The Moon's sign and house placement symbolizes and affects our attitude and choices of food, our endocrine system and basic hormonal state. Hormones activate energy systems that affect new growth or new behaviors.
The Moon encompasses or contains. There is an ebb and flow to the Moon's behavior like the tides, and best understood by the Moon's placement in a house or position in the wheel, in certain signs, and in particular phase relationship with the Sun. The Moon represents what we take into our whole selves as nourishment; physical, mental, emotional, and environmental nourishment. On a simple level, the Moon represents the liquids and solid foods we take into our body.
The Moon's placement by transit strongly influences digestive processes and appetite. Several times during the month it is the Moon's nature to cleanse out the liquids of the body; i.e., the blood and lymph fluids.
When the Moon is in the sign of Pisces, there is a tendency to take in and let go easily, and we are naturally attracted to more watery and less calorically substantial foods. This allows a greater expenditure of energy toward cleansing and a lesser expenditure toward building.
When the Moon is transiting the 12th house of an individual's chart is also a cleansing time, and our appetite tends to diminish a bit. Our digestive power is in the opposite of it's natural 6th house, and therefore weakened. We can feel tired and sluggish if we try by habit to eat as much as when the Moon is in other houses.
When the Moon is in the dark phase, (the whole sign before the New Moon of the month), we are also in a natural cleansing phase. This is usually noticed as a period of two to four days duration.
When several of these placements are happening at the same time, the tendency to clean out is accelerated. Many people are aware intuitively of these natural fluctuations, but the Western culture does not teach how to follow these natural tendencies.
down, or a sad thought, or some person or situation that was given away or let go. This should give us a hint as to what our bodies naturally want to do; let go of some of the old habits, and a bit extra of worn out cells. When we are willing and actively releasing both old beliefs and old cellular debris, then we can almost concurrently be open to great inspiration.
Starting a diet when the Moon is in one of the letting-go phases or signs is easier and more natural than doing so during an initiating or building phase or placement. Following the natural rhythms of the Moon's transits inclines the body toward normalization, or an optimal weight range for the individual.
To understand on an emotional level, imagine trying to clean a very messy room while continually bringing in boxes full of items to place in the room. It just becomes more messy and harder to organize. Every unnecessary item removed lightens the environment and makes the organization go smoother.
Individual chart variations do affect the particular tendencies of appetite even more, but are part of a more comprehensive work on diet and weight. In addition, a cleansing and building process is always going on in the body, but we are talking about the subtle variations that we can become more in tune with, for a greater feeling of harmony.