6:34  pm  AHST  4/05/2023
9:34  pm    PDT   4/05/2023

12:34  am   EDT  4/06/2023
 4:34  am   GMT  4/06/2023

The most striking feature of this Full Moon is the Sun’s very close conjunction to Chiron, the archetypal healer who has become wounded for life. And Jupiter, that inflation-seeking force, larger than life, is also near to the Sun, magnifying and intensifying the energies at work upon us mortals. Additionally, the physical Sun has recently been exhaling solar flares and cosmic ray storms that have the effect of energizing our nervous systems and making things a bit jangly all around for all living things on Earth. In effect, all this serves to shed bright light into the dark regions of our trauma and woundedness.

Chiron is the energetic archetype holding our reminder that we all carry the wounds not only of our present life and its attendant karma, but also the wounds of our ancestors, and generations of war, patriarchy, enslavement and domination — major themes of human history thus far. And Chiron’s placement in this chart is also the reminder that we are all healers in some way, that our hearts, when fully applied to the direction and course of our lives, are the light that shines the way through suffering and difficulty.

Chiron is a planetoid that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. As such it’s the bridge between Saturnian things: the structures of our lives, our mortality, our physical limitations, and Uranus, the revolutionary energy that beckons us to honor the greater truths of our existence, our deep interconnectedness, the meta-physical aspects of who we are.

Chiron is often thought of as the bridge between mortality and transcendent awareness. In other words, how we choose to “accept the things we cannot change” frames how we live day to day. We cannot change our past, but we can learn how to let it inform us. Living through suffering and limitation (Saturn), we seek to find greater meaning (Uranus) by allowing our suffering to have some larger context. With democracies and the ecosystem of the Earth in jeopardy, how can we find meaning in the daily drama of war and corruption? Is there a larger context through which we can view these events?

Astrology, with its understanding of cycles and archetypes, holds many answers. Pluto’s entrance into Aquarius now, a once in 248-year occurrence, hearkens us back to the era of the late 1700’s where monarchies fell and the incipient democracies we know of today were born. It’s a cycle of protest, of the people rising up against corruption, greed, and fascism, as we can see happening now pretty much all over the world.

At the opposite end of all this Aries energy is the Full Moon in Libra, the opposing polarity to the overwhelming focus upon our woundedness. Libra’s penchant is for forming relationship, for bringing Venusian love, beauty and balance to the issues we are faced with today. Aries aggression when taken too far, beckons us to follow its opposite: Libra’s desire for peacemaking and cooperation. It’s through relationship that our wounds are made livable and healable.

Close to Jupiter in this chart is the asteroid Eris, that sister of Mars who as a result of being rejected, became a troublemaker, the personification of strife and discord. Closely following her, one degree away, is the asteroid Vesta, the keeper of the hearth. Can we allow our suffering to be a part of our path, rather than a distraction and an interruption? Is there something on our altar that is a representation of strife, a nod to the suffering that we must all endure? I once found a small bullet on the ground in the desert, and placed it on my altar in such a spirit. In so affirming, we no longer are in battle against “evil”, but in observance of its reality, and in an understanding of a larger picture of our existence on Earth.

Mars is now in Cancer, and in a trine (harmonious 120˚ angle) to Saturn in Pisces. Even with the Sun and Jupiter in Aries, the take-action planet is subject to feelings that are deep and full of emotion. A much different focus from Mars’ recent long-term placement in intellectual Gemini, now we are met with finding our true voice, connected to something deeper (Pisces) than just a thought or belief.

We can take advantage of Venus in her own sign now, Taurus. Time to take in the beauty around us wherever we may find it, and be restored by it. It isn’t just a good thing to do, it can make the difference between survival or loss of our most important human quality of perception: our sensitivity. Finding time to nurture that part of ourselves helps us to maintain connection to our soul.