The Moon is full in Aquarius 25 degrees on 18th August 2016 at 9.28 am. This full moon will feel ‘almost’ like an eclipse, although we don’t have a consensus on that in astrology circles. The Moon only skims the edge of the Earth’s shadow, so officially it is not. Still, if you have any planets near 25 degrees, then this full moon will play out strongly in your life. There’s a strong focus on Uranus Aquarius themes – belonging to groups, community and our friendships.
But before we go to Aquarius matters, the overarching astrological energy to be aware of right now is Mars nearing it’s meet up with Saturn. This aspect isn’t exact quite yet, but when Mars reaches Saturn over the next few days, it will be felt strongly and since Mars moves relatively slowly, we will feel it’s impact for a week or so.
Mars conjunct Saturn in Sagittarius will also be making the minor sesquiquadrate aspect to Uranus conjunct Eris, which is an ongoing major background transit. So while this might be a minor aspect, it acts as an indirect trigger at this full moon. This is significant since the full moon will also be triggering Uranus conjunct Eris directly, although fortunately in a flowing aspect. But when we combine this with the mild eclipse effect, we get pretty intense astrology, the impact of which I’ll discuss in a minute.
On the 23rd August and for a few days after that, we have also Neptune in Pisces in the mix with its square to Mars conjunct Saturn. That’s like mixing water with fire, be prepared for sizzling energy. This is like bringing together in uncomfortable aspect the War Lord Mars Saturn with transcendent, spiritual Neptune. But Neptune acts as a powerful transcendent helper here – we can rise above it and connect with the power of forgiveness and compassion. The more we can just let go and let bygones be bygones, the more we will feel comfortable with this energy.
Later on in the month around 27th and 28th, benevolent Venus meets with benevolent Jupiter and so we just need to watch our boundaries and limits. Mercury is also in the mix, but it will still require some navigation and careful managing to get the best out of that Mercury Venus Jupiter.
This and next week’s is not a time to rest on your laurels and do nothing. The next few days, expect the unexpected, and try and keep your cool. It’s best to not leave things to the last minute, things can come out of the blue with full moon eclipse-like energy so keep on top of things.
There’s just so many aspects at this full moon – there’s so much energy at play. Mercury is coming up to 23 degrees and so also a part of the mix, opposing Chiron and nearing a conjunction with Jupiter. With Mercury also making a quincunx to Uranus which is a short term aspect, it could mean that communication is strained, but if we take care and keep our compassion for others then the triggers that will inevitably occur around this full moon will be constructive processes of healing rather than destabilising influences. Chiron can bring opportunities for healing and wounding in communication but as a major transit the Chiron Jupiter opposition is bringing about deep healing.
Sarah Varcas wrote about Mars in Sagittarius and it resonated so personally I want to share it here, that Mars returning to Sagittarius last week heralds a rethink in the way we go about our doingness. Most of the time, we are doing from a place of little awareness or body connection. We just act, without a level of quality or intention behind it.
She writes “the very act of doing is, in itself, a prayer, an intention, an affirmation of all we hope to contribute to this world. The mundanities of life are not a distraction from the important work of transformation and awakening”.
Yes our doingness needs an overhaul, bringing our intention to presence into our daily movement through life can I think be life changing. If there’s ever been a time to get back on the wagon in respect to body practises that support you on a spiritual level, then this is it. We need that body connection more than ever.
So what of Uranus and the Aquarius influence? Well Uranus is conjunct Eris and will be for a while. Eris brings discord and fragmentation and in Aries it challenges our personal and global sense of self-identity. Uranus Eric brings in the question of who we are and self-definition as this question becomes ever more urgent and challenging to answer. We are being profoundly pushed to expand our self-awareness in the face of very difficult violent world events. Uranus conjunct Eris is a positive force for the individuation process when it’s doesn’t get pulled into narcissism or group conformity.
Our larger revolution here is against the dangers of mass group mentality and old out worn concepts of self that define or defined who we are. We are all facing such huge upheaval and change and while right in the midst of it, it’s almost impossible to appreciate what we are actually doing. As our world’s consciousness and technology shifts at an ever increasing rate, we can are barely keep up.
Uranus Eris highlights our online virtual identity and how even our very relationships sometimes only seem to occur in cyber space. There’s an uncomfortable sense around creating meaningful relationship in the face of this technological onslaught. How can we define who we are when we do not know how to connect anymore. Is it that we simply can’t keep up with our relationships? Have they lost their meaning or were they meaningless in the first place and we are only just discovering that? This is just part of the story that we are all at some level or other are facing around working out who we are and what we want to align with.
While the energy is palpably lighter and the trudging through thick emotional residue has eased, we have seemed to replace one set of issues for another. But who said life in times of such immense change was ever going to be easy?
What’s the secret to help yourself? A large part is noticing and identifying what disturbs us most and then seeing how we are also that at some level, or acknowledging where we also need a homeopathic or even intense dose of the same thing. Failing all that, it’s seeing where it highlights our most painful wounds and where we need our deepest healing. Usually though, it’s a bit of all of the above.
