Aphrodite Anadyomene (ca. 1st–2nd century) Bronze, gold, with Emerald beads

Full Moon in Libra

Once every nineteen months or so, Venus will race into the sacred heart of the Sun with speed. Called a superior conjunction of Venus, this rhythmically regular renewal of Venus occurs when Venus is moving direct on the far side from the Sun from us in orbit. It’s more of a celestial conjunction of Venus with the Sun than an earthy one, as Venus is more removed from earthly matters than when she forms a conjunction with the Sun when retrograde and at her closest point in orbit to the Earth. As the Sun in its exaltation of Aries rises, culminates, and sets so will Venus as she undergoes a process of being reanimated and reseeded with the creative potency of the Sun. As Venus is laying to rest one cycle and being purified to be reborn into a new cycle, so may we experience a catharsis of past relational patterns and desires as new desires become kindled within. The superior conjunction of Venus occurred on March 25, only three days before the Full Moon in Libra on March 28. As the Libra lunation is within the domain of Venus, the reflective light of the Libra Full Moon will fully illuminate an inner process of renewal and regeneration regarding relationships, desires, and our creativity.

The full arc of the cycle Venus is closing now can be traced back to the last time there was a superior conjunction of Venus on August 13, 2019 at 21º11′ Leo: you may notice cyclic patterns and storylines from then being regenerated. Venus has two main phases within her total cycle, one sharing her light as a Morning Star before sunrise and the other sharing her light as an Evening Star following sunset. The superior conjunction we are experiencing now demarcates a liminal transition in which Venus is invisibly shifting away from her Morning Star phase into her Evening Star phase. Venus will eventually return to visibility as an Evening Star by the middle of May and will then become increasingly visible rising higher and higher each evening. The Morning Star phase of Venus that has now ended began last June when Venus emerged into visibility before sunrise during her retrograde phase in Gemini after forming her inferior conjunction with the Sun on June 3.  Thus there may also be important internal shifts forming that go back to the last time Venus underwent renewal last June.

However, if you wish to dig deeper into the quality of time governed by Venus, you may consider the last time there was a superior conjunction of Venus in Aries eight years ago on March 28, 2013 at 8º10′ Aries for patterns that could relate to now.  Every eight years, the Sun reanimates Venus around the same time near the same place within the zodiac. Although one full cycle of Venus with the Sun lasts for about nineteen months (584 days), there are five different Venus phase cycles within an eight year period that repeat. If you trace the points of the five unions of Venus with the Sun across every eight years, it forms a five pointed star within the circle of the zodiac. In addition to superior conjunctions of Venus occurring very eight years around the same time and zodiac degree, we also experience an inferior conjunction of Venus retrograde uniting with the Sun in the same general area of the zodiac at generally the same time on an alternating eight year cycle. There was an inferior conjunction between Venus retrograde in Aries with the Sun in Aries four years ago on March 25, 2017 at 4º57′ Aries, so although it was a different phase of the Venus cycle you may also realize there are important developments regarding storylines from that time emerging now.

Venus burning up with an exalted Sun can vivify passions that had become dormant, clearing space within for new desires to take root and grow within its cycle to come. Venus in Aries is fast and direct just like the present solar phase of Venus, wanting and making things to happen faster than can be comfortable for Venus. The fast moving desires of Venus are further being enhanced by its domicile ruler Mars forming a sextile with Venus in Gemini while also forming a conjunction with the North Node of the Moon. Venus in Aries is ardent and direct in its affections and desires, and will courageously go after what it wants to create and form relationship with. With Venus so close to the Sun, however, there is much that is hidden to the eye of the observer as well as concealed within our own churning unconscious. The Full Moon opposing Venus while also forming a flowing trine aspect with Mars in Gemini is complex due to unleashing the influence of Mars while bringing up contrary, polarized perspectives and reflections regarding the new sense of meaning Venus is beginning to form.

The Libra Full Moon is in the exaltation of Saturn, while also applying to a flowing trine aspect with Saturn in Aquarius. As a result, the Full Moon is creating an air triangle between the Libra Moon, Saturn in Aquarius, and the combination of Mars with the North Node of the Moon in Gemini.  Regarding our creativity and work, whatever projects and visions we have been developing can benefit greatly through these airy aspects enabling both contemplation regarding the direction forward as well as burning drive to complete the tasks at hand. If there is work to be done and ideas in need of cultivation and expression, the Libra Full Moon is ideal for making significant progress on work that can be inventive as well as in depth.

After the Libra Moon moves through its trine aspects with Saturn and Mars, it will move on to complete another flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius and then form a catalyzing square aspect with Pluto in Capricorn just after moving fifteen degrees beyond the opposition with the Sun. We need to hold the tension of opposing polarities constellating between Venus with the Sun and the Full Moon, letting the illumination of the lunation deepen our awareness of what is taking shape within and how we wish to express our desires moving forward. Although Venus has recently been regenerated, we still have a couple of months of her continuing to gestate her revivified desires until they become more visible with her light in mid to late May. For now we need to incubate the tension of the pulsating potency driving the tidal force of the lunation. Fortunately, the quality of time governed by Venus with the golden mean found within the five petaled form of her solar cycle brings the magical intersection of Eros and Necessity front and center for us to face and reflect within.

Ankh Amulet (1070–332 BCE)

Venus and the Sun are also forming a conjunction with Chiron in Aries and are also in process of moving from a union with Chiron into conjunctions with Ceres in Aries that will occur later in the week. Chiron is the Wise Mentor while Ceres is the Great Mother and together they reveal the intrinsic relationship between grief and loss with the courage needed to cultivate productive growth and abundance. The lunation is especially focalized upon Chiron, however, with Chiron forming a conjunction with the Sun at the same time the Full Moon is happening. The union of Chiron with Venus and the Sun will take us to the depths of whatever internal blocks or wounds are presently in the way of us more fully actualizing our creative potential. At the same time, Chiron will be speaking to the importance of tending to the mystery of internal spaces that source our external expression, rather than insisting we know what is best while focusing completely on external achievement. Chiron advises to listen and relate to the vibrant meaning found within the vast realm of visible and invisible nature surrounding us.

During the past year of the global pandemic, longstanding issues of societal oppression and social injustice were forced into the awareness of greater numbers of people who for whatever reason had previously not been paying as much attention to them. At the same time, the same attention given to issues of societal oppression also provoked polarized conflict with groups of people who do not wish to see a radical reshaping of reforms brought to societal institutions on behalf of reparation. The present and forthcoming astrology does not suggest any end to polarized conflict, but the connection of the Full Moon to Chiron as well as Ceres in Aries does highlight the importance of deep contemplation and conversation regarding the intersection between our own identities with the wider network of oppression found within societal hierarchies of power. The work of Dr. Bayo Akomolafe is resonate with the placement of Chiron here, as he has said that decolonial emancipation is not the work of struggling with what is, but a place of occupying what we are becoming. As Dr. Akomolafe has taught, there is an importance of contemplating our circumstances so we do not react in ways that reinforce the very systems of societal oppression we wish to change. 

Chiron bridges the realms of Saturn and Uranus within its orbit, and when it is in Aries it is in the part of its orbit when it travels to the outer reaches of Uranus away from Saturn. The presence of Chiron with the Full Moon is essential for mediating whatever events and experiences have been happening in correspondence with the waning square aspect between Saturn and Uranus. The last quarter square between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus is the dominant astrological theme of the year, and the Libra Full Moon is in a flowing trine to Saturn in its exaltation while also in an uncomfortable quincunx aspect with Uranus in Taurus. Yet both the Full Moon as well as Uranus are in the domicile of Venus who is forming a conjunction with both the Sun and Chiron. The clash between Saturn and Uranus can dislodge us from wherever we have felt secure and stable in the past, while simultaneously opening spectacles of increased authenticity and freedom beyond the present confines of our circumstances. The presence of Chiron with the Full Moon can help in sitting with whatever has been stirred up and discerning the path forward. 

Evocation, from the series Brahmsphantasie, Opus XII, no, 2 (1894) by Max Klinger

The Full Moon is also in the bounds of Mercury, with Mercury applying closely to a conjunction with Neptune in Pisces where Venus is exalted. This marks the second lunation in a row featuring a major activation of Neptune: while the New Moon in Pisces that began the present lunar cycle involved Venus applying closely to a conjunction with Neptune and the New Moon barely separating from Neptune, the Full Moon that now illuminates the meaning of the current cycle involves Neptune being activated by Mercury. While Neptune may dissolve the usual boundaries and focusing instruments of Mercury within its oceanic expanse, Mercury brings its gifts with language, divination, and analysis to the mysterious realm of Neptune.

The union of Mercury with Neptune under the light of the Full Moon can be potent when using any form of divination to illuminate the meaning of the present relational and creative story cycles beginning and ending under the auspices of Venus beginning a new solar cycle. Immersion in nature through exploration of one’s local or surrounding habitat can also provide opportunities for finding meaning through noticing the multiplicitous relationships amongst the surrounding beings within nature. Mercury combined with Neptune can also be powerful for receiving significant messages through dreams as well as deciphering them more creatively with active imagination rather than dry analysis. Mercury with Neptune wants us to utilize our imagination for inspired research and creative output that transcends the limits of materialist perspectives that do not recognize we are embedded within living universes.

At the same time, the fact that the present lunar cycle began with a conjunction between Venus and Neptune and now has a Full Moon featuring a conjunction between Mercury and Neptune also means discernment will be important to apply to whatever dreams and visions have been emerging. Some may be available and some unavailable within present circumstances, so we will need to draw from the inspiration of the unavailable to bring greater inspiration and imagination to what we can do with what is available within our current circumstances. 

2 of Swords by Pamela Colman Smith

Libra 1 Decan

The Full Moon in Libra is in the first decan of Libra associated with the Two of Swords card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image a blindfolded woman sits in front of an oceanic expanse while crossing two swords in front of her.  The blindfold and ocean suggest contact with the instinctual inner realm and unconscious, and indeed this card in tarot has a meaning of mediating between opposing forces to find equipoise, resolving conflicts within a protected space of exploring internal balance.  T. Susan Chang in her book 36 Secrets about the intersection between the astrological decans and tarot, stated that the blindfolded woman reveals how the “Swords have do to do with what can and can’t be known,” and that the covered eyes in the image “represent minds that only partly grasp their situation” yet want to know more. Chang links the Two of Swords with setting aside preconceptions, giving opposing points of view “equal airing,” utilizing practices that help “clear your mind, and listen for silence.”

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces referenced Smith’s illustration by ascribing the image of “A Blind Fold and a Sword” to the first face of Libra, describing it as a place which awakens awareness to injustice and disequilibrium within both societal and personal levels of interaction. Coppock wrote of the significance of the Two of Swords holding symbols that “allude to the arousal of an as yet unconscious force” such as the nocturnal and oceanic setting making it a landscape “beneath the threshold of waking consciousness.” Since the Moon is the ruler of the first decan of Libra and the Moon is being fully illuminated in its own face, the meaning of the first decan of Libra will be amplified. Coppock emphasized the essence of this face being about relationship and “the balance between two entities” in all forms within the social order, stating it “shines a light on these dynamics, bringing what is troublesome to the light of conscious recognition.” Coppock declared that the first decan of Libra not only illuminates dynamics of “fairness and reciprocity” based upon “core principles of ethical interaction with other beings,” but also can incite assertive attempts to address injustice or imbalances. 

It is further notable that the Hellenistic text The 36 Airs of the Zodiac ascribed the Erinyes (also known as the Furies) to the first face of Libra. As the Erinyes are chthonic goddesses who serve natural law and punish transgressors, the first face of Libra is a place of becoming aware of previously hidden evidence that reveals inequities.  While it is possible that those who have been extremely out of balance will  be facing a karmic reckoning, all of us will need to come to terms with the hidden unconscious material being stirred and awakened by the Full Moon opposing the union of Venus with the Sun. If you are feeling the festering of the Furies within, the fiery union of Venus with the Sun can help purify and release their toxic components while facilitating a coming to terms with the deeper meaning found within our own shadow. May the light of the Full Moon illuminate whatever has come out of balance we need to bring into balance, helping us create the stillness of space needed to contemplate matters deeply.

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.