In natal Astrology, the Moon represents how an individual absorbs and interacts with their environment on a subconscious and intuitive level, including their emotional nature. It is important to remember that this contrasts with the very conscious and logical analysis of the environment that are handled by the planet Mercury. The Moon represents the ways we care for and protect ourselves psychically and emotionally; it’s how we empathize with others and the things that we find comforting and safe. The Moon is also representative of the Mother, or nurturing parent, and how we subconsciously learned to address our emotional needs in early life. As such, the Moon is the natural ruler of the sign Cancer, which is assigned the activities and themes of the 4th House.
Commonly depicted as the Centaur equipped with bow and arrow, the fiery sign of Sagittarius sets their aim high and shoots for the stars. Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter which is also the natural ruler of 9th House affairs. Combined, these form a single archetype that symbolizes expansion, abundance, excess, luck, hope and inspiration, foreign cultures and languages, travel, higher education, philosophy, religion, the super consciousness and publishing.
The sign of Cancer and Sagittarius are separated by 150°, forming the Quincunx or Inconjunct aspect. The Quincunx aspect denotes the inability of two objects to relate to one another. We know that the 4th House is the subjective aspect of ourselves that has just learned how to relate and express itself within its early environment, while the 9th House represents the objective part of the self that is in the process of transcending subjective points of view in order to develop a broader version of themselves to express within the world at large. Considering this, we can assume that when the Moon is in the sign of Sagittarius, a conflict arises between the subjective self that appreciates the security and expression of itself within the known environment and the objective self that aims to expand on its sense of security by learning about and interacting with the world that exists beyond their own. These people are subconsciously aware that anything with a limited range of experience to reference, is limited in the way the way they can reference further experiences.
The person with this placement may have had a religious or spiritual upbringing, or one that included a lot of travel and exposure to other cultures. There may have been an expectation on the child of obtaining higher education or getting out into the world on their own. If the upbringing did not contain these elements, the environment may have created a need or value for these things, such as a person who felt a need to escape restriction or the limitations of their early environment or native culture. The mother may have been a free-spirit, an educator, performed work in religious or philosophical fields, or encouraged and nurtured expansion of the child’s sense of familiarity. If not from a foreign place, it’s also likely the mother may have traveled a lot during the person’s childhood. As Jupiter represents expansion and sometimes over-indulgence, it could also produce a mother that had a very healthy appetite or otherwise suffered from addictions related to gambling or alcoholism.
These early influences that informed their emotional security create a person that is inclined to avoid situations that involve overt expression of emotions, especially ones of anger or sadness. Being focused on the bigger picture, they will even objectify their own feelings and determine quickly if they are limiting or hindering them from moving forward. They look at life through a very optimistic lens and it’s difficult for that attitude to not permeate their environment, but if they were to suddenly find themselves in an emotionally tense situation, they will either quickly act to diffuse things or look for the nearest route of escape. This is not to say that they completely abhor emotional expression or do not express emotion themselves. If they feel a potentially dramatic situation would culminate into a fantastic spectacle, it would not be out of character for the Sagittarius Moon person to instigate matters for the sake of entertainment. If they continually avoid expressing their own emotions, they will eventually erupt and with that eruption will come the fiery wrath of every other emotion they have suppressed. If it’s not their own lack of filter that lands them in confrontation, it will typically be infringement on their sense of freedom or accusing them of dishonest intentions that break the centaur’s back. If they do erupt, the good news is that you do not need to have much patience for they are often over it just as quickly as it came about.
On the positive side, this would produce a person that is expansive and curious. The types of people that dream of a life as wandering gypsies with their free-spirited, open-minded, and accepting nature. They are intellectual, ethical, and honest. They are always looking for the next adventure, and regardless of how small or big it is, you can always count on their excited confidence. Spirituality and religion will interest them because it gives them a greater understanding of others and themselves. This interest will inevitably lead them to be devoted to different beliefs and ideologies during their walk of life, but they will always remain humble and mindful of the freedom others to explore and find their own truth. They are the forgiving and uplifting friends and partners, whom you can count on to provide adventure or excitement when you need it most. They are the dynamic coworkers who infuse excitement and light-heartedness into the tedium of the normal workday.
On the negative side, this placement could also produce a person that is so focused on the expansion of their identity of self that they paradoxically exhibit restrictive behaviors. This could be dogmatic, closed-minded, argumentative and judgmental towards others. In their quest for freedom and liberation, they might exhibit foolhardy, excessive, licentious, and overindulgent traits. They may rely on overconfidence in their own abilities instead of embracing education. Instead of teaching others and leading by example, they are preachy and hypocritical. In romantic relationships, they can be non-committal and wanton. As friends, they may seem to conveniently disappear whenever things get tough, and as co-workers they may behave as though they are above the guidelines and rules enforced on everyone else.
This placement would contribute towards careers in religious studies and anthropology. The fascination with foreign cultures and language would make them excellent teachers of foreign language or providers of interpretational services. The desire to travel and reach out to others would create the typical portrait of a travelling salesman. With their breadth of objective life experience, they may end up in careers of motivational speaking, writers of self-help books, or advising others on spiritual matters.
Author, Cameron R. ©
