In the first post of this series, we established the importance of the Moon in astromagical elections and set forward two aspect doctrines that form the basis for understanding how to evaluate aspects of the Moon in astrological magic.
In this second post, we draw out the contrasts between the general aspect doctrine and the Picatrix model of Moon aspects before exploring conjunctions of the Moon with other planets in astrological magic.
Renaissance vs. Medieval Rules
The tension between general aspect doctrine and the principle of aspected planetary nature illuminate one of the fault lines in how people approach astrological magic. This is because aspect doctrine on its own, considered apart from anything else in the Picatrix, would suggest a different hierarchy of aspects:
General Aspect Doctrine Hierarchy of Moon Aspects (Best to Worst)
- Moon trine any planet (Jupiter > Venus > Mars > Saturn)
- Moon sextile any planet
- Moon square any planet
- Moon opposed any planet
As a reminder, the principle of aspected planetary nature significantly complicates the picture, offering a shaded spectrum of aspects according primarily to the nature of the planet being aspected by the Moon, and then secondarily according to the nature of the aspect. We visualized this on a continuum as follows:
These two models agree at the end points. Both models would consider the Moon’s trine to Jupiter the most auspicious aspect, and the Moon’s opposition to Saturn the most harmful aspect. We can, however, easily see where the two models diverge.
According to the general aspect doctrine, an opposition to Jupiter would be considered a significant affliction, whereas the principle of aspected planetary nature would imply that such an aspect would be a modest fortitude.
Similarly, according to the general aspect doctrine, a trine to Mars would be considered a significant fortitude, whereas the principle of aspected planetary nature would imply that such an aspect would be a modest affliction.
We can visualize the differences between these two models below. The yellow and pink circles in the chart correspond to the two examples just enumerated, and show the significant divergence of these two models at points in between the two extremes.
These are just two examples. The two doctrines would also diverge when considering the Moon’s squares to Jupiter, squares and oppositions to Venus, sextiles to Mars, and sextiles and trines to Saturn.
In sum, the basic issue is that in certain cases, the same type of aspect can be interpreted with almost the opposite valence depending on the model of Moon aspects in astrological magic that one uses. In fact, the models would significantly diverge for 8 of 16 possible aspect-planet combinations. In other words, half the time these two models come up with substantially different answers!
These two doctrines or principles get mapped onto a fault line of interpretation within astrological magic: some people subscribe to so-called “Renaissance rules” and others to “medieval rules” for magical astrological elections. We are not certain where these terms originated, but we believe they may have been introduced by Clifford Low. The terms themselves are a simplification, but a useful one. While it is not true that there are just two distinct rule sets and everyone obeys one or the other, they do point to some key distinctions in how elections gets approached by practitioners, and the terms carry some sociological significance within the industry. With these caveats in mind, we can say that in general, Renaissance astrological magic privileges the geometric nature of the Moon’s aspects (i.e., the general aspect doctrine), whereas medieval astrological magic privileges the nature of the planet aspected by the Moon. (i.e., the principle of aspected planetary nature).
Here it is important to emphasize that because there are different models for astrological magic, it becomes complicated to call a talismanic electional chart “good” or “bad.” Some people use the Renaissance model, others the Medieval model. In Christopher Warnock’s public writings and his teachings, for example, he considers a square or opposition of the Moon to any planet to be a major affliction of the Moon which, all else being equal, invalidates an election. Clifford Low, on the other hand, has been the major proponent of medieval rules when it comes to aspects.
Each mage has to make their own determination about which model to use and why. And there should be grace for evaluating other people’s elections, or at least some neutrality, given that different models exist. There are elections we, at Idola Stellarum, would not use, for example, since we subscribe to the principle of aspected planetary nature, that others would consider perfectly fine because they work within a different paradigm. Perhaps a consensus will emerge over time, but for now we generally take the position of letting a hundred flowers bloom: there is no definitive way to determine which method is right and which is wrong, except to allow the fruits of people’s workings to show in their lives.
Conjunctions
The hierarchies of aspects above also generally leave out conjunctions, which are a somewhat more complicated matter. Indeed, nothing entirely straightforward can be said about conjunctions, since their nature varies according to the planets conjoined. Picatrix emphasizes the variety of these conjunctions as a fundamental source of cause and effect:
“All that is and becomes in this world, that is, by means of generation and corruption, is caused by the 120 conjunctions that the seven planets make. In all the effects of these conjunctions, the receptive form is to be observed; for from this form, the effect is completed.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book IV, Chapter 4, tr. Greer & Warnock
Picatrix does provide hints that something like the principle of aspected planetary nature applies to conjunctions as well. Conjunctions to benefic planets will augment benefic results:
“[Good results] will be even more so if the Moon is conjunct with one of the fortunes, and that fortune is not diminishing in light or retrograde.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book II, Chapter 3, tr. Greer & Warnock
As we can see, there are some caveats. Similarly, we have a suggestion that conjunctions with Saturn and/or Mars are considered grave afflictions:
“[I]n all good acts and works…you should see that the Moon is well dignified and that it is safe from Saturn and Mars and from the combustion of the Sun. Do the contrary in every evil work, that is, see that the Moon is combust or conjunct Saturn and Mars, or that she applies to an aspect with one of the latter.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book I, Chapter 4, tr. Greer & Warnock
A few things bear remark from this passage. We should assume that the examples chosen are not arbitrary (a useful principle for engaging with Picatrix is to treat the text as if it is implicitly aiming to teach you how to read it, and thus the structure and order of sentences, paragraphs, and examples becomes tutelary rather than arbitrary). Rather than give us a full hierarchy or catalogue of harmful configurations, the Picatrix likely selects the worst of the bunch and allows us to infer the rest. We should assume that a threefold conjunction of the Moon, Saturn, and Mars to be among the worst possible configurations. Combustion of the Moon is thus a comparable affliction. Conjunctions to Saturn or Mars separately should therefore be considered grave afflictions as well, as should any aspect to Saturn or Mars. This is underscored in Book II, Chapter 4, which says that workings toward positive ends should “beware of having…either of the infortunes be conjunct…the Moon” and that it is helpful to have the Moon “conjunct with the fortunes.”
The best clue we have as to the nature of conjunctions in astrological magic comes from Book II, Chapter 6 of Picatrix:
“You should know that when the Moon is conjunct Saturn, its effects will be in accord with those of Saturn. This happens because the influence of Saturn is stronger than the influence of the Moon, just as when any other planet is conjunct Saturn, their effects will be in accord with the dispositions and effects of Saturn.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book II, Chapter 6, tr. Greer & Warnock
Now, it bears highlighting that many caveats come on the heels of this passage: these considerations can be reversed if, for example, the Moon is highly dignified and Saturn is not. In general, however, the suggestion is that the nature of a Moon conjunction follows the nature of the planet conjoined.
To a first approximation, we can consider a Moon-Saturn conjunction to have the nature of a Moon-Saturn opposition, a Moon-Mars conjunction to have the nature of a Moon-Mars square, a Moon-Venus conjunction to have the nature of a Moon-Venus sextile, and a Moon-Jupiter conjunction to have the nature of a Moon-Jupiter trine. This does not take into account factors like dignity, retrogradation, etc., but rather gives us a rough and ready conceptual scheme to evaluate conjunctions at a glance.
This allows us to modify our hierarchies of beneficial and harmful aspects as follows (again, all else being equal):
Beneficial Aspects of the Moon (Most to Least Beneficial)
- Moon trine Jupiter or Moon conjunct Jupiter (tied)
- Moon trine Venus
- Moon sextile Jupiter
- Moon sextile Venus or Moon conjunct Venus (tied)
- Moon square Jupiter
- Moon square Venus
- Moon opposed Jupiter
- Moon opposed Venus
Harmful Aspects of the Moon (Most to Least Harmful)
- Moon opposed Saturn or Moon conjunct Saturn (tied)
- Moon opposed Mars
- Moon square Saturn
- Moon square Mars or Moon conjunct Mars (tied)
- Moon sextile Saturn
- Moon sextile Mars
- Moon trine Saturn
- Moon trine Mars
We can visualize these hierarchies on a full spectrum as follows:
In case it does not go without saying, there is no actual or implied quantitative scale to this chart. We cannot say, for instance, that a Moon-Jupiter trine is twice as positive as a Moon-Jupiter square or anything of the sort. In other words, using some terminology from psychological measurement, these rankings are ordinal rankings, not ratio measurements. This becomes even more true when we remember that these are just general guidelines and first approximations, not absolute truths or precise measurements.
Ultimately, the quality of any Moon aspect is a multidimensional and nuanced phenomenon influenced by a number of factors, not least its narrative relationship to the rest of the chart in the context of the talismanic intention.
The Interaction of Conjunctions and Other Aspects
At the outset of Part I, we quoted that the Moon is the mediatrix of all effects. This passage closes as follows:
“…you should pay attention to what we have said concerning [the Moon’s] fortunes and infortunes, and the waxing and waning of her light, because after she separates from the Sun her powers are balanced; thereafter they change when she is in sextile, square, trine, and opposite aspect. Her strength will accord with the nature of the planets and stars with which she is conjoined while in the aforesaid aspects.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book II, Chapter 3, tr. Greer & Warnock
As with many passages in Picatrix, this presents us with an interpretive conundrum. The final sentence indicates that our evaluation of the Moon’s aspects should take into account what planets and stars she is conjoining. The micro-context of the passage might suggest that this only concerns the phase of the Moon, i.e., the aspect that she is making to the Sun. However, the passage begins by speaking about the general qualities and powers of the Moon in an overarching sense.
Thus, we interpret this passage as stating that the quality of the Moon’s aspects will become shaded by whatever she is drawing near. A Moon-Jupiter aspect will be bolstered by, say, a conjunction to Venus or to an auspicious fixed star such as Spica or Regulus, while the aspect will become darkened and more ominous if the Moon is applying to a more fearsome fixed star such as Algorab or Algol.
When thinking of afflictions and mitigations, we should keep in mind that this is not strict algebra. There are no passages in any traditional source that we know of that state clearly that one factor cancels out other factors. Thus, we cannot simply assume that a Moon-Venus conjunction will allow us to ignore a simultaneous Moon-Mars sextile, let alone a Moon-Saturn opposition. Our assumption is that it is always ‘both-and’ rather than ‘either-or’ when it comes to such complex aspects.
We can think this through in relational terms. By analogy, having a good friend with you does not cancel out being in the presence of an abusive enemy or a criminal intent to harm you. The friend may provide moral support or concrete assistance that mitigates the situation, but the enemy or criminal would not, in typical circumstances, simply evaporate in their presence (unless your friend is very powerful indeed!).
Onward Toward the Specifics
Having explored the nature of aspects and conjunctions in astrological magic, we now turn to investigating the particularities. In Part III we examine the Moon’s aspects to benefic and malefic planets before turning in Part IV to the Moon’s aspects to the Sun, Mercury, and fixed stars.