4:37 pm AHST 7/23/2021

 7:37 pm  PDT  7/23/2021

 2:37 am  UTC  7/24/2021

Full Moon in Aquarius

Full Moons are always about polarities, since the Sun and Moon are always in opposing signs at this interval in the Moon cycle. This month the polarity is between the Leo Sun and the Aquarius Moon. The signature energy of Leo is heart-centered, and, since it is ruled by the Sun, is about shining light in every direction for all to see. Aquarius, though it is called the water-bearer, is actually an air sign, ruling thought, and the beliefs which govern the collective of society. Leo is about the development of the self and its creativity, Aquarius is concerned with the group, the tribe, the collective mindset, and how to improve our beliefs to be more in accord with the collective good.

There’s a good deal of polarity tension in this chart, which we may be feeling as being pulled in two different directions at once. But the inherent tension in a polarity can serve us, if we approach it that way. Since each side are mirrors for the other, the task is always to have the two opposite energies “talk” to each other and learn from each other ways of balancing, so that in this case, we are not too self-centered, (the down side of Leo) nor too “above it all” or intellectual and out of touch with the human element in our approach to change and growth (Aquarius). 

This Full Moon opposition is parallel to an opposition of Pluto, near to the Moon in Capricorn, opposite Mercury, widely conjoined to the Sun. Mercury opposition Pluto speaks to an energy of the overwhelming need to change our beliefs, to shift the world view that is predominant (and dominating) on this planet. We have certainly grown out of touch with the humanitarian element of how we do business on this planet, (i.e. we all benefit when kindness is our commitment), as well as preferencing the respect for the natural world. Pluto is the inexorable force of transformation, pushing us to look into the darkness of our own shadow, our narcissism, our fear, and our ignorance, especially in the US. Do we need to consume as much as we do in order to live? Can we do with less? We are going to have to do so in any event, the way things are already coming down. Overconsumption is the American ideal; for instance, shopping malls outnumber high schools in this country. Pluto is asking us to take a hard look at our lifestyles.

Pluto is presently retrograde, but begins its direct journey in October toward that flash point of its once-in-248 years conjunction to the USA’s natal Pluto on Feb 20, 2022. Not that anything might necessarily happen on that date, but that is the deadline, a crossover point for the USA’s birth chart, and the ongoing transformation of its relationship to power, of what it is to be a world power. Thinking that we’ve “conquered” the shadow of fascism in World War 2, we are now facing the endgame in which we realize the US has become that shadowy figure in so many ways. What we refuse to consciously accept appears in our reality as fate, to paraphrase Carl Jung.

Two weeks ago, we spoke of the Venus/Mars conjunction in Leo. Since then, Venus has moved into Virgo, bringing more of an energy of discernment into the mix, though they are still conjunct by degrees, yet out of sign. They are now in an opposition to Jupiter, which has been retrograde since June 20^th and has been briefly in its visionary placement of Pisces since May 13^th. That opposition asks the question, how do we personally integrate what Jupiter has dreamed for us while in Pisces? Now Jupiter will shortly back into the sign of Aquarius again for five months, shifting its expansive force and emphasizing what we need to integrate in order to create a global sense of cooperation. Perhaps its two month journey into Pisces gave us some dream-inspiration to draw upon in the coming months of changes.

With Mercury in a strong harmonious trine to Neptune, we are very well placed to receive this information from the deep sea of the unconscious, that is, if we choose to make the effort to do so, as nothing is automatic astrologically, or karmically. We’re still in the throes of the Saturn square Uranus this whole year, a transit energy that asks us to revolutionize (Uranus) the structures of our society, which can have the effect of shifting our sense of time, that Saturn (Chronos) rules, as well as our ideas about work and jobs, and what it is to be useful in the world. But as Aquarius energy would remind us: the choice is up to us, we are the result of our beliefs about ourselves and the world. This is the higher law of the Universe: that it is a mirror, no more, no less. But we also need the Leo energy of the heart, to access and balance the divine wisdom of how we make the choices we make. And most of all, we need to imagine (Neptune) how our choices will benefit our own growth, and the circle of life of which we are a part.