Oh the tension! A Full Moon, a Supermoon, too (the Moon is at perigee or closest to the Earth and so is almost 8% wider than an average Full Moon) and a Lunar Eclipse as well. The eclipse will be able to be seen in North and South America, and Europe, lasting over an hour. That shadowy red orb has a bit of energetic information to transmit for many people. Astrologers have some clues as to what that might be…

This Leo Moon opposes the Aquarius Sun, as it has just barely passed into the sign of Aquarius. Thus both the Sun and Moon are at zero degrees. This is a chart of beginnings. There will be many such turns of the road before us in the coming year, and even more in 2020. But for so many beginnings, there will also be the necessary endings, a time to let go of the old ways and begin new ones.

Leo stands for many things, as all the signs do, but the one aspect of Leo in our culture we are deeply in the midst of is pride. It is said that pride goes before a fall, and so we are watching the world stage at this timing and wondering when the fall is going to happen, and how it is to happen. Aquarius represents humanity and the higher order of things, the natural order that happens when people are behaving like compassionate beings. The opposition of these signs, along with the eclipse, brings a heavy shadowy spotlight in the sky, that many people will witness, showing us a blood-red Moon, and perhaps as we witness this event, we will be reminded of whose hands the blood on them stains.

Forming a right angle to the Sun’s opposition to the Moon (a T-square) is our revolutionary friend, Uranus. If you’ve been following the planets in this blog, you’ve heard about Eris, the goddess of strife and conflict who is also a few degrees away from Uranus. Together, they’ve been having a lot of fun exposing the graft and corruption, the obvious manipulation of “laws” by politicians to further their own ends. It’s pretty obvious now, though the people have yet to stop it in a substantive way. But that is part of what is coming in the next few years.

Meanwhile, on the personal front, the chart of the Lunar Eclipse asks each of us some very deep questions. This is a powerful Lunar Eclipse, and in Leo we are faced with looking at the shadow of our Leonine characteristics: our pride, our arrogance, our insistence in dominating others, even in subtle ways. Leo rules the heart, and asks us to pay attention to anything that stands in the way of our being authentic, coming from the heart. Where is our heart asking for something? Are we denying heartfelt expressions in our work, or with our friends or acquaintances? Watch that with the Moon square Uranus (sudden emotional outbursts) that we don’t jump out with some long-moldering, unexpressed emotional content in an inappropriate way.

Speaking of impulsivity, Mars and Saturn are in a tight square (90˚) angle in this chart as well. We may find that as shadow contents become more evident under this eclipse, that our anger and frustration may reactively emerge. We can project that out onto others, so watch for sudden actions on your part or of others’. And, Venus (along with Jupiter) almost exactly squares Neptune, too at this eclipse. So our Eros is highly susceptible to being deluded with fantasy. Or let’s say the energies of the unconscious are highly charged, since Neptune rules our dreams, both waking and sleeping, and psychic contents will be spilling out, if not ours, then from those we encounter. We may drink or smoke or eat more than usual during this time, trying to escape the intensity of this very “loon-ar” time.

OK, so we have a volatile mix of tensions in this Full Moon Eclipse. I would recommend you spend time with those you trust, and then when you’re with them, enjoy yourself! Use this time otherwise to give consideration to the reasons for your actions, before acting. The Moon rules our habits, and in an eclipse time, (over the next few weeks/months) we will be able to witness some habits of the heart (i.e. self-protections) that we may wish to change. Since Leo is a fixed sign, some of these habits will seem impossible to break. The more we witness them without judging ourselves, the less we are in our habitual reactive mode.

While the Sun is in Aquarius for the next month, bring your higher ideals off the shelf, and learn to include them bit by bit in your daily life. We all need to work in the ways of right action, right speech, right livelihood. And, we also need to feel connected to our soul, our creativity, our joy in being alive. The Venus/Neptune square may bring some connections with the Muses for those who are willing to open those doors of creativity. Mars also trines (forms a harmonious 120˚ angle to) Venus and Jupiter all in fire signs, so a lot of activity is available for us to move forward creatively and begin new explorations, new ways of living in these challenging times.

We will all need to have our resources to depend upon in the upcoming years. Our creativity and our relationships with those in our lives whom we trust will be necessary ingredients to maintaining our stability (and sanity) during stressful times. The aspects of 2019 will be pointing us toward the awareness of just who and what those resources are, (as well as what they are not!). We are in a era of a Great Turning, and so outwardly we will see great changes, but inwardly, too, we are being “retuned” to being able to witness these changes within the larger context of the great need for a paradigm shift for humanity. Tumultuous, yes. And necessary, for our continued survival.