I am trying to work with the Mansions of the Moon more usefully in my astrology practice, and that means tracking when the Moon will be in each Mansion and when it will be waxing and when it will be waning. The calendar of poetry I created will be part of my process, certainly, but it’s helpful to know when these things will occur. I always use Christopher Warnock’s book, The Mansions of the Moon, for help in calculating these transits.
The Technique
The technique, which is based on ancient sources but doesn’t seem to be used in an ancient or medieval context that I’m aware of, is FIRST to record the Lunation cycles (new moon to full moon, and full moon to new moon) of the coming year, relative to the Mansions of the Moon; SECOND, to note which Mansions are ‘marked’ by containing both a Full Moon and a New Moon over the course of the year; and THIRD to make some guesses about the coming year based on which Lunation cycles seem to be in play as a long-term structure.
Medieval sources for the Mansions of the Moon associated the Mansions with angels, carrying out God’s bidding on earth. Each Mansion (and therefore each angel) ruled over about one day each month. In a sense, then, we can see angels that rule both a full and a new Moon in a single year as acting in a more prominent manner: closing up their affairs, tidying up the books, and zeroing out old accounts. Meanwhile the angels that rule a both a new and a full Moon in the same year are the ones expanding their influence, opening new branch offices, and hiring new personnel to see to their interests.
In a more modern sense, the Mansions are signaling the starts and ends of new cycles over the course of a year or more. If “above” in some sense holds a mirror up to the “below”, then the issues that have been mapped onto the lunar positions are likely to take on special prominence when considered in terrestrial affairs.
So the first step is to establish a calendar.
The Calendar
This means helping myself (and helping you all) with a little calendar before the year begins.
- Lunation 1:
- January 6: New Moon in Capricorn (Partial Solar Eclipse over Siberia, China, and Alaska only): Moon in Mansion 23
- January 7-20: Waxing Moon in Mansion 24 to Mansion 9
- Lunation 2:
- January 21: Full Moon in Leo (Total Lunar Eclipse, visible in the Americas): Mansion 10
- January 22- February 3: Waning Moon in Mansion 11 to Mansion 24
- Lunation 3:
- February 4: New Moon in Aquarius: Mansion 25
- February 6 to February 18: Waxing Moon in Mansion 26 to Mansion 10
- Lunation 4
- February 19: Full Moon in Virgo: Mansion 12
- February 20 to March 6: Waning Moon in Mansion 13 to Mansion 27
- Lunation 5
- March 6: New Moon in Pisces: Mansion 28
- March 7 to March 20: Waxing Moon in Mansion 28 to Mansion 13
- Lunation 6
- March 21: Full Moon in Libra: Mansion 15
- March 22 to April 4: Waning Moon in Mansion 16 to Mansion 1
- Lunation 7:
- April 5: New Moon in Aries: Mansion 2
- April 6 to April 18: Waxing Moon in Mansion 3 to Mansion 16
- Lunation 8:
- April 19: Full Moon in Libra: Mansion 17
- April 20 to May 3: Waning Moon in Mansion 18 to Mansion 3
- Lunation 9:
- May 4: New Moon in Taurus: Mansion 4
- May 5 to May 17: Waxing Moon in Mansion 5 to Mansion 18
- Lunation 10:
- May 18: Full Moon in Scorpio: Mansion 19
- May 19 to June 2: Waning Moon in Mansion 19 to Mansion 5
- Lunation 11
- June 3: New Moon in Gemini: Mansion 6
- June 4 to June 16: Waxing Moon in Mansion 7 to Mansion 20
- Lunation 12
- June 17: Full Moon in Sagittarius: Mansion 21
- June 18 to July 1: Waning Moon in Mansion 22 to Mansion 8
- Lunation 13:
- July 2: New Moon in Cancer (Total Solar Eclipse visible in the south Pacific and South America): Mansion 8
- July 3 to July 15: Waxing Moon in Mansion 9 to Mansion 22
- Lunation 14:
- July 16: Full Moon in Capricorn (Partial Lunar Eclipse visible in Europe and most of southern Hemisphere): Mansion 23
- July 17 to July 31 : Waning Moon in Mansion 24 to Mansion 9
- Lunation 15:
- August 1: New Moon in Leo: Mansion 11
- August 2 to August 14: Waxing Moon in Mansion 12 to Mansion 25
- Lunation 16:
- August 15: Full Moon in Aquarius: Mansion 26
- August 16 to August 30: Waning Moon in Mansion 27 to Mansion 12
- Lunation 17:
- August 31: New Moon in Virgo: Mansion 13
- September 1 to September 13: Waxing Moon in Mansion 14 to Mansion 27
- Lunation 18:
- September 14: Full Moon in Pisces: Mansion 28
- September 15 to September 27: Waning Moon in Mansion to Mansion 14
- Lunation 19
- September 28: New Moon in Libra: Mansion 15
- September 29 to October 12: Waxing Moon in Mansion 16 to Mansion 1
- Lunation 20:
- October 13: Full Moon in Aries: Mansion 2
- October 14 to October 27: Waning Moon in Mansion 3 to Mansion 16
- Lunation 21:
- October 27-28: New Moon in Scorpio: Mansion 17
- October 29 to November 11: Waxing Moon in Mansion 18 to Mansion 3
- Lunation 22:
- November 12: Full Moon in Taurus: Mansion 4
- November 13 to November 25: Waning Moon in Mansion 5 to Mansion 18
- Lunation 23:
- November 26: New Moon in Sagittarius: Mansion 19
- November 27 to December 10: Waning Moon in Mansion 20 to Mansion 5
- Lunation 24:
- December 12: Full Moon in Gemini: Mansion 7
- December 13 to December 25: Waning Moon in Mansion 8 to Mansion 21
- Lunation 25:
- December 26: New Moon in Capricorn (Solar Annular Eclipse over northwest Australia, Indian Ocean and Indonesia): Mansion 22
- December 27 to January 10: Waxing Moon in Mansion 23 to Mansion 7
You’ll note that I’ve highlighted a few cycles: four waxing cycles (where the Moon appears in the same Mansion twice in the same year, first as a New Moon, and then as a Full Moon); and three waning cycles (Moon appears twice in the same Mansion in the same year, first as a Full Moon and then as a New Moon).
Waxing Cycles:
These cycles are likely to represent long-term flows of increase and growth in the areas which these Mansions represent, and which appear to fling their influences to Earth.
- Mansion 2 — Cycle runs from April 5 to October 13. Said to be of the nature of Mercury and Saturn, we’re likely to see limits on communication; it represents reconciliation between people and institutions of unequal power. It can also be a boon to agriculture, but a disaster for construction. It also can lead to growth of personal enmities, and is said to strengthen prisons. Mansion 2 is wholly within the constellation of Aries, so we may expect some fiery activity from Mars to come into play during this cycle, whenever the Moon conjuncts, squares or opposes the Lesser Malefic in its gyrations.
- Mansion 4 — Cycle runs from May 4 to November 12. Representing the Moon in relationship with the star Aldebaran (itself associated with the powers of Mars for conflict and war), this is an uptick in the war cycle. The image of the Mansion is a warrior riding forth on his horse with a snake in hand. We should expect that the pacifying influences of the Second Mansion cycle are going to be running hard against the hostility cycle represented by Mansion 4; it also represents obstacles in achieving personal goals. Look for an uptick in the number of furious breakups, challenges to construction, and more poisoned waters. Mansion 4 is in the sign of Taurus, so we should expect some particular upsets, revolutions and reversals owing to the presence of Uranus in Taurus for the next several years.
- Mansion 23 — Cycle runs from January 6 to July 16, and further empowered by the Eclipse cycle. Also associated with Mercury and Saturn, the stars of Mansion 23 are associated with destroying forces. Sometimes these are useful for purging disease, but they are more commonly associated with wasting and devastating forces. It is also associated with divorce, for the escape of hostages, and with prison breakouts. It is also associated with continuing conflict between proverbial enemies. Mansion 23 is within the constellation of Capricorn, so we can expect this cycle to be strongly affected by Saturn this year.
- Mansion 28 — Cycle runs from March 6 to September 14. Associated with the energies of Venus, this cycle represents cohesion, coherence, culmination, the attainment of joy and the harvesting of a goodly crop. Said to be good for keeping captives firmly in prison. Mansion 28 is entirely within the sign of Pisces, so the sextile to Jupiter in Sagittarius may be acting on this cycle particularly strongly.
Overall, you can see that we have two big cycles that promote agriculture (2 and 28), but that we have two other cycles that represent surges in military activity. We also have three cycles here connected with challenges to prison reform — a possible surge in unlawful breakouts, and a pair of cycles devoted to keeping people jailed. Expect some pushback on the idea that we should release more prisoners.
Waning Cycles
Our waning cycles are threefold. Just as our waxing cycles indicate upturns in various energies, these three Mansions may represent downturns in various energies, rather like raising the volume on a stereo system or tuning out some kinds of noises in a busy restaurant.
- Mansion 15. From March 21 to September 28, 2019. Having the nature of Mercury and Mars, and located within the sign of Libra, this Mansion is associated with the realization of desires and wishes. Thus we can expect a veiling or a decline in our ability to meet our own expectations; difficulty meeting deadlines. We can expect an ongoing decline in the stock market and the success of business through the middle half of the year. Friendships may wane, though our communications grow more earnest, more eager.
- Mansion 17. From April 19 to October 28, 2019. Crossing over the line between Libra and Scorpio, the Seventeenth Mansion has the nature of Mars and Saturn. Though it’s associated with guardianship and security, and protection against predation, we’re likely to see these kinds of powers waning; we can expect more identity theft, more large-scale embezzlement being uncovered, and a loss of various kinds of security as the influence of the Mansion of human affairs wanes. We can look to the influence of Venus and Mars during this cycle for more specifics. Given the association of this Mansion with the idea of protection and security of resources, I think we can expect that retirement funds and pension accounts may take a series of hits this coming year.
- Mansion 19. From May 18 to November 26, 2019. Crossing from Scorpio to Sagittarius, and having the nature of Mercury and Mars, we see again the idea of cut-off communication. We might look to the placement of Mars and Jupiter again to understand these cycles, as well. The cycle is associated with contraception and safe birth; and it’s one of the few Mansions specifically associated with women’s issues. We may see the court case that significantly upsets abortion rights over the course of this particular cycle in the US. (As a note, the Mansion 19 cycle appears to have most recently peaked in May 2013 — and Wendy Davis held her 13-hour filibuster to keep abortion rights safe and legal in Texas in June 2013…. and failed.)
In general, I think that we can say the following things about these three cycles over the course of the next year: we’re looking at a couple of long, slow pummelings to the world economic system from Mansions 15 and 17, while Mansion 19 looks to create significant trouble for women in the middle months of the year. We have a lot of the ‘middle planets’ activated here: Mercury, Venus, and Mars all have their parts to play in these dramas. We may see some technical or legal limits placed on the Internet (barriers to communication), a lot of friendships further triggered by economic decline and political upsets. We also need to be on the look-out for troubles on the roads, as all three mansions are associated with safe and easy journeys by land.
Addendum
Someone asked about Lunations carrying over from 2018. So I did a quick check: both December Lunations carry forward:
- Mansion 8: Full Moon to New Moon, December 26 to July 2, a Waning Cycle. Ruled by Mars and the Moon, Mansion 8 is at the beginning of the sign of Cancer, and represents victories — the alleged or apparent alliance of Church and State, for example; or the achievement of victories. We can thus look for a literal decline in the number of obvious victories. It’s also representative of the human managing the bestial — so we can expect a certain amount of ‘dog bites man’ on the rise, as the human fails to manage the bestial, as well.
- Mansion 21: New Moon to Full Moon, December 6 to June 17, a waxing cycle. Covering the last part of Sagittarius, and associated with no planets according to Ptolemy, this Mansion was thought of as a gateway to the celestial city — and as such ruled by Janus. It’s a place of endings, argument, conflict and anger; and a place of lies, where a two-faced man says one thing and does another. It represents completion of buildings, but also divorce and the destruction of towns.
When we look back to November, we find none, and in October, also none.
In September 2018, there’s a Mansion 13 cycle that runs from the dark of the moon to the dark of the Moon on August 31, 2019 — but it has no intervening full moon. Given that Mansion 13 is associated with sex, and sexuality, it suggests a nearly-year-long story of sex and sexuality unfulfilled over the course of 2018-19.
There’s a parallel story for Mansion 1 running from September 25, 2017 until 24 March 2020: the burning ardor and risk of war gradually cooling off from the Full Moon of September until the appearance of the Dark Moon just after the Equinox in 2020.
I didn’t look further back in the Moon cycles than this, at this time.
Outlook
By Moon-Mansion, it’s not a particularly rosy outlook for 2019 (although it’s worth reiterating that this is an untested technique — I don’t know if this is going to work or not). We have two positive cycles for agriculture’s increase and success, two positive military and conflict-cycles, two economic-decline cycles, and a cycle that suggests a decline in women’s rights. Once we add in the cycles that carry across the end of the year. And it will be hard to tell if the cycle-model presented here is actually working until mid-July at the earliest; late December at the latest. If there seems to be some validity to this model either for you personally or to your community, I’d like to know — leave a comment and stay in touch!
[…] Jeff P, one of my commenters, asked me if I was planning to do the Moon Lunations cycle for this year. I hadn’t planned on it, in part because I’d forgotten that it was there, and partly because I wasn’t sure it had been useful to anyone. But going back to it, I discovered that it wasn’t as wrong as I thought it was going to be. […]
By “beginning of the year”, do you mean the beginning of the calendar year, or with the Equinox-based judicial/mundane astrological year? How does that storyline compare to the solar one?
This technique sounds like something out of what little I know about Skinner’s Chaldean astrology, where the moon and fixed stars formed the basis of OG astrology.
I’m sure this could be synced up to conventional mundane astrology, either as a “second-pass” filter of what to look out for, or maybe as a way of assessing the emotional states of the various participants.
Just some thoughts.
Er, it was one of Gordon White’s guests, about the pre-planetary phase of Babylonian/Chaldean astrology.
According to El Wik, their calendar year started “with the first full moon after the vernal equinox”, and relates to the Inanna/Ishtar underworld story.
Yeah, I think that Gordon and I are on the same page, along with Austin — that stars (and the Moon) probably came first in astrology, followed by the planets. I also think that the Mansions are possibly tied to the Sidereal Zodiac (since most of the Mansions have ‘indicator stars’ that are conjuncted or even occulted when the Moon passes through them). If that’s the case, then my //dates// are right, but my mansions are off by two, and I’m going to be tracking the wrong cycles.
That calendar year question is a huge one. Myself, I think the Inanna/Ishtar story is closely connected with the Venus story and a Venus retrograde cycle. If you’re a ‘primitive’ who doesn’t understand planetary movement, then the Evening Star and the Morning Star look similar but not the same: Twins, who might well be named Inanna and Ereshkigal. The journey of the morning star through the underworld to visit her sister then makes a certain amount of sense: one star vanishes for a period of time, and the other becomes prominent. Then the evening star vanishes, and after a period without either star, the morning star reappears.
We can imagine that, at some point, the other planetary movements — Mercury or Mars, perhaps Jupiter or Saturn —eventually provided a clue to observers: that these two similar brilliances in the sky were in fact the same entity. It’s hard for me to imagine, at least so far, what that conjunction was that revealed the mystery… but it must have been cause for great celebration that a deeper understanding of the cosmos had been revealed.
For maximum Rune Soupness(TM), the lunar year would start with the full moon that crowns the Headless One…
…or the next lunation after, which provides a firmer foundation for the “first lunation of the year”.
It’s not the calendar year, but a lunar celestial year that happens to closely align with the vulgar one.
Another thought: if the Ares-based judicial year and a Headless One-based lunation year only deviate from each other infrequently — but strongly when they do — it syncs mythologically with the concept of occasional wars in zither heavens…
Oh, this is definitely the ‘vulgar’ year, that is, January 1 to December 31. If I look at it from the March 21-March 20 ‘judicial year’, though, I see that the same thing that I pre-reported in the Capricorn Ingress chart for December 2018 kind of applies: the chart for this coming Equinox will apply for six months. You can sort of see in these Lunation cycles that the middle part of next year is going to be kind of messy, and a lot of things aren’t going to resolve until August-September-October.
So the equinoxal lunation cycle agrees with the judicial assessment of the period?
If this is normal, if there is regularity to this…that’s deep.
I don’t know that there’s regularity to it. I was inspired to try out this technique yesterday — to track which mansions of the moon got to have both a full and a new moon in the same calendar stretch. We’ll see, in the long term of several years, whether it holds up as a predictive technique.