O you tender ones, step now and then
into the breath that takes no heed of you:
it will part as it brushes your cheeks
and then tremble behind you, united again.

O you who are blissful, you who are whole,
you who seem the beginnings of hearts.
Bows for arrows and arrows’ aim, through tears
your smile will glow more eternal.

Don’t be afraid to suffer- take your heaviness
and give it back to the earth’s own weight;
the mountains are heavy, the oceans are heavy.

Even the trees you planted as children
have long grown too heavy; you couldn’t bear them.
But the breezes . . . and the spaces . . .

— Rainer Maria Rilke from Sonnets to Orpheus

Full Moon in Pisces

Some years are more pivotal to the course of history than others, some periods of time so fertile with potential that the reverberations of choices and actions create a more far reaching impact than others. Astrologers predicted in advance that this would likely be such a year due to the epochal symphony emanating from the astrology of 2020, and the trajectory of world events that have unfolded have left no doubt that this is the case. The Pisces Full Moon will unleash a flood of feelings related to how we are situated within the currents of collective change and upheaval, how well we are following our path and purpose, and to what degree we are claiming the role and place through which we may serve others through the cultivation and sharing of skills and resources. 

The Pisces Full Moon on 1 September 2020 is applying tightly toward a stimulating sextile aspect with Uranus in Taurus, while it is also being received by a harmonizing sextile aspect by its ruler, Jupiter in Capricorn. The Full Moon is also heading toward a conjunction with Neptune in Pisces that it will form on September 2 after completing its sextile with Jupiter. The silvery light of the Pisces Moon will beam forth from the Virgo Sun like the Hermit’s lantern, seeping into the underbelly of our overarching plans and visions. Pay attention if you are guided to change course or make modifications to your goals, but also allow the watery inspiration of the lunation to reveal the resources and support you have within reach that have been previously unseen or unrecognized. 

There is also a supportive, mutual reception between the Full Moon and Venus, as the Full Moon is in the exaltation and bounds of Venus and is heading toward a flowing trine aspect with Venus, while Venus is in the watery home of the Moon. Yet the pleasurable reception between the Moon and Venus must be tempered by the ponderousness of Saturn, as Venus is applying to an exact opposition with Saturn in Capricorn. Venus is taking us into the chthonic roots of the alignment between Saturn and Pluto, as Venus is separating from an opposition with Pluto as it faces off with Saturn. What we desire and wish to create must be set against the titanic clashes across civilizations and dismantling of societal structures that have intensified during the past year of Saturn and Pluto ending and beginning a new cycle together.

Allow whatever challenges, limitations or constraints you feel to hone your purpose, shedding or laying to rest the parts that have met a wall of resistance with no place to go. The contraction brought by Saturn has its own kind of fertility that requires patience, endurance, and openness to the mystery of the unknown at work. Venus in Cancer will most effectively meet Saturn from a place of inner security that can enact healthy boundaries capable of fluidly adapting to what is necessary while remaining grounded in the values aligned with your purpose. It’s not a time for saying yes to every opportunity, but rather having discernment regarding how to most effectively utilize your available time and space.

Amplifying the creative tension of the Pisces Full Moon, Venus will subsequently form a catalyzing square aspect with Mars in Aries a few days after the lunation on September 4. The waxing square between Venus and Mars will correlate with friction between our relationship dynamics and our desires to freely pursue our goals. This phase between Venus and Mars is about establishing the new direction in our relationships that began when Venus and Mars initiated their current cycle a year ago on August 24, 2019. At this stage we can feel anger when facing limitations especially when they reflect the same old issues that have led to suffering or heartbreak in the past. There is a need to hold the tension of courageously standing up for our authentic values while mediating relationships that may or may not align with our values to varying degrees. It can also be an opportune time to collaborate with those aligned with our values as well as forming new alliances and friendships with those who share our purpose. 

The waxing square formed by Venus with Mars is especially significant due to it being the final installment of three waxing square aspects that Venus has formed with Mars in 2020. Venus  first formed a square aspect with Mars on 26 January 2020, with Venus at 16º02′ Pisces and Mars in Sagittarius. Next, Venus formed its second square aspect with Mars on 2 June 2020, with Venus retrograde in Gemini at 14º02′ and Mars in Pisces.  During the final square aspect between Venus and Mars, Venus will be direct at 27º55′ Cancer while Mars will be stationing retrograde at the same degree in Aries.  The fact it has taken almost nine months for Venus and Mars to finally finish the waxing square of their cycle is yet another indication of the immense change brought by the astrology of 2020 that has been full of incubatory creative tension and the need to confront issues of systemic oppression that impact our relationships with others.

Notably, Venus was forming a conjunction with Neptune during the first square aspect between Venus and Mars on January 26, and Mars was heading toward a conjunction with Neptune during the second square aspect on June 3. Now as they complete the final square, the Full Moon will be illuminating the ineffable mystery of Neptune in Pisces. The influence of Neptune combined with the volcanic aspects being formed by Venus point toward the necessity of confronting internal dynamics within our subconscious shadow. Neptune can connect sacrifice with spirituality in positive ways, yet Neptune can also cloud our perception with feelings of being a victim or martyr as well as a scapegoating crusader fixated on dogmatic beliefs. The dissolving influence of Neptune can be both constructive and destructive, and so rather than becoming inflated with righteousness be curious about exploring the inner and outer tensions at work in your life.

When tossing a coin into the fountain of the Pisces Full Moon to make a wish, bear in mind that your dreams have supportive resources available that go beyond the visible and measurable sources and structures in your surroundings. While being lost in wishful thinking will not be helpful, it’s also important to not discount support and guidance available from immaterial sources such as in the realms of spirit and ancestors. There is a balance to strike between realistically working with the support available versus being careful not to restrict yourself from pursuing meaningful goals and visions that are actually in reach.

Fortunately,  Mercury in Virgo is in position to provide supportive, clarifying discernment. The Full Moon will illuminate the oracular light of Mercury in Virgo, as Mercury is rising into visibility at sunset as an Evening Star in its nocturnal home and exaltation of Virgo. Mercury was reseeded in the heart of the Sun just a day before the recent New Moon in Leo, and so just as we are discovering the meaning of the present lunar cycle, so will we be receiving messages regarding what the new Evening Star phase of Mercury has in store for us. Mercury in Virgo has been cleansed and purified and is ready to help in digesting and breaking down our daily encounters into nutritive insight and medicine.  Major announcements will be made in current events.

Mercury in Virgo is separating from an opposition with Neptune in Pisces, while the Full Moon is applying to a conjunction with Neptune. Moreover, the ruler of the Full Moon, Jupiter in Capricorn, is engaged in a collaborative sextile aspect with Neptune.  Neptune has long been viewed in modern astrology as having a disintegrative effect on our sense of individuality, with its tidal force capable of sweeping us up within collective idealism with inspired fervor. Within current events we can witness the influence of Neptune through the numerous conspiracy theories and paranoia emanating from both sides of polarized conflict. The increasing light of Mercury in Virgo can help in sifting through the numerous illusions and distractions being stirred up to ground awareness, reorient from any disillusioning experiences, and bring methodical focus to researching support and completing whatever work is required for our present process. 

Although Mars in Aries is not in a major aspect with the Full Moon, its presence will dramatically increase the emotional intensity of the lunation. The influence of Mars will dominate the astrological landscape in the week following the Full Moon, as it will be slowing down to a standstill and then stationing retrograde on September 9. Mars will form a jolting square aspect with Venus on September 4 and will remain engaged in a harsh square aspect with Saturn in Capricorn for the rest of September. 

As Mars and Saturn have already been clashing in the week before the Full Moon, you may already have become exhausted by being stretched too thin, upset by feeling rejected, or infuriated by feelings of being stifled or confined. However, the stationing of Mars can further enflame anger that has been repressed, leading us to become enraged with explosive force as our anger erupts from stagnation. The threat of increased violence is real and something we need to be on guard for- unfortunately, this threat has already been realized recently in the USA with citizens fighting and killing one another amidst protests.

At the same time, we can utilize the anger being stimulated by Mars to activate and motivate us to be assertive where we need to take action, becoming enlivened with purposeful drive and determination. We will need to be ready to remediate our defensiveness being provoked so that we do not react impulsively in damaging ways we will later regret. New life will emerge from whatever is burned down by the fiery heat of Mars, so be curious about whatever is brewing within, finding ways to bring your freshly emerging desires into your life creatively rather than destructively. Whatever energy is coming from Mars will demand movement and expression, so it will be necessary to find productive and creative outlets. 

Since Mars has ancient significations for disease and pestilence it has been a key aspect of the astrology underlying the pandemic of 2020. Yet Mars can also put us into touch with symptoms of our psyche that reveal the storyline of our present journey. Jason Holley in the 2020 Northwest Astrological Conference (NORWAC) gave a talk on Mars entitled Red Planet, Black Planet: The Initiation of Mars in which he described how the appearance of symptoms, illness, and vulnerabilities through Mars can carry the whole story we need to come to terms with to bring about our healing. We are collectively entering a period of being initiated by Mars in the next few months, and so while we know it will be messy at times and combative, we can also utilize it for reclaiming exiled or suppressed aspects of ourselves as well as more fully embodying and pursuing newly emerging desires. 

Pisces 2 Decan

The Full Moon arises in 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.  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 Pisces second decan 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.”

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 Moon will be moving from a sextile with Uranus and Jupiter into a conjunction with 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 if there any 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. 

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.”

The co-presence of Neptune with the Pisces Full Moon makes the tricky and cunningly crafty side of the second face of Pisces important to consider. We normally do not realize we are lost in an illusion until undergoing a disillusioning experience that wakes us up to the deeper truth we need to reorient ourselves around. There is also presently a deluge of conspiracy theories and false information to navigate through on social media that hold a hypnotic and manipulative effect on many. Yet with the Moon and Neptune in Pisces and the Sun and Mercury in Virgo, the silvery light of the Moon can facilitate cutting through the static of the times to the heart of what truly matters to you. Let the Pisces Moon’s light pour down upon your deepest dreams and desires, nourishing their imaginal roots so that they may bloom within your living reality.

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References

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

Ibn-Ezra, Abraham. translated by Meira Epstein. (1998). The Beginning of Wisdom. Arhat.