Full Moon in Pisces

September 10, 2022 / grayastrology / Leave a comment

Full Moon in Pisces

Pisces is a zodiacal place of unbounded vision and emotion, the watery sign that exalts the star of Aphrodite and serves as the nocturnal home of Jupiter. The oceanic expanse of Pisces invites union and deep merging, making the yearly Full Moon in Pisces an opportune time for dissolving restrictions, releasing inhibitions, and opening sensations to deeply feel the fullness of being. With the Full Moon in Pisces on 10 September 2022 applying toward an enlivening sextile aspect with Uranus and a dissolving conjunction with Neptune, siren songs from the deep below will call from the realm of dream, luring us away from straight and narrow paths to take in more of everything that lies beyond the limitations of our conditioning. The deep well of feeling accessible through the lunation may bring about an immense emotional release concerning all we are suffering, yet the flooding of feeling can help in dislodging us from where we have been stuck to bring about a renewal of perception. The Full Moon in Pisces will illuminate the dream that makes life worth living, the hope that inspires resiliency when facing the darkest nights of our soul.

The Full Moon in Pisces is separating from a volatile square aspect with Mars in Gemini while applying toward creative aspects with Uranus and Neptune, creating opportunities for channelling the drama of life into creative insights that can be developed in the weeks ahead. Recent current events have been filled with stories of economic collapse, massive food shortages, and other immense disruptions to societal systems, all stories that correspond with the longstanding square aspect between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. Yet the Full Moon in Pisces is not in relationship with the cold walls of Saturn and instead will be activated by the electrifying storms of Uranus, creating a window of time that can bring focus to the liberating experimentation of Uranus combined with the transcendent expanse of Neptune. It’s an excellent time for brainstorming and being patient with an upwelling of ideas, allowing a process of reordering and clarification to take shape in the coming weeks.

Illustration by Willy Pogany (1911) from *Walk Me Through My Dreams (A Picture book of Verses)* by Joe Lindsay

“This road / As far as one can see / A string of valleys deep / This road.

Late Trees stripped naked / By sweeping winds / Soy and corn are harvested / I sift through season’s end.

The dreaded part is not the past / Nor the state that I am ridden / Not the sight of numbing end / But being captive to what’s hidden.

. . . Forgive us as we forgive . . . / Lead us over pastures, Lord / And the weight of our chores / To trespass no more.”
Verse from Walk Me Through My Dreams, Again by Joe Lindsay

The Full Moon in Pisces is ruled by Jupiter retrograde in Aries. Although Jupiter put some distance between itself with Neptune after entering the fiery home of Mars on May 10, the star of Zeus stayed within an orb of fifteen degrees from Neptune and at the time of the Pisces Full Moon has returned to being in an almost exact contra-antiscia relationship, bridging the archetypal forces of Jupiter and Neptune together. Planets in contra-antiscia occupy zodiacal signs of equal ascension that agree on their journey through traveling at the same speed, while also forming a midpoint at zero degrees of Aries and Libra, a zodiacal point many astrologers connect with the world axis due to it’s potency in channeling archetypal forces directly into world events. With the Full Moon applying to a conjunction with Neptune that will take place later in the day on September 10, and then waning through its full phase into a subsequent conjunction with Jupiter retrograde in Aries on September 11, the Moon will be pouring down the dissolving, creative, and visionary influence of Jupiter and Neptune into daily life.

While the lunation is kindling the spiritual, creative fire of Jupiter and Neptune, Mercury will be saturating the astrological landscape with its archetypal presence due to stationing retrograde less than seven hours before the lunation. Moreover, Mercury retrograde in Libra will begin slowly peeling backwards in the coming week toward applying to an opposition with Jupiter that will eventually be completed on September 18. Thus not only is the Moon in Pisces opposite the Sun in Virgo during the lunation, but Jupiter as the ruler of the Moon and Mercury as the ruler of the Sun are also applying toward an opposition with one another. The stillness and intensification of Mercury invites applying mindfulness and being curious about exploring the meaning of signs and omens that appear within our dreaming and waking life for guidance.

Even though Mercury has stationed in order to move backwards through the zodiac, it will still be possible to move forward with actions, business dealings, and intellectual pursuits. In fact, the drawn out opposition between Mercury with Jupiter can make the waning half of the present lunar cycle particularly creative and thought provoking. Yet the intensity of Mercury is not to be taken lightly, and instead requires conscious relationship with however the tricky nature of Mercury will be leading us to make insightful connections. Making time and space from the busyness of life for deep reflection and contemplation will be especially helpful.

The other major aspect taking shape within the astrology of the Pisces Full Moon is the waxing square being formed by Venus in Virgo and Mars in Gemini that will eventually become exact on September 16. With both Venus and Mars under rulership of Mercury retrograde in Libra, it will be important to bring extra attention to listening within relationships with others as well as listening to the ways in which our own needs are changing. The influence of Mercury retrograde in Libra approaching its regenerative conjunction with the Sun upon Venus and Mars will create a process of burning off past relational dynamics at the same time we experience the friction of new desires emerging. The waxing square between Venus and Mars can constellate passion and desire to pursue the new sense of direction emerging from within. In the context of the overall cycle between Venus and Mars, the present waxing square is rooted in the past conjunction between Venus and Mars that took place on March 6, 2022 at 00°01’ Aquarius and so there are likely key relational dynamics emerging now directly linked back to March.

Yet the initiation of the present Venus and Mars cycle actually involved three conjunctions, with the first two occurring on 13 July 2021 at 19°48’ Leo and on 16 February 2022 at 16°53’ Capricorn. The second of these conjunctions on February 16 was especially powerful due to Venus having recently reemerged into visibility in her Morning Star phase following an extended retrograde phase in Capricorn. Fascinatingly, the conjunction between Venus and Mars at seventeen degrees of Capricorn on February 16 (that occurred at the time of a Full Moon in Leo) forms a harmonious sextile aspect with the Full Moon taking place at 17°41’ Pisces. Moreover, while Venus had recently begun her Morning Star phase of visibility on February 16, she is now at the end of it as she is in process of descending into the underworld of invisibility, regeneration, and rebirth en route to her reanimating conjunction with the Sun that will occur on October 22. As a result there are aspects of relationship and creative desire that need to be released and laid to rest at the same time we are coming into a deeper sense of the desires being reseeded and activated.

Altogether the Pisces Full Moon will be illuminating a pivotal stage within our relationship with Venus and Mars, the planets of night which connect us with passion and not only what we find valuable and pleasurable, but also what activates us to pursue our desires, fight for our values, and separate ourselves from whatever we find intolerable. With Venus and Mars coming into a catalyzing square aspect over the next week, we may feel anger when facing limitations especially when they reflect old issues that have led to suffering or heartbreak in the past. It will be necessary to hold the tension of courageously standing up for our values while mediating relationships that may or may not align with our values to varying degrees. As we come into deeper relationship with the ways in which our desires and values may be changing, it can also become an opportune time for discovering new collaborators, alliances, and relationships that involve a resonance of values and shared purpose.

Pisces 2 Decan

The Full Moon in Pisces will illuminate the second decan of Pisces, a face associated with the Nine of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image we see a pleased figure in a scarlet cap with a showy plume, signifying his passionate mind dressed with the Eros of his desires. The Nine of Cups is often associated with wish fulfillment, with the golden cups behind the figure signifying the resources needed to gain greater abundance being found within the unconscious and unseen realm of Spirit. The Nine of Cups has also been associated with happiness on both external and internal levels, enjoying feelings of pleasure and satisfaction, and getting what we think we want. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets astutely observed that the Nine of Cups is “the card of wishes, not expectations” that involves the necessity of “appreciating the unexpected,” a good reminder with the Pisces Full Moon in aspect with Uranus. Fittingly, Jupiter is supremely powerful in this face, as it is not only the domicile ruler of Pisces but also the ruler of its second decan.

Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Net” to the second decan of Pisces in honor of Indra’s net with its many mutually reflective jewels, an overhanging cosmic net that has been interpreted as signifying magic and illusion as well as the interconnectedness of our universe. Coppock wrote that the luxurious satisfaction of the figure in the Nine of Cups card is the product of engaging the process of maintaining “a harmonious relationship between material and spiritual layers of life . . . [such as in] the art of following the Tao itself . . . at play in the material world but not beholden to it.” Coppock declared it to be a face in which “the central conflict is how to reconcile one’s understanding of the true nature of reality with the world-as-it-is,” a “phase in which we are challenged to reconcile beliefs, ideals, and the way things are.”

Coppock concluded that the crux of this decan centers on fulfillment coming from the harmonizing of one’s inner perceptions with one’s outer life, as torment and grief will overcome those unable to harmonize their outer and inner worlds. Seeking fortune for fortune’s sake will not bring happiness if our visible goals are misaligned with our invisible priorities. As older forms of astrology prioritize the relationships between Daimon and Fortune as well as Eros and Necessity, we must enact Daimon and Eros from our depths rather than only responding to the Necessity and Fortune of our times. The satisfaction and joy that can be reached through the second face of Pisces comes from a deeper success that is aligned with our soul purpose and embodying the meaning of why we are here at this time.

The Hellenistic text the 36 Airs ascribed the daimon Dolos to the second face of Pisces, a spirit of deception and trickery. Dolos was an apprentice to Prometheus who famously attempted to duplicate a statue of Aletheia (Truth) that had been perfectly constructed by Prometheus, yet ran out of clay before being able to complete its feet. In Aesop’s version of the tale, the duplicate statue was called Pseudologos (Falsehood) and brought the moral that something false can start off successfully, but with time the real truth will be revealed. Austin Coppock in 36 Faces wrote that the “protean” figures of the second face of Pisces can be “tricksters, liars who try to paint the portraits of their understanding and sculpt the form of their visions,” yet they necessarily fall short as “form utterly fails the profound,” and “the truth cannot be copied.” In fact, Coppock concluded that their creative acts are essential to the meaning of this face, as their “flawed copies are the only manner in which dreams can become real.”

With the Pisces Full Moon applying toward a conjunction with Neptune while Jupiter and Neptune come together through contra-antiscia, the balance of the Scales amplified by Mercury simultaneously stationing retrograde in Libra will be important to keep in mind. A balance will need to be found by allowing flights of fantasy to stoke inspiration while not allowing yourself to become carried away by an illusive reflection of your true inner needs and desires. The more we can open to our deepest desires becoming illuminated by the Full Moon in Pisces, the better we will be able to prioritize our most important values during the coming months that feature chaotic astrological signatures.

The link between the second face of Pisces with the depths of the underlying source of our visible reality is especially relevant given that the Pisces Full Moon is applying toward an invigorating sextile with Uranus and a dreamy conjunction Neptune. The 12th century philosopher and astrologer Abraham Ibn Ezra in The Beginning of Wisdom described an image of a beautiful woman sitting on a ship at sea for this decan, wishing to come to land. Similarly, Coppock described the figures of the second face of Pisces as being “anchored in the invisible, yet step forward to play important roles in the visible world.” Make space during the Pisces Full Moon to discover the aspects of your inner beauty that have been patiently waiting in the oceanic realm of your unconscious, ready to come to shore to be realized.

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

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

Super Pisces Full Moon

September 7, 2014March 6, 2016 / grayastrology / 13 Comments

Morris Graves, The Moon and the Sea (1941)

The Full Moon on September 8 is another Super Moon, meaning that the Moon will be as close to Earth as it gets in orbit, appearing larger in our sky, having a more extreme impact on the tides of our water, and looming larger in our consciousness as well (the term Super Moon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle and can refer to either a New Moon or Full Moon). This Pisces Full Moon is also the traditional Harvest Moon in the northern hemisphere, meaning it is the Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox. This is the fifth and final Super Moon of 2014, and the third “Super” Full Moon in a row (July 12 and August 10, 2014 were also Full Super Moons): a time to reap insights from this past year of experiences before we head into the eclipse season of October 2014.

This Full Moon will be stirring up the lunar waters of our emotions and perceptions in the second decan of Pisces (there are three decans, ten degrees each, in the thirty degrees of each sign in the zodiac). In the recently published 36 Faces, Austin Coppock discerned a core concept of Pisces II: integrating into our material realm the spiritual insights and ideals found in the seeker’s plunge into the deep:

Here the central concept is how to reconcile one’s understandings of the true nature of reality with the world-as-it-is. It is thus a face of finding harmony with apparent reality of things while living and embodying one’s ideals . . . This is the phase in which we are challenged to reconcile beliefs, ideals and the way things are. The result of this successful reconciliation is “Happiness,” which the associated Nine of Cups takes as its name in The Book of Thoth. The result of an inability to reconcile one with the other, will, however, yield the inverse- misery, the state of one for whom there is no harmony between their inner and outer (p. 251-52).

During 2014 we have had many transits correlating to a greater capacity to go within and explore the subterranean world of our unconscious, our deep-set patterns, and all the gems and ghosts within our psyche. If we have done the hard work of connecting to our true ideals we may feel shocked when re-entering the world at large and not sensing an outlet or receiver for the cherished beliefs we unearthed, the vision resonate with our more fully realized self. A Super Moon illuminating the polarity of the Pisces and Virgo axis in the Pisces II decan is like wading out of the ocean under a starry sky ablaze with the glow of a luminous white Moon, feeling aglow with an inexpressible sense of pure being as we take our first steps onto moist sand that turns drier with each step back toward land and away from water.

As the insights into the divine or the eternal we received in our oceanic sojourn are essentially inexpressible or impossible to be captured in a true form, the importance at this time is what we do exactly with the presence we have felt within and how we integrate what we have sensed of the profound into our mundane daily reality. If we deny ourselves our blissful yearning, if we choose to focus on the realistic, secure, and safe direction instead of risking faith in the unknown beckoning us from our depths, we run the risk of living an unfulfilled life that no level of material security may remedy. And yet this is the crux of this potent lunation, as the Virgo to the Pisces going on wants us to integrate what we have managed to perceive beyond the boundaries of our consensus societal reality into this same society whose folly we can see through.

Jupiter is a key at this time to help us intuit how to function in our world, as Jupiter is a ruler of the second decan of Pisces in addition to ruling the sign of Pisces traditionally. Jupiter is in Leo at the time of the Harvest Full Moon, and this fiery Jupiter that wants us to creatively actualize our destiny is holding intense aspects to two mythic figures rooted in harvest equinox time: Pluto and Ceres. As a result, we likely have attachments that we will have to release, crippling inner fears that must be made aware to be overcome. There could be a sacrificial element in all of this in which we must willingly or unwillingly release what is no longer useful to the future that is calling us forward, to which we feel we must surrender.

Amphitrite and Neptune, 16th Century French, Lead

Many modern astrologers believe that Neptune in Pisces, and not Jupiter in Leo, is ruling this Full Moon. No matter what your astrological belief, however, Neptune in Pisces looms large at this time, as Venus in Virgo is opposite it. In fact, Neptune in Pisces has been integral to the entire waxing Moon we have been experiencing, as the last New Moon in Virgo was opposite Neptune. While Neptune enjoys itself in Pisces, Venus has not been known to have such a rollicking time in Virgo and in fact has been given the label of being in its “fall” in Virgo. This is because Virgo is seen as a mental sign of critical discrimination that may not be open to all of the pleasure that Venus has to offer. But while Virgo may be seen by some as too judgmental and too much of a perfectionist for the good of Venus, we also find here in the fertile Virgin the ultimate spiritual receptacle capable of receiving the full expanse of the illumination available at this time.

Venus in Virgo opposite Neptune in Pisces at a time of the Sun in Virgo being opposite a Pisces Moon of great gravity brings with it the issue of reality versus illusion, and spiritual discernment versus spiritual delusion. Everything depends upon the quality of one’s consciousness at this time and one’s capacities of perception: some could experience an epiphany whereas others could find themselves lost in a fog of illusion. Going within, getting away from the associations overwhelming your everyday reality, re-connecting with your source inside of yourself, all of these are ways to help you figure out what is really brewing in between your gut, heart, and mind. Venus in Virgo can help us with discernment, but we also do not want to discriminate to such a degree that we cut ourselves off from desires connected to us getting more in touch with our authentic self because of a judgmental sense that these desires are not realistic, practical, or capable of manifesting for us in our reality at this time. This is tricky terrain with no easy answers, so do not take the easy way out. Connecting with your authentic nature, actualizing more of your core calling, is not only good for you, it is good for all of us.

Along these lines this intensity between Virgo and Pisces is amplified to the highest extremes by Chiron in Pisces being conjunct the Full Moon and opposite the Virgo Sun. In combination with Venus in Virgo opposing Neptune in Pisces, there is an electrical charge to the atmosphere at this time instigating flashes of insight into the entire collective story swirling around all of us, including not only the full arch of this epic storyline across time but also how exactly we are fitting into it in this moment of now. Yes, Chiron is associated with wounds and we may have a gaping wound of our psyche exposed at this time. Yes, Chiron is associated with unflinching heroism, and we may seize the opportunity to take a courageous stand against the sickening oppression saturating our collective. Yes, Chiron is associated with healing, and we may suddenly notice something in our environment at this time that is the exact remedy capable of nurturing our needs or injuries. It may be an overplayed storyline that we are all connected but it is nonetheless true, and we can now more easily feel the inter-connectivity of all and the resulting significance of every daily choice we make contributing at least a small ripple to the wider tides.

Amaranth by Leo Kenny

If one opens perception to the asteroid goddesses, there is a Grand Water Trine occurring at this Full Moon between Juno in Cancer, Saturn conjunct Vesta in Scorpio, and the Full Moon conjunct Chiron in Pisces. This triangular circuit is a mainline into the undercurrents and emotional atmosphere of our surroundings and beyond into the greater collective consciousness of this time. As there has been a lot of darkness and despair in current events, it would be wise to focus on self-care to purify and nourish our sense of self so that negativity around us does not lead us to turn it on ourselves. It will please Juno to withdraw for a time in order to develop a greater capacity to return to relationships with a renewed ability to nurture, and Vesta collaborating with Saturn in Scorpio is not going to want us to be in denial of where our focus truly needs to be directed at this time. All together these aspects align well with the earlier stated intent of this Full Moon in Pisces being about integrating our ideals in some way into our environment. If we cut ourselves off from our ideal, from that cherished person, desire, or belief that makes us feel alive, these same aspects could make us spin out in despair. We need to use the supreme sustaining power of Vesta and Saturn in Scorpio to find a way to bring our dreams into our reality in whatever way we can right now.

A fortuitous ally in this pursuit will be Pallas Athena, who is joining her supreme creative intelligence with Mercury in the sign of Libra. This Pallas Athena-Mercury conjunction has a lot of aspects at this Full Moon: opposite Uranus in Aries, square Pluto in Capricorn, sextile Jupiter in Leo, opposite the South Node of the Moon in Aries, and conjunct the North Node of the Moon in Libra. Mercury and Venus are having somewhat of an affair at this time, as they are in the mutual receptivity of Venus being in the sign ruled by Mercury and Mercury being in the sign ruled by Venus. Add in the crafty Pallas Athena to the equation and we have a mix that can help us strategize a creative use of our spiritual perceptions, as both Mercury and Pallas Athena can perceive in between worlds. Since the material world may seem to be operating on a more distasteful wavelength than the vibe of our desired vision, we may need to be assertively evoke Pallas Athena to preside over the manifestation of our ideal:

Female and male, the arts of war are thine,
Fanatic, much-formed dragoness, divine:
Over the Phlegrean giants, roused to ire,
Thy coursers driving, with destruction dire.
Sprung from the head of Jove, of splendid mien,
Purger of evils, all-victorious queen.
Hear me, O Goddess, when to thee I pray,
With supplicating voice both night and day,
And in my latest hour, give peace and health,
Propitious times, and necessary wealth,
And, ever present, be thy votaries aid,
O, much implored, art’s parent, blue-eyed maid.

–from the Orphic Hymn to the Goddess Athena

http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Rituals/Hymns/Orphic.htm

We will need Pallas Athena to lend all of her dynamic power to a Mercury in Libra that can move between worlds to unite us with our beloved in the form of a Venus in Virgo receiving emanations from Neptune, because we must face the crisis and catharsis associated with Pluto in Capricorn. For many of us this is the power structure surrounding us and the constraints and impositions of hierarchical societal systems that do not seem to be open to us pursuing our yearnings and instead seem to want to enslave us through needs to pay off debts, rents, bills, and so on. Coming in for additional support, however, are a couple of heavyweights who know how to handle Pluto: Jupiter in Leo and Uranus in Aries. At the time of the Full Moon, Jupiter and Uranus are beginning to enter a trine of Fire, and though Mercury, Pallas Athena, and Uranus are all square to Pluto, the Sun and Full Moon hold harmonious aspects to the Lord of the Underworld. All together these are yet another sign that we can have the ability at this time to ignite ourselves from within and configure a way to integrate more of our ideals into our reality.

Offering by Morris Graves, 1957

All of the Scorpio energy in recent times seems to be heavy on the hearts of many: Ceres, Vesta, Saturn, and Mars all in Scorpio, with Ceres tightly in a square to Jupiter in Leo at the moment. Jupiter is also inconjunct Pluto in Capricorn, and so our desire to integrate our ideals or insights into our society at this time will be difficult, it will mean we have to release attachments and suffer losses, but it is entirely possible. There has been a piercing quality to this energy making it difficult if not impossible to be in denial of our core feelings or hide from the truth being revealed about the identity for ourselves we have been fixated upon. However, Mars is now entering the end of the final decan of Scorpio, giving us a final period of time to root ourselves further into our deepest soul desires. The more we can connect with our authentic desires with the aid of this luminous Full Moon, the better, for Mars next enters Sagittarius and by the end of September we will have a Grand Fire Trine of Mars in Sagittarius, Uranus in Aries, and Jupiter in Leo to propel us forward with passion toward our ideal.

So much Scorpio energy could have been coinciding with fears of betrayal or being betrayed, grasping and clinging to attachments we are afraid we could lose. And yet, in Scorpio we also find our capacity to release and regenerate, to enter a death of our old ego identity in order to rebirth a more fully realized self. For now, remember that dark times are necessary in order to fully savor the light, we must become aware of our fears to overcome our inner inhibitions, and we have to realize what we do not want in order to know what we do want. And if you allow me to insert yet another cliche here, we are at a reaping time: so don’t fear the reaper.