Full Moon in Libra

Amidst so much uncertainty around the world, the Libra Full Moon will illuminate the changes that have been taking shape during the pandemic and how we have been adjusting. The Full Moon has a relational focus due to being in the outwardly directed home of Venus, with its pull to examine relationship patterns being further amplified by the Moon forming a conjunction with Juno retrograde in Libra as it waxes into fullness. There are more planets in air signs now than we have had recently, making it a lively time to catch up with friends far away or instead make space for reflection and attentive listening to what’s going on within. Tending to your inner life in some way will be wise, for the Libra Full Moon is applying toward a square aspect with Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn, stirring up deep material we will see surfacing within our interactions.

The timing of some countries such as the United States beginning to come to terms with the full impact of potential deaths from the pandemic is the type of astrological correlation we do not want to experience, yet it nonetheless correlates with the fact the Libra Full Moon is intensifying some extraordinarily difficult astrological transits. “Unprecedented” has seemed to become the word of the year, with people around the world forced to confront an unknown future with no clear timelines yet for when the time of renewal will occur. We will need to draw upon the intellectual strength and heart-centered drive of Libra, its vast capacity for understanding the triggers of tensions within systems and how the constant changes of life require ceaseless rebalancing. It’s a time for reimagining the next chapter of life and ways to alter personal as well as systematic structures to address the strange reality of quarantines and shutdown businesses.

Though the Full Moon is in the diurnal, airy home of Venus, the lunation has a strong connection with Saturn as it is in the exaltation, face, and triplicity of Saturn. The Libra Full Moon is highlighting the archetypal polarity between the Sun and Saturn in a way, due to the lunation being aligned with the exaltation degrees for Saturn and the Sun. While the Sun will be at the degree of its exaltation in Aries during the lunation’s peak light, the Full Moon itself is applying within a few degrees to the degree where Saturn is exalted in Libra. Though Saturn in Aquarius is in a whole sign trine with the Libra Full Moon, the Moon is actually applying toward a degree based square aspect with Saturn it will complete after it enters Scorpio on April 8.

Thus we must temper the radiant expanse of our solar purpose with the defensive and protective boundaries of Saturn to ensure containment; likewise we can bring the vivifying warmth of our personalities to enliven those dealing with the dejection, rejection, and melancholia of Saturn. It’s a difficult tension to hold, but a necessary one of tending to difficult feelings within us and our relationships. The way in which we respond to internal distress as well as the needs of others will mean everything. Due to Mars in Aquarius simultaneously forming a square aspect with Uranus in Taurus, it will be helpful to find creative outlets for pent up frustrations and tensions so that we do not cause unnecessary discord within relationships.

There has been a dramatic series of major planetary alignments recently, but the most directly relevant one to the Full Moon is the conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn. The new cycle taking shape this year between Jupiter and Pluto is one of the most significant astrological influences of the year, and they formed their first of three conjunctions on April 4 only three days before the lunation. The Libra Full Moon will be insisting that we face whatever associated issues are arising from the depths of Jupiter and Pluto, since the Full Moon’s next aspect will be a catalyzing square aspect with Jupiter and Pluto.

It’s important to realize we are only at the very beginning of understanding what the Jupiter Pluto alignment will mean for us: their second conjunction will not be until June 30 (24º) with both retrograde, while the third and final conjunction in the series will occur with both moving direct on November 12 (23º), 2020. When Jupiter combines with Pluto, new knowledge and growth opportunities come from eruptions and catharsis that can make us confront figurative or literal death, pulling us to descend into underworld experiences that can ultimately expand vision beyond previous restrictions by the end of the process.

Jupiter and Pluto form conjunctions roughly every twelve and a half years. The most recent unions between Jupiter and Pluto took place in 2007 in Sagittarius, in 1994 in Scorpio, in 1981 in Libra, in 1968 in Virgo, in 1956 in Leo, in 1943 in Leo, in 1931 in Cancer, in 1918 in Cancer, and in 1906 in Gemini.  You may note some past periods of economic recession and depression from the list above: what makes the current Jupiter Pluto alignment similar to the 1931 conjunction that took place during the Great Depression is that they were each part of larger, disruptive outer planetary alignments. The 1931 conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto was in opposition with Saturn in Capricorn while Uranus in Aries was forming square aspects with both Saturn as well as the Jupiter Pluto conjunction.

The worst side of Jupiter Pluto conjunctions can be seen in the rise of totalitarian groups following the economic instability surrounding the 1931 conjunction. In Planetary Cycles: Mundane Astrology, André Barbault demonstrated how the roots of the totalitarian surge in 1931 can be found in nationalist groups that began rising in power following the Jupiter and Pluto conjunction in 1918 and the economic crises of that period. This is the compulsive side of Jupiter and Pluto that involves obsessive desire for power sourced from shadowy fear that we need to be on guard against as we enter a time period of economic uncertainty now.

There is also positive potential for great good that can arise out of the unfathomable depths of Jupiter and Pluto coming together, and it is this side of their meaning that needs our full participation. Facing loss, grief, fear, and death demands that we get in touch with authentic feelings that leads to an intensification of what matters most to us. Jupiter in its fall in Capricorn must meet the constraints of circumstances, but through its alignment with Pluto it can regenerate new possibilities from whatever has been torn down or released. Jupiter and Pluto can put us in touch with our primal passions that can resiliently stand up against the conditioning of culture to question and break free from conformity with systematic structures. The shutting down of productivity around the world is scary for many, but is also creating the potential for radical reforms to be made when productivity is renewed.

The connective capacities of the Libra Full Moon may be brought into receptive dialogue with our external relationships as well as the realms of our ancestors and unconscious so that we may reorient toward what will be most essential for us to focus our time and energy on. While the discordant square aspect formed between Mars in Aquarius with Uranus in Taurus can unleash anger and aggressiveness, within protected spaces of contemplation it can incite breakthrough insights that will lead us to make fundamental changes in our life going forward.

After the Moon enters Scorpio on April 8 it will immediately form an intensifying square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius, followed by an opposition with Uranus in Taurus and then another square aspect with Mars in Aquarius. As a result, the Full Moon is bringing together insights from the Jupiter and Pluto conjunction with the difficult volatility stemming from Mars moving in between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. The fact that this incredibly activating lunation is occurring within secluded spaces of quarantine for so many means it is more likely to lead to profound self realizations as a result. Allow yourself to take in a new perspective about what you can create with your life without worrying yet how exactly you will make it happen.

The Libra Full Moon is in the airy home of Venus, who is shining brightly at night in Gemini. Venus will be continuing to shine bright until reaching her brightest phase at the end of April and then beginning to slow down to station retrograde on May 12. Venus is also out of bounds, meaning that her excessive height in northern declination leads her to be more freedom seeking than normal and capable of soaring above barriers. In Gemini, Venus has a taste for diverse flavors and has ever changing interests and curiosities she adores exploring. Venus in Gemini delights in connecting through conversation, writing, intellectual activities, music, crafts, art, games, design, decorations, and any other aesthetically pleasing activities that will keep its ruling planet Mercury engaged and inspired. Venus in Gemini can be an asset in finding fun ways to connect with others while in quarantine.

At the same time that Venus will be getting brighter at night as the Moon wanes in light in the forthcoming lunar cycle, Venus will also be getting closer and closer to a conjunction with Neptune. As a result, the waning half of the present lunar cycle can be a wildly creative time for writing, music, and any other art you enjoy. It will be an ideal time to take creative risks and experiment with your craft, as you will be more likely than normal to discover some unexpected and fascinating new directions to follow. Venus in Gemini moving direct while out of bounds and increasing in brightness is also perfect for sharing your creativity in order to inspire and uplift others who are experiencing difficulties.

During the Libra Full Moon, Venus in Gemini is separating from a trine with Saturn in Aquarius and is seemingly in range of a trine aspect with Mars in Aquarius that will never complete due to the upcoming retrograde of Venus. Venus will be moving across the same terrain of Gemini in the waning half of the present lunar cycle that it will later move back and forth across two more times. By paying attention to what happens this month you may begin to get a sense for what will become major issues during the upcoming Venus retrograde in Gemini period in May and June. Venus will be in Gemini from now all the way until August 7, so we are entering an extended period of time in which Venus will be activating issues related to whatever house in your natal chart belongs to Gemini.

Meanwhile, Mercury is in Pisces and in a harmonizing sextile aspect with the Jupiter and Pluto conjunction in Capricorn.  Mercury is in position to receive a vital message from the Jupiter and Pluto conjunction as well as transfigure subconscious material being stirred up by Jupiter and Pluto into creative work that can accentuate the creative expression of Venus in Gemini. Mercury in Pisces is not in the best place for linear logic and communicating clearly and quickly, but after Mercury enters Aries on April 10 the speed and fiery spiritedness of its communication style in Aries will be an asset in responding quickly to emergencies stemming from the pandemic.

Libra 2 Decan

The Libra Full Moon is in the second face of Libra associated with the Three of Swords illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. Saturn rules the second face of Libra, and in the piercing heartbreak and cold atmosphere of the image we can observe the transcendence through pain that can be brought by Saturn. In times of heartbreak like the global pandemic we can access a newfound strength that ultimately increases our capacity for expressing love, as well as opens us to greater levels of empathy, compassion, and awareness of those around us.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “Two Links in a Chain” to the second decan of Libra. Coppock linked Saturn’s exaltation in Libra to the binding of “happy marriages and fruitful alliances” found in the second decan of Libra, as well as the breaking apart of such agreements. Coppock described it as “a face of lasting unions and blended karma” in which “the power of obligation fixes volatile passions,” creating “a firm foundation for the good life.” The importance Coppock placed on being faithful to one’s oaths and commitments in relationships is vital to bear in mind at the Full Moon, especially for those partnerships who are spending more time alone together than normal due to being in quarantine. It’s a time for investing care and attention into the relationships that matter most to us.

The Full Moon in the sign of the Scales also conjures the Egyptian imagery of Maat and the weighing of souls after death.  Maat is also the balancing of natural, terrestrial, and cosmic order arising from the field of chaos and its constant flux.  Whether you have been dealing with death, a major loss, or not, we are all coming to terms with so much that has come out of balance in the world that will require a united effort from all of us in rebalancing.  Allow the light of the Full Moon to illuminate at least one step you can take in rebalancing, whether it be through getting more rest or doing a certain task. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote concerning death and loss:

“All of our true relations, all of our penetrating experiences reach through the Whole, through life and death; we have to live in Both, be intimately at home in both . . .

Through loss, through great, immoderate loss, we are actually quite introduced into the Whole. Death is only an unsparing way of placing us on intimate and trusting terms with that side of our existence that is turned away from us. (What should I emphasize more: our or existence? Both are here of the greatest significance, as if balanced by the weight of all the stars!)”

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References

Barbault, André. (2014). Planetary Cycles: Mundane Astrology. The Astrological Association.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.

Rilke, Rainer Maria. (2005). Letters on Life: New Prose Translations. Edited and translated by Ulrich Baer. The Modern Library Classics.