by Margot Wilson
People frequently ask me how astrology and fate work and my answer is always the same - that the chart and placement of the planets describe the innate potential of the person and the transits describe how the person is being activated in doing so. We still each have free will to respond in the usual way... or in a different way to opportunities and challenges.
The Moon in a chart represents the ego and its self-referencing defense of the status quo. This is the mind doing what it does best, which is to stay alive, to survive and to survive best. The Moon placement describes how we get ourselves in and out of situations that are perceived, rightly or wrongly, as threatening. Aries Moon asserts through first attack, Taurus Moon trades off differences while there is room for negotiation - if not, it can cut off its nose to spite its face, Gemini Moon dominates through its duplicitous verbal dexterity, Cancer Moon tightens its protective grip on that which it is defending, Leo Moon takes affront and bangs its chest with outrage, Virgo Moon gets in first through self-criticism, Libra says whatever it thinks the other person wants to hear, Scorpio becomes threateningly silent in readiness to attack the weakness, Sagittarius creates a drama and runs to the hills, Capricorn gets prickly and annoyed and intimidates the obstacle, Aquarius becomes hypothetical and objective, often patronizing and Pisces dreams of a different situation or sacrifices itself in oblivious belief...
Of course this is a much abridged take on the Moon and ego but communicates the gist of the defensive aspects of our human-ness - our dependence upon this Earth for our survival and the knowing that we each have the potential to fall...or rise.
Our Moon positioning, supported by other planetary placements, describes how our egos are positioned to influence our fall or rise in life and how, in both scenarios, can play towards and against our better good. That's a great deal of stock on the Moon, but after all, there is an interdependency between our Earth and Moon, in that we could not visually perceive the Moon without the light of the Sun, and the Earth could not exist without its Sun and Moon.
Returning to the question of 'How do You Hide?' there is not simpler place than to turn to your Moon to reveal how you get yourself in and out of corners and how you perceive the world and its opportunities and threats. The ego's aim is to self-reference and responds only to what it believes it knows, and as such is limiting. This is why meditation exists - to get the ego out of the way so that the authentic being can be fully revealed.
The ego has a valid job to do in the game of survival but an over-developed capacity to do so ultimately stunts the well-being of the soul, it becomes a prison rather than a protector. We each hit milestones in our respective lives that signal to us that something is amiss or wanting, this is a signal of the soul's quest to be revealed in total authenticity and for the ego to recede in helpful survival.
If knowledge is power, self-awareness is consciousness and self-acceptance is liberation - what do you seek and how does your Moon and Ego assist or resist your efforts? How do You Hide?