Aspects in Astrology: Sun Square Moon

The Meaning of a Square Aspect Between Sun and Moon

You may live with a constant sense of inner tension that feels like you are always trying to improve or overcome something within yourself. You might feel like no matter how hard you try you always fall short. 

While you tend to respond in fairly predictable ways so that your friends know what you are likely to do, you yourself are blinded. The choices you make don’t seem to serve you well, yet you make them anyhow. You rarely end up getting the outcome that you really want, and despite your talents and abilities feel thwarted somehow.  

For example, if your Sun and Moon are in Cardinal signs you may be very action-oriented, but tend to be too driven and at times overreact to things. In Fixed signs you may like to think of yourself as reasonable and patient but others see you as stubborn and resistant to change. In Mutable signs you may seek variety, but be so busy jumping from one thing to the next that you end up getting very little done. 

Put simply, what you are learning to become in life (as symbolised by your Sun Sign) can be at odds with your instinctive reactions (described by your Moon sign). Your head and heart seem to be in conflict. You find yourself compelled to act in ways that end up blocking the results you really want. 

The trick here is to resolve your inner tension through self-awareness – not by preferencing one side of your personality over the other, but in fact by learning to recognise how to have your inner needs met. 

To do this you need to differentiate between your individual will (Sun sign) and emotional needs (Moon sign). Learn to do those things that meet your urge to grow (Sun sign) but in ways that also support your instinctive or emotional side (Moon sign). 

For example, if you have the Sun in Aquarius but Moon in Scorpio you need to recognise how important it is for you to contribute in logical ways to your community (Sun in Aquarius) whilst acknowledging the often intense and irrational feelings that bubble up inside (Scorpio Moon).

Some astrologers have described the square aspect between the Sun and Moon in sombre terms. This aspect is often interpreted as representing a kind of schism within the personality which may see you thwarted in your desires and never able to fully succeed. 

Robert Pelletier (Planets in Aspect, 1974) described it like this:

The square from the Sun to the Moon means that you will have some difficulty in using your resources to satisfy your desires. You bitterly resent that you must make enormous adjustments in order to get what you want from life. It seems as if you never have quite the right training for what you want to do, but you make only half- hearted attempts to acquire the training you need to succeed. Although you want the ‘good life’, you aren’t willing to discipline yourself to get it. You are at odds with important people who will not accept you unless you can prove yourself by demonstrating a willingness to work. Your negative response distorts the information you receive, which makes it more difficult to learn from your experiences. Generally you react to stimuli in a way that is not consistent with achieving the recognition you want.

Whilst in some cases this might be true, such a bleak description fails to account for other equally important and therefore balancing qualities within the birth chart. 

It is essential that you do not try to interpret each aspect in your chart on its own, but instead consider them as a whole 

More broadly, it can be said that if you are born with the Sun and Moon in square aspect then you will need to recognise that much of the struggle you perceive as being “out there in the world” is, in fact, a reflection of your own subconscious malaise. When you ignore one side of your personality for the sake of another, you generate inner conflict. This is what needs to be resolved.

Spend time getting to know who you are and beware your tendency to assume too much about others. Emotional insecurity and the inclination to repress what you feel can manifest as a kind of uncomfortable “aura” around you that others react to unconsciously. 

The source of many of your struggles is likely to be your internal battle with yourself. Become more connected with the areas of yourself that you perceive to be at odds with each other and find common ground. Inner peace comes from letting yourself meet disparate needs.

In many ways, if you were born with this aspect in your birth chart then you may relate to the story of the oyster and the pearl. An oyster creates a pearl when it can’t clear an irritant from within its shell.

You could feel like there is always some kind of inner frustration in your life – a grit of sand that you are constantly trying to remove. But try as you might, you cannot seem to get rid of the source of irritation. People and problems keep “getting under your skin”. Frustration seems to follow you, and with it a tendency to overreact. 

In time however,  this frustration can become a source of great strength. You learn to soothe the parts of yourself that bother you and build upon the foundations gained.

Through greater patience, self-discipline and willingness to accept things you may not like (if they will help you reach your goals) you learn to harness willpower and draw upon  emotional reserves. 

You are in fact capable of creating a pearl of great wisdom. This comes from your capacity to balance apparently contradictory or combative aspects of your self. Great accomplishments can be made when combine your ability to focus your talent for a certain approach to life (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable) with your willingness to acknowledge your shadow and emotional side. 

As astrologer Haydn Paul has said “Learning how to listen to those agitating feelings, and managing to integrate them into your life instead of ignoring them, will help to restore a sense of balance and well-being.”

The Sun, Moon and Family Story.

One of the greatest and most fascinating mysteries in astrology involves how the relationship between the Sun and Moon at the time of your birth can reflect the nature of the relationship between your parents. 

Maybe not so much who they were as an objective couple, but more who you understood them to be. 

How and why this works is beyond anyone’s knowledge. The simple fact is – it very often does. The way you saw your parents when you were young is often accurately described by the position of the Sun and Moon in your birth chart. 

“Easy” or flowing aspects (like the trine, conjunction and sextile) are often found in the charts of people who see their parents as pretty much on the same page. 

“Hard” or challenging aspects (like the square, quincunx or opposition) are often found in the charts of people who sensed a level of tension between their parents, or who see their parents as very different people somehow. 

The fact that this occurs with such constancy and repetition is one of the features of astrology which suggests the universe is far more complex than we currently imagine. 

Because you were born with the Sun and Moon in square aspect, you may have internalised this tension as a child, and consequently sided with one parent over the other. 

The parent you connected with most will be reflected in the qualities of the Sun or Moon that are now dominant in your personality. If you connected more with your mother then your Moon sign will be prominent. If your father, your Sun sign. 

In time you are likely to see the relationship with your parents evolve as you yourself grow. In most cases parents do the best they can with the knowledge they have available. Let yourself soften when you start to react defensively and recognise the importance of letting your deepest feelings flow. 

Through learning to compromise when your feelings are triggered and accepting the need for self-discipline you can accomplish many things. Ask yourself if your life is a recurring story of conflict with others and challenges with superiors. If it is, then you have some inner work to do. 

If not, then you have learned to blend you will and your emotions. By focussing on the qualities of your Sun and Moon signs (as well as their respective houses) you can recognise then harness your greatest strengths and assets. 

Whilst in some cases this might be true, such a bleak description fails to account for other equally important and therefore balancing qualities within the birth chart. 

It is essential that you do not try to interpret each aspect in your chart on its own, but instead consider them as a whole 

More broadly, it can be said that if you are born with the Sun and Moon in square aspect then you will need to recognise that much of the struggle you perceive as being “out there in the world” is, in fact, a reflection of your own subconscious malaise. When you ignore one side of your personality for the sake of another, you generate inner conflict. This is what needs to be resolved.

Spend time getting to know who you are and beware your tendency to assume too much about others. Emotional insecurity and the inclination to repress what you feel can manifest as a kind of uncomfortable “aura” around you that others react to unconsciously. 

The source of many of your struggles is likely to be your internal battle with yourself. Become more connected with the areas of yourself that you perceive to be at odds with each other and find common ground. Inner peace comes from letting yourself meet disparate needs.

In many ways, if you were born with this aspect in your birth chart then you may relate to the story of the oyster and the pearl. An oyster creates a pearl when it can’t clear an irritant from within its shell.

You could feel like there is always some kind of inner frustration in your life – a grit of sand that you are constantly trying to remove. But try as you might, you cannot seem to get rid of the source of irritation. People and problems keep “getting under your skin”. Frustration seems to follow you, and with it a tendency to overreact. 

In time however,  this frustration can become a source of great strength. You learn to soothe the parts of yourself that bother you and build upon the foundations gained.

Through greater patience, self-discipline and willingness to accept things you may not like (if they will help you reach your goals) you learn to harness willpower and draw upon  emotional reserves. 

You are in fact capable of creating a pearl of great wisdom. This comes from your capacity to balance apparently contradictory or combative aspects of your self. Great accomplishments can be made when combine your ability to focus your talent for a certain approach to life (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable) with your willingness to acknowledge your shadow and emotional side. 

As astrologer Haydn Paul has said “Learning how to listen to those agitating feelings, and managing to integrate them into your life instead of ignoring them, will help to restore a sense of balance and well-being.”

More Sun Moon Aspects

• Sun Opposite Moon
• Sun Trine Moon
• Sun Sextile Moon
• Sun Conjunct Moon

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