Overnight tonight, we’ll dive into the Full Moon in Aries, a dramatic, high energy Supermoon that will shift things around.
There’s a lot to unpack. I’d like to start with the promise: This Aries Full Moon invites us to face in to the polarity of Aries and Libra. We’re offered a chance to lean into what gets uncomfortable as we balance what we want with what others want from us.
Are we giving or selfish? Accommodating or demanding? Unsure or unhelpful? The light of this Full Moon can help us sort out where we think we are and where we want to be.
One important thing about this Full Moon is how it acts as an introduction to upcoming eclipses.
This one is not an eclipse, but easily could have been. Eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up. Astrologically, this is when a New or Full Moon aligns with the Nodes of the Moon. When the alignment is 18º or closer, we have an eclipse. The tighter the connection, the more visible the eclipse will be.
At this Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are at 06º00’ Libra and Aries. The Node are at 24º54’ Libra and Aries. That’s less than a degree away from 18º which is pretty close. Not an eclipse, but so close.
The next two lunations will be eclipses, the New Moon in Libra and the following Full Moon in Taurus. Wait–what’s a Taurus Moon doing in this Aries–Libra mix? Remember, we name the Moons by where the Moon is. When the Nodes are close to the beginning or end of a zodiacal sign, the Moons can actually be in a different sign than the Nodes.
Confusing, but if you remember the 18º orb, you can see how that happens. It’s still an eclipse. Still chaotic. Still powerful.
The Rising Moon Astrology Podcast is available on an expanding number of sites including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, PlayerFM, Castbox, TuneIn, and Pocket Casts. Listen in on your favorite and please leave a review.
These October eclipses are the second pair in the Aries–Libra polarity, which will include all of the 2024 eclipses. So, yes, consider what came up for you in the spring eclipses on April 20 and May 5. Also pay attention to what comes up for you at this Full Moon, because key issues around balancing Aries and Libra are coming forward.
The Sun and Moon fall in the first decans of Libra and Aries, and both are challenged.
Aries opens the zodiac, begins the year. Here we have new life triumphantly, loudly arriving. I am here! What can I do? What do I want? This is unaware, undifferentiated life force, moving forward toward–what, exactly? We don’t know yet.
Libra opens the second half of the zodiacal year, and the part of the birth chart where we encounter others. Oh, wait! We’re not alone! What can these others do for me? Oh, they have needs too? And look, life is not fair! This is also new awareness, needing time to develop discernment and nuance.
The Moon is not at home in Aries. The Moon wants to nurture, develop deep emotional connections, and keep everyone safe. Aries calls us to recognize what we want for ourselves. The tender emotions get in the way of that. Risk is way more fun than safety.
Neither the Sun nor Mars (who rules this Full Moon) are at home in Libra. Sun and Mars prefer to shine brightly, act from their own goals, and move directly toward what they desire. Having to stop and consider others feels inhibiting, maybe controlling. We all should take care of ourselves, right?
With Chiron the wounded healer, the asteroid Eris who connects us to global issues, and the Nodes of the Moon also in these two signs, there’s a lot going on.
Chiron in Aries asks us to consider where we’ve been wounded in our capacity to know what what we want, let alone act on it. Chiron points to patterns set up in childhood, a time when we’re necessarily under the control of adults. How did those adults support our own desires?
Each stage of childhood brings challenges in this arena. Getting everything we want is not good for us. Being thwarted at every stage, or even worse, shamed for wanting things our families and communities did not value, creates a variety of issues.
Eris heightens our awareness of critically urgent needs in our world. This can fire us up to act, or feel like another level of control over our personal expression. How do we balance this?
The Nodes of the Moon bring a strong sense that these are fateful issues. Our decisions now matter. Our choices will unfold into the future, driving outcomes we can’t see from here. No pressure!
At this Full Moon, we’re right in the middle of it. Discomfort can come up. Hurt feelings. Criticism of self or others, or the world at large. Then we have choices. Can we face in to what comes up? Can we stay calm enough to notice where old patterns emerge? What can we learn here? What needs to change?
The Sun and Moon are key to this Full Moon energy, and yet they’re on their own when it comes to aspects. The patterns around this Full Moon are all about what’s happening around the Nodes, Mars, Eris and Chiron.
Here, lots of other planets and their energies are drawn in.
Pluto continues to square the Nodes and sextile Neptune. This adds to the weightiness of this Full Moon, the sense that the choices we make now are important ones. Pluto is very powerful, too, as they are not moving. Just before the upcoming New Moon eclipse, Pluto will turn direct and begin moving toward Aquarius.
Mercury trines Jupiter and Uranus, while opposing Neptune. Our minds are acutely aware of the pressures of change. We want to hold on to a sense of optimism, or at least possibility, while also feeling an uncertainty that leans into chaos. This is not comfortable for a Mercury in Virgo, but, it’s where we are.
Mars, as I’ve said, is ruling this Aries Full Moon from a place in which he feels constrained, restricted, and irritable. Mars and the Sun, and also the Moon from the other side of this polarity, can be left feeling emotionally drained, frustrated, and caught in self doubt.
The opportunity here is growth. In this regard, Venus has important messages for us.
Venus at 22º26’ Leo is close to completing her retrograde journey. She will emerge from her post-retrograde shadow on October 7, when she reaches the point at which she began her descent journey.
She is squaring Jupiter and Uranus, sextiling Mars, trining the North Node and sextiling the South, while trining Eris and Chiron. She’s holding this conversation.
Venus in Leo is regal, creative, passionate, and playful. Her descent into the underworld reflected where we needed to confront the shadow sides of those qualities, as they show up in our own psyches.
Where have we denied ourselves creative expression? Where have we seen ourselves as weak when we’re actually strong? Where have we demanded attention without giving it? Where have we expected privilege without acknowledging injustice?
Since early June, we’ve had multiple opportunities to ask these and similar questions. Now we’re in the integration phase, as Venus makes her third and final, direct aspects to the planets and points she touched during her journey.
The square to Uranus, which asks, “OK, what do I change now?” will be exact tomorrow, less than eight hours after the Full Moon.
Full Moons illuminate. This Supermoon, the fourth and final one for this year, will be big and bright. We’re close to the end of the Venus retrograde cycle, still very much in Jupiter’s retrograde cycle, and heading into eclipse season.
Aries brings a fiery energy. This is not the best night for partying, or engaging in any risky behavior, as the chance of accident and misadventure will increase. It’s a good time to be active, which Aries loves, especially in ways Venus would also enjoy.
Above all, pay attention. Face in to your desires, how you want to embrace them or shame them, act on them or push them down, own them or pretend their not yours at all. Whatever comes up will be worth working with now and into the future.