Having examined Moon aspects to all the specific planets, we now turn to a few more general considerations and cautions for interpreting the Moon’s aspects in magical elections. In particular, we discuss the strength and distance of aspects in terms of the concepts of orb and moiety, provide some pointers on how to interpret aspects across sign boundaries, and consider how the presence of multiple applying aspects would affect our evaluation of an astromagical election.
Aspect Strength, Orbs, & Moiety
For most purposes, it will suffice to simply note the next aspect the Moon makes and evaluate its quality. It is possible, however, to also get a sense of the aspect’s potency by attending to the width or narrowness of the Moon’s aspect. For this, we turn not to our specifically astromagical sources, but rather to general astrology. Grimoires like Picatrix assumed the reader’s mastery of general astrological doctrines. William Lilly, in his Christian Astrology (relevant sections available from Renaissance Astrology), provides us with a table of the orb of each planet, or the range of degrees over which it transmits its influence:
- Saturn: 10°00′
- Jupiter: 12°00′
- Mars: 7°30′
- Sun: 17°00′
- Venus: 8°00′
- Mercury: 7°00′
- Moon: 12°30′
Note that Lilly provided two values, one more conservative and one less. The values quoted here are the larger, less conservative orb values.
The orb of influence centers on the planet itself, such that its reach or influence extends for half of its orb (aka, its moiety) in either direction. So the Sun extends its reach forward 8.5° and backward 8.5°. The moiety of an aspect between two planets is given by the average of the two relevant orbs (or, half of each orb added together). Thus, the orbs of Moon aspects are given as follows:
- Moon-Saturn: 11°15′
- Moon-Jupiter: 12°15′
- Moon-Mars: 10°15′
- Moon-Sun: 14°45′
- Moon-Venus: 10°15′
- Moon-Mercury: 9°45′
Thus, as the Moon approaches an aspect to Saturn, we consider the aspect applying (i.e., of particularly relevant strength) when the Moon comes within 11°15′ of the exact aspect to Saturn, with the aspect being strongest when the aspect is exact.
We stress here that the moiety values are not a sharp cutoff. In other words, aspects are not a binary that suddenly turns on within range of the moiety, but rather a gradual fading away. We can illustrate this as follows, bearing in mind that the figure on the left is the incorrect model, whereas the model on the right is a more accurate depiction of how the strength of an aspect (in this case, to Saturn) varies with the distance of the aspect.
This implies that we cannot simply ignore aspects that are out of orb. For example, if the Moon’s next aspect is a trine to Saturn in 15 degrees, we can say that the influence is present and the narrative of Moon-trine-Saturn is still in play, but it is only that the strength of this aspect is very low and essentially marginal.
This implies that out-of-orb aspects must be subject to risk and benefit assessments. If the rest of the chart with an out-of-orb Moon-Saturn aspect were excellent, we might use divination to determine whether it would be a good talisman for us rather than simply trust that the influence would be minimal. Similarly, if the next Moon aspect were an out-of-orb sextile to Venus, we might expect the beneficence of this aspect to be muted or even neutral.
As a final note on this topic, some people consider talismans with no in-orb applying Moon aspects to be generally weaker than talismans with in-orb applying Moon aspects. Such an inference seems to naturally follow from the above considerations.
Sign Boundaries
Given the ascendancy of Hellenistic astrology, questions can arise as to whether to treat aspects by degree or by sign. To provide an example of why this matters, suppose that the Moon at 25° Aries next applies to a trine to Saturn at 1° Virgo. By degree, the Moon is clearly within orb of this trine, and all else being equal, we would consider this a harmful aspect. By sign, however, Aries and Virgo are not configured to one another and so there is no (whole sign) aspect. According to whole sign reasoning, we should be able to safely ignore this aspect; but using degree-based reasoning, we have a harmful aspect that could invalidate the election.
In case it is not obvious, our traditional texts do not treat this distinction, and so we are forced to reconstruct a sensible astrology for ourselves and purposes. That said, we have no evidence that the authors of Picatrix, De Quindecim Stellis, and other traditional texts were using exclusively whole sign aspects. Given the time period of the Picatrix, we can safely assume that the author was working off of the degree based aspect system developed in the medieval Arabic world.
For our part, we rely on degree based aspects for three reasons.
First, we simply have no evidence from within the traditional astrological magic that we can safely ignore degree-based aspects that cross sign barriers. Although absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence, Picatrix is not shy about offering warnings and exceptions, and the absence of any such considerations is telling.
Second, within the system we operate, sign boundaries are abstract mathematical lines, not magical hermetic barriers. In the same way a person behind a window is still in danger of a projectile weapon even if the projectile has not yet broken the glass, and in the same way people don’t wait for a hurricane to make landfall before taking precautions or evacuating, it makes logical sense that aspects—which are fundamentally about rays—would still be active even across sign boundaries.
Third, if sign boundaries invalidated aspects, then certain fixed star talismans could not be made at all under medieval rules. Consider Regulus, which has progressed to 0°09′ Virgo as of 2024. If a conjunction did not count across a sign boundary, then the Moon at 29° Leo would not be considered applying to Regulus by conjunction, and one could only ever have 09′ of application after the Moon ingressed into Virgo. Since people have made effective talismans of the fixed star Regulus while the Moon has been in the late degrees of Leo, we can consider this empirical evidence that degree-based aspects are sufficient.
Subsequent Aspects
Thus far we have simplistically considered the Moon applying to one another planet. However, many charts involve the Moon applying to multiple planets in succession.
Suppose, for example, the Moon were at 15° Gemini, with Venus at 18° Pisces and Mars at 20° Aries. Judging from a medieval perspective, the applying square to Venus would count as a fortitude of the Moon. However, the applying sextile to Mars would be considered an affliction. So, how should we evaluate the Moon’s aspects?
In Part II, we quoted the following passage:
“[Y]ou 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 we noted in Part II, our reading of the Picatrix on related issues seems to indicate that all conjunctions and aspects that the Moon is currently making will be in play simultaneously. In other words, they do not simply cancel out.
To motivate this intuition, imagine that you walked through a doorway and saw your nemesis across the room. The experience might be less intensely negative if you first saw that your best friend was halfway across the room, but your best friend’s presence would not magically redact the presence, influence, and your awareness of your nemesis.
Similarly, if the Moon were applying to a close sextile to Venus but would then square Saturn within the next few degrees (assuming both aspects were within orb), we would not consider the very positive Venus aspect to cancel or balance out the square to Saturn: rather, this would indicate a mixed condition: pros and cons, rather than a simple sum total.
Because talismans relatively permanently instantiate the symbolic conditions under which they are made, the aim should be to minimize negative factors to the greatest extent possible. Negative or harmful aspects, even if mitigated by positive preceding aspects, are usually not desirable to invite into one’s life on a long-term basis.
As in any instance of pros and cons, different people will evaluate options in different ways. Our sources contain no comprehensive tables of all the possible combinations of aspects with clear instructions provided on whether to proceed or abandon elections in each instance. Nor should we try to construct such a table, for this would reduce a variety of context and narrative sensitive situations to absolute and rigid rules.
Rather, we should attempt to work from our knowledge of general principles to have some rules of thumb on hand. For example, we know that benefic enclosure is one of the best possible configurations of Moon aspects. A subsequent square to the Sun or Mercury after the Moon’s next aspect to a benefic might be an acceptable risk given such a great fortitude. Likewise, we know that malefic enclosure is one of the worst possible configurations of Moon aspects. If the Moon’s next aspect was to Venus, but Luna was separating from a malefic and would immediately aspect another malefic after the aspect to Venus, we should recognize this as Venus intervening a terrible situation, rather than interpret it as a fortunate situation.
When in doubt, we always recommend prudent caution and divination as your best guides.
Mitigating Afflictions of the Moon
Now, as we have seen, there are many ways for the Moon’s aspects to take on a negative, even harmful cast, and there are many more ways for the Moon to be afflicted besides. There is, however, a cheat code of sorts for mitigating problems with the Moon, which presumably includes afflictive aspects. In the context of electional instructions pertaining to the Moon, Marsilio Ficino writes:
“In cases where you are not able to manage all these caveats, at least look for Jupiter or Venus either in the ascendant or in the tenth place, for so they compensate for the debilities of the Moon.”
—Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, Book III, Ch. VI, p. 271 (tr. Kaske & Clark)
Ficino’s statement probably derives directly from Picatrix, which states:
“If there should be some very necessary working that cannot possibly wait until the moon is free from all the aforesaid debilities, place Jupiter and Venus on the ascendant or midheaven because they will rectify an unfortunate Moon.”
—Maslama al-Qurtubi, al-Qurtubi, Picatrix, Book I, Chapter 5 (tr. Greer & Warnock)
Marsilio Ficino’s statement of this technical trick is a little more positive and affirming. Picatrix frames things in a bit more serious way, stating that the use of an angular benefic should be used only as a kind of last resort. Which kinds, how many, and to what extent any afflictions of the Moon are “compensated” for or “rectif[ied]” by having Venus or Jupiter on the Ascendant seems to be a wide open lane for experimentation and research.
In the final part of this series, we will offer summary principles and suggested guidelines for evaluating aspects of the Moon in magical elections.