I not too long ago did my bimonthly Q&A with my patrons and one of many questions was about White Moon Selena. Right here’s the query:-

Are you able to please clarify White Moon Selene? Do you discover it vital, and is it associated in any respect to Black Moon Lilith?

Now this query led me down such a rabbit gap! Earlier than I even discover the which means of White Moon Selena, it’s vital to speak about some technical calculation points. On the Swiss ephemeris paperwork for this level (h56) it says:-

This can be a ‘hypothetical’ second Moon of the Earth (or a 3rd one, after the “Black Moon”) of obscure provenance. Many Russian astrologers use it. Its distance from the Earth is greater than 20 instances the gap of the Moon and it strikes in regards to the Earth in 7 years. Its orbit is an ideal, unperturbed circle. In fact, the bodily existence of such a physique is just not doable. The gravities of Solar, Earth, and Moon would strongly affect its orbit.

So, the very first thing I did, as I haven’t used this level earlier than, was to calculate Selena by myself chart utilizing photo voltaic fireplace astrology software program. As you possibly can see right here, it’s at 21 levels of Taurus. If I wished to do the identical calculation on Astro.com, I would want to make use of h56 within the further objects tables.

Now, right here is the issue. In fashionable astrology, particularly prior to now few years, White Moon Selena has been mentioned to be the perigee of the Moon. Let’s simply take a look at that first so we perceive what this implies – and for this, I want to speak about Black Moon Lilith.

So, as you possibly can see from this picture above, the Moon’s orbit across the Earth isn’t an ideal circle. As an alternative, it’s an ellipse. If it have been an ideal circle, then the centre of the Earth can be the gravitational level round which the Moon would circle. However an ellipse has two gravitational factors or foci. A kind of gravitational factors is contained in the Earth and the opposite is in house. That gravitational level in house is Black Moon Lilith. Maintain that thought.

Now, as a result of the Moon has an elliptical orbit, typically it’s far-off from the Earth – which is named the apogee and typically it’s nearer to the Earth which is the perigee. If we on Earth are wanting in the direction of the apogee of the Moon, our technical line of sight would go proper via that gravitational level I spoke about above. So, to be clear then, from our vantage level on Earth, Black Moon Lilith is the second foci of gravity of the Moon’s orbit and the apogee of the Moon. We base our interpretation of Black Moon Lilith on these astronomical details in addition to in fact the story of Lilith who was first spouse to Adam.

So the place does H56 and White Moon Selena match into all this? Effectively, that is the quandary I found.

After I calculated White Moon Selena on my chart, as you possibly can see above, it’s nowhere close to the opposition of Black Moon Lilith. If White Moon Selena is the perigee of the Moon, then technically, that needs to be someplace reverse Black Moon Lilith. However right here you possibly can see that Selena, this hypothetical Moon, is nowhere close to the perigee of the actual Moon’s orbit. So, all of the interpretations that I might need considered, concerning H56 White Moon Selena simply fell aside below scrutiny as a result of it isn’t related. It’s merely a hypothetical level that has no foundation in actuality as famous by the Swiss Ephemeris paperwork.

However, if I apply all that’s mentioned of White Moon Selena to the precise perigee of the Moon, that to me makes far more sense and is an illuminating and intriguing contrasting story to Black Moon Lilith. To seek out this White Moon Selena then, I suggest you have to calculate the true place of Black Moon Lilith (h13 on astro.com) in your chart and there you’ll discover Selena, within the opposing diploma of true (not imply) Black Moon Lilith.

After I requested my astrologer associates about all this, my colleague astrologer Lynn Hayes pointed me to an article by Richard Nolle. It fascinates me that we each got here to the same conclusion independently that the archetypal story of Selena is extra consistent with the purpose reverse true Black Moon Lilith than with the hypothetical White Moon Selena (h56) level that everybody generally makes use of. Truly, Nolle then goes on to posit the concept that the purpose reverse Black Moon Lilith ought to actually be known as Eve, so there we have now one other avenue to discover! After which I haven’t even talked about that in Continental Europe, there are some astrologers who think about the perigee, the purpose reverse Black Moon Lilith, to be Priapus, a lusty fertility God. Okay, so now we have now extra potentialities for the best way to discover Lilith’s shadow/reverse/counterpart. Possibly all of them are proper, layers of interpretation making a 3D rounded image.

So, that is the quandary that surrounds White Moon Selena (h56), and it will be as much as private desire as to which level individuals use to discover this story – both h56 or the diploma reverse true Black Moon Lilith, i.e., the Moon’s perigee. My desire is for the latter as I’m uncomfortable utilizing a hypothetical moon that can’t have any foundation in actuality. However others could really feel attuned to the symbolic which means and motion of this level and I can not argue with that.

I also needs to say that there’s all the time just a little room for error with any calculation of the lunar apogee and perigee because the Solar’s gravitational tug on the Moon’s orbit will trigger perturbances. However nonetheless, the diploma reverse Black Moon Lilith is quite a bit nearer to the perigee than Selena H56. You too can calculate perigee on Astro.com utilizing h22. It gained’t be precisely reverse Black Moon Lilith except one in all them is conjunct or sq. the Solar however nonetheless, it is perhaps price enjoying with the concept too.

So then, technicalities out of the way in which (my head remains to be whirling!), how can we play with this imagery, story and symbolism to higher perceive White Moon Selena? While I’m outdated associates with Black Moon Lilith as she is straight conjunct the Solar in my natal chart, White Moon Selena is a brand new character on my archetype stage. Listed below are the concepts I’m fascinated by, starting first with my acquainted darkish Goddess earlier than I transfer to the sunshine.

As Black Moon Lilith is on the apogee of the Moon, far, far-off from Earth, we sense her, a gravitational pull from house, a tug deep inside. However we can not see her. She is a wraith, an insubstantial factor who was as soon as made flesh and allowed into Paradise to be with Adam. However Adam didn’t deal with her properly. Adam thought he was higher than her. So Lilith, who was so highly effective that she knew the identify of God, mentioned no! No, I cannot be subservient! She left the Backyard of Eden and for her audacity, for her impudence, Lilith has been demonised ever since, as has the divine female and the Earthly feminine all through historical past.

Black Moon Lilith’s place reveals the place we have now huge inventive potential, but she can also be the place we really feel demonised, the place we really feel unacceptable. She is what we are saying no to, the place we refuse to be mistreated but typically expertise mistreatment. She is the a part of us that appears unreachable and out of contact and but we really feel her deeply, powerfully, an interior void, ready to be crammed. She is the witch, whose archetype has been polluted all through time, the cursed one, the scapegoat for the horrors of the world. Black Moon Lilith is the ability of our magic after we focus our intention. Simply as Lilith mentioned, I need to be made flesh, we too make our wishes manifest.

So, what of Selena? Selene in mythology was a Moon goddess – maid, mom, crone, somewhat just like the fates Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos with whom Selene was typically related. Out of curiosity, Lachesis is the one who presents us our guardian angel, or spirit information that may accompany us via life. Finding asteroid Lachesis in your natal chart may give you extra details about that. However, going again to Selene, she is in mythology, the Moon, the guiding mild via the darkish. There’s a lot extra to her myths in fact however that is what I’ll work with proper now.

If Lilith is what we are saying no to, then Selena is what we are saying sure to. She is the place we all know with out query that that is the way in which. She is the place we really feel blessed, the place we’re in contact with our guardian angel, the place we really feel protected. Black Moon Lilith, solid out of Paradise, was not protected. In lots of tales, it’s mentioned she birthed the horrors of the world. She was the mom of demons and killer of human youngsters. There was nobody there to sing her praises, raise her up, or shield her legacy.

If Black Moon Lilith speaks of descent of heavenly powers into earthly manifestation, then perhaps White Moon Selena, on the actual reverse diploma of true Black Moon Lilith, represents the transmutation of fabric to non secular. If Selena is the perigee of the Moon, then the explanation we join along with her so instantly is as a result of she is nearer to us. We discover her simpler to embody, simpler to narrate to as a result of she is by some means extra like us than Black Moon Lilith. With Black Moon Lilith so far-off, so past our understanding, she turns into the scary witch with a crooked nostril and a wild cackle, the depraved witch of the west. However with Selena so near us, she’s extra like the sort outdated girl who lives within the final home of the village. She’s the one you go to quietly after Church on Sunday afternoon since you want just a little potion to tickle your lover or treatment an ailing or attraction away just a little dangerous luck. Possibly Selena is the great witch of the north. If Black Moon Lilith is the ghost that haunts us, then maybe White Moon Selena is a fairy Godmother, granting needs, one, two, three. Now click on your heels collectively.

Nevertheless, if we’re to create an axis from these two, Black Moon Lilith and White Moon Selena are two sides of the identical coin, all referring to our lunar expression, all connecting to our emotional journey as souls. There’s magic certain inside them each, not darkish or mild however a impartial drive that shifts relying on our intention. While we have now phrases like black and white, darkish and light-weight to explain them, they aren’t merely polarities. Neither is wholly dangerous or good. Black Moon Lilith reveals us the place we have to honour ourselves for who we’re, even when all others forsake us. She is straight related to our manifestation magic. Keep in mind, she is aware of the identify of God! In shadow, White Moon Selena can lurch in the direction of non secular bypassing if she is just not embraced with readability and grounded consciousness.

So, these are just a few ideas I’m pondering round White Moon Selena. As I mentioned earlier, personally, I’d apply all these meanings to the diploma that’s precisely reverse to Black Moon Lilith’s true place within the chart somewhat than the h56 level because of the latter not being an actual level or physique in our materials universe. Nevertheless, I current these concepts gently, with consideration to different astrologers who could have totally different theories, follow and expertise and with the data that our self-discipline is ever evolving as we uncover extra in regards to the heavens and ourselves.