The Last Quarter phase is a pivot halfway between the illumination of the Full Moon and dark seed time of the New Moon. Opposite the waxing First Quarter, here we make good on what we learned. We consolidate. Gather in. Complete.
Which means we do something. Squares are times of action, born of friction. We come into contact with something that changes us. We see the way forward.
So it’s wonderful that Monday’s Last Quarter is initiated by the best hug ever.
The Moon is conjunct Jupiter, a very exalted and generously beneficent Jupiter, ruled by a Moon in her own cozy home space.
These two, Moon and Jupiter, are generous in their giving, although their styles are a bit different.
The Moon in Cancer prioritizes her family–those she cares most about. This Last Quarter becomes a great time to check our circle of care. Are we supporting those who support us? Also, how big is our circle? How wide can we make it? Who else can we embrace?
Jupiter in Cancer is the Big Good at his most flowing and generous. Large enough to embrace multitudes and share with all.
This warmth and beneficence is present, here to be felt, available to everyone.
Which does not change the rest of the chart, or the world, but can change how we look at it.
The Moon–Jupiter conjunction is part of an expansive Grand Trine in Water, mediated by the wide orb embraced by the Moon’s light.
The Moon separates from a trine to Mars in Scorpio. This is Mars at his most relentless and incisive. He’s on a quest and will not be turned aside. He is not afraid of the dark.
If we experience a Scorpio Mars coming at us, that’s threatening. What about our inner Mars Scorpio? What do we need to look at clearly, without flinching?
Moon-Jupiter applies to a trine to Saturn, retrograde in late Pisces. Saturn revisits those last, cosmic degrees of Piscean clouds to pick up something forgotten, remind us of something we need to carry forward. What is it?
Moon-Jupiter also separates from a trine and sextile to the Nodes of the Moon: A trine to the North Node in Pisces, a sextile to the South Node in Virgo. This reminds us we are tied to fate, to the through-line of our time. What do we need to notice?
The challenges are real–Mars, Saturn, and the Nodes of the Moon are not the easiest forces to interact with. Yet they also vitalize, contain, and remind us we’re part of something big and enduring.
Facing into this Grand Trine with Moon and Jupiter wrapped around us gives us strength and stability. We can stand here and learn what we need to know, felling safe as we absorb it all.
This astrological moment is strong for another reason: Pluto is stationing. Still retrograde in this chart, he’s not actually moving and will soon shift into direct motion. This inflection point enhances Plutonian power.
Venus at the utter end of Virgo opposes Saturn and Neptune. The last degree of Virgo is a place of endings–of earthly limits, knowing that all things in our world have end points, which is both concerning and reassuring.
The Last Quarter is of course a square between the Sun and Moon, which in this chart becomes a T-square that is an axis of healing.
Moon-Jupiter also squares the Chiron-Eris conjunction. The Sun opposes Chiron-Eris.
The conjunction of personal healing (Chiron) and the chaotic challenges our world faces (Eris) is a stark and pointed reminder of how closely our wounds are tied to the state of the world.
This connection is daunting, triggering, overwhelming–and also sustaining, real, and the path forward. We are both individuals and members of a glorious whole.
It’s a lot to take in. Gazing out from the embrace of the best hug ever offers a good view of it all from a place of warmth and caring. Of love.
