When the Sun is in an aspect to the Moon, such as a conjunction, sextile, square trine, or opposition, you must unite your outward expression with our most private, receptive, and needy self. At this level of functioning, a Sun-Moon aspect brings the inwardly conscious self and deeper impulses into alignment with the core identity, and this must be done without separating from the emotional self or letting the lunar side of nature take over. Personality’s two most powerful forces—the self and the instinctual aspects of the make-up—are equally and passionately felt, leading to some conflicting aims or that you manage to please both your inner needs and outward desires when embarking on a path to self-development.
Traditional wisdom holds that displaying a strong sense of individuality attracts the deeper workings of fate, and the Moon symbolises the unknown inner world that depth psychology refers to as “the unconscious,” making it a potentially trip wire. The Moon also symbolises a hidden realm ripe with untapped potential, keen emotional intuition, and a great ability for sympathetic compassion and empathy, all of which are equally important. While this can make you more attuned to the feelings of those around you, it can also make you feel like you can’t get away from your emotions and your need for human connection. That persons with the Sun and Moon in aspect will be ruled by their innermost being depends on which part of oneself is stronger: the need for safety, stability, and the necessities of everyday life (Moon) or the desire to remain faithful to one’s heart (Sun).
Astrologers often consider a horoscope with the Sun in conjunction or trine aspect to the Moon to be a highly powerful and beneficial combination because it suggests the native will act as a unifying force. When the Sun and Moon are in conjunction, the sign and house into which they fall can have a profound impact on a person’s psyche by continuously bringing to mind the potential for new beginnings and growth. When the Sun and Moon are in square or opposition to one another, it’s important to work on bringing your subconscious desires and inner world’s instinctual expression into harmony with your conscious aims and motivations.
The Moon has always been a shadowy place, but at midnight it becomes a portal to strangely illuminated places and familiar haunts, and each time your sun-based self tries to expand, differentiate, and evolve, the moon-based self pushes you back to where you started. Sun-Moon aspects are remarkable because they facilitate communication with the lunar half of the horoscope, where the intuitive, psychic, and mysterious beat of life is found. Your Sun and Moon will lead you on a path to an encounter with your own subconscious at some time in your life. This could cause friction in your personal relationships, especially with your family, mother and other female relatives or friends. Or, it may be a rendezvous with your subconscious, which isn’t happy to be ignored while one part of you goes out and seeks its destiny. You can think of the Moon as an allegory for the unfolding of your life as guided by some unseen force, and the Sun as a reflection of your acute awareness of the here and now.
Knowing if your feelings are in sync with your goals in life can be gleaned from the placement of the Sun and Moon, which are diametrically opposed to one another and symbolise the yang and the yin, the masculine and the female, the husband and the wife, as well as the conscious and the unconscious. Over the course of your lifetime, you will learn a great deal about your emotional programming, the role of your deeper self, and the desires at the very heart of your being.
If you’re starting out on the path of self-individuation with a safe, nourishing, and loving network of loved ones and friends, it will become immediately apparent whether or not that’s the case. Your Sun-Moon combination could cause you to feel overly connected to the past, perhaps in a good way, or to place an unhealthy emphasis on emotional security. The fiery Sun is its own planet, able to go wherever it pleases and do anything it sets out to do; the Moon, with its perpetually illuminated watery atmosphere, presents a different kind of problem, though, and that is finding a means to bring the two into true harmony with one another.
Although astronomically so different, these bodies must be considered side by side for the purposes of astrological study. They constitute a pair or dyad which may be viewed from many aspects. They are male and female, and unconscious, light and dark, objective and subjective. Every human psyche, contains a male and female aspect, as is recognized by modern science. Upon the natal configuration of these two basic sides of the personality and their reciprocal functioning whether normal or abnormal. The Sun represents man in action, an outgoing positive, aggressive, self-assertive and self-expressive principle. It is not so much character made, it is character in the making. It symbolizes the life lying before the new born babe. On the other hand, the Moon is the past and what man has and holds from the past; his habits, heredity, prejudices and family and racial limitations. It is indrawn, private, negative, self-protective, assimilative portion. Thus it dominates the past, and the Sun is tempered by the Moon from the very beginning. But, as regards the future, the Moon itself is dominated by the Sun for it can combine and assimilate only what the Sun wins for it.
Harmoniously related these bodies indicate good health, supported by a strong constitution, a fortunate future growing out of an inordinate past, concord between the private life and the professional, and an absence of inner conflicts. Inharmonious aspects incline to throw the life into two portions, antagonistic or at least disjointed. The decision and will pervade the entire being, the outer reflecting the inner. But, it may be repeated that the Sun must be considered above all else in judging the active life. Its aspects indicate the measure of success that will be attained, in what direction, with what faculty or tribulation. It represents the work to be done, due attention to be paid to the sign, house and aspects involved.
The Moon is more important in relation to ordinary character, and this is particularly so in early life before the Sun’s influence makes itself felt. A child with the Moon in square to Mars but Sun trine to Saturn will be hot tempered or impulsive, but will become, as the years pass, prudent and controlled, at least in action. Habits, morals and temperament are all shown to a large extent by the Moon, the Ascendant being even less self-conscious and rising little above the sensations and instincts, important though they are in these spheres. It is thought by many that even bad aspects are to be preferred to none at all, since an entire lack of relationship between the Lights tends to prevent the coordination of the life. It is certain that inharmonious are by no means always disastrous and they may even indicate a high pitch of intelligence and psychic energy. The aspects affect the success and repute of the native, these being influenced by the Moon through those things of which it is a general signification, which are parents, wife, family, home, the common people and females in particular. Charles Carter