Full Moon over the Grand Canyon
photo credit: Matthew Hunt (September 2005)
Whenever we talk about a Full Moon...in whatever sign - we're actually talking about two different signs.
The 'why' of that is simple: a Full Moon is an alignment of Sun, Moon and Earth with Sun and Moon in perfect ("full") opposition (which allows the 'full face' of the Moon to be illuminated by the Sun)...with Earth sitting nearby taking in the lovely view.
Where that alignment happens (which astrology describes using signs and degrees) and who is hanging around gawking on either side (or commenting from a distinctly discordant quadrant) is how we describe Full Moon effects.
But why would one Full Moon differ from another (give or take bystanders) if it's always Sun opposition Moon? Why do signs exist at all?
That's because, despite Galileo having paid a heavy price in his time for having declared that the Sun was the center of the solar system (ridicule, house arrest ordered by the Vatican...he has so little fun trying to teach his fellow folks the truth of things!) ...despite that, Astrology - which is a study of time/space/celestial effects on Earth and all things Earthly and earthy....that remains geocentric.
And don't get all frizzled by the term. 'Geo' refers to Earth and 'centric' is 'centered on.' There are a few people out there who practice helio(Sun)centric astrology, but probably 99% of what you read is totally about us. Which makes sense - Earth is where we live.
Taking this back to 'what the heck are signs about?', if you think of Earth as the center of "its" solar system, then in succeeding months, everything comes from a different angle. You know...it comes at us from a different place - which is maybe why we use expressions like 'I got broadside by that one!' or 'it came right at me!'.
And as anyone who plays pool, billiards or works in a car crash laboratory will tell you, angular alignments count. Angles of impact often determine crash safety and effects on passengers. They certainly are what automotive designers build to protect against.
Problem is, there is no defense against life. Life comes at us from whatever angle no matter what.
And with a Full Moon putting the light of the Sun "full" in the eyes of our emotional (Moon) reality (Earth) - that being the basics of the 'highlighting' or 'emotional high tide' metaphorical meaning of any Full Moon....
...well, let's just say it pays to know where life is going to be coming from every month. Which yes, is why I've taken to talking about lunar cycles here on Ye Olde Blog every month.
So this time around, as happens every year about this time, we have the Sun in Scorpio and the Moon in Taurus, as we see here:
Taurus being all about our self worth...with which we go out and get what we want from the world and therefore have in our personal 'coffers' as resources...Taurus is about our sense of security and/or satisfaction as a reflection of our values.
As polarity sign to Taurus, Scorpio is where we risk that self worth and those values with others. The key word in that sense being 'risk,' everything about Scorpio feels 'dangerous.' The investment could go bad. That person we get into a partnership could be a dud. Or betray us. That innocuous person could be luring us in so as the manipulate the heck out of us. The sex could be terrible. That proposal we worked so long and hard on could get rejected. We could get turned down for that job.
But if you think about it, these events - in and of themselves - are not deadly. What's difficult about Scorpio - a water (and therefore emotional) sign - is how we feel going into them (the trepidation, the excitement, the angst, the expectation) ...and how we may feel when things if/when things don't live up to our expectations.
And with Uranus - our solar systemic destabilizing force (cammon...a planet which rolls around its orbit? How throw-a-wrench-in-our-thinking odd is that?) - with Uranus in Pisces, land of emotional expectations...we are all ripe for a shakeup.
This sort of goes back to the New Moon, every New Moon being the basis of the cycle which leads to the Full Moon. This last New Moon was a sticky one in Scorpio. More precisely, in the emotional district of Scorpio, a sign which is emotional to begin with.
Even more interestingly (or let's say at least as interestingly)...it was the first of three New Moons which focuses on that number: 13. Next month's New Moon will be at 13 Sagittarius, and the month after that is a Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn.
In itself, this is a metaphorical progression which starts in our values and how to get along (Scorpio) which then moves into 'will it work/how to make it work' (Sagittarius) and seeing ultimately if that gets us where we want to go (Capricorn). If so, that equals life renovation. If not, that equals life changes forcing us to renovate.
At the moment, there's been a whole lot of emotional stuff going around. We've all been reflecting, refracting, sorting, interacting and in some cases forging new alliances...and in others realizing through our interactions how we really had it wrong who we were and/or who the other party/parties were or are.
And as soon as a lot of us have gotten past one puzzle, life has thrown another our way. Did we really get the message? If not, have another 'go' at it. If yes, it was on to the next step.
A lot of these messages have, in fact, centered on or come back to our self worth and values...and how that does/doesn't help us in our relationships with others - and in that, moving forward in life.
And all that...? That now comes home in 'Full' format with the rising and shining of our monthly Full Moon.
This does not...repeat NOT mean life will be filled with hilarity or disasters. What it's about is our ability to deal with our underlying humanity. This is about rooting out of us those glitchy, faulty, not-serving-us-well attributes we either don't need, haven't dealt with, or haven't done enough to properly develop. It's not the event of the moment in other words - it's whether you are overly reactive TO the moment.
We all together on this one? Good, because with this Full Moon being positioned at 29 Taurus, life is likely to push us extra hard!
Twenty-nine being the last degree in every sign, it's known as a 'critical degree' in astro-speak. That's a little over-the-top, but "modern" astro-speak (a lot of it) was developed over a hundred years ago, which ain't so modern. In fact, it tends to be a lot melodramatic. So ignore the word and remember the term; what's meant here is that this is where the sign "presses" to complete its business. It's sort of all of Taurus loaded into one degree or all of Scorpio squished into 29 Scorpio.
For everyday purposes, this is an intensification of effects. So the testing of our values/self-worth is likely to be a tougher or more intense test.
And let me give you the biggest of big clues: we don't win by getting hysterical, angry, exasperated or upset. It seems counter-intuitive, but the solution to all Scorpio problems is to think, not emote - just as the solution to all Taurus problems is to do more, freeing one's creatively, productive instincts rather than to conserve, hoard, or otherwise cling to what you have (security).
The degree in which the Sun sits (29 Scorpio) which speaks to the source of energy is all about 'adaptation' at all ends of the spectrum, depending on where you start. In all likelihood, solutions for the active begin with quiet reflection and/or studying situations...solutions for the more sedentary among us involve active 'doing something.'
Against this we have the degree of the Moon - and Earth, our 'reality,' if you will. Here we have 29 Taurus, a degree which is described as the 'having trouble doing.' Postulation is easy, but there's a problem with demonstrating worth. The maladaptive form of this degree indicates bullies, makes excuses, procrastination and resorting to that really annoying sort of passive-aggressive stuff.
And that's where we're coming from? Blech!
But wait....! Considering how metaphysics works, it's not shocking that this degree (and planets posited in this degree in a natal chart, should you have any) tend to attract the very kinds of provocations which will incite that which is really a form of insecurity.
Why? Because nature (life) constantly tries to help us grow, get out of our own way and otherwise become more successful.
But the process? That's sucky. No question!
And there is also the fact that this Full Moon isn't operating in a vacuum. (Well, other than that of space...)
What I mean is that there are partners and parties to this Full Moon edition, the conglomeration of which looks rather like this:
The OPPOSITION part of this diagram we've already talked about...and we've touched on Uranus being in Pisces. So let's finish talking about that.
First of all, Uranus is at 26 Pisces, conjunct Byblis. Usually referred to simply as 'old knowledge,' what Byblis is really more about are 'tapes' in our psyche with which we are trying to reconcile. The tendency is to try and explain ourselves or justify our position, beliefs or desires, but where Byblis is concerned, the issue is us and how we understand things. Or, with Byblis here pictured in Pisces, how we feel about our feelings and/or how the world around us doesn't approve of or jive with our emotional perception or position.
Conjunct Uranus in a 3rd decanate 'others' degree, this issue of how others feel or what they say (or say about us, provoking emotional reactions in us) is very much underscored. And Uranus itself is all about the 'different' and the 'changing circumstance' which may be provocations coming from a quadrant which up until now seemed safely serene...or it may be all about our seeing something differently within ourselves.
Or, of course, both!
Lore for this degree speaks to a 'chaotic flow' of ideas which if we master and organize usefully, put us in a position to master ourselves.
With a SEXTILE to the Moon (sextiles indicating opportunities) we have an opportunity described here to really drill through to the crux of some of our personal problems.
And with this Uranus/Byblis also being in TRINE to the Sun...this is what life (Sun) is trying to get us to really do.
(BTW...with an opposition, what sextiles one end of the opposition pretty much automatically trines the other end of said opposition.)
That doesn't mean this is any better or worse as a moment in time. But there is that to consider - this is just a moment in time. Lunations (lunar cycles), including Lunar Eclipses (one of which we will meet up with next month) are seldom life changing. They often indicate an emotional moment we 'never forget' or a shift of circumstance which will then lead to something solar which will mark our life actually changing.
Think of it this way - again, the Moon is about our emotions and thus reactive. It is thus not the 'thing,' it is how we feel about or react to 'the thing'...especially when the signal involves Taurus/Scorpio.
Moving on, the last set of 'players' in this moment of drama are Neptune and Chiron, with Neptune playing the part of the ideal against the illusion (the mystical magician who incites, eludes, entices and asks what we really know...about ourselves most of all)....and Chiron asks us that really, really pesky question about whether we're going to get off our duff and get to doing that thing we don't know how to do (yet) but which needs doing anyway.
This is an amalgamation of necessity versus insecurity, confusion of ideals with reality and the question of when (or if) we are ever going to stop wishing-dreaming-hoping-postulating-objecting and get to the trial-and-error in life which in time (granting false starts and missteps) gets us where we want to go.
Positioned in Aquarius, sign of society, this obviously indicates a 'social component' to this Full Moon moment. In a 3rd decanate position, the provocation is from 'others,' whether societal or 'personal others' - people in our lives.
In SEMI-SEXTILE to Uranus/Byblis, it's a given that we're in an emotional tangle about whatever is in the works now. That's on top of the Full Moon indicator of the critical degree and the Taurus/Scorpio nature of this moment. Are our values correct? Are our values to be kept private or made public? Do we need to cooperate more with the world (personal or public) around us? Do we need to pay more attention to what we do in the world and maybe the effect that has on our world or on us because of what we do or don't do in that world?
That Neptune/Chiron are also in SQUARE to Sun and Moon in this figure (obviously sitting within orb of the midpoint creating a transiting t-square)...that tells us about the nature of the challenge life is handing us. It's Aquarian. It's about our ability to be part of the world public and our world private. It's about our misgivings about that world and what we are doing about it (probably nothing...much talk, much complaining, musing, postulating...but little doing). It's about what needs to happen in our own life to satisfy that niggling thing inside which makes us - at some level - not so comfy with who we are. Or how we're acting or have acted. How we've chosen.
The amalgamation of this moment is a classic one: it's the reality of our lives versus how we wish things would work with the truth of the rebuttal being not about 'them' but about things inside us. Life is trying to get us to examine our gut. Maybe that stomach ache is more about what we've 'swallowed' - about ourselves. And maybe it was willing, maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a truth, maybe it was wasn't. Maybe it was useful, maybe it undercut us in ways we were trying so to avoid.
Whatever it is, it's time to at least take a look. And acknowledge, maybe. Some of us will do something about it. Some of us won't. Those who do will move on into a season of evolutionary changes. Those who don't will have change inexorably thrust upon them.
What we do and how we go about doing it - in the end - is individual. There is no right or wrong here, only knowing, ignoring, discovering and/or denying.
What to learn? That we like or that we need? That's pretty much the question - and good luck to all of us with that!
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