Astrologically the Moon is representative of our feeling center, the part of our psyche that responds emotionally to the world around us. In our birth charts, it is located in a particular sign, and that is our emotional “signature” the way we habitually want our needs to be met. In the day to day world, however, the Moon is always changing signs. Once every two days or so it will move into the next sign of the zodiac. It is the fastest moving planetary body from the Earth’s perspective, moving through all 12 signs of the zodiac each month. This has an influence on our moods and emotional reactions, no matter what our birth placement of the Moon is. These changing influences can be charted as we pay attention to the sign of the Moon and the aspects (angles) it makes to other planets.

In Taurus, the Moon is said to be exalted astrologically, meaning that its placement here is one of steadiness, and emotional security.  Taurus is a fixed earth sign, giving the ever-changing Moon a placement that feels good, stable, and connected.  Those who are born with the Moon in Taurus are often able to respond to the world with a sense of strength and stability when it is most needed. At this Full Moon, especially following the Libra New Moon, we would hope to get an opportunity to rest a bit, to take stock of ourselves in the material world and find out what our needs are.

However, this is an extremely powerful Full Moon astrologically. First of all, the Sun has just conjoined Saturn, a once a year event that can feel like someone has put the stops on our enthusiasm for life. For those who have a depressive bent, these few days before and after the conjunction (which was exact on Oct 25th) can feel heavy and dark. However, the Full Moon now is part of a Grand Trine in water signs (emotions) with Neptune and Ceres (blue lines in diagram). A grand trine happens when three planets form equilateral triangles with each other (120˚), creating a harmonious energy of ease and strength. Ceres, a small planetary body about the size of Pluto, astrologically represents the great mother archetypal energy. Now in the sign of Cancer, she is urging us to nurture ourselves through dark times, to remember that love is the most important thing there is, no matter how rich or poor we are.  Neptune, as the third point of the grand trine, brings connections to our unconscious, to our dreams, and a spiritual awareness of our place in the world. Deep feelings abound, emotions can be ecstatic, we may feel very deeply about everything with this configuration.

At the same time, the Full Moon chart has a Grand Cross, which is when four planets form 90˚ angles to each other (red lines in diagram).  The 90˚ angle or “square” is a strongly energetic aspect, and often we experience it as energy getting bunched up or too highly charged, too pulled in different directions, which results in anxiety in one form or another. In this chart we have Venus forming an opposition to Uranus both at right angles to Pluto opposing Ceres. What does this mean for us mortals?

First of all a Grand Cross indicates a great deal of tension, but with the Grand Trine also active we can use this tension well, we can put ourselves into action, move our life into a new order, a new direction, step out into something new, get stuff done that has been a long time coming. Now is the time. Now is the push. The Taurus Moon gives us a grounded feeling so that we know what to do, now all we need to do, is to do it. With Ceres and Venus we need to find new ways to feel good about loving ourselves and others, perhaps “grow up” and let go of childish ways of looking for love and nurturance. Give to others and find it coming back to you.  Uranus and Pluto, higher octave planets, are asking us to go to a higher level of awareness, to access and practice the ways of living and forgiving and loving. This is the time when our ideals need to be put into practice, not just talked about on Sunday, or Saturday or whenever your holy days are.

This is a very active chart that has a great deal of grace in it, in addition to the challenges. Are we equal to the challenges? Are we ready to change whatever in our lives needs changing in order to go forward? Mars in Sagittarius says “yeah, sure!” right away, but its opposition to Jupiter in Gemini may ask us to not use our words as much as our actions to demonstrate our resolve to do something, take action to make the changes in our lives that bring joy to us, our families, our communities, and the world in general. This chart asks us to shine the light into ourselves, to know what our “calling” is and to answer it. A calling can be something humble and quiet, so as to only be known to yourself, but significant changes must occur in each of our lives, and so the world, if there is to be a shift away from the “same old thing” and toward revolution and change, which are Uranus and Pluto’s callings.

Mercury is very tightly squaring Neptune now, cautioning us to choose our communications wisely, to not get caught up in larger than life ideas, to choose silence and listening to our inner voice first before speaking up. Mercury will soon go retrograde on the 6th of November. Yes, that’s Election Day in the US and let’s hope we don’t see a reprise of the scandalous antics of election day in 2000, when Mercury was also retrograde, and votes were shamelessly manipulated, discounted and even fabricated. What was left of our faith and trust in the system was crushed on that day, and the weeks and months following when we learned of the appalling truth of what had been done.

Now we are recognizing we are in a time when we must shift our faith. We are moving away from  what the old established ways have offered us, and toward the strength that we find in each other, in community, in kindness not based upon commerce, but upon mutual honoring of our gifts and our place in the world as human beings. We are capable of demonstrating the deepest qualities of human nature, what the Dalai Lama calls our inherent gentleness, kindness and compassion. These are the qualities that make the race of humanity unique, the transformative nature of love and loving kindness. This Full Moon asks us to put those qualities to work, make them apparent in our lives and work to enhance them in the lives of others as well. The Grand Cross is pushing us to let go of whatever stands in the way of the expression of our true nature, and to embrace and welcome what supports it.