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The Astrological Moon
Throughout her astrological career, Darby Costello has been watching the progressed Moon as it moves through the signs and the houses of the birth chart. She shares her observations here in two edited seminar transcriptions - one exploring the Moon in its phase relationship to the natal Sun and the other considering the progressed Moon, by sign and house, as it describes the unfolding of our emotional life and the awakening of our souls. In addition, Darby traces the progressed Moon cycle as it interweaves with the Saturn cycle, marking moments where crisis and change become gateways to new dimensions of experience. These gateways bring past and future together, providing openings to the points of intersection between time and eternity that dwell in each of us. In Darby’s words, "The natal Moon describes the physical gateway through which each of us must enter if we are to have a life on this planet. To spend any time here, as far as we know, you have to enter through a woman's body. And that woman's body will contain traces of every event that has happened since the very beginning . . . All of the past will be contained in that body . . . everything, going back to the birth of the universe."
- GenresAstrology
210 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2003
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57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 9, 2018
This is a transcription of two seminars from 1992 and 1994. I found it enjoyable to read—I could imagine myself sitting through these sessions—but I wish there had been more "hard," detailed information that I could refer to later. I think Costello was aiming for this, as she wanted attendees to approach astrology intuitively, not by dutifully memorizing delineations. It may also have been because a seminar doesn't have the formal structure of a published article or book. These weren't free-flowing conversations, but we only get what Costello had time to cover.
The first seminar was on the natal and progressed Moon. Costello discusses the Moon's significance in the chart, and gives brief delineations for both the natal and progressed Moon through the signs and houses. She also covers aspects and transits, with short descriptions of most of them and in-depth discussions of a few examples. The second seminar started with looking at the Moon and its relationship to the Sun (Costello's take on Dane Rudhyar's Lunation Cycle). It also covered the relationship of the progressed Moon to the natal Moon, and concluded with tracing the progressed Moon cycle through the life of one person.
This book has inspired me to look more closely at what my progressed Moon has been up to, how that fits with the Saturn cycle, and my lunar natal phase. But it isn't a book that I'd keep around as a reference work.
The first seminar was on the natal and progressed Moon. Costello discusses the Moon's significance in the chart, and gives brief delineations for both the natal and progressed Moon through the signs and houses. She also covers aspects and transits, with short descriptions of most of them and in-depth discussions of a few examples. The second seminar started with looking at the Moon and its relationship to the Sun (Costello's take on Dane Rudhyar's Lunation Cycle). It also covered the relationship of the progressed Moon to the natal Moon, and concluded with tracing the progressed Moon cycle through the life of one person.
This book has inspired me to look more closely at what my progressed Moon has been up to, how that fits with the Saturn cycle, and my lunar natal phase. But it isn't a book that I'd keep around as a reference work.
May 8, 2016
There is a lot of good information here but for me Darby Costello's seminars are no way near as fluid to read as Liz Greene or Howard Saportas. Also by the tone of the questions and heckling from the audience she could not keep her listeners engaged, at some points they behaved like naughty school children and that started to grate too.
The end section on Secondary Moon progressions was very interesting, however the part on Dane Rudyers book the Lunation Cycle is not needed if you have a copy of the original.
A 3.5 rating is more accurate as there are some interesting points made throughout the book.
The end section on Secondary Moon progressions was very interesting, however the part on Dane Rudyers book the Lunation Cycle is not needed if you have a copy of the original.
A 3.5 rating is more accurate as there are some interesting points made throughout the book.
July 3, 2016
5/25/16 - I finished the first section which contains a cookbook of all the moon signs and their meaning as they go through the progressed cycle. It also has a cookbook of the houses that the progressed moon travels through. I wish she would have discussed the difference between it going through progressed houses vs natal houses.
7/2/16 - I finished part 2. Part 2 is about the Lunar Phases and building upon Dane Rudhyar's approach.
Page 119: "Rudhyar says that a seed idea is implanted at every new moon. Remember, he is a poet and a visionary, and he describes what he intuits in this way. He says a "something" is seeded when the Moon conjoins the Sun in each new sign. The Moon picks up the seed idea, gets the message of it, in his manner of speaking, becomes the receiver, and as it goes through each sign it touches everyone, through their personal planetary configurations. The Moon disseminates the message of the seed idea as it goes through the cycle."
The second half of the book is primarily focused on two parts.
The first part is what a person is like based on which phase of the moon s/he was born with. Darby goes through all the phases and describes what a person born under each phase is like. No discussion about what happens to us during each phase as we live our lives.
The second part is about the aspects that the progressed moon makes to our natal moon. She also discusses transiting Saturn as it aspects natal Saturn and how those two (prog moon to natal moon and transiting Saturn to natal Saturn) work in tandem.
Another reviewer commented on how the audience gets feisty with her. Lol. They do!
I am counseling someone who is going through her Saturn Return so I shared this excerpt from page 177 with her:
"The Saturn return coincides with developments in our lives which demand re-evaluation of everything that has happened up until then. It often coincides with major changes in our lives. Our ego position is challenged. Our direction is challenged, and we make decisions which will effect the rest of our lives.
The weight of the world, with its "shoulds" and its "oughts", presses heavily on us. The pressure shows itself in the decisions we make during this time. The compass by which we navigate our lives is slowly settling onto a particular course, and we will follow that course, one way or another, for the next thirty years. Transits of the outer planets will reveal the pathways which will open out to us during this time.
It often feels like a rebirth, once the direction becomes clear."
7/2/16 - I finished part 2. Part 2 is about the Lunar Phases and building upon Dane Rudhyar's approach.
Page 119: "Rudhyar says that a seed idea is implanted at every new moon. Remember, he is a poet and a visionary, and he describes what he intuits in this way. He says a "something" is seeded when the Moon conjoins the Sun in each new sign. The Moon picks up the seed idea, gets the message of it, in his manner of speaking, becomes the receiver, and as it goes through each sign it touches everyone, through their personal planetary configurations. The Moon disseminates the message of the seed idea as it goes through the cycle."
The second half of the book is primarily focused on two parts.
The first part is what a person is like based on which phase of the moon s/he was born with. Darby goes through all the phases and describes what a person born under each phase is like. No discussion about what happens to us during each phase as we live our lives.
The second part is about the aspects that the progressed moon makes to our natal moon. She also discusses transiting Saturn as it aspects natal Saturn and how those two (prog moon to natal moon and transiting Saturn to natal Saturn) work in tandem.
Another reviewer commented on how the audience gets feisty with her. Lol. They do!
I am counseling someone who is going through her Saturn Return so I shared this excerpt from page 177 with her:
"The Saturn return coincides with developments in our lives which demand re-evaluation of everything that has happened up until then. It often coincides with major changes in our lives. Our ego position is challenged. Our direction is challenged, and we make decisions which will effect the rest of our lives.
The weight of the world, with its "shoulds" and its "oughts", presses heavily on us. The pressure shows itself in the decisions we make during this time. The compass by which we navigate our lives is slowly settling onto a particular course, and we will follow that course, one way or another, for the next thirty years. Transits of the outer planets will reveal the pathways which will open out to us during this time.
It often feels like a rebirth, once the direction becomes clear."
October 28, 2024
The book is very easy to read and understand, it gives a lot of knowledge and a good foundation about the Moon. The material is part of 2 workshops on Moon in Signs, Houses, Aspects, Phases and Progressed Moon that Darby Costello conducted. A very inspiring book.
December 24, 2010
Insightful
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews