On Sunday, October 9th, at 4:54PM EDT, the Aries Moon moves into an exact opposition with the Libra Sun giving us this month's Full Moon - our annual Full Moon in Aries.
The Full Moon is always a time of tension (there is something to all that howling after all) - it's a time of Sun opposite
Moon. Oppositions are pretty much just what they sound like. This one is in
the "me vs we" polarity of the Aries/Libra axis.
This is the culmination of the Aries New Moon that launched the lunar
year back in April, so maybe something from that time is finishing up/becoming illuminated/peaking.
Feels like years ago, doesn't it? I think I am aging in dog years now. Woof. At the Full Moon things peak, culminate or come to light. Results are delivered. Stuff finishes up. And this is our last Full Moon before Eclipse season, so is MEGA important.
Let's unpack the chart!
The Moon opposes the Libra Sun from 16 degrees Aries. The Moon is conjunct Chiron, The Sun is conjunct Venus (the Moon opposes) and answering to Venus, strong in her home sign of Libra. The Moon sextiles Saturn. The Sun trines. Uranus squares Saturn (exact by degree). Mars, the ruler of this lunation is at the 'power' degree of 22 in Gemini and answering to Mercury, recently direct in his home sign of Virgo. Mars trines Saturn (Grand Air Trine with Mars, Saturn and the Sun) and squares Neptune. The Moon/Sun are T-Squaring Black Moon Lilith in Cancer.
The Moon is conjunct Chiron. This aspect is separating/has already happened. Is still in play. So, just before the Moon reaches her fullness in Aries, she passes over Chiron/merges with Chiron (the Sun opposed Chiron on Friday). This makes this Moon extremely SENSITIVE. And this is Aries, an uncomfortable space for sensitivity. The Aries Moon is a warrior/protector not so much given to traditional nurturing or sentimentality. This is the mother who wants her children to be strong and independent. She doesn't coddle.
This conjunction can bring up emotional wounds. Mother wounds. Painful female relationships. Maybe we are feeling the ways we don't fit in or how we don't "look" the way we want to look. With the Sun in projecting Libra we could be feeling the way someone else is hurting or the way they don't fit in. Fears around not being able to take care of ourselves or be ourselves can come up through situations that stimulate these feelings. At almost the same time this is happening the Moon is opposing Venus. Echoing challenges with females/with partners. Feeling out of balance. Feeling the unfairness/injustice of something, What we are wanting isn't matching up with what we need. We are thinking/feeling all the ways our relationship/the other person isn't measuring up. There could be some kind of disappointment here.
And this is all happening in the background of the Aries/Libra polarity - me vs we.
Now, at the same time, the Sun (in Libra, so answering to Venus) is conjuncting Venus. This is one of the most harmonious aspects in astrology. This is amplified by the Full Moon in Aries, but opposing it. So, there is something here about us standing on our own two feet/being self reliant. If the ugly here is too ugly, the Aries Full Moon/Chiron opposing Sun/Venus can give us the grace and self-respect to DEAL WITH IT. To face whatever this is HEAD ON.
This is why this Moon will only be so challenging. Venus/Sun and Venus opposed Moon are both HELPFUL, loving. We are looking at the other person in a more loving way. Seeing the warts, the vulnerabilities in ourselves and maybe that is what allows us to be more compassionate with others. Maybe some person has been driving us crazy, and something may even come to a head here - likely this will come before the Moon - and then, something either breaks lose - it is easier for things to end at Full Moons, especially this one - or, maybe we soldier on - the path to true love littered with fewer obstacles because we are dealing with the reality of what something is, warts and all.
This is all happening just as Pluto is stationing direct. So, here is the death that was postponed - the ending/the dead thing we are carrying around and need to release coupled with the Full Moon's need to exhale almost forces this to happen OR here is the thing that DIDN'T DIE, and now we have a full-load of Aries fire to breath some life into it/fire it up/push it back on track. Sun/Venus in Libra is loving, harmonious, peaceful. Speaks of our RELATIONSHIPS. Venus is trining Saturn, so this is SERIOUS. We are either committed or we aren't.
Rings go on fingers and rings come off.
The Sun is in a helpful (brakes off) trine to Mars in Gemini and Saturn in Aquarius. Here is the AIR, the fiery Full Moon needs. Mercury is just moving off his/her square to Mars, who in Gemini, is answering to Mercury who has just stationed direct, too, so we are probably saying things we have been thinking about or saying things we have said before, but now there is some force/fire/energy behind the words.
The Moon is sextiling Saturn and Mars, so we should be able - in the Moon's bright light - to see more clearly our options and limits. And, again, this is all about our RELATIONSHIPS. And probably a primary relationship.
And in the background of all this is the Saturn/Uranus square - separating now, but exact within degree. The old vs the new. The stability vs the chaos.
This is all forcing our RISING TO THE OCCASION. Whatever the occasion is! Whether we need to work on something that has run off the road or end something that is TOXIC.
We are all lying in the beds we made, so what are we going to do with these sheets and blankets and maybe even that person lying next to us?
The Aries Full Moon is answering to Mars, who is in Gemini and answering to Mercury in Virgo. Because of his own upcoming retrograde Mars will be in Gemini until March 2023, so this Full Moon is part of the long and winding road to March 2023. Happening with the Moon's final dispositor (Mercury) in stable and practical Virgo tells us the best way through this Moon is by being stable and practical. Attending to our health. Attending to our daily obligations. Small is BIG. The way we do one thing is the way we do everything now.
Mars is approaching his square to Neptune, and this, with Mars' upcoming retrograde will be repeating and ongoing. This is already in play and we will feel it stronger as October plays out. Mars is our drive, our passion, our action, our energy. In Gemini, this is us, doing two things at once or doing things twice. This transit has us focused on our Gemini house theme or the more general Gemini themes of communication, words, paperwork, the local community, school, schoolchildren, writing, transportation, tech, etc. The square to Neptune is like the draining of our batteries/attention. Maybe we catch a cold. Maybe we give in to youtube/Netflix. It can be an aspect of confusion. If we are already dealing with mental health issues/neurological issues/breathing problems or love people who are, this will, most likely, have our ATTENTION THIS MONTH and into next year.
Mars/Neptune in mutable signs can dilute our attention from practical matters and make it harder to make sense of things. It can be self-deceptive which can easily float us right into self-sabotage, especially if we, or people we love - because remember this is the me vs we axis at this Full Moon - are already struggling to care for ourselves in meaningful ways. Mars/Neptune can also fog up Martian things, so we don't notice that wolf at our door until he has his teeth in our leg ... something to keep in mind.
The Sun is conjunct asteroid Psyche. In mythology, Psyche, was part of a 'long and winding road' path of true love story with Aphrodite's son Eros (who is in Libra, too, now) and with Jupiter headed back into Pisces to join Juno it would seem this is all reinforcing the importance of our RELATIONSHIPS right not. The Full Moon though is in Aries and this is her lunation. The Sun in Libra wants everyone to play nice and the Moon in Aries wants to deal with this damn wound (Chiron)!
The T-Square to Black Moon Lilith in Cancer speaks of the ways our relationship challenges are connected to our childhood wound/mother wound. The ways we weren't seen or heard. The ways our needs were not accepted. There is a need at this Full Moon to see/confront emotional FEAR. At this Full Moon we will be able to see/feel what we do with this fear. Do we hide? Do we project it onto other people? Do we get sick? Do we entangle/manipulate? Do we take action? Do we get bloody freakin' angry? Can we allow our bodies to process/feel it without judging it? The square to BML might also indicate an uncomfortable female energy at odds with the Full Moon. She wants what she wants, and if this is us, we will need to be thinking about how we might be sabotaging ourselves here. Keep in mind the lunation ruler, Mars, is trining Saturn and the empty leg of this T-Square is Saturn ruled Cappy. What do we need to take responsibility for? And what is not our circus/not our monkeys?
(note with the Moon conjunct Chiron in Aries this is pretty much about OUR monkeys and we don't want to be burning bridges based on some victim story we are selling to ourselves that isn't the WHOLE story)
We can see this is a complicated Full Moon. We can also see Mercury - and Mars is answering to him/her - is approaching his FINAL opposition to Jupiter in just a couple days. The last chance to mine for that old gold (via Mercury/Jupiter). AND with Jupiter and Mercury both on a world point AND the axis of this Full Moon - Libra/Aries. We'll talk about this in the week ahead.
This is probably a time we will be thinking about who we are within our relationships and who we are without them. If we can see our part in any messes/tangles and take action, likely to be more independent or to encourage independence in others, we would be better off than if we are still doing the Mercury retrograde "re's" - time to move on/forward. Pluto direct/Moon with Chiron at a Full Moon that is not so warm and fuzzy anyway, can hurt, can end relationships and ways of relating, but the pain will be REAL. With Mars journey through Gemini just getting starting there are many choices/questions ahead of us over the next few months and it would be a good thing if right here/right now we can clearly SEE in the most practical way, the REAL of our relationships. Our patterns of relating and relationship imbalances will be ILLUMINATED allowing us to check-in with ourselves, potentially toss some toxic behaviors onto the pyre before this next chapter.
xo all
I hope something here is helpful. I have been blogging less as my faithful readers have probably noticed. I am converting 2 newish jewelry shops I have on Etsy to an escape room box shop (Unlockkit) and Coloring Gift Box Shop (name in process) and this, plus, a community school project (which ended right at this Full Moon thank goodness) has taken much of my time. I should be back here more often in a couple weeks! I miss blogging alot and making and taking pics of new work - especially after 15 years of jewelry only (I do still have my locket shop, of course) - has been freaking exhausting and uncertain. I am mostly more a 'stick with it'er' than a 'start from scratch'er', but circumstances are forcing my hand it seems ...
