A void-of-course moon is traditionally defined as the period of time during which the moon no longer makes major aspects to other planets before entering a new sign. Major aspects include the conjunction, sextile, square, opposition, and some believe, the parallel, anti-parallel, and quincunx although the calendars on the following pages do not include these. This occurs within every 2 1/2 day period as this is about how long it takes the moon to travel through one sign of the zodiac. The void-of-course period may last a few minutes to a couple of days, depending on the positions of the planets.

Why is this important? Well, symbolically, "void-of-course" would indicate nothing is happening, and in some situations, this is the case. However, more often than not, these periods will be fraught with little annoyances of varying degrees. My personal experience has been that it is wise to avoid making purchases during the void-of-course moon. I have never been satisfied with clothing purchased during a void-of-course moon. It usually doesn't fit quite right, or there is a minor repair to make, or once it has been laundered, it loses its shape. But, in spite of this pre-knowledge, I purchased anyway and learned. So I pass this on to you.

Other purchases also turn out to be somewhat less than perfect - a mar, a scratch, the color is not quite right, something is crooked, or it doesn't do what one expected it to. Now, the flip side of this is that they are "minor annoyances". The dissatisfaction is usually something that will not prevent the use of the item; it'll just drive you crazy for as long as you own it.

Another area to steer clear of during the void-of-course moon is starting a project. Usually something will have to be redone, it is abandoned, or it doesn't turn out quite right. Once, workers put the ceiling up in my basement before realizing they missed the heating vent, and what I thought should be a simple cutting job turned into a major redoing project! And the same day, my curious Siamese cat got up between the real ceiling and the new lowered one and fell through, causing another major replacement job. Well, I thought to check, and sure enough, it was during the time of a voc Moon!

On the positive side, a troubling situation or worrisome concern starting during the void-of-course Moon will usually come to nothing, is likely unfounded. Also, it's been said that it's a good time to break bad habits, that it can "void" their course.

A favorite astrology story I like to tell regards my mother's experience with the voc Moon. It seems some are more sensitive to it's wiles, and my mother falls into this category! After a particularly harrowing day on May 13, 1982, she called to tell me about the various, frustrating experiences of the day and mentioned that there must have been a void-of-course Moon that day. I looked it up on a convenient table provided by The American Ephemeris and noted that there was NOT a void-of-course Moon active during the period of her trials, that it actually did not begin until 7pm that night. However, she insisted that there WAS A VOID-OF-COURSE MOON AND I'D BETTER LOOK AGAIN! Well, this time I looked it up the "hard way" by checking the time of the Moon's last major aspect in the current sign and found she was right! There was a misprint in the ephemeris, and we discovered it because astrology works! I contacted the publisher and was informed that yes, we had found a misprint and that they would send me a corrected page for May 1982. If anyone has the first printing (Jan. 1977) of The American Ephemeris 1981 to 1990, check out the void-of-course Moon table for May 1982. It states that the last major aspect of the Moon's journey through Capricorn occurred at 00am0 UT on May 14 when in fact it occurred at 5pm16 UT on May 13 which is 12pm16 CDT providing my mother with a voc Moon the entire afternoon! (BTW, there's also a misprint in the Daily Aspectarian for May 1982-Moon sextile Uranus on May 14 occurred at 9am49, not 0am0 as printed.)

So, I do admit to the influence of the void-of-course Moon; I just resist the chore of keeping track of the times it occurs-so I let the Moon's void-of-course chips fall where they may (usually regretting not checking beforehand!). You might like to see just how important (or should I say frustrating) these times can be and schedule plans accordingly. My friend tells me that she has learned from experience to not to gamble during a void-of-course Moon; my husband and his friend agree that it might be a good idea to avoid purchasing stock during a void-of-course Moon. I might add that if you do have a pretty important event or project planned, or huge shopping trip like Christmas time, I would advise timing it so it doesn't fall during a void-of-course Moon period.