As the Moon grew brighter from our second New Moon in Cancer to tomorrow’s Full Moon in Aquarius, we’ve been on a journey of exploration and learning. We began with small steps, then broke new creative ground.
The exquisitely vulnerable sensitivities of Cancer season gave way to bolder, brighter, more optimistic energies as the Sun entered Leo.
In the face of challenges beyond what any expected for 2020, we begin to see glimmers. Maybe real change is possible. Not overnight, no. But old ways are broken. We won’t go back to how things were.
At this Full Moon in Aquarius, something will crystallize.
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Each Full Moon offers illumination. This time, the passionate, personal, creative Sun in Leo opposes the cerebral, community-minded clarity of the Moon in Aquarius. These are the two yang fixed signs, Fire and Air, moving outward, ready to act.
Something shifts. We see how our personal explorations, our creative work, feeds into a larger sense of community. We have a vision of how we fit in, what we can offer the collective.
We may also see how connecting to others can help us as individuals, how working together widens our scope and expands our potential influence.
The Full Moon is squared by Uranus in Taurus, adding depth and longevity and something of the unexpected to whatever emerges for us now. Taurus is fixed Earth, a slow and patient sign.
Uranus is a revolutionary and the modern ruler of the Full Moon. Discovered in 1781, in the midst of the Age of Revolutions, he pushes us to uncover and express our unique selves.
At this Full Moon, Uranus’ presence points us to the roots of our creative insights. We are not alone. The work we do draws inspiration and nourishment from deep within the Earth itself. And there’s another radical source: Our lineages. We all have ancestors whose struggles and triumphs influence who we are now.
In modern cultures that believe we can reinvent ourselves at will, that we owe nothing to the past, perhaps Uranus in Taurus’ most radical message is to remind us we all come from somewhere.
Our roots in ancient lands do not wholly die. Human ancestors and links to the other-than-human beings in our pasts are still alive, still an influence.
There is another way in which we are ready to be illuminated. Venus has at last emerged fully from her retrograde period, stepping out of the retrograde shadow on July 29, a few days ago.
This retrograde in Gemini shook up our relationships, our values, and our resources. Chances are at least one key relationship has changed significantly in the last 40 days. If a relationship has ended, or will end soon, the ending will be linked to a new understanding of ourselves and our needs.
Venus is close to the end of Gemini now and applies to conjunct the North Node. Whatever we have learned and changed will relate to how we move forward on our path. Perhaps we have resolved a karmic connection. Perhaps we are ready to embrace our own karma in new ways as we let go of old patterns.
Venus enters the sign of Cancer on August 7, bringing home what we’ve learned and experienced.
We’re keeping an eye on Mars these days and he too is connected to the Full Moon. The Sun and Moon will be at 11 Leo and Aquarius. With Mars at 19 Aries, and the extra orb allowed the luminaries, we see that the Sun is applying to trine Mars, as the Moon applies to sextile the red planet.
Mars adds to the yang qualities of this Full Moon. He wants decisive action. He loves quick movement. He’s ready to cut away anything that clouds our clarity of vision.
The illuminations offered by the Full Moon will be different for each of us. In some way, the explorations we’ve done will take form as a new idea, value, or principle.
What have you explored and changed during the Venus retrograde? What creative work has seized your interest during this waxing cycle? What personal work have you committed to in the face of current world challenges?
Also, where does this Full Moon fall in your birth chart? In which houses of your chart can you find 11 Leo (the Sun), 11 Aquarius (the Moon), and 10 Taurus (Uranus)? Where do you see the North Node @ 28 Gemini with Venus nearby @ 26? What about Mars @ 19 Aries?
Note which planets and points are close to the Full Moon configuration. These connections may point to how, where, and what your Full Moon illuminations will be.
Full Moons also illuminate the night sky and this one is especially worth checking out. The Moon will appear full tonight and tomorrow, and is following Jupiter and Saturn across the sky.
Look at the dark night sky as the Moon is rising. The bright light above and to the right of the Moon is Jupiter, whose astrological position is 19 Capricorn. The lesser light between Jupiter and the Moon is Saturn, currently at 27 Capricorn.
If your sky is hazy or has too much light bouncing around in it, you might miss Saturn, but the beautiful Full Moon and bright Jupiter should be visible.
We’re also at one of the turnings of the year in the ancient Celtic calendar. Pagans and Celts celebrated Lughnasadh, or Lammas as its called in England, on Friday.
Astrologically, Lughnasadh arrives when the Sun reaches 15 Leo, which will be August 6.
Lughnasadh celebrates the bounties of the Earth. This is the festival of first fruits–not the fullness of harvest, but the recognition of all the ways the Earth feeds us and keeps us alive.
This also marks the ending of the light half of the light half of the year, which began at Beltaine. We are still within the light half of the year, but now enter its dark half. We’re moving towards Samhain, the ending of the Celtic year and the beginning of a new one.
As in all things, we experience dark and light, endings and beginning, all at once. Some are welcome changes. Some we might fight against but must still endure. All are opportunities.
A this Full Moon, keeps your eyes, your mind, and your heart open. Watch for the “aha,” the moment when something new comes together from your experiences and efforts. That “aha” will be the gift of the Full Moon in Aquarius.
The astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title,
adapted from the star mosaic by Yassin Mohammadi,
and the following images:
the crystal pyramids by Khánh Trung Lê, and
the bread by Wesual Click.