☽Moon
The Moon is the other luminary of the chart and represents the feeling soul, the body, and daily life: how you feel, what you need, and where you come from.
The Moon is the fastest body in the sky: it travels the entire zodiac in a little over 27 days and changes sign every two and a half days. That speed makes it the fine needle of every timing technique.
It rules the night and heads the nocturnal sect. In a nocturnal chart it is the principal luminary, and the whole reading is ordered from it.
What the Moon represents
The feeling soul and the body: what you feel before thinking it, habits, sleep, appetite. Everything in a life that is cyclical and not decided.
Also the mother in a nocturnal chart—by day it is Venus who signifies her—and the maternal in general: who cared for you and how you care. And daily life, the concrete day to day.
In practice it is the most consulted body after the Ascendant: in horary it represents the querent, and in natal work it sets the emotional pulse of the chart.
Dignities of the Moon
Domicile in Cancer, its only sign. Exaltation in Taurus: the nourishing body honored in the sign of what feeds and endures.
Exile in Capricorn—where feeling submits to duty—and fall in Scorpio, where calm turns into an intensity hard to settle.
Phases and void of course
The Moon waxes and wanes in a cycle of 29.5 days with the Sun. Waxing is read as accumulation and increase; waning, as discharge and letting go. The tradition prefers to begin things while waxing.
And then there is the most practical condition in all of astrology: the Moon void of course. It happens when it has made its last aspect within a sign and has not yet entered the next one. The tradition avoids starting anything then—what is begun does not take hold.
Frequently asked questions
What does my Moon sign mean?
The Moon's sign describes how you feel, what you need in order to be well, and what your habits and reactions are. It is distinct from the Sun sign, which speaks of identity and purpose.
What is the void-of-course Moon?
It is the Moon that has already made its last aspect within a sign and has not yet entered the next one. The tradition advises against starting things during that period, because what is begun does not take hold.
Why does the Moon matter so much if it moves so fast?
Precisely because of that: travelling the zodiac in 27 days makes it the fine needle of the timing techniques. And since it rules the body and daily life, it describes the concrete pulse of a life rather than its broad lines.