This full moon, peaking tomorrow night on 8/11 is going to pack a punch. This is definitely the most energetic full moon of the season, if not of the year entirely.
Firstly let’s break down why:
- the Moon will be closely conjunct to retrograde Saturn in Aquarius and square to the lunar nodes and Uranus in Taurus
- Saturn and Uranus are working their way towards their almost-exact square for the fourth time in this ongoing sequence
- this is activating a fixed grand cross in the sky (Sun in Leo, South node in Scorpio, Moon and Saturn in Aquarius, and Uranus and the North Node in Taurus)
- this is the exact midpoint between our eclipse cycles and will carry with it eclipse energy
- Venus will also enter Leo on Thursday
- additionally, Mars is going to sextile retrograde Neptune
These are just the aspects that will be going exact during the energy of the full moon. It’s worth noting that Venus is still in opposition with retrograde Pluto (was exact on 8/09) and Mars is working towards an exact trine to Pluto on 8/14. That shows that every planet with the exception of Mercury is heavily activated during this lunar cycle.
That’s a lot – there’s no way around it.
We are coming to a crossroads in the events of our lives. Something about the Taurus-Scorpio-themed lunar story which began in November of 2021 is coming to a head as our Sun and Moon square off with the lunar nodes. This creates a very liminal time when doors open and close. The events that the lunar nodes bring into and out of our lives are beyond our control and can create a lot of anxiety – the best thing to remember during this time is that you choose what doors you walk through. Just because a door opens for you doesn’t mean that you have to take it. Doors closing is another matter but one that we all must live with and learn to accept in one way or another.
The contradiction of fate and free will is omnipresent during events such as these. Certain things are fated to happen to you; it’s what you do with these events that dictate the story of your life. Are you at the wheel of your own journey? Are you giving your power away? Do you work to create your reality or do your laissez-faire let it just happen to you? Answer these questions honestly and then consider if that is how you want to live.
Big Daddy Saturn wants you to be aware of the decisions that you are making (and the ones that you are not making). Saturn is the king of responsibility – he shows us where we need to buckle in and work for ourselves in our own lives. He is often greatly maligned but without Saturn, there would be no structure and without structure, nothing would ever get built. Saturn wants you to show up for the things that matter in your life – the things that will move you forward towards your true purpose and personal advancement. Sitting in the sign of Aquarius, he is interested in (re) building the structures of community to create a better future. That’s actually quite beneficial if you think about it.
On the other hand, Uranus is the great destroyer – the lightning bolt that fells the mighty tower of “what was”. Uranus can be seen to be the spark of life but is also radioactive. Uranus is pure inspiration, devoid of any grounding or reality checks.
Said in that way, you can see why these two planetary giants don’t get along very well. They have been at war for almost a year and a half – both stuck in their fixed sign ways. I have been calling this the Irresistible Force Paradox – Saturn is the immovable object and Uranus is the Unstoppable Force.
This event ties in closely with the contradiction of fate and free will of the lunar nodes and it is not by accident that Uranus and the North Node (the node of forward-facing fate) are conjunct in the earthy fixed sign of Taurus. So much has to change environmentally – I don’t think that there is one of us paying attention who does not realize now that humans are irrevocably altering the nature of our planet. Uranus in Taurus, aided by the North Node, is the floods, the fires, the hurricanes – all of these bigger-than-life events that are hinting to us tiny humans that we have gone too far – that we have to change something fast before it is too late.
I reference the greater macrocosm of these events because as above, so below – we are seeing this unfold within the microcosm of our own lives. Something that has been stuck – something that has been duct-taped together for too long or held together by lies and falsehoods – is going to start moving. Stay aware of the earthquakes and tsunamis of your own life because it is a message from the universe letting you know that something isn’t right.
If “change before you have to” was the theme of 2021, here, a year later, we’re deep into the “have to”. This full moon will almost inevitably highlight what you have been holding on to for too long. When it does, listen.
This will be personal, there’s no way around it. Both of our relationship signs (Venus and Mars) are in aspect to the planet of death and transformation, Pluto. Stagnancy in relationships may be especially anathema during this time. If your Others are demanding freedom during these days, let them be free. Otherwise, they might run and never come back.
I say this with all of the love in my heart: if this happens, let them.
This is the hardest lesson that we as humans have to learn – to let people leave our lives with grace and understanding. Everybody is on their own path and sometimes we get to walk side by side with another human for a while. This is the greatest blessing and we shouldn’t let that become a curse where we hold onto that other as if our lives depend on it. When you stifle the growth of an/Other, you stifle your own growth.
In this way, Uranus in Taurus highlights that codependencies are not healthy structures. In this one way, Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus agree – it is to your own self that you must be the most dedicated. It is only when you are most loyal to yourself that you can truly be loyal to an/Other. And it is only when your Others are most loyal to themselves that they can be loyal to you.
These cycles have been demanding that we all step from a place of codependence (or, for some, toxic independence) into a space of interdependence. Where we have such good boundaries between ourselves and the group (Saturn in Aquarius) that we can show up and support the collective while still working on our own goals.
In its immature stage, the Sun in Leo gets lost in the inevitable ego story of all of this and is VERY against the idea of letting others do their own thing. An immature Leo sun type wants to strut around roaring “it’s good to be the king” without taking any responsibility for the greater pride at large. But if we’ve matured through the rough lessons of the last two and a half years, we can be something else – we can enter the mature Leo energy that this grand cross brings up. We can take on the responsibility of being an elder, of having done the work, and we can step up to watch out for the tribe – to protect those that need protection – to watch for the dangers that inevitably arise – to care for the young and the sick.
Leo is the sign of the king of kings – it is the sign in which we all become the ruler of our own lives. (We all have Leo somewhere in our charts by planet or house placement) The question always is: will you be a benevolent ruler or will you be a tyrant?
The choice, in the end, is yours alone.