By Charyn McLean
FAA Cert. Dip. Psych. Astrol.
For many women today, fertility issues can take over their lives. Either they are trying to conceive and experiencing difficulties or need help with contraceptive methods which do not affect their health.
Women all over the world have used the Rhythm Method for contraceptive purposes, and unfortunately, have experienced a high degree of failure. As a result, during the last few decades, women have turned to the Pill, IUD, and other modern forms of contraception, which although they have provided a more reliable method of birth control, have had an adverse effect on some women's health. Others have simply found these methods uncomfortable to use. Also some women are finding that after several years of postponing having children by using modern contraceptive methods, that when they do want to start a family, they are experiencing difficulties.
As a result, many women are looking for more natural methods of birth-control, and as a result of the research done using the lunar phase cycle, you can increase the contraceptive value of the Rhythm Method, or get extra help to conceive a baby.
It was found that if you were born on a full moon, that is the sun/moon angle in your chart was 180 degrees, each month you will be fertile on the full moon, if physically you are capable of conceiving. Furthermore, studies also revealed that the sex of a child depends on the position of the moon during this cycle at the time of conception. That is if the Moon is in a masculine sign (fire or air) you will conceive a boy, or if it is in a feminine sign (water or earth) you will conceive a girl. This information is not new, as centuries before women had worked with the Moon's cycles in relation to fertility. However, as we are concerned about the effect on some patients, who are having abortions for unwanted pregnancies, research for alternative contraception led to an investigation into these methods used since ancient times.
It was found that for many women, the time of ovulation and the lunar phase cycle do not always occur at the same time, and therefore, for many women there are two times in a woman's monthly cycle when she may become pregnant. This explains the high failure rate of the Rhythm Method. Even if she is accurate at pinpointing the time of ovulation, and avoiding intercourse during this time, she can still fall pregnant at the time of the lunar phase cycle. Therefore, by working with the lunar cycle, and your time of ovulation, you will increase the reliability of your contraception.
For women who are trying to have a child, using the lunar phase cycle will give extra help in pinpointing the second fertile time during your monthly cycle when you may conceive.
It can also be of use in helping to choose the sex of the child you wish to conceive, as the appropriate month in which to conceive either a boy or a girl, can be calculated.
For those women who wish to use more natural methods of controlling their fertility, knowing the time and date of the monthly recurrence of their lunar phase cycle will increase the knowledge of their own body's cycles, therefore giving them more control of their own health and contraceptive choices.
There are a number of naturopaths and other alternative healers in Australia at the moment helping their clients conceive using this cycle, as well as using herbs, flower essences, etc in order to get the future mother into the best possible health to have a baby.
Calculating your monthly lunar phase cycle is easy. Below are the details of a client who conceived this year using this method. She was also under the care of a homeopath who was helping her achieve the best possible health in order to conceive and carry a healthy baby.
Her Sun/Moon angle in her natal chart is 251 degrees disseminating. She was born with the Sun at 23 degrees Leo, and the Moon at 5 degrees Taurus. Therefore, each month when the Sun/Moon angle is at 251 degrees disseminating, this is a time when she is potentially able to conceive, if physically she is able to. I worked out the times for several months when the Sun/Moon angle was at 251 degrees each month, and until she was ready to conceive, she was able to use these dates and times to help with contraception. She conceived around the 20 March, 1998. The angle was exact at 3.30 am of this day, when the Sun was 28 degrees of Pisces, and the Moon 10 degrees of Sagittarius, so using the lunar phase cycle, implantation would had to have taken place before this time. As the Moon was in a fire sign, so there is a strong chance that the baby will be a boy.
If using the lunar phase cycle for contraception, it would be inadvisable to have unprotected sex for several days before the exact Sun/Moon angle, and up to twelve hours afterward, as the sperm can live for several days. If using the cycle for conception, implantation would be necessary during the twenty-four hours before the exact angle, in order for the sperm to reach the released egg.
An Australian naturopath, Francesca Naish has written an excellent book, which gives extensive data and detailed case studies with regard to the lunar phase cycle, and I have included the details in the bibliography. She has had great success in her naturopathic practice in Sydney, with helping clients with fertility issues, and her book is worthwhile purchasing, if you wish to investigate this subject in detail.
Bibliography
"Astrological Birth Control'' by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. Prentice Hall, N. J. 1972
"The Lunar Cycle: A guide to Natural and Astrological Fertility Control", by Francesca Naish. Prism Press, (Nature and Health Books), Great Britain, 1989.