he Lunar Occultation of Pluto in 2012-2013by Robert WilkinsonTheres a lot of buzz going on about the Moon supposedly occulting Pluto numerous times throughout 2012 into 2013. Is this actually happening, what does it mean, and if it is happening, what will be its effects?First, an occultation of a planet is a fairly common occurrence. Technically, its the eclipse of a star or planet by another heavenly body. That means any time another body gets between the Earth and a planet or star that planet or star is occulted. So it would work the same way an Eclipse works. There are countless occultations that occur each year involving a large number of celestial bodies.Second, we had Pluto occultations in 2011 involving a high magnitude star which allowed astronomers to view Pluto and get information from the event about the planet. In March 2012 Pluto is occulted by its satellite NIX, and both Pluto and Charon (its satellite) will be occulted by the same star in July and September. So Pluto occultations are fairly common. The trick is to figure out what an occultation of Pluto means, if anything.Third, this is a Pluto occultation by the Moon. That would imply it involves the Moon blocking some of Plutos energies so we cant see them. But we cant see Pluto with the naked eye anyway! So something we cannot see is being partially blocked by our Earths Moon, shutting down something so that other Plutonic energies can be seen. As Pluto is one of the three outer invisibles, you can assume that it works invisibly, or not evidently to our usual senses.At this point, Ill go to an outside reference. I looked up quite a few websites using search terms for Lunar occultation of Pluto, Moon occulting Pluto, Pluto occulted by the Moon, and so forth. I found only two astrological sites referencing this phenomenon, and both quoted the Uranus square Pluto statement made in The Mountain Astrologer, which did NOT reference any Lunar occultation of Pluto.It seems the primary source for this information is an astrological article linking it to the Mayan Calendar and the alleged December 2012 galactic alignment, which incidentally does not happen then, regardless of rumors to the contrary, at least not from an astronomical standpoint. However, the article does throw a lot of historical events into the proverbial mixing bowl and comes up with some glamorous pronouncements. As you know, I believe that just about everything being stated about the December 2012 galactic alignment and the Mayan Calendar is like perfume you can smell it, but you should not swallow it!As much as I have a hard time with the supercilious narrow-mindedness of most astronomers when it comes to astrology, I found one astronomical source that addresses the claims of that article. The quoted material of the first line is what the astrologer stated about the occultations. The second line through the end was the astronomer's response. For your consideration, heres the statement and the response:

March 16th 2012, A lunar occultation of Pluto occurs today. This is the first anywhere on Earth since January 19th 1935. They will occur every month now from today up to [sic] August 17th 2013.

Now is as good a time as any to point out that Im just copying and pasting from Ms. _______s website. Anyway, I looked into this. Im not sure what software shes using, but I was using Starry Night Pro. I started out in my default location of Boulder, CO (USA) and didnt see any occultation. I then went to France, Iran, a few places in Russia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the UK, Benin, Egypt, Venezuela, China, Australia, Chile the closest I saw any approach was about 15 of Pluto to the moon. That means it misses it about a quarter of a lunar diameter, and that was from the Falkland Islands. Finally I tried the south pole, and Pluto gets within 6 of the moon (0.1). Close, but no cigar.As far as I can tell, this claim is simply false, unless someone can give me a different location where this happens. (Again, I did this via simulation in Starry Night Pro.)Now, whats cool is that after March, the occultations do actually start to take place as seen from Earth, about every 27 days or so after that. Those of us at my latitude in Boulder, CO wont be able to see this until January 10, 2013, at about 6:30 PM, though at that time theyll be about 11 away from the sun. And, the occultations will stop around the August 2013 timeframe for those of us in the higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere.And then this did occur back in January 19, 1935, again from the South Pole, and it just missed occulting Pluto on February 15, 1935.So while this claim is partly/mostly correct, Im not sure what the significance is supposed to be. Its not like it happens on December 21, 2012.

So it would seem that: A) While there are numerous occultations of Pluto in the coming months, there is not one in March; B) They wont be seen from very many places on Earth; and C) It has nothing to do with the Mayan Calendar, December 2012, or much of anything else. So please dont change your work or play schedule simply because Pluto is being occulted or someone claims that 11:11 sometime in December marks something important. It doesnt.(As for other Mayan Prophesy nonsense being thrown around the internet, please reference several article in my archives about the subject. Its NOT what most are claiming, as I found out from true experts on the subject who are Mayan.)Finally, I will note that there are many Lunar occultations of planets this year. Jupiter is occulted every month from June on, and we also have occultations of Mercury, Venus, and Mars, as well as some very bright stars. So its NOT a rare event. In astrology, when the Moon occults a planet its nothing more or less than a conjunction.The Moon conjuncts Pluto (and every other planet) each month. Again, its nothing to worry about, and merely indicates that as a result of a celestial alignment, something is being obscured so that we can see other things in the field while that planet is obscured, and/or eventually see other manifestations of the occulted planet come forth. And of course, the Moon puts the focus wherever it is, so pay attention each time it conjuncts any celestial body, since it focuses the nature of those energies.This year, when the Moon conjuncts Pluto, it will also square Uranus just before the conjunction. So each time the Moon occults Pluto it triggers the Uranus square Pluto effect. That will be positive or negative, depending on our inner relationship to those spiritual indicators.It will throw the voids into Cancer and Libra, showing the qualities we need to demonstrate to bring balance to whatever situation presents itself during the time those aspects are at work. And of course, these conjunctions and squares will most impact those with planets or sensitive points between 5-13 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, while bringing gifts and special/unique circumstances to those with planets or points around 19-23 Pisces, 19-23 Gemini, 25-29 Libra, and 25-29 Capricorn.Anyway, thats what I found regarding the Moon occulting Pluto and all the other planets. If you know something that can constructively contribute to this subject, please feel free to comment. Otherwise, dont sweat the times the Moon occults Pluto. Its just a conjunction.Copyright 2012 Robert WilkinsonSIGNATURE

THE VOID OF COURSE MOON

Anyone reading who is seriously interested in living their life according to divine timing and planetary cycles needs to know about the Void of Course Moon (VOC). Not only can knowledge of these lunar phases save you money and time, they can also help you to see that, as was stated in the Bible;

'There is a time for everything under the heavens'.

THE VOID OF COURSE MOONThe Moon is a barren place, basically it is a satellite rock of the Earth, the Yin to our pulsating, energetic, living Yang. The Moon has no light of its own but receives the reflected light of the Sun. Therefore the Moon is said to be reflective or passive. On a day to day basis, the Moon has been noted by astrologers to impart its nature according to the planet whose sign it occupies. This is further modified by the planet it is, or next, makes angular contact with. Thus, if the Moon is in the imperious, regal, theatrical sign of Leo and making its next aspect to Mars, empirical observations show us that one can expect that period to be dramatically emotional.

This is an assertion arrived at by the observation of planetary correspondences and practical experience. The Moon, because of its pull on the tides and all other bodies of water, has correspondence to our emotional moods. When placed in the exuberant, dramatic sign of Leo

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vKrK_qi6klI/R0wJ4WmEW6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/OgnLG5dEwQ0/s1600-h/voc.gifhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vKrK_qi6klI/R0wJ4WmEW6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/OgnLG5dEwQ0/s1600-h/voc.gif

and aspecting Mars, the planet of a passion and energy, we can expect events of a specific nature. What are these? There are multifarious manifestations but lets just say that as sure as 2+2=4, the Moon in Leo plus Mars will equal emotional situations one cannot ignore.

It is what happens when the Moon is in a sign but makes no further aspect to any other planet before changing signs, that skywatchers have noted coincides with a period of instability. It is as if the Moon, with nothing to resonate with, loses its identity and becomes a lonely wanderer. In ancient times as the Moon travelled through a sign, aspecting various other heavenly bodies, they spoke of the Moon in her course - which is where the term intercourse is derived from, meaning an interlude of lovemaking (or reproduction) within the lunar cycle. It is also associated with the menstrual period being known as the Curse from the root; Cours. When the Moon makes no further aspect before switching signs she is known as VOID OF HER COURSE, more commonly referred to as Void of Course or VOC.

It is this period that is of the greatest importance when living your life in natural resonance with the Cosmos and what you should know is that whenever the Moon is VOC, nothing that you set out to achieve will come to pass in quite the way you expect it to. On the majority of occasions nothing will come of it at all. This rule applies across the whole range of human experience from the banal and mundane right through to the most important.

For instance, no astrologer would ever advise anyone to get married under a VOC Moon. Likewise starting any venture under the VOC Moon would be foolhardy. Launching a new product or business under a VOC Moon could potentially be financial suicide. Putting in an offer on a property or accepting a deal would be fraught with problems. It is obviously impossible for me to list all the possible scenarios that one could find themselves in so, I must concentrate on ensuring that the fundamental meaning is thoroughly understood. So, to reiterate, the Moon is said to be in an unstable phase when it is not aspecting any other planet before leaving its sign.

The correlation is therefore and this has been proved to work time and time again that the outcome will be wayward. For example, if you set out to call someone when the moon is VOC either they probably will not be in. If they are, you may arrange or agree something that WILL NOT COME TO PASS either at all, or as originally intended. Personally, I note that if I disregard the VOC rule and perhaps make an arrangement unwittingly, the person will cancel, or I have to cancel, or the arrangement is altered, someone is late or gets lost, etc. etc. If the appointment goes ahead the result is never as intended. Haircuts may need to be done again or are just not what you wanted, even with your regular stylist. Clothes purchased wont be used or not for the purpose intended.

This week I took some clothes into the dry cleaners, I knew the Moon was VOC but I decided to see what would happen for the purposes of this article. When I went to collect the clothes at the date and time on the ticket, the shop was shut. When I returned the next day, they said they had been forced to close due to illness in the family and they had no one to cover for the counter. Nothing came of that ticket. Now heres the important distinction, something did come of it, my clothes were drycleaned but I didnt get them back as I thought I would when I left the shop in that VOC period.

On other occasions when I have inadvertently handed in clothes to cleaners within a VOC when I have thought I needed the item back by a certain date in order to wear the dress, or whatever, only to discover that the event has been cancelled. Sometimes I had simply changed my mind about what to wear. On other occasions I have arrived back to find that the item is not dry cleanable and they hand it back to me. I brought a pair of Jeans on a VOC they were great until the zip lost a tooth just 3 weeks later. I couldn't return them and the replacement zip was not cheap.

Against my advice a friend purchased a car under a VOC Moon. Unsurprisingly it has proved to be nothing but problematic; it wasnt delivered on time; within a month someone had rear ended it and the repairs took weeks longer than expected. Months later this friend lost her driving licence for six months due to speeding and couldnt drive it at all! Although it sounds very pessimistic, I know the power of a VOC Moon and I have no doubt there are a whole host of other problems lying in wait with that car.

DONT LAUNCH A BUSINESS at this time. A company that launches a product under the VOC Moon could find that the item just doesnt sell or it encounters problems of an unforeseen nature. I have to say though that there also exists the possibility that the product will become

wayward in another fashion, perhaps it will sell phenomenally well against all expectations. This might not seem like a problem and indeed could even be seen as a reason to launch under a VOC Moon but I urge extreme caution. The end result would possibly be that demand outstrips supply, the company ends up with a terrible reputation and long term, nothing (or no good) comes out of it.

What about a marriage that unwittingly occurred under a VOC Moon. Well I am sure there are any number of couples who could regale us with stories of woe and anxious moments associated with their wedding. However with VOC ones we would probably hear how guests were delayed, flowers went astray, cars were in the wrong places, honeymoon tickets lost and so on. I havent done any research into whether more people are jilted at the altar under the VOC Moon but commonsense tells me that the majority go ahead, despite hiccups and dire warnings that nothing will come of it. The problem being that although the VOC may not produce any immediate effects, once officially married the fact that they were joined together under this aspect sets the tone for the entire marriage.

Sadly many will fail but, with a near enough 50/50 divorce rate nowadays that may not be entirely the fault of picking an inauspicious time for the wedding. What will be certain is that the marriage will not live up to the expectations of one, or both, parties and will follow its own unique course.

Is there any good that can come from VOC Moon? Well, if ever you want information to remain buried or not really go anywhere, make sure it comes out during one of the VOC moon periods. If you want someone who has broken up with you to change their mind, see if the 'Goodbye' occurred on a VOC. If you are worrying about the outcome of something that happened whilst the Moon was void of course be sure that it will not transpire as you thought, but be reassured that negative events seem to happen in direct proportion ot the negativity of the person and their expectations of them - so remain positive. In many cases this can bring a welcome twist. Using the VOC knowledge in this way can therefore be empowering.

The best activities to undertake during the VOC moon are said to be anything that is considered passive or restorative such as spiritual non-material concerns; prayer, yoga, play, psychotherapy, rest, sleep or meditation. Personally I have always found parties, especially kids parties, to be magical during VOC moons - but if you are a control freak beware, you may find it stressful if your party entertainer is late or the kids are wilder than normal!

By now I can sense that you will be keen to know when these VOC moon periods occur. Unfortunately, because of the periodicity of the Lunar cycle the times vary from day to day, week to week, year to year you will need to buy a calendar or diary that lists them for your time zone. Here is a site for Lunar planners in the UK and they mail to the US.

Here as an example a list of the timing for the VOC Moon (all in GMT) for the month of December 2007:

All times GMT03 Dec 2007 at 02.13 Moon enters Libra on 3 Dec at 06.0205 Dec 2007 at 14:49 Moon enters Scorpio on 5 Dec 2007 at 18:3207 Dec 2007 at 10:18 Moon enters Sagittarius on 8 Dec 2007 at 07:1210 Dec 2007 at 15:37 Moon enters Capricorn on 10 Dec 2007 at 18:5211 Dec 2007 at 23:58 Moon enters Aquarius on 13 Dec 2007 at 05:0215 Dec 2007 at 11:52 Moon enters Pisces on 15 Dec 2007 at 13:1617 Dec 2007 at 18:28 Moon enters Aries on 17 Dec 2007 at 18:5419 Dec 2007 at 19:34 Moon enters Taurus on 19 Dec 2007 at 21:3921 Dec 2007 at 06:07 Moon enters Gemini on 21 Dec 2007 at 21:1523 Dec 2007 at 20:26 Moon enters Cancer on 23 Dec 2007 at 22:1925 Dec 2007 at 13:18 Moon enters Leo on 25 Dec 2007 at 23:5328 Dec 2007 at 02:55 Moon enters Virgo on 28 Dec 2007 at 04:4530 Dec 2007 at 13:09 Moon enters Libra on 30 Dec 2007 at 13:38

So, for example we can see here that if you are out Christmas shopping don't buy gifts when the Moon is VOC as the person will either return the gift, won't like it or it may develop a fault of some kind. It may be that the shop simply won't have what you set out to buy, or at least not in the size or colour you are looking for. So on the 15th don't shop between 11.52 and 13.16, sit down and have a cup of coffee and lunch instead.

http://www.astrocal.co.uk/shop/kc.aspx

There is no VOC time on 24th December but on Xmas day in the UK (GMT timezones) if you put the Turkey on it's probably best to have it all served up by 13:18!

Once you incorporate VOC's into your life, you'll find yourself more attuned to a natural flow and rhythm that will save you time, energy and possibly some money and heartache too. It will however, give you a new found respect for the Moon and her cycle

arlier on in this newsletter series we went to a great deal oftrouble to describe the disruptive effects of retrograde planets onour daily lives. As if watching out for these annual andsemi-annual type negative astrological occurrences is not enough,there is another astrological disruption that we have to watch forand it occurs every two and half days. It is known as the void ofcourse moon.

The term VOID OF COURSE refers to the state of the Moon when it isbetween signs. You could describe it as a purgatory that occurswhen the moon is out of phase. This moment lasts from when the moonmoves from its last major planetary aspect in its current Zodiacsign and then moves into the next major planetary aspect in thenext sign. When you are reading planetary calendars you will oftensee void-of-course annotated as VC or VOC.

Even though a void of course moon is not in theory an upsettinginfluence, it can be anyway. The entire event refers to a

time inthe moon's journey when it does not make any aspects to anyplanets. The theory is that if the moon is unable to make anyplanetary aspects then no events can occur. Also, in theory, thismeans that nothing much can happen while the moon is transitingfrom one major aspect in one sign to another major aspect inanother. If the moon is not making any aspects, then there willnot be a lot happening in your life either.

Still it is obvious that the moon void of course must have somekind of effect. The nature of the sign it is moving out of versusthe one it is moving into can also reveal a lot about the type ofevents that we can expect. For example when the void of course moonis moving from ambitious Gemini to the emotional sign of Cancer wecan likely expect progress to be blocked by emotional events.

Perhaps the scariest and most perturbing thing about the void ofcourse moon, or why people tend to want to do as little as possiblewhile it is happening is that it does seem to have an unpredictable

effect both on real life events and on psychological matters.Depending what sign it is moving from and what sign it is movinginto the effect of a void of course moon can be inconsistency,indecision, unreliability, delays, break downs, stalemates and thesudden disappearance of opportunity. This period of time can be abit of a black hole in which answers seem to disappear entirely andall we are left with is strange questions.

There is one thing that the void of course moons is good for andthat is for meditation, manifestation magic and finding solutionsto problems. The reason that some astrologers believe this is thatthe void of course moons is a form of emptiness. It is a time whenno aspects occur which is the ideal space psychologically formwhich a human being might be able to get some peace from the everyday events that usual confuse and batter him with information. Fromthis stillness springs the wisdom to know what to do next, so someastrologers will say that the void of course moon is a good time tomarinate your ideas by brooding about them or pursue a path ofcreativity or healing.

However the majority of astrologers do see a void of course moon asa time to lie low. Like the Mercury retrogrades, the void of coursemoon period that happens to us every two and a half days is notnecessarily seen as a blessing, but rather as a time to avoidtaking action. Perhaps the most beneficial way to make use of avoid of course period is to use it to wrap up details, take a breakfrom your usual activities, reading, relaxing, exercise, doinghousework and performing chores that do not require much thought orconcentration such as housework.

In essence, a void of course moon is most unfavorable foractivities that require a great deal of attention to detail,anything to do with communication including pitching proposals andconfessions of love, anything to do with electronic messaging suchas faxes and emails, getting married, going out on a first date,beginning a business, launching a lawsuit, making an importantannouncement, signing on the dotted line or buying any type of bigpurchase such as a car or a property. A void of course moon is notabout "making it happen"; it is more about taking the time to chillfor a bit.

Although the void of course moon does favor spirituality in thesense that it symbolizes a kind of stillness, it does not favorreadings by psychics, tarot readings or any other kind of divination.

The reason that these void of course moon periods take every twoand a half days is because that is the average amount of time thatit takes for the moon to pass through the sign. The shortest amountof time that a moon can be void of course is just a few minutes. The most difficult void of course moon periods last the entire twoand a half days. This, of course, happens when there is noopportunity for the moon to make any major aspects as it moves fromits current astrological sign into the next.

These periods occur every two days and a half, which is the averagetime of the Moon's passing through a sign. They last usually acouple of hours, the range being from a few minutes to even theentire two days and a half period, when the Moon makes no majoraspects to other planets from its current astrological sign.

Your best course of action during a void of course moon is

to takeit easy. There are all kinds of void of course moon calendars thatyou can access online so you can see when is the best time to takeaction and when to rest.

In the next edition of this newsletter we will take a look of thekinds of effects that can occur as the moon moves from oneastrological sign into another.

Peace and light, Blair123-Astrology.com

PO Box 35-082, Shirley, ChriMany astrology enthusiasts become overly concerned with void-of-course, without realizing potent lunar aspects are often operative during a traditional void-of-course period. So, what is really meant by void-of-course Moon? Traditionally, the Moon is void-of-course from its last major aspect before changing signs until its next ingress (change of zodiacal sign). Void-of-course periods last from a few minutes up to two days. But what is a major aspect? Traditionally, the major, or Ptolemaic, aspects are those based on the division of the circle by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6: the conjunction, opposition, trine, square and sextile. The problem is, there are lots more aspects than just these few, and this short set excludes the potent and dynamic octile and trioctile aspects of 45 degrees and 135 degrees. The sidebar below (using an example taken from KhaldeaCalendar for June 2003, Pacific Time Zone edition) shows that a traditional void-of-course period can be full of lunar activity. It has only been over the past few decades that modern astrologers en mass have taken much interest in void-of-course Moon. Other than for horary work, void-of-course didn't become widely known and ultized in the astrological community until the early 1970s, and during the mid-1970s makers of astrological calendars and ephemerides incorporated Moon void-of-course periods into their editions. Void-of-course Moon soon became a new-age catch-phrase, vaguely meaning, Dont do anything important because nothing will happen or work-out well.

Trouble is, constantly watching-out for Moon void-of-course tends to fragment the rhythm and continuity of our activities. As discussed in Lunation Planning, it is fruitful and effective to use the ordered and meaningful 29.5-day Lunation Cycle to plan and organize our activities, projects and enterprises. Within the larger frame of reference of the Lunation Cycle, daily aspects illustrate the day-to-day scene with its minor stresses and enjoyments, its small advances and delays. One of the most unproductive practices of astrology is that of merely scanning an astrological calendar to see if the Moon is void-of-course, or if Mercury is retrograde, before doing something. Void-of-course true believers will even actively manipulate situations and avoid meetings during void-of-course periods, never thinking their evasive, avoidant behavior may be self-defeating if others dislike being put-off and manipulated. More importantly, because important octile aspects can occur during a traditional void-of-course period, failure to act at a crucial time when dynamic activity (symbolized by octile aspects) is appropriate and needed could jeopardize the fruit of a whole cycle of endeavor.

So, whats special about octiles? Octiles semisquares and sesquiquadrates are no more special than other aspects. The significant thing of concern here is that there are no logical grounds to disqualify octiles when determining void-of-course periods. Blind adherence to tradition and ignorance are the two main reasons they have been disregarded. A rationalization arguing that octiles dont make things happen would be groundless. Anyone involved with physics, engineering, kinetics, electromagnetism, athletics and the martial arts knows the importance of the 45 degree angle. Significantly, projectile motion-kinematic equations show that the 45 degree angle is optimal for the projection of a ball, an arrow, or any projectile. That is, a 45 degree angle maximizes the range of your shot. An angle more or less that 45 degrees would not go as far. It naturally

follows that from an astrological perspective, octiles would be an optimal time for taking well-organized, focused action. In conclusion, while the reintroduction of "void-of-course" into modern astrology was largely the work of a single diligent researcher/promoter, the widespread exploitation of "void-of-course" is characteristic of a marketplace astrology designed to at once create demand for the services of astrologers by instilling fear into a susceptible public and to enhance the astrologer's sense of self-worth and importance. The intellectual depravity of the current use of "void-of-course" is shown no where better than in its exclusive use of the Ptolemaic set of aspects. Any intellectually honest astrologer who hasn't fallen victim to pseudo-scientific thinking and self-validating, selective "observations" would be hard pressed to see any validity or logic in excluding octiles from a determination of "void-of-course" periods. Indeed, the only grounds for their exclusion is a blind, unquestioning acceptance of so-called tradition, a mentality sadly typical of astrological practice today.