Aquarius Full Moon

“To be real about the sacred is to see not just what inside us is not sacred- but what it is inside us that’s against the sacred. What is it in our civilization that’s systematically, year after year and minute after minute, mile after mile and inch by inch, gutting everything sacred it touches: devouring it inside ourselves at the same time as irresistibly, inevitably, eating it up outside us in the beauty of landscape and nature?”

— Peter Kingsley, Catafalque

The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 15 illuminates explorations of inner darkness and contemplation regarding the path to follow into the great unknown ahead. The astrology of the past month has been missing the element of air (besides the Moon briefly traveling through each air sign) and so the fullness of the Moon’s light in the clarifying, objectifying, and visionary sign of the Water Bearer brings a needed dosage of the synthesizing and integrative capacities of the air element. Let the light of the Aquarius Full Moon nourish the seeds of rebirth in creativity and underlying values you have been tending during the past couple of months of liminal, mysterious transition. The fixed, persevering quality of Aquarius can help in discovering the inner as well as external resources needed to endure a journey into new terrain, facilitating inner resolve to overcome whatever barriers we have previously felt were preventing us from following a more authentic calling.

The Aquarius Full Moon serves as a gateway out of the complex and challenging astrological transits of the past couple of months, which included two eclipses connected with Saturn as well as a Mercury retrograde in Leo and Cancer period that deeply stirred up material dislodged by the eclipses. Not only are we now clear of eclipse season, but the Full Moon also brings the final resolution to the Mercury retrograde period that began in the beginning of July when Mercury stationed retrograde while conjoining Mars and forming a square to Uranus. As the Full Moon ripens, Mercury will be moving past the degree at which it stationed in July while also reforming its square aspect with Uranus. As a result, Mercury will be inciting revelations which will bring sudden and startling clarity to whatever questions have remained murky and mired in the mystery of the recent eclipse season.

Moreover, the Full Moon is simultaneously illuminating the reseeding of Venus by the Leo Sun, putting us in touch with a deep process of regenerating the values that source our desires. While we may feel disgusted, angry, or upset over immorality and tragedy in current events occurring throughout external society, we have the opportunity to turn within to discover fertile richness to cultivate. The Full Moon in Aquarius brings the gift of utilizing Aquarian processes of patient, contemplative detachment to step back from emotional overwhelm in order to penetrate into the nature of current circumstances and discern how to catalyze necessary growth. While we may feel like rushing ahead with plans, the fact that the lunation is ruled by Saturn slowly moving retrograde alongside the South Node of the Moon points to the fact that we are in the middle of a drawn out metamorphosis that requires further rumination regarding longterm plans. The waning half of the current lunar cycle will be bringing important information we will need to consider and integrate.

The Aquarius Full Moon is conjoining the fixed star Deneb Algedi, the great star which marks the tail of the Sea Goat constellation in the living sky above. Old magical texts on the fixed stars declared that the image of Deneb Algedi brings prosperity and increases wealth, as well as enhancing one’s home and keeping it secure. As the Aquarius Moon waxes full near the star of the Sea Goat’s tail in the sky, we can turn awareness into the oceanic, immaterial expanse underlying our reality where the roots of form take shape. Rather than becoming overly focused upon external validation for achievement, see what visions from subconscious senses are ready to manifest without regard for external standards of judgment. It may not be clear how to bring new ideas into reality yet, but by setting intention to nurture and foster their manifestation we can begin the process of patiently discovering the best course of development for them.

The Aquarius Full Moon on August 15 is forming an opposition with the superior conjunction of Venus that occurred on August 14 at 22 degrees of Leo. Venus at this point in its cycle is invisible and in an underworld phase that can be likened to the descent of Inanna into the Great Below to be stripped of her worldly possessions and experience death followed by a metamorphosis of understanding. At the time of the Full Moon, Venus has just emerged from being revivified by the creative potency of the Leo Sun and is ready to begin her long journey back from the underworld which will occur at the end of September when Venus arises once again as an Evening Star. As a result, the Full Moon will bring light to however we are experiencing a transformation in values and aesthetics, the way we relate with others and the way we express our desires.

Venus in its current solar phase is as far away from the earth as it gets within its cycle as well as moving at its fastest speed, symbolizing increased capacity to let go of old personal fixations. As the Full Moon forms, Venus has been set ablaze by the radiant Leo Sun like a summer bonfire we can release old relational patterns into. As Venus begins to recover from being burned up by the Sun, we can likewise shed old issues that have been weighing us down or restraining our ability to seek or receive pleasure. In the next month, we can realign our external expression with our inner authenticity, deepening inner awareness of the fertile potential we possess to creatively actualize in the world around us.  Ultimately, Venus will be guiding us to manifest whatever we desire to create from within.

The superior conjunction of Venus on August 14 was the first solar reseeding for Venus since 26 October 2018 when Venus was retrograde in the deep waters of Scorpio. It may be time to bury and put to rest some desires and issues that arose in the past ten months, while fertilizing those we wish to cultivate going forward. As Venus forms its superior conjunction in the same sign every eight years as part of its synodic cycle, forming a five pointed star pattern, it may be helpful to consider the strange resonances that can be found between now and past superior conjunctions for Venus in Leo. There were previously superior conjunctions of Venus in Leo in August 2011, August 2003, and August 1995.

The Aquarius Full Moon is also applying to an opposition with Mars in Leo, as Mars is about six degrees ahead of the union of Venus with the Sun as the Moon forms its exact opposition with the Sun. In contrast to Venus already having been revived by the Leo Sun, Mars is at the end of its cycle and experiencing the final release and purification from its cycle with the Sun which began at 4º12′ Leo on 25 July 2017. Similar to Venus, Mars is also in its underworld phase and giving us the opportunity to melt down old martial patterns and reforge our relationship with Mars to be more resonant with our developing desires and presence. The opposition from the Aquarius Full Moon can help cool down any excessive heat or emotional overwhelm in order to find creative solutions or necessary redirection of energy. Mars will be reborn in the heart of the Sun on September 2, a few days after the upcoming New Moon in Virgo.

During the waning half of the current lunar cycle, Venus will chase after Mars and form a conjunction with the fiery red planet on August 24 at five degrees of Virgo, beginning a new cycle between the planets that signify our most intimate desires. As Venus and Mars are at the very end of their cycle at the time of the Full Moon, their cycle serves as yet another symbol of the Full Moon in Aquarius initiating us into a process of rediscovering what we want in our relationships as well as how we wish to creatively express ourselves. With Venus and Mars coming together in the secrecy of darkness during their underworld phases, we will be called to engage in embodiment rather than intellectual analysis of the changes taking shape through their union. Moreover, since the coming conjunction of Mars and Venus in Virgo will also be applying toward a flowing trine aspect with Uranus in Taurus, getting in touch with bodily senses can help uncover desires untethered to societal conditioning. The close proximity of Venus and Mars to the Sun will bring a purgative, cathartic intensity to their union that will bring awareness to any underlying motivations we have been acting from that are no longer in our best interest.

A few days before the Aquarius Full Moon on August 11, Mercury entered Leo while Jupiter stationed direct in Sagittarius and Uranus stationed retrograde in Taurus. During the Aquarius Full Moon, Mercury in Leo will be applying closely to a catalytic square aspect with Uranus in Taurus that it will complete the following day on August 16.  When Mercury stationed retrograde on July 7 in Leo, it was within a few degrees of an exact square with Uranus. As a result, as Mercury finally completes its square with Uranus during the Aquarius Full Moon we may receive sudden revelations that change our perspective regarding stories that have been developing since the beginning of July. We may receives flashes of intuition, instant knowing, and rapid insights that bring far ranging vision to mind.

After Mercury completes its square aspect with Uranus, it will begin applying toward a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Sagittarius that it will complete on August 21 while the waning Moon in Taurus is applying toward a conjunction with Uranus. During the week following the Full Moon, Mercury will be glimmering in pre-dawn skies, heralding the rising Sun while it transmits the uplifting and inspiring shift of Jupiter in Sagittarius moving forward in direct motion again. Mercury in Leo is in position to activate goals and animate creative impulses into manifested results. Thus, the Full Moon occurring in the intellectual and community-oriented sign of Aquarius can help with discerning how to find a resonant role in the greater collective as well as conceiving how to develop burgeoning ideas into structures and vehicle through which we will be able to fulfill the needs and interests of others.

Aquarius 3 Decan

The Full Moon will rise in the third face of Aquarius associated with the Seven of Swords card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Knot” to the third face of Aquarius, using the symbol of a knot to explore the karmic binds that keep us stuck in the known and familiar rather than liberating ourselves to enter the unknown. Coppock described the stealthy figure in the image of the Seven of Swords card as having already undergone a process of not only deciding to leave a frustrating situation but also having already contemplated what is worth saving. There is a risk of exile and the uncertainty of no longer having the stability of the structures being left behind, but the figure has determinedly chosen the unknown over the known.

The Moon is the ruler of the third face of Aquarius, giving the Full Moon greater strength than it would otherwise have in Aquarius. As the Sun is securely comfortable and powerful in its fiery home of Leo, as it is simultaneously bathing Venus and Mars in its blazing radiance, the Moon in its own face of Aquarius can help us gather strength and inner resolve to experiment and take creative risks. By listening to the Aquarian guidance of doing things differently and looking at things with a different perspective, we will more naturally find the resources we need to support the new direction taking shape in our mind. The Full Moon in Aquarius can help us cultivate a healthy dose of detachment from the all-consuming subjectivity of the abundant astrological fire, just the space necessary to gain the widening of perception needed to discover solutions and forge supportive connections with others.

Since both Venus and Mars are in underworld phases during the Full Moon, it is interesting that the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs ascribed Osiris, lord of the dead and the otherworld, to the third face of Aquarius. The presence of Osiris with the Aquarius Full Moon brings themes of fertility and regeneration to the forefront. As both Venus and Mars are undergoing processes of death and rebirth, Osiris calls us to find resources and enrichment within the depths of our unconscious so that we will be able to nurture our own metamorphosis rather than needing to seek the kind of external validation that could condition the change underway. Osiris possesses a sacred quality of surrender to the process of regeneration, surrendering to all of the suffering that must be endured in order to fully nurture and realize our creative potential. As the Aquarius Moon glows bright in the darkness of night, may its luminosity remind you of the inner light you possess in your heart that remains ever ready to guide you forward.

References

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

Warnock, Chris. (2019). Fixed Star, Sign & Constellation Magic. Renaissance Astrology.