the astrology of the Full Moon in Pisces | August 30th, 2023 - Saturn tightens the screws, Eris shows us what we don't want to see, neptune carries the past into the present, lying in the beds we've made, the need for a sacrifice, big emotional release with this one

On Wednesday, August 30th at 9:35PM EDT, the Pisces Moon opposes the Virgo Sun, giving us this month's Full Moon - out annual Full Moon in Pisces.

Full Moons bring things 'to light', to peak energy - to a culmination, to an ending. It is the space in our breath cycle when our lungs are full and we need to exhale. Or maybe if we have been holding our breath, now is the time we must noisily gasp for air. It can be a time of OVERWHELM.

Pisces rules the 12th house of what we do last, what is hidden and put away, the ways we self-sabotage because from our vantage point in our 1st house we can't see what's behind us/don't know what we don't know. Pisces rules illusions and delusions, escape, sacrifice, our addictions, our imagination, lack of boundaries, viruses and things that pass from person to person invisibly, connection, compassion, charity, hospitals, prisons, the navy, water, wet weather, the things we have forgotten, our distant pasts, our ancestors, water, sleep, illness, healing, dying, spirituality, GRIEF, angels, God .... 

it is a mystical space of MAGIC where anything can happen.

Let's unpack the chart!

The Moon, at 7 degrees Pisces, opposes the Sun, at 7 degrees Virgo. The Moon is conjunct Saturn (separating). The Moon is EXACTLY inconjunct Juno in Leo. The Full Moon is EXACTLY conjunct asteroid Karma. Neptune, the modern ruler of Pisces, and ruler of this lunation is retrograde at 26 degrees Pisces and EXACTLY inconjunct Black Moon Lilith in Leo. Neptune is opposing Pallas and sextiling Uranus. 

Let's start with the Full Moon's conjunction to sober Saturn. This one is separating. 

Full Moon events come AFTER the Moon meets Saturn, so after some limit/restriction/reality check. 

Moon/Saturn is one of astrology's hardest aspects. We are feeling WHAT WE ARE LACKING. So we are aware of some way we are limited and are feeling the pressure and depression of that and the Full Moon heightens the emotional impact.  

The Full Moon's exact inconjunct to Juno in Leo is maybe especially important because when Venus stations direct at the end of the week she will be conjunct Juno and they will travel together for the month of September. This could help strained relationships/marriages/contracts that have withstood this summer's Venus retrograde (whichever way things are going to go), but for now, at the time of this Full Moon, we get this inconjunct - this rock and hard place to get through. Or not get through. Some relationships will dissolve/have dissolved ... all are in a testing period. 

The Sun in Virgo is determined to fix something whether it is fixable or not and the Moon in Pisces is equally determined to LET GO/go with the flow. Don't make yourself crazy trying to fix something right now. 

Maybe the best use of this Moon is to let go of our fantasy about what our reality is. Pisces is the sign of sacrifice and at the Pisces Full Moon sometimes one is needed. Saturn nearby can give us the backbone to do what needs to be done. 

There are so many retrograde planets and now this Full Moon in Pisces - it is certainly a time to be REFLECTIVE. 

The only planet really moving right now is Mars and he is in Libra which is the sign of his fall (since he rules Libra's polarity sign). Decisions are hard to make. It is hard to know which actions to take. Libra seeks balance/peace and can see both sides, which makes Mars usual method of moving through life - just plowing straight ahead - challenging to navigate. 

The Pisces Moon's illusive/diffusive nature won't help. 

EXACTLY conjunct asteroid Karma tells us Full Moon events have us collectively lying in THE BEDS WE HAVE MADE (asteroid Karma's inconjunct to marriage asteroid Juno doubles down on this one!). 

Neptune's inconjunct to Black Moon Lilith is more Pisces/Leo awkwardness and pulls in very old childhood woundings connected to shame around wanting too much love/too much attention. Maybe being shamed for wanting to play. Black Moon Lilith's conjunction to fixed star Regulus warns against taking any kind of revenge. We will fall and it won't be pretty if we do. 

So many people contacting me about their charts are in some stage of dealing with unsupportive partners. If that is you, is that really what you are dealing with? Reflect. Go deeper. Did you really just wake up in this rumpled bedroom? 

This new Age of Aquarius that is waking up will require us to not compromise ourselves in order to belong/in order to be loved. But we have all these cordings to energies that don't line up with us in the same ways they once did. WE are the people charged with living through this change of ages for our ancestral lines and it isn't easy. It isn't comfortable. With Juno in Leo with Venus, we are re-calibrating the bargains we have made with other people. The contracts. Life really wants us to pay attention to who we are spending our time with. At this point it is just our fantasy about the reality of our situation that needs to go (and victim mentality), probably not the actual situation. The world we think we are living in is the one we get to live in. Look for the roses. Look for the rainbows. They are here, too.  

The Moon/Saturn can feel lonely. Oppressed. Depressed. Trapped. Old emotional relationship patterns are releasing. It's not always the relationship that needs to go (sometimes it is, if you are spending time with the wrong people/person). It's usually the PATTERN. Pallas, ruler of strategies and smart/winning patterns is in Virgo and trining Uranus EXACTLY. She is inconjunct Ceres in Libra, also exact, so it won't be comfortable within our relationships right now and there will need to be some give and take. No one is going to win right now no matter what we do, BUT we have the aspects here to make changes - practical, step-by-step changes - that shift stuck patterns within relationships. This isn't a time to double-down on 'me, me, me'. That won't work. Mars in Libra speaks of cooperation and collaboration. The Virgo planets are answering to Mercury, who is retrograde in Virgo, too. This Mercury retrograde isn't so much going to make things wonky as it is going to challenge us to re-word, re-think, re-see our daily situation. Remember the world we think we are living in is the one we get to live in.

There are alot of exact aspects in this chart if we treat it as an event chart (which it is). 

We have two Goddesses interacting with Uranus - all at 23 degrees. You might remember at the end of 2020 we started a series of 23 degree NEW Moons that started the world back up again - even if this is kind of a temporary world right now. 

The number 23 is a prime number composed of an even and an odd number. It reduces to the number 5 through addition. In numerology, five is a number of change/freedom/sometimes chaos; a very Aquarian number (2 divided by 3 is .666 and 23 has history with secret societies and people like occultist Aleister Crowley). 23 is the number of female/male chromosomes in a human cell, the number on Michael Jordan's winning jersey, the number of obsession in a strange Jim Carrey movie, the most well-known/beloved Psalm (the Lord is my shepherd..) and it seems the number 23 is connected to the Goddess Eris. . 

And look at the chart, Eris is EXACTLY conjunct the North Node - our best way forward - in Aries! 

I am connecting Eris to chaos/disorder/the discontent that stirs change/sometimes trouble. She catalyzes shocks to our system via our troublemaker/whistle blower/terrorist energies, but maybe she is actually more the potential for a new kind of solution than the actual cause of the trouble - which is just what she exposes. 

We were all born with Eris in Aries. We don't know what Aries would feel like/be without Eris! Or what Eris will be like/feel like without Aries!

 

She seems to represent a space in our chart/life where we can easily get caught up in strife and discord - that "go it alone" Aries house, where Chiron is currently working his magic.

 

Eris was the Goddess whose toss of the golden apple was blamed for the start of the Trojan War that ultimately destroyed the relationship of men and their Gods, so much bigger than the apple story (yes, another female tale of blame and destruction via an apple - what's up with that?!). 

We can expect some BIG collective events this week and into the weekend as Venus stations direct and Jupiter prepares to station retrograde involving those 12th house Pisces matters we talked about earlier. 

We'll want to stop looking outside ourselves. We want to work with what we have right now. We need to be brave and independent. The Sun is trining Jupiter. It's wide, but it's there/coming. More Sun. Better days ahead. Don't quit. Don't just go to sleep/escape/zone out, but do give yourself breaks as needed. Don't make yourself crazy over-thinking/over-analyzing everything that is going on. There is some kind of prequel/run-up now to the Saturn/Neptune coming in a couple years, so things can feel bigger than they are because by then Pluto will be in Aquarius for keeps and he's back in Capricorn now. 

We don't know what we don't know. Can't see around the corner because it isn't even there yet!

Keep your head about you and your feet on the ground. Stay flexible/adjust as needed. There could be the need for a sacrifice and even that won't get us to winning. Know this. Know that things might feel emotionally-heavy depending on how these energies are interacting with your birth-chart, but know that if they do, this, too, will pass. Illnesses, maybe especially mental illnesses and addiction can appear to worsen. Hopefully Saturn can keep that 'howling at the Moon' down to a minimum this year. 

Full Moons are always a good time to create some space. Clean out a closet. Your inbox. Take a bag of clothes to Goodwill, etc. During a Pisces Full Moon - water is healing. So is PRAYER and thanking your ancestors for the benefits/gifts you carry from their struggles and hard work. Our intuition is high, but know that Saturn's proximity can pull in some fearful thinking and negative emotions. A little love to Neptune, the God of the Sea, can be helpful, too now. Stay sober. 

If a line needs to be drawn between you and another person/situation - Saturn here, will help you, or them, DRAW IT. 

Big girl pants on. Hold on loosely. 

This is ultimately a Pisces Full Moon and we are just going to have to just go with the flow of this one .... the Moon's final aspect in Pisces, which is an opportunistic sextile with powerful Pluto, is a good sign that Full Moon events will ultimately bring positive transformations. 

For some people, a Full Moon in Pisces conjunct Saturn will make you BIG TIME TIRED. Pace yourself. It's still summer ...

xo all

please excuse any typos ;)