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The Personal Void-of-Course Moon Date Published: 4/26/2007 by John Townley

Bio: John Townley John Townley

Early in his astrological career, John Townley introduced the composite chart technique for analyzing relationships in his book The Composite Chart, and twenty years later wrote the definitive work on the subject, Composite Charts: The Astrology of Relationships. He has pioneered techniques for astrological cycle analysis and proposed a new, physical basis for astrology. He is also the author of Planets in Love, Dynamic Astrology, and Lunar Returns, has been the president of the Astrologers' Guild of America, was the editor of The Astrological Review, and is a contributor to professional and popular astrological magazines. His books have been translated into seven languages.

John is also a well-known journalist, elected member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, historian, preservationist, performer, and record producer. He can be regularly found, camera and microphone in hand, covering cultural and technology events ranging from the Consumer Electronics Show to the Toy Fair, from international music festivals to ocean sailing races. When he's not behind the camera and microphone, he's in front of them, performing at maritime concerts in the U.S. and across Europe.

He's written for:

The Mountain Astrologer	Dell Horoscope
Considerations	Fortean Studies
Streaming Media Magazine	The Warsaw Voice
Flying Your Way	Sexology Today
Sail	Boating
Sea History	The Mariners' Museum Journal
Northern Mariner	Sea Heritage News
South Street Seaport Reporter	Digital Cinema
Surround Professional	Recording Media
EQ Magazine	ProSound News
eDigitalPhoto Magazine	The Toy Fair Times
World Of English	Intelligent Transportation Systems Daily
Firefighters' Quarterly	The Rappahannock Record

He's been featured on:
the BBC, CBC, PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNET and Granada radio & TV, Polish National Radio/TV, Voice of America, Armed Forces Radio, and cable TV.

As many know, there is a period of time every couple of days when the transiting Moon has made its last aspect to another body in the sky before changing signs which is described as a Void-of-Course Moon period. It can last from a few minutes to over a day, depending how late in signs the planets are at the time. Because the Moon at this time doesn't really have its "feet on the ground," it is generally considered a period unfavorable for tangible decisions that require solid support, but an excellent time for insight, relaxation, and reaching outside of confining boundaries. Ptolemy swore by it, nearly two millennia ago, and so do most astrologers to this day.

It’s generally considered a bad time to make purchases, sign contracts, start major new ventures — anything that you need to rely on down the line. Ordinary daily routine is OK, just not big moves, as outcome is often wild and unpredictable. Events already in operation at the time it begins often suddenly lose their footing and destabilize.

On the other hand, it’s a great time to relax, party, get creative, and generally float free — when what you want is the wild and unpredictable, a break from ordinary and sometimes confining stability.

This sounds like transits talking here, but it’s not. This is natal astrology — in its electional form — at its best. The ultimate reasoning behind the VOC Moon is that everything you do has a birth chart — whether it’s a purchase, a contract you sign, a personal commitment — and if the Moon of that chart progresses into another sign without making an aspect while in its original sign, it just isn’t sufficiently in touch with itself to hold its ground. It sags and shifts, somehow out of touch with its own lunar sign placement and favoring the next, like it’s lacking a leg or some other important piece of structure to hold it together in its infancy, so to speak. Something is missing in the very foundation of whatever is begun in that VOC period, which makes its subsequent evolution unpredictable. Of course, when predictability is just what you don’t want — like when you’d really like to be spontaneous, be surprised — the VOC is just where you want to be. You want your platform to collapse under you so you can feel the adventure of free fall. In fact, those born with a VOC Moon have a bit of that free fall about them all their lives, reinventing themselves constantly as a result — examples include Ted Turner and Winston Churchill.

Transits, however, are another thing. When the Moon and other bodies make aspects to your natal chart, it’s like the ticking of your own, inner cyclical clock, driving the pace of your day. As the Moon passes through each sign, it makes aspects to planets in your chart in the degree order they occur, from early in signs to late — tick, tick, tick. This creates another approach to the VOC phenomenon that isn’t so well-known, and that might be called the Personal Void-of-Course Moon. If you have natal planets late in one or more signs, an ordinarily Void-of-Course Moon may still be making aspects to your chart, allowing you a special exception from the rule and giving you a driving advantage at this time. It may not be a great time to make solid decisions in general, but you’re still in gear and making clear steps ahead, after others have gone adrift. Conversely, if your planets are mostly early in signs, then for you the Moon goes personally Void-of-Course sooner than for the rest of the world, allowing you to check out, get creative, and party early, while others are still in a more mundane frame of mind. So, every couple of days when the Moon gets late in its sign, watch when it makes its last aspect to your chart, then see what rest of its transit through that sign is like for you.

Try it out, get the feel of it — you may see that it gives you a special edge over those who may be watching the ordinary Void-of-Course period alone. A tip of the hat to the great Al H. Morrison, who popularized the VOC Moon among modern astrologers, for privately suggesting this additional approach many years ago...

And, if you don’t feel like calculating it in your head every day, the Personal Void-of-Course Moon is included in Matrix Software's Day Watch calendar program and Lunar Return report as well.

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