There will be two consecutive Full Moons in Scorpio in 2008. The last one occurred 20 April 2008 @ 2:33 am pst. This is not to be confused with the Blue Moon phenomenon, which is a fourth Full Moon in a given season. That occurs approximately every 2.7 years to reflect the fact that the Solar Year is longer than twelve Lunar Cycles, but less than thirteen. It is commonly misunderstood that a Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a given calendar month.

Nevertheless, to have two consecutive Full Moons in any one sign is a rare enough event. I am giving this pair a little extra attention because the configuration is of great interest for a number of reasons.

The April chart had Saturn as the ruler of the Ascendant retrograde in the seventh house with the Dragon’s Tail. The Eight / Two axis is known as the Gates of Hades or Domain of Typhon.  Note that in the May chart the Sun and Moon change places on the same axis.

The Moon is parallel Sirius and conjunct the Arabic Part of Understanding. The parallel aspect is much stronger than the conjunction. The Moon is in her fall and the powerful influence of Sirius brings passionate, searing intensity to an already volatile mix. The Moon in the traditional decanate of Mars, accentuates her already Martian nature. She is disposited by Mars in Cancer, the sign of his fall. This provides what is called a negative mutual reception. Both are in the sign of their own fall. A weak malefic is a damaging one.

According to Ptolemy, Sirius, the brightest of all stars is of the nature of Jupiter and Mars. With the Moon, there is general good fortune, if free of malefics. This is a case of a highly baneful situation being ameliorated by association with a particular star and Arabic Part. However, this relief is slight considering the overall picture. Regrettably, the planets have delivered their promise by way of global catastrophes in the same elements. Much suffering could have been avoided if the celestial forcasts had been heeded.

In itself, we can then see that the chart is certainly challenging enough, but its full import is seen with the second opposition in the same sign a month later.

The second consecutive Full Moon in Scorpio occurs 19 May 2008 @ 4.44 pm pdt, just before the Sun enters Gemini. Note that Saturn has gone direct and sits on the same degree as the Full Lunar Eclipse of 20 February 2008 @ 7:26 pm. pst. It is also in almost precisely the same position as it was in the April chart.

The May chart has Venus combust in the eighth house and, although dignified by sign, cannot do much due to both combustion and house placement. Venus is ruler of the Ascendant and caught up with the Sun’s opposition to the Moon on the same axis.

Morover, the Dragon’s Tail is besieged by Saturn and Mars. Both Saturn and the South Node are in the twelfth Lunar Mansion, Al Safah, the Changer of the Weather. Mars disposits the Part of Fortune, found in the unfortunate sixth house in the Mansion of the Belly. By any standards, this is a nasty piece of work.

With the current vulnerability to seismic activity, particularly around the Pacific rim, Central Asia and all countries where the Lunar Eclipse was visible,  vigilence and preparation should be a matter of course. Any country under the governenance of Virgo should also beware. Extreme siesmic activity is often the case with Sun, Jupiter and Saturn in Earth signs; and here we have exacerbating circumstances.

Ptolemy does not mention China by name, but the country would fall under what he calls the second quarter:

“which embraces the southern part of Greater Asia, the other parts, including India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Parthia, Media, Persia, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, which are situated in the south-east of the whole inhabited world, are, as we might presume, familiar to the south-eastern triangle, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, and are governed by Venus and Saturn in oriental aspects.” (Tetrabiblos. Bk II. p. 43)

This places Myanmar (formerly Burma) and China under the governance of the Earth triplicity at a time when Saturn, Sun and Jupiter occupies these signs. What he calls Ariana is what is now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan as far east as the Indus.

The Moon was Void of Course in the 24th degree of Leo, crossing the Dragon’s Tail and activating a square to the Sun when the 7.9 magnitude quake hit the Chendu area in the Szechuan province of China. The Sun was cojoining with Algol. The result was mass destruction causing the death of 10,000 people as the result of the quake and aftershocks. The Chinese refer to Algol as the star of “piled up corpses”

In the chart for 19 May 2008, the Sun is conjunct the Fixed Star Alcyone, the brightest of the Pleiades, situated on the shoulder of the Bull. It is of the nature of Mars and the Moon. Negatively the star is associated with blindness caused by fevers, either literally of figuratively. The spread of disease as a result of the catastrophes in Myanmar and China is a very real, but preventable threat; but first, blindness must give way to vision. This is most particularly the case in Myanmar.

The Lunar degree of this chart falls in the nineteenth Mansion known Al Shaulah, The Sting. The Ascending degree is in the sixteenth Mansion Al Jubana, The Claws, and in Via Combusta. The latter is a region of the zodiac that contains many baneful stars, with the notable exception of Spica. However, the Moon in the 28 th degree of Scorpio has Venus for decanate ruler, rather than Mars as was the case in the April chart.

This Solar degree falls in the Lunar Mansion Al Thurayya (the many little ones) and is said to be profitable to sailors and alchemists. Taken figuratively, this augers well for the afflicted and an albeit belated rescue effort for Burma, particularly as the Sun moves into Gemini and the Moon enters Sagittarius, forming a fleeting but perfect trine to Mars at the time of the Solar Ingress.

She will be in parallel with Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion,  before the opposition fully separates. Venus will soon be out from under the Sun’s beams. This is a brief period of respite, before Mars closes in on the Dragon’s Tail. Excessive heat and fires fanned by high winds are predicted when the Moon co-joins with them.

Please bear in mind that the house placements will differ from one time zone to another. These comments are most specifically relevant to the Pacific Coast in that regard only.  The comments on fixed star placement and planetary aspects otherwise remain the same and are most immediately concerned with the areas Ptolemy identified with the Earth Triplicity.

To be continued …