A Full Moon of Reassessment and Transformational Impulse

Saturday evening's Full Moon takes place early Leo, opposed to the Sun in Aquarius, with a prominent Venus, newly entered into Capricorn, and as well in the heart of the current Mercury Retrograde period. This is a rather intense time for Mercury, when it is getting ready to station in close conjunction with Pluto. Mercury passed through its second time in recent weeks of exact conjunction with Pluto, moving backwards, early on Friday, January 22nd, and will then turn around in the sky on Monday afternoon/evening, the 25th. It completes its dance with the Prince of Darkness on the late evening of the 29th. Mercury's station to direct motion, taking place next Monday, is always one of the more intense moments of the retrograde, and this Mercury placement as it stations is less than one degree from Pluto's. This implies several things: an even more intense time of Mercury Retrograde, with the usual symptoms exaggerated; an especially large dose of Pluto as it aspects both Uranus and Saturn, and greater self-reflective consciousness on the part of everyone regarding what we are up to in these intense times of major changes, very specifically what we need to let go of in order that we might grow.

The Full Moon comes as a phase of fulfillment from the initial impulse of the beginning of the lunation cycle, and in this case it is important to recognize that this recent New Moon from two weeks ago took place, near Pluto, in Capricorn. This is thus a very powerfully Capricornian cycle. The presence of Venus in this Full Moon configuration, in the first degree of Capricorn, emphasizes this factor, as does the strongly placed presence of Pluto in combination with stationing Mercury as described in the preceding paragraph. Above and beyond that, we find that Pluto, in close square with Uranus, lies in almost exact parallel with Saturn, Capricorn's ruler, making this a time when the normal structures of our lives are involved in an extreme process of review and revision. This is at both a personal and a societal level, as we launch ourselves upon a new year of 2016 that promises to be as record shattering as the previous one was, and even more intensely revolutionary.

One important example is the environment. Now, more than ever before, with the realities of global warming becoming apparent to nearly everyone, it is vital to recognize that social structures and energy sources must change in response to this culminating awareness. We can consider this a metaphor for our own lives as well. Where might you need to change, in spite of the comfort of familiar ways, to a new style of behavior, a new means of navigating the habitual structures of your life that is more healthy long-term, connecting you to a future unfolding that is in the fullest alignment with your most cherished values and dreams for yourself as you continue to grow?

There may be a great deal of angst in our current situation, both personally and collectively, and yet there is also great optimism available to us now as well, the more so, the more that we can accede to our deepest soul-level intention for ourselves, as we head over the waterfall of this new year and take the plunge into our future selves that we are birthing.

This fundamental positivity is echoed in these current skies by a potent presence Jupiter, conjunct the Moon's North Node in Virgo, in nearly exact inconjunct aspect to the new planet, Eris, representing taking a stand for that which you most deeply believe. Eris is located at the same degree of Aries as Jupiter occupies in Virgo, and in conjunction with Uranus, change-agent and awakener. These latter two will be in exact conjunction this summer, which promises therefore to be a very interesting time frame indeed, as we find new and uniquely creative solutions to all kinds of stuck patterns. This year of 2016 is shaping up to be a watershed year for humanity.

The Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon are enlightening, as is usually the case. For the Sun, in the fourth degree of Aquarius, we have, "A Hindu healer," for which symbol Marc Edmund Jones references, "an inner and transcendent reality," and "a spiritualized self-discipline." For the Moon, in the fourth degree of Leo, we find: "A man formally dressed, and a deer with its horns folded." This reminds us of natural law, the concept that even as we exhibit our most civilized persona we are all part of the cosmic order of nature that surrounds us and pervades our very being. Jones has, "this is a symbol of self-assertion at a point of effective impact on the world ... an exceptional capacity for winning and holding the esteem of [others]." We could add that our own self-esteem depends in the final analysis upon how well we satisfy the urgent and self-consistent demands of our own inner nature at the level of soul purpose. Indeed, our move toward wholeness vitally depends upon fully identifying with the intuitive wisdom that we hold inside, within these deeper layers of ourselves as we can come to more fully understand them.

A Full Moon of Reassessment and Transformational Impulse

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Chart for the Full Moon on January 23, 2016

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