I have just heard for the first time of a phenomenon called the “Lunar Standstill,” which evidently peaked on July 23. Although there seem to be many resources on the astronomical configuration (I refer you to Wikipedia for the technical astronomical explanations) I was not able to find much from astrologers.

One resource I found says that the Lunar Standstill occurs when the ascending note passes from Aries to Pisces, which last occurred in 1987 and which I reviewed in an earlier article. The Lunar Standstill seems to have been important to many ancient cultures; it is visible in only in northern latitudes, but there is some evidence that the Mayans aligned their temples to this event. It does make sense to me that the larger moon cycles would have a powerful effect on humans, just as the normal 28-day lunation cycle does, but what can we expect? It’s always useful to look back in history to learn what we might encounter during planetary events.

1987 marked the Iran Contra scandal in the US government, the first Palestinian intifada, hurricanes in the UK, the crash of the stock market and the so-called “Harmonic Convergence.” The previous event lunar standstill event took place in 1969, another time of great cultural change. During that year the SDS took over Harvard University, sparking protests against the war across the US, the Stonewall riots marked the beginning of the gay rights movement, the Woodstock and Altamont festivals celebrated the peak and fall of the hippie generation, and ongoing war between Egypt and Israel planted the seeds of AlQaeda, most of whose senior members are Egyptian.

Richard Nolle wrote last year,”Years when there’s an extreme maximum lunar declination tend to have extreme seismic and meteorological disturbances, and as I indicated a couple years ago, we’re in one now.” (His article is a bit steeped in fear and not for the squeamish, but his research is exceptional.) Nolle compares the current Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune cycle to a period back in 535 of an identical configuration that occurred during the lunar standstill, during which the volcano Krakatoa erupted and caused major climate and cultural changes. He fails to mention that Saturn was exactly conjunct Uranus at the time, which thank the gods is not what we have here. However, his point that since last year when the lunar standstill began (culminating in March through September of 2006 depending upon your location) we have seen a major change in climate as well as economic factors that are certain to leave lasting effects.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Jonathan Cainer with a much friendlier article. He writes, “At the peak of a Lunar Standstill, the Moon exudes a special kind of energy. Mystical places have the power to draw down and capture this, rather like aerials, picking up a radio transmission. They then amplify the signal and ‘rebroadcast’ it along the secret lines of power that connect these ancient ‘sacred sites’”. Cainer continues, “According to tradition, Lunar Standstills re-energise these ley lines, causing them to widen dramatically and to send out a much stronger signal. For a few months in the middle of this year, the entire grid will broaden out until it becomes a blanket of energy, covering every inch of the land. “

Here is is a great site with more astronomical information than you ever need to know about this phenomenon, and this article discusses the Standstill at the ancient site of Callanish and other ancient cultures.

Other significant planetary events were in play during the Lunar Standstills of 1969 and 1987, but there is no doubt that these years were major turning points in the global culture. There is no doubt that we are standing now at the precipice of change, and perhaps we will look back on 2006 as we do 1969 and 1987, and note that this was the turning point.