular valves, which prevent blood from flowing backward from the lower ventricles. The semilunar valves protect the ventricles and prohibit backward flow of blood away from the pulmonary artery and aorta.
Blood returning to the heart enters through the right atrium and is passed into the right ventricle. The right ventricle empties into the pulmonary artery which carries blood to the lungs for oxygenation. Pulmonary veins feed the oxygenated blood to the left atrium, which empties into the left ventricle, which in turn pumps fresh blood into the aorta. The aorta is the central artery which feeds blood from the heart to all other arteries in the body.
After the heart, the other organ of the body which commonly gets a lot of attention is the stomach. We may take the heart for granted and forget about it, but our stomach kindly and not so kindly reminds us of its presence every hour of every day. The stomach is gifted in that, like the Moon, it can wax and wane. The stomach is flexible enough that it contract to the size of one’s hand when empty or can considerably distend to accommodate the volume of an enormous meal. The size of the stomach varies from person to person and fluctuates based on quantity and frequency of meals, but on average is the size of two fists together.
The stomach is located left-center of the solar plexus under the diaphragm and behind the left lobe of the liver. The stomach is composed of a protective elastic outer layer, three middle layers of muscle, and an inner mucus lining. The three middle layers of muscle efficiently squeeze and relax to churn food and promote digestion. The upper portion of the stomach is named the fundus; the central portion the body; and the lower portion the pylorus. The lining of the stomach wall contains mucus and endocrine cells. The gastric mucosa secrete gastric juice and hydrochloric acid to promote digestion, and the endocrine cells secrete gastrin and ghrelin. You may not know these hormones by their names, but you certainly know what they do: gastrin regulates the stomach for efficient digestion, and ghrelin signals the hypothalamus to increase appetite.
The stomach, like other organs which transport fluids, is protected by special structures to prevent the passage of fluid in the wrong direction. The entry of the esophagus into the fundus is guarded by a muscular opening named the lower esophageal sphincter, and the entry of the pylorus into the duodenum guarded by the pyloric sphincter. The duodenum, a portion of the small intestine, will be covered in greater detail under Virgo, the sign of mutable Earth.
The Moon also shares rulership of the adrenal glands with Mars. Mars’ rulership of the adrenal glands is over the androgens (especially testosterone) and adrenaline. The Moon’s rulership of the adrenal glands is over estrogen, cortisol, and aldosterone. The rulership of aldosterone is especially important because it is the hormone which signals the kidneys to conserve sodium which ultimately governs Water retention.
Important to both the Sun and the Moon is shock, the potentially life-threatening condition in which the circulatory system is unable to feed sufficient blood to the body. Shock can be classified as cardiogenic, hypovolemic, neurogenic, anaphylactic, and septic. Cardiogenic shock is when the heart is unable to pump blood at full capacity. This may result from infections, heart attack, or other heart failures. Hypovolemic shock is exactly what it says: hypo- (low) –volemic (volume). Hypovolemic shock is commonly caused by severe trauma which leads to massive blood loss. It can also be caused by the sudden loss of interstitial fluid, which we learned about under Neptune. Vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation are all disruptions of the Balance of Water which in turn upset the Balance of Fire. Neurogenic and anaphylactic shock are nervous and allergic reactions which cause widespread dilation of blood cells throughout the body and reduces, slows, or stops the flow of blood. Septic shock is the result of a large-scale infection in the body which spreads poisonous toxins and damages tissues.
With an appreciation for Solar and Lunar influence upon the human body, other subjects are illuminated. For example, high blood pressure: hypertension is one of the leading reasons for a visit to the doctor or the emergency room. Curiously, greater than 90% of all cases of hypertension have no single identifiable cause. In other words, hypertension is a name for category of symptoms whose cause can’t be strictly identified. The remaining cases of hypertension are caused by kidney problems and hormonal imbalances related to the use of some types of birth control, as well as pregnancy. Untreated, hypertension can lead to kidney damage, stroke, and heart failure. Do you see the relationships? These examples illustrate how the Hermetic Law of Polarity operates in the human body: the heart, kidneys, and blood pressure (all ruled by the Balance of Fire) accompany distress related to fertility, conception, and the endocrine system (all ruled by the Balance of Water.) Fire and Water oppose each other, yet both are joined inseparably as members of the same balance of universal life Spirit.
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