Pisces Full Moon

Like waves which inexorably approach, then retreat into the unfathomably vast recesses of their oceanic source, the siren songs of Neptune call us beyond the constructs of our everyday existence which tend to mold and condition our perceptions. While Neptune transits can correlate with being pulled into illusory experiences, ultimately the resulting disillusionment dissolves the ways in which we had been misleading ourselves, revealing meaningful truths about our reality as we continue to navigate with discernment. The inspirational, imaginal nature of Neptune opens us to possibilities and potential of creative expression and fulfillment outside the confines of current circumstances. The present lunar cycle began with a Virgo New Moon opposing Neptune and peaks with a Pisces Full Moon aligned with Neptune, giving us the opportunity to drink from the impossibly deep well of Neptune. It’s a time for allowing yourself the space to dream the dreams of what you most desire to generate and embody.

The Full Moon in Pisces on September 20 illuminates our entrance into the final season of 2021, as the Libra Equinox will occur two days later on September 22 when the Sun enters Libra. With the primal passions of Pisces spotlighted just before the Sun becomes magnified by crossing the cardinal axis, the point where the ecliptic and celestial equator intersect, there is potential to become flooded by the emotions surrounding whatever major life changes have corresponded with the ongoing square aspect between Saturn and Uranus that has been the predominant force within the astrology of 2021. The final degrees of Pisces are a place where Eros flourishes and continually circulates, zodiacal terrain holding space for the dream of all dreams one may devote themselves to completely. It is also a place of sacrifice in its truly sacred form, and so while the Pisces Full Moon may bring feelings of grief regarding what has been lost amidst the chaotic currents of the year, it can also reveal visions of what may fill the freed space during the coming season.

Vitally, the Full Moon is in the exaltation of Venus as Venus is applying closely to a jolting opposition with Uranus in Taurus. The present transit of Venus in Scorpio has been setting off the ongoing square aspect between Saturn and Uranus, and so during the days surrounding the Pisces Full Moon we will have an overarching, longterm astrological influence catalyzed by the star of Aphrodite and her significations involving desire, relationship, and creativity. As Venus moves from the tense square aspect with Saturn she formed on September 16 into the opposition she will form with Uranus on September 23, we will be traversing a volatile vortex of significant change that can show up within shifting relational dynamics as well as exciting strikes of creative inspiration. Venus in opposition with Uranus can feel unsettling when we have been stuck in places of stagnancy, as the polarity between Venus with Uranus will demand breaking free from people and pursuits misaligned with authentic passions. Yet Venus and Uranus can commit and work together when engaging relationships or creative passions which bring our full being alive and give us space and acceptance for our essential nature. As a result, the silvery light of the Full Moon may reveal the people and projects deserving of your full focus and commitment in the coming season.

Jupiter in Aquarius rules the Pisces Full Moon as it continues to glow brightly through the night during its retrograde phase. Since Jupiter rules the Full Moon and Mercury is the ruler of the Sun in Virgo, the lunation has potential to bring profound realizations due to Mercury in Libra forming a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius. The trine between Jupiter with Mercury is further augmented by Mercury being at the same zodiacal degree as the beneficial fixed star Spica which symbolizes the wheat held by the Winged Maiden of the Virgo constellation and signifies a brilliant gift or talent. Make space during the Full Moon or in the days following to see what insights, ideas, and inspiring visions may coalesce out of whatever creative processes you have been engaged with recently. There will be opportunities to synthesize concepts and deepen understanding as the combination of Jupiter in Aquarius with Mercury in Libra possesses immense intellectual capacity. While Jupiter in Aquarius can supply long range vision, Mercury in Libra will be able to recalibrate whatever needs rebalancing or rearranging.

Moreover, we will be experiencing an unusually long period of time with Mercury remaining in a trine aspect with Jupiter due to Mercury slowing down to station retrograde on September 26. Indeed, Mercury will form its first exact trine with Jupiter on September 20 and then a second exact trine with Jupiter on October 3 while retrograde. As a result, there will be an opportunity for extremely deep research and focused work if you already have a project you are developing. As Mercury stations in stillness and then peels back to form another trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius in the beginning of October, be open to ways in which you need to modify and adapt any ideas you become inspired to work on during the days surrounding the Pisces Full Moon.

In addition to Mercury in Libra forming a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius during the Pisces Full Moon, it is also applying closely to an intensifying square aspect with Pluto in Capricorn. Mercury will form its first square aspect with Pluto on September 22 and then after stationing retrograde on September 26 it will form its second exact square aspect with Pluto on October 1 while retrograde. Moreover, since the Full Moon in Pisces is separating from a harmonizing sextile aspect with Pluto, the Pisces Full Moon will bring a visceral sense of whatever Mercury and Pluto are stirring up in the dark within. As Mercury will be crossing back and forth in tension with Pluto over the coming weeks, only to return later for a third and final square aspect on November 2, the Pisces Full Moon is initiating us into deep seated issues within the underworld expanse of unconscious sources to be curious about and explore. Mercury can help in attuning to power dynamics within relationships that have come out of balance and need to be adjusted, as well as internal complexes that can be mediated during the approaching retrograde phase of Mercury in order to increase our own empowerment.

Continuing the underworld theme, it is further significant that the Full Moon is separating from a sextile aspect with Pluto in Capricorn and applying toward an opposition with Mars in Libra, while the Full Moon is simultaneously brought together with Mars by passing through an antiscia aspect. Mars is at the end of its synodic cycle, traversing the celestial underworld en route to becoming reanimated by the Sun at the same time as the upcoming New Moon in Libra on October 6. As Mars is closing down a cycle that began on September 2, 2019 when Mars previously formed a conjunction with the Sun, the Pisces Full Moon can amplify feelings revealing what we are releasing from the past cycle of Mars as well as what dynamic new desires are beginning to take form. Mars in Libra is in the opposite sign from its fiery home of Aries, relating with his ruler Venus through the mutual generosity of them each being in one another’s signs. Libra can be a creatively rich placement for Mars especially in terms of music, writing, art, or any form of expression involving aesthetics, and since Mars is presently invisible it can be an opportune time to work and develop projects within intimate, private settings which can later see the light of public display. Positively, Mars in Libra is also within the exaltation of Saturn and will form a productively flowing trine aspect with Saturn in Aquarius on September 25, making the week following the lunation a good time for making progress on important work.

Pisces 3 Decan

The Full Moon will illuminate the third decan of Pisces associated with the Ten of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. An image of idealized happiness, the joyous couple enraptured by a rainbow, their children blissfully dancing in front of their picturesque home, is one manifestation of countless images that could be used to display the inspirational vision underlying and driving inner motivation. An earlier image for this face is found in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy in which a nude male is present near a beautiful maiden whose head is decorated in flowers. Other traditional images for the third decan of Pisces show the other side of having a great dream: the terror of loss. For example, in Ibn Ezra’s The Beginning of Wisdom the image ascribed for the third face of Pisces involves another nude male, but one armed with a lance and yelling for fear of thieves and fire. The Full Moon shining light through this decan asks us to contemplate the inner images of inspiration that have been motivating our work in the world, the full implications of our dream as well as how well it truly fits our most soulful purpose.

The rainbow pregnant with abundant cups in Pamela Colman Smith’s image for the Ten of Cups evokes the great daimon of Hope found in the ancient story of Pandora’s box. After Pandora opens the box that unleashes evils and ills into the world of humanity, the only presence left in the box is Elpis, the spirit of Hope. It’s the spirit found in cultural ideals such as a young Judy Garland wistfully singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” musing that somewhere exists where the most precious dreams you dare to dream really can come true. Fittingly, the ancient Hellenistic text The 36 Airs of the Zodiac attributed the figure of Elpis, the daimon of Hope, to the third decan of Pisces. The guiding star we wish upon, the guardian angel we pray to for assistance, the hope we are able to muster in even the bleakest and most desperate of times, is essential to the meaning found in the third face of Pisces, the final face of the zodiac full of the passion required to move through the end and rebirth of the zodiacal circle.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Cup of Blood” to the third face of Pisces, describing it as a place revealing one’s willingness to “sacrifice everything” for the “attainment of one’s greatest desire, no matter the cost.” Noting the images of romantic happiness found in the Ten of Cups card as well as in Agrippa’s masterwork, Coppock wrote that the third face of Pisces “inspires the lust and desire implied” by the images, “but the true object of the passions is a merger with the universe itself . . . The face and body of the beloved are a mask, an entry point into the experience of all-as-bliss.” Coppock noted that “the third face unfolds as the quest for true and perfect love,” yet the willingness to sacrifice all for the dream leads to the third face of Pisces becoming “littered with broken dreams and failed martyrs- those who sacrificed themselves for an illusion.”

The  burning desire pulsating through the third decan of Pisces, its grandiose dreams of ecstatic bliss as well as the agony of loss that comes from the failure to materialize dreams all fit well with the fact that Mars is the ruler of this decan. As Mars will be ending its current synodic cycle with the Sun during the waning half of the present lunar cycle, the Pisces Full Moon may bring revelations regarding where we have given too much of ourselves in pursuit of dreams that will not come to fruition, as well as awareness of the people, passions, and purpose we will want to devote ourselves to fully due to their alignment with our inner world from which dreams are born. Let the light of the Full Moon reveal the sources of hope and inspiration that may spur you on in pursuit of your most cherished creative visions.

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References

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.