Category Archives: Full Moon

Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn 4 July 2020 A Volatile Choice

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See the forecast for the 3rd here–

The Full Moon perfects at 9:43 PM PDT of the 4th at 13 Capricorn 37–and just so happens to be a Lunar eclipse, the third and final eclipse of the recent set. We see an enormous concentration of energies in Capricorn right now, which contains the Moon, Earth, Pallas, Pluto, Jupiter, and Saturn, the latter at 29 tense degrees (with the Saturn situation suggesting real-world pressures from which we can’t escape). The thing about this is that the Sun, arbiter of where our attention goes, of what’s in the spotlight, is in Cancer, emphasizing our emotions, our connections to others, and matters of care and nurture; add to this that the Sun is only two minutes from perfection conjoining Vesta at the time of the eclipse, and we see that what occurs with this Full Moon will occur in the real-world (Capricorn, Saturn) even as our attention is on intangibles, feelings, and the ‘comfort and care’ picture (Cancer). We have emotion, then, on both ends of the eclipse axis, with the involvement of Cancer and of course the Moon. It also suggests that we will be striving to operate at the level of our highest values and commitments (Vesta)–and that may offer an added layer of stress as we try to meet our own high standards.

Illustration by John D Batten for “Indian Fairy Tales” edited by Joseph Jacobs, 1892 {{PD}}

We’ll set our orbs to ‘generous’, as that gives us a dynamic picture of eclipse events. There’s a sextile to Ceres, a trine to Uranus, and a sesquiquadrate to Sedna, which implies easy personal expression of authority or a ‘mothering’ attitude (which may include overstepping those personal bounds), an urge to spontaneity, originality, and inventiveness, and difficulty ‘hearing’ the instincts or in seeing our own blind spot. So, a great deal of progressive, get-to-it energy focused on those we care about or have dominion over, coupled with an inability to adequately hear our own inner dialogue.

And what sets all this off? A Cardinal Grand Cross formed by the eclipse Earth-Moon opposition to the Sun-Vesta, crossed by a very close opposition of Chiron to Juno, which, though it sits ‘behind’ the eclipse by degree, implies that a recent (and possibly ongoing) wound to the autonomy or empowerment situation ‘blossoms’ with the eclipse contact. This suggests the trigger to authority expression, boundary leaping, spontaneity, and lack of touch with instinct and our own weaknesses is seated in this recent hurt, and that it creates an unsolvable emotional dilemma: do we honor our feelings about the situation (especially its material aspects–Moon-Earth; that is, do we honor the wound?), or do we honor the call to be our ‘best Self’ via elevation of those highest and most refined facets of our identity and commitments (Sun-Vesta)?

‘Bergziegen (Mountain Goat)’ By Franz Marc 1913 {{PD}}

That’s the choice, and it won’t be an easy one in the moment, in spite of how it may appear an easy choice when laid out like this, pre-eclipse. The Sabian for the eclipse is, ‘An Ancient Bas-Relief Carved In Granite Remains A Witness To A Long-Forgotten Culture’. This may best be illuminated in light of the Sun and Vesta’s Sabian at this time as it ‘fills in’ the axis and provides the literal illumination of the eclipse scenario itself, ‘A Very Old Man Facing A Vast Dark Space To The Northeast’. In both images we are presented with ‘witnesses to history’, to what may have disappeared or been forgotten, lost in the darkness, and this may relate to the triggering wound set off by the eclipse, a hurt that we, or those who inflicted it, may have tried to consign to the shadows. Our blind spot also resides in our internal darkness, out of our sight, and may as well figure in to what occurs.

There’s an interesting aside in the way that a chart drawn for the Northern Hemisphere assigns the direction of northeast to the 3rd House (this is something we need to know in horary, for instance, when trying to locate an object using a chart). This House describes all kinds of communication, local interactions, our neighbors and siblings (and the oldest sibling, in particular), and the act of writing. This may hint that the eclipse involves one or more of these elements, and certainly suggests that our experience will be as much lived in interaction with the world as it is an internal event, seen only by us. Some situation that has caused us pain may be resolved–or may act to blow things up–but in either case, brings a kind of ending or denouement to an emotionally volatile scenario.

 

 

Lunar Eclipse 5 June 2020 A Crucible Moment

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By Jeff Keyzer from San Francisco, CA, USA – Open House at the CrucibleUploaded by PDTillman, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7065256

I heard someone the other day refer to current times as a “crucible moment”, and immediately thought of all the big gun combinations we’ve been subjected to, the dance of Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter, Uranus in Taurus bringing sudden shifts in the material realm and in personal assets and personal responsibilities, Neptune in his own sign manufacturing a fog so thick it’s making it hard to navigate, hard to trust others and, it’s so hard to see, we don’t really trust ourselves, either. Now add an eclipse in Sagittarius that threatens the very facts that underpin our reality, threatens to wipe out accumulated knowledge or our faith, and even threatens to make us dismiss our shared humanity by making us think 1) people are animals (Sagittarius, where the Lunar eclipse will land, happens to be the sign of large animals), 2) animals are part of Nature, and 3) Nature is against us (Covid-19, an assault by a natural invisible, Mars–assault–at the midpoint of Ceres–Nature–and Neptune–toxins, poisons, infectious diseases), and so 4) others must be against us, too (the death of George Floyd, among many others, is entirely too real an example of the extension of this fear to the point others are seen as not human; think also of the gassing of peaceful protesters so that the President could have a photo op, treating them as less than). The thing is, bad as the disparate parts are, they don’t lead, one to the other; that’s a fallacy. Our minds want to connect the dots, but the dots don’t exist in relation to each other, in spite of the way a susceptible consciousness might see them as related.

A crucible is a vessel that allows something to be subjected to high temperatures. Let something burn in a crucible too long, it becomes ash or evaporates; you lose or render useless the contents if you subject it to high temps with no end point. And we as human Souls may feel as if we’ve been in a crucible for much much too long, a heated environment of fear and legitimate threat from many sources that makes it difficult to grasp the facts, and to think of others as truly human. This eclipse may help.

Saturn is the container, analogous to our bodies and our realities, in both instances, something that surrounds the spirit, that contains us. Pluto is the process, in this case a transformation through a journey to hell and back, one that long-term breaks down all that has made us feel secure (Capricorn). Jupiter is both the indisputable facts, and the social element. These sit within a 7 degree span in Capricorn, with Saturn in Aquarius but retrograde and slated to re-enter the sign of the Sea Goat. Add to this Pallas, symbol of wisdom, practicality, useful skills, at 29 tense degrees of Capricorn, and we see the stress that our intelligence is under (and this is magnified by Saturn suppressing the intellect in Cappy). The proximity of these bodies to one another may give us the impression that they’re working in concert, but they aren’t; we may even be prone to characterize them as having a kind of consciousness, as if they’re deliberately getting together and making chaos, aided by the Neptunian fog and Uranian erraticism. The reality is each body does its own thing, while we look for the connections and the reasons why, and come up empty (if we’re relatively rational) or clutching a handful of conspiracy theories (if we’re too Neptune susceptible). These energies collide but have no intent, make for some synergies that we may interpret as purposeful, and so are the background against which this Lunar eclipse forms.

The eclipse occurs at 12:12 PM PDT at 15 Sagittarius 34 of the 5th. It makes a close square to Mars, a trine to the Black Moon Lilith point, and opposes Venus which is still retro and moving away from her recent rendezvous with the Sun. Here’s our connection to those bigger, broader social energies: the eclipse is semi-square both Saturn and Pallas, and novile Jupiter. A Lunar eclipse is a Full Moon, with all the promise of conclusions, endings, and peaks that a FM carries, with the added eclipse propensity to sweep away, to cause a re-set, to re-align, to disturb, to upset the status quo.

The eclipse may trigger anger and aggression, and a big need to make ‘I Am’ statements (Mars square), but why? Because we easily funnel what we have been agreeing to ignore or deny into consciousness–it pesters us, won’t let us rest–along with all the rage over injustices we’ve tamped down (trine Black Moon Lilith). We’re feeling removed from caring about what we usually value, distant from a prevailing sense of Love and relationship (Venus opp and retro), and this sets the stage for personal anger looking for an outlet–and it finds it in the irritating and threatening circumstances surrounding the reality picture (Saturn) and a sense of outrage that what’s wise isn’t being done, and is now at a breaking point (29 degree Pallas). And who receives our anger? The larger social order (Jupiter)–but wait, it might not be all bad (the novile), because what we may see is expansion of the energy of the eclipse ruler, the facts and faith finally bringing some sense of justice, of right.

The Sabian for the eclipse is, ‘Sea Gulls Fly Around A Ship In Expectation Of Food’. The eclipse may spark anticipatory energy, the expectation of a better social order within a better world, shaped from all this pain and suffering and from the Love and wisdom we normally feel much more pure a connection to, that we naturally carry inside.

It’s our crucible moment only in the sense that we are at a point when we can take things from the heat, when we can use the contents of our experience to make something new, to forge something better, and offer this to the world. So, what have the months and years forged in you?

 

 

Full Moon in Scorpio 7 May 2020

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‘The Path in the Wood’ By Hugo Darnaut 1884 {{PD}}

We have a Full Moon on 7 May at 3:45 AM PDT at 17 Scorpio 20. The Full Moon noviles Juno, opposes Mercury, trines Neptune, and quincunxes the combo of Vesta-Hygeia. A Full Moon brings conclusions, endings, big reveals, or makes it apparent that a situation will go no farther. We may see a definitive end or just a stall that makes us think things might go on–but they won’t, and we may not quite believe it at the time. Hope may spring eternal, but the Lunar cycle (usually) tells us what has matured and so we can turn our attention elsewhere; it also informs as to what’s just over, with or without our consent.

The most difficult thing about FM events is that it can be tough to see in the moment what is a true ending and what is merely a plateau, with this latter specifically making us think things will get rolling again, when they instead may refuse to develop any further, leaving us in a state of limbo that we may not immediately recognize as a prompt to turn to something else/ something new. This Moon’s placement in Scorpio points to at least some of the meaning of the event being hidden or obscured, from ourselves by ourselves (for our own safety, or so that we can stand to go forward with something we’d otherwise run away from) or by others, for any of the various reasons others keep things from us. And, there’s the potential for us to fail to recognize that current events may actually be prompting us to start something new, or to look elsewhere for what we have been getting from the present situation. So, we may mistake this for a pause, misreading it as a delay because of something we imagine or that we’re unable to see or understand via the ease with which a Neptune trine obscures, when it’s really time to move on and not look back, in no-nonsense Scorpionic Plutonian style.

Let’s look at each aspect, one at a time. The novile to Juno promises that the Lunar event will reveal clever, unique, and highly inventive ways to empower ourselves. Empowerment is a broad term, but we know it when we see it–or do we? Part of what a Scorpio Full Moon may offer is a new way of looking at the power situation, and this time we have the potential to see some truly genius ways of getting some for ourselves–that is, if we can cut through the Neptunian fog or distraction. The need to keep this in mind can’t be overstated: we must assume there’s something we’re not entirely aware of at the time of the Full Moon. Just knowing something is slipping outside the grasp of the conscious mind should be enough to help us navigate events–but of course, we’d all like to be completely conscious of conditions, wouldn’t we?

Three days before the Full Moon we have the Superior Conjunction of the Sun and Mercury, which is the meeting of the two bodies during Merc’s direct phase, and by the time of the Full Moon Mercury is still within orb of opposition to the Moon-Earth combination. This suggests that what was revealed or came to fruition at the SC by the FM stands separate from Lunar implications. It’s as if what was central on Monday (the day of the SC) has somehow become much less so by the Full Moon. Since Mercury is in Taurus, this could translate as thoughts, approaches, or ideas that seemed practical, grounded, comforting, that suddenly don’t seem to be enough, in some important sense. That kind of discovery can be a bit disorienting, and so leave us open to the Neptunian distraction–or to the Neptunian creative surge.

And speaking of that Neptune, in connection to the Lunar event, we could be inspired by a wave of feeling energy, spiritually or artistically, or have pointed out to us our weak spots, those places where we are addressing reality with fantasy or the impractical. The House Neptune is currently transiting is a prime spot delineating the possible subjects through which we experience Neptune’s effect, as is any natal energies and/ or the House(s) these rule in the natal chart that are currently aspected by Neptune.

The Full Moon also makes a quincunx to conjoined Vesta and Hygeia. This suggests adjustment, especially emotional adjustment, to the need to honor our own health. Quarantine fatigue is real, and as someone said, it seems as if we’re right around the 64th of March. This is the point when renewing our commitment to behave in healthy ways for both our own and others’ benefit is paramount–and this aspect may remind us just how much relies on our own responsible behavior.

The Sabian for the Moon-Earth meeting is, ‘A Path Through Woods Brilliant With Multicolored Splendor’. We can see the way ahead of us, see which direction we need to go–if we’re honest with ourselves their will be no confusion about moving forward. A more literal idea of getting out in Nature is beneficial; Scorpio is a sign of renewal, regeneration, and re-birth, so a connection to growing, living things shouldn’t be overlooked as a way to refresh and replenish. Too, our task may be to appreciate the variety that surrounds us, and the journey itself, now more than ever.

We also look at the Sun, source of the Moon’s illumination, for a Full Moon. ‘A Woman Airing An Old Bag Through The Open Window Of Her Room’. The only reason for someone to air an old bag is to be able to re-use it. This image perhaps points toward the need to be more conscious of our resources, of what we discard too easily, what we re-use again and again, and what we think we need new and shiny when we might not need it at all. We are humans, and therefore we consume, so there’s no shame in it, but greater awareness in what and how much we use can only be a good thing.

See notes on the 4th, 5th, and 6th here–

Libra Full Moon 7 April 2020 An Impetus to Action

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

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‘Moonrise’ By George Inness 1887 {{PD}}

Just a few notes about today, to add to the Full Moon influence:

It doesn’t take a genius (or even an astrologer!) to tell you that change, and the need to take action (even if that action is a withholding, a form of ‘sheltering-in-place’, physical, psychic, or otherwise) are the order of the day. The thing is, change is happening and much of it is outside our control; that means that in order to not just cope, but to thrive, we need to exercise as much control within our own purview as we possibly can. Repeatedly, studies have shown that taking even small actions in situations where we are largely helpless can give us a sense of empowerment, and can bolster our immune system as well as our mental and emotional health, and so help us survive–and in this case, the current astrological picture supports this approach whole-heartedly.

Embrace the reality of things (we don’t do ourselves any favors right now living in a fantasy or pretending that we can just go on in the same ways as always), and act based on facts and within the restrictions of the situation–obvious, but easy to forget when anxiety takes over. Focus should be in two areas: making changes to enhance health (obvs!) and listening to the instinctual, the unspoken, and making the effort to read between the lines, figuratively speaking, and then be willing to see the import of what’s not there, not stated, not coming forward. That’s where both information and empowerment on a personal level lie.

Stay safe, have a lovely Full Moon!

Full Moon in Libra April 2020 An Impetus to Action

04 Saturday Apr 2020

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‘Amor Holding a Glass Orb’ By Caesar van Everdingen c1660 {{PD}}

The Full Moon occurs at 7:34 PM PDT of the 7th at 18 Libra 43, and the immediately striking thing is that so many of the potential aspects have a wide orb. With that in mind, I’ll discuss those toward which the Moon will be moving to perfect contact; those that are past perfection won’t be included (unless still within a 2 degree margin), simply because in symbolic terms the wider margin and separating contact suggest what’s already past, not what’s coming. When the orb is smaller (that is within my normal consideration range of 2 and in some cases 3 degrees), applying or separating won’t hold so much weight, as I consider it as part of the current Full Moon picture.

The emphasis on Cardinal contact made by this Cardinal Moon can’t be over stated, and neither can the prominence of the Air element. This is a Moon that brings mental activity to a peak, and that in some way forces action. Out of the endings around relationships, contacts, partnerships, cooperative efforts, aesthetic efforts, and those who surround us or make up our audience, come the beginnings of new associations, and a new imperative to act, maybe in ways that create or reflect major change, especially if change has come to the ‘facts’ of the situation (this showing the strong influence of the Moon moving toward square of Jupiter-Pluto). What conclusions we draw, or what speaks to us now, brings urgency to the feeling nature, propelling us to do or think differently than we do now.

We’ll start with the closest aspect: a sesquiquadrate of the Moon-Earth combo to Venus. As ruler of the Full Moon, Venus connects through her placement in Air (Gemini), but the aspect itself implies difficult circumstances, possibly ones where what we like or assess as worthy is shown by a Full Moon conclusion to be less than we think. This may pertain to relationships, finances, or values, but will certainly cause emotional disquiet about with whom to share or partner. What’s revealed is that our stance in this regard has been taken largely for emotional reasons–and now the impact of that stance comes clear.

The Full Moon is heading toward squares to Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn, both just over 6 degrees from perfection, which tells us how closely Jupiter and Pluto remain conjoined. This may suggest that the Full Moon reveals the true depth of this combo’s impact on our relationships, partnerships, and to those with whom we share and cooperate. We see the ways problems here may be inescapable, and may see interactions shut down, confined, restricted, or irrevocably transformed or changed. The emotional impact of the pairing is revealed through difficult circumstances or difficult interactions; feelings may be raw, but politely hidden or acted out through passive aggression, since Libra can’t bear to be seen as impolite!

The Full Moon also quincunxes Neptune in its own sign of Pisces, suggesting perhaps that our dreams will have to accommodate FM changes/ realities, or that we must let go of a delusion or two, as the need for action or different thinking just can’t accommodate what’s blatantly untrue or based in fantasy. The need to adjust may show as a need to let go of what’s not seated in reality, or in the need to adjust the dreams or goals to better fit revelations delivered by Full Moon endings.

The Moon and Earth are also heading toward a trine to Ceres in Aquarius. Ah, Mother Nature again, this time facilitating or making what must stop or conclude with this Moon quite obvious, and in a way, easy. She’s handing us the ability to understand in an academic sense; that means we still have time to deal with all she’s been showing us. Those who understand Nature, who accept its power, and recognize its authority, will look for ways to cooperate with Her–everyone else may fall victim in some form, insisting that Humans can conquer anything. No, not for long, we can’t, and it may be time to pay the piper. Approach the natural world with respect, or have the results taken out of our hands.

And lastly, the FM will meet up with (and should be considered conjoined already) to Zeus. This pulls focus toward the personal ambition and desire nature, showing an emotional culmination around the way forward and our own fulfillment.

Well, this hardly seems like a fair match. A Gang of Robbers Attack a Woman, Artist Unknown, 15th century {{PD}}

The Full Moon Sabian is, ‘A Gang Of Robbers In Hiding’. Is that the ‘hidden’ impact of Jupiter-Pluto, waiting to hit us emotionally with this Moon? Or is it humanity, having stolen from Mother Nature and the natural order, now hoping to get away with it? Or is this symbolic of something we’ve been hiding from ourselves, something we’ve been dishonest about, not wanting to admit its true impact? To whom does our world belong, and does this image suggest overreach, that now brings an emotional (and perhaps material) conclusion?

We also look at the Sabian for the Sun with a Full Moon: ‘The “Magic Carpet” Of Oriental Imagery’. Maybe what we’ll see at this Full Moon is the result of so much wishful thinking engaged in, so much indulgence in the idea that we can magically ‘escape’ our own actions or conduct. I think this Moon will tell us No, we really can’t.

 

Leo Full Moon 8 February 2020 Call and Response

07 Friday Feb 2020

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‘A Bather (Echo)’ By Jean-Jacques Henner 1881 {{PD}}

The Full Moon in Leo occurs at 11:33 PM PST at 20 Leo 00, sextile Zeus-Juno, square Vesta, and sesquiquadrate the South Node. These are contacts that wouldn’t even show up in most charts set to calculate only the ‘classic’ major bodies and points–so what does that say? Maybe it implies that what culminates here is subtle, and let’s face it, subtle isn’t a vibe that Leo does easily. Conclusions or endings arriving today may be, quite suddenly, dumped in our laps, presented as fait accompli, something we must just accept, no matter how we feel about it. That can make for major surprises delivered quietly, with a wink and a nod and a sudden twist of the entire landscape. We could feel ambushed, with delight or with upset, stunned in a way that on the outside is liable to be mild, even barely perceptible to others, but that inside re-shapes our outlook, or our entire world.

The sextile to Zeus-Juno in Libra points toward a resolution around ambitions and desires, and so a change (or cementing in place) to status and empowerment modes. If you have something at 19-22 Pisces in the natal chart, you may get a message delivered as clearly as a weather vane indicates the direction of the approaching storm, a sudden drop in pressure pulling in an answer to your goal or power situation represented by the Pisces natal energy or point. It acts as apex to a Finger of God; people who experience this may feel the whole thing is out of their hands, happening to them, rather than being at least nominally driven by their choices.

The square to Vesta may show us how and where our commitments and priorities clash with the demands of our own emotions or with our intuition. We have to ask: are we in conflict because we need to modify our stated values, because they don’t actually represent who we are, or is it that we fear what those values will be bringing us? Our reaction may spring, at least in part, from unpleasant experiences of the past, ones we link, consciously or not, with current events. Don’t be afraid to examine these issues at this time; the Leo energy of a Full Moon promises that we have a strong grip on identity, and though we may be surprised by our feelings, they aren’t alien to us, but instead easily traced to their origins. They hold recognizable shapes, and the FM may require we measure them for accuracy, ‘fit’, and appropriateness to our values, and vice versa, measure our values to see how we truly feel about them.

The Sabian for the Full Moon falls precisely on the degree without any minutes, meaning we read 20 Leo: ‘Zuni Indians Perform A Ritual To The Sun’. The symbol for the Sun, which we always inspect for clues as to the origins of the Full Moon light, is, ‘A Large White Dove Bearing A Message’. Taken together they make a kind of Cosmic call and response, a ritual ‘cris de coeur‘ to the source of all life, and the answer that is given. Whatever happens for the Full Moon, make sure you pay attention–this is energy put out into the Universe by the Soul, and that means what comes back to us has a great deal to say about who we are, and where we’re headed.

Lunar Eclipse January 2020

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse, Retrogrades + Directions, Sabian Symbols, Sun/Mercury Superior Conjunction, Uranus

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Lunar Eclipse, from ‘Kitab al-Tafhim’ By Al-Biruni c1000 {{PD}}

The Lunar eclipse begins at 11:21 AM PST January 10th at 20 Cancer 00. An eclipse, Solar or Lunar, is an energy disruptor, with the Lunar being oriented toward endings, conclusions, denouement, resolutions, outcomes, final denials, or the finishing of one period so that a new one can begin. That’s what can be confusing about eclipses: the endings hold the seeds of beginnings, and the beginnings contain some finality. We couldn’t have one without the other, and sometimes its nearly impossible to tell in the moment whether what’s happening is the end to something, or the beginning to something else–but in some way, it’s likely both.

This Lunar eclipse in Cancer suggests we may stop caring about something or someone that had been important to us, or may withdraw nurturing from someone or something we have previously sustained, or one or both of these may happen to us, as someone else turns their concern in another direction. This sounds negative, but is really about finding the ending inherent in any relationship, which allows psychic ‘room’ for a new start. It may be felt more as a shift than an ending/ beginning, a movement of intention, especially supportive attention, to a different subject, and may show the end point of an old attention goal, the start of a new attention goal, or both.

The eclipse is involved in three major energy ‘clusters’: a T-square involving a loose conjunction of Juno and Zeus as the arm of the T, with Sun et al. as the balance; the opposition as its own dynamic, enhanced beyond the usual Full Moon opposition to the Sun by inclusion of Ceres, Saturn, Mercury, and Pluto; and the final a grab bag with a pair of individual contacts, possibly less strident in expression but no less significant, a wide, separating trine to Neptune in Pisces, and a very close but separating sesquiquadrate to Mars in Sagittarius.

This eclipse coincides with the Superior Conjunction of Sun and Mercury, with both semi-square Mars and mirroring the complementary aspect to the ones made by the eclipse–and of course, opposed the Full Moon itself. The Sun and Mercury are also conjoined by Ceres, Pluto, and Saturn, making for an intense grouping gathered within a less than three degrees span. In the context of the eclipse, this may suggest powerful forces that combine to create the eclipse effect–but this may not be an accurate perception. It may instead be a seminal perception, one that causes some mildly difficult actions and choices that bring forward another ending, this one initially planted at the Inferior Conjunction and now coming to fruition.

L’éclipse, acquaforta, by Félix Bracquemond, in Sonnets et eaux-fortes, Paris, 1869 {{PD}}

Here’s the thing: amidst the cacophony of endings and beginnings, the Saturn-Pluto meeting likely already will have set in motion a serious and permanent change dynamic keyed to Capricornian institutions, structures, rules, authority figures, power figures, the status quo, and generally pushing strongly and persistently toward breaking down the old order, the old construct, the old power balance, with ‘old’ simply suggesting ‘established’, and it should take both a personal version (related to natal contacts and/ or the House subjects where the eclipse falls in the natal chart) and a larger societal one that you personally become aware of and observe. There may be no telling one change from another.

Too, don’t expect total destruction; this could instead resurrect things, especially things surrounding what we believed already dead, as new life in a new form is breathed into them, supplanting the old order, but not with anything new. In so many ways, that’s a horrifying thought. There’s even the chance that current power situations are cemented in place, with change only in the surface appearance, if at all, the prevailing power structure firmly fixed.

The presence of Ceres suggests Nature has her say, or that our connection to the natural world undergoes a time in the Underworld and is then brought into our reality, our Beingness forever altered by the experience (an illness or near-death event, mourning, an experience of grief, an encounter with the unseen, a spiritual event, a birth, an encounter with a ‘ghost’, any real-world happening that plunges us into awareness of the unseen and the pattern of life-death-life). Or it could be that we see real-world authority change right before our eyes, transforming into something Other. No matter what, we’ll find out something about our own place in things, and about the reach and extent of our power to make change, and this in many ways could be a double-edged sword.

The difficult thing is that all this change, upheaval, transformation, and re-birth acts as a full throttle background to the eclipse; that’s where we may get the idea that the eclipse is the source, but the eclipse is only our emotional response, and so contains any changes prompted by that response. We react to the power situations, personal and in the wider sphere, and either communicate or receive messages that have been some time in the making.

The T-square suggests that in the course of all this power examination and potential upheaval we see conflicts or hard choices related to our empowerment, specifically how much ability we enjoy to pursue ambitions and desires. The separating trine to Neptune implies we’ve already approached ‘the Dream’ or are clear on our ideals (or thoroughly immersed in our delusion), with the sesquiquadrate to Mars telling us we’re actually in the midst of some uncomfortable or tough to implement choices or actions, know it or not.

Uranus is at this point stationary but still not direct, offering the tension of imminent chaos, but not breaking in that direction just yet. Uranus’ direction may free the rebel, unleash mayhem, strike a note of individuality or originality, or release the energies of Higher Mind, the latter prompting a possible ‘hand of God’ scenario carried out through groups or movements, or our own conviction about what’s needed and ‘right’.

Partial eclipse of the moon. Observed October 24, 1874. (Plate VII of The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings 1881) By Étienne Léopold Trouvelot {{PD}}

Normally I don’t address other current aspects at a New or Full Moon, but Pallas quincunx and Venus square Sedna suggest a threat to what we care about via unwise or ill-advised Self-messaging. The instincts need modification, flawed as they are at present by one or more consuming fears or bits of misinformation/ void of useful information. Those fears are the kind we carry inside but don’t make conscious–and yet they leak out into our choices and what we do, often surprising us with their intensity and seeming irrationality as they bring forward startling emotional responses in ourselves. These energies work in concert with the Cancerian eclipse promise of closure to caring or nurture, and the hard-edged real-world power issues or changes in progress now.

The Sabian symbol for this eclipse is, ‘Venetian Gondoliers Giving A Serenade’. Of note is the way there are no minutes attached to this eclipse degree, meaning we take the Sabian symbol that leads up to and includes 20 degrees. This symbol points to people not necessarily in the same ‘boat’ but ‘singing’ together. It’s their shared status or function (gondoliers), their shared interest in entertaining or attracting ‘business’ (which could be acceptance, attention, or some other benefit), and possibly sheer delight in life, coupled with the acting out of ‘traditional’ roles, that causes their singing. But further, a serenade actually implies a chosen and present audience, and the desire to bring pleasure or persuade–and that may be related to both the power situation and the Superior Conjunction, with most ready to state their fully-formed argument for what they see, what they believe, in the hope they may bring others to their way of seeing. Others will sing, and we’ll decide how we feel about that, and make changes or take action as a result.

I don’t anticipate understanding this eclipse period until well after it passes. The best we can do, then, is be aware of the feeling dynamic, the sentiment, beneath what we see transpire. That may be our touchstone to meaning; feelings will connect us in ways the mind cannot, as it’s already reached a maximum point within the cycle (Superior Conjunction), and may not accommodate the ‘stretch’ needed for illumination. The Sabian for the Sun only reinforces this: ‘A Hidden Choir Is Singing During A Religious Service‘. It’s the unseen source of ‘song’ reflecting our core Beingness, our faith, and our viewpoint of established institutions and organizations we ‘believe’ in, and our emotional response to and interpretation of these, that can give us the most reliable information, right now.

More on eclipses here. For some this may be too elementary, and some of what’s presented is just a wee bit fanciful (I don’t think it’s provable that romance is enhanced during a Full Moon!), but still full of interesting facts.

Full Moon in Gemini, 11 December 2019: Adjusting to Love, Adjusting to Reality

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

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A little ahead of things, but still beautiful: ‘January Full Moon’ By George Ault 1941 {{PD}}

The Full Moon occurs at 9:11 PM PST of the 11th at 19 Gemini 51, widely opposed Pallas in Sagittarius, which is of course widely conjoined the Sun. Right away we see that what is illuminated by Full Moon events is something meant to bring wisdom, to highlight the practical, or to bring forward from us a skilled answer. This may be both trigger and reaction, a ripeness of knowledge that reaches peak and calls forth an emotional judgment and an active response. Perfecting in Gemini, this might challenge what we think, as we’re confronted by wisdom, knowledge, facts, or beliefs that question or negate our current reasoning (the opposition).

At the time of the Lunar event, we may be ‘coming down’ from some fantasy or misperception (separating square to Neptune), finding that the illusion is no longer viable. This stripping away of deception will lead to difficult confrontation with those things we’ve ignored or denied (approaching square to Black Moon Lilith), and with this we’re likely to see how we must change, how we must adjust to real-world circumstances around the present reality or restrictions the material world presents (quincunx Saturn), how we must adjust to relationships, asset needs, and/ or an expansion of our world through the Arts or through others (quincunx Venus), and the changes, all of them transformative and some of them permanent, that these adjustments will bring (quincunx Pluto).

But of course with a Full Moon we must remember this is an emotional denouement, a monthly mini-‘coming-of-age’ that shows us something that has matured and may be let go within our personal emotional landscape, the subject likely indicated by the House in the natal chart where the Lunar event occurs, or showing a range indicated by the sign/ House axis across which this event falls. This FM also trines Zeus and semi-squares Uranus, suggesting that whether we’re aware of it or not, our ambitions and desires are being served, and that revelation of this may come suddenly or in surprising ways.

The Sabian for the Full Moon is, ‘A Modern Cafeteria Displays An Abundance Of Food, Products Of Various Regions’. What comes to mind is this: we may be confused by the abundance of seemingly-appealing things on offer; we may not see that this Full Moon requires discernment applied to several areas of life. We may think we can sample, take our time, enjoy the exotic and unfamiliar–but the Full Moon contacts tell us that kind of leisurely experience is better left for another time. Right now we’re trimming and choosing according to what needs our attention, not adding to our repertoire or trying out the unusual. We’re on a mission of sorts, one that asks us to confront the ignored, to deal with change/ modification in several areas, to better fit the mental approach to the real-world scenario, with the goal of both making our path better reflect our aims, and of bending things more to what’s wise, practical, and useful. Don’t be distracted by all the world has to offer–it will all still be there when we’re done with this Full Moon energy.

The Sun, which offers its light and so creates the Full Moon from our vantage on Earth, also has a Sabian: ‘In An Old-Fashioned Northern Village Men Cut The Ice Of A Frozen Pond For Use During The Summer’. Again, the theme of what’s useful, practical, with a sense of planning ahead. It may be that Full Moon events arise out of a need that we may or may not be conscious of, a need to think about tomorrow, perhaps without falling into the trap of only thinking; instead circumstances around the FM help us translate our thought into action, perhaps in anticipation of the Mars-Neptune conjunction in Pisces occurring June 12th, which gives us all a big push to make dreams happen.

A Good Day To . . . Full Moon 12 November 2019

08 Friday Nov 2019

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‘Moonrise Over the Dunes’ By Eilif Peterssen 1883 {{PD}}

The 12th is a Good Day To . . . take stock, especially of material goals and desires, as the Full Moon brings security, prosperity, comfort, and stability-related matters to a head. Falling at 19 Taurus 51, 5:33 AM Pacific time, and closely conjoined Vesta, this Lunar event promises materialization in physical form of sensory or ‘sensed’ information, particularly that involved with commitments, the home and family, and the personal ‘passions’, and prompts discovery and definitive communication, even successful contracts (Mercury opp), this latter having an unusually stable ‘moment’ even in the midst of the retrograde.

Along with the Black Moon Lilith point this Full Moon forms the base to a Finger of God with apex the asteroid Zeus. The Finger takes the harmonious expression of the two base energies and funnels it into a third, likely unexpected, outcome shown by the apex energy. This Finger suggests Lunar conclusions highlight matters denied, ignored, or that enrage us, probably prompting action that results in ambition or desire fulfillment. It’s as if a clock has been ticking, and the Full Moon brings it to ‘the appointed hour’, creating a confluence of energetic trends that move forward the personal agenda.

The Full Moon also contacts both Saturn and Pluto, straddling their transiting midpoint by trine, and sesquiquadrates Juno. These contacts speak to the power situation, to its exercise or suppression, and to whatever influence and privilege the personal status affords. It presents us with a difficult situation related to our empowerment or standing that can be resolved by finding an intuitive/ emotional balance between discarding elements and cementing other elements in place. These aspects simply emphasize the message that is part and parcel of a Full Moon in Taurus, anyway: that establishing a reliable foundation and the prospect of continuity in resources and alliances is the optimum use of energy, right now.

The Sabian symbol for the Full Moon is, ‘Wisps Of Winglike Clouds Streaming Across The Sky’. The image may be best understood by drawing parallels between its symbology and that of the Sabian for the Sun, which sits in opposition to the Full Moon (as always!) and gives us clues as to the originating energy (as the Sun illuminates and so makes visible the Moon and gives it ‘phases’ to begin with). The Sun’s is, ‘A Woman Draws Away Two Dark Curtains Closing The Entrance To A Sacred Pathway’. Both suggest a covering or obscuring element that will be removed, the Moon’s by the ‘streaming’, which implies air flow (communication, information, or a shift in mental stance) that will at some point dissipate the clouds, the Sun’s by the woman (a force, like the movement within the atmosphere of the other symbol) as she draws the curtains aside.

The characterization of the clouds in the Moon’s symbol as ‘winglike’ suggests a lifting, even angelic, quality, in the sense of a divine gift or inspiration, or perhaps implying a general ‘elevation’ via Lunar events. This is so with the Sun’s image, as well, that by human effort clears the way, so to speak, to follow a divine path.

Influences also perfecting on this day suggest that in past wounds lie wisdom or the information that fosters a more practical or skill-oriented approach, and that efforts bring both opportunity and ‘luck’, especially if those efforts employ talents and assets or offer benefits to partners or others with whom you might cooperate.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and enlightening Full Moon!

A Good Day To . . . is based on the aspects perfecting on each day, Pacific time.