Who's Afraid of a Debilitated Moon ?

We all know how important the Moon’s influence is upon Earth as a whole - from controlling tides and directing sap in all plants, all the way to shaping seasons. Our life as part of this Earth is reflected in the natal chart - which is definitely not excluded from the lunar influence. ​

Before we get to the topic, how does an ancient saintly sage describe the Moon? Brihat Parashara, on of the biggest stars of Vedic knowlege, states the following:

“Abounding in Vata and Kapha and filled with knowing is the Moon of round body, O’ Twice Born, auspisciously eyed, of sweet speech, fluctuating and love sick.”
                                                          from Graha Sutras - translation and commentary on BPHS by Ernst Wilhelm

This short and sweet verse describes the essential qualities of the feminine energy - from the roundness of shape, to the inner knowingness that comes from the right-side of the brain rather than from logical thinking, to the charming gaze and speech, propensity to change and very importantly - love-sickness.
Indeed, things that make you go 'hmmm' :)

If you are familiar with Hindu mythology, you will know that although the Moon has 27 wives (nakshatras), he is still restless. (I said 'he' because all the planets are masculine but they manifest as either masculine, feminine or neuter energy). The feminine manifestation of the Moon is passive, reflective, negative - it seeks fulfillment, therefore the longing or so-called love sickness. 

In his sutras, Brihat Parashara also refers to the Moon as Manas, the mind, which is the home of the ego.
A debilitated Moon is a home full of cracks which can make a person very sensitive, and prone to negative thinking. Furthermore, the ego can unhealthily thrive on suffering. So growing up in a run-down home would influence your vision of the world, right? It's no wonder this placement can bring about emotional issues ranging from denial to full-blown depression. In the old texts, people having the Moon in the first three degrees of Scorpio are said to have an infancy bereft of breastmilk - this can mean the actual lack of breastmilk or for any reason, not having received the necessary nourishment in the very early stages of life.

​Also, should your chart be adorned with this placement, you may expect trouble from the mother, and issues with those things signified by the Moon - trouble such as lactose intolerance, sensitivity to salt, issues with the blood and the circulatory system and so on BUT before you pull the rest of your hair our, remember 3 things: 1. these are general statements and each chart needs to be examined as a whole,
2. there  is no such thing as unfair, everything that seems preset is merely a result of your past actions, and
3. everything you experience is here to help you evolve.

So yeah, it's kind of a bummer to have the Moon in the first three degrees of Scorpio, but one of the things that 'softens the blow' is this principle called ‘cancellation of debilitation’, where if certain factors are met, your problematic Moon’s effects will be appeased to a certain degree.

For instance, if a planet is on an angle i.e. 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th from the Ascendant (Lagna) or the Moon, it gets a bonus of strength, so it can somewhat counteract the inauspicious effects of debilitation. However, my favourite cancellation happens when the debilitated planet is Exalted or in Own dignity in the Navamsa. So although there will be hardships along the path, in the end that planet will find fulfillment, as the 9th varga shows not only the marriage, but fulfillment in any path chosen. It's easy to remember the Navamsa position for the Moon as it's only calculating 3 degrees, so good news: a debilitated Moon in the Rasi always equates to a Moon in Own Sign- Cancer- in the Navamsa. Not too shabby, right?

In part 2 of this post - that will be published in about a week - I'll be stargazing through the Vedic astrological lens in order to observe a number of celebrities that are involved with a lunar profession (music), celebrities that have at least one thing in common: their Moon in the first three degrees of Scorpio.
​
So until next time, keep taking notes on how  and why your stars aligned :)

Further reading on this topic: Graha Sutras and Mastering Debilitation courses on astrology-videos.com
​
Image 1: from Classical Art Memes facebook page, author unknown
Image 2:  from tumblr, author unknown

---