Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means

This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Scorpio Lunation chart. We have shifted Jones patterns again, approaching a perfect Bowl which leads with Mars in Libra and ends with Uranus in Taurus. Those who concentrate, strengthen their faith, and are flexible will find they can hold the tension and find a way to achieve their ambition. If the theme of the past month was “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” then the theme this month is “rejoice in the repair work to be done.”

This month puts the focus on the sign Scorpio, with a big dose of Libra in the background. Because the Venus in Scorpio/Mars in Libra mutual receptions rules everything except Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, those signs hold the stage and dominate the energies. This is the seventh Lunation outside the outer planet occupied zone, and all the planets are now converging toward their karmic rendezvous in January and March!

Earlier in 2019 we had all the planets bundled in about one third of the sky. They expanded into half and then two thirds of the sky, creating a Bowl and then Locomotive Jones pattern. We’re now done with the imbalances of the Locomotive, which took us through a fiery inspired time in the Summer to a more practical powerful imbalance in the Autumn. Now we’ve contracted back into a Bowl for the next two months before everything hits maximum compression in early 2020!

As you understand by now, different months bring us different Jones Patterns, depending on the position of the Moon and the inner planets relative to the outer planets. These patterns operate their own independent influence, regardless of which planet is in which sign.

Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Jupiter in late Sagittarius, and proceeds through outer planets in Capricorn, Pisces, and early Taurus. This is a fairly narrow distribution, with all the outer planets in a little over a third of the sky (excluding TransPluto, since Jones didn’t use it in defining his patterns). That means the Jones pattern in the sky is primarily influenced by the position of the inner planets, shifting the pattern every so often.

Mars At the Far Side of the Occupied Span

Between December 2017 and April 2018 we literally had no non-lunar oppositions. Between late October 2018 and early May 2019 we had only one non-lunar opposition, between Venus and Uranus in early December. As oppositions bring awareness, we were in a time of compression rather than awareness.

Mars began this year’s run of its oppositions in early May with the opposition to Jupiter. In June it joined with Mercury to oppose Saturn and Pluto as the Sun and Venus opposed Jupiter. So we went from months of no oppositions to a season of many oppositions!

We are now near the finish line of oppositions to the outer planets, with all the inner planets except Mars done with their oppositions to Scorpio. This Lunation is the illumination of Uranus to be expressed in a new form via the Moon. Mars will activate the illuminated externalized Uranian force when it opposes Uranus in late November.

After that we will again be in a long run of no non-lunar oppositions, with all the planets in half of the zodiac. By early March 2020 every planet will be compressed into a span of about 108 degrees, a Bundle Jones pattern which is an extremely rare occurrence. This is maximum compression!

Applying this to your chart, oppositions are great for producing integrated greater awareness and the ability to use that energy to achieve what we need to in our own planetary matrix. Each of these oppositions made many aspects to your chart; the sextiles and trines to your planets will help you understand and stabilize those energies, and the quintile and related specializing aspects show unique processes which can be used according to your need through planets which square them.

Also remember that this compression of planets is or will oppose any natal or progressed planets we have in Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, and Scorpio. This indicates that circumstances are offering you major realizations by how you externalize your planets being opposed by Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, and Neptune. Again, an opposition can be very favorable for becoming more aware of those outer spiritual forces coaxing greater realization.

Because Mars has been transiting the far side of the occupied outer planet span, it was a major player in all Jones patterns created in 2019. It now is closing on Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, and will disappear in the occupied span in 2020. At this time, all the planets are widely spread out in 6 signs with an empty span of 160+ between Taurus and mid-Libra. As it’s clear one half of the zodiac has planets and the other half is empty, it creates a classic “Bowl” Jones pattern. This shows how the energies are to be approached, and how the sequence of any activity unfolds from beginning to end.

So What is a “Bowl Pattern” and how does it work?

This type of spread, with all the planets occupying approximately half of the signs with an empty half opposite the occupies half, creates a “special type of conscious selfhood,” which Dr. Jones says “marks the Bowl type of temperament. He goes on to state “Fundamentally it is an extreme self-containment,” which “holds things, and a Bowl individual is one who always has something to bear.”

He goes on to state that with the Bowl, “the whole dynamic of man, his total power of achievement, arises in his instinctive realization that he is set off against a definite part of the world, that there is a complete segment of experience from which he is excluded in some subtle fashion. The Bowl not only holds something, but also places whatever it holds into relationship with a larger consideration.”

Dr. Jones continues that “the occupied segment of the Bowl horoscope reveals the activity and organization of the self, since planets are significant according to their place by sign and house, and the unoccupied segment becomes a challenge to existence, or the need and emptiness to which the native must direct his attention. The outstanding characteristic of the Bowl temperament is its marked sense of what is self-contained in contrast with what the self cannot hold, and this take an everyday form in an advocacy of some cause, the furtherance of a mission, an introspective concern over the purpose of experience.”

He concludes his explanation of how the pattern works with “The Bowl native always has something to give to his fellows, whether literally or psychologically, whether constructively or vindictively, because his orientation to the world arises from division; that is, frustration and uncertainty. The leading planets, determined in exactly the same way as for the Locomotive pattern, give a point of application, and shows where and how the native seeks to carry out his mission or gain his everyday justification for existence.”

He brings up another important point of analysis, as he states “the leading planet is of secondary importance in the Bowl pattern, unless it is found in a strong opposition or cosmic cross. The fundamental attack on the problems of life by the Bowl individual is indicated more significantly by the tilt or house-position of the Bowl-segment.”

He concludes this section by stating “the Bowl character is definitely more self-expending, or self-seeking, and more practically interested in what things mean and what they are. It continually throws the emphasis from the signs into the houses. It a general way the Bowl tends to ‘scoop up’ things and initiate experience when the position of the leading planet ranges from the fourth cusp, up and over the ascendant, to the midheaven cusp, and then inclines to “capture” things or consummate various phases of life when the leading planet is placed similarly from the tenth angle down over the descendant to the nadir.”

As with last month, Mars is the leading planet, but is now in Libra instead of Virgo. Find rhythmic and balanced approaches to initiate experience, reconstructing how things came to be as they are, and being joyous in doing needed repair work with an eye to fixing structural flaws, whether in things, situations, or arguments.

With Uranus closing, take a new look at what of the past needs to be buried, or what has been buried that is now resurrected, or what needs to be re-examined so we can be sure the right thing was buried to begin with! This leads with actional reconstruction, and closes with actional substantiation.

The Outer Planets Anchor the Pattern of Half the Sky

At this time, Jupiter is direct and quickly closing in on the occupied span involving Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. Jupiter will continue to lead the outer planet occupied span through December 2020, when it conjuncts Saturn at 1 Aquarius and we enter a new 20 year and 200 year era! So last year, this year, and next year, Jupiter plays a major part in how we enter life experience. It's why sometimes these past few years have seemed like a wild ride, an adventure, a quest, and more!

Long term, as Jupiter closes in on its conjunction with Saturn beginning in December 2019 and lasting all next year, there will be times when most of the planets will be compressed into very narrow spans centered in Capricorn. Though the outer planets have been expanding out to a wide spread these past 20 years since the last Saturn conjunct Uranus, the outers are now compressing, with Jupiter and Saturn headed to a karmic rendezvous with Pluto and then Neptune over the coming years. Due to the increasing compression, by early 2020 we will begin to see more “Bundle” patterns than we’ve seen in many years, since at times the planets will all be within a 120 degree span.

Saturn continues to be the second planetary “pulse” of the occupied outer planet span between Sagittarius and Taurus, and trades primary rulership of the other planets with Jupiter depending on where the other planets are. When the inner planets transit Sagittarius and Pisces, Jupiter comes to the front; when the inner planets transit Capricorn and Aquarius, Saturn takes center stage.

Since April, Jupiter and Saturn surrendered their dominance to a number of shifting rulerships and dispositors. As I mentioned in part 1, the Lunation is ruled by the Venus/Mars mutual reception. Want to “move the Moon?” Use the Venus/Mars blended energies the right way. Want to move Uranus? Use the same energies. Just remember that Venus and Mars are self-reinforcing, so be careful not to get stuck in an impasse because another player hit the ball into the weeds.

In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the span between Mars and Mercury) is 5 planets in 41+ degrees, making that the major focus. Expanding the focus to the next nearest planets, we find 8 planets in 95+ degrees, making that the more general focus of the next month.

The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon

A New Moon sets the seed forms for what the following month will demonstrate. This Lunation falls at 5 Scorpio, and it is said that the first third (decan) of any sign deals with the actional, material, and physical levels of life, and being the first decan of Scorpio it has a sub-influence of Scorpio. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.

The symbol for the 5th degree of Scorpio is “A massive rocky shore.” In the original Marc Jones class notes on the symbols published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “ In "the Astrology of Personality," where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 5 Scorpio is said to be a symbol of “Revelation of absolutely stable elements in all life” and “strong confidence born of fundamental perception; or spiritual inertia.”

We are told in The Astrological Mandala that this symbolizes "the inertia of all institutionalized procedures.” We are told this symbol shows how slowly any culture changes its forms of expression, and how our lives are often conditioned by “the rhythms of city living, which obliterate vaster life processes and the moving tides of evolution.”

Rudhyar continues by stating “we see in (this symbol) how binding and resistant a communal way of life can become.” He offers that “there is strength and stability … in the social life of man – until new horizons beckon. The keyword is stability.” He says it falls in the span of Retention, and it’s the culminating degree in the actional level of the scene of Communion in the Act of Group Integration.

According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, this degree is one of “the dependability of the physical universe whenever (we) hold the center of reality within (ourselves) and use the static constituents in nature as a sustainment for (our) essentially dynamic being.” He says we need a “direct and continual attention” to our overall interests, and “here is an exaltation of pure experience in its eternal and universal lineaments.”

He offers us the keyword STABILIZATION. He states when operating in a positive manner, this degree “is a poised spirit and a firmness of personality which enable every individual to prepare (ourselves and others) for any possible contingency.”

So this Lunation indicates these next 4 weeks point to the Light of Divine Communion deepening our relationships and sense of connection helping us feel more deeply on how the universe sustains us when we are centered in a reality that furthers our true Self. Embrace a constant purification and self-regeneration, and Scorpio will help you eliminate to create space to attract more dynamic manifestations of deeper connections with life.

Concentrate, don’t be light-minded, and examine whether your magnetism is attracting something destructive to your “root reality.” Take a fresh look at focusing magnetism to broaden and deepen relationships. This symbol in some way indicates we will get a new look at the “absolutely stable” conditions in our life, allowing us to prepare for possible developments. This is stable Water that helps us go deeper into our experience of existence.

Important Aspects

Remember that in reading a Lunation chart (as well as a horary, inceptional, electional, or any event chart) the forming aspects show things to come, while separating aspects show things already past. Partile separating aspects show what’s been going on in the Now. This section covers only forming and partile separating aspects.

This Lunation has a huge number of aspects, some of them extraordinarily favorable. As noted earlier, the big news is the Lunation is exactly opposed Uranus and quintile both Saturn and Pluto, and the Grand Irrationality is back in play with Uranus biseptile Pluto!

Besides the opposition, most of the friction is provided by the Lunation semisquare Jupiter, and Mars square Saturn and Pluto and quincunx Neptune. We had to deal with Venus quincunx Neptune since the last New Moon, so this time I suppose those Venusian adjustments and sacrifices now have to be forcibly dealt with in an equally moderate and reasonable way. This has helped us strengthen our hearts and courage, as well as our determination to keep it as simple and pleasant as possible.

The Lunation opposed Uranus indicates the needs to examine our heart’s desire and move in a more wholehearted direction to attain it. Beware of making excuses, or those who make excuses instead of simply acting appropriately. The old answers will not be adequate to confirm the new conditions of existence, and there’s everything to gain by the initiations which release us from old ways.

With the fixed oppositions and Mars in Libra square Saturn in Capricorn, be as flexible as possible while maintaining a healthy sense of perspective and proportion. If you’re dealing with someone who has pushed it too far, be diplomatic in helping them come back down off the limb they’re stuck on. There is need for going inward to find new inspiration, and look at how integrated the personality and life are or aren’t. If anything’s out of balance, this gives an opportunity to restore it, as long as things don’t get superficial or insolent.

Besides the aspects already mentioned, forming (and closely partile separating) inner planet aspects include the Lunation vigintile Venus and Mars and quadraelftile Neptune; Mercury is conjunct Venus, novile Mars, quindecile Jupiter, and tredecile Neptune; Venus is novile Mars, septile Saturn, and quadranovile Uranus; and Mars is quadranovile Uranus.

Outer planet aspects include Jupiter quindecile Saturn and quadraelftile Uranus; Saturn is tredecile Uranus, sextile Neptune and conjunct Pluto, and Uranus is again semisquare Neptune, associated with the general friction in the collective atmosphere, and biseptile Pluto, again triggering the Grand Irrationality.

Special Configurations in Evolutionary Astrology

This month we have a very special evolutionary configuration! It is a “Kite” pattern involving Venus novile Mars with both quadranovile Uranus, an extraordinarily powerful configuration involving higher awareness either before or after a period of gestation. For some, sudden awakenings of the need to accept certain things and people as part of our spiritual development; for others, the need to reject certain things and people as part of our spiritual development. It most impact areas around 4-7 Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, 14-17 Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, and 24-27 Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Expect heavy spiritual developments if you have planets or angles in these zones!

As you’ve read in other articles, Uranus is involved in a “bottom tone” of friction in the collective consciousness because of its long wave semisquare to Neptune, anchoring the octile-driven “Rhombus Diamond” configuration with intense “cutting, grinding, and polishing” energies wherever we have the very early degrees of Taurus and Scorpio, as well as the middle degrees of Pisces and Virgo.

The Rhombus Diamond configuration was perfected this year in early September when the Moon is in Scorpio was semisquare Venus in mid-Virgo, opposed Uranus, and sesquisquare Neptune at the same time as Venus opposed Neptune and sesquisquared Uranus. Since then and into the future, it will be perfected every time the Moon and Ascendant are in early Scorpio and mid-Virgo at the same time.

As you know if you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, the waxing Uranus semisquare Neptune marks a crucial point of shift in the opening of their very long wave cycle, and is a major significator of our unsettled times. This very frictional energy has been with us a while and will continue to be with us a LONG time! That aspect anchors a frictional configuration that is kicked into play whenever planets pass through early Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and mid-Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. It is especially powerful when a planet transits mid-Virgo and early Scorpio.

As the planets make various octile aspects to these Uranus and Neptune, those phase shifts generate a LOT of tension in the atmosphere, creating a grind for us where they fall in our chart. This semisquare is indicative or the hard edge all of us are going through as we try to find how our individuality fits into the collective atmosphere, and why there is so much friction between the transpersonal Uranian forces and the transpersonal Neptunian forces at this time.

In September 2018, the “Rhombus Diamond” octile was created during the transits of the mid-Virgo and late Libra zones. Again, this is a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” type of frictional energy that can lead to awareness via the opposition(s) and the ability to act productively even in impossible conditions.

As I told you in the September 2017 Rhombus Diamond articles, when it’s active we can expect solar flares and plasma eruptions, warping in the electromagnetic field, breakaway impulses, sideways explosions, and all equivalent human behavior symbolized by these octile aspects testing our clarity. It has presented all of us with certain questions. What is your role as you would define it? Reject timidity and uncertainty, and find your place in the larger scheme of things.

Explaining Harmonics

This month we’re back to a large number of spiritual and specializing aspects. Of the specializing aspects, we have 3 vigintiles, 2 quindeciles, 4 quintiles, and 2 tredeciles. Of the spiritual aspects, we have quite a few, including 1 septile, 1 biseptile, 1 novile, 2 quadranoviles, and 3 quadraelftiles.

The novile (9th harmonic), septile (7th harmonic) and elftile (11th harmonic) series all feature spiritual aspects. All novile series aspects represent gestative energies that can lead to great spiritual realizations. Septile series aspects represent forks in the road of destiny, while the elftile series aspects represent issues requiring we resolve some sort of duality by making a leap of faith to attain a form of mastery over that type of duality.

The quintile and biquintile (5th harmonic) and related 10th (decile and tredecile), 15th (quindecile), and 20th harmonic (vigintile) aspects are all specialization aspects. You can find more by going to Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Pt. 1 – The Quintile and Biquintile, and Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Part 2 – The Decile, Tredecile, Quindecile and the Vigintile.

You can find out more about the spiritual aspects (septile, novile, and elftile series) by referencing this brief overview of the Spiritual aspects, complete with glyphs for all of them.

Element Balance and Who’s Leading the Sun

This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 6 signs in an skewed element distribution. We have 1 planet in Fire (inspiration and warmth), 3 planets in Earth (practical grounding), 5 in Water (feelings and experiencing), and 1 planet in Air (relatedness and communicating). This month we have Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, and Taurus represented, with no planet in the other signs.

Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things are more hot than cool, with a balance between inspiration and relatedness. It should be good for going deeper into life experience and seeing the soundness of structures.

Because the New Moon falls in Scorpio, Mars in Libra is the planet currently leading the Sun. That makes for moderation and the tendency to be agreeable, even if there’s great intensity just under the surface. The next month will help us reconstruct how we got her, and those who can adapt in small ways will gain big conclusions. This is the Warrior planet being moderate and diplomatic as a gatekeeper of the planetary energy we need to approach the Greater Light. Be open to seeing the Divine Balance so you may come to a more well-rounded understanding of how current structures came into place.

The current sequence at present of Deciding, Feeling, and Thinking

We’ve been through several different sequences over the past few months. There are six patterns, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. This New Moon continues the last New Moon pattern.

As a process of moving through events, the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience over the next 4 weeks involves leading with our decisions and actions, then feeling and experiencing what we’ve just done, followed by thinking, communicating, and envisioning the next thing to be done. This pattern is very strong, and leads with decisive action. After the decision or action, it’s followed by feeling and experiencing what those decisions and actions mean on deep levels.

Ideally, those deep feelings then can lead us to a new vision, a new understanding, or a communication that can lead us to a different view. This pattern is very capable of getting things done and feeling immersed in the action, but needs to get to a new understanding or new vision before making the next decision. Old ideas must be cast out or reconsidered, and the understanding must be based on newer, up to date information and not an old way of thinking.

So make a decision and act as needed, and after the decision or action, sit with the feelings and experience them, bringing them to the surface of your consciousness and get clear about what you’re feeling and why. After you’re clear about what you’re feeling, then go get new information and update your perceptual files and what you think you know, or what’s being communicated. That will lead naturally to a new set of decisions and actions.

The Sagittarian Promise

2017’s Fire trine between Saturn in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries stabilized unique forms of heart expression, love, or creativity, and launched the final phase of our “escape from a narrow destiny” begun in the Summer of 2016. We’ve been quickened since Spring 2017, and in 2018 Jupiter taught us to eliminate all that prevents our Spiritual Self from coming forth with ease. Saturn in Capricorn continues to show us “promises to keep, and miles to go before (we) sleep,” to quote the legendary Frost.

Jupiter is now solidly in Sagittarius and on its way toward many different long wave cycles to be set into motion in 2020. This year it expanded the promise of previous Sagittarius eclipses, Lunations, and different planetary station points. Whatever was “bound up” or “cocooned” when Jupiter was in Scorpio has now blasted off into infinite space as Jupiter has moved through Sagittarius!

The North Node was in Sagittarius between March 2011 and August 2012. Whatever was removed by the Eclipses of that period created space which has been filled with new Jupiterian material this year. Longtime readers will note that June 2011 Solar Eclipse was VERY powerful, and helped us break loose from “ghosts of the past” over the 3.6 years it was in active operation. We also had a Solar Eclipse in early Sag in Nov 2011 and early Gemini in May 2012. All of those voids have opened to a new Sagittarian promise.

Summing Up

This Lunation represents a culmination, a line of tensional awareness, with specialized gifts and blessings for those who know how to “put on the show.” It will show us how to create enduring works, deeper our connection within and without, and help us prepare for a future already coming like an express train! This one is anticipatory, and everything depends on the attitude with which we greet unfamiliar and even shocking events. The last two months we’ve harvested a lot; now it’s time to cull that which we no longer need, letting go of all that has kept our energies stuck.

The past month we saw the concrete results of our previously held ideals, and turned some major corners in our relationships. Superficialities have come to surface, as has a deeper intention for a deeper connection with life and people. We have awakened to a new quality of Life and “Being-ness,” and now are taking a look at what we need to bury, what was buried in the past which is coming back to haunt the present, or what needs to be exhumed and re-examined to make sure that when it’s reburied this time, it’s for good.

We’ve been in a time when angels and divine help are in the air, as well as redemption and forms of trained creative expression. We continue to train to be flexible in using power in different ways which will become part of our awakened new life in 2020. We’ve recalibrated what we needed to, and now it’s time to act in alignment with that recalibration. Themes of Divine Justice are in the air, and so this month continues a period of some people being busted in the name of justice.

A new power has been established which we will use in 2020. We are exercising to become more fit to use that power, and now have to remember to have a sense of humor and irony as we poke holes in ego constructions, both in self and others. We now have a clearer vision of how to focus our spiritual intention, Jupiter continues to be the oracle of the omens of things to come, and Saturn is our coach, training us to do group work in the near future.

Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend

Saturn in its home sign of Capricorn for the first time since 1991 makes it the final dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius from now through 2023. It was a major influence in the Jan-Feb and July-August 2018 eclipses, as well as the more recent January 2019 eclipses, continuing its years-long power behind events.

Saturn continues to hold court in its home sign of Capricorn, and many things came to the surface through the Summer oppositions which helped us mature and grow this Summer. As Saturn is training us for group work to come next year and beyond, remember that as you make inner Saturn your friend, you’ll overcome fear and be able to embrace your higher Destiny.

If you’re wondering what that would look like, if you haven’t already, please consider getting a copy of my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and in Capricorn, will help bring an “organized personal structure” to the Uranian energies infused with concentrated doses of spiritual energy that is making our spiritual life come alive.

It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and will help you understand why some things happened when they did. Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to steer your personal evolution. You will understand how to throw off all the attitudes which have held you back from finding and living your life and purpose, and fulfill your destiny as an Eternal having human experiences!

Please order your copy today! You can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon and this should be all you need to order your copy. The ebook is available through Kindle and Nook. And if you would, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the bigger the boost on their site.

Part 1 Here