Astrotheme
A New Approach to Astrology

The Dominant Moon: Lunar Types

Planetary Dominants: Introduction

The interpretation of a birth chart becomes more profound when it integrates several levels of complementary interpretations. Among these, planetary dominants hold a special place, offering an overall view of the personality, like a background layer or a general tone of the chart. They do not aim to describe the individual in all their details, a role reserved for the planets in signs, in houses, in dignities, or in aspects, but instead reveal a strong trend, a flavor, a general typology. This dominant can sometimes be nuanced or even contradicted by specific chart configurations, yet it retains its indicative value. However, there is no official or universally recognized method to calculate planetary dominants, and the approaches are many.

At Astrotheme, we have studied hundreds of natal charts of public figures and people close to us through our astrological practice, to design and then adjust over several months the parameters of our dominant calculation method, to achieve a result that we find highly satisfactory in the vast majority of cases. It is based on criteria of activity, quality, mastery, and angularity, weighted by the nature of the planets involved and the accuracy of the aspects.

This is the method used in the portrait in the Online Store to calculate the eleven dominants included in the report.

This new series of articles is illustrated by charts of well-known personalities, starting with the ten planetary typologies, from the Sun to Pluto. It will be followed by other series dedicated to the dominants of elements, signs, and houses.

The Dominant Moon: The Lunarians

When the Moon dominates a natal chart, it becomes the organizing principle of the personality. The relationship to the world is not primarily shaped by self-assertion or action, but by perception, emotion, and inner resonance. The Lunarian, or lunar type, is defined above all by what is felt, by the way situations are experienced from within, often with an intensity that escapes external observation.

The Dominant Moon corresponds to a rich and deeply subjective inner life. The unconscious occupies a central place, influencing reactions, choices, and behaviors without necessarily passing through rational elaboration. The Lunarian is sensitive to atmospheres, people, and contexts, and tends to respond more to what is perceived than to what is consciously decided.

On an emotional level, the Dominant Moon fosters permeability and receptivity. Emotions are fluctuating, sometimes overwhelming, and follow an irregular rhythm marked by surges and retreats. This sensitivity can nourish imagination, empathy, and creativity, but it also exposes the individual to changing moods, temporary discouragement, and a certain degree of emotional dependence.

Femininity, in its symbolic sense, lies at the heart of lunar functioning. In women, it often expresses itself through an instinctive connection to emotion, the body, and motherhood, whether literal or symbolic. In men, the Dominant Moon frequently refers to the maternal figure, the spouse, or the search for a secure emotional environment. The need to feel protected, contained, and emotionally acknowledged is essential.

In practical life, Lunarians tend to favor adaptation over initiative, and continuity over rupture. They rarely act through sheer willpower, but rather according to their inner state and emotional surroundings. This attitude can give an impression of passivity, nonchalance, or slowness, sometimes accompanied by capricious behavior or an instinctive refusal of effort when it lacks emotional justification.

From a characterological perspective, the Dominant Moon most often corresponds to the types Emotive non-Active Primary, or more rarely Non-Emotive non-Active Primary. It refers to Nervous or Amorphous profiles, often described as lymphatic, in which emotional reaction or inner inertia prevails over action. In all cases, energy is subordinated to inner experience.

Finally, the Dominant Moon does not always manifest in a visible or demonstrative manner. It may hide behind a social, artistic, or even solar image, or express itself with great discretion. It is subjectivity, sensitivity, and the intimate relationship with the world that ultimately reveal, at a deep level, the lunar nature of the chart.

Note: This article focuses on the specific topic of the dominant and does not provide a psychological analysis of the celebrity in question, for which other articles are available in the focus section.

Lewis Carroll, the Lunar Imagination and the World of Childhood

Lewis Carroll / Author: Oscar Gustave Rejlander 1863 / Public domain

A major figure of Victorian literature, Lewis Carroll offers an exemplary illustration of a Dominant Moon. His work, entirely built around childhood, dreams, and subjective logic, finds a direct echo in a chart where the Moon occupies a central place. With Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, he creates a universe in which imagination becomes an autonomous reality, governed by moods, associations of ideas, and shifts in meaning, according to a logic that is more inner than rational. Closely conjunct the Ascendant, the Moon shapes the personality in depth and imprints the perception of the world with an emotional, intuitive, and profoundly inner tone.

The Moon, located in the first house, structures identity itself. It reflects immediate sensitivity, extreme receptivity, and a way of being in the world governed by feeling rather than by will or conscious self-assertion. In Carroll's case, this configuration explains the primacy of imagination, the permeability between reality and the inner world, and a vision of life filtered through emotion, childhood, and the unconscious.

The lunar environment is reinforced by a planetary cluster in Sagittarius in the first house, including Venus and Mars, which projects the inner universe toward narrative, movement, and symbolic staging. The Moon, through its aspects to Jupiter and Pluto, amplifies this dynamic by giving it both expansive and transformative scope. Imagination is not a mere escape here, but a genuine parallel reality, structured, coherent, and fully inhabited.

Histogram of dominant planets for Lewis Carroll

Histogram of dominant planets for Lewis Carroll

The Dominant Moon in Lewis Carroll's chart therefore does not express itself through a conventional affective style, but through a permanent immersion in the world of childhood and subjectivity. It highlights a typical lunar temperament, marked by creative regression, nostalgia, and the primacy of imagination over rational logic. This strong Moon, intimately linked to identity, explains the singular nature of a body of work in which emotion, dreams, and the unconscious become the true engines of creation.

Lewis Carroll
Display the Detailed Birth Chart
Date of birth
Friday, January 27, 1832
City of birth
Daresbury (United Kingdom)
Sagittarius
Aquarius
Capricorn
Moon
Jupiter
Pluto
DominantDom. Planets
1
2
3
Fire
Air
DominantDom. Elements
6
Birth Path
Height
5' 11" (1m80) tall
Biography of Lewis Carroll (excerpt)
Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832, and died on January 14, 1898, was an English author, poet, mathematician, and photographer. He is best known for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), landmark works of Victorian literature celebrated for their imaginative fantasy, wordplay, and logical paradoxes. His time of birth comes...

You may also read the astrological portrait of Lewis Carroll.

Below is Lewis Carroll's birth chart:

Astrology: horoscope and birth chart of Lewis Carroll (Placidus) Image taken from the horoscope, birth chart and astrological portrait of Lewis Carroll, born January 27, 1832, 3:45 AM, Daresbury (United Kingdom) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12° 32' 14° 11' 59' 09' 25' 22° 57' 24° 09' 25° 40' 12° 16' 25° 07' 01' 17' 14° 03' 28° 15' 51'

Farrah Fawcett, Lunar Hypersensitivity Behind a Solar Icon

Farrah Fawcett / Author: Windmill Entertainment 12-2008 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

An emblematic figure of American popular culture in the 1970s, Farrah Fawcett offers a particularly telling illustration of a dominant Moon, despite a public image long associated with radiance, seduction, and media success. Behind this luminous appearance lies a personality largely governed by emotion, vulnerability, and a strong need for emotional recognition.

The Moon, placed in Cancer, its sign of rulership, and closely conjunct the Ascendant, occupies a central position in the chart. It directly structures the identity and colors the overall behavior. This configuration reflects marked hypersensitivity, strong emotional permeability, and a way of relating to the world based on immediate feeling rather than control or emotional distance.

The lunar dominance is reinforced by the many aspects involving the Moon, particularly its tensions with Neptune and Venus, which highlight emotional fragility, romantic disillusionment, and the difficulty of reconciling public image with intimate needs. Media exposure acts here as an emotional amplifier, making personal life even more vulnerable to projections, expectations, and external idealizations.

Histogram of dominant planets for Farrah Fawcett

Histogram of dominant planets for Farrah Fawcett

The dominant Moon in Farrah Fawcett's chart therefore does not manifest as quiet gentleness or inner reserve, but through constant exposure of sensitivity. It reveals a deeply lunar temperament, marked by emotional dependency, receptivity to others, and difficulty protecting oneself emotionally. This angular Moon, powerful yet fragile, highlights the contrast between the solar icon perceived by the public and the intimate reality of a personality governed by emotion.

Farrah Fawcett
Display the Detailed Birth Chart
Author: ABC Television
Credits:

eBay item photo front

photo back
Licence: Public domain
Date of birth
Sunday, February 2, 1947
City of birth
Corpus Christi (TX) (United States)
Cancer
Aquarius
Leo
Moon
Neptune
Mars
DominantDom. Planets
1
8
2
Water
Air
DominantDom. Elements
Chinese astrological sign
Fire Pig
7
Birth Path
Height
5' 6½" (1m69) tall
Biography of Farrah Fawcett (excerpt)
Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a starring role in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels. Fawcett began her career in the 1960s appearing in commercials and guest roles...

You may also read the astrological portrait of Farrah Fawcett.

Below is Farrah Fawcett's birth chart:

Astrology: horoscope and birth chart of Farrah Fawcett (Placidus) Image taken from the horoscope, birth chart and astrological portrait of Farrah Fawcett, born February 2, 1947, 3:10 PM, Corpus Christi (TX) (United States) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 22° 55' 33' 13° 12' 20° 47' 21° 38' 44' 17° 58' 38' 01' 49' 12° 10' 10° 41' 25° 13' 26° 28' 26° 27'

Liza Minnelli, An Inherited Moon Painfully Exposed

Liza Minnelli / Author: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA 12-2018 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)

An iconic singer and actress, Liza Minnelli provides a particularly striking example of a dominant Moon, in which emotional life, family legacy, and inner vulnerability occupy a central place. Born into a prestigious artistic lineage, she carries from an early age the weight of a filiation marked by the maternal figure, a key element of lunar symbolism.

The Moon, placed in Cancer, its sign of rulership, and located in the fourth house, emphasizes the importance of roots, home, and emotional memory. Conjunct Saturn and Mars, it reflects a sensitivity that is both intense and heavily burdened, marked by constraint, emotional frustration, and difficulty finding a lasting sense of inner security. This configuration explains a deep fragility, often masked by the energy of performance and the demands of the stage.

The very tight conjunction of the Moon with the IC highlights the constant tension between private life and public exposure. career becomes a space where inner conflicts are projected, with external recognition compensating, yet never fully soothing, emotional deficits and past wounds. The dominant Moon manifests here through an alternation between emotional dependency and a strong need for control.

Histogram of dominant planets for Liza Minnelli

Histogram of dominant planets for Liza Minnelli

In Liza Minnelli's chart, the dominant Moon expresses itself neither through gentleness nor restraint, but through permanent emotional intensity. It sheds light on a destiny shaped by memory, lineage, and the difficulty of detaching from fundamental emotional bonds. This powerful Moon, both nurturing and constraining, stands as one of the essential driving forces behind her creativity as well as her personal ordeals.

Liza Minnelli
Display the Detailed Birth Chart
Author: Creative Management Associates (CMA)
Credits: eBay item photo front photo back
Licence: Public domain
Date of birth
Tuesday, March 12, 1946
City of birth
Los Angeles (CA) (United States)
Cancer
Aries
Taurus
Moon
Saturn
Mars
DominantDom. Planets
12
4
3
Water
Earth
DominantDom. Elements
Chinese astrological sign
Fire Dog
8
Birth Path
Height
5' 4" (1m63) tall
Biography of Liza Minnelli (excerpt)
Liza Minnelli, born on March 12, 1946, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her powerful voice and stage presence, she has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and four Tony Awards, achieving an honorary EGOT. The daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, she made her Broadway debut in 1963 and won her first Tony Award in 1965. Her iconic role...

You may also read the astrological portrait of Liza Minnelli.

Below is Liza Minnelli's birth chart:

Astrology: horoscope and birth chart of Liza Minnelli (Placidus) Image taken from the horoscope, birth chart and astrological portrait of Liza Minnelli, born March 12, 1946, 7:58 AM, Los Angeles (CA) (United States) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 46' 19° 21' 21° 29' 01' 01' 18' 13° 35' 26° 01' 16° 06' 18° 00' 19° 08' 47' 28° 58' 41' 26° 03'

Joni Mitchell, An Exposed and Creative Lunar Sensitivity

Joni Mitchell / Author: Creator:Shawn Miller / Library of Congress 03-2023 / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)

A major singer-songwriter and performer on the North American scene, Joni Mitchell embodies a particularly expressive dominant Moon, in which emotional life and subjectivity directly nourish creation. Her work, deeply autobiographical, is based on a constant exploration of moods, emotional relationships, and inner movements, turning emotion into a primary artistic material.

The Moon, placed in Pisces and conjunct the Midheaven, occupies a strong angular position, closely linking vocation with sensitivity. This configuration reflects a public exposure of the intimate, where career becomes a direct extension of emotional life. Creativity is fueled here by hypersensitivity, fertile imagination, and an ability to grasp the most subtle nuances of inner experience.

The many challenging aspects involving the Moon, notably with Mars, Saturn, and Venus, highlight a permanent tension between the need for fusion, emotional demands, and a sense of lack. This emotional instability, far from hindering artistic expression, constitutes its primary driving force. It encourages lucid and sometimes painful writing, where fragility becomes a source of truth and authenticity.

Histogram of dominant planets for Joni Mitchell

Histogram of dominant planets for Joni Mitchell

In Joni Mitchell's chart, the dominant Moon does not retreat into the private sphere, but fully exposes itself in the public space through her work. It reveals a profoundly lunar temperament, marked by receptivity, subjectivity, and the ability to transform emotion into conscious creation. This angular, sensitive, and inspired Moon sheds light on the coherence of an artistic path in which the intimate becomes universal.

Joni Mitchell
Display the Detailed Birth Chart
Author: David Leyes
Credits: Own work
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Date of birth
Sunday, November 7, 1943
City of birth
Fort MacLeod, Alberta (Canada)
Pisces
Scorpio
Gemini
Moon
Neptune
Venus
DominantDom. Planets
10
4
5
Water
Air
DominantDom. Elements
Chinese astrological sign
Water Goat
8
Birth Path
Height
5' 6" (1m68) tall
Biography of Joni Mitchell (excerpt)
Joni Mitchell, born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943, is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. Emerging from the 1960s folk scene, she became renowned for her deeply personal lyrics and unconventional compositions blending folk, pop, jazz, and rock. She has won eleven Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in...

You may also read the astrological portrait of Joni Mitchell.

Below is Joni Mitchell's birth chart:

Astrology: horoscope and birth chart of Joni Mitchell (Placidus) Image taken from the horoscope, birth chart and astrological portrait of Joni Mitchell, born November 7, 1943, 10:00 PM, Fort MacLeod, Alberta (Canada) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 10° 08' 22° 27' 24° 36' 43' 21° 21' 25° 51' 19° 52' 45' 11° 12' 25° 05' 56' 28° 29' 18' 13° 28' 14° 53'

Some examples of Moon-dominant charts

Below are some examples of personalities whose chart features a Moon dominant above 20%.

Personality Moon Dominant Rodden
Francis Cabrel 33.36 % AA
Ramana Maharshi 31.95 % B
Farrah Fawcett 31.52 % AA
Srinivasa Ramanujan 29.49 % B
Joni Mitchell 27.20 % A
Salvador Dali 26.72 % AA
Gabriel Attal 26.33 % AA
Bill Gates 25.45 % A
Roman Polanski 25.43 % AA
Tyra Banks 25.16 % AA
Laetitia Casta 24.80 % AA
Valentino (stylist) 24.29 % AA
Valery Giscard d'Estaing 23.57 % AA
Mariah Carey 22.93 % B
Booba (rapper) 22.38 % AA
Sigourney Weaver 22.16 % AA
Lewis Carroll 21.95 % B
Travis Barker 21.90 % AA
Fergie (singer) 21.85 % AA
Simon Le Bon 21.84 % A
Adam Lambert 21.80 % A
Liza Minnelli 21.26 % AA
Carla Bruni Sarkozy 21.23 % AA
Courtney Love 21.19 % AA
Mel Gibson 20.99 % B
Fernando Pessoa 20.65 % AA
Natalie Wood 20.49 % AA
Keith Richards 20.46 % A
Gwen Stefani 20.38 % AA
Chelsea Handler 20.30 % A
David Lynch 20.28 % AA
Nathalie Baye 20.20 % AA
Bernard Arnault 20.17 % AA
Emily Deschanel 20.12 % AA
Anitta (singer) 20.12 % B
Rami Malek 20.10 % AA
Chet Baker 20.07 % AA
Dominique de Villepin 20.02 % AA