The Unicorn is Found (1495 – 1505)

Full Moon in Pisces

The silvery glow of the Full Moon in Pisces will stir imagination and set flight to fantasy with the enchanting trance of Neptune. The waxing Pisces Moon will conjoin Neptune on September 13 while also forming catalyzing aspects with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. While the actual peak illumination of the Pisces Full Moon will occur on either September 13 or 14 depending upon your time zone, the thrust of emotions and passions corresponding with its light will be deeply felt on both days. Pisces is a nocturnal sign well suited to dissolving dualistic distinctions between the rational and irrational, bridging awareness between our conscious conditioning and the unconscious urges of soul that compel us from within. The Full Moon in Pisces will be revelatory and revealing, opening perception to a more expansive vision of circumstances. Like the inspired musing that comes from close encounters with the ocean, we may feel accumulated stress and anxiety wash away enough to envision new potential where we had feared none existed.

The waxing Moon’s journey through Pisces on its way toward fullness will be in range of a major aspect with every other planet, in particular connecting the cycles between Jupiter and Neptune as well as Saturn and Pluto that have been the most dominant longterm transits of 2019. With the Pisces Moon passing through a trine aspect with its North Node in Cancer and a sextile with its South Node, Saturn, and Pluto in Capricorn there is an opportunity to discover ways to connect creativity and imagination with the grounded structure and focused discipline needed to manifest inner visions. Rather than feeling unproductively restrained by restrictions and barriers, we can realize how to utilize whatever limitations we have been facing to artfully create results that make the most out of our available resources. As the Pisces Moon also moves through a square aspect with Jupiter on its way toward a conjunction with Neptune, we may also receive a jolt of inspiration that brings forth exciting new ideas to develop as well as insight into how to improve projects already under construction.

On a deeper level the Full Moon in Pisces is a calling to explore the underbelly of dreams, lifting up the fabric of ideals to see what is subsisting in the shadow of whatever you desire to attract into your life. The propulsive force that the Full Moon uniting with Neptune unleashes from subjective senses can bring realization regarding whatever has been driving actions and goals for achievement from hidden realms within. It’s a good time to contemplate where you have been looking to find wisdom, who you have been listening to, which influences you have been allowing to shape you and which ones you have been shielding yourself from. If feelings of disillusionment arise over old dreams of who you aspire to be in the world, allow yourself to release attachment to them in order to create space for a vital new vision of your future growth to emerge.

Gustave Courbet (1869) The Wave

Jupiter in Sagittarius rules the Pisces Full Moon while in the midst of intense aspects from Mars and Neptune.  In the week leading into the Full Moon, the fiery natures of the Sun and Mars volatilized Jupiter through forming change inducing square aspects with the star of Zeus. When we become fully activated in correspondence with Jupiter in Sagittarius we can become overwhelmed by desire to journey far in search of knowledge or expand aspirations beyond previous constraints. Yet before leaping into the unknown, it will be best to let the light of the Pisces Full Moon illuminate whatever underlying myth or personal narrative has been shaping plans and goals. Before writing the next scene of the story you want to live, take time to consider the quality of life you truly wish to cultivate for yourself and others through your endeavors. What core values and priorities will serve as your guiding star forward?

As the Full Moon peaks, Mars in Virgo will be separating from a catalytic square aspect with Jupiter while applying tightly toward a tense opposition with Neptune in Pisces. Mars in Virgo is moving at its fastest speed at the beginning of a new cycle with the Sun, but remains combust and vulnerable in its regenerative underworld phase as it faces off with Neptune. The impact of Mars on the lunation can incite self righteous crusades and dogmatic diatribes in those unwilling to question their beliefs. Conflicts will erupt in which each side of the opposition feels certain they know what is best, unable to see past the illusions encircling their anger and rage. In certain cases it will be best to avoid confrontation due to the unlikelihood of being able to facilitate compromise out of a genuine exchange of perspective.

On the other hand, there is also a constructive side to the invigorating impact of not only the Sun and Mars setting off the square between Jupiter and Neptune during the Full Moon, but also the fact that within the present lunar cycle that both Venus and Mercury in Virgo previously did so as well. It is remarkable that Mercury, Venus, and Mars have all begun new cycles with the Sun recently while simultaneously forming a square aspect with Jupiter and an opposition with Neptune. If you have felt disillusionment regarding yourself or others during this time, the putrefaction of past perception can fertilize a revitalized sense of self in the light of the Pisces Moon. Allow yourself to find acceptance for past mistakes and lay them to rest, gathering the wisdom of the lessons you have learned to inform your presence in the moment. As the destructive storms stirred up by Mars opposing Neptune clear, there can be a new sense of potential to embrace through dislodging yourself from the constraints of old beliefs that have been dictating what you feel is possible to achieve.

Inner Eye Eagle with Chalice by Morris Graves (1941)

The Full Moon in Pisces will serve as a threshold gateway to pass through en route to the final last quarter square aspect that will occur between Jupiter in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces on September 21. This will be the third square aspect between Jupiter and Neptune this year, with the first occurring on January 13 and the second occurring on June 16. It will be wise to take time to reflect on significant insights and events that emerged around the time of January 13 and June 16 when the square between Jupiter and Neptune previously intensified. The present cycle between Jupiter and Neptune began in 2009 in Aquarius, which means we are now entering the final quarter phase of their cycle which will come to an ending and beginning in 2022 at 24º Pisces. It will thus be revealing to consider what new creative or spiritual directions were initiated in 2009 that have now reached a stage of development for us to harvest and share with others, as well as how we may be realizing a need to shed old beliefs while engaging in a change of direction from what was begun in 2009.

At its heart the intensified relationship between Jupiter and Neptune beckons us to consider possibilities and potential rooted in soul more so than our material circumstances. Jupiter and Neptune in combination become visionary planets connected with spirituality, imagination, as well as attuning to the interconnected soulfulness of our world more so than the limitations of our mundane life.  The last quarter square ripening between Jupiter and Neptune can pull perception far beyond the distant horizon toward our most idealized dreams and fantasies of what we desire to create. We may receive glimpses of a future self to grow into, or a different facet of our identity we have been neglecting that now demands attention and engagement. Since the visions incited by Jupiter and Neptune may feel at odds with our present responsibilities, it will be important to find ways to begin manifesting them rather than pulling back into the comfort of the status quo and known security. Jupiter and Neptune can direct awareness toward the cutting edge of our potential and following alternative paths into an unknown future where we have not already established stability.

Fortunately, due to the Pisces Full Moon also moving through harmonizing sextile aspects with its South Node, Saturn, and Pluto in Capricorn there is greater likelihood of sensing a way forward that combines a grounded appraisal of necessary responsibility with imaginal inspiration. The severe gravity of Saturn and Pluto coming together in Capricorn within four months can cast a large shadow which includes fears of being at the mercy of larger societal forces. There is nothing easy about dealing with experiences related to Saturn and Pluto, but the cathartic intensity they force us to endure aids in developing inner focus, determination, and courage. The Full Moon mixes together the uplifting qualities of Neptune and Jupiter that can see the bigger picture and sustain belief in our capacity to help build new forms that can take the place of the societal structures currently in a state of decay and breakdown.

The Creation of Birds (1957) by Remedios Varo

At the time of the exact Full Moon in Pisces, Mercury and Venus will be barely separating from a conjunction in the final degree of Virgo.  Mercury blending its nature with the unifying and harmonizing significations of Venus at the end of Virgo brings a piercing awareness into our present relational dynamics with others as well as the state of our own creative processes. As Venus and Mercury remain hidden under the beams of the Sun, continuing to regenerate strength, so may we feel an instinctive impetus for change and a rebalancing of both our relationships as well as our use of creative focus. The last time that Venus and Mercury formed a conjunction was on July 24 with Mercury retrograde at the end of Cancer, and so there may be many issues that were stirred up by the eclipses in July that we can now discern ways to mend or resolve.

Following the culmination of the Pisces Full Moon, both Mercury and Venus will enter Libra on September 14 where they will soon be opposed by the waning Moon in Aries. Since the air element has been absent from recent astrological transits, the return of Venus to its airy home of Libra while accompanied by Mercury will bring a boost for increasing harmony and effective communication within social interactions. Significantly, Venus and Mercury will continue to remain within five degrees of one another in Libra for most of September, making it an ideal month to revitalize our sense of style and arrangement of aesthetics. It can also be a fruitful time for constructing collaborative arrangements that bring together disparate talents and gifts into a unified, artful whole of creative expression.

During the waning half of the present lunar cycle, the most pivotal period of Venus and Mercury’s transit through Libra will occur between September 22 and the New Moon in Libra on September 28, as Venus and Mercury will pass through change inducing square aspects with Saturn and the lunar nodes, followed by a harmonizing sextile aspect with Jupiter and then another square aspect with Pluto. During the week of the Libra Equinox we can gain a stronger sense for however we need to rearrange our priorities and goals in light of whatever deep changes have been happening this year. Whatever has come out of balance will be obvious, and we will feel driven to make reparations in personal as well as collective spheres of engagement.

10 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Pisces 3 Decan

The Full Moon arises in the third face of Pisces associated with the Ten of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. An archetypal image of wish fulfillment and idealized happiness, it’s form of a joyous couple enraptured by a rainbow, their children blissfully dancing in front of their picturesque home in the countryside is merely one possible manifestation of the countless images that could be used to capture a sense of 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 older images show the other side of having a great dream through the terror of loss, such as Ibn Ezra’s The Beginning of Wisdom in which another nude male is armed with a lance and yelling for fear of thieves and fire. The Full Moon in Pisces ripening in this face asks us to contemplate the inner images of inspiration that have been motivating all of our work in the world, the full implications of our dream as well as how well it truly fits our sense of soul 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 in which Elpis, the spirit of Hope, is the only presence left in the box after its many ills and evils were unleashed into the world of humanity. 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 entire cycle.

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 grandiose dreams of ecstatic bliss as well as the agony of loss that comes from misguided investment in ideals that Coppock attributed to the third face of Pisces are further shown through the fact that Mars is the ruler of this decan. As previously mentioned, during the Pisces Full Moon the fiery red planet will be occupying the opposite place of Virgo and forming a perfect opposition to the planet of dreams and illusions, Neptune. Mars in Virgo is at the earliest stages of its synodic cycle, having recently been reborn in the heart of the Sun on September 2, a few days after the inception of the present lunar cycle. Open yourself at the Pisces Full Moon to the unveiling of the inner dream driving everything you sacrifice yourself for, questioning whether the vision’s source is from external conditioning or from inner sources of soul. Rather than rearranging the surface elements of daily goals and to-do lists, it may be necessary to go to the heart of your inner storyteller to re-conceptualize and rewrite the source of the story you are living in the moment.

References

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