Moon and Feelings

In this extract from her book The Living Birth Chart: Astrological Psychology in Practice, Joyce Hopewell considers the relationship of the Moon with our feeling self, which often proves to highlight key issues in astrological psychology consultation. At the end she suggests one of the exercises from the book for you to reflect on this for yourself.

The Moon, according to the Hubers, symbolises our feeling self (see The Planets and their Psychological Meaning, page 37) and our drive to make contact with others, and it gives us sensitivity and self-awareness through the emotions. The Moon has a Mutable quality, making it flexible, adaptable, reflective, mobile and fluid. It is associated with our capacity to give and receive love, something that is important to us as children and remains so throughout life. It acts as a mirror because we use the Moon to reflect what we receive from others, and this can influence how we react to them as we sense and respond emotionally. The Moon also represents our inner child, so it can be our spontaneity, our ability to have fun, to play, to interact, feel sad, angry, smile, laugh and so on.

Feelings can pervade our lives and unfortunately we’re not always aware of how they are able to take over and dominate. If we’re feeling sad and miserable, ill-at-ease or unwell, or are bursting with joy and happiness, these emotions are going to show up very clearly in the way we look, move and behave. Of course, we may have received messages, conditioning and expectations during childhood which have discouraged us from revealing feelings of anger, sadness, elation or excitement to the world at large. If this is the case, then we will probably repress our feelings and hold them tightly inside, fearing their non-acceptance by others. Unexpressed feelings don’t go away, they stay within us and are held by the body. Negative emotions which are not expressed can fester away and cause physical discomfort such as tension headaches and digestive upsets. They can contribute to the onset of illness. Positive emotions such as enthusiasm, love and joy will want to burst out but may be waiting for permission to do so. In most cases, we can give ourselves permission to express feelings that are held inside, even if we only express them in private and for ourselves to begin with. If we find that the blocks that prevent us from expressing our feelings are too big to overcome alone, then the help of a counsellor or therapist would be an option to consider.

The Moon and the multitude of feelings and emotions it symbolises is often a neglected area of life. Working with this planet can be a key to unlocking the frequently found theme of relationships which often shows up in charts, since feelings and emotional responses are closely bound up with this area of life. My own experience of working with clients, along with their charts and life experience, is that many of them are seeking to unblock and free up their feelings in order to live happier and more fulfilled lives. This, in turn, is likely to have a positive effect on health because if feelings can be expressed, they are not held tightly in place within the body where they can cause dis-ease and ill health.

Exercise

Here are some questions which will help you focus on the feelings aspect of the Moon. Make some brief notes for yourself as you respond to these questions.