Following the Moon: Sept. 14, 2023

I felt that the Full Moon chart for Aug. 30 had a friendly vibe (click here to see the article and the chart) and, aside from the hurricane that raked across northern Florida early in the lunation period, it has been a relatively peaceful two weeks for the United States, until Tuesday. That’s when Kevin McCarthy announced that he was starting an impeachment inquiry against President Biden. That was definitely an unfriendly act, but one so enmeshed in partisan politics that it’s difficult to determine it significance.

Another interesting development was the recent polls showing Joe Biden and Donald Trump virtually tied in a prospective race for the presidency in 2024. Given Trump’s massive legal problems, this surprised a lot of people. I see it as a product of the configuration of Pluto, Neptune and Uranus in the last several lunation charts. The easy connections between these three heavy hitters describes a quiet, and somewhat ominous, status quo. What this poll is telling us is that the mood of the American people is still stuck at what it was in Nov. 2020. Trump still has control of the Republican Party and Democrats and independents are not all that jazzed about Joe Biden.

In the New Moon chart for Sept. 14 that triple connection between Pluto, Neptune and Uranus is broken up. (Click on New Moonto see the chart.) Uranus has moved away from its trine to Pluto and sextile to Neptune. (The configuration will return in 2024, however.) Other than that, at least at first glance, the New Moon chart looks very much like the Aug. 30 lunation. Once again the Fifth House is emphasized with the Sun and Moon placed there. This brings to mind the actors and writer strike once again. The fact that Uranus is trine the Sun and Moon does seem to indicate activity in that matter, but the opposition of Neptune to the Sun and Moon argues against anything definitive.

However, the real action in this lunation chart may not involve the Sun and Moon. Jupiter and Uranus sit on either side of the Ascendant. They hint at a conjunction but that won’t actually take place until next year. In this lunation chart, though, both planets are with range of a conjunction to the Ascendant. Those aspects are actually hopeful, but they have to be considered in the context of what is happening at the top of the chart, where Pluto is almost directly on the Midheaven.

Pluto represents power and the Midheaven has to do with figures of authority and judgement. Given that Uranus is typically associated with technology, it is interesting the Congressional hearing on artificial intelligence began just before the date of this New Moon. It could well be that recommendations coming out of these hearing will have important ramification for the future. Another interesting point is that the use of technology and A.I. with regard to entertainment is a major factor in the writers and actors strike. These issues might be brought up during the Congressional hearing.

Of course, the use and abuse of technology is not the only area in which the oppressive influence of Pluto will be felt during the next two weeks. Likewise, it won’t be the only area in which we will feel the liberating, expansive influence of Uranus and Jupiter. The bottom line is that this lunation period is going to be up and down. We are going to have moments that are absolutely thrilling and other moments that are tremendously worrisome.