BLACK MOON LILITH ~ Myth v Logic

I love astrology - that has to be pretty obvious from the amount of time I spend blogging about it! Even so, there are parts of astrological doctrine whose significance, for my taste, is often blown way out of proportion. I do realise that others may see things differently, and emphasise that what follows is my personal view only.

I try to use a very stripped down astrology. Minimalist. Not because I haven't learned the rest or don't understand it - just because it doesn't "jive" for me. Something has to feel right, deep down, or else I'm uncomfortable writing about it.

I had reason to investigate the topic of Black Moon Lilith again last week and reviewed a post from July 2007 in my blog archives. I came to the same conclusion as I did then. Myth and legend, with regard to Black Moon Lilith are just that, myth and legend, and no basis for interpretation of an astrological point at least without good quality research and observation.

With what little Aquarian logic I can muster, here's my conclusion. In a natal chart, the point known as Black Moon Lilith is the point at which the Moon, in its slightly elliptical orbit, was as far away from Earth as it could possibly be when the owner of that natal chart was born. Natal Moon at Moon's apogee may be the point at which the astrological attributes of the Moon (inner self, instincts, emotions, the mother) are at their weakest, so when interpreting a natal chart with Moon at its apogee that ought to be kept in mind. To my way of thinking, unless the Moon was sitting on that point or close by at time of birth, it has little significance. That's my preferred minimalist version of Black Moon Lilith.

If we're going to note the Moon's apogee, for some astrological purpose, surely its perigee point is worthy of note also? As far as I know there's no specific designation or naming of such a point in astrology, comparable to Black Moon Lilith.


Illustration from here, click on it to enlarge.


Some of my earlier thoughts on Black Moon Lilith from 2 July 2007:

There are two ways of calculating BML - its true position and its mean position. Some software uses one, and some the other. This adds further room for doubt about the somewhat iffy interpretations assigned to the Black Moon, based purely on mythology.

There's an asteroid called Lilith too, as well as a hypothetical and contraversial second Moon of Earth, often referred to as Dark Moon Lilith. The astrological glyph for Black Moon Lilith (the Moon's apogee) is a thick black crescent Moon atop a cross. Asteroid Lilith has a different glyph which looks like a four-pronged fork with a tick at the right hand side of its base.

Those astrologers who choose to use BML seem to consider its significance to be somewhat negative, based purely on the mythical name it bears. "Lilith" - a storm demon, prostitute goddess.... name anything female and negative, and Lilith is it! I'm sticking to my theory that Black Moon Lilith is, if anything at all, another sensitive point in the chart.

"Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed to harm male children. In Isaiah 34:14, Lilith is a kind of night-demon or animal, translated as onokentauros; in the Septuagint, as lamia; "witch" by Hieronymus of Cardia; and as screech owl in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Talmud and Midrash, Lilith appears as a night demon. She is often identified as the first wife of Adam and sometimes thought to be the mother of all incubi and succubi, a legend that arose in the Middle Ages ".
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith)

There's an ephemeris, courtesy of astrologer Chris Mitchell, showing true and mean positions of Black Moon Lilith in the 20th century here

In fairness to to myth and legend:
An interesting overview of the myth, and how Lilith is depicted in art can be read at an interesting blog called Alberti's Window - see here
And astrologer Tom Jacobs kindly left a comment on my 2007 post linking to his own excellent article on the topic - here.