Void-Of-Course Moon
Void of what? Void-of-course, of course.
There are several different definitions for a void-of-course (VOC) Moon, but the most popular is when the Moon no longer aspects with another planet before moving into the next zodiac sign. Because the Moon moves quickly through each sign (approximately 2.5 days), this happens fairly frequently – about 2 – 3 times per week. She can be VOC anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of days between signs.
In astrology, ‘aspects’ refers to the angles the planets make with each other as they follow their elliptical route. Imagine the planets travelling within a 360-degree zodiac circle. At the moment, both the Moon and Sun are 'conjunct' in the sign of Leo i.e., zero degrees. Two weeks from now when the Moon is Full, she'll have travelled 180 degrees to 'oppose' the Sun. ‘Conjunction’ and ‘opposition’ are ‘aspects’. Each aspect comes with corresponding energy. The easiest energy comes from the ‘trine’ when two planets are 120˚ apart. When 90˚ apart the aspect is called a ‘square’ which tends to be hard or difficult energy; and at 60˚ apart it’s called a ‘sextile’ (easier energy than the square).
Let's take a look at this coming week. Today is Sunday August 8th and the Moon is travelling through Leo aspecting various planets until 8:23 a.m. the next day, becoming VOC until 10:56 a.m. when she goes into Virgo. She continues on her way, travelling and aspecting through Virgo and them becomes VOC at 11:05 a.m. on August 11th, until 4:08 p.m. when she enters Libra. She travels through Libra for the next two days, becoming VOC at 4:39 p.m. on August 13th until 8:01 p.m. when she enters Scorpio She travels through Scorpio until 11:05 p.m. on August 15th and is VOC for only seven minutes before entering Sagittarius at 11:12 p.m. that same day.
Why is this important? Because in astrology, it is the universe's way of telling Earth to take a time out. It is said that when the Moon is VOC, it is an ineffective time to begin new endeavours as there is very little energy to support it. In other words, nothing will come of the actions you take, or perhaps issues will come up as a result of whatever it is you have started. For example, this is not a good time to undertake your kitchen renovations. But it is a terrific time to gather samples of paint, flooring or countertops; check out appliances; research contractors, prices, etc. Just don’t sign on any dotted lines until the Moon is back on course.
