Astrologers understand something about our solar system’s design that astronomers do not. By studying the cosmic clockworks and coming to recognize the patterns these give rise to, star seers witness a Divine Order at work. Astrologers seek and find cosmic concordance and directly witness the handiwork of The Master Clockmaker. The planetary bodies have not only been skillfully set on their various orbital courses, they are also timed to fulfill specific purposes. Each one relays its mandate through its own unique messaging system. Although the moon is not technically a planet, Astrologers recognize Luna’s relationship to the tidal fluxes that animate human feelings. Like a graceful conductor, the moon directs the rhythms of the oceans’ tides. This luminary also regulates the hormonal tides that wax and wane within the female body. Think about it: the lunar cycle orbed to twenty-nine days matches the menstrual cycles of all healthy human females of childbearing age! Interestingly enough, no research has ever been conducted to study the variables of human emotion in relation to the lunar cycle. The direct influence of the moon, Yin counterpart to the Yang sun, has been largely left in the dark. That is until Moon Dance opened “this book of the night” for sentient souls’ further scrutiny.

Mankind is passing through an inordinately materialistic era. The mores that define our collective value systems reflect the goals and preferences of a “marketplace culture.” Its prevailing ethos places premiums on convenience, profit, and uniformity. With so many aspects of life defined by those parameters, it’s not surprising that psychology and medicine succumb largely to a “one size fits all” model. But is it true? Factories may benefit from assembly-line efficiency, but human beings express as 12 basic types. We are not all equally moved (or manipulated) by the same motivation. It’s not a coincidence that Jesus specifically sought out 12 disciples, that Abraham founded 12 tribes, and that the Zodiac identifies 12 celestial archetypes. The marketplace culture emphasizes uniformity. Years ago, factory workers took pride in what their efforts built. Today, workers are placed in niches where they endlessly repeat the same tasks like cogs in a wheel. Nor does the workplace generally tolerate any shows of emotion. Employees are expected to conform to protocols and meet deadlines in behaviors ideally suited to robots. It’s regarded as “unprofessional” to show one’s feelings. When emotions are forced into suppression, social dysfunctions result. American society is incredibly violent (recent school shootings are one example); and there are astounding levels of Depression, alcoholism, obesity, and drug abuse. These phenomena reflect the ways that people adapt to the emptiness of their inner lives. Whole portions of the human psyche have been cordoned off. Given the widespread evidence of maladaptive behaviors, can anything be gained from studying the moon’s cycles? As an astrologer who’s studied the Moon’s vital role in clients’ lives, I believe it can. In fact, genuine enlightenment awaits those who are ready to take the ultimate journey. Its destination is the inner self, featuring self-awareness as its Mecca. The premise recognizes the inherent wisdom left by Mercury on the Temple wall: “Know thyself.”

Every planet exerts both positive and negative potentials, as do all signs; however, it is the moon that serves as the celestial ambassador tied directly to what we feel. Luna’s movements give rise to the vast spectrum of emotions that flesh (especially female flesh) is heir to. If we take the time to correlate our feelings to the lunar cycle, over time we can anticipate these rhythmic fluxes before each one manifests. Emotions generally follow a lunar track. If a richer self-knowledge is sought, treasure can be found by mapping one’s inner journey. Moon Dance: The Feminine Dimensions of Time guides readers in deepening their understanding of their linkage with the moon’s orbital journey. Another factor to consider is that the moon acts as our planet’s memory-keeper. Every sentient soul that’s walked this earth has lived its life story under the moon’s watchful eye. Luna retains the template of all human experience. And since human experience expresses largely through 12 basic archetypes, we enrich our understanding by noting how the Zodiac signs take their meanings (and character) from the Ancient Myths. When the moon makes her crossing of all signs (each and every month) she rouses the archetype that resides in each one. Individuals actualize these archetypal energies in their own unique manners.

I developed Moon Dance: The Feminine Dimensions of Time to serve as a guided tour into those places where the psyche meets (and dances with) the archetypes of time. The Zodiac circle teaches us that all sentient beings are connected and that ultimately, everything comes full circle. A part of our Essence travels with the planets, especially the moon. This allows us to experience what is not necessarily familiar or not yet integrated into our psychic structure. For instance: Suppose we lack planets in earth signs? Then every time the Moon transits an Earth sign, we gain the opportunity to connect with that element. Gradually we build up a connection that offsets the missing elemental link. What compelled me to write this book from the perspective of the astrologer (who recognized the pivotal role played by the moon) was learning that millions of persons were being routinely prescribed anti-Depressant drugs. These high numbers suggest a Canary in the Coal-mine syndrome being treated through covert social engineering. What does it say about a given society if millions must medicate to function within it?

Astrology regards the Moon as a Yin planet, so naturally, it’s associated with women. The sun, its complement, generally refers to men and masculine behaviors. American society tolerates some emotional expression in women, but virtually none (apart from anger) in men. Huge displays of emotion are primarily reserved for our modern-day Roman Arenas, the football stadiums. Is this distinction linked to the moon, gender-based cultural norms, or both? Bottom line: women tend to be more in touch with their feelings. That’s why it’s no surprise that most anti-Depressant medications go to females. (I’ve also seen Cancer men wrestle with profound emotional gyrations due to their intimate link with the moon.)

The moon illuminates the landscape of our inner lives with cosmic chemistry factoring powerfully into the mix. For example, a fire sign moon-native is apt to feel sluggish and earthbound when the moon transits an earth sign. In contrast, a water sign moon-native tends to feel steady, secure and contained during those lunar intervals. The lunar cycle recurs every twenty-nine days; that means the moon spends about 2.4 days in each successive sign. One can design a personal Moon Dance journal and thereby record what they feel each month when the moon crosses the same sign. Over time, clear patterns will emerge. However, it’s important to mention that no two days are ever fully alike. That’s because when the moon returns to the same sign every 29 days, the sun will have moved onto the next sign. Indeed, the entire stellar panoply will have altered. It’s best to envision the Astro-logos as a celestial kaleidoscope. The changing facets constantly create new designs, yet the basic hues remain. Ultimately, the moon’s influence will stand out. Your journal will reveal that your moods are not accidental. In time you will come to see that there is a profound lunar method to the great cosmic “madness.”

Moon Dance showed me that my best writing comes when the moon transits Virgo. I intuitively gravitate to the precise word that delivers “the goods.” I tend to access visionary ideas when the moon transits Aquarius, and have more patience for dealing with mundane tasks when the moon transits Capricorn. I try to avoid long trips or airline flights at such times because things move very slowly. The Virgo moon rings true to the sign’s cleanliness mandate, for it’s typically then that I feel the urge to deal with laundry or clean in places (like behind the refrigerator) that I would otherwise ignore. Each of us resonates differently to the music of spheres, the keys to Time’s Original Archetypes. My experience may not fit yours. For advanced Moon Dancers, it’s helpful to keep track of the lunar cycles of all family members. In this way, you can anticipate opportunities as well as potentials for charged intervals before either arrives. That, my friends, is cosmic therapy at its best!

Many moons ago I lived with a difficult, albeit passionate man whose Aries Sun fell in square to his Mars-Saturn conjunction in Cancer. My Libra daughter’s sun exactly opposed his sun and also squared his Mars-Saturn. Meanwhile, my Saturn-Libra opposed his sun (also conjunct my daughter’s sun) and squared his Mars-Saturn Cancer. Needless to say, our family went on “Red alert” each month when the moon crossed Cancer.

Edgar Cayce, America’s Sleeping Prophet defined family life as the hotbed of karma. Not every family possesses volatile astrological components. However, karmic short circuits certainly exist for most. They can be discovered if you look for them. Moon Dance was designed to promote each reader’s personal discovery process. We all experience the moon’s journey, along with those of other planets, in relation to our unique natal chart wiring. Because science (apart from quantum physics) is rather locked into materiality, it’s convinced many thinking persons that the planets cannot possibly affect them. It does not seem logical from an earthbound perspective, that a “body” out there can influence one’s body down here. Mystics, in contrast, regard the living world as a unified web of life. It’s held together through the incomprehensible workings of a vast network of energized threads of light. Any perturbation to one thread reverberates throughout the entire fabric.

Those who dismiss as “coincidence” the moon’s orbital connection to the menses of half the world’s population exhibit shortsighted thinking. The same can be said for those who say they “don’t believe in astrology,” I tend to offer the snappy retort that: “Gravity doesn’t believe in you, either.” Face it: when it comes to the binding nature of universal law, human belief is not a requirement. Whether one agrees or otherwise: water freezes when it reaches 32-degrees. Then there’s the analogy between human anatomy, chemistry, and the cosmos. Something profound is observed in the way that tiny atoms replicate the great cosmic design plan. In the case of atoms, microscopic electrons spin their orbs around the atomic nucleus. In the solar system, the planets enact similar circle dances around a central sun. Could our planet serve as a mere atom in the body of Creator? That sort of conjecture got one killed centuries ago!

To expand empathy beyond what is familiar, the moon invites us to come along as she journeys through the topography of the Collective Soul. Sharing her passages, we vicariously experience all 12 archetypal expressions. When we align with our feelings-nature, we are able to tap into the essence of each one. The moon serves as the vehicle that allows us to truly become one with all that is. In this way, we can meld with all aspects of Creation. Therefore, on inner planes, we become the 12 archetypes of time.

Have you ever wondered why people ACT, and sometimes even resemble, the signs they are born under? The answer carries a bit of cosmic poetry. When the sun (the father principle, supreme Yang) unites with the moon (the mother principle, supreme Yin) during each month’s new moon, the pair’s unified force field creates a cosmic consummation. Together they give birth to the archetype that dwells in the sign-realm of their meeting. This explains how the Aries person takes on ram-like features, or why the Taurus individual can act like a bull. Each is the progeny of a communion of the Lights. We, mortals, reflect in temperament, something suggestive of cosmic DNA.

The zodiac signs are charged with a Divine fire that’s qualitatively distributed through 12 specific prisms. Each one is distinguished by its particular quality of light or ray. A number of gifted clairvoyants have refined the Zodiac Mandala into keen analyses of each of its 360-degree rays. This data pool mirrors the Akashic Record. The correspondences I’ve witnessed are proof positive of a Divine Order at work. Ultimately, we live in a mysterious world full of marvels. As the Divine Parent principles merge regularly at the new moon, they invoke each one of timeless archetypes from the universal tide pool in due order. And so here we are in the great swim of things!

To conclude our discussion, we’ll take a look at the archetypes of time as invoked by the moon in her monthly passage across all 12 Zodiac signs. (For a fuller explanation, check out: Moon Dance: The Feminine Dimensions of Time.) I have taken a number of liberties in merging specific mythological personae with certain signs. For instance, I chose the Female Goddess Artemis to represent the sign of Aquarius, Pan to represent Sagittarius, and Persephone (as well as Pluto) to represent Scorpio. These choices result from 30 years of astrological research and counseling. It’s my view that the archetypes selected profoundly suit the nature of the signs in question. They also unearth ancient roots that shape each one’s persona. Let’s Moon Dance!