The Leo Full Moon

The Full Moon Over Lake Michigan

(photo credit: Kim Scarborough, August 2005)

By the very nature of Leo as a highly creative sign, with a Full Moon at 7 Leo on Sunday, January 27th (at 4:39 a.m. for those in the UT/+0 zone)…this would be a time for big ideas.

Or maybe when something happens to opens a whole new world for you.

Also known as a sign of good times and high spirits, a Leo Moon can also bring out our spirit of play. So perhaps you’re thinking to have a party? Or a special little get-together with someone you really like? 

Considering how with the time zone adjusted this Full Moon happens on Saturday night in the Americas, we can expect some high times and fancy dance steps.

More on a personal and dynamic level, considering that Leo’s is a sign all about bringing things into being in the creative sense, maybe this will be a great time when you find out your plans are coming to fruition. Or that something has been cleared off the deck so you can plan something new. Full Moons are not typically a signal of starting something, but seeing that they do indicate ‘bringing something to fruition’ (hence the reference to a ‘high tide’) this can be a time when some obligation finally gets out of your way, allowing you to do what you really want to do!

The particular degree of this Full Moon (7 Leo) is known by default as a personal and sometimes physical Leo degree. This is one of those Leo degrees where ‘a little of this’ and ‘a little of that’ can suddenly produce magic. Or insight. Or a complete change of heart. It’s said that there’s a certain amount of luck which is found in this degree which suggests that those who have been working towards something may get some positive news.

But there is some reason to be cautious now. Why? Because 7 Leo is a degree which also tends to polarize me/them type energies. So when or where you’re getting along with people, things are really, really good. But where things are bad, or where you do that Leo no-no of acting like your opinion, your preference, your aims or abilities are ‘all that’ and the rest of the world should just feel lucky they get to listen to you…? That could surely blow up in your face now!

Let’s also remember, this Full Moon is occurring as Vesta has just gone direct. So maybe you’re going to suddenly remember you have a term paper due? Or maybe you made some commitment of some sort and have suddenly realized you’re over your head?

Okay…so maybe you need to get creative. In that, the Leo Moon may help. But people around you shouldn’t expect you to be calm. Being a fixed sign, a Leo Full Moon will have many of us ‘fixed’ on something we want to get done. We may be driven by some need…or just feel driven by some need.

 1000 Cubes by Nevit Dilmen (2002)

Relationships are likely to be part of this Full Moon dynamic as well. And not necessarily the easy part of relationships, either.

What’s that all about? Well, that would be because the South Node is going to be conjuncting Sedna on Monday (January 28) at 22 Taurus. The lunar nodes always being about how we relate – whether that’s to a person, our job, society or whatnot…the conjunction to Sedna highlights the need to be our own person and accepting that our ‘job’ as a human being is to do what we are capable of doing, whether or not we recognize its worth.

Sedna’s tough. I’m not saying it isn’t tough – it is. We’re talking about a dwarf planet which orbits at the very edge of our solar system in conjunction with experiences our world which can be (and feel) very personal. No matter what happens between January 28th and February 7th (when the South Node finally parts company with Sedna) the greatest benefit we will ultimately realize involve understanding how others see us.

It may not all be pretty. But it’s likely to be valuable.

And all this starts just as the Full Moon appears in the sky. Coincidence? Probably not!

As for modifying factors to the Full Moon itself, there are several.

The first is Circe. You may remember her story, she’s a spell-casting Sorceress who holds onto men by casting a spell over them, turning them into animals. (Seriously!) Circe is conjunct the Moon.

The second is Nemesis, the figure of either standing up to say the unpopular-but-true thing…or the ‘I told you so’ which whether uttered by someone else or in our mind gets us kicking our derriere because we KNEW we should have done something (or not done something) but we ignored the ‘unpopular warning.’

Considering the Moon is in Leo and the Sun is in Aquarius for this Full Moon, there’s a heavy societal accent here, particularly where our interactions are concerned. With all taken into account, it would seem likely that we’ll hear – or hear of - some fractious statements. And warnings given or warnings ignored.

With Saturn at 11 Scorpio, we would also expect to encounter some t-square effects, too.

Whatever it at the ‘t’ of any t-square represents what we need to get ‘over’ in order to accomplish our task. Considering this is Saturn in Scorpio at the ‘t’ of all things, the question would seem to be emotional values…whether that’s someone’s expectations, need to feel included (or recognized), or maybe some sort of monetary issue. With all of the major players here (Sun, Moon, Saturn) positioned in fixed signs, the general tendency to dig in our heels is likely to be an issue now – and that the ‘me’ part of the fixed equation (Taurus) isn’t occupied at the moment…?

Frankly, that strikes this astrologer as a test of personal proportion, especially since that ‘Taurus quotient’ is going to get energized (big time!) starting the day after this Full Moon.

Normally, the Scorpio/Taurus polarity has us wanting things to go our way because if and where they don’t, we tend to feel personally invalidated, threatened or otherwise diminished. It doesn’t have to be serious to be real in this area of life…we just want to feel we’re right. And that we’re on solid ground. And that we’re safe. And that we aren’t going to get rejected, neglected or otherwise shut out.

Those are all Taurus/Scorpio issues. So considering the juxtaposition of this Leo Full Moon and Saturn sticking it’s icy rings into the mix via a t-square WITH all the South Node/Sedna stuff about to go off?

Oh, one wonders.

In all likelihood, people will fall into two camps. One group will be perfectly happy to be noodling off on their own doing their own thing. The other camp will be embroiled in contention with people who may or may not (and who certainly can) make life harder by screwing up our works. Or our relationships with others. Or our avenues for proceeding on in life.

Makes you want to run out and get happy and creative, doesn’t it?

There’s one more thing to remember here, and that’s the idea that Jupiter – which has been hanging out at 6 Gemini getting us all focused on how unfocused we’re capable of being – is about to go direct.

 Jupiter as seen by Voyager

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

So! Do I have any ‘tried and sure’ suggestions for this lunation? Frankly, no. What I can (and obviously will) say however, is that your ability to understand where others are coming from – for good or ill – is your best salvation. You can’t ‘abandon’ yourself to them, and you can’t ignore them, either. Nor can you have everything your own way and emerge smelling like the proverbial rose.

Leo has a talent for seeing what’s possible and expecting life to fall in and go for the envisioned gusto. If you can inspire others with your ideas, great – then you may become the happy partying person and pass through this time with nary a ruffle to your mane. But if there’s a gap between your vision of how life ‘should work’ and how life actually is – or is working? Then the question becomes whether you’re going to deal with reality or use your vision to try and better the current situation.

Whatever happens, don’t get discouraged, get happy to listen, to help, to chip in where you can and to figure out what will work best where all is in tatters. Those who do can get a whole lot done now. You can even salvage what might otherwise be a difficult situation. That’s the other side of the impending Sedna/South Node issue: it’s a definite opportunity to change your ways, to let go of wanting life to ‘fit you’ at some level and to become a participant and individual others can respect.

Have a seriously creative and enlightening Full Moon!
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Edisona/Vesta: What Does it Take?

The above is a composite of two images. The painting is 'A Vestal Virgin' - specifically a detail of a larger work by Sir Frederick Leighton (c. 1880) and the light bulb is from a photo taken by Gluehlampe in October, 2007

 
The fact that so many asteroids, dwarf planets and such have been taking stations this month goes along with all the cues life is giving us about making changes, on whatever level that needs to happen in your life. That all this is happening more and more as Jupiter is “sitting” in the degree (6 Gemini) at which it will go direct tells us that wheels are spinning, our minds may be spinning and we need to choose (Gemini) to not let things get out of hand.

Priorities! That’s what we need…priorities.

Today’s signpost (which is actually a Friday and Saturday signpost) is about Edisona and Vesta, one of which is going retrograde (Edisona) and one of which is going direct (Vesta).

Edisona goes retrograde on Friday at 11:48 in the evening (UT/+0 time) at 6 Libra. And since 6 Libra is exactly in trine to big red Jupiter lingering there at 6 Gemini, we are given to understand that the ‘idea of the thing’ (Edisona) or ‘getting the idea’ is choice. As is what we do about whatever the situation, need or ongoing process involves. That Edisona is in Libra suggests interactions with others. Maybe the relationships we have with others or that we need or want to have. Knowing that Jupiter tends to go overboard in Gemini, keeping that Libra ‘keep things level and balanced’ seems important here, especially if you’re dealing with any sort of situation which would tend to have you overcompensating, making grand gestures, over-reacting or overstating your case, abilities or capacities.

This Edisona station is also conjunct Hera. You may know Hera from myth and legend as Zeus’ pushy (and much betrayed) wife. Frankly, the Hera of mythic fame is a bit devious…not to mention a nag!

But astrologically? The astrological Hera (the asteroid) seems to be far more about ‘managing’ things – be that a situation or a budget or an urge. And though you may be tempted to think of Hera in ‘wifely’ or matriarchal, even motherly terms remember – this is YOUR Hera, so this would be your ability to ‘partner’ with yourself. Or ‘mother’ yourself. Or keep yourself on track and in line with what you know you need to do, never mind what you may want to do.

Or, bringing in the Libra quality, what someone else may want you to do…OR what you may want to do in order to get a certain response from others.

Like all signs, Libra has it’s positives and negatives… which sometimes are but a hair’s breath apart. Libra can be all about the ‘making it look good.’ But does that mean it is good? In a conversation with a friend of mine who is a psychologist, I once remarked on people who live in the “upscale” parts of town and how so many of them seem to have it made.

Her response: ‘I’ve been doing what I do for thirty years and I’m here to tell you that we don’t EVER know what’s going on behind someone’s front door.’

I’ve related this anecdote before, but it’s an important one…especially when we get to Libra land. Too many of us do many a thing and make many a choice based on what it will look like. Or how we can ‘look the part,’ or ‘fit in.’

And this doesn’t even take into account the real Libra versions of same…the toeing a line because of all the flack which not toeing it would bring about. The number of times we sign something, agree to something or commit to something and then find out it doesn’t work (or work for us) are totally legion.

I’m sure you’ve made a few decisions you regret. We all have!

Put simply, the echoes of that choice reappear now. They may sound in your head because you have another choice to make…they may simply be a result of your desire to make a good choice for yourself (and/or others) because you’re the cautious type.

Edisona here…going retrograde amidst a Libra and Hera vibe is just asking us to think. Think it over, get some idea of what you’re getting into – or maybe some idea of what it would take to get out of something.

The general astro-concept we think of with regards to Edisona is ‘the idea.’ (Hopefully a bright idea!) And as Edisona goes retrograde, whether this is an idea you’ve already had and are dealing with the parameters of…or whether this is you needing to get an idea…or what kind of ‘bright idea’ it would be to have some idea of getting into before you take the plunge…? All that depends on your personal chart. But having said all this about Edisona…surely you have some idea of what I mean?

(Yes, I said that…!)

Before pushing on, let’s pause for a moment. Remember all those other other astro-issues of this week?

We are in the middle of a lunar cycle which began in late(ish) Capricorn and which is headed for early Leo. That’s another version of the ‘bringing home’ to us concept we went through last month, except December was all about Sagittarian fire – the idea – coming down to Cancerian emotional basics: what will work, what can I do, what is just pie-in-the-sky whistling up my own hat and what’s something which may take a lot of effort, but worth putting my time and sweat-effort into.

Fire-to-water brings the ‘idea’ (fire) into focus through facing what real life emotional consequences may be. Earth-to-fire, on the other hand, has a couple of different versions. The first is where we imagine where what we do have and can do…where that can take us. Another version of an earth-to-fire cycle would be a sort of ‘check-point’ process which asks ‘what is this going to cost me?’ Whether the medium is money or time or effort or business viability or social standing (those latter being put on the table by virtue of January’s New Moon having been in Capricorn), some of us…and some parts of our world have made bets or gone down some road which isn’t looking as bright and shiny as it once did.

Edisona is going retrograde in Libra even as the stations of Lust and Amphitrite are playing out. Lust being ‘intensity of focus’ and Amphitrite speaking to success or happiness which comes only after a period of discomfort which generally involves letting go of some preconceived idea of how things work…so far these days seem rife with moments of reflection. And maybe discussions. Or asking questions so that you can get a ‘better idea’ of what’s going on.

Because we’re a few days shy of the Leo Full Moon, some of us are headed into heavy traffic. But not all of us, and one of the big dividers is theoretically all about our ‘Vesta Quotient.’

Vesta as photographed on September 11, 2012 by spacecraft Dawn

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

 
Often simply thought of as the ‘keeper of the sacred hearth,’ in practicing astrology, Vesta seems to be far more connected to the idea of keeping your promise and honoring your word, whether that’s to someone else or to yourself. Everything which goes into keeping a promise is Vesta-like. The sacrifices of time and effort, the not going out to have that fun because you really should be working on that project, going to the gym, cleaning the garage, not spending any money…whatever your ‘promises’ are, Vesta is not just the act of making them, but all the choices and the self-control and the determination which goes into seeing your commitment through to the end.

Choice? Did I say choice?

And self-control? Where did we just hear about that?

This is one of those interesting moments when we clearly see one part of a pattern echoed in something else. Jupiter is lurking there at 6 Gemini, waiting to go direct, clearly warning us about taking on (or having taken on) too much. Or overstepping our bounds (or having overstepped them). Though popularly known as ‘everything in sight and then some,’ Gemini is really about learning not to scatter ourselves, but to choose things and see them through to fruition so that we can build from there.

Jupiter is just raising the stakes. Which is typical of Jupiter. Known as 'expansion,' the practical side of understanding Jupiter gives us a picture not only of having more, but going for more ...and some 'greater cause' which for whatever reason (good or bad) could cause us to try harder or change our aim(s).

And self-control? That’s very Hera, which we already talked about in conjunction with Edisona.

For some of us, this Vesta-going-direct will be a moment when we ‘realize the cost’…and I mean that in every sense. You may gulp when you see the bill, or you may ‘realize’ – which is to say, receive – whatever it is which will allow you ‘deal with the cost’ and begin to move on or build anew.

With Vesta turning to direct motion, we’re put on notice that these past few months of second-guessing ourselves and critiquing ourselves is ending for a while.

Of course this does mean that the questions, the critiques are more likely to come from others going forward.

Yes, life is just like that. Personally, I’m looking forward to hearing from NASA after they download all the information from spacecraft Dawn, which is currently inspecting asteroid Vesta close up.

NASA's post on the Dawn Spacecraft studying Vesta

Ever since Pluto got ‘demoted,’ the question of how what science has to say about celestial objects has been getting tossed around. Astrologers never thought changing Pluto’s classification from planet to dwarf planet changed its meaning much.

On the other hand, a lot of them didn’t take note of the obvious, either. If Pluto is a dwarf planet, that means every other dwarf planet out there is “as important” as Pluto is, which in astrological terms is pretty potent.
That, my friends, is why we here at yon Olde astroPPM Bloggery pay such close attention to other dwarf planets. Like Eris. Like Haumea. Like Sedna, MakeMake and (as soon as I find enough information and do enough research on it,) Quaoar.

The point here is that Vesta may also be a dwarf planet. Ceres and Vesta are both on a VPNL (Very Particular Nasa List) which asks if these main belt asteroids are actually dwarf planets.

IF they are, when we find out that they are, that will signal a shift in the importance of their metaphysical meanings. With Vesta, that would mean everything about what it takes to make and keep one’s promises and commitments would become an even greater factor in our lives.

And considering how important commitments and promises are right now (with Vesta merely being classed as an asteroid) that’s saying some.

I give you these thoughts to munch on in part because we’re heading into a Full Leo Moon. This is just the kind of moment when thinking about what it takes to get where you think you want to go and what it means to your life is a very useful idea indeed!
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