Traditional Astrology Studies

The earliest systematic sources to discuss the concept of the Void of Course Moon are found in Hellenistic literature, which uses the term kenodromia. This condition is most often attributed to the Moon, although it may concern any planet; it is simply more frequent in the case of the Moon.

The general definition states that a void Moon occurs when, after separating from another planet, it does not form any applying aspect with any other planet through the recognised Ptolemaic aspects: conjunction, sextile, square, trine, or opposition.

Beyond this general definition, however, there is another issue that remains much debated in modern readings of ancient sources. Some authors maintain that the Void of Course Moon must be assessed within the sign through which the Moon is moving. For example: the Moon is at 28° Cancer, Venus at 26° Capricorn, and Jupiter at 1° Aquarius. The Moon is separating from Venus and, for as long as it remains in Cancer, it does not form a Ptolemaic applying aspect within that sign. Although the Moon in Cancer is within the orb of an opposition to Jupiter in Aquarius, the aspect will perfect only when the Moon reaches 1° Leo, the sign following Cancer.

Other sources, however, maintain that even when sign-based configurations are not respected, the Moon in this example is not void of course because the vis luminis, or planetary light and orb, is still operative. Within the time of a nycthemeron, that is, the following twenty-four hours, the Moon will complete its aspect to Jupiter. We therefore have several authors who explain the void in different ways, or at least whose surviving translations describe this condition differently.

For example, in translations of the texts of Johannes Schöner, we find the following statement: when a planet is separating from any other planet and is not joined to another planet by body or aspect, for as long as it remains in the sign in which it is located, it is called void. This should be understood in relation to the spheres and rays of the planets. Schöner’s definition confirms the general one, but it also refers to the action of the planetary spheres and rays. By speaking of rays, the author suggests that, even in the absence of a configuration by sign, the void is confirmed only when there is an actual absence of vis luminis and when, within the relevant period, no partile aspect can perfect.

Guido Bonatti offers a description that distinguishes two types of “void of course.” One is properly called void, while the other is described as the condition of a feral planet. He writes: after a planet has been in aspect with another planet, and after the perfection of that aspect, when the planet begins to separate from the other and will not join with any other by conjunction or aspect, it is said to run void. This is an impediment. In this first statement by Bonatti, there is no direct reference to the sign. He appears to be describing only the aspect itself, that is, the distance between two points, without distinguishing the signs involved. Since Bonatti considers aspects through vis luminis, it follows that a Void of Course Moon is confirmed by the absence of vis luminis in the Moon’s applying aspects.

Bonatti adds: al-Qabisi states that, whenever a planet is alone in a sign and no other planet aspects it within that sign, it is said to be feral; this is a dreadful impediment. In this case, Bonatti alludes to a Moon that separates from one planet and applies to nothing else: a rare condition called feral. Let us now examine what al-Qabisi himself writes in Warburg’s translation: when a planet is separating from another planet and does not apply to a third planet, for as long as it remains in the sign in which it is located, it is said to be void. When a planet is in a sign and no other planet has an aspect with it within that sign, for as long as it remains there, it is said to be feral. The condition of the feral planet therefore seems to refer to a planet that, throughout an entire sign, forms no separating or applying aspect.

Bonatti and al-Qabisi make it clear that this condition may apply to any planet; yet, for obvious reasons, it is more frequently encountered in the Moon. We are nevertheless speaking of the same underlying phenomenon, though two distinct behaviours of the planet are being emphasised. In the case of the Moon, both a void-of-course condition and a feral condition signify impediment, although the feral condition appears more serious than an ordinary Void of Course Moon.

On the basis of the descriptions offered by Bonatti and al-Qabisi, and applying them specifically to the Moon, we may distinguish the following:

1. A Void of Course Moon occurs when the Moon separates from a planet and forms no further applying Ptolemaic aspect with another planet, regardless of the sign occupied by the Moon and by the potentially applying planets. For other authors, however, the void occurs when no applying aspect is formed within the sign through which the Moon is moving.
2. The condition of a feral planet occurs when, for example, the Moon in a particular sign forms no separating or applying aspect at all and moves through that sign without aspects by sign, for as long as it remains there.

The two conditions are essentially the same thing seen from different perspectives and under different circumstances. In a void-of-course condition, the Moon is at least separating from something; in the feral condition, the Moon, in the example under consideration, forms neither separating nor applying aspects within the sign in which it is located.

We may add a further consideration: vis luminis, or the planets’ orbs of light. According to some authors, a void is genuine only when no applying aspect exists even by vis luminis, regardless of the mere configuration of the signs. Thus, if the Moon is at 26° Taurus and Mercury at 1° Gemini, the Moon is applying to Mercury by conjunction, since Mercury falls within the medietas of their respective orbs of light.

Giuseppe Bezza (Italian scholar of traditional astrology and translator of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos) introduces the criterion of the nycthemeron when assessing whether the Moon is truly void of course. In this approach, the relevant question is whether the Moon forms or perfects an aspect during the twenty-four hours following the moment under examination. If the Moon neither applies to another planet nor perfects any aspect within that interval, it may be considered certainly void. If, however, during the nycthemeron it perfects a partile aspect, the void condition may be regarded as avoided.

As can be seen, the matter is rather complex.

INTERPRETATION

At an interpretative level, a Void of Course or feral Moon may take on different meanings according to the subject of the judgment. For example, this condition is particularly observed in electional astrology. In general, it is considered inadvisable to begin any undertaking with a feral or void Moon, because, by applying to nothing, the activity one wishes to begin may fail to receive the benefits or support of the Moon, which also signifies the course of events. Its value is also important in horary questions.

• However, it may be useful when one needs to undertake an activity that should remain hidden, when one must operate behind the scenes without being observed or discovered, or when one wishes for one’s action to pass unnoticed.
• In natal charts, a void or feral Moon may indicate that the Moon’s functions, as well as its accidental and natural significations, carry a sense of disorientation, disorder, or confusion.
• By analogy, the void or feral Moon may be related to the condition of statelessness: being without a homeland or without roots. It may also describe someone who, even while having roots or being born in a place with particular traditions and inheritances, does not recognise them as their own, does not feel that they belong to them, and feels a need to free themselves from them in some way.
• It may also indicate a certain instability in one’s undertakings, or a frequent mobility of thought that does not produce lasting results, or again a sense of confusion and lack of direction.
• The interpretation will therefore depend on what the Moon is intended to represent, through its accidental significations, in the natal chart.
• This condition may also be found in other planets, especially among the inferior planets, though it is certainly less frequent than in the Moon.
• All this is aggravated when the planet is in the feral condition.
• Firmicus, along with other authors, maintains in natal matters that, when a void Moon is present, the simultaneous presence of a benefic planet in a strong position or in an angular house mitigates the harm, or compensates for the instability and fragility signified by the lunar void.
• He further adds that a Void of Course Moon is more problematic when it occurs in one of the Moon’s essential debilities. If, however, the Moon is void while in an important essential dignity, or in the presence of significant mutual receptions, the void remains in itself, but becomes less burdensome for the native.