Venus opposite Uranus

Pisces Full Moon

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Fan with Dragon

Pisces Full Moon

Like waves which inexorably approach, then retreat into the unfathomably vast recesses of their oceanic source, the siren songs of Neptune call us beyond the constructs of our everyday existence which tend to mold and condition our perceptions. While Neptune transits can correlate with being pulled into illusory experiences, ultimately the resulting disillusionment dissolves the ways in which we had been misleading ourselves, revealing meaningful truths about our reality as we continue to navigate with discernment. The inspirational, imaginal nature of Neptune opens us to possibilities and potential of creative expression and fulfillment outside the confines of current circumstances. The present lunar cycle began with a Virgo New Moon opposing Neptune and peaks with a Pisces Full Moon aligned with Neptune, giving us the opportunity to drink from the impossibly deep well of Neptune. It’s a time for allowing yourself the space to dream the dreams of what you most desire to generate and embody.

The Full Moon in Pisces on September 20 illuminates our entrance into the final season of 2021, as the Libra Equinox will occur two days later on September 22 when the Sun enters Libra. With the primal passions of Pisces spotlighted just before the Sun becomes magnified by crossing the cardinal axis, the point where the ecliptic and celestial equator intersect, there is potential to become flooded by the emotions surrounding whatever major life changes have corresponded with the ongoing square aspect between Saturn and Uranus that has been the predominant force within the astrology of 2021. The final degrees of Pisces are a place where Eros flourishes and continually circulates, zodiacal terrain holding space for the dream of all dreams one may devote themselves to completely. It is also a place of sacrifice in its truly sacred form, and so while the Pisces Full Moon may bring feelings of grief regarding what has been lost amidst the chaotic currents of the year, it can also reveal visions of what may fill the freed space during the coming season.

Vitally, the Full Moon is in the exaltation of Venus as Venus is applying closely to a jolting opposition with Uranus in Taurus. The present transit of Venus in Scorpio has been setting off the ongoing square aspect between Saturn and Uranus, and so during the days surrounding the Pisces Full Moon we will have an overarching, longterm astrological influence catalyzed by the star of Aphrodite and her significations involving desire, relationship, and creativity. As Venus moves from the tense square aspect with Saturn she formed on September 16 into the opposition she will form with Uranus on September 23, we will be traversing a volatile vortex of significant change that can show up within shifting relational dynamics as well as exciting strikes of creative inspiration. Venus in opposition with Uranus can feel unsettling when we have been stuck in places of stagnancy, as the polarity between Venus with Uranus will demand breaking free from people and pursuits misaligned with authentic passions. Yet Venus and Uranus can commit and work together when engaging relationships or creative passions which bring our full being alive and give us space and acceptance for our essential nature. As a result, the silvery light of the Full Moon may reveal the people and projects deserving of your full focus and commitment in the coming season.

Utagawa Hiroshige

Jupiter in Aquarius rules the Pisces Full Moon as it continues to glow brightly through the night during its retrograde phase. Since Jupiter rules the Full Moon and Mercury is the ruler of the Sun in Virgo, the lunation has potential to bring profound realizations due to Mercury in Libra forming a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius. The trine between Jupiter with Mercury is further augmented by Mercury being at the same zodiacal degree as the beneficial fixed star Spica which symbolizes the wheat held by the Winged Maiden of the Virgo constellation and signifies a brilliant gift or talent. Make space during the Full Moon or in the days following to see what insights, ideas, and inspiring visions may coalesce out of whatever creative processes you have been engaged with recently. There will be opportunities to synthesize concepts and deepen understanding as the combination of Jupiter in Aquarius with Mercury in Libra possesses immense intellectual capacity. While Jupiter in Aquarius can supply long range vision, Mercury in Libra will be able to recalibrate whatever needs rebalancing or rearranging.

Moreover, we will be experiencing an unusually long period of time with Mercury remaining in a trine aspect with Jupiter due to Mercury slowing down to station retrograde on September 26. Indeed, Mercury will form its first exact trine with Jupiter on September 20 and then a second exact trine with Jupiter on October 3 while retrograde. As a result, there will be an opportunity for extremely deep research and focused work if you already have a project you are developing. As Mercury stations in stillness and then peels back to form another trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius in the beginning of October, be open to ways in which you need to modify and adapt any ideas you become inspired to work on during the days surrounding the Pisces Full Moon.

Untitled (Study for Out of Nowhere) by Jeremy Moon

In addition to Mercury in Libra forming a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius during the Pisces Full Moon, it is also applying closely to an intensifying square aspect with Pluto in Capricorn. Mercury will form its first square aspect with Pluto on September 22 and then after stationing retrograde on September 26 it will form its second exact square aspect with Pluto on October 1 while retrograde. Moreover, since the Full Moon in Pisces is separating from a harmonizing sextile aspect with Pluto, the Pisces Full Moon will bring a visceral sense of whatever Mercury and Pluto are stirring up in the dark within. As Mercury will be crossing back and forth in tension with Pluto over the coming weeks, only to return later for a third and final square aspect on November 2, the Pisces Full Moon is initiating us into deep seated issues within the underworld expanse of unconscious sources to be curious about and explore. Mercury can help in attuning to power dynamics within relationships that have come out of balance and need to be adjusted, as well as internal complexes that can be mediated during the approaching retrograde phase of Mercury in order to increase our own empowerment.

Continuing the underworld theme, it is further significant that the Full Moon is separating from a sextile aspect with Pluto in Capricorn and applying toward an opposition with Mars in Libra, while the Full Moon is simultaneously brought together with Mars by passing through an antiscia aspect. Mars is at the end of its synodic cycle, traversing the celestial underworld en route to becoming reanimated by the Sun at the same time as the upcoming New Moon in Libra on October 6. As Mars is closing down a cycle that began on September 2, 2019 when Mars previously formed a conjunction with the Sun, the Pisces Full Moon can amplify feelings revealing what we are releasing from the past cycle of Mars as well as what dynamic new desires are beginning to take form. Mars in Libra is in the opposite sign from its fiery home of Aries, relating with his ruler Venus through the mutual generosity of them each being in one another’s signs. Libra can be a creatively rich placement for Mars especially in terms of music, writing, art, or any form of expression involving aesthetics, and since Mars is presently invisible it can be an opportune time to work and develop projects within intimate, private settings which can later see the light of public display. Positively, Mars in Libra is also within the exaltation of Saturn and will form a productively flowing trine aspect with Saturn in Aquarius on September 25, making the week following the lunation a good time for making progress on important work.

10 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Pisces 3 Decan

The Full Moon will illuminate the third decan of Pisces associated with the Ten of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. An image of idealized happiness, the joyous couple enraptured by a rainbow, their children blissfully dancing in front of their picturesque home, is one manifestation of countless images that could be used to display the inspirational vision underlying and driving inner motivation. An earlier image for this face is found in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy in which a nude male is present near a beautiful maiden whose head is decorated in flowers. Other traditional images for the third decan of Pisces show the other side of having a great dream: the terror of loss. For example, in Ibn Ezra’s The Beginning of Wisdom the image ascribed for the third face of Pisces involves another nude male, but one armed with a lance and yelling for fear of thieves and fire. The Full Moon shining light through this decan asks us to contemplate the inner images of inspiration that have been motivating our work in the world, the full implications of our dream as well as how well it truly fits our most soulful purpose.

The rainbow pregnant with abundant cups in Pamela Colman Smith’s image for the Ten of Cups evokes the great daimon of Hope found in the ancient story of Pandora’s box. After Pandora opens the box that unleashes evils and ills into the world of humanity, the only presence left in the box is Elpis, the spirit of Hope. It’s the spirit found in cultural ideals such as a young Judy Garland wistfully singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” musing that somewhere exists where the most precious dreams you dare to dream really can come true. Fittingly, the ancient Hellenistic text The 36 Airs of the Zodiac attributed the figure of Elpis, the daimon of Hope, to the third decan of Pisces. The guiding star we wish upon, the guardian angel we pray to for assistance, the hope we are able to muster in even the bleakest and most desperate of times, is essential to the meaning found in the third face of Pisces, the final face of the zodiac full of the passion required to move through the end and rebirth of the zodiacal circle.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Cup of Blood” to the third face of Pisces, describing it as a place revealing one’s willingness to “sacrifice everything” for the “attainment of one’s greatest desire, no matter the cost.” Noting the images of romantic happiness found in the Ten of Cups card as well as in Agrippa’s masterwork, Coppock wrote that the third face of Pisces “inspires the lust and desire implied” by the images, “but the true object of the passions is a merger with the universe itself . . . The face and body of the beloved are a mask, an entry point into the experience of all-as-bliss.” Coppock noted that “the third face unfolds as the quest for true and perfect love,” yet the willingness to sacrifice all for the dream leads to the third face of Pisces becoming “littered with broken dreams and failed martyrs- those who sacrificed themselves for an illusion.”

The  burning desire pulsating through the third decan of Pisces, its grandiose dreams of ecstatic bliss as well as the agony of loss that comes from the failure to materialize dreams all fit well with the fact that Mars is the ruler of this decan. As Mars will be ending its current synodic cycle with the Sun during the waning half of the present lunar cycle, the Pisces Full Moon may bring revelations regarding where we have given too much of ourselves in pursuit of dreams that will not come to fruition, as well as awareness of the people, passions, and purpose we will want to devote ourselves to fully due to their alignment with our inner world from which dreams are born. Let the light of the Full Moon reveal the sources of hope and inspiration that may spur you on in pursuit of your most cherished creative visions.

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References

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

Full Moon in Aries

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Hilma af Klint (1915) Group X, No. 2, Altarpiece

Full Moon in Aries

The Full Moon in Aries on October 13  amplifies the polarity between Eros and Necessity, our most passionate desires for what we wish to manifest versus the constraints of our circumstances. Whether you are facing difficulty surviving materially or simply frustrated over past effort not manifesting what you had hoped, on a deeper level the vast inequities embedded in the present forms of culture and civilization will be amplified and highlighted. While the propulsive force of the Aries Full Moon can incite anger and anguish over witnessing injustice inflicted on others or ourselves,  it also will illuminate what needs our persistent attention and focus to address and remedy.  There are no easy answers to be found in the light of the Aries Full Moon, but there is a resilient and inspirational quality within its aspects that can help in bringing the unifying force of Eros into relationship with the demands of Necessity.

The Aries Full Moon weaves together the dominant astrological themes of 2019, namely the uplifting striving brought by Jupiter in Sagittarius and the intensification of shedding and honing brought by the combination of Saturn, Pluto, and the South Node of the Moon in Capricorn. As the Aries Moon waxes toward fullness it forms a square aspect with its own nodes as well as Saturn in Capricorn, and will be tightly applying toward a square aspect with Pluto during its moment of peak illumination. This means that the Aries Full Moon is also forming a square aspect to the sequence of eclipses in the past year in the signs of Cancer and Capricorn (Capricorn Solar Eclipse on January 5; Cancer Solar Eclipse on July 2; Capricorn Lunar Eclipse on July 16), and so will force awareness to contend with the events and stories stirred by the eclipses this past July and how they have mutated in form in the past few months.

Yet the Aries Full Moon is not only illuminating the trajectory of past events, but also bringing premonition with regard to the waves of change coming in 2020. On January 12, 2020 a new cycle between Saturn and Pluto will begin as they conjoin at 22º46′ Capricorn while also within a degree of conjunction with Mercury, Ceres, and the Sun in Capricorn. Though there will be many unexpected developments between now and then, take time to reflect upon the current status of whatever you have been cultivating with an eye toward how you want things to develop in 2020. The Full Moon in Aries is intrinsically action-oriented and can be helpful in making a rapid response to however you may need to make personal adjustments as well as how others may be in need of your assistance.

Due to the exact square forming between the Aries Full Moon and Pluto, there is an opportunity to penetrate under the surface of whatever you have been fixated upon achieving in order to come to terms with the underlying issues behind your motivations.  The friction between the Full Moon and Pluto will be most overwhelming for those engaged in power struggles or feeling a need to control a particular scenario, placing importance on making sure you are not acting out of alignment with your inner integrity when aggravated or threatened. The influence of Pluto on the Full Moon can be an aid in cutting through mental static to realize the essential purpose that is most important to focus time and attention on in the months ahead, as well as what has been getting in the way and needs to be eliminated.  There is an empowering side to the Aries Full Moon that can rekindle enthusiasm for making the most out of your present situation.

Beneficially, the flowing trine aspect formed between the Aries Full Moon and Jupiter in Sagittarius can help in coalescing a larger vision that takes account of present difficulties while also noting how to fertilize new growth. Aries is a place of pioneering initiative, described by William Lilly as signifying “Lands newly taken in, or newly ploughed.” The combination of the Full Moon being in harmony with Jupiter while in tension with Saturn and Pluto can ideally be utilized to envision how to expand in growth while also realistically taking account of the resources you will need to be successful. While the sign of Aries is not known for encouraging tact and sensible estimation, the impulsive nature of the Aries Full Moon in trine with Jupiter can help lift vision up from stuck places and invigorate passion where things have become stagnant.

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Hilma af Klint (1915) Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 7

Mars in Libra rules the Full Moon, further inflaming the polarity between the Sun in Libra opposing the Moon in Aries. Both Mars and the Sun are known as hot and fiery archetypal forces that can find it challenging to express their full force in Libra, the airy, aesthetically and intellectually oriented home of Venus. Mars in Libra wields weapons of charisma and charm, strategy and diplomacy in order to manipulate power dynamics and achieve outcomes.  Positively, the influence of Mars in Libra on the lunation can promote interest in collaborative enterprises and discovering ways for your actions to benefit others and serve the needs of your broader community. Yet Mars is more likely to vacillate between options in Libra than in any other sign, and so it will be imperative to focus on responding promptly and decisively when necessary.

The Aries Full Moon marks an important threshold for Mars to cross as it will finally become visible again as a Morning Star in the days following the lunation.  Mars has been in its invisible, underworld phase in the past three months and so will bring awareness to fresh desires as it likewise returns to sharing its light again in morning skies. Take the time to consider and come into relationship with whatever shifts you notice taking shape from within. Whatever new desires corresponding with Mars that you notice will have to contend with the tests and limitations of Saturn, as Mars in Libra will simultaneously be heading toward a catalytic square aspect with Saturn in Capricorn, the lunar nodes, and Pluto. Mars will form a square aspect with the lunar nodes on October 21 and a square aspect with Saturn on October 27, the same day as the New Moon in Scorpio.

As a result, during the waning half of the lunar cycle there will be increased conflict and contention within collective events as Mars volatilizes the lunar nodes followed by Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn.  There may be numerous personal dramas to deal with as well as having to change course due to barriers or restrictions in the way. There is nothing pleasant about Mars forming a harsh aspect with Saturn, but their tension can be utilized in working hard with resilience and tenacity.  Since Mars in Libra is acutely sensitized to issues of social justice, a productive outlet for energy can be found through  activist work on behalf of others in need. Mars in Libra also has strong propensity for exploring new desires in relationship, and so it will be more effective reaching out for help and support from others, or initiating greater personal involvement in community, rather than trying to take on all of the challenges coming from Mars and Saturn in the coming weeks on your own.

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Hilma af Klint (1915) Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 9

The final major aspect involved in the Aries Full Moon is the opposition between Venus in Scorpio and Uranus in Taurus which culminates on the day before the lunation. The back and forth tension between Uranus and Venus can feel like a wildly oscillating see saw out of control for those unaccustomed to reconciling the dissimilar natures of Venus and Uranus. Whereas Venus has an essential purpose to harmonize, please, and bring things together, Uranus does not care about whether others like what you are doing or not, only that you are doing what makes you feel the most authentically vital. The unpredictable nature of Uranus can also bring sudden changes that feel discordant to attempts by Venus to stabilize and carefully arrange the aesthetics of presentation. Easing the harsh aspect between Uranus and Venus is the fact that Venus is receiving Uranus due to Uranus inhabiting the inwardly directed, earthy home of Venus.

Uranus electrifies, vivifies, and fully awakens the sensuality of Taurus, volatilizing its fixed yet fertile earth with the stimulus needed to break free from past limitations and generate new growth.  Venus receiving Uranus while occupying Scorpio brings to my mind the description given by William Lilly in Christian Astrology of Scorpio being a place of not only “muddy, Moorish Grounds” and “ruinous houses near Waters,” but also the fecundity of gardens, orchards, and vineyards.  Venus in Scorpio will require placing old desires into the compost, putrefying and decaying old matters of relationship in order to bring forth the fruit of new growth.

Deep hunger for new desires within relationships, creative expression, and all things related to Venus will be felt strongly not only due to Uranus exciting and invigorating Venus but also due to Venus re-emerging into visible light as an Evening Star. While Venus was in the invisible, underworld phase of her superior conjunction with the Sun in recent months (since the time of the Cancer Solstice on June 21),  she was as far away from us in orbit as possible within her cycle. Now that Venus is visible again as well as beginning to move closer to our Earth in orbit, the power and virtue of Venus will likewise become more apparent within our material realm. Fascinatingly, Venus will be shining her light again in the darkly alluring attire of Scorpio where she may conceal feelings until gaining a sense of being in a secure dynamic she can trust.

During the journey of Venus through the quagmires of Scorpio she will also be mutually exchanging signs with Mars, since Mars is occupying the outwardly directed home of Venus and Venus is inhabiting the inwardly directed home of Mars.  Although both Venus in Scorpio as well as Mars in Libra are considered to be in detriment, the fact that they are occupying one another’s signs still means they will be able to support one another and so will cultivate greater congruence in pursuit of desires. While Mars in Libra will seek out new connections, Venus in Scorpio will focus on exposing hidden dynamics and penetrating into the underlying emotions of our relations. It’s certainly possible for Mars in Libra and Venus in Scorpio to lead us into messy situations or into obsession with a new attraction, but they can also be utilized to cultivate increased honesty and expression of emotional needs within relationship.

Meanwhile, Venus is not alone in the bogs of Scorpio, for leading her way through the watery terrain is Mercury who is also in its Evening Star phase and becoming more powerful in mundane matters.  In fact, Mercury will be waiting for Venus at the end of Scorpio, as Mercury will station retrograde at the end of October, sustaining stillness in order to unite with Venus in Scorpio on October 30 a few days after the New Moon in Scorpio.  Pay attention to whatever is signified by Scorpio in your natal chart, as this will be an area of life that will undergo intense reconstruction in the next couple of months as Mercury will move back and forth through Scorpio in its retrograde phase during November. During the waning half of the current lunar cycle, Venus and Mercury in Scorpio will be guiding us directly into the material that will be part of this regenerative process.

4 wands

4 of Wands by Pamela Colman Smith

Aries 3 Decan

The full light of the Aries Moon will peak in the third face of Aries associated with the Four of Wands card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. A card that has been associated with completion, the perfection of work, and rituals celebrating the crossing of a new threshold, in the image we can observe two figures being honored on stage.  This card and image fits well with the place the Aries Full Moon occupies in the trajectory of 2019’s astrology, for the lunation is at the bending of the lunar nodes, the axis forming a cross with the places of the year’s eclipses and the intensified destruction and restructuring brought forth by Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Looking back on how far you have come this year and considering whatever you have had to overcome in pursuit of your desires, it is a fitting time to hold your own ritual celebrating the terrain you have crossed this year.

Venus rules the third face of Aries, which is interesting since Venus is considered to be in detriment in Aries due to Venus being placed in the home of Mars. This means that the third decan of Aries gives Venus the capacity to manifest success despite being in a sign  of the fiery, assertive ambition of Mars. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Burning Rose” to the third face of Aries, attributing to it “the power of art to overcome hostility,” and “the power of the spirit to unify and seduce, to motivate and to bond those of confluent passions,” while also requiring “the martial heat of the battlefield.” Coppock noted that it is the battle-ready ferocity of Aries turned toward artistic performance and charismatic presentation that gives this decan its power “to create a commonality of spirit even in the most hostile conditions.”

Aries 3 Decan by Francesco Del Cossa

Third decan of Aries image from Allegory of March: Triumph of Minerva (1476) by Francesco del Cossa

The image above by Francesco del Cossa of a figure who resides within the third face of Aries encapsulates aspects of numerous images found in ancient text. The trinity of Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Picatrix, and Liber Hermetis all reveal figures dressed in red and holding a staff or sword. This passionate figure is wearing either a golden or wooden bracelet depending on whether you consult Three Books of Occult Philosophy or the Picatrix, but both texts indicate the figure embodies the unrest of not being able to do desired good. The reason for not being able to manifest these good wishes is not stated, but Three Books proclaims there is “talent, tameness, joy, and beauty” to be found here. The figure in the Picatrix is an iron worker and so has a medium through which to transfigure frustrated anger into works of vivifying creation.

In contrast, the figure in Liber Hermetis wears a gold crown with glistening emeralds decorating her belly. She is full of magic and her staff has the heads of four serpents facing a polarity of directions. Her garments of dark rose are lined with golden strings and she seems to possess the grace of the figure painted by Francesco del Cossa rather than the fury over constraints described by other texts. The focused countenance in del Cossa’s figure suggests they have an inner knowing of being able to make a targeted impact, as they seem to be summoning an inner force to project through the golden bracelet held delicately with their fingers. Francesco del Cossa placed an arrow in the other hand, evoking the mythic Eros or Cupid.

Eros is in fact resonant, as the Hellenistic text 36 Airs of the Zodiac ascribed the figure of Eros to the third face of Aries: the capacity of Eros to arouse passions into creations that inspire collective forces lies at the heart of the decan’s meaning. While some spiritual lineages place Eros as a primordial, hermaphroditic deity at the dawn of Creation, later traditions made Eros into the cunning son of Aphrodite who constantly stirred up the troubles brought forth by lust in both mortals and gods with his bow and arrows. Austin Coppock in 36 Faces stated it is more likely that the 36 Airs had the son of Venus in mind with the third face of Aries as “Eros’ escapades make clear that the desire for unification is inflamed by separation, love by war, lust by forbiddance.”

Another version of Eros is found in Plato’s Symposium, where Eros is described by Socrates as the child born from the sexual union of the divine forms of Poverty and Resource. To Socrates, Eros or Love is always poor, always in a state of need, but is also always resourceful in being able to gain what it needs. Within the polarity between Poverty and Resource, the daimonic force of Eros weaves together awareness of the wisdom to be found through our earthly desires. As the light of the Aries Full Moon begins to decrease in the waning half of the lunar cycle, create protected space from whatever difficulties you have been experiencing in order to envision what you truly wish to create and contribute for the greater good in the year ahead. Let the restrictions of the established power structure and status quo serve as the stone that kindles the inner fire that will sustain your determination in the journey ahead.

If you enjoy my writing or have been helped in some way by my articles on astrology, please consider supporting my work through a monthly subscription on my Patreon page.  My intention with Patreon is to receive enough support to not only help me continue to offer the articles I have been doing for free, but to also expand the scope of what I am offering. Take a look at my Patreon page for more details.

References

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

Lilly, William. (2004 edition). Christian Astrology. Astrology Classics.

Scorpio New Moon: Fire from the Depths

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William Blake blasted tree and moon

Blasted Trees and Flattened Crops, from Thornton’s Pastorals of Virgil (1821) by William Blake

New Moon in Scorpio

Scorpio is known as a place of depths, deep feelings and desire to penetrate through superficial exteriors into the hidden core of matters.  Scorpio is also the zodiac sign perhaps most commonly associated with death and rebirth processes, those experiences called regenerative or transformative.  Yet Scorpio is also known to resist becoming vulnerable to the loss that comes with change, using any tactics imaginable to manipulate and control changing dynamics. The New Moon in Scorpio on November 7 comes at a time of tremendous changes within the cycles of astrology that indicate a necessity of surrendering to the elements of flowing flux outside our control. Jupiter, Uranus, and the lunar nodes are all changing signs in the days surrounding the Scorpio New Moon, while  about a week later Mars will also change signs at the same time both Venus and Mercury station and change directions. The sensitive, probing gifts of the Scorpion may be used within the darkness of the lunation to reorient plans within the shifts of both outer and inner landscapes.

For over a month we have been experiencing the liminal space of Venus retrograde, a time when our innermost values and desires mutate and bring about external alterations from transfiguration of inner roots. Within the darkness before the Scorpio Sun rises on the day of the New Moon, as the Dark Moon in Scorpio approaches its union with our hidden solar light, Venus will bring light into predawn skies as a Morning Star. Venus retrograde has returned not only to its heralding role as a Morning Star, but also has firmly established itself back into its home of Libra.

Thus the New Moon arrives in time to set intentions for the final week of Venus retrograde, a period in which Venus will only be moving about one degree before stationing in stillness. Due to Venus occupying its outwardly directed, airy domicile of the Scales, as well as stationing in close proximity with the beneficial fixed star Spica, the week of the waxing Moon following the New Moon can be used to actively gather whatever brilliant insights, ideas, and talents have been brewing and developing during the space of the Venus retrograde transit that began October 5.

At the same time Uranus maintaining its opposition with Venus retrograde will be amplifying the pace of developments and making everything more exciting, surprising, and ultimately liberating. Uranus retrograde returns to Aries the day before the Scorpio New Moon, bringing a torch of Promethean fire to the revelations arising in the final phase of Venus retrograde. Uranus has been in Taurus since May of 2018, and so its return to Aries will wrap up with finality the arc of narratives that developed across the seven year stretch of Uranus being in Aries that began in 2011 after an initial ingress in 2010 from the end of May through mid August. No longer under the rulership of Venus in Taurus, Uranus has now returned to being ruled by Mars in the fiery, independent, and impulsive sign of Aries. Uranian fires will bring the heat to needed to volatilize matters to a level that pushes us to take action to rebalance elements of life ready to shift in the final phase of Venus retrograde in Libra.

Scorpio New Moon

Shepherd chases away a wolf, from Thornton’s Pastorals of Virgil (1931) by William Blake

Mars in Aquarius rules the Scorpio New Moon while forming a flowing trine with Venus retrograde in Libra and receiving Uranus in Aries through a harmonizing sextile.  There has been an embattled dynamic involving Venus and Mars at times this year, with Mars in Aquarius previously stationing retrograde in range of square to the degree that Venus later stationed retrograde at in Scorpio, and Mars in Aquarius forming a square to Venus at the beginning of its retrograde in Scorpio.  Mars is now in a mediating position between the opposition of Venus and Uranus, which means the significations of Mars such as vitality, courage, protection, defense, assertion, and separating from undesirable circumstances are all strongly available to be used in negotiating the final phase of Venus retrograde.

Mars has been in Aquarius since May 17 (with a return to Capricorn in August and the beginning of September); we have had a long time to work with whatever aspects Mars in Aquarius has been making in our astrology charts, and we are now in the final week of experiencing Mars in the sign of the Water Bearer. Mars in Aquarius is able to use the airy placement to forge supportive connections and pinpoint areas of growth to focus on that can bring far ranging benefit.  Allow yourself to be surprised if necessary by whatever arises to demand your attention in the week following the New Moon.

Scorpio New Moon

Moonscape (1959) Kurt Seligmann

The Scorpio New Moon forms a flowing trine with Neptune in Pisces and a creatively harmonious sextile with Pluto in Capricorn.  These are deep aspects that promote our capacity to align with the larger changes happening across our global collective. Since its likely we may not agree or like what’s happening in many areas, we need to cultivate how to nurture ourselves and loved ones in personal spheres while at the same time not becoming overwhelmed by how the tides of mass change in the greater collective are swirling outside our control. The Scorpio New Moon supports the popular mantra of being the change you want to see in the world, taking the responsibility available to participate fully in the world in line with inner integrity.

The Scorpio New Moon also arrives at the same time that the nodes of the Moon ingress into new signs, with the North Node of the Moon leaving Leo to enter Cancer, and the South Node of the Moon leaving Aquarius to enter Capricorn. As a result while Saturn in Capricorn remains the ruler of the South Node of the Moon, the Moon itself becomes the ruler of the North Node of the Moon. We will be experiencing the lunar nodes as well as eclipses in Cancer and Capricorn for the next year and a half, an alignment that supports taking the responsibility to temper and structure whatever is needed to nurture and cultivate desired growth. Yet with the fast moving Moon as the ruler of the North Node in Cancer, we will be constantly navigating a waxing and waning of tidal forces rather than being led by the steady course of the Sun that had been ruling the North Node in Leo for the past year and a half.

It is notable that as the lunar nodes switch into Cancer and Capricorn, they immediately form a catalytic square aspect with the opposition between Uranus in Aries with Venus and Ceres in Libra. Ceres in Libra was waiting to embrace Venus as she returned from the underworld with her light as a Morning Star, and the involvement of Ceres in this dynamic nodal configuration amplifies the importance of nurturing the new growth ready to emerge from the past month of shedding and release. Yet the volatility of the cardinal square formed by the lunar nodes with Venus retrograde, Uranus retrograde, and Ceres suggests it’s not a time to force things to happen but instead make assertive choices aligned with the changing currents.

In contrast to Venus which recently re-emerged into visibility after a period of invisibility, Jupiter is on the threshold of going under the beams of the Sun into an invisible phase at the time of the Scorpio New Moon. Jupiter is co-present with the New Moon in Scorpio, at the final degree of Scorpio on the cusp of entering Sagittarius the day after the lunation. The co-presence of Jupiter with the New Moon in Scorpio brings a lift to the lunation, but most importantly the ingress of Jupiter into its fiery home of Sagittarius the next day brings a major boost of inspiration and hope.

Jupiter will be joining Mercury in Sagittarius, with Mercury shining brightly at maximum elongation as an Evening Star. Though Jupiter will be undergoing its own period of purification and rebirth and will not re-emerge in light as a Morning Star until approximately December 14, the return of Jupiter to its expansive home of Sagittarius serves as a fire kindled in the darkness bringing hope of victory where fear had previously clouded vision of possibility.

Scorpio New Moon

In Engelshut (1931) Paul Klee

Mercury in Sagittarius being at maximum elongation as an Evening Star in the darkness of the Scorpio New Moon signals that Mercury is crossing the threshold of its alchemical retrograde process as outlined by Gary Caton in his book Hermetica Triptycha: The Mercury Elemental Year. Indeed, in the following week on November 16 we will experience Mercury stationing retrograde in Sagittarius on the same day that Venus stations direct in Libra.  Mercury is at about eight degrees of Sagittarius at the time of the Scorpio New Moon and will return to this same area of Sagittarius while retrograde on November 27 when it will enter the heart of the Sun and be reborn at six degrees of Sagittarius. Thus just as we are wrapping up an alchemical, retrograde process of Venus we are entering another one focused upon Mercury. With Jupiter ruling Mercury in its own sign of Sagittarius, it promises to be a powerful Mercury retrograde for revisioning your life.

Mercury in Sagittarius is a quick learner, communicating with a rapid, adventurous spirit that asks the big questions and is willing to search long and hard for the answers. Mercury in Sagittarius is the polarity of its airy home of Gemini, and looks to Jupiter for guidance. Since Jupiter is also co-present in its own home of Sagittarius while also undergoing a purifying rebirth with the Sun, the upcoming Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius will be a time to shed outdated beliefs and regenerate an inspirational vision of how to find meaning in life.

Vitally, Mercury will be stationing in range of forming a square to Neptune in Pisces, so an important part of the process will be uncovering and facing illusions that have been operating under the surface of our perceptions. Though corresponding disillusionment may be difficult, the eventual reorientation towards the actual truth of circumstances will be beneficial in the longterm.  Interestingly, Mars will finally leave Aquarius and enter Pisces at the same time that Mercury stations retrograde in Sagittarius. This means that Jupiter in Sagittarius will be ruling both Mercury and Mars, with Mercury stationing in square to Neptune as Mars begins moving toward a conjunction with Neptune. There can be a corresponding dissolution of previous beliefs as well as powerful potential in imaginal realms to tap into.

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Scorpio 2 Decan

The second face of Scorpio is associated with the 6 of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image of the 6 of Cups, we find the child-like innocence of purely giving for the pleasure of giving and receiving the joy of witnessing gratitude upon the face of the recipient.  Fittingly, both the Sun and Jupiter are considered rulers of this face, revealing the restoration of expansive vision that may be found within the darkness of the Scorpio New Moon. Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “An Apparatus for Mutual Distillation” to the Scorpio II decan, as it is a face in which the desires of Scorpio interchange in relationship:

The parties here [in the 6 of Cups image] are children and their affection for one another is natural and unconditioned . . . It is a vision of ideal exchange between two parties, poignant and perfect.

The dynamic suggested by the children is identical to the alchemical process of mutual distillation, wherein the matter passes back and forth between on alembic and another, growing increasingly rarefied and potent . . . Though it is easy to imagine these dynamics between romantic partners, all relationships which rely on trust and continuous exchange generate such circuits (p. 180-1).

As the Scorpio New Moon falls in the final phase of Venus retrograde in Libra, with Venus united with Ceres in opposition to Uranus in Aries and in square to the lunar nodes, attention to the dynamics within our myriad relationships will be of the utmost importance. This is the time to make use of whatever inner revelations you have uncovered about your relational patterns during the past month of Venus retrograde. The involvement of Uranus demands taking the risk to be authentic and honest in expression of true inner feelings. Moreover, by insisting on genuine interaction while being open to inner vulnerability, it will become possible to reshape relationships with regard to increased intimacy or increased boundaries, depending upon the dynamics involved.

The Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Titan goddess Leto to the second face of Scorpio. Sister to the starry, divinatory goddess Asteria and mother to the twin lights of Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s presence in the space of the Scorpio New Moon is a further symbol of the need for protective nurturance to whatever we hold most dear and is need of cultivation. Leto had to flee and take refuge on an isolated island unattached to the ocean floor in order to escape the wrath of Hera, who had made all lands exclude Leto from entry due to her anger over the affair between Leto and Zeus.  It was said that the twin offspring of Leto would stabilize the new order of Olympian deities, and so her persistence in nurturing the birth of Apollo and Artemis was additionally a birth of a new collective age.  Similarly, today we can also witness a war of ideologies spanning around our planet, as we can simultaneously sense the birth of a new era on the cusp of manifestation. Like Leto, take whatever steps are necessary to give birth to the world you wish yourself and the generations to follow to inhabit.

References

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

Taurus Full Moon: Uranus and the Rebirth of Venus

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cezanne rocks in forest

Paul Cezanne (1890s) Rocks in the Forest

Full Moon in Taurus

The Full Moon in Taurus on October 24 illuminates our shift toward the depth of the season, and as foliage falls into rebirth during the increasing darkness in the northern hemisphere, so does the Full Moon draw us within internal regeneration to discover the seeds of new life to nurture in the season ahead. The Taurus Full Moon has an extreme emphasis on water and earth, zodiacal signs that are considered nocturnal, yin, and receptive with an energy drawn within to source action rather than an emphasis on external projection. Listening closely to the surrounding soul of our environment and the unspoken underlying the spoken within relationships will support the reshaping of elements within life, allowing the material we are working with to help guide the path we follow.  The Full Moon in Taurus is united with Uranus in the stabilizing earthy home of Venus, while forming a flowing trine with Saturn in the initiating earth sign of Capricorn. While the planets in water elements (Sun, Venus retrograde, Mercury, Jupiter in Scorpio; Neptune in Pisces) are supporting a dissolution of old forms and boundaries, the planets in earth elements (Moon and Uranus in Taurus; Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn) will foster capacity to discriminate and discern choices through separating and making distinct the elements of life we are ready to reorganize and renew.

The Taurus Full Moon peaks within one degree of  Uranus in Taurus and is also forming a square to the lunar nodes, while the Sun in Scorpio is approaching a conjunction with Venus retrograde in Scorpio. It’s a Full Moon more likely than normal to dredge up previously hidden desires, feelings, fears, as well as inspiration from subconscious sources. It may not be perfectly clear within the silvery light of the lunation which step to take next or which felt emotions are fleeting or substantial, but there’s strong likelihood the Taurus Full Moon will be coinciding with changes in mind and/or circumstance.  As a result if action is not being demanded regarding a situation, it may be best to let yourself exist within a regenerative state of flux in the week following the Full Moon rather than forcing decisions. There’s an intensified process of shedding at work, and so we may need to more fully experience the release of old identities, values, or feelings before being able to gain crystal clear clarity.

The Full Moon in Taurus is at the southern bending of the Moon, meaning the Moon is forming a square to its own nodes while being at its lowest point of southern latitude. This means that as the Moon begins to wane following the lunation it will change direction and begin to rise in latitude until eventually intersecting the ecliptic when it forms a conjunction with the North Node in Leo on October 30. As a result the Taurus Full Moon is at a dynamic point of change within its monthly orbit, an activating quality quickened and heightened by its additional union with Uranus. Additionally, the Full Moon comes at the midway point in between eclipse seasons, forming a square to both the eclipses that came in July –  August 2018 as well as the eclipses coming in January 2019. It’s also the final Full Moon to occur with the North Node in Leo and South Node in Aquarius, as the true nodes will switch into Cancer and Capricorn on November 6 during the Dark Moon of the waning half of the lunar cycle. Within this trajectory of eclipses and astrological change, the Taurus Full Moon has a volatilizing impact as it will deeply stir material mixtures, move emotions to the surface to be released,  and accelerate development.

Notably, the Taurus Full Moon combines the monthly polarity of the Sun and Moon with the yearly opposition between the Sun and Uranus retrograde, the heart of the retrograde cycle of Uranus when it is closest to Earth and as illuminated as it ever gets by the Sun. Furthermore, Venus retrograde in Scorpio is also only a couple of days from reaching the heart of its retrograde cycle in which it is also as close as it ever gets to our planet in orbit, though in contrast it is cloaked in darkness as it becomes consumed by the rays of the Scorpio Sun. The lunation’s alignment with Uranus can bring the electrified spark needed to finally change a deep seated pattern or habit, as well as incite a far ranging vision of larger goals to stretch our smaller daily targets toward. Yet due to also occurring in the heart of the Venus retrograde transit in Scorpio, it may be necessary to first work through heavy emotions before contacting the liberating lightness of Uranus.

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Hilma af Klint (1915) Tree of Knowledge

Turning aside, she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galadhon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an enclosed garden. No trees grew there, and it lay open to the sky. The evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into the deep green hollow, through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the fountain on the hill. At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching tree, stood a basin of silver, wide and shallow, and beside it stood a silver ewer.

With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. “Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,” she said, “I have brought you here that you may look into it, if you will.”

The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf -lady beside him was tall and pale.

— J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Mirror of Galadriel” from The Fellowship of the Ring

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s cosmology underlying The Lord of the Rings, Venus as a bright Evening Star is a legendary ancestor dear to the elves and their Lady Galadriel.  I thought of the above passage from The Fellowship of the Ring when contemplating the intense combination of the Taurus Full Moon being united with Uranus while also being ruled by Venus at the heart of its retrograde, only a couple of days away from being reborn in the golden fire of our Sun. In the scene the brightness of Venus shining above is brought by Galadriel down into the earth, and within the waters of her silver mirror she offers visions of what may come to pass, as well as what is passing and has passed already.  Venus is not visible at the Taurus Full Moon, but while she is invisibly passing in between the orbit of our home planet with our Sun, the full light of the Moon combined with Uranus can illuminate the previously hidden depths of dreams and visions, while also bringing luminosity to reflections regarding the past and present.

Galadriel’s advice regarding the visions seen in her mirror is worth considering with regard to what we may sense at the Full Moon: “Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.” With Uranus so strongly involved with the Full Moon, it will be best to focus on embodying whatever feels authentic in spite of any fears arising from awareness of the potential consequences that could come from following a genuinely enlivening path rather than external expectations. We may gain deeper realization of what we simply must do, and deciding to commit to our intrinsic purpose in the end will be more important due to helping us find our true path, rather than holding back because of whatever setbacks we fear we will have to overcome on the journey ahead.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio will finally form an exact opposition with Uranus on October 31, and so the tension between them will be continuing to build in the week following the Full Moon. Since they are both moving retrograde with the stationing direct of Venus coming in mid-November, it means that Venus and Uranus will essentially remain in close opposition from now through the beginning of December, as Venus will form its final exact opposition with Uranus on November 30. Remarkably, Venus and Uranus are forming their opposition while simultaneously being in square to the transiting lunar nodes, and this amazingly animating grand square will also persist into December as the lunar nodes will move into Cancer and Capricorn in the beginning of November around the same time that Venus moves back into Libra and Uranus moves back into Aries. This long persisting, change inducing transit will force the opposition of Venus and Uranus even more strongly to the surface than normal; it will be an unavoidable dynamic to face in personal and collective events.

The opposition between Venus and Uranus in collective events will be felt in both the unexpected events and crises that dramatically and quickly reshape storylines as well as protest movements that become catalyzed in reaction to threats against ideal values. On personal levels, the opposition between Venus and Uranus will amplify the process of  intensified change normally associated with Venus peeling back in retrograde motion and then stationing direct in stillness. If you are used to attaching the security of comfort and stable routine to the pleasure principles of Venus, be ready to shift and learn to embrace a Uranian flavor that may feel jarring to those unaccustomed to the unorthodox, raw, wilder, emancipatory and rebellious side of Venus. Commitment within relationships may be maintained and sustained, but it will be important for the bonds to allow for individual liberty and freedom of expression. Attempting to hold on too tightly or force control of situations will invite a lightning strike of Uranian fire in response.

Edward Steichen woods twilight

Woods Twilight (1899) Edward Steichen

The Full Moon is ruled by Venus retrograde applying to a conjunction with the Sun. The return of Venus uniting with the Sun while retrograde is called the inferior conjunction as Venus aligns with the Sun on our interior side, in between the orbit of Earth with the Sun. The union of Venus retrograde with the Sun signals a fiery rebirth of Venus, seeding a new cycle of Venus in its Morning Star phase which will come in November. As the inferior conjunction of Venus occurs two days after the Full Moon on October 26, it means that Venus is being purified and cleansed at the end of its cycle as the Moon peaks in light, a phase we can also liken to finishing a process of putrefaction that ultimately brings fertility and new blooms of growth.

The last time Venus was reborn in union with the Sun was on 9 January 2018 at its superior conjunction when Venus was direct and on the other side of the Sun in orbit. The last time there was an inferior conjunction of Venus retrograde, however, was 25 March 2017 at five degrees of Aries.  Some may note a deepening of the personal narrative being developed at those previous dates as Venus now re-enters the heart of the Sun, whereas others may realize how vastly different their relationships are now from those past dates of the previous Venus cycle; the common ground is that the current transit of Venus can bring deeper reflection upon the arc of storylines developed since then, and intimations of new growth coming.

When Venus forms its conjunction with the Sun on October 26, within its solar regeneration its Venusian significations can be strengthened during the time of the union. Since Venus will continue to be retrograde until November 16, however, the fiery rebirth of Venus serves best as a time of internal illumination at the dead center of the Venus retrograde transit that began October 5. Venus will still be invisible until the beginning of November when she will emerge again as a Morning Star heralding dawn, and similarly its more likely Venus will only then bring light to our own awareness of the Venusian shifts presently brewing. Since Venus simultaneously will be returning to her home sign of Libra at the beginning of November, it’s likely that increasing Venusian movement and change will come after we cross the traditional threshold of Samhain, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead. As this is a time of working with Spirit, the spirits of relationships no longer with us as well as ancestors will be an additional source of guidance.

Amplifying perceptions, Mercury and Jupiter are co-present with the Sun and Venus in Scorpio with Mercury applying toward a conjunction with Jupiter that will become exact on October 29. Moreover, on October 26 when Venus retrograde unites with the Sun there is also an opposition formed by the Moon in Taurus in polarity to the conjoining of Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio. Our experience of Jupiter in Scorpio is almost complete, and the week following the Full Moon ramps up the penetrative intensity needed for a final lesson. Mercury during its union with Jupiter is twinkling as an Evening Star in twilight, in Scorpio in a place to foster curious questioning and deep digestion of whatever emotional and relational experiences coincide with a dive into Scorpio during the final days of October. Mercury and Jupiter together in Scorpio bring extrasensory perception beyond words, and we may need to wait until the beginning of November when Venus has moved into Libra and Mercury has moved into Sagittarius in order to communicate clearer about our changing state. The presence of Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio as Venus is reborn signifies that even amidst difficult experiences of strife that growth and wisdom can be eventually cultivated.

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Picture of the Starting Point (1920) Hilma af Klint

An immense shift in astrological atmosphere comes in November as the Moon wanes in light, including a remedy of the lack of fire signs being occupied at the Taurus Full Moon.  The first change comes on October 31 when Mercury enters Sagittarius and Venus moves back into Libra.  Next Uranus will move back into Aries on November 6 on the same day that the true nodes of the Moon leave Aquarius and Leo and enter Capricorn and Cancer. A day later comes the New Moon in Scorpio on November 7, followed by a major driver of change: the entrance of Jupiter into its fiery home of Sagittarius on November 8.  With so many changes happening we can predict this will be a period of accelerated shifts, with some elements breaking down to be released completely while other parts of our life experience rapid growth. In particular Mercury and Jupiter entering Sagittarius will be a welcome warming of inspiration to respond as needed.

As a result, it will be best to keep in mind that the events and insights experienced during the full light of the Taurus Moon are a precursor to greater change coming in November.  It’s by no means the end of the story, but rather only the beginning.

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5 of Pentacles by Pamela Colman Smith

Taurus 1 Decan

The first face of Taurus where the Full Moon in Taurus culminates is connected with the Five of Pentacles card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The Five of Pentacles is often associated with worry and fear over not having enough money or resources, or experiencing bodily or material hardship.  Yet the poverty stricken figures in front of the stained glass window of a cathedral suggest that resources can be found in even the most dire of circumstances, as charitable sources of sustenance can be found in communities.  Mercury rules the first face of Taurus, linking the commerce of Mercury with the fertile, earthy nature of the sign of the Bull.  Mercury makes the connections we need for our livelihood, and in the first decan of Taurus we discover our capacity not only to gain enough resources for our own survival but to also contribute assistance to those in greater need.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Plow” to the first face of Taurus, noting the “face is traditionally connected to all of the sciences necessary to draw forth fruit from the land,” adding that we must also realize that “the mind, heart and body are all ripe fields, which offer abundance when cultivated” (p. 69). Coppock noted that though the first decan of Taurus “reveals the ways one may work with whatever one has to gain more,” that the images and interpretations associated with the Five of Pentacles card bring up the shadow of fear that we will not have enough money, food, or material resources and that bleak times may arise if we disengage from our constant planning around cultivating resources. Thus the threat of not having enough in the future inspires us to work hard and plan for how to not only gain enough resources for the moment but also to save for later times of need.

The Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed Charis to the first decan of Taurus, linking the Charites of mythology to the charity we can find in the image of the Five of Pentacles card as well as the meaning of the first face of Taurus. The Charites are the same as the three Graces you are most likely familiar with, commonly known as Splendor, Mirth, and Good Cheer, though various traditions have additional names as well as numbers for these charming, fertile beings. As Venus is reborn in the days following the Taurus Full Moon, focusing on cultivating your inner agriculture of soul will align you with the good graces. While a cold wind blows across collective events as darkness increases, the inner light we nurture within our own darkness will become available to share with and inspire others.

 

References

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

New Moon in Virgo

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Winged Sphinx from Petra, Jordan

New Moon in Virgo

Virgo is a mutable sign of seasonal transition, as in the northern hemisphere we shift from Summer into Fall, while in the southern hemisphere we complete Winter in turn for Spring. The New Moon in Virgo on September 9 similarly serves as a bridge between distinct astrological seasons. Previously, we experienced a volatile series of eclipses with numerous planets in retrograde, most notably Mars and Mercury. Now within the darkness of the Virgo New Moon we are experiencing the gravitas of Saturn having stationed direct a few days before the syzygy, bringing us into a lunar cycle ideal for generating forward momentum and taking care of whatever responsibilities need our attention following a season of volatility.  Within a month, however, Venus will station retrograde and by the time the star of Aphrodite has completed her backward motion in November we will also have experienced the lunar nodes moving into Cancer and Capricorn, Uranus moving back into Aries, and Jupiter entering its domicile of Sagittarius. The Virgo New Moon thus connects two distinct periods of change inducing astrological influences.

The recent stationing of Saturn makes the ringed planet’s significations take precedence, and with Saturn in Capricorn in range of creating an earthy triangle with Mercury in Virgo and Uranus in Taurus, there is great potential for clarifying goals and the priorities and tasks necessary for effective manifestation. Yet the Virgo New Moon is separating from an opposition with Neptune in Pisces, an aspect which lends itself more so to simply enjoying the presence of being rather than diligently taking care of work details. As I wrote about recently, the planetary nodes of Neptune were strongly activated in recent months, and transiting Neptune in Pisces has likewise been an important influence.  If we have been able to take time for imaginal exploration of whatever we most want to bring into the world, the Virgo New Moon is perfect for discerning choices and following through on action for development.

The Virgo New Moon is full of resilient, visionary aspects as it is applying to a harmonious sextile with Jupiter in Scorpio and an empowering trine with Pluto in Capricorn. Rather than being lost in a cloud of Neptunian fog, the Virgo New Moon can aid in recovering from disillusionment with the state of the world in order to invest energy in our own personal projects or in helping others in collective efforts toward the greater needs of our surrounding community. Jupiter in Scorpio has completed its final exact trine with Neptune in Pisces and is applying tightly toward its final exact sextile with Pluto in Capricorn.  We’ve been experiencing Jupiter in Scorpio since 10 October 2017, and the Virgo New Moon signals the time to make a final push to complete or make significant progress in realizing whatever growth opportunities have coincided with Jupiter’s time in the fixed sign of the Scorpion.

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Arnold Bocklin The Sacred Wood

Mercury rules the New Moon from its home and exaltation of Virgo, separating from an earth triangle with Saturn in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus. Mercury is experiencing a phase change during the New Moon, heading under the beams of the Sun and disappearing from view on its way toward a union with the Sun in Virgo on September 20. This means we have come to the end of the synodic cycle of Mercury that began with its superior conjunction on June 5, which was interestingly in square to Neptune in Pisces. With the ruler of the New Moon at home in Virgo, it amplifies the potential of the New Moon to help us recover and move forward from all of the change that has occurred since the beginning of June. Mercury in Virgo is ideal for analysis, organization, and clarifying decision making.

As Mercury moves toward its rebirth with the Sun on September 20 at 28º02′ Virgo, it will recreate the same aspects with Neptune, Pluto, and Jupiter that the New Moon possesses. On September 13 Mercury will form an opposition to Neptune in Pisces, then on September 15 Mercury will form a trine with Pluto in Capricorn, and then on September 16 Mercury will form a sextile with Jupiter in Scorpio. All of this will occur in the build-up not only to the superior conjunction of Mercury on September 20, but also to the Aries Full Moon on September 24. Thus during the week of September 13 through the 20 we can experience a manifestation or significant development toward whatever we set in motion at the Virgo New Moon.

Bocklin Schwanengrotte

Arnold Bocklin Schwanengrotte

One of the most significant elements of the Virgo New Moon is the entrance of Venus into Scorpio that coincides with the lunation.  One reason is that as soon as Venus enters Scorpio, it instantly begins to tightly form an opposition with Uranus in Taurus. The tension of the polarity between Uranus and Venus is somewhat mitigated due to Venus receiving Uranus, but it is likely to coincide with sudden and rapid developments in associated areas of life (for example whatever places in your natal chart are occupied by Scorpio and Taurus). Most importantly, this is the first of three oppositions that will be formed by Venus and Uranus in the coming months. This is due to the fact that after Venus completes the opposition with Uranus on September 12, it will be slowing down as it approaches its retrograde station on October 5 which will lead it to forming two more oppositions with Uranus on October 31 and November 30. Thus more so than a temporary activation of Venus and Uranus, the Virgo New Moon launches us into an extended process of change we will not fully have understood until December. For now, it will be helpful to begin taking note of whatever changes arise in storylines while also realizing we are only at the beginning of navigating the corresponding developments.

Venus remains a bright evening star during the night of the Virgo New Moon, so enjoy her luminescence as each subsequent evening she will be descending lower and lower during twilight as she approaches her retrograde in October when she will disappear from visibility.  Venus is also forming harmonious, pivotal aspects as not only is she opposing Uranus in Taurus, but also forming harmonious sextile aspects with both Saturn in Capricorn and Mercury in Virgo. In addition, Venus completed a catalytic square aspect with Mars the day before the New Moon on September 8, an aspect which stirred up all of the material that has been in a process of change over the course of the past few months. Due to Venus stationing retrograde at the beginning of October, it means that Venus and Mars will form another exact square on October 10. Therefore, similar to the opposition formed by Venus with Uranus, its square aspect with Mars also takes us into an extended process of change rather than a temporary impetus.

Mars returns to Aquarius on September 10, a day after the Virgo New Moon, meaning that it will basically be sustaining tension with Venus over the course of the next month.  Mars will be approaching its final conjunction with the South Node of the Moon in Aquarius during the waxing cycle of the Moon, forming its exact conjunction with the South Node on September 25, a day after the Aries Full Moon. Taking all of this into account, it means the lunar cycle we begin with the Virgo New Moon will not only bring significant developments, but also deeper understanding regarding whatever changes we have been experiencing, or however we have been feeling stuck or obstructed.  The forthcoming lunar cycle demands clear thinking bound with decisive action and a willingness to confront whatever is not working, devising solutions as needed.  We will need the resilient desire of Venus in Scorpio that will penetrate to the depths of dilemmas, and with Jupiter co-present in Scorpio there is strength to be found in taking a stand and persisting in the face of opposition.

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9 of Pentacles by Pamela Colman Smith

Virgo 2 Decan

The New Moon in Virgo falls in the third face of Virgo associated with the Nine of Pentacles card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image is resplendent with a golden aura surrounding a Venusian figure, and fittingly Venus is the ruler of the second face of Virgo.  On her hand sits a bird of prey ready to strike out for resources, while ripening grapevines surround her.  This tarot card is traditionally associated with gains in wealth, and Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces analyzed how the hooded falcon (a symbol of spirit enclosed in matter) is a protector of the grapevine resources linked to her wealth since it feeds on the creatures who would damage the growth of the grapes.  Coppock found a theme of continual reshaping and refinement of matter in this decan that unveils the diverse extremes of experiences that unite within the final form of a created work that contains spirit:  “Alchemically, this face provides understanding of the many beautiful and repulsive states the matter attains throughout the Magnum Opus . . . . [and] brings one to inspect material processes and note the efficiency or lack thereof” (p. 146).

Interestingly, the fragmentary Hellenistic text the 36 Airs linked the Moirai to the second face of Virgo.  These are the daughters of Necessity, the goddesses of fate: Clotho the spinner of the threads of life, Lachesis the measurer of fateful threads, and Atropos who cuts the threads.  These goddesses of fate appearing in this decan remind us to center within the actual currents of life so that choices can be discerned that will allow one to navigate accordingly.  In Plato’s Myth of Er, the Moriai not only ascribe ones destiny but also the guardian daimon who can bring guidance in accordance with virtue and authentic character. While there are many upsetting events occurring in collective events we cannot change, we do possess the inherent character to respond with responsible virtue rather than in a way that goes against the nature of our higher self.  The current shift toward a time of Venus retrograde will bring tests and events saturated with the feel of destiny, bringing forth deeper aspects of our Self and realizations of purpose and potential. To paraphrase Carl Jung, free will is doing that which one must do.

References

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

 

Taurus Full Moon: Unveiling Essence

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Selene on her chariot, detail from sarcophagus with the myth of Endymion and Selene.

Full Moon in Taurus

The Full Moon in Taurus arrives in the cross quarter holiday time of Samhain, the turn of the wheel in the Northern Hemisphere into the dark season.  Traditionally this is a time in which the veils separating our material awareness with the otherworldly realm of spirits and ancestors thins, supporting rituals that shed what we need to release and invite embodiment of the harvest we want to reap in the year ahead.  Fittingly, the aspects surrounding the Taurus Full Moon facilitate opening our bodily senses and extrasensory perceptions to guidance that incites inspiration toward new horizons of passionate pursuits.  While the Moon reflecting the full light of our Sun is always a peak moment of bringing down cosmic messages for us to receive, the Taurus Full Moon is particularly potent in terms of integrating the luminosity within subjective senses and bodily awareness.

The Taurus Full Moon is opposite both the Sun and Jupiter in Scorpio, and forms harmonious aspects of a sextile with Neptune and a trine with Pluto.   A full lunation in the Moon’s exaltation forming a pleasant sextile with Neptune in Pisces is ideal for making the personal space to sink into one’s skin and inner realms, luxuriating in whatever will help calm nerves and soothe the stress of recent events.  In the context of our 2017 calendar year, the Taurus Full Moon is marking our passage into its final stage, making this a perfect time to reflect back on events of the past year in order to intuit any realignments needed.  The past year has had a lot of fiery astrological aspects akin to wildfires out of control, and so the emphasis of this lunation on the water and earth elements can help cool and ground being.  As you center into the imaginal fertility of the Taurus Full Moon, ask for guidance regarding the gifts you have been carrying that are ready to be brought forth into the wider world.

The Full Moon is forming a tight square to Ceres in Leo, and a wide square to the transiting lunar nodes.  In addition to the square with Ceres in Leo, the Taurus lunation is in a sign based square with the series of eclipses occurring in Leo and Aquarius.  These aspects intensify and deepen the capacity of the Taurus Full Moon to help you connect with creative actualization of your soul gifts and talents.  There will be a need for hard work and discipline in bringing them to the fruition of their promise, yet the type of passionate work involved in this type of process brings the happiness of actualized fulfillment.  Let the stress and grief of the past dissolve as much as possible in the silvery light of the Moon so that you can more fully feel what wants to be expressed more freely.

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Leonora Carrington (1947) The Pomps of the Subsoil

Mercury in Scorpio is emerging from under the beams of the Sun as the Moon waxes full, meaning that Mercury will now begin to be a glimmer of an Evening Star momentarily at sunset.  This is an oracular moment in Mercury’s synodic cycle in which the Star of Hermes brings forth a message that illuminates what has previously been hidden.  There has been a huge emphasis recently on the secretive realm of Scorpio, with the recent of ingress of Jupiter in Scorpio, Mercury entering Scorpio to unite with Jupiter, followed by the Sun entering Scorpio and uniting with Jupiter a week before the Full Moon.  Mercury has been attuned to the microbes within the soil underlying our reality, and now emerges in twilight to announce its findings.  Mercury will be increasing in light as an Evening Star each successive day at sunset, creating ample opportunities to integrate what has been incubating inside ourselves to bring forth into outward expression.

In contrast to Mercury becoming visible again at the Taurus Full Moon, Jupiter remains invisible and combust under the beams of the Sun.  Jupiter began a new synodic cycle with the Sun a week before the Full Moon, bringing us visions of what we can create and actualize in the year ahead as well as a portal into underlying dynamics of our life.  Jupiter is now involved in the purifying process of separating from the Sun, and though its new cycle has begun it is still within a phase that calls us to reorganize elements of our life to establish better conditions to support our new developing priorities.  Jupiter in Scorpio calls us to go deep within ourselves and make honest appraisals of how we have been finding meaning and what we have been prioritizing in this process.  Jupiter in combustion is a transformative experience that aligns with the metamorphosis of Scorpio:  Jupiter has shed its skin but is still in process of coalescing into its new form.  As the Moon wanes in the cycle ahead, Jupiter will become visible again as a Morning Star and we will in correspondence become more securely anchored within our experience of the new meaning brought to us by Jupiter in Scorpio.

I am an Amateur of Velocipedes 1941 by Leonora Carrington 1917-2011

Leonora Carrington (1941) ‘I am an Amateur of Velocipedes’

The electrifying excitement of the Taurus Full Moon is brought by the lady of the lunation, Venus in Libra.  Venus in Libra rules the Taurus Full Moon while forming an exact opposition with Uranus in Aries, adding a spontaneous and free spirited quality demanding activation.  Since the previous New Moon in Libra was opposite Uranus, Uranus in Aries has been holding an immense influence over the current lunar cycle that will now become fully illuminated.  In addition, since Venus last formed a conjunction with Uranus back in June, we can additionally gain enlightenment regarding storylines that emerged in our life five months ago.  Fear and concern often gets generated in astrological circles regarding oppositions between Venus and Uranus, since the harmoniously pleasant significations of Venus are at odds with the more shocking and rebellious significations of Uranus.  It’s easy to imagine unexpected disruptions and accidents foiling our carefully tended plans to bring about Venusian joy, or wreaking havoc in our personal relationships.

However, though there is great tension stoked between Venus and Uranus at the Full Moon, there are ways to find outlets of expression for it.  Essentially Uranus wants us to be authentic and seize the necessary freedom and independence to express our force of spirit in the world around us.  If we are in relationships that foster and nurture our ability to freely express ourselves, there are creative breakthroughs that can come about through the Venus Uranus opposition rather than breakdowns.  This potential is aided by Venus being in her own sign of Libra, giving her all of her resources needed to have a good time with the Uranian vibration.  In addition, Uranus is in the home of Mars, and Mars is in Libra, the sign of Venus.  This again gives some emphasis to Venus within the dynamic tension, and the capacity for this transit to bring inspirational experiences in relationships and creative expression.

At the same time, the dynamic tension between Venus and Uranus can certainly coincide with unexpected events arising that disrupt our preconceived expectations.  It will be important during the time surrounding the Full Moon to be ever ready for spontaneous responses and to keep ourselves centered whenever changes erupt suddenly that could be sources of increased stress.  Uranus has been a major factor in astrology during 2017, and so Venus now opposing it from her own sign of Libra will generate deeper understanding of all of the underlying shifting that has been going on within our lives this past year.  We are at the same time shifting into the final period of Venus being visible as a Morning Star, for once she enters Scorpio as the Moon wanes in light in the week ahead, she will begin to move under the beams of the Sun as she approaches a euphoric union with Jupiter at the same time.  Venus is closing out her period of visibility with exciting aspects that will bring vital insights.

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Chiron with Peleus and Achilles from the Golden Porch: A Book of Greek Fairy Tales (1914)

The other major aspects of the Full Moon involve Saturn in Sagittarius, Chiron in Pisces, and Uranus in Aries.  Saturn is separating from a catalytic square with Chiron and applying toward a stabilizing trine with Uranus, weaving together our experiences of two of the biggest astrological aspects in transit during the past year.  Previously in March and April of 2017 during the Venus retrograde transit, we experienced another intensification of these aspects as Venus stationed direct conjoining Chiron and in square to Saturn.  Now Venus is forming a harmonious sextile with Saturn as it opposes Uranus, and Mercury in Scorpio is also mediating through a trine with Chiron. Altogether we have the conditions for the Taurus Moon to bring us the deep wisdom of the lessons Saturn, Chiron, and Uranus have been teaching.

Chiron has the astrological label of the “wounded healer” for a reason, as we often do experience pain and hurt when facing the tasks brought by Chiron transits.  However, whatever struggles we have had to face with our identity or capacity to self actualize, we are now at a more seasoned place in our experience of the series of squares between Saturn and Chiron to embody the strength we have been cultivating.  Chiron bridges the realm within Saturn with the realm beyond where Uranus resides, and can help us both in opening to our gifts as well as developing the resiliency and discipline needed to bring our talents into full manifestation.

Furthermore, as the Moon’s light wanes in the cycle ahead, we will experience the third and final exact trine between Saturn and Uranus on November 11.  Saturn and Uranus were previously exactly trine on December 24, 2016 and again on May 18, 2017 following a catalytic Mercury retrograde phase that intensified the Uranian energy as Mercury stationed direct in range of a conjunction with Uranus.  The trine between Saturn and Uranus in the past year has been a call to take bold leaps of invention in our work while simultaneously sustaining grounded structures to make sure we develop our projects in ways that will make a tangible impact in the surrounding collective.  Let the Full Moon help you brainstorm unexpected improvements to whatever plans you have been working on, and then push forward with work as the trine between Saturn and Uranus perfects in the week ahead.

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6 of Pentacles by Pamela Colman Smith

Taurus 2 Decan

The Taurus Full Moon falls in the second face of Taurus associated with the Six of Pentacles illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith.   In the image we witness a mercantile figure carrying scales of balance in his left hand, while dispensing gold coins with his right hand to figures kneeling on the ground with tattered blankets begging for money.  The Six of Pentacles card is typically associated with giving and receiving on the material plane, whether that be through monetary sources or tactile, healing touch.  The unifying theme is that there is receiving found in the giving, and giving found in the receiving, and the image of the scales could further be interpreted as signifying a sense of internal balance and authenticity in the process.  Through inner harmony transmitted through collaborative exchanges with others, great success and productivity can be achieved in the material realm.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Linga-Yoni” to the second face of Taurus, bridging images of “procreative unions” and “wanton fertilization” with the practice of virtuous action.  Coppock described an alchemical process for the second face of Taurus that mirrors the second face of Scorpio where the Sun is currently residing.  Notably, Coppock advised that the matters generated in this face “must be attended to carefully and consistently,” as “dedication must join fecundity and passions to complete the picture this face provides” (p. 75).  Coppock referenced that the Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Horae to the second decan of Taurus, a trinity of goddesses of the seasons and natural cycles of time. Coppock wrote the Horae point towards the need for “passion and discipline merged in rhythmic union” utilizing the virtuous character traits of “peace, order, and justice.”

The Moon rules the second decan of Taurus, making the tremendous potency of the decan fully activated by the Full Moon.  The Moon in its own face, triplicity, and exaltation, ruled by Venus in her own sign, means its bright light can open gates of awareness to exactly what we need to know and feel about the present and how to expand into greater abundance moving forward.  Enjoy.

References

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

 

 

Pisces Lunar Eclipse

/ grayastrology / 6 Comments

Vasily Kafanov fish landscape gray

Vasily Kafanov (2013) Landscape with Fishtower on gray

The fisherman draws fish that he never saw from many fathoms beneath the water, the miner brings gold from the depths out of the earth, through which his sight cannot pierce. In this wise has God taught it.

As there is nothing so occult that it shall not become manifest, so the same must be made known. Be it in the celestial firmament, in the sea, in the earth, all things must become manifest; but through man who discovers all things.

— Paracelsus, from his preface to Magia Emblemata et Prognostici

Penumbral Pisces Lunar Eclipse

Within change and strife resides freedom and release, for every heart breaks within love that returns and gives birth.  Beyond every flower found in radiant color, ripened fruit savored, or prismatic crystal unearthed and polished, lies an infinitely more vast and invisible realm of dark fertility surrounding and shaping this and all other universes.  In fathomless oceanic depth, under waves inexorably dissolving and bringing forth life, glimmers the slippery, silvery sheen of soul we find in Pisces.

Light as dramatic as can be sensed during the Pisces Lunar Eclipse on September 16 begins to fade as soon as it has brought forth its fullness.  We stand like a willow on the banks of its vortex, trunk strong and branches unfurled toward the constant disintegration of earthly matter into water.   This week’s lunar eclipse at the end of the zodiac culminates many stories embedded in the intense mutable shifting of the past year.  Within red shadows projected upon the Moon, one’s presence of being may become lightened from the accumulated heaviness of past failures and regrets.

In contrast to a solar eclipse in which the Sun is overwhelmed by the shadow of the Moon, symbolically the meaning of a Lunar Eclipse is rooted in the phenomenon of our Sun casting the shadow of our Earth onto the face of our Moon. Linking the Moon to what we carry from the past within our body and mind, the past transmutes in the shadowy face of the Moon to allow for new emergence and presence.  Dane Rudhyar in The Astrology of Transformation wrote that at a lunar eclipse “the traditional perspective born of past experiences of adjusting to life and society is blotted out by an eagerness to meet experience in a new, original manner.”  This emphasis on new choices and vision is amplified by the Sun being on the side of the North Node of the Moon in Virgo.

The eclipse is classified as penumbral because although the lunation is fairly close to the nodes of the Moon, the eclipse is at 24º20′ Pisces while the south node of the Moon is at twelve degrees of Pisces.  Though the shadow cast will not completely cover the Moon’s face in rosy glow, it remains a lunar eclipse that irrevocably alters the stories internally streamed from the past year of life.  Aligned with Chiron just as the Total Solar Eclipse in Pisces on 8 March 2016 was also conjoining Chiron, there is a cathartic release into the ever emptying ocean of Pisces that washes away remnants of disappointing burden that have been sticking to the flesh and circulating repeatedly in the mind.

Radha and Krishna

The Lovers Radha and Krishna (circa 1775 -1780)

Pisces is the exaltation of Venus, and the lunar eclipse occurs close to the specific degree Venus exalts in (27° Pisces).  Venus looms over the eclipse as Jupiter in Libra rules the eclipse and Venus is co-present in her home of Libra alongside Jupiter.  Pisces is the inwardly directed home of Jupiter, a place of inner expansion and vision, a faculty of intuitive gnosis merging heart with mind.  Relationships, our current relations as well as all manner of past relational patterns that inform our meeting with others, rise from the waters of Pisces at this week’s eclipse with a message of vital importance, whether found in the form of verbal language or nonverbal image.   In the twilight preceding the full illumination of the Pisces Moon, one may behold a brilliant Venus on the horizon that is continuing to brighten as an Evening Star.

Though as mentioned the shadow of this week’s eclipse is fainter than that of a total lunar eclipse, nonetheless the redness of the eclipsed shadow on the Moon evokes Pisces through its correspondences with eros that vitalizes blood flow and inspirit. The red shadow covering the Moon also has symbolic overtones with the renewal of the rubedo stage in alchemy, as it portends responding to life from a new presence free of past conditioning.  Red is also fitting for Mars being in square to the lunar eclipse, making this Pisces Lunar Eclipse a tumultuous affair.  In fact, there is little balanced about the Libra influence of Venus and Jupiter, as Venus will be applying closely to an opposition with Uranus in Aries and a sextile with Mars in Sagittarius, with Mars further in trine to Uranus.  Yet in the stillness of a Pisces pool within the surrounding bedlam, insight may be discovered.

Scylla 1938 by Ithell Colquhoun 1906-1988

Scylla (1938) by Ithell Colquhoun

“The true duty of the artist is to know what she is doing and transmit her knowledge with precision. The artist must always lift up the skirts of Venus or her twin-sister Medusa; if she is incapable of that, she should consider changing professions.
Let’s thus seek out the possibility of having subtle organs that will allow us to spread a beneficial magic or receive it while cultivating the protections against the multiple venoms of the invisible world. It is only in the strange magic ocean that we can find salvation for ourselves and our sick planet.”
– Leonora Carrington, response to a questionnaire for L’Art magique, 1957

The above quote from Leonora Carrington and painting by Ithell Colquhoun were both shared by Jon Eric Graham in a presentation he gave entitled “A Stunning Revenge on All Things: Surrealism, Alchemy, and Magic” at the recent 2016 Esoteric Book Conference in Seattle I attended.  In a subsequent presentation Pam Grossman also shared the same Scylla image by Ithell Colquhoun in her talk “Witch Pictures: Female Magic and Transgression in Western Art.”  As Pam Grossman traced the history of the depiction of witches in art, highlighting the obvious shift of meaning once women had platforms to create their own witchy images, I was struck by the full archetype of the witch held within any modern manifestation of image, no matter how corporate or commercial.  Namely, that the indescribable trauma and travesty of the collective history of witches is held and honored within the same image of witchcraft a modern teenager will embrace as part of claiming her own sense of the sacred feminine.  This is not to suggest oppression will go away or that its wounds will disintegrate, only that in the dissolution of the Pisces Lunar Eclipse an empowering liberty may be discovered within our identities that have been hurt the most.

The square between Saturn and Neptune that finally culminated in the week before the lunar eclipse involves the transfiguration of collective images in meaning.  Indeed, the most intense aspect to the lunar nodes at this week’s eclipse is not the actual Full Moon Eclipse, but rather the square between Neptune and Saturn, with Saturn applying closely to a square with the lunar nodes and Neptune conjoining the South Node of the Moon.  Whatever sacrifice has had to be made in this past year of the square between Saturn and Neptune, like Odysseus passing through Scylla and Charybdis we now must resolutely with responsibility press forward on the path we have realigned with.  Any fixations on past dreams that did not manifest must now be dropped into the receding tide, with focus and accountability bound to the work needing to be done in the present moment that meets one’s own needs as well as creates valuable resources or inspiration for others.

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Colored etching of alchemical stage (18th Century). Source

The numerous catalytic aspects involved in the Pisces Lunar Eclipse unfortunately make it likely that the disasters, acts of violence, and traumatic events that have dominated current events recently will continue.  On a personal level, however, if you are somewhere securely away from overwhelming conflict the incredibly active nature of this week’s eclipse can be an enlivening impetus toward tangible realization of goals and vision worked on across time.  Mercury remains retrograde, separating from its union with the Sun earlier in the week and applying to a trine with Pluto in Capricorn.  Though Mercury has shifted toward its Morning Star phase in which goals and plans can be focused on with greater clarity, it is not yet visible and so there is still a chthonic fertility to all things Mercurial.

Particularly compelling to me is that the true node of Black Moon Lilith will be conjoined with Venus in Libra at the time of the lunar eclipse.  This means that Venus combined with Black Moon Lilith will be opposite Uranus in Aries and sextile to Mars in Sagittarius.  Black Moon Lilith is the oscillating shadow point that balances the Moon’s orbit, bringing the liberating quality of Uranus contacting Venus and Mars more directly into the experience of the Pisces Lunar Eclipse.  Where we have been abandoned, betrayed, felt exiled or placed at a distance on the outside, becomes in the shadowed light of the lunar eclipse a strength fortified by lack and solitude and ready to burst forth with meaning to express and share during the dissemination of the eclipsed light.

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10 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Pisces 3 Decan

The Lunar Eclipse is in the third face of Pisces, associated with the 10 of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith.  An image of joy, fulfillment, rainbows and giddy children, the 10 of Cups is interpreted as the quality of blissful happiness and manifestation that those who reside within the third face of Pisces not only yearn to bring about but possess the internal resources to do so.  The final decan of the zodiac from the perspective that Aries is the beginning, the third decan of Pisces is a place of magical manifestation where seeming miracles can be brought about against all odds.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Cup of Blood” to this face, describing it as a “mad quest for an ideal” and “being willing to sacrifice everything” for “the attainment of one’s greatest desire, no matter the cost.”  While Three Books of Occult Philosophy described an image of a naked man with a beautiful woman whose head is decorated with flowers, other ancient texts describe terror of loss bringing screams and cries.  Austin Coppock linked the third face of Pisces with such “heights of agony and ecstasy,” writing that “Though there can be no greater pleasure than the union with the beloved, no pain is greater than its frustration, or worse yet, the betrayal of the person or ideal whom one has sacrificed so much for.”   As a result Coppock noted the importance of applying discernment and discrimination to acts brought forth in this face.

Coppock made a brilliant connection with the fragmentary Hellenistic text The 36 Airs ascribing the daimon of hope Elpis to the third decan of Pisces.  This is the hope left at the bottom of Pandora’s box, the answer to doom pointing to “beauty, love and the real possibility of happy endings.  The last decan [of Pisces] is thus a miniature of all incarnation, asking the most important questions and offering the most impassioned answers” (p. 260).

The third face of Pisces is ruled by Mars, and as Mars in Sagittarius is in square to the lunar eclipse, the meaning of this passionate decan of Pisces must be faced.  The warnings of losing one’s beloved or cherished ideal in no way means to hold back from pursuing what enlivens the heart during the eclipse.  With Saturn in square to the lunar nodes and Neptune conjoining the south node, however, it is vital to plant seeds and develop growth in places clearly able to receive and bolster one’s ideal intentions.  There is co-creative magic found in the face of this week’s Pisces Lunar Eclipse to align with the work, path, and collaborators most resonant with one’s deepest desires.

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References

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

Paracelsus. (2014 edition). Magia Emblemata et Prognostici. Ouroboros Press.

Rudhyar, Dane. (1980). The Astrology of Transformation. Quest Books.