A Pisces Full Moon Eclipse of Idealism, Possibility, and Contraction

Tuesday’s Pisces Full Moon, which is also a partial lunar eclipse, takes place on the evening of September 17th, at 7:34 pm PT, a few hours later for the east coast and Europe; and features no fewer than three major oppositions. There is of course the Sun opposed to the Moon, exact at 25° 41’ of their respective signs of Virgo and Pisces, and as well Mercury at 14° Virgo opposed to Saturn at 15° Pisces. Additionally, we find Venus at 23° 54’ of Libra opposed to the Chiron/ Eris midpoint at 23° 47’ Aries, exact to within 7 minutes of a degree. The Mercury-Saturn opposition, emphasizing the theme of contraction and serious thought forms, is tempered by a T-square from Sun and Moon to expansive Jupiter, located at 20° of Gemini, and exactly square the Mercury/Sun midpoint. Jupiter is also closely trine to Chiron at 22° of Aries. All in all, as we face an uncertain future with fear or with hope, we will have the tendency to suffer from outdated beliefs and attitudes that may have need of adjustment before our better angels can rise to the occasion, as we can come to that.

Chiron and Eris have been in close conjunction these past few months, since the springtime, and so we might regard escaping our collective angst as one key to taking back our authenticity. This in the face of the looming barriers to finding our own way forward stemming from early conditioning and the accumulation of consensus thought. Eris represents the archetype of the Feminine Warrior in support of soul intention, having to do, in other words, with finding your sense of purpose in this life. It can in fact be quite important that you discover your own voice in the face of the many challenges thrown out by the surrounding culture and, sometimes, by friends and colleagues. I am reminded of Mary Oliver’s poem called The Journey where she sets the scene by describing how the poem’s subject was surrounded by everyone’s bad advice: “Mend my Life!” each one cried to her; until eventually she must flee the house. The poem concludes:

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

In a way, this powerful verse sums up our life task in finding ourselves, at all costs, and based entirely on what we hold inside ourselves. That is the message of Eris, and one subtext of the implied symbolism brought forward in the timing this significant Full Moon eclipse.

In this dynamic Full Moon configuration, the Saturn opposition to Mercury and the eclipse Moon’s close conjunction to Neptune form another contrast. In the midst of our idealism (Neptune) we can find ourselves untimely stopped in our tracks by Saturn just as we are getting closer to the goal of what we are attempting, and this is especially true with the ideas for progress with what we are attempting in the world. The sign of Virgo is like the set of train tracks for what we are trying for. As our imagination can let that flow, then the train can run, although the Pisces Saturn in opposition to Mercury in Virgo is like a stuck wheel that won’t fully turn. The good news in all this is that Saturn in stopping us is also full of lessons for where we can get it better the next time around. That is, if we can pay attention, take it slow and allow the lesson to sink in.

Expansive Jupiter, squared by Sun and Moon in opposition, and squared exactly by the Mercury/Sun midpoint of 20° Gemini, provides a countervailing energy of moving rapidly forward, so that both a “stop and a go” mentality applies right now, and over the remaining two weeks of the current monthly cycle, one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. Although it is there, progress is uneven. Perhaps the best way forward is to surrender to the slowdown, stopping to smell the flowers along the way, content with the gains that you can come to without straining.

In these fraught times politically, it is important that we do our best to keep our heads on straight and pay attention to our own inner knowing; that is to say, as much or maybe more than to the humming of the surrounding herd of voices that are there as a constant social presence. We have still, and always, the consistent voice of intuition and of our own higher self to guide us, no matter what. It helps, as well, if we can muster up our faith that in all this, the universe has our back, as indeed it does.

A Pisces Full Moon Eclipse of Idealism, Possibility, and Contraction

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Chart for the Full Moon on September 17, 2024

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December 2024