A Pisces Full Moon

 A Full "Super" Moon as it rises over the Altantic Ocean

(photo credit: Bubba73, March 2011)

Occurring at 11:41 a.m. on September 19th, the Pisces Moon will occur on the day before Pluto goes direct.

That September’s Full Moon occurs within the auspices of Pluto’s station is a sign of things to come at the same time that it is the ‘fulfillment’ point of our current lunar cycle.

Mind you, that’s ‘fulfillment’ in the cosmic sense, not necessarily in the sense of our feeling happy or content with any particular thing. In fact, it could be argued that any Pisces Full Moon (never mind one in late Pisces) is a sign of our feelings or our reactivity reaching a high water mark for reasons which may be entirely out of our control.

So…satisfying? Not necessarily, though there’s a plethora of reasons to think it could be just fine, dandy and even blissful. After all, Pisces isn’t the process of dreaming (as in REM sleep), but Pisces is the fantasy, the ‘dream’ we wish to be enveloped by, that nirvana of feeling we all so long for.

And that’s all well and good as long as we don’t try to substitute that longing for reality…or measure reality by that fantasy. That’s the Pisces premise, and to the extent that we can accept reality and see it as part of our dreams, or apart from our dreams (with both reality and the dream being fine in their own way), then we’re fine.

It’s just the resisting or denying one or the other which tends to get us into trouble.

Which leads to the idea of the degree this Full Moon is occurring in: 26 Pisces. We don’t tend to think of Pisces as a militant sign, but 26 Pisces has a sterling reputation for being willing to fight – even on the wrong side of the question. Also contrary to most general conceptions of Pisces, this degree tends to be rather materialistic, which means this Full Moon may well refer to a reality-based experience of that which is held as a belief.

And that leads us to the next highly interesting fact – the notion that this Full Moon comes complete as a grand sextile, the “magical” six-pointed star which the ancient Hermeticists referred to as the emblem of Divine or cosmic - even karmic - reflection embodied in the phrase “As Above, So Below.” 

 An Aries (non-location specific) chart wheel for the September 2013

Full Moon showing a diagram of the accompanying Grand Sextile (the

linking of two grand trines by sextile) at the center

 

On one level this is a reference to the ‘reflective’ quality of the small scale, and thus what may be happening on a world stage also happening in our lives, just in a localized manner. Seen in a more esoteric manner, the grand sextile (which is a linking of two grand trines set at 60-degree angles to each other) is where a grand set of ‘sextile opportunities’ becomes locked down as ‘fate.’ Or if you prefer, a ‘result’ – that secondary meaning going rather hand-in-hand with the idea of the Full Moon being an emblem of ‘phase fulfillment’ or the end of one part of a life effort so that we get to move on to the next.

The Grand Sextile is a highly potent and powerful figure. If your chart answers to any of the points in the above diagram you may be sure that your life will be in the process of being inexorably altered, and that this Full Moon is merely a step in a greater process.

No matter who you are or how your personal chart is laid out however, it is to be noted that the Full Moon itself is NOT part of the Grand Sextile. That tells us that this moment of experiential ‘highlighting’ is indeed part of a greater scope, a greater something going on in our world…or maybe ‘the’ world. And that there is such a difference in the scope of the degrees involved here (the Full Moon is happening in a late Pisces degree while the points associated with the Grand Sextile are all fairly early in their respective signs), that suggests an opportunity to have or gain perspective…

That in turn suggests that those whose charts center more on later numbers (say between 20 and 29 of any given sign) are likely to be ‘seeing things happen’ but be less likely to be involved. Such a concept works well with the idea of the third decanate Full Moon (the third decan of any sign being its last ten degrees) as anything third decanate tends not to be about our physicality or our actions as an originating point, though there’s obviously every chance that something going on in your environs or around you in life is going to affect you.

It’s just not ‘about’ you, per se.

On the other hand, those of us whose charts answer more to earlier zodiacal numbers are more likely to be more directly affected. What we do or how we do it may be affected. This may be or become a time of choice. We may suddenly understand why something is important and in keeping with 26 Pisces either be all for it or terribly defensive because of it.

It all depends.

In looking at this Grand Sextile, like the one which Sedna’s turn to retrograde set off the formulation of last month, this one is presented in earth and water signs. Earth and water can be the very essence of fertility. Then again, earth plus water can just equal a whole lot of mud and a muddy (or muddied) situation. That we have Pluto/Facies/Industria trine the South Node and the South Node trine Ceres/Agamemnon (which is obviously trine Pluto) involves the changing (Pluto) face (or Facies) of many (Facies) factors at (Industria) work or that we are (Industria) working on. Since Pluto is going on station atop Facies, there is an inordinate chance of our best and worst traits coming to the fore now – or having to ‘face’ (Facies) such factors particularly in any environment which has to do with the Capricorn ‘structure’ of our life.

Think home, family, job, marriage – that stuff.

With the South Node being trined by Pluto, there is inordinate pressure being placed on the idea of changing at a very fundamental (Taurean) level. Our very sense of values are being questioned – sometimes by others and at a very real and powerful sense, by our Self. Unlike the Scorpio-Taurus sense of challenge, this Grand Sextile effect gives us some sense that maybe we don’t know everything and maybe there is a more vital way we could live. Or a different set of parameters we could adopt which would be both more satisfying and more true to our nature, ‘arming us’ with tools with which we can live a more viable and satisfying life.

The third point in the triumvirate of earth positions is Ceres/Agamemnon, an emblem of plans which perhaps now need to be tweaked. Or amended. Or yes, even completely altered considering what we now know or are coming to understand.

Our sense of reality is changing. Our realization of what we can do…what is possible for us…is undergoing a period of intense (Pluto station) transformation which itself is a facet of the overall process of ‘breaking down’ our old ways of being and thinking reflective of the period leading into this November’s Solar Eclipse.

The second trio of points in the Grand Sextile are in water – our element of emotions and everything which tends to promote or provoke our emotionality. Black Moon Lilith/Child occupies the Cancer angle of this correlation, speaking to things (attitudes, habits, ways of responding) which may date back a very long way – to our own childhood. Given that all this traces back to Sedna’s station as the ‘ignition’ on this evolutionary phase we’re going through (which will culminate/shift gears at the solar eclipse), the Lilith concept of ‘denial’ may well be the letting go of things you were told way back when, your original concepts of what things “should be” or how they were just magically “going to be” (oh, how we all get bogged down by that stuff, right?) and some sort of willingness to ‘take a plunge’ in life which you might not have dreamed even remotely possible – never mind likely – only shortly ago.

The second part of the grand water trine presented is North Node, Saturn, Venus and Deucalion – which is (among other things) an evident and obvious sign that effort (Saturn) needs to continued (North Node) even though it’s really truly not what we like or what we want to do. This combination implies there’s something afoot which we’re not particularly enjoying, but which we understand has to be dealt with – and given Saturn/Venus/Deucalion – we’re likely to understand we have to deal with whatever that is with a modicum of grace, lest we lose out on everything we’ve been working for…or towards.

Since Grand Sextiles also come out to be a set of Magic Rectangles, that’s worth considering now as well…

If it's a Grand Sextile and thus two Grand Trines linked together, a

configuration will also yield three Magic Rectangles.

 

…with the thing to remember being that despite the fun-sounding name (anything with ‘magic’ in it tends to evoke a sense of childlike wonder) the Magic Rectangle represents things which go along rather ‘magically’ and marvelously right up until the time they don’t.

And once they don’t, then we get totally blown out of the water – sometimes with others, but mostly with ourselves. People who have Magic Rectangles in their natal charts tend to have a really rocky beginning which ‘turns out to be magic’ or they have a ‘magical’ sort of golden touch which inevitably – somewhere along the way – goes kaput.

Once a Magic Rectangle goes haywire, it’s a demon to get back on course. And why is that? That would be because – especially where something has come too easily to us, we haven’t learned how to try. So when something associated with one of these ‘golden’ configurations collapses, many get fixated on ‘how it used to be’ and flounder around haplessly because their life hasn’t taught them how to harness their own abilities.

In this case – and this is what we look to at any given moment when such configurations are an “ongoing” thing (which isn’t that often, a fact which marks this as a truly potent time in everyone’s life)…we know that Pluto is going station/direct on September 20th (the day after the Full Moon), we know that the November Solar Eclipse will occur at 11 Scorpio in conjunction with the Saturn-Venus-North Node-Deucalion mélange pictured here…and we know (or at least I know, and I’m sharing with you) that when Uranus goes direct this December it will do so at 8 Aries – setting off all all this earthy, watery energy with the plus or minus of same being how well we’ve been utilizing the energy pretty much from where it was initiated (Sedna’s station back on August 25th) into December.

Will we change…will we evolve…are we willing to grow up and be our own adult person based on our own adult capacities and understanding of life as it is, not as some ‘image’ presented by someone or something else?

And just to make this all a little more poignant (as if it needed any more piquant notes?) there’s also the fact that Venus will be going retrograde (yes, I hear you groaning) as of December 21st. And where will it be going retrograde?

That would be at 28 Capricorn – in sextile to this Full Moon, which is why I bring it up. Much as Saturn having gone station/retrograde at 11 Scorpio last February drew a metaphysical “dotted line” between events and choices back then to the peeling back of another layer of our personal façade as we’re experiencing now with the incoming 11 Scorpio Solar Eclipse, so this Full Moon will have a far fainter but still useful echo which will surface this coming December.

And if you know anything about Venus retrograde, that will be mid/late December until the end of January, when Venus goes direct again.

Energy has patterns, just as our auras have shape and that which the Chinese refer to as ‘chi’ manifests as patterns of energy in our bodies which reflect (or manifest) as our health and feelings of wellbeing.

Or the lack thereof.

Learning to recognize these patters and utilize or amend not the pattern itself but our reaction to it and how we utilize it, that is our key to personal betterment…in that concrete reality we call life.

Making that link…that’s the very essence of Pisces, and thus something to highlight in our own lives...for our own benefit (and thus the benefit of others who in the end will benefit or hinder us) at this moment of lunar fullness.
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Uranus goes Direct

This is going to be a really wacky post. Maybe not to you, but to me...yes!

But then, it should be. Why? Because Uranus symbolizes all which is odd, funny, bizarre, shocking, surprising, unexpected or unconventional.

Uranus also represents the heart and soul of all which makes us unique. So my version of wacky shouldn't be your version of wacky. (And if it is, leave me a message - we should talk!)

More importantly, that 'odd, funny, bizarre...etc.' list should imply something else - the part of Uranus symbolism most important to us individually: the more comfortable, complacent or married to some 'business as usual' status quo we may be, the more disorienting, disruptive and sometimes disturbing are the effects associated with Uranian timing.

Ah yes...a little good with a edge of 'oops!'

Of course, this news can't be all that entirely unexpected. After all, since there is restlessness, anxiety, shocks and surprises good and bad in this world, something astrological has to stand for it in symbol form, right?

That 'something' would be Uranus, the planet which rolls around the Sun like some giant, icy bowling ball. No being upright and spinning like a top for ol' Uranus...no, this planet has to do everything differently.

Interesting how astrology noticed that close to a hundred years before scientists understood that sideways would be the way planet Uranus rolls, don't you think?

And whether we're stale, bored, feeling limited or cooped up...or if we're totally dug in and refusing to change our ways...

Anyway...this comes down to one of those quirky life rules - namely the idea that we don't get to go through life redecorating the same old rut!

That's actually how Uranus got explained to me when I was just a young, pencil-pushing naif of an astrologer. Uranus, he said, will at the very least make sure that you change ruts once in a while. 

And what happens in your life, how Uranus manifests for you, that has a great deal to do with how you deal with or embody the principle of change. You're going to change. So what does it take for you to evolve?

Some of us need enough pressure to rip us out by the roots. Or blast us out of our hard-headed mindset.

Whatever it takes, that dynamic gets logged in under the Uranus column. And just in case you're one of those people who really likes being footloose and free, without a care, unbound by rules and unfettered by repetition?

For you, Uranus represents a whole other basket of goodies. When Uranus comes along in your life you get confronted with the need to build, structure and adhere.

Got the point? Whatever you are, Uranian forces are what it takes to effect change. It can be fun, or it can be fearsome. You can feel like your on an adventure of discovery or being thrashed by a trash mill.

What's the purpose? Uranus is ultimately about growth. About keeping ourselves fresh and vital and interested and (oh yes...!) interesting! Heaven forbid life should be boring. Heaven forbid WE should be boring!

But sometimes we are. Sometimes life is. And that's when you feel Uranian energy as an itchiness, an anxious restless nervousness which won't let you rest. People who don't deal well with Uranus as well as people who have it prominently placed in their chart know this energy really well. All too well, most likely!

As for the rest of us, the Uranus urge comes and goes like some unbidden prompter: life as an anarchist, cattle prod or surprise party.

And let's not forget - what you call anarchy may well be what someone else calls a party. In such differences lie the friction which leads to discoveries of a hundred different types...some about other people, and sometimes about ourselves. 

In a wacky little nutshell, it's all Uranus. And now at a Uranian 'turning point,' don't be surprised if 'turnabout' becomes fair play. That's most likely if Uranus' taking a station at 26 Pisces aspects your chart square on, but considering that Uranian moments such as this one often needle many and shock a few, don't be surprised.

And what else does Uranus going direct on December 6th at 26 Pisces tell us? Besides how Uranus in the latter part of Pisces can produce quirky humor and a lot of bizarre choices...besides that, there's a couple of other things.

First is that circumstances which may either ignite changes or french-fry us emotionally are in progress. Twenty-six being a third decanate degree, like all third decan degrees of any sign (the third decan being the range between 20 and 29) ...we aren't in control of what happens. We just get to react.

And given this Uranus in Pisces - a very emotional sign, one can figure there's a lot of feeling and reacting going on!

Then there's the fact that this is Uranus symbolizing the types of changes going on. Many will be unanticipated. Some will be just shocking. And some will involve that which cannot be predicted.

Some of us will rebel at changes now. How DARE anything change! Some of us will just be enormously and inordinately upset.

But who are we upset at?

Lest you get into finger pointing (which is likely to be very, very tempting for some!) whoever or whatever you would be pointing your finger at - be that a person, company, system, rule or anything else...that's not in control either. Life, changing times, evolutionary forces - if you were to be able to ask, you'd find every one of these folks and entities think life is on their back too.

The whole idea that nobody is wrong can be totally shocking. Then again it can be illuminating.

It’s all a little like lightning.

 

Lightning hitting a tree – photo credit: NOAA (2001)

Another aspect of the specific degree here (26 Pisces) is that by nature it is emotional. Pisces is a sign which tests not just our emotional standing, but our ability to deal with emotions – ours, and those of other people. Part of this test is just our emotional tolerance – do we feel safe enough to allow ourselves to feel or be emotionally vulnerable or involved? Can we do that and still maintain perspective, maybe as a parent, spouse or friend? How about as an emergency worker, health caretaker or in some sort of crisis?

Where we are weakest, that’s where life tests us – life’s purpose always being about making us bigger, stronger and more adept. Where we’re strong, we don’t need to grow. Or maybe we’re maxed out in our growth potential.

So life always prods our vulnerabilities.

Is that fair? No! But is that life? Yes!

Plus…not to put to fine a point on things, but  Uranus is going direct in an exact semi-sextile to Neptune/Chiron. That’s a pretty good description of an extra-special test. Or even testiness, in some cases! Neptune/Chiron can be the need to go without. Or the need to care. Or the need to ignore how much you really don’t want to deal with the truth.

It can also be the urge to damage the Self, whether through self sacrifice or an abandonment of hope. So don’t be surprised to hear this is a trying time for many…that would be natural, actually, considering this ‘turn of events’ is also one made to call upon our compassion.

The good news is that if we actually try and deal with things which crop up now we can even surprise ourselves with how capable we really are.

And yes, there are those who will be disappointed to realize they can actually ‘do’ what they’ve been trying to avoid doing!

It’s a funny sort of moment, this one….

Uranus in a comparison with Earth and Earth’s Moon

photo credit: NASA

At the bottom of it is a curious sort of problem posed by Neptune/Chiron being specifically in Aquarius with Uranus being in a Piscean degree which has a reputation for being centered on two things – materialism and religious beliefs, either of which can now be taken to, or defended as of one’s very life is at stake.

That this station takes place at 1:51am (UT/+0), only a few hours after the Sagittarian New Moon occurs at a degree also known to focus on money (especially when people aren’t able to get beneath that to the real question of values)…this would tend to say that issues of the moment center very much on values. What are they? Do we agree? Are we in sync with others on what’s important and what’s merely a flight of conceptual fancy?

Whatever happens, that this station takes place in the weeks prior to an eclipse and with Mercury about to go retrograde cautions us not to act in haste, lest we repent in leisure. What happens now may lead us to considering a few regrets in life yes, but better that we should work through them thoughtfully and come to a decision as to how to proceed in life than to do something now we may regret later.

Remember, it’s okay not to know. Considering all that’s going on astrologically, this would be a time when like as not we simply won’t know all the answers. Admitting that may seem dangerous, but so long as it’s honest…

…We can’t be happy in a world or a life where we aren’t honestly dealing with what's true, realistic and forward looking. Good, bad, ugly and glorious, this is a revealing time and a time which reveals stuff not about ‘them’ …no, no matter what we'd like to think think (or what we’d like them to think!) the reality is that we're the ones who need to change.

All of us. And how shocking is that! The joke is really on us if we get it here - and it's absolutely on us if we don't get it that it's what we don't deal with in and about ourselves which are our own worst traits come to life AND what fosters all we say is so bad, sad and regrettable.

It's our world - so the world doesn't have to change. We do!

(And so ends my odd blog on all things odd!)