An archetype is a universal principle, living force, or pattern of expression found in the human psyche. In astrology the planets represent various archetypal forces within our multifaceted personality. Understanding how these archetypes operate within us, and learning how to use and integrate them skillfully is necessary for us to live more satisfying and productive lives.
The sign of Cancer and its ruling “planet” the Moon are associated with the inner emotional and subliminal parts of our self: what we need deep down for emotional security. The Moon in our natal horoscope reveals our personal needs for home and shelter, family and community, connections and emotional support from others. It defines our unconscious motivations, what drives us in life. The cusp of the 4th House in the horoscope is associated with Cancer and the Moon, and describes our emotional foundation: what we need to feel secure and strong in the world.
The Moon governs our emotional receptivity with others. It defines how we want to connect on an emotional level. It indicates the process through which we may separate ourself emotionally from other people, thereby depriving ourself of the closeness and intimacy we need for a sense of personal security. It discloses the unconscious process by which we attempt to manipulate people through dependencies and sensitivities, and by expressing emotional needs in a way that repels others. It determines our parenting capabilities: what kind of nurturing parent we will be to a child, as well as to our own Inner Child.
The Moon represents familiar patterns from our past that manifest automatically. It determines our habitual patterns and conditioned responses, our instincts and reflexive actions that are imprinted early in life in the family environment. It determines how we relate in adult life to emotional experiences and the automatic reactions we have to life events.
While we have little control over our early external environment and family dynamics, we can learn to cultivate a strong and supportive “inner family” for ourselves. The planets representing our Inner Mother, Inner Father, and Inner Child in our natal horoscope provide important clues as to what we personally need, but may have been lacking, early in life. We develop self-sufficiency outside of family influence by looking to the sign and placement of the Moon for information about what our Inner Child needs from its Inner Mother. The sign and placement of Saturn delineates the kind of Inner Father that fosters self-reliance, maturity and wisdom for us through life experiences.
The Moon as our Inner Mother
The Moon in astrology represents the female principle, the receptive yin force. The Moon reflects the light of the Sun as a cool, tranquil light. It is internal and imaginative, instinctive and responsive. So, too is our inner emotional self, which is reflective of and responsive to our outer, conscious experiences in the world.
The Moon is the archetypal Mother. As a symbolic representation of the Divine Feminine, she is depicted in art, religion and mythology as the Mother with Child. She embodies the virtue of having reverence for all forms of life. She is the fertile goddess who gestates the seeds of new creativity in her cosmic womb, gives birth, and nurtures and protects that which she has created. She is related to the Hebrew Shekhinah, a feminine word meaning ‘dwelling’ or ‘settling’ of a divine spiritual presence in a place, where tranquility, peace and calm provides a connection to the Divine.
Ideally, the Moon in our horoscope represents our first, primal relationship with the feminine principles of gentleness, care, protection and nourishment. It symbolizes what we needed from our mother, or early nurturing parental figure, who provided our first glimmer of understanding of primal female energy. Because we live in an imperfect world with less than ideal parenting conditions and experiences, we compensate for what we lacked by developing habits for physical and emotional survival early on. These result in insecurity and a perpetual lack of inner satisfaction when carried forward into adult life.
The Moon as our Inner Child
In astrology the Moon also represents our Inner Child, an early pre-verbal emotionally driven part of ourselves that responds automatically to life experiences. Our Inner Child represents a time of our life when we were very vulnerable and impressionable. Emotionally charged events we experienced, such as difficult changes, separation or trauma, left subliminal imprints in our psyche. Our Inner Child contains all our unresolved issues, anxieties and injuries from our early years. They operate on a subconscious level and continue to influence us later on in life. They manifest as patterns of unconscious reactivity, habitual patterns and conditioned responses, that are expressed automatically, before we have time to think. They are instinctual and reflexive reactions that originate in the past.
Our Inner Child operates in us without our conscious awareness until we take steps to recognize and acknowledge it. If we tend to repress our emotions, ignore them, judge them or explain them away, our Inner Child is also suppressed. The Inner Child becomes a container for our unmet needs, unresolved problems and bottled up emotions. When not understood and left unchecked, the Inner Child acts out inappropriately and creates chaos for us by determining how we relate in adult life to emotional experiences and life events, and how well we adjust emotionally to changing situations.
Parenting our Inner Self
Human infants come into this world vulnerable, helpless, and dependent upon the care and protection of others. We experience physical separation and loss of connection during the birth process itself. Our parents or primary caretakers may imperfectly provide for our physical and emotional needs. Our spiritual need for unconditional love and acceptance for who we are as unique individuals may be denied. We may experience difficult and even traumatic challenges early in life. As we grow older we may adopt compensatory behaviors and conditioning that seemingly allow us to get along in life. However, we need to come into a greater understanding of how we can create a healthier and more secure foundation for ourselves that allows us to move out into the greater world, engaging with life more fully, truthfully and authentically.
Learning to parent our Inner Child out of love and respect is crucial for our emotional and spiritual health. Our wise, Inner Parents can establish healthy boundaries and routines that protect and nourish our Inner Child. Through parenting our Inner Child using the highest and best expressions of our Inner Mother-Moon and our Inner Father-Saturn in our natal horoscope we nurture our Inner Child. We can provide the unconditional love and acceptance the Inner Child craves, which heal old wounds and trauma. We can experience our emotions healthily by holding a safe space to simply feel them. We can then engage the intellect and make rational, conscious choices before taking action. When we embrace our Inner Child and wisely parent them we can experience the joy, spontaneity, innocence, wonder and creativity they bring to our life.
“But reason has no power against feeling, and feeling older than history is no light matter.”
– Charlotte Perkins Gilman