Dane Rudhyar - Your Lunation Birthday.pdf - adios39

Part One

The Soli-Lunar Relationship

It has become customary among people interested in astrology to say: "I am a Leo,"

"I am a Sagittarius." What is meant by such statements is that the individuals in question

were born when the Sun was located in the zodiacal signs Leo and Sagittarius. Zodiacal

signs — which must be clearly differentiated from zodiacal constellations (groups of

actual stars) — are simply 30-degree sections of the path which the Sun describes in its

apparent yearly motion from one spring equinox to the next — more precisely, from two

successive northward crossings by the Sun of the celestial equator.

The Sun is in Aries when it is located from 0 to 30 degrees away from the vernal

equinox point (Aries 0°). It is in Taurus when it has traveled from 30 to 60 degrees from

this same starting point of the yearly solar cycle. To say, "I am a Taurus native," means,

thus, that one chooses to characterize one's own nature or human type by using as a

"frame of reference" the apparent motion of the Sun every year from one vernal point to

the next.

The position of the natal Sun within this zodiacal frame of reference defines what we

call the "birthday" of the person — at least, within the limits of accuracy of our modern

calendar. The birthday is, thus, exclusively a "solar" factor and has meaning solely in terms

of the significance of the Sun.

It should be clear that any other important natal factor which has a regular cycle, for

which a precise and logical starting point can be easily ascertained, might also be used in

the same way as we normally use the Sun in order to determine a different kind of

"birthday".

For instance, a planet like Jupiter crosses the equatorial plane northward at regular

intervals; these crossings could be considered (and are so considered in mundane

astrology) as the beginning of a Jupiter "year", lasting nearly twelve solar years. Then, the

position of Jupiter at birth could be defined with reference to this Jupiter "year"; when

Jupiter returns to its natal place, a person could then be said to have his "Jupiterian

birthday".

Such a procedure would be followed in any civilization which would consider the Jupiter

factor as being more basic than the Sun factor and which would base its calendar upon the

cycle of Jupiter instead of upon that of the Sun. This would be logical and feasible, whether

or not it has ever been done.

Actually, because astrology and the use of a calendar began in societies mainly

concerned with agriculture and the need to establish as clearly as possible the rhythm of

seasonal changes, the position of the Sun — the one basic source of heat and light — has

always been featured in the making of a calendar. It has not, however, always been

featured as exclusively as it is in our present "solar calendar". There have been so-called

"lunar" calendars, and the Islamic calendar still belongs to this category.

It is incorrect, however, to call "lunar" any calendar or time pattern which is

established by considering as the basic unit of time the period from one New Moon to the

next-that is the "lunation cycle". Such a lunation cycle is soli-lunar , not really lunar, for it

refers to the recurring period of the successive conjunctions of the Sun and the Moon. New

Moons and Full Moons are not, strictly Speaking, "lunar" factors; they are phases in the

relationship of the Moon to the Sun, as it is seen from the point of view of the

Earth .

The Lunation Cycle is a cycle by the related motions of the Moon and the Sun. It

belongs, therefore, to a different type of cycle than the yearly cycle of the Sun from vernal

equinox to vernal equinox. The former is a "cycle of relationship" — the latter, a "cycle of

positions". The distinction between these two categories of cycles is basic and must be

made if astrology is to have solid and logically consistent foundations.

This distinction is that between the "sidereal" and the "synodic" periods of the planets.

The former refers to the regular motion of a planet to a (theoretically, at least) fixed

starting point . The vernal equinox point, a characteristic star which is supposed to be

"fixed", constitutes the beginnings of such cycles. The year, the sidereal day, the transits of

a planet from its natal position to this same position years later are, all "cycles of positions";

they refer to the distances of a moving factor (Sun, earth meridian, planet) from one set

point to this same point again. Only one basic factor and its motion are considered.

On the other hand, where "cycles of relationship" are studied, two moving factors are

considered. The cycle begins at the time of their conjunction, climaxes at the time of their

opposition, begins again at the next conjunction. Not only the lunation cycle belongs to this

category, but all usually called "cycles of planetary conjunctions" — such as the well-known

cycle of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions, which lasts about twenty years.

The soli-lunar cycle extending from New Moon to New Moon is, in my opinion, just as

important in practical astrology as the cycle of the solar year; but while it has a most

fundamental and recognized place in mundane astrology and in all agricultural and

climacteric approaches to the study of astrology, it is not given sufficient meaning in natal

astrology, in psychological-astrological studies and also in the type of personal guidance

featured in astrological magazines.

We consider as basic the twelve-sign zodiacal cycle of the Sun (the year) and the

twelve-house pattern derived from the daily motion of the horizon and meridian of the

Earth, both of which are "cycles of positions". But just as basic are all "cycles of

relationships" between planets, the prototype and model of which is the soli-lunar cycle —

the measure of the true monthly periods of time. This period, the month, is necessary as a

vital intermediary between the year and the day — just as, philosophically speaking, "mind"

is the necessary intermediary between the realm of "spirit" (the Sun and its yearly rhythm)

and that of "material body" (the Earth and its daily rotation).

There is but one Latin word for "mind" and "month", mens , from which also is derived

the word for "measure". Mind — and also in a certain sense, soul — belongs to the middle

realm in all trinities of principles of being. Mind is the "formative principle"; this principle,

which is the controlling factor in all actual manifestations of life (i.e., in all "organisms"), can

be understood only in terms of the interplay of polarities — the yang and yin of old Chinese

philosophy, the solar and lunar factors in Alchemy and in the more profound systems of

modern psychology (particularly C. G. Jung's).

To study only the Moon and its sidereal real "cycle of positions" is to ignore the

meaning of mind and soul, for these elements of our most vital nature are expressions not

of a lunar factor, but of a constantly evolving soli-lunar relationship . This relationship

is symbolized and actually represented in astrology by the lunation cycle, whose cyclic

series of phases are not lunar, but soli-lunar.

Truly, we may say that the "phases of the Moon" are changes in the appearance of the

Moon only. Actually, however, we do not see the Moon itself as a body ; we see the solar

light which this body reflects. The Moon has no phases, really. It is the light of the Moon

which varies and has phases; it varies because it is the expression of the relationship

between the Sun and Moon. To ignore this distinction is to be philosophically blind to one of

the greatest and most basic realities of life and organically embodied existence on earth. It

is to miss the central key to the most potent of all mysteries.

Of itself, the Moon is nothing — as, of itself, mind is either nothing or (in some cases) a

power for destruction. The Moon has vital power, meaning, purpose only as that which gives

form to and distributes organically and harmonically the "ray" of the Sun. Likewise, mind

has vital power, meaning and purpose only as that which gives form and individualized

being to the "divine spark" as that which builds a "soul-organism" as a dwelling place for

this "spark" emanated from the one Divine Father.

This is not merely metaphysics or spiritual psychology. It is the most practical of all

keys to the everyday life and, as well, to the achievement of the great work to which

Alchemists, Occultists and Theosophists of all ages have guardedly referred. It means that,

in the cyclic development of the soli-lunar relationship through the monthly lunation period,

we can find the most profound, most vital, most practical pattern of unfoldment for the

powers of personality — a guide to the actual living of our organic, personal, psycho-mental

life.

It is only through the living of this life that we can ever hope to realize and to fulfill

spirit in ourselves — individualized spirit, God imminent, the Christ within. Spiritual living is

not away from the earth but at the core of the earth-born organism which is represented, in

blueprints, in the birth-chart of the individual — at the core and through it! Indeed, it is

through the illumination and the clear, objective vision, of which all Full Moons are the

ever-renewed symbol.

Solar and Lunation Birthdays

At the New Moon, the Moon is united, as it were, with the Sun (i.e., in conjunction).

It is being impregnated by the ray of the Sun. This ray of spirit impresses upon it a new

purpose, a new act of spiritual will, a new creative impulse — indeed, a new answer to a

vital need which had become outstanding at the close of the lunation cycle just ended.

Spirit is that which provides answers to every vital need, solutions to the pressing

problems of living organisms and human personalities born of the earth. But these answers

to needs and prayers, these spirit-emanated solutions must be made understandable and

acceptable for human beings. They must be formed or formulated as new techniques,

new organizations, new words, ideas or laws. It is as the light of the Moon waxes toward

Full Moon that this process of organic and social formation or intellectual-mental foundation

takes place.

At Full Moon, this process reaches a climax and fulfillment or else the failure of the

process is revealed and separation or disintegration begins. If there has been fulfillment,

then the purpose released at the New Moon, as an act of spirit and a creative impulse from

the heart of the Sun, now becomes a conscious realization, an objective image, a clear

concept, a "vision" or illumination. As the light of the Moon wanes, what has been fully

realized has to be disseminated. The consciousness of the illumined individual, of the clear

mind is to be spread among men. New systems, new meanings, new philosophies are to be

built.

The individual can live consciously what he "saw" because his mind, once truly

awakened or illumined, has power over material substances and organic processes, because

the clearly realized meaning can indeed transform both the past — which, by becoming

significant, is entirely renewed or "redeemed" — and the future — which is determined

according to the character of the understanding (positive or negative, constructive or

destructive, as the case may be) which the individual has extracted from his previous

experiences.

What has been left undone during a cycle is responsible for new needs or problems

arising as the last phases of the lunation cycle occur. The failures have to be dissolved, the

inertia challenged; the ineffectual techniques have to be given up. The last quarter phase of

the lunation cycle is filled with revolutionary challenges, reform, self-overcoming, self-

sacrifice; these total up to new essential needs, for which the creative Sun-ray,

impregnating the Moon at the New Moon, will once more give solutions and harmonizing,

healing answers.

The point which must be stressed is that this complete monthly cycle of the soli-lunar

relationship can and should be considered as a celestial framework within which the birth of

an individual occurs — a framework as significant as the zodiac.

A person's birth moment can be referred to the zodiacal cycle, and the particular

character of his birth is then defined by the degree of the zodiac on which his natal Sun is

Dane Rudhyar - Your Lunation Birthday.pdf

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