Where the Sun acts, the Moon reacts. How do we instinctively react or respond to problems? What do we feel we need for a sense of security? Look to the Moon in your natal chart for answers.

The Moon  is associated with the mother and with feminine energy in general. The Moon is both our inner child and our inner mother. It is responsive, receptive, and reflective. The Moon is our spontaneous and instinctual reactions.

Just as the Moon circles the Sun, in a symbolically protective manner, and reflects the Sun's light, the Moon in our chart shows how we protect ourselves, as well as make ourselves feel secure, comfortable, and safe.

We can also think of the Moon as that which gives us animation. It rules rhythmic ebb and flow of activity and energy. The Moon is a mediator between the inner world and the outer world. While the Sun is rational, the Moon is irrational. Habitual behaviors and prejudices are ruled by the Moon. Prejudices may not be acted out, as our Sun may censor them, but the Moon rules our spontaneous reactions and feelings.

For some of us, our Moons seem to drive our personalities more than the Sun does. This is particularly true if the Moon is in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces), or if it is conjunct an angle in the chart (near the Ascendant, Descendant, 4th house cusp, or 10th house cusp). For true happiness in life, it is wise to neither give your Moon too much nor too little importance in your life.  

I feel that Grant Lewi, in Astrology for the Millions, offered the most evocative description of the Moon when he wrote the following: "When you "know what you mean but you can't say it," it is your Moon that knows it and your Sun that can't say it. "Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears" are the thoughts of your Moon's nature. The wordless ecstasy, the mute sorrow, the secret dream, the esoteric picture of yourself that you can't get across to the world, or which the world doesn't comprehend or value - these are the products of the Moon in your horoscope. When you are misunderstood, it is your Moon nature, expressed imperfectly through the Sun sign, that you feel is betrayed. When you know what you ought to do, but can't find the right way to do it, it is your Moon that knows and your Sun that refuses to react in harmony. Also, when you "don't know why I said that," it was your Moon expressing despite your Sun (if you are innerly satisfied with the involuntary speech), or the Sun expressing against the will of the Moon (if you are displeased with what has slipped out). Things you know without thought - intuitions, hunches, instincts - are the products of the Moon. Modes of expression that you feel are truly your deepest self belong to the Moon: art, letters, creative work of any kind; sometimes love; sometimes business. Whatever you feel is most deeply yourself, whether or not you are able to do anything about it in the outer world, is the product of your Moon and of the sign your Moon occupies at birth." (1)

With respect to the other luminary (the Sun), the Moon infuses the past into our lives through the feelings, while the Sun reflects the present or the "here and now".

When we are "acting out" our Moon, we are imaginative, creative, intuitive, sentimental, adaptable, introspective, and protective. On the negative side, we can be moody, restless, and irrational.

In the natal chart, the position of the Moon by sign shows how we emote and respond to our environment, as well as our instinctual habits, especially in our homes and in private. By house, the Moon's position shows which areas of life we feel the most "at home" or comfortable.