The Prenatal Lunation

The topic for this article comes at the request of one of our readers. (Thank you Lucas, for your suggestion!) The prenatal lunation (henceforth PNL) is not a point that I routinely include in my client work. This is not because it’s not an important point. Initially, it was because my experiences with this material in the texts didn’t really result in any clarity around what it actually means. To be fair, the traditional texts are great at describing the mechanics and usage of the technique, but are a bit lacking when it comes to a theoretical understanding. Robert Schmidt’s work provided for me, the best attempt at a theoretical framing for the PNL. Maybe I’m just a slow learner, but after reading and studying everything I could, I still found it difficult to clearly apply the PNL in a practical manner in my readings. This changed after I began to clarify my understanding of Light in general, and the luminaries in particular. Nowadays, I don’t find I need to include the PNL in my readings unless it happens to coincide with an eclipse or when it’s located at an angle. But before getting into my current understanding of this point, let me briefly summarize what the PNL is and what the tradition has to say about its mechanics and usage.

The Mechanics

A syzygy is any configuration where objects in a gravitational system line up roughly on the same plane. In astrology, this typically involves the Moon and Sun in, either a conjunction or an opposition, as seen from the Earth.  The prenatal syzygy or “lunation”, occurs in either the exact degree of the New Moon (conjunction), or the Full Moon (opposition) before a person is born. Thus, the birth would occur at the latest, 2 weeks after the PNL.

There are two other concurrent factors that make a prenatal lunation stand out enough in the chart to make me take notice: angularity and eclipses. Angularity was also highlighted by the ancient authors in connection with the meaning of the PNL. This is when the pre-birth syzygy occurs in any of the 4 angles of the chart: roughly the 1^st, 4^th 7^th or 10^th houses. Hephaistio of Thebes notes two of these angles in particular:

For no small power occurs with the prenatal conjunction whenever

it chances to be upon a pivot, especially the Horoscopos and the Midheaven.              

[Apotelesmatics, Book II, Project Hindsight, p. 53]

The angles of the chart were called “pivots” in antiquity. And that is exactly the key to their meaning in a reading: they indicate planets that will become “pivotal” in the life. For this reason, we teach that pivotal planets have the capacity to “alter the direction of the life”.  Visualize yourself walking along a huge circular trajectory, as in a chart. If you are walking from the Ascendant point toward the IC, you’ll be walking in a northerly direction. By the time you arrive at the IC, you’ll be at the most northern place in that circle. Here, your direction “pivots” such that if you continue along that same circle toward the Descendant, you’ll now be walking more westerly than northerly. Your direction will have changed whether you made that choice consciously or not! This happens at every cardinal angle. But it doesn't happen at other points in the circle. That's the difference. Planets (or points) at angles are not “stronger” or “better”. They are more life-altering than those that are not at the angles. The same goes for the prenatal lunation itself, whose meaning we have yet to examine…

The other factor that makes me take notice of the prenatal lunation are eclipses. If a native has the Sun or Moon near either of the Lunar Nodes, it’s likely that the last syzygy before the birth, was also a lunar or solar eclipse. An eclipse is an unexpected darkening of the light. For most of history, it was noteworthy precisely because it was unexpected. (See our presentation on eclipses for more on how to work with them.) When a prenatal lunation (which normally brings two light-giving forces together) encounters an expected darkening, the meaning is similar. It signifies a loss of energy, vitality or life – not necessarily to the native physically – but to whatever topic belongs in the house where it occurs. Which luminary is being eclipsed makes a difference. When the Moon is eclipsed by the Earth, the inner world or interpersonal life is darkened. But when the Sun is eclipsed, the ego and some aspect of the external life that it has built, is darkened.

How it was Used

The PNL was important to the Hellenistic authors and some of them refer to its use. But it isn’t always clear what the point signifies in and of itself. 

Social Standing, Eminence or Fortune? 

Vettius Valens first mentions the PNL in connection with Eminence, which Schmidt translated as “estimable and notable nativities”. He says in Chapter 23 of Bk II of The Anthology:

If the Zoidion [i.e. the sign] of the conjunction or Whole Moon, or the lords of these should happen to be marking the hour or culminating, the offspring will be fortunate. And if the Sun or the Moon or most of the stars should be found in the subterraneous place, they will become notable and wealthy, but they will ruin their lives or they will be upset with jealousies and accusations and scandals.

The chapter in which this brief reference is found is entitled: “Concerning Estimable and Notable Nativities, and with the Same considerations, Concerning Disreputable Nativities and Those that come to Naught.” Valens then precedes to discuss, not the PNL itself, but other aspect arcs involving the luminaries, such as the Lots of Spirit and Fortune. If we actually closely read the above excerpt, we have to ask whether the notable nativity is indicated by the PNL itself, or by its placement at the rising and culminating pivots. It seems to be the case that if the PNL is in the subterraneous pivot (that is, the IC house), which is considered a place of darkness, the lunation point is apparanetly overcome by that place and the life rendered unfortunate after a period of initial notability and/or wealth. So one is left to wonder whether the notability is given by the specific placement and not what’s in it.

This is what appears to be the case in Michel Gauelin’s studies on professional eminence. Gauquelin linked the professions of eminent individuals with other planets at the angles of the chart, particularly the rising and culminating sectors, much like the ancient authors, although there is some disagreement about the full sector of space involved near the angles. (But that’s a matter for a different discussion and we do cover this in GR 8 of our Syntax Course and you can read more about Gauquelin's work here. ) But the  larger point is that it may not be the PNL that indicates “eminence” or “good fortune”, but rather the fact that the syzygy may have occurred at a pivotal angle. If a Sun/Moon syzygy in-and-of-itself signified eminence or good fortune, then we’d all be notable or eminent, since we all have one before birth. The idea of eminence or importance was probably tied to the Sun and Moon because the “luminaries” were signifiers of royalty in antiquity. But noteworthiness can be an outward reflection of Light that occurs in different ways in the chart. And for most of us living today, noteworthiness is not the one that matters or expresses most. (watch Light in Astrology, if you’re interested in this topic)                       

A Giver of Life?

Another clue about the nature of the PNL comes from its use as one of the candidates contributing to the longevity calculations of the Hyleg (Hyleg is an anglicized Arabic term; it was called the apheta in Greek). The hyleg, or "giver of life", is a critical point in a birth chart used to determine vitality and longevity. In Hellenistic texts, the rules for its calculation (translated as predomination in Schmidt’s work) are multi-factored and somewhat flexible, which made them hard for students to apply without a deeper understanding of the philosophy behind the mechanics. So for example, Hellenistic writers like Vettius Valens and Claudius Ptolemy would consider the Sun and the Moon as "predominators", if they happened to be in robust places (that is, not cadent). But if the luminaries were in cadent places, they’d have to consider other potential predominators, such the Ascendant, the Lot of Fortune, or the syzygy (New or Full Moon) just before birth, in order to determine which one was the best candidate. They used predomination, not only to determine longevity, but also to determine the Master of the Nativity (kurios), and the Ruler of the Nativity (oikodespotes). Medieval astrology later formalized and made the rules for the calculation of the Hyleg more unambiguous. Authors like Alchabitius, Sahl ibn Bishr, and Guido Bonatti—took Ptolemy's basic outline in the Tetrabiblos and turned it into strict, conditional flowcharts, thus eliminating the need for any knowledge of the theoretical framework that underscores its usage.

I won’t get into the full criteria that determined the predominator here. But I mention them to make the larger point that the PNL could be used in the first step to calculate longevity. However, it should be noted that the PNL was one of 3 points that could substitute for the preferred predominators: the Sun (for diurnal births) and the Moon (for nocturnal births), when tehse didn't qualify. The other two were: 1) the Part of Fortune, also constructed from aspect arcs of the Sun and Moon; and 2) the Ascendant, which is a symbol of the physical life, more generally. So what we have is a substitution of the luminaries by points that are constructed from the luminaries, plus the Ascendant, which has little to do with Light, but everything to do with the individual’s body and physical life. It seems then that the meaning of the PNL is abstract and flexible enough to answer different questions, depending upon which technical lens you filter it through. But unfortunately, looking at the PNL’s historical applications without a deeper understanding of how the luminaries actually function, doesn’t explain much about what it means.

A Bit of Neoplatonism

So how DID the Hellenistic era view the luminaries in philosophical terms? Heavily influenced by Stoic and Neoplatonic thought, Hellenistic astrologers believed the Sun represented the Spirit (Nous), and the Moon represented the physical body, growth and material fortune (Tyche). As such, any coming together of these two bodies would for an astrologer of that day, represent the coming together of Spirit and matter.

But if this were true, when we observe any New Moon, we'd expect something akin to the physical birth of something. However, when we actually observe any New Moon, we interpret it as the seeding of some new idea or endeavor, whether physical or incorporeal. In fact, I would argue that the Moon is not really a representation of the physical body or of matter (hule) at all. In our hylomorphically informed astrology, matter only enters into the picture when the Soul incarnates on Earth, at which point the houses (the topos) are involved. Philosophically, matter belongs to the Earth, that is, to “the sublunar world”, where eidos (ideas) are given a tangible shape.

If we really wanted to apply Neoplatonist thought to astrology, the Moon in the PNL would more accurately represent the vehicle or vessel that receives the light of Spirit before incarnation and therefore before the Soul enters into matter, much like the solar light is received and reflected by the Moon above the Earth. For Neoplatonists, “the Soul has another quasi-physical body or ochema, usually acquired during the prenatal ‘descent’ through the heavens. This becomes progressively heavier and more visible as it descends through the moist aer.” (Greek Philosophical terms p. 139) The ochema is translated as “a vehicle, chariot or the astral body” in Greek Philosophical Terms. As the Soul descends from the higher realities (the intelligible realm) down toward the physical universe, it passes through the planetary spheres. During this cosmic journey, it gathers layers of cosmic matter or pneuma (spirit/vapor). This process acts as a cosmological "gestation" where the Soul builds its vehicle before anchoring into a human fetus. Neoplatonists like Porphyry and Proclus maintained that the Ochema is the seat of the irrational soul, containing the faculties of imagination and sense-perception. I would add, the emotions. During physical gestation in the womb, the Soul projects the formal, life-giving seed into the maternal physical matter, shaping the growing embryo and allowing the physical organs to receive life.

The Moon can no more be a part of “the sublunar world” than the other planets. However, the Moon does reflect the greatest light of the Sun. So it translates the Spirit into matter through this astral body, having also collected (one of the verbs we ascribe to the Moon) the pneuma of the other planets in that descent. In the chart (which already includes the Earth), the Moon represents any vessel with the capacity to receive (which is its formal function), including, but not limited to physical vessels. But by itself, it's not a material vessel until it expresses through the Earthly plane. Robert Schmidt made this clear when he ascribed the receptive principle – not the material principle -- to the Moon. Because the Moon represents this principle, it therefore corresponds best with this vessel or ochema that the Neoplatonists referred to in prenatal human gestation.

Since the Ascendant is sometimes considered the last option in the candidacy for predomination, we should distinguish it from the Moon. In Hellenistic thought, the Ascendant (horoskopos) represents the exact moment of birth—that is, the physical body taking its first breath in the local environment. After Spirit has been received by the astral body, the Ascendant signals the point at which the Soul – now with its astral blueprint in place – enters into matter. In contrast, the Prenatal Syzygy signals the former event: that is, the reception of the Spirit by the seat of the Soul. They are not the same, although they are often confused. The Soul contains the combined Sprit already in its incarnating container: the astral body, or ochema. In contrast, the Ascendant indicates the Soul’s entrance location into its physical existence. Remember that the entity has no chart at the time of gestation. It has only the potential for a chart with most of the planetary “pneuma” in place. We can see this because most of the planets are more or less in their same placements after birth as they are during the PNL. At most, only 2 weeks can pass between the PNL and the birth.  By the time of the PNL, the coding for the life is already present in terms of its formal nature, but not yet its physical shape. That only comes after birth.

The Integrated Luminary Statement

This all sounds very abstract because it is. The PNL is eidos by nature. So it’s not meant to be practical or tangible without the Earth. But we can make it more tangible…

The reason I don’t tend to look at the PNL very often, is because I examine something similar that I call an “Integrated Luminary Statement” or Integrated Mission Statement (henceforth we’ll use ILS for short. This is covered in GR12 of the Syntax Course, and I also discuss it in this presentation on Light). The ILS is basically a life mission statement that involves an integrated reading of the Sun and Moon’s placements. It’s not the same as the Lots of Fortune or Spirit, since these are more specific to the individual luminaries that dominate the Lot and they follow point grammar, rather than planetary grammar. The ILS is basically the PNL, as it is most likely to manifest on the earthly plane. So the Moon’s placement will be different from the PNL. But that difference is the result of the Moon having progressed from that same lunation. Therefore, the ILS speaks directly to the physical unfolding of the PNL’s plan.

Like the PNL, the ILS assumes that the placements of the two luminaries contain the purpose of the Soul while on this particular journey. How they combine depends upon which luminary is dominant (diurnal or nocturnal) when the soul incarnates. So in the ILS, the Earth already shapes some of the options that the soul has for the creation of its mission. But the basic mission is given by that initial PNL lunation in its current chart location.

Another possible change comes from the progression of the Sun during those days between the PNL and birth. If the Sun was in middle degrees of a sign during the PNL, the birth chart is won't change the solar part of the mission. But if the Sun was at late degrees during the PNL, then the birth may have changed how the mission plays out from its original intent. These are interesting cases to study with clients. They imply that the soul was at an imperative stage of its growth, eager to move on to a different motivation after birth.

Here's the diagram and syntax that I use to explain this technique and the construction of the mission statement. The best way to explain this is to just see an example…

Let’s take John Lennon’s chart. (Yes, it's him again!😊) Here's his natal chart.

In a diurnal chart, the Sun dominates and defines the mission of the life. In that case, the Moon becomes the planet that supports the solar mission. However, Lennon was born at night, just after sunset. Therefore, his Moon dominates his life and its mission. Here, the Sun will support the mission and set up this process before the mission completes. When the Moon is the dominant luminary, something tangible and earthly must be nurtured and left behind in the world. This can be a person, a product, a book, a process, a religion, music, etc. If you look at the blue row in the diagram, the wave of motion of the Moon (shown by the arrow) is to receive from the outer world first. Imagine that to the left of the arrow is the individual and to the right of the arrow is the outer word. The Moon receives the solar light, which is inspirational, from the outer world and it then takes that light internally and develops it in the life until it’s ready to put it out into the external world as a developed product. This is shown by the nocturnal arrow beginning in the external (to the right), moving inward (to the left) and then curving back outward (back to the right). The reverse is true for the solar light.

Using the syntax provided in the last column (labeled Actions), we can construct a mission statement for Lennon. If you look under the Lunar row, we read the following general syntax:

By perceiving an idea in the mind,

One creates something in the world. 

This is a template for an integrated mission statement for all of the nocturnal charts. If you are born at night, you'd use this template. The underlined words are the objects of the luminary’s actions. They come from the houses where the luminaries reside. Lennon has the Sun in the 7^th sign of Libra. [I will use whole-sign houses to make it simple. But we can add the overlap given from Equal houses shortly to get more detail. They both work because houses are categorical.] Libra represents “a need to collaborate”. The sign need always applies to an object in the house where it resides, which is in the 7^th. This is where we find the partner. So that becomes the most obvious choice for an object. The solar light action is idea-based and inspirational. I chose to use the verb “to perceive” for the Sun’s action because it captures well what the solar light is doing in the combined soli-lunar interaction. Thus, “by perceiving a need to collaborate with a partner”,  becomes the idea that inspires Lennon to fulfill his mission – whether he knows it or not. This constitutes the solar part of the combined statement (the white sentence in the template).

We can now construct the lunar (blue) part to complete the mission statement. The Moon “nurtures and gathers” in order to create something tangible in the world. This “something” or lunar object, will come from the house where the Moon is posited.  His Moon is in the 11^th in Aquarius. Aquarius represents “a need for inclusion”. The 11^th shows groups of people who are bound to us by some common purpose or interest. So, Lennon “creates the inclusion of a group in the world.” We can turn the Aquarian “need for inclusion” into an already fulfilled condition because it states the mission in its completed state. And in fact, Lennon did indeed fulfill this mission before he died. If we add the Equal houses overlap to obtain more detail, the 6^th-7^th can become “a working partnership”, and the 10^th-11^th can become “an occupational group”. Thus, to summarize, Lennon’s integrated mission statement, we get:

To perceive a need to collaborate with a working partner,

Lennon creates the inclusion of an occupational group.

You can play around with other solar and lunar verbs. For example, the solar action always involves a choice, decision or selection. And when we read the Sun independently in the chart, these are the verbs we normally use: choose, select, decide about…  So we could also construct the statement: “deciding to collaborate with a working partner.” The verbs collect or gather are also typical actions of the Moon. And it was the case that the members of the Beatles were gathered together by Lennon. So we could also state the lunar part of the mission as “Lennon fulfills the need for inclusion by gathering together an occupational group.”

PNL or the ILS? 

Now that we have a more grounded understanding of the purpose of Lennon’s life, we can begin to draw some inferences about the PNL in his chart, which should lie very close to the Sun’s position. In Lennon's chart, the PNL was a New Moon, just a week before his birth, on October 1, 1940. It occurred at 08 degrees 10 minutes of Libra. You may have noticed that the North Node is also very close to the natal Sun. That clues us in to the fact that this New Moon might have been an eclipse. And indeed it was. There was a total eclipse of the Sun on Oct. 1st, 1940. You may also have noticed that the PNL is close to the 7^th place angle of the chart. That tells us that the Sun’s selection of partnership will be pivotal in his life. [By the way, I’ve been speaking about Lennon as if most of you know who he is. But it’s dawned on me that many of you younger folks may have never heard of him. So briefly: John Lennon was the founding member of a British band from the 1950s to the 70s called the Beatles. He, and fellow bandmate Paul McCartney, wrote most of the Beatles’ songs. The Lennon/McCartney duo is considered one of the most famous song-writing partnerships in music history.]

Back to our discussion: Any PNL occurring with these two factors that I mentioned, is worthy of taking notice in a reading. In Lennon’s case, the PNL is in the same sign as the ILS. Since we’ve already dealt with the combined soli-lunar mission statement and its angularity, we can now deal with the eclipse itself. In his case, there is a darkening of the solar light that selects the partnership. Delineations should always be restricted to the specific symbols that are at play. Too often new students want to generalize symbols in one area of the life to the life as a whole. (Some traditional authors do this too, especially with eclipses. But I haven’t seen them address eclipses to the PNL in this way.) An eclipse doesn't automatically indicate death to the native. We all die eventually… So we don’t need an eclipse on the PNL to indicate this in a pre-birth plan. The eclipse is always specific to the placement involved and most of the time, less dramatic. It simply means that the specific object of the house where it occurs will become “eclipsed” or overshadowed in the life, presumably in the case of the PNL, with the Soul’s agreement.

Notice that Mars is also in Libra. Planets in the same sign all relate to the same situation. So had we seen this chart early in his youth, we might have said that his mission involved a significant and pivotal partnership and that this partnership would also become overshadowed, resulting in a separation (Mars’ principle). This happened not only with his working partnership with Paul McCartney, but also with his first marriage to Cynthia Powell. 

Now, what about the cases where the New Moon PNL takes place in late degrees, but the Sun’s birth position has now shifted signs? In these cases, the ILS and the PNL will be in different signs. I believe both conditions will apply to the native’s solar mission. But they indicate changes in motivation between the plan and the execution. The New Moon PNL, which is the first one to occur in time, indicates the Soul’s intended mission. But the natal placement will actually be the way that mission plays out throughout most of the life, since this is where the actual living solar focus is. It’s possible that the circumstances agreed to by the Soul before birth only happen after the solar situation occurs, since the two are separated by adjacent signs, and the New Moon PNL sign rises after the Sun’s sign, in the Turning. Since we’re talking about a maximum of 2 weeks, the degree range will be small, but in the Turning this can be as much as 3 years apart. However, there is no way to test this out, because we don’t really know what “the Soul agreed to” before birth. But we can see how each one resonates as a life mission. A comparison of the two would actually be a great study for some of you enterprising students to work on, if anyone is interested. If any of you do this comparison, I’d be interested to read it and happy to publish the results here!

I haven't addressed the Full Moon PNL since Lennon does not have one. But the Full Moon PNL is an extension of the same soli-lunar cycle. It represents the maturity of that cycle and the tension that comes from seeing opposing perspectives. In that case, the ILS will capture the same contract at a later stage of earthly expression. For example, let’s suppose that John Lennon was born at the exact same time, but a few days later with the Sun still in Libra, but now his Moon might be in Gemini in the 3^rd, instead of where it is (in Aquarius in the 11^th). In his real chart, the Moon has moved 5^th places from the Sun, which is a creative placement by angle. But if it were in Gemini in the 3^rd , it would have moved 9 places, which is a more expansive and wisdom-searching placement by angle. So instead of a partnership involving the creation of a group or organization, it might have produced some spiritual or educational knowledge as its worldly creation. In the new placement, the Full Moon PNL would have been in Libra and Aries, which would have emphasized the partners themselves, including the "self vs. other" tension between them, as the pre-birth intent. So having the PNL in 7-1 and the ILS in 7-3, does not cause a problem of interpretation, as long as the Sun/Spirit is the common starting point in the cycle, and we have a clear notion of the PNL vs ILS differences.