A Full Moon Full of Surprises

Saturday evening’s Full Moon in Aries has the distinction of highlighting an already powerful presence of Uranus, trickster astrological emblem of unexpected events and surprising enlightenment. It is said that Uranus represents deep intuition, and symbolizes giving us a glimpse of other-dimensional levels of experience and the origins of the archetypal universe. All three traditional outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are in fact prominent in this dynamic Full Moon, and they speak to transpersonal factors of the human condition. We have faculties of perception, not normally acknowledged on the basis of consensus thinking, that can inform us, and help to steer our course, just when we need it the most. All these astrological archetypes are important, and Uranus might be the most accessible and exciting of all, representing a species of information that transcends ordinary awareness, and can bring about that sudden epiphany that changes everything for us in a instant. That is, when we can remain open to this strange form of knowing. In any case, at even the most superficial of levels we can expect surprising outcomes in our individual lives, and in the cultural evolution that is currently transpiring. This is made somewhat more obvious through our collective recognition of changing values, and with the final stages of a contentious U.S. election season that has been surprising to say the least. Everyone acknowledges that this degree of dysfunction cannot go on much longer; something has got to give. As I have been saying lately, there are likely to be further startling events still to come, based on the prominence of Uranus in his close conjunction with Eris for the succeeding months of the year and on into 2017.

Besides the extreme prominence of Uranus, this Full Moon triggers Neptune and Pluto, as indicated in the foregoing paragraph. This is so because Neptune, prominent already in this transformative October cycle, is being closely aspected by Mercury, a bi-quintile, with Jupiter and Saturn involved as well. Mercury is also in partile square with Pluto as Mars closes in on their conjunction. We also have an extremely potent presence of Eris, with the Sun-Moon opposition so directly aligned. As a result of years of research, I have been able to characterize Eris as a Feminine Warrior for deep soul intention. Her presence adds a definite note to the powerful themes of this Full Moon event, directly related to each one of us making his or her own assessment of the cultural situation in which we find ourselves, and being able to forge their own unique individual determination of what stand to take in doing something about it.

With Uranus and Pluto so thoroughly invoked, their square that defines this fractious decade is also a theme that is being highlighted both in this potent weekend and for the remainder of the month. The 1960’s saw the conjunction, with an effective orb that lasted until 1972, and in the current decade, with the opening square, we might expect the fullest effects to appear during this last half, through 2020. We have already witnessed the rise of the female executive, plus gay and transgender rights, changing sexual mores and the legalization of weed. There is a cultural awakening going on, together with a reactionary conservative backlash, and it is up to each of us to foster the actions that we think will best move the process forward, according to the values in which we most deeply believe.

The Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon are of interest, as is usually the case. They are, for the Sun, in the 24th degree of Libra, “A third wing on the left side of a butterfly;” and we note that the left side (in Latin, sinister) is associated with occult thought. Marc Edmund Jones understands this symbol as referencing humankind’s “illimitable potential,” “idealistic originality,” and also, in words that are very appropriate to the Uranus- Eris archetypal combination, the fruit of one’s efforts “whenever one retains his [or her] own unconditioned uniqueness of make-up and is alert to whatever opportunities arise [that allow] one’s own special destiny to assert itself.” For the Moon, in the same degree of Aries, we find, “An open window and a net curtain, blowing into a cornucopia.” I have always loved this symbol, which speaks to me of staying true to the barely observable cosmic currents flowing around and through us. Jones refers to, “a wider distribution of the higher realities,” and “the mutual prodigality of man and his world [as long as we] welcome every varying and recurrent opportunity opening up before us.” Indeed, the opportunities for understanding and for right action that the universe constantly makes available to us are great, providing, of course, that we can stay open to these. The key principle here could be that we continually engage our highest sense of ourselves, no matter what, and that we trust our inner knowing at all times, wherever that might lead us.

A Full Moon Full of Surprises

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Chart for the Full Moon on October 15, 2016

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December 2024