Lilith, the Black Moon, on the way of fulfilling one’s destiny

The Black Moon : becoming who we are

• The Black Moon in astronomy
• Generalities
• In astrology…
• Positively
• Negatively
• In the birth chart
• Coming to transit
• Library

The black moon is a lifelong questioning that pushes us towards the fulfillment of our destiny, but as Nietzsche puts it so well in his work, we walk a “rope stretched over the abyss”, asking oneself too many questions is unbearable, not asking oneself cuts us off from the very purpose of our life, therefore, alone on our rope, “it is dangerous to step on the other side, dangerous to stay on the road, dangerous to look back, dangerous to shiver or stop”…

The black moon in astrology is an element difficult to understand but nevertheless very rich and relevant to study !
Its elusiveness is mainly due to 3 factors : first of all confusion reigns over its astronomical definition and consequently the ephemerides related to it, then significance resting for a good part on the concept of karma, and last poor reputation of extremist, sexual, painful energy. …in short black !

Etymologically the black moon is therefore a compound word attached to the Moon and to the “black” color.
It should be noted that black has to do with darkness and awakens in our subconscious buried concepts that relate in part to theirrational and fears, as this color has been widely used in popular imagery to depict evil environment, even if in a more modern perspective black evokes a certain classicism, gothic style, power…
Symbolically and analogically, the black color is the consequence of 3 things:

• lack of light
• light interruption or deviation of light by matter resulting in a shade
• absorption of all the colors of the light spectrum resulting in the visible black color

In the West, black symbolize mourning, which is not the case in other cultures, black is in particular the feminine yin of Taoism for example…

This “black” aspect of its definition sticks to it, however, also as a major spiritual metaphysical factor, we cannot deprive ourselves of its study when we draw near the depths of Being.

The symbol of black moon stands for the crescent of the soul prevailing over the material cross (the Incarnation).

The black moon is a powerful astrological factor, studying it is a complex and fascinating experience, my hope is to pass this main interest on you with this report, see bibliography at the end of the article.

The black moon does not have a “material” reality as Planets do, but the point it represents is of geometrical nature and is nevertheless a hotspot !

In fact one should rather say the pointS it represents, which brings us to the first difficulty : define the black moon, understand the differences between the mean black moon, the true black moon or corrected one…
I do not want to get into the technicalities which can be found in the bibliography at the end of this report.

• the mean black moon corresponds to the apogee of the moon’s orbit, the place where it is furthest from the earth on the long axis of the ellipse. This is one of the polarized extremes in the earth/moon ratio.
• the true or corrected black moon (called Lilith) is a geometrical point corresponding to the second focus of the moon obtained by correction calculations : the corrected moon takes into account in its calculation the eccentricity of the lunar orbit but is more approximate, whereas the true moon is the result of sharper calculations. The term Lilith, although extremely popular, can be misleading in the definition of the black moon if we get too attached to its mythology, so I will leave it aside partly in this article.

In order to understand the notion of second focus, we have to imagine the moon rotating in its eccentric elliptical orbit round the earth; had the orbit been perfectly circular and the earth would have occupied its center, but when the orbit is oval and shifts, there are two centers called “focuses” (or foci).

The first focus is physically occupied by the earth, the second focus is a balance point geometrically deduced from the earth/moon ratio and represents a concentration of energy, a focal point in the earth/moon ratio, a “negative” of the earth. Moreover, it should never be forgotten to resituate that this couple is permanently modified by the sun’s attraction.

In practice, these black moons are never very far away, but their placement in Houses and Signs are often different.
I would say that the mean black moon is source of “lukewarm” analysis whereas the true black moon brings out the “piquancy” (it would be more frankly one of the vectors of the Jungian Shadow…).

To my knowledge, there is no magic formula to establish for sure which black moon will be significant for each native, one has to deduce empirically : by the range of the sky in which the black moons are placed and the study of the Transits and Progressions…

Some astrologers define clear attributions and specific qualities for each black moon. Not that this approach is not valid and partly relevant, but it seems to me that in the “classical” study of a chart, making such a sharp distinction rather affects the clarity of interpretation and understanding more than brings any added value, especially if the consultant is not already “familiar” with astrology…

In the first instance one can consider the “black moon zone” delimited by the different moons as if it were a wide orb, as well as it is reductive to stop the planets, signs or houses too abruptly at the cusps, it freezes the chart and breaks the dynamics necessary for a vision of the cycles life.

The black moon cycle is nearly 9 years (8 years and 10 months approximately) that is to say the half-cycle period of the Lunar Nodes (they come in Opposition when the black moon returns on its natal placement), it needs approximately 9 months to cross a sign, the crossing of these cycles punctuates the process of Individuation.
The different black moon cycles act as metaphorical “gestations” both physical and symbolic, they bring :

• births in the sense of motherhood, of home, of Cancer, but also of all spiritual maturations…
• and separations in the sense of anything that requires the cutting of a real or symbolic umbilical cord, an abandonment towards more independence, more individuality, more growth of consciousness, more autonomy…

It is to some extent an uncompromising evolution at a forced march for the good of our fundamental Being. Resisting will generate a missing, clinging in a too conservative and compulsive way to the remainders that have become obsolete is not only useless and counterproductive, but also causes suffering, source of great psychological stress, of somatizations, and brings various events in Synchronicity… only the accompaniment of this perpetual movement of life is really positive and productive for the psyche.
Let us make it clear that the evolution phenomenon is not a real “constraint” (in the threatening sense of the term), but simply the fruit of a natural psychological process, a bit like old age which is a natural physiological process : one “must” not age, but aging is spontaneous and natural ! inevitable…

These “gestations” do not last only one cycle, they are perpetual, they extend over the whole life span.
Sometimes we get burdened in more or less conscious repetitive patterns that we find boring and useless, but each of them is useful to prepare the next cycle as long as we recognize and admit who we really are, only then will we go foward a higher level of understanding of our fundamental psychological structure, the black moon is a precious auxiliary in this work.

The black moon is the call of the challenge of Individuation, the Nietzsche’s “becoming what one is”, this initiation, this quest that is not spontaneous but results from the will to surpass oneself in order to transcend the simple man, the metaphysical character of personality.
This dynamic achievement depends directly on our Sun and on the other Planets which support it and has both an individual and social face, at a certain level, the black moon requires the full realization of Midheaven.

But the black moon is specifically consequential to the relationship earth/Moon/Sun, it is the root of the moon in its relationship with the earth, a metaphysical luminary, it was even qualified by some authors as “anti-moon” or “anti-earth”.
It is due to the paramount importance of the moon in astrology that we use factors related to the lunar orbit, to refine its meaning, such as Lunar Nodes and thus also the black moons :

• in its sense of apogee, the mean black moon symbolizes the subtraction of the planetary function of the Moon from the terrestrial incarnation, its independency call, separation, liberation, purification (the crescent of the soul on matter)
• in its sense of second focus , the corrected true black moon, has on the contrary a notion of mothering, stands as a place of maturation, of lucid growth

Both senses, although seemingly antagonistic, alternate and in many aspects join each other, the black moon tends in its very definition to represent the opposites at the same time.
The black moon manifests itself in each one’s natal chart at stake with complexity of the consciousness of the being, it implies a notion of conscious choice to accompany it, to have already begun to initiate the process of Individuation.

In its positive and evolutionary aspects, it is awareness, expansion of consciousness, transcendence. It “strongly invites” to detachment, abandoning the useless, cutting into the mass to preserve only the essential and ignore the superfluous. The black moon just offers us the naked truth, unveiled, sometimes raw, too raw, too hard, too antipodes of what we aspire to on the surface, but do we always wish the “good things” for our fundamental Being ?
We deny what we are and might even be just simply unaware of it, we pray for an easy life and willingly take the lesser resistance road, but when it comes to our fundamental nature, one cannot cheat with impunity, the energies reappear in a change of affectation (see notion of Jungian Shadow).

The black moon shares feminine and sensitive values of the Moon but coupled with the more masculine, cold, raw and sometimes fatalistic, karmic and occult values of Saturn, Pluto and Mars (very Scorpionic features).
It is somehow the reverse of the social planets, especially Jupiter, its main function being to exclude, to discriminate.
One should not rush the awakening of the black moon, the transpersonal planets (including Uranus and Neptune) help it in its expression, but because of their slowness, they do a background work not always very perceptible.

It is interesting to compare value of the black moon with the values of other planets :

• The glyph of Saturn is the opposite of the black moon one, the cross of incarnation on the crescent of the soul. Whereas in regard of the process of Individuation Saturn sets up a slow, diffuse background of structuring based on asceticism and frustration, the black moon is much faster, sharp, spontaneous, impulsive, to build, organize, arrange, eliminate, overturn, limit… and make people feel guilty ! It assists Saturn with a lot of clarity and pragmatism, including in its demanding aspect which compels to solitude. However, unlike Saturn, the black moon is amoral that is to say outside the notions of morality, in neutrality (not to be confused with immorality which becomes a negative polarity of morality).
• In parallel, the black moon accompanies Pluto’s long term work of metamorphosis but at a more daily lunar rhythm, it is weaving its quest for the Absolute, in collaboration with the North Lunar Node in order to keep only what is essential. They have in common the secret, instinctive and primary (including sexually) or archaic side, as well as the purifying side, the will for power, both are very explosive, eruptive, but underground, and thus have an important part of latent destruction. Pluto resurrect the unconscious seed of the black moon in order to feed his transformations.
• The relationships with Mars is either very explosive or paralyzing; both boost, “innervate” the mind, and share vanity, the notion of impulsivity, “desire” and its sexual component, sometimes to the point of “short-circuit”. In them cohabit life instinct, love, and death instinct. The powerful survival instinct is close to death instinct, it is the Being and the Nothingness, the see-saw relationship between these intense forces create the bellicose and mystical black moon, the Kali of Hinduism, both remain anyway power-engine-like principles.
• Uranus and the black moon share a sense of freedom to be or not to be when it speaks to evolution, self-affirmation, autonomy, including radicality, surprise, instantaneity and Uranian unpredictability. These 2 forces are quite often at work together when it is a question of crisis, rebellion, contestation, even transgression… except that the black moon will be discreet and interiorized, where Uranus will be in openly externalized provocation. They also have in common a form of “cold” intellect and intuition to manage our becoming, and a tendency to electrify the sectors they travel.
• Coming to Neptune, it’s mostly the values of hyperconsciousness, sacrifice, mutation, thirst for perfection that binds the planet to the black moon. In the being basis, nonconformity to the initial germ of incarnation and lack of absolute can create a rift and lead to madness. Marriage of Neptune and the black moon can also give a kind of mystical gothic, a dark spirituality.
• The black moon in its aspect of wound and suffering has also features in common with Chiron, it corresponds to a test with matter (human senses that produce suffering and which human being must learn to distrust in order to dominate them), they both put to the test the will of the native, compel him or her to engage into action, to transcend his or hers state of weakness.
  As Adler says it in his psychology of Overcoming :

  “The sense of inferiority inherent to human nature is a driving force towards its own conquest. The stronger the inferiority complex is, the more intense the need for conquest and the more violent the emotional charge are.”

In its negative aspects, close to the sense of Opposition or Square, it may show up paralyzing by the prohibitions and tensions it imposes, or it may be repressed by our fears (consciously or unconsciously), but then it will inevitably produce resurgences, in the form of anxiety and frustrations…

In its relationship to the Moon and memory, as well as the activation of the karmic memories (south node), there is a hard, cold, difficult and complex aspect, which can lead to Depression if the black moon is dealing with difficult Aspects.

The black moon can also appear “mute”, inactive, if the level of consciousness of the individual does not allow its full exteriorization. But any attempt to ignore or stifle its expression will be all the more destructive and difficult to integrate later on, both for the individual and for his entourage.

As repressed unconscious factor it will be able to resurface as events in Synchronicity -which we will draw to us because they will be necessary to us- to allow us a fully conscious integration.

To integrate the black moon one has to understand its deep finality, only this distancing and this deep understanding allows us to put into perspective the necessary and painful meanderings through which it forces us to pass through… we still need to have the necessary wisdom !
Flee the process of psychological maturation and life is prejudiced, especially since this flight is very often at the expense and costs of others, those close to our family environment.

But the black moon is not “evil”, neither Pluto, Saturn, or Mars are, it is a childish and archaic vision… It is just necessary to be aware of its ambivalence, the black moon according to its placement may mean anything and everything, it can lead to be a bloodthirsty and tyrannical despot, or the most passionate pacifist activist. The difference between the fundamental energies at stake is minimal, they are of the same nature, the distinction between hate and love is no thicker than a sheet of paper.

A black moon well taken into account and considered will always be able to surprise us (by its inevitability and ineluctability) but its energy will be partly better channeled and its growth of Individuation and instincts transcendence function shall always prevail, it must be transcended and sublimated to give a sense superior to its process.
It can be inferred that the black moon points out the aim but the way to it remains enigmatic.

Now we approach the most esoteric aspect of the black moon in its directly karmic side as the fundamental germ of incarnation. The dark moon is a crucial point of focus of karmic energy, of our incarnation triangle. It represents a part of our karmic inheritance (some speak of karmic debt, but this term has a pejorative connotation that is often misinterpreted in relation to Karma). It is our spontaneous knowledge, in terms of instinctual intelligence, it is the Alpha and Omega of the process leading to the Absolute, both its germ and its aim.

In this notion of karmic inheritance, it is closely related to the south node. If the south node indicates the undifferentiated mass of our innate qualities, the black moon, as the germ motivating the incarnation of the being (which can go back to the dawn of time…), is the catalyst that activates or neutralizes these qualities in Transits. It is thus a factor of discrimination :

• either by their refusal, since we know what we don’t want, we go in the diametrically opposite direction (see my article on the Via Negativa).
• or by their idealization, the quest of our thirst for the Absolute leads us to idealism, forcing us to Individuation, it extracts us from the collective lot, towards the final enlightenment.

And we’re tilting here towards the north node meaning.

The black moon knits tirelessly our progression towards this North node, it imperatively seeks to make germinate in us its potential (in Synchronicity through evil or luck); we can call it “destiny”, doom, since its action can be partly and apparently decorrelated from the rest of the natal chart ! This factor of decorrelation is very important to take into account and keep in mind when studying the black moon and the lunar nodes.
Thus North node achievement depends entirely on the black moon everyday fulfilment job .

The study of the black moon and lunar nodes Rulership is often eye-opening and allows to identify the global karmic scheme, the ruler of the black moon is a precious auxiliary to indicate the way towards fulfillment, the path leading to the aim, to the karmic liberation, by the grace of God.
Traditionally, it is said to rule Capricorn and to be in exaltation in Virgo (for some authors rather in Leo), in fall in Taurus (according to some authors), its detriment would thus be in Cancer (the ruler of the moon) which reinforces the notion of the superior expression of the Moon, as spiritual home, gestation of consciousness, food for the spirit, psychological security (with all the conflicts that this can create)… some astrologers give special importance to the transits black moon/cancer.

Like the Lunar Nodes which have no “real” visible physical existence, the black moon is attached to the unseen, metaphysics, symbolism, transcendence, beyond psychology and concrete events of a life, in very abstract philosophical notions not necessarily accessible to the greatest number of people and at first sight.

The “traditional astrologers” subordinate the “black moon” (and the lunar nodes) to the planets, whereas the “karmic astrologers” do the opposite… in fact, both approaches are valid ! They are just 2 different analysis angles…

I would tend to “set aside for later” the black moon and the lunar nodes because they represent a “background” and a long term one, their understanding and integration is not easy and spontaneous for everyone. Many people are in a phase of Individuation and achievement of their natal chart which requires all their attention and reflection in “short term” in the emergence of qualities relative to this or that Transits…

Additional data – even fundamental and relevantones- would only add complexity and confusion unappropriately… Try to imagine an astrologer challenging a skipper on the open sea, maybe in the middle of a storm, and telling him or her the reasons and conditions for his or her departure, and pointing out to him or her the various subtleties of the crossing and the finish purpose : it might really not be the right time !

Moreover, because of this “long term” aspect one must be extremely careful not to forget that travelling is part of the journey ! Announcing to someone that the eventual goal has such or such characteristics may be quite too premature at the stage of development of the native’s consciousness : everything might not be good to say at any time to anyone.

The black moon is thus the germ of what we are called to become “potentially” (coupled with the north node). It can indicate either a spontaneous intelligence but internalized and humble, or an instinctive pre-knowledge of “things”, or a fascination in the field it rules, an unconscious blockage, an awareness, a transcendence, an impulsivity, a destruction : the best and the worst cohabit, but everything remains to be developed, the individuality of the Deep Being remains to be built accordingly by the sacrifices and the rigor.

Its placement in the chart provides lighting on all the other astrological configurations in a perspective of fundamental realization and karmic evolution by becoming a kind of “basic referent”. As such, it feeds our intuitions leading us to our fundamental being, it tints our personality.

Studying the black moon in natal chart leads logically to review its opposite point (the perigee), called “Tail of the black moon”, which some people also call Priape. On its weak side, it represents a part of social exuberance, all the excess, the wastefulness, the expression of animality, the vileness of material incarnation, the masochism, the earth part of the Moon/Earth relationship, in a way the opposite of the absolute.
But its Opposition to the black moon also makes it a somehow spared zone from its direct influence, a kind of hurricane’s eye where one can build or spring away from its control, one can express one’s superficial personality while awaiting for the construction of the bases brought by the black moon.

Points in square to the black moon are also significant. Some astrologers attribute to them different notions related to the evolution of the black moon.

Do men and women perceive differently the black moon ?

As any polarized element, the black moon being essentially feminine, is not experienced similarly according to gender. The black moon gives us clues about the types of seduction we use. Its wild character and its castrator nature are obviously not experienced in the same way.
For men it is a side of his anima, it represents a form of idealization of the woman. For women, it represents a part of the anima it embodies.
For both, it is close to the Shadow (see the Anima and Animus notions of Jungian psychology).

The black moon in signs indicates us the consciousness archetype tinting the affirmation of the evoked individuality.

The black moon in houses may indicate a blocking, a more or less conscious refusal, a culpability, a fatality or a taboo, it can also act as a revealer in this area of life and increase our willingness to achieve in this area, sometimes by prompting us to live repressed desires, in any case it focuses us on this point (study the symbolic degrees).
The black moon brings its lucidity, its pragmatism, its objectivity (if the notion of human objectivity has any meaning at all…) not without a certain coldness and detachment, it can be both a strength and a weakness. This zone can become more difficult to access, can be a source of fear, fragility and often produce Depression.

In conjunction with angles, it strongly imprints itself in the natal chart as a potentially very dominant factor (again according to the degree of consciousness of the native which will thus condition the level of interpretation of the birth chart and of black moon activity).

The aspects it forms indicate the energies that will intervene in the Individuation process, planets imprint their energies and give their strength to the black moon by tinting it, that is to say, they will orient its inclinations in one direction or another. Squares and Oppositions, due to their definitions, are naturally very significant.

The black moon transits are not necessarily always perceptible as the psychological causes involved are deep and sometimes even unconscious, in addition to their intrinsically karmic nature. They almost have a hidden meaning that no other transit could define.

Nevertheless, most black moon transits will initially aim at the improvement of the transited zone, one tries to sharpen oneself, one discovers new approaches and one launches oneself as driven by instinct with no possibility to fake it. At this stage no more question of passivity, the zone is taken in charge by a part of the Shadow. It forces to take the risk without a safety net.

Quite often black moon transits bring a surge, a check point, a crisis creating awareness and leading to freedom, the black moon brings the part of lucidity necessary to clarify a situation, assimilate latent unconscious values and evolve in good conditions. It helps us in the discrimination of these values, thus freeing us from the slag of successive metamorphoses, working here in close correlation with Pluto, it cuts off the psychic materials that have become obsolete.

This is an aspect that can be devastating, or at least destructive for the personality, because at first it can dissolve the individuality, the ancient ego (see Neptune as universal energies and absolute values), to favour a more inclusive vision tending towards the process of consciousness growth, then towards absolute unity (as opposed to illusion, the Being void).

In any case it is synonymous with radical reviewing of our existence, of our past choices, it has to do with what must be kept and abandoned.
Depending on the native’s level of consciousness, transits can be experienced as a doom, by Synchronicity of events, or enduring one’s environment.

According to its path, the black moon activates the planets either with “magnifying glass effect” (inflation of the function), or with “paralyzing effect” : difficult, unpredictable, the transited planet is blocked its planetary function, the native is forced to reinvent a way of living the planet more in conformity with its current karmic reality.
The black moon often outlines the dominant transits of slow planets, actualizes them, specifies their action, and allows to sharpen the foundation of the energies thus highlighted.

It is interesting to analyze black moon transits by going back empirically -almost “archeologically”- to determine in the span of time the sensitive points of the natal chart from a karmic point of view, a true investigation in perspective.

Personally, I tend to experience at first black moon transits under the angle of refusal, my free will led me to a multitude of default options. Only later on -notably after a long and quite delicate and very deeply formative transit of Pluto- did I integrated the “Absolute” face of the black moon (this is the beginning of a new phase of its expression, since we are talking about cycles).

It’s said that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger ? The black moon reminds us of that.

To deepen the theme of the black moon, I recommend the books :

For further :

Wikipedia article: Black moon in astrology