11:57 pm  AHST  9/28/2023
 2:57 am   PDT  9/29/2023 
 5:57 am   EDT  9/29/2023
 9:57 am   GMT 9/29/2023

This Full Moon is once again a Super Moon, meaning that it’s the closest it gets in its irregular orbit around the Earth. SuperMoons increase tidal heights and gravitational shifts on the Earth around us, and intensify the energetic and metaphysical impacts (the symbolic meaning) of the Full Moon chart.

I’ve added the positions of a few of the asteroids to this chart, to amplify and deepen the message of the energies at play. The asteroids can help to flesh out the more feminine aspects of the overall picture. And if they happen to make important aspects to the planets, then they’re worth noting, as they augment and complement the more standard masculine “gods” approach to astrology.

For instance, at this Full Moon in Aries, the Sun (always opposite the Full Moon) is in Libra, and is a degree away (conjunct) the asteroid Athena. Pallas/Athena represents the principle of creative intelligence, the archetypal feminine aspect of strategy, the wisdom that is gathered from the perception of the whole, rather than from individual parts, or facts. In Libra, she is the negotiator, the one who reconciles the opposite sides, a bridging energy. This is the guiding light of the chart, and one that is sorely needed at this time.

Opposite this, the Moon in Aries, the more subconscious light, is a placement known for its impulsivity, its brash, unpredictable behavior. But when used wisely, it’s the power to cut to the chase, to take quick action when necessary, giving us the courage to move forward in the midst of chaos. In this chart, the Moon is unaspected, meaning it makes no other angles to planets, other than its opposition to the Sun, and Athena. In short, there’s no other creative energetic release points for this feisty energy. And so we need to use caution with our emotions when we’d rather slam the door, or storm out of the room, because the energy behind them is not particularly relationally based, i.e. it’s not checking in with others to get input. One side (Sun) is looking at the whole, the relationships, and finding the wisdom, the other (Moon) is more, “shoot first, ask questions later.”

With this emotional tension in mind, we need to take a look at the larger picture, the global ongoing story of destiny. This is signified by the North and South Nodes¹. Exactly conjoined the North Node is Eris, the goddess of strife, discord, and mischief. This is what is in front of us, collectively, what’s on our plate to deal with. North Node Aries, the sign of the warrior, joined with the goddess of mischief, whose job is to unmask hypocrisy. While the global powers are still acting as if we are in the last century, using vast sums of money and resources for preparing or engaging in war, still promoting the use of petroleum, the planet is deluging us with climate-related disasters. The old patriarchal belief systems are showing their absurdity, politically all we’re doing is busily re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while the truth is, it’s sinking.

Mars is coming close to conjoining the South Node, and squaring Pluto, an indication of major conflict, the kind of conflict that is about old scores unsettled, a main theme in today’s world. It’s exact on October 8^th, and with the looming US government shutdown on the horizon, things look rather gloomy. With Eris in its present position, we’re almost certain to be seeing chaos, but it may also be an indicator that the old order is breaking up, and a new one is in the works. Thee birthing process is rarely pain-free.

This is leading up to Pluto’s change in movement, going direct on October the 10^th. Pluto is retrograde about half the year every year, and when Pluto stations, we are somehow on notice that we cannot go backward, we must move forward. Pluto is finishing up a cycle in the last two degrees of Capricorn (transforming governments, the structures of society) this year and next, moving finally into Aquarius for most of 2024. Remember, this is an historic energetic replay of what happened in the late 1700’s (i.e. the American and French revolutions). The call for governments by and for the people will become even stronger.

There are a few bright rays on the dark horizon. Venus in Leo, charming as ever, is conjoined Juno (Hera), the asteroid of meaningful and sacred relationships. They’re both exactly square (90˚ angle) to Uranus, the revolutionary and the unexpected. The stability of our relationships is under question. What keeps us together? What is it that holds up, connects us, beyond the concerns of money and privilege? Venus is trine to Chiron here, and so healing of the shallow aspects of our connections to others is before us. Humanity is exploring and establishing new kinds of relationships, making the unusual much more acceptable. But Uranus’s energy may also trigger us unexpectedly. Watch those moments and see them as omens of what must be healed in ourselves, or as callings to experience life in new and creative ways.

Mercury is now in a Grand Trine with Pluto and Uranus, taking the place of the Sun/Moon in the previous New Moon chart. Grand trines are containers of possibility, three planetary forces harmoniously joined² to open doors of our perception. If we pay attention to the spaces in between our endless thoughts about ourselves and everything else, insight is now awaiting us. The more hidden outer planets here of Pluto and Uranus in this pattern offer us a vision beyond the material world, outside the social and cultural contexts we’re used to. What if this global turbulence is part of how we heal? What if all this strife is Eris’s attempt to show us the man lurking behind the curtain, that the big mean scary wizard is all smoke and mirrors? Mercury in opposition to Neptune (dreams, visions, fantasies) asks us to see through the media hype, to look at our dramas in the light of the bigger picture, and also to suspend judgements, to be curious, and to know that there is always a larger historical pattern at work. Such is the wisdom of astrology.

1 The North and South Nodes are points in the sky where the orbits of the Moon and Earth intersect. Astrologically they represent our future lessons (North Node) and also our past karma (South). They change signs about every 18 years.

2  Forming an equilateral triangle with the Earth in the center (the blue lines in the chart).