Moon Mondays: The Moon Gets Around, So Did I
What the moon taught me about my promiscuous past and the unconscious beliefs running our lives
The moon gets around. I can relate. I’ll admit it, I slept around in the 80s, 90s, and 00s.
I still feel some shame around that, but why should I? Why does society judge me as a hussy, yet my husband — a former roadie for Def Leppard and Poison, who got around way more than me and the moon combined — gets an envious, enthusiastic high five? What’s up with that?
I think my shame is not only puritanically induced but also stems from the very real hurt that motivated my behavior. Enter the moon.
The moon plays the field. Our lunar lover moves around the whole zodiac every 27-ish days, and it romps from new moon to new moon in a mere 29-ish days.
In the wee hours this morning, the moon snuggled up to Mars, and by tomorrow it’ll have loved and left Jupiter as well. Stretch your thumb and pinky wide, like you’re flashing the Hawaiian “shaka” sign, and hold it up to one edge of the moon. That’s about how far our celestial minx travels across the sky each night. That’s fast — quite the player.
After cozying up to Mars and Jupiter today, the moon will jump into bed with Venus and Mercury on Saturday. Four lovers in one week! Such a busy little flirt.
But the moon has a serious side, too, and that’s where my promiscuous behavior comes in. Our shadow-filled satellite symbolizes our emotions and our unconscious. It reveals what the dark hides, including our primal drive for safety and love. Being assaulted by my father left me believing that was what love looked like. I played out my unconscious belief that I was only worthy if I was desired. I mistook lust for love.
That’s how the moon works in all our lives. Whatever sign the moon was in when you were born offers clues to the unconscious patterns you’ve developed to feel secure and valued. Most astrologers claim the moon represents our emotions, instincts, and needs. I’ve come to see it as something deeper — the hidden beliefs beneath our emotional reactions that secretly run the show without our even realizing it. That’s the moon’s territory.
The moon waxes and wanes between new and full, yet the whole moon is always there despite what we see. At the new moon, we can’t see it, but it hasn’t vanished. The same is true of our unconscious. What’s hidden isn’t gone. It’s simply outside the light of our awareness.
As children, we experience things we don’t have the capacity to understand. We make meaning of those experiences by drawing conclusions about ourselves. Dad leaves, so we decide we’re not lovable. Mom dismisses our tears, and we decide our feelings don’t matter. We believe we’re not good enough, so we become perfectionists, hoping if we get everything exactly right, we’ll be worthy.
These conclusions become unconscious beliefs, silently shaping how we feel, react, and behave long after we’ve forgotten them. We keep playing out the same patterns, wondering why we can’t seem to change.
Our unconscious beliefs helped us adapt and survive circumstances we couldn’t control. They weren’t mistakes. They were brilliant — for a five-year-old. The beliefs were created to keep us safe, not happy.
I spent years looking for love in all the wrong places because I didn’t understand the belief driving my behavior. I wasn’t consciously choosing to repeat that pattern. I was operating from a conclusion I’d learned long before I could comprehend what had happened to me.
This is where the moon’s shadow work comes in. It’s simply the process of bringing what’s unconscious into the light. Excavating those old beliefs, questioning whether they’re true, and beginning to live from what’s real.
Just as the moon waxes, revealing more of itself in the sun’s light, we can illuminate the parts of ourselves that have been operating from the dark, and then begin making different, conscious choices instead. The beliefs that once kept us safe don’t have to keep running our lives. The moon may keep playing the field, but we don’t have to keep acting out our old patterns.
Sheridan🌙
Moon Sisters Circle, Astrologer, and Astrology for Real Life Coaching
P.S. ✨ A New Venus Cycle Begins!
Speaking of feminine rebellion and reclaiming our power, Venus is beginning a whole new cycle! Join Cayelin Castell and me for a FREE live Venus Alchemy class on Friday, November 6, at 12 pm Pacific / 3 pm Eastern. We’ll explore the new Libra–Scorpio Venus cycle and its invitations around love, relationships, intimacy, and transformation.
REGISTER FOR THE FREE VENUS CLASS: https://venus-alchemy.myflodesk.com/v6ejddps9h