Can Astrology Make You A Better Mother?

Gustav Klimt's Mother and Baby

A friend's child has a Moon-Pluto conjunction in the 8th House. Unfortunately, she's an astrologer so she knows just how badly that reflects on her. Obviously, she must be a possessive vampire mother who devours her children and uses their bones to pick her teeth. 

Another friend of mine has one child with a 12th house Moon - and another with a flaky Moon-Neptune conjunction. So she must be helplessly and hopelessly childlike and at the same time emotionally distant.

Looking at your child's chart can really give you some sleepless nights, because there you are, a  little crescent in someone else's psyche. Sometimes you can see yourself quite clearly through your child's eyes and, well, it can be uncomfortablle.

But...



I can tell you that seeing myself in my children's natal charts has been one of the most useful exercises in self-discovery for me. And since I have two children, I can see where their attitude to me is the same and where they differ, which parts of me they may inherit and which they may reject. For example, one child has Moon in Cancer (soft, loving, feminine, emotional) and one has Moon in Aquarius (fair, intellectual, quirky, masculine). Those are quite different moons and yet I see mysefl in both.

Mary Cassatt's Mother and Baby

Mother is written more clearly than any other person in someone's chart. Mother is the Moon certainly and consistently. Wherever she falls in your child's chart, there are you.

And my friends with the difficult placements. Actually, Q's relationship with her child is intense and passionate, but profound. I had someone come see me last week with exactly that Moon-Pluto conjunction and she described her relationship with her mother as "excellent" and very "nurturing". That's not something you hear very often, but, if you think.about it a Moon-Pluto in the 8th could mean an amazingly deep emotional connection. Surely that's no bad thing to have with your mother.

And what about that 12th house Moon? Well, it describes a mother with a stellium in Pisces pretty well I think. That's my friend.

On the other hand, I talked to a couple of people  (also last week) with exactly that placement whose mothers were textbook 12 housers - distant, depressed and disinterested. A lot does depend on the other planets, but also on the wider situation. That's why it's so important to have a dialogue when you're looking at someone's chart.

My point is this. Your child may have a seemingly badly placed Moon; it's up to you to figure out how to use that energy well. And you do that by knowing yourself.