The moon passes by the Sun’s zodiacal position on 27 February 2025 at 7:45 pm EST, which places the Moon and Sun at 9° Pisces 42′ — in the Twenty Seventh Mansion of the Moon called The Lower Spout.

There’s few pottery jugs of any kind that require both an upper and a lower spout — but one such is the clepsydra, or water-clock, a timekeeping device from the ancient world, used from China to Spain and beyond. The water-clock was a jar or bowl, usually with graduated markings on the inside, that was often used in law courts. An upper spout or drain in the side, with a wax plug, could be used to drain the bowl for a fixed amount of time; a lower spout signaled the same amount of time again without having to refill the bowl. Once court proceedings began, an attendant would fill the bowl to the rim, and then unplug the upper spout at a signal. The prosecution or plaintiff would then get an amount of time equal to the amount of time it took for the water to run out of the spout, to make their case to the court. When the water level reached the upper spout, the water flow would cease and the prosecutors would end their complaint. Then the lower spout would be unplugged, and the speaker for the defense would get an equal amount of time. Since the bowl was not refilled between sessions, nor was the water level changed, the equal commitment of time and water was thought to be “true” so that neither side gained advantage.

There is a sense that the attack has been made, here, and now the time for the defense is beginning. When a prosecutor presents their case, the heaviest and most serious accusations, and evidence to support those claims, are presented first. There’s a desire to breach the defense’s alibis, and take down essential arguments, and control certain points of logical cause and effect.

But once those accusations and evidence have been presented, and the case has been made… the prosecution can’t simply pivot to a different theory of action in laying out the criminal’s motive, means, and opportunity to commit the crime. The evidence is set and the framing of the case is over.

It’s similar for an advancing army intent on conquest — the heavy artillery breaches the defenses, the special operations teams rush into the breach, heavy infantry follow up to take and hold the new territory, and a new line of skirmish is formed around the edges of the bubble that the advance has created into the defenders’ territory. This bubble — called a salient — belongs to the conquerors inside, but it’s vulnerable to attack from all three sides until it’s fortified properly and other salients alongside it reduce its overall vulnerability.

With the Twenty-Seventh Mansion serving as the initiating place for the Moon’s next celestial caravan, there’s a sense that the prosecution’s opening arguments are complete… and now it’s the defense attorney’s turn at the podium. Like the advancing army in the salient, the prosecutor’s argument is open to attack from three sides: motive, means, and opportunity to commit the crime.

The defense’s argument is strongly framed by the themes of the Twenty-Seventh Mansion, which are misuse and ruin of resources, damage to goods and material, obstruction of justice, hinderance and endangerment of persons, and malice aforethought.

Hang on. Those are criminal acts, right? If it’s the defense that’s using these kinds of themes to make their case as the water pours from The Lower Spout, then aren’t they counter-accusing the prosecution of a very specific crime in defending their client? Sure, and that crime had a name in ancient times: Hubris. Today we call it something else, something like prosecutorial misconduct under color of law — that is, “the criminal case being advanced in this court is being brought under an unusual and unlawful interpretation of statute, ordinance and regulation, and specifically to advance a prosecutor’s personal agenda rather than the interests of the polity.” And the charge stems from the obvious amount of damage that the aggressors in this legal fight have caused to the defendants.

Two weeks from now, on March 14 2025, the Full Moon will occur at 23° Virgo 56′, in the Fourteenth Mansion of the Moon, The Unarmed — where we will learn if the defense’s counter-argument has got legs or not. The themes of that Fourteenth Mansion are very much those of severance of ill will, and the breaking up of challenges and trials. But the Fourteenth is also associated with benefits accruing to kings — that they may have what they wish and come into their power.

I wonder if this should remind us of some things happening in the news?

The Moon guarantees nothing about the trial’s outcome, only that it is taking place.

The Waxing Mansions

As the Moon passes from the Twenty-Seventh to the Fourteenth Mansion, she’ll wander through the following Mansions, each of which will add their amicus curiae briefs to the defense’s cause:

• Mansion 28 — landowners and merchants
• Mansion 1 — travelers, and increase of enmity between friends
• Mansion 2 — public officials, both honest and corrupted
• Mansion 3 — women
• Mansion 4 — soldiers
• Mansion 5 — intellectuals and important officials
• Mansion 6 — married people
• Mansion 7 — sailors and courtiers and priests
• Mansion 8 — strategists, tacticians and teamsters
• Mansion 9 — stranded travelers, strangers and foreigners
• Mansion 10 — governors, mayors and others of high official status
• Mansion 11 — the charismatic and the celebrity
• Mansion 12 — sailors, farmers, cargoes of ships, allies and servants
• Mansion 13 — lovers and the sexually active

Yet it’s important to understand — although I’m using a courthouse metaphor here, the courthouse here is celestial and metaphorical (or metaphysical) rather than terrestrial and literal. Accordingly, over the next two weeks we may see shipping disasters, road disasters, food failures, and rifts between people who ought to be be allies. We’ll also observe the fall from grace of a number of celebrities, the divorce of various people, and the demonstration that various public officials, military personnel, or leaders are not well-suited for the roles they hold. Any courtroom, especially a celestial courtroom, is public — none of this is likely to be concealable, or hidden from view by conspiracy. It’s important to read the courtroom transcript, as it were, by understanding the omens at play in what happens.

How it Happens

One of my Patreon members asked if this column was USA-centric, and it’s worth saying that it is, to some extent, by virtue of where I live. The Moon, in the chart above, happens to be separating from the Sun in the sixth house — a place of difficulty for the Sun as the celestial ruler, and none too good for the Moon either… but there is a sense of the People (represented by the Moon) leaving the Ruler (represented by the Sun) behind over the next two weeks — and the defining reason are the reasons of the Sixth House, which is associated with the rank and file of the military, industrial workers and miners laboring under the earth, and various servants, wage-earning employees, and slaves.

Yet due to the nature of the Mansions, the exact same kinds of conditions will be raised at the defense table, around the world. Yet in London, these issues are likely to begin either in Parliament, where the political parties currently in the minority are going to be the initiating forces for the challenges of the next two weeks. In Australia, the issues the Mansions address will likely be raised in real courtrooms, or in hospitals and nursing care centers of various kinds, or in prisons — where the issues of fairness, justice and professional misconduct may be actual, real problems that have to be hauled in front of a judge.

The issues are similar world-wide — the framing will going to change place to place. Accordingly, be on the lookout for stories that match the auguries: you’re looking for evidence that the ones taking action are being brought to heel, or being counter-accused, by a growing list of allies and evidence which suggest that all is not well.

You Don’t Own Every Story

It’s also worth noting that— unless Pisces and Virgo are at the center of significant placements in your own Natal Chart, your Solar Return chart, or your current transits — that you don’t have to get caught up in the dramas of Lunacy these next two weeks. The story may appear tangentially in your own life, on a smaller scale than may be suggested by national or international events. But it’s worth considering whether you’re part of the defense here, or the plaintiffs. If you’re part of the defense, consider well and carefully how to build a case here about official professional misconduct, because that’s part of the story of the next two weeks.

If you’re part of the plaintiffs that are trying to bring about fast change, though… it’s worth considering if the defense is correct. After all, you’ve used your time from the water clock over the last lunation. You’ve laid out motive, means, and opportunity to act in grand detail. But the defense is arguing that you’ve actually overstepped your bounds and the responsible use of your power. If that’s true — you’re going to have two more weeks to try to rectify your misconduct.

If you decide the defense is wrong, though… you’ll be putting the king on the throne, as some of the ancient astrological text imply, “to enjoy good and to prosper throughout his reign.”

Horoscopes:

Libra: Moon in your sixth house — rebalance your responsibilities to your employees and contracted laborers. Pay special attention to issues like age and experience, technical competence, quality communication skills, and creative vision. Work on building long-term trust and loyalty in your staff.

Scorpio: Moon in root sixth (your fifth) — what hobbies and pastimes do you most desire to pursue these days? Set aside time every day (even just ten minutes) to pursue and practice them. Use journaling and art to write and create your vision for these activities.

Sagittarius: Moon in root sixth (your fourth) — Work on cleaning up your house and home, and nurturing your relationships with housemates (plant, animal and human). Celebrate the things that make your home worth living in. Look in on family members in your blood-lineages.

Capricorn: Moon in root sixth (your third) — cultivate relationships with neighbors. This may require confrontation with neighbors infringing on your rights; or it may require admitting to your own misconduct and drawing back from their borders.

Aquarius: Moon in root sixth (your second) — Remember the Monopoly card you could draw: bank error in your favor, take $50? It’s a good two-week period in which to calculate both your net worth, and confirm that your bank isn’t playing hide-and-seek with your resources.

Pisces: Moon in root sixth (your first) — How are you robbing yourself of well-being and hope by being endlessly available to others? Alternatively, are you forcing others to bear up more of what you should be doing? Time to play both plaintiff and defendant in your own court: are you treating yourself fairly in your own life?

Aries: Moon in root sixth (your twelfth) — Spend the next two weeks knocking down your own obstacles through journaling, making art, and identifying your personal opportunities for success. You can’t do everything: where can your excellence be best directed?

Taurus: Moon in root sixth (your eleventh) — Are you the organizer of your friends’ practical endeavors, or do you follow along in their wake? Either way, you may have to change who you hang out with, and why, and where, as some key alliances respond to shifting tides.

Gemini: Moon in root sixth (your tenth) — demands on your time and intellectual capacities are being pulled in new directions in your workplace or official roles, and you are expected to change with the turn of the tide. Paragraphs under You Don’t Own Every Story, above, are relevant to you especially.

Cancer: Moon in root sixth (your ninth) — turbulence in your travel and learning experiences should be expected Be alert when driving; take note if your transit of normal spaces and places is hindered or limited. In school situations, seek support from others when your credentials or even presence are challenged.

Leo: Moon in root sixth (your eighth) — There are things that you loathe doing, that you will still have to do every day in the next two weeks. Don’t be your own official misconduct: challenge yourself to get difficult projects finished.

Virgo: Moon in root sixth (your seventh) — Matters with a new love interest, spouse, business partner or rival are likely to appear and grow. Are you looking for red flags in a new relationship or have they overstepped your mutual agreements in an old one? Vice versa? It’s not enough to analyze here… communicate your concerns, and hear out the response.