February’s Full Moon: Luminous Illumination

The Gates of Dawn by Herbert James Draper (1900)

Hearts and flowering, fellow humans…today the calendar reads February 14th and many among us are thinking about what love means. What the ideal of love is…

Or could be, if only…

We all do it. Women more than men (statistically), but the pausing to envision what life would be if all was as we imagine it to be in our fondest of cherished, well-polished dreams…we all do it.

And hardly anything could seem more astrologically apropos today than thinking that way. Why? Because at 11:54 (UT/+0 time) in the evening of February 14th (already the 15th in Oriental longitudes), Earth…our real world, reality-driven life….and its satellite Luna Moon (our feeling of existing…and having a reason to exist) will all come into line with the Sun – the bright lens of our consciousness – creating what we of Earth, our planet’s most (and sometimes least) sentient beings know as a Full Moon.

An Aries Wheel (location non-specific) horoscope for the

Full Moon of February 14, 2014 at 11:54 p.m. (UT/+0).

An Aries Wheel (location non-specific) chart cast in text format

showing an expanded inner wheel of aspects.  

And since Full Moons crest at the appointed our but spend most of a day coming into formulation…none of us should feel left out, no matter where we live – in our heads, or on this beautifully mottled geo-cosmic ball planet of ours with its rocky core and swirling, overheated mantle.

This particular Full Moon will be positioned at 28 Leo, a position which no matter who you are promotes some sort of relationship to fixed (and royal) star Regulus – the star which promises we will have success only if we indulge ourselves not in vengeance.

A nice thought for Valentine’s Day, that. Even to leave Valentine’s Day with, depending on your orientation to your own use of timely latitudes and personal longitudinal self-alignments.

Known as a degree with great relating potential, the brilliance which is 28 Leo is probably only hampered by the typical Leo possibility that in the course of having fun (or wanting to have fun) we may forget the difference between how we see the thing (or how things should work) and the reality of what things are – or that life isn’t just ours to define and expect to have our own way.
So do we end up being less brilliant than we had hoped to be – especially now.

Fortunately our answers here are simply native and utterly simple…all we have to do is enjoy. Don’t pin your heart or any flowers on things ‘looking,’ sounding or feeling the way you ‘expected’ them to and you’ll probably be just fine. That’s the lesson of the day and beyond that, part of what we’re meant to learn here while we’re flowing through this period of time and tapping our thoughtful way through a somewhat syncopated Mercury retrograde as the days count down to society’s vastness shifting into a supremely dynamic year-and-a-half of Libra-Aries (note: not Aries/Libra…Libra/Aries) tests and opportunities.

More on that soon enough. Meanwhile, enjoy the moment. Yours may come when you’re standing at the window, watching rain track a liquid path through that thin film of cloud on the pane’s chilled glass surface. Or maybe you’ll feel the moment while feeling a flicker of breeze flashing across bare skin. Or when you look into the eyes of someone you like - maybe even love – as trust melts your fears away.

 
Not that all is blissful. Coming into this time we’re all somewhat beleaguered. There’s a lot which needs doing and though part of us is fine with processes involved, we will surely be even happier to see the task…the effort…the situation…the challenge…the waiting…to see it all pay off.

All of that being expressive of the Aquarian quartet of Sun, Mercury (rx), Nessus and Industria, the real question floating around – and this is something we each know individually in our own lives – is how well we have…or haven’t lived up to our part of some bargain (real or implied) – and how well we have held ourselves to our own standards.

Some of us…granted…will simply use this day as a day to ignore everything. That’s very Atlantis (being ‘drowned in’) – Moon (feelings, how we feel about things) – Scheherazade. Any time we see Scheherazade we know there’s a ‘story’ involved. We could be telling it to ourselves, embodying it as (“playing a part”) or just enjoying something entertaining. Or yes, we could be projecting it – imagining someone is our ‘storybook’ person.

And that’s very Valentine’s Day. The man behind this day surrendered his life for faith in all he thought of as good. So maybe the lesson to us is about seeing our Self in the loving reflection of all we love, like…all we have faith in.

Maybe if we can give ourselves latitude to be mortal, then that simple human kindness to our Self will be reflected out into our world upon others.

You know, in kind...creating all that love we all so dearly want, crave and need.

That, I could dearly hope for.

Fortunately opportunities abound. To get there we have to remember the good and jettison the wrong, allowing for what it takes to be who we are. We’ll have to forgive ourselves our fears while being willing to own our inner spirit.

We don’t have to do anything…at least not yet. But the option to create hope even in the midst of trials and to be creative with that...? That joy remains ours.

So I wish you a day of luminous illumination. May you know you can trust your Self. May you enjoy being you. May your spirit be blessed with sufficient kindness to appreciate yourself for all you are, all the possibilities which shine out there…for all you have to give simply by being a presence in the life of someone whose soul is touched by your existence.

Life loves you.

We know that...you’re here.

♥

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Weathering Eclipses/Plutonic Gains and Losses

 Hurricane Sandy as photographed by NASA's Terra satellite (MODIS) on Oct 28 2012 at 16.00

(NASA image courtesy Lance Modis Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC)

 
While people and companies and government agencies go about cleaning up after the storm which hit the east coast of the United States, something else has happened which seems of astrological note.

The New York stock exchanges closed down for two days. Without question, Wall Street (the place, not the industrial complex) was in an evacuation zone. And without question, the heads of financial state wanted (read: needed) investors to feel secure about the functionality of the exchanges. They didn’t need people to get freaked out by having power cutting out or rain, wind or water wreaking damage to undermine confidence in the markets.

But what’s interesting is the general aura of not just Wall Street, but everyone around the storm zone. Let’s keep people safe, they said. As someone who listened to the news for days and days on end after 9/11, there seems a huge distance from what happened then to what is happening today.

Yes, there will be business losses. And yes, the United States is gagging on debt personal and national.

But it seems that life – and the valuing of life and the simple dignity of life is coming to the fore.

October 30, 2012 - A train sitting at Metro-North Railroad's Croton Harmon Station in New York

(photo credit Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York)

Pluto’s conjunction of Facies has meant many things. Facies being a nebula, it’s a reference to ‘many things which together seem like one.’ That can be our life, it can be the way a governor or mayor or individual sees their country and all their fellow countrymen.

Facies has a reputation for ‘evil times’ and selfishness. Pluto represents how we experience the results of our choices and priorities and feel about what results. That Pluto is known as ‘transformative’ is here brilliantly shown by the difficulty, the ‘evil moment’ arising and attitudes reflecting a better value.

That Plutonic ‘outcomes’ always come from our experience in action and interaction with our life is the signature of Pluto being the ‘outcome ruler’ of Scorpio. And Scorpio is famously about (among other things) finance and investments.

Meanwhile, Facies is in Capricorn, the sign of worldly doing and commerce. 

And let’s throw in Saturn. As ruler of Capricorn and currently transiting Scorpio, Saturn is simply always representative of the ‘extent of our human reach.’

So in caring about human beings in the face of a giant storm, in prioritizing the safety of employees without complaining about profits lost, everybody has faced that evil thing which we cannot control and done all ‘within human reach.’

That all this is happening in advance of a Scorpio solar eclipse suggests there’s a lot about this moment which reflects the evolving of our feelings. The eclipse’s position in the last third of Scorpio, an area of the zodiac which brings external forces to one or all of us in forcing us to recognize what’s really important to us…that seems very much part of the moment.

Hurricane_Sandy's damage in Summit, New Jersey

(photo credit Tomwsulcer, October 30, 2012)

As someone who has lived with metaphysical symbols for plural decades it’s hard to express exactly how apt it seems that this moment would come along. Capricorn being all about structures added to the linking of Capricorn/Scorpio as ‘what we structure our lives on and place value to’ …the fact that Saturn often manifests as slow, tough growth even while it represents the limits of life, the limits life places upon us, how we are challenged to live up to our responsibilities as humans which in interactive Scorpio would ask whether we value our fellow man…

I’ve typified Scorpio as ‘cold water’ and metaphysical ice. What I haven’t mentioned lately is Neptune’s position. Neptune is currently sitting at 0 Pisces, still in retrograde, having arrived at that degree back on September 22nd/21st, depending on what time zone you’re in.

And let’s remember, planet Neptune literally controls the orbit of Pluto. There are many threads here, it would appear…as there are whenever and however you talk about Facies.

 Hurricane Sandy's track as generated by NOAA (October 29, 2012)

This storm occurred with Neptune ‘stirring the depths’ of Pisces – which is the image of deep water. Saturn is always cold – and in Scorpio indicates a ‘change.’ The storm came to shore as a hurricane born in the tropics – and once there did the Scorpio thing (interacting) with a colder system, turning rain to sleet and snow.

The storm moved on shore with a Taurus Full Moon in opposition to Saturn…and trine Pluto. That signifies an enormous amount of energy. Untamed, that much energy can be destructive. When harnessed by human beings it can be determined. Organized. Firm and willing to pay the Scorpio/Saturn price.

I mentioned astrometeorology in a prior post. In astrometeorology, Mercury is an indicator of wind. Some thirteen hours before the storm made landfall, Mercury entered Sagittarius, the sign in which Mercury makes it’s most ‘sweeping’ statements, sometimes revealing the unknown or unanticipated, and sometimes overstepping known, even acceptable bounds.

Even safe bounds...and bounds of safety.

 Some of the flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York City, this photo of Avenue C

in Manhattan's East Village was taken on October 30, 2012 by David Shankbone.

But when you take it all in...when you think through what this storm has done, if you put the dollar cost and the inevitable human tragedies which come with such events aside, on a purely metaphysical... philosophic... even spiritual level, this storm seems to have been a good deal.

After all, it showed that we still care about life, limb and our fellow human beings, rich and poor, pretty and plain, young and old.

And that enriches us. That gives us hope. That’s the process by which we feel ourselves feeling, be it sadness for what we lose or gratitude that things weren’t a whole lot worse.

Astrologically, that says Neptune wins – which seems to be our lot and incredibly proper. For if we care not about knowing we exist and that our connections to others mean far, far more than our differences, we have already given in to having - and being - nothing.
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An Aries Full Moon: Striking a Working Balance

 A full moon framed in a window of Castelo Belmonte

(photo credit: Ken and Nyetta, April 2011) 

The tale of Pluto’s conjuncting of fixed star Facies…(a nebula which to us Earthlings looks a single point)…that year long work-over of our lives, our feelings, our sense of right wronged…

It’s been something like a bad fairy tale. And yet…it’s reality.

This Pluto/Facies trial by complicated conflicts will continue on until mid-December of this year. Even after that, it will return to give us a little back-paddling stickiness come next September.

Or so. With Pluto, it’s always ‘or so.’ And oh, how we wish it wasn’t! The good can’t come fast enough and the nasty is truly nasty.

We so feel caught between.

Anyway…at the moment the issue is the Pluto/Facies involvement in September’s Aries Full Moon. That Full Moon occurs on September 30th at 3:20 in the morning UT/+0 at the degree of 7 Aries – the degree of the Moon’s position.

 Full Moon of September 30, 2012 (3:20 a.m. UT/+0)

Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

The Full Moon is always an emotional time. With the Moon sitting at 7 Aries, the Aries part makes this moment not just emotional, but very personal. And with this Full Moon happening at a degree between 0 and 9, we know it has to do with how we feel. Or our personal physical body. Or something we’re doing. Or are thinking of doing. Or need to do.

So this is likely to be a very intense and personally focused time. Plus or minus, we’re each all about ourselves.

With Mars – ruler of Aries – at 25 Scorpio and conjunct the more challenging if profitable North Node (as opposed to the more comfortable, easy yet long-term-dissipation effects of the South Node)…and ALSO conjunct the ‘I’m afraid that was going to happen’ (or ‘afraid you were going to say/think/do that’) Medusa, situations of the moment evoke Scorpio emotions.
And though we are all always tempted to love or hate such Scorpio moments based on what ‘they’ do, the reality of the issue is that Scorpio is always about testing our values and our choices.

Besides, this is not ‘just’ a Mars-Medusa-North Node thing (though that in itself is a loaded statement!). Why not? That would be because Mars-Medusa-North Node is part of a Grand Square formulation:

The Mars-square-Venus quality is likely to lend quite a bit of hurt feelings (read: ego) to the mix here. That Venus is conjunct Achilles and Agamemnon suggests emotional protests – which yes, may well surface in arguments and anger. But please take note: Venus is also conjunct Regulus – the famous fixed star which is all about success which is ONLY garnered where we avoid the pitfall of revenge.

With Achilles and Agamemnon behind Venus (if barely) and Regulus, Sabine and Eos just ahead, some of us are going to be pulling ourselves together to get out of a funk and over our big bad selves in issuing a Mars-Medusa-North Node apology.

At best, no matter who you are or what’s going on, if you can harness the moment in the service of (Eos) recognizing how you have (Sabine) limited yourself and deal with what the truth is and where you may have been shooting yourself in the foot (as it were), that would be a positive. As a figure of emotional responsiveness of the ‘I want it MY way,’ Algol’s opposition to Mars/North Node with Algol obviously in conjunction to the South Node lends a whole air and aura of reluctance to face that which is emotionally challenging to us. And this goes double where a situation is rooted in deeply held values or convictions (on our part) about how we think things “ought to be.”

Wherever you’re reacting from a ‘this is how I’ve ALWAYS done it’ or ‘I CHOOSE to do things my way and everybody else should just get over it!’ sort of perspective, life is going to be particularly challenging, too. Black Moon Lilith at 1 Gemini here is emblematic of choices which are sufficiently narrow to work only sometimes (if that) and in opposition to Mars-North Node this gives us a flavor of rejection or denial or simply not getting what you want out of a situation.

 Expulsao do Paraiso (Expelled from Paradise)

by Obra de Aldo Locatelli (c. 1950-1969)

If you’re not familiar with both forms of Lilith (there are two) I suggest you read a blog post from a while ago called The Two Liliths

Link to 'The Two Liliths' blog post

The last part of this Grand Square is Neptune. Ah yes…now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t Neptune. Neptune opposition Venus tends to have one of two modes: either it’s dreamy, hopeful and expectant…or its motivational in the sense that you can see what can be, you’re able to dream the dream and that keeps you moving and trying.

Remembering that Neptune in its home sign of Pisces is that thing which dissolves the illusion and ultimately reveals the truth…that tends to say that either we’re disillusioned with something (or someone) or we’re putting aside our self-pleasantries and just devoting ourselves to getting the job done, dealing with whoever and whatever (Scorpio) thing must be dealt with, adapting (Leo) as we go, calling on (Taurus) everything we know we can rely on in our own makeup as well as that conviction as to what can be accomplished…we’re doing all that and (Medusa) braving the Great Unknown, whether that’s our unknown or that of others…in creating something better, in advancing a cause, in building something which in (Neptune) reality can hold (Pisces) water…(which in this case would be the needs of our emotional self respect).

Since this is a grand square, the trick is keeping everything in focus, in balance and in motion. With three out of four corners of this square in fixed signs, those who come into this period already in motion, on the road and in gear will have the benefit of momentum to carry them through current difficulties.

Which yes, leaves the rest of us – those of us who have been thinking, longing, wanting, trying…but not really being honest with ourselves. Those people are likely to hit a high-in-lows at this moment – which fortunately IS only a Full Moon moment.

In other words, it’s part of a greater (life) cycle.

Yes, it is pretty easy to get shortsighted at the moment. Particularly on the emotional level..and particularly when that emotionality comes from a feeling of loss or sheer discomfort with changes necessitated by life’s greater scope.

It’s time to get a plan…or to put your current plan into motion. As we discussed in the last post (on Ceres entering Cancer) those who can undertake a journey knowing that it’s going to take a lot of work, that it won’t all be predictable and that they’re going to have to deal with people who may come from completely different walks of life…those people can  take what could be negative feelings which arise to bite them now and turn that into dynamic energy.

We just can’t be too proud, want things to be too easy or think that we can get away without having to invest our heart, noggin and abilities.

So getting back to the Moon proper – since this is a post about the Full Moon, yes!

All of the above was sort of background…the backdrop against which this Full Moon is taking place. But the Full Moon itself…?

That’s the object of a t-square.

 
And this is where Pluto/Facies comes into the mix. The way a t-square works, we “start” at the sign which is zodiacally before the sign of the ‘t’ – which in this case is Capricorn.

So this t-square starts with the Sun in Libra, faces the ‘t’ which is Pluto-Facies-Icarus…and the object of a t-square is to ‘achieve’ the Uranus-Moon-Child quotient, which one would suspect is rather like ‘the innocence of a child.’ Or to put that in a slightly more ‘adult’ way…to have things easy again.

It’s just…well, Pluto-Faces is a complication which surfaces out of a lot of gnarly factors which come together. It seems like you can’t fix one thing because another thing isn’t fixed yet.

Add in Icarus and we have the picture of haste having made everything a whole lot worse.

The Lament for Icarus by Herbert James Draper (1898)

Then we consider that all three of these points (like everything else about this Full Moon t-square) is in the first decanate: between the degrees of zero and 9. That means this is all very person. It’s about us, it’s about something we need to do or have done (Pluto-Facies tends to suggest here that this is something already done). And it’s affecting us physically. That may mean ‘physically’ in the simple sense – in terms of our health or physical body. Then again, it may be a question of our social standing or marriage. Or maybe (given all the Taurus-Scorpio in the background) how finances are affecting our ability to do anything about anything.

Sun-conjunct-asteroid House at 7 Libra is a reference to how comfortable we are with ourselves. With the Sun in its sign of fall, the answer is likely to be ‘not as comfortable as we’d like to be with ourselves.’ Where 7 Libra falls in your personal chart, along with where the Sun and asteroid House are natally (and how they’re aspected) will lend additional color to this factor for good and ill.

But plainly we’re considering (or reconsidering) how things are going, the nature of the people we’re interacting with (or not interacting with) – and whether all that is getting us where we want to go. You know…to that feeling of all being simple as it ‘should be’ in our most innocent of childlike dreams?

That thought brings up a good point: Aries can be childlike…or childish. How we have set ourselves up prior to now is like as not delivering results on this choice. If you want ‘permission’ from life to be childish and you’re hanging out with a bunch of responsible, thoughtful people that may not work. If you want to achieve personal freedom (Moon-Uranus in Aries) and you’re hanging out with a bunch of irresponsible folks, then that may not work so well for you.

(Yes, karma is apparently contagious)

There are as many ways these you-me-he-she-it things can manifest as there are leaves on trees. But at some level, whether or what you are/aren’t being to others (Sun in Libra) is setting the stage for successes and headaches of the moment.

Then we come to TNO Typhon. The Greek Typhon is a totally primal figure which references that essential level of life where biological drives manifest as the need to breathe…hunger…exhaustion and the need to sleep…the urge to reproduce…all such things.

To understand a bit more about the nature of Typhon, here’s the diagram yours truly drummed up for the Pholus blog (may it long be remembered) modified so as to include Typhon…and make a blogger’s best attempt to put things a little more to scale.

The point here is that Typhon originates in the Kuiper Belt – it’s a Trans Neptunian Object, hence the ‘TNO’ designation. And anything which comes from way out there (beyond Neptune) on the esoteric level can be thought of as ‘coming through the Neptune reality/non-reality’ gate.

In other words, objects which orbit beyond Neptune (our solar system’s last true planet) are ‘beyond’ that point where the known, where our conceptual ability to predict reality ends. Put all this together and we’re likely to have been drawn into Scorpio (joint/joined) situations (through assertive Mars choice) which at this time are confronting us with complicated, multi-faceted (Facies) situations which evoke emotionally transformative (Plutonic) upheavals at a very basic (Typhon) level.

Whew! That’s a thought-ful, right?

The bottom line here is that t-squares have a time-honored, if-you-can-do-it-you-will-end-up-happy formula. That formula says that we have to get over a “hurdle” (the ‘t’ in the t-square) which is really all about your focus on you. Call it ego, call it selfish, call it personal priority…the astrological rule where t-squares are concerned is plain.

So! If all is good now, probably things are really great. (At least for the moment. After all, this is just a Full Moon we’re talking about!)

And if things are tough, the challenge is to shift your focus to the ‘greater picture’…the what needs to be changed and how you can move to lead the charge, the moment, the effort there.

Oh yes…Diadem. Diadem is a fixed star which represents the ‘crowning glory’ – our most cherished thought, hope, possession, activity (etc.). Positioned at 9 Libra, Diadem is positioned in a degree which is quick to criticize and mentally aggressive, a degree known for its preference to talk (study, examine, think) rather than do. This degree does not favor making decisions…which gives us a hint not just about the present, but about these years we’re all muddling through.

Having entered 9 Libra on December 19, 2003, Diadem won’t be moving on into 10 Libra until December 25, 2075 (merry Christmas a half-century early!). And not only does this echo some of the data we got when discussing Pholus (and the ongoing game of zodiacal tag Pholus is playing with Ixion)…namely, that we live in changing times when it’s easy to complain and long for calmer waters, but when that’s truly not likely to happen.

Link to the blog on Pholus

By the year 2075 (interestingly) Pluto will be where Uranus is right now, a fact which poses suggests that what gets done today (or not done today) has some long-term ramifications.

Fortunately…(if that’s what you want to call it)…upheaval and difficult, challenging times seem to be the hallmark of every shift of astrological age.

So as they say…unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should.

We just have to decide to live in this world instead of trying (expecting?) it to work as we want it to.

Is it worth your try?



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A 10 Aquarus Full Moon

A Full Moon rises over Nykoping Sweden

Earth’s northern hemisphere calls August summer. Earth’s southern hemisphere calls August winter. Either way, an August Full Moon is a ‘mid-season’ Moon which zodiacally emphasizes the Leo-Aquarius polarity.

And that means 'fixed,' in astro-terms.

That 'fixed' quality has - generally - two very different polarities. One involves gathering in information from which a decision then gets made and acted on, which fits rather nicely with Mercury being retrograde in Leo.

Well...except for that Mercury-Leo doubling up on the fixed factor thing.

And before we get all hung up on that, there is the other side of the 'fixed factor': that being procrastination. Or a refusing to deal with things. Or refusing to change.

In one direction, the 'fixed' modality says slow and steady wins the race. In the other, it's more about being a stick stuck in your own mire of muddiness.

So which are you? There's an 'overall' tendency and a 'dealing with the moment' quality here to be considered. On one hand, you may be someone with a lot of energy in fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius). On the other hand, you may just be at something of a crossroads in life, and you're trying to figure out which way to go.

With Amor – a non-sexual sort of ‘love’ (regard, focus) at 6 Aquarius and thus on the 'Moon side' of this Full Moon, we know this is a Full Moon moment which will have a tendency to 'highlights' both our creative natures and critiques. Either way this can be you supporting or criticizing yourself or someone else cheering you on or poking your thinnest skin with their very sharpest needle.

The figure here being Sun in Leo/Moon in Aquarius, there's likely to be a lot of projecting going on. So we should expect to hear folks explaining how someone else isn't doing it right when their own house or life (or head) is in a mess of shambles.

Or stuck in the sand, yes.

The Sun in Leo quality here can make us virtually blind to fact. Or caution. Or even just valid input.

At the same time it can also symbolize the vision, the power to see beyond this moment.

So what's a person to think?

Well, we do have some astro-hints thrown in here. There's Eos, the figure of the dawn. Eos being a creature of the sea, this is a 'dawning' of emotional recognition or possibility.

Then there's Sabine - the quality of being held captive by something or someone. Maybe just by our ego?

Then there's Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne is an interesting addition to this party as like everything else in this little grouping, it's positioned in Leo, the sign of native creations and creativity. On the qualitative level, Mnemosyne is about embodying creativity. So when we throw in the last modifier of the moment (Athena, representing intellectual intelligence and thinking things through) the question is again a reiteration of the baseline Sun-Moon Leo-Aquarius question: what are you doing with your life? 
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 Dawn on an island beach in British Columbia.

Life...nature...sometimes we can be awed by

being part of something so magnificent.

It says so much about what we are - and what

we can potentially become.

(photo credit: Brandon Godfrey, September 2009)

What this comes down to is that this Full Moon of Thursday August 2nd (at 3:27 a.m. UT/+0) at 10 Aquarius is about whether our life 'works' for us.

And not just for 'us' on the ego level...but 'us' at the 'life' leel.

You know...it's that 'are you frittering away precious time or opportunities?' and 'are you spending your time, energy and resources on things which are impractical...maybe even futile?'

The Moon side of this figure being in Aquarius automatically references matters social, societal and having to do with income. So if the social, societal or income part of your life is going well, this is a moment not to dent that and thus a time to either work towards capitalizing on momentum or letting things 'run' on said momentum while you have a bit of fun.

If things aren't so happy in the social, societal or income part of life, this is a time to be working on getting things on track - or back on track, depending.

However...! Life is sending us a wee notice that there is a bit of a trick to all at hand, or in mind, or in motion.

That concerns Neptune.

Neptune, you say?

Yes, Neptune. And why would that be? The 'why' there concerns Neptune's Nodes. Currently positioned at 11 Leo (Ascending/North) and 11 Aquarius (Descending/South), this Neptune quality is both a door to huge opportunities and a huge opportunity to be sinking more bad energy after good.

So how do you know which is which?

Simple: rely on facts. Hard proof, hard facts and real realities is the most likely indicator of which way to go here. So if you're working on a project, don't listen to rumor, do some from-the-source research. If you're thinking of getting involved in something, enjoy the hype and the 'selling you on how fabulous things could be' but make your choice based on realism.

And remember, that realism should have two sides to it, just like the Full Moon...there's the 'what I can do' Leo Sun side of things and 'how others are likely to respond to this idea' Aquarius Moon side of things.

Our tendency...granting that Leo is Leo...will be to want to go with 'our thing.' And this may be all well and good unless you're talking about anything income-oriented.

This is where we get back to that 'Mercury retrograde in Leo' thing. It's great for the imagining and dreaming up part of things, it's not so good with focusing on whether there's really a 'market' for what we're proposing (on the scale we want or need) or whether people will be receptive of our efforts.

It's tough. There's likely to be a goodly deal of emotional myopia (nearsightedness) going around now.

Try not to get caught up in it unless you're on vacation or celebrating an engagement or something of-the-moment fabulous like that.

As for the actual degree of this Full Moon (10 Aquarius) that too stresses the creative if Neptunian quality of the moment. As a degree, this one suggests that best bets involve keeping an open mind - even if that means hearing what you don't want to hear. This in itself rather suggests that the 'polarized' Sun-opposition-Moon quality of the Full Moon is likely to be very much on the table now. And when we add in the Neptunian Nodes, we can expect that simple things may look difficult (or like they will cause difficulties) and that those things which are in reality the least likely to succeed...well, those may come off sounding like sure-fire winner.

The solution would seem to be leaving ourselves open to inspiration while not gullible enough to believe what we want to believe because it feels good...or merely easy. 

The ability of simple things to suggest 'other images' to our mind

is natively to all of us and very much part of the Neptunian concept.

Here, two glasses are sitting on a black surface in a dark room

in front of a tiled LCD screen. It looks simple, and yet not so

simple...and in that, gives us the key to understanding

Neptune's metaphysics.

(photo credit Atoma Febuary 2007)

So where does that leave us? Probably with some  obvious pluses and minuses. Aquarius being a sign about success through acceptance of one's contribution, it's worth considering how well integrated you are with not just 'your' group, but the world around you. There's a lot of factionalizing going on - that's endemic and to be expected here at the start of the Aquarian Age.

But the point of Aquarius being universalism, that says that those who don't factionalize, who don't cater to the 'me and mine' and who look towards the broadest of societal connections, the looking past such things as race, age, social status, generational inclination, heritage, finances, technology, religion, gender, intelligence, personal interests...ALL that stuff - those who head for the most universal of appeals and the most universal of approaches are going to win.

Some will call this the 'lowest common denominator.' Some will look at this precept and realize that by holding to a standard of quality that 'universalism' becomes all-inclusiveness.

And when you deal with your life in this world, the more of the world which accepts who you are and what you contribute, the better off you are.

Notice: this is not about liking you per se...this is about accepting your contribution.

We all need a basis for existing in this world. The 'Aquarius process' is all about establishing how to fit in and how to create that basis for operation. There is an in-built tendency (which may come out at this time) to isolate or take a very 'I don't want to be part of that' stance. And that may be fine.

Then again, that may not be fine.

And that's another place where this Leo Mercury retrograde can come in handy - or be the means by which you cause your own headaches. Simply putting up a wall and saying 'I don't care about that' (or them) is a sure fire way for life to test you at some point down the line (and probably not all that far down the line!). In other words, taking the time to become informed, is the best way forward here.

Again...it's that 'know the facts' thing.

So this is a fine time to simply enjoy yourself, so long as you don’t overdo or do something foolish like try out high-wire walking for the first time with no safety net.

It’s also – rather curiously, perhaps – a great time to be casting lines into life's waters. Mercury retrograde - in any sign - is a good time for exploring. And with this Full Moon highlighting the Aquarius precept? It's a particularly apt time to float ideas...to go fishing for a nibble. Even a bite!

The one caution here would be this: don't can't make good on. In fact, this may be when you realize that your having skirted and evaded responsibilities is going to cost you!

Considering how this Full Moon is in Aquarius, and that Aquarius does always suggest a “them” or a 'group,’ August 2nd may become a day of obligations. Or when you realize you have obligations coming due.

Then again, all Full Moons also point to the end of a “phase” in some greater process. Maybe you’ve been building something? Maybe you'll realize what you had been thinking to do just won't work? Maybe you'll finish doing something which for whatever reason (read: Mercury retrograde), can't or shouldn't be acted on just yet?

As with every Full Moon, some of us will arrive at August 2nd, achieve ‘x’ goal and immediately move on to some ‘next step in the process.' Given Mercury retrograde, this is likely to happen without a whole lot of hullabaloo.

hen again, some of us will get to August 2nd and realize we've been kidding ourselves...and that we really do need to deal with the reality of some situation.
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  A crescent Moon rises over Kazakhstan

No matter where we are, we all share the same Moon

(photo credit: NASA - Bill Ingalls - 2009)

Whatever happens, so long as we remember that Leo tends to manifest as a 'how I'd like things to be' in our head...which may not match the reality of whatever we get presented with, we'll be fine.

And by the way - life hasn't 'disappointed' us. We have. And that's the major 'trick' with (and of) Leo. The Leo ability to envision the fun, the perfection, the 'how things could be' is supposed to be a motivation to try. That real life isn't that fantasy...that it's hot at the theme park or that our date isn't perfect...the measure of 'disappointment' we feel is exactly the difference between motivation and expectation.

And that 'ideal versus reality' is why - and where - there's a marked similarity between Leo (ruled by the Sun) and Pisces (ruled by Jupiter and Neptune).

The big difference? Leo operates in the realm of the idea or theory of the thing and ends up prompting our feelings. Pisces operates through our feelings and ends up teaching us a lesson - at least in theory.

That makes the linking of Neptune's Nodes, Sun and Mercury in Leo and the Aquarian Full Moon a highly poignant moment.

And yet...it is just a moment.

Full Moons image our monthly cycle of personal just as the solar calendar is our yearly cycle of overall life growth. The rolling overlap of the 13-month 'lunar year' against the 365.2422 day solar year and its various tests and stages are what get highlighted at the 'life level' by the 19-year (235 lunar month) Metonic eclipse cycle and at the more personal worldly-interactive level by the 18.6 lunar nodal cycle.

Oh...and did you know that the lunar nodes are about to change signs?

They are. That happens at the end of this month (August, 2012). And that means that - since the nodes cycle backwards through the zodiac (it's a planetary orbit thing) that at the moment the nodes are in the smallest of small degrees of Sagittarius (North) and Gemini (South) emphasizing what we think, what we need to learn - and the fact that we need to recognize the work involved to make things work. No matter what we want to do in life, we risk a few glitches, a few stubbed toes, a few 'oops!' moments.

The Sabian Symbol for the degree of this Full Moon is ‘DURING A SILENT HOUR, A MAN RECEIVES A NEW INSPIRATION WHICH MAY CHANGE HIS LIFE.’

  Inspiration comes in many forms...here, sunlight pours

into Antelope Canyon, Arizona

 (photo credit Lucas Loffler, August 2006)

 

Given this...and the position of the lunar nodes, things which have been building are coming down to some very 'basic' considerations.

Do you know which way to go?

There is very little which is hard-core predictable about  this moment. Things are in flux. Things are changing. We we need to not only recognize that, but recognize what that means to us.

So you may need to make a decision. Or you may need to do some tall thinking. Or some gathering together of the facts. We all need to be considering not just the 'our' side of things, but the 'how to connect to the world' side of things.

Then we need to understand that getting from decisions to fruition takes time. It's a process.

But we need to be part of that process if we're thinking that process is going to include us.

And from there, we all move on.
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Full Moon of August 2, 2012

(Aries Wheel, not location specific) 

April's Libra Full Moon

 An Aries Wheel chart for the Full Moon of April 18, 2011

(2:45am UT/+0) - location not specific

 /

Amphitrite slides into Aries at 1:20am (UT/+0) on April 18th…not all that long before the Moon reaches its full phase at 2:45am (UT/+0) on that same day…

Should we think of this as a water nymph (a symbol of instinct) leaving a sign it would work very naturally in (Pisces) for a world of what could be – the fiery world of the Aries imagination which envisions all but which doesn’t always invest in the emotional repercussions until they happen?

Should we think of this as Amphitrite as a symbol of instinct having now passed over fixed star Scheat at 29 Pisces, meaning the knee-jerk instinct to reject things may be giving way to a period of possible reception and (you just never know!) positive opportunities?

Should we think of this as Amphitrite having – yes – gotten past Scheat but in position now to conjunct and ‘instinctual-ize’ a traveling conjunction of Black Moon Lilith and Uranus, which are currently at 2 Aries?

That would seem to be adding instinct to the already somewhat outrageous seeing that 2 Aries is known for lacking the perseverance to carry through on things.

And yet….often enough this degree evidences a sly sense of humor which is just enough to not simply make light of one’s own foibles, but actually use one’s apparent “ineptness” to crowbar out of people what you really want from them. Or want them to do. Or want them to think of you…and possibly themselves.

Considering this is Uranus/Black Moon Lilith we’re talking about, there’s a little bit of revelation in the air. A ‘bit of a charge’ is gotten here both from spilling the beans and from attempting to distract folks from what you don’t want them to know – or see – or focus on….

…Especially if that isn’t you. Yes, this is an ego-based moment, particularly considering the Full Moon Aries/Libra emphasis. Sun at 27 Aries would seem to be all about dedicating one’s self to getting the job done. Yet considering 27 Aries is all about the promise and not always about the accomplishment, the combination of this degree being involved in a Full Moon (where the 27 Libra/lunar side might well be those one is trying to reach, convince or please) – when we toss in that Amphitrite/Aries ingress plus Uranus/Lilith there well may be a lot of posturing simply for attention’s sake.

You know – if any attention is good, bad attention is better than no attention is all?

Considering Mars and Saturn (Saturn in retrograde) are in now in direct/exact opposition in emotional degrees (with Mars strongly placed in Aries) we can  expect this to be a particularly emotional Full Moon. And a contentious one too. If that will work for someone’s goal (or they think it will work for them) count on drum beating and sky is falling and drama talk galore.

Not that there aren’t things to be concerned about, mind you. There are. That’s the flip side of Mars and Saturn being in direct opposition in this moment. There are real difficulties (even hostilities) going on now and they aren’t to be ignored. With Mars at 12 Aries and Mercury (retrograde) currently at 14 Aries there’s an implication that we’re a couple of days away from real news, real understanding.

But what that understanding is going to be? Pro or con, that isn’t guaranteed – except that we can count on the idea that it will include “more needing to be done"…that would be the Mercury retrograde part of the impending notice.

Real answers – particularly as to the ‘cost’ of whatever is being dealt with are not likely to surface until around the 28th - after Mercury comes out of retrograde, for sure. That moment (on the 28th) being when Jupiter conjuncts Eris at a moment when asteroid Lust brings maximal focus to the matter and the Sun has moved on to 7 Taurus where it will be sitting with Byblis (an attempt to justify) and fixed star Hamal.

Ah yes, Hamal. It’s an interesting star, this one. One might even think of it as something of the tofu of fixed stars as Hamal is known for taking its flavor  from that which it’s combined with.

 Would you like a side order of tofu fixed star?

In this case…all things considered…we should expect to hear ‘but that would have cost’ and ‘we were just trying to…’ in connection with things which now cost much more and which will in the end, undermine enormous efforts and investments of time, energy and human capital.

(In other words, this is Hamal with a lot of empty – and possibly bad tasting calories!)

But that’s yet to come. Right now we will get the high water mark of the month – a moment when various things will be being ‘highlighted’ by different factions. And you shouldn’t be surprised if your instinct is simply to shut it all out and take a moment for yourself.

Just don’t be an escapist. Mars rules the Aries/Sun end of this Full Moon but Venus rules the Libra/Moon (and retrograde Saturn) end of this configuration. And at the moment, Venus is sitting in Pisces conjunct Sappho and Circe – a temptation to reject or abandon reality for something more comforting. That could be doing a bit of gardening, reading a book or taking a bubble bath. Then again, it could be wholesale campaigning against reason, either publicly…(this Full Moon absolutely supports amazingly unsupported public statements!)…or privately – even through the use of ‘escapist activities’ or intoxicating substances.

In the end, maybe the best thing to remember is that this is only a Full Moon. Take it with a grain of salt. Let the moment pass and think over what you’ve been told. There may be a kernel of truth or wisdom in either the cotton candy or the blurted cries of danger, danger Will Robinson! 

Time will tell. Listen, learn, if possible enjoy – then move on. This is a step in a process, but especially with Mercury in retrograde, you haven’t heard the last word on anything yet. Even on your own personal opinion!