Venus Conjunct Moon in Gemini Square Mars Conjunct South Node in Virgo


It was 2:23 PM when I fired up my desktop computer for this afternoon's writing session after a nap. Back on 14 July 2025, I wrote the following in my first article on Pluto in Tropical Aquarius: 

"Alright, it is 3:53 AM EDT, I have just returned to my desktop with fresh water and a cup of herbal tea, and the Moon is culminating at 4 degrees of tropical Pisces. For tea, I went with a mix of gingko, lemon balm, gotu kola and peppermint from Jean's Greens. But I don't intend to get pulled into a discussion about pharmacological Christian mysticism and the Pisces-Virgo axis just yet, however strongly the Moon and North Node in Pisces may now be drawing me in that direction. Let's see if I can save that for a writing session on Sunday, 20 July 2025 at 10 PM EDT, when Mars is conjunct the South Node in Virgo."

As it turns out, I slept through Sunday night's potential writing session. But early this morning the eastern sky was clear, and I saw Venus again, with a thin sliver of Moon close above. I opened up LUNA and used the ephemeris function to chart the exact time of the Moon's conjunction with Venus. Here it is at 2:23 PM Eastern Time in Albany, New York:


You can see that the Moon-Venus conjunction at 19 Gemini 12 is in a T-square with the North Node in Pisces and with Mars conjunct the South Node in Virgo. If I finish writing this at 4:18 PM Eastern Time, Mars and the South Node will just be culminating on the local Midheaven.

This seems like an auspicious moment to focus in on the Roman Catholic objection to astrology with help from a YouTube video titled Can Catholics Believe in Astrology? by The Thomistic Institute:


It's an excellent presentation. The Thomistic Institute has stimulated my thinking with some great content over the last few years. We should also be aware of the location in the Catechism of the Catholic Church where astrology is prohibited: paragraphs 2110-2128, especially 2116 (see the Vatican website here). This important section of the Catechism interprets the first of the Ten Commandments.

I am not going to attempt a defense of Kosher Astrology or Christian Astrology in this entry. What I will do instead is raise a couple of indirectly related questions, then let the topic incubate for a little while.

Question 1: Is it superstitious to believe in evil spirits?
Question 2: How does the healing of mental illness take place in Christian psychiatry - is it through prayer, Providence, medication, therapy, spiritual direction, spiritual protection, exorcism, or all of the above?

I should note that Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), the first systematic theologian of the Reformation, the editor of the Augsburg Confession, and the confirmed author of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, was also an astrologer (cf. Melanchthon Circle | Wikipedia; Philip Melanchthon: Astrologer of the Reformation/Renaissance; and Johannes Stöffler | Wikipedia).

Was Kepler (1571-1630) influenced by the Melanchthon Circle? According to Google Gemini:

Yes, Johannes Kepler was indirectly influenced by the Melanchthon Circle, a network of 16th-century Lutheran intellectuals centered around Philip Melanchthon at the University of Wittenberg. 

After Melanchthon's death, Lutheranism fractured into factions, including the Philippists (Melanchthon's followers). While positions of influence were largely held by another faction, the Gnesio-Lutherans, Kepler may have been inclined towards Philippism through his early education in astronomy and the continued availability of Melanchthon's works.

Kepler's influential teacher and mentor, Michael Maestlin, was taught by Jacob Heerbrand, a student of Philip Melanchthon at Wittenberg. Maestlin introduced Kepler to the Copernican system, a model for which members of the Melanchthon Circle, like Caspar Peucer, Erasmus Reinhold, and Georg Joachim Rheticus, were early proponents.

Notable astronomers like Tycho Brahe and Caspar Peucer (both considered Philippists) discussed the Bible through public exchanges of letters and books. This intellectual environment likely contributed to the broader atmosphere that shaped Kepler's work.

In essence, while Kepler himself was not a direct member of the Melanchthon Circle, his intellectual development and early influences were linked to this group through his mentor and the intellectual climate of the time. 

But I digress a bit in jumping to Kepler. Let me return to the Catholic stream of thought by noting the following for further study and discussion:




I should note in closing that I might need to make "Cultural Astronomy" an Area of Responsibility.

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