March 24, 2016

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Warrior, Water, Skyward: Reflections on the Full Moon

By

Alexander Baker

Warrior, Water, Skyward: Reflections on the Full Moon

​The waning Full Moon is late in Libra, post-eclipse and past her opposition to the Sun which is presently at 4° Aries.  Meanwhile, Mars trines the Sun from 5° Sagittarius, and Venus is still conjunct Neptune in Pisces.

Ohhhhhhh, that Mars.  Not only has Saturn, currently at 16° Sagittarius and nearing his retrograde, been transiting my natal Mars (7° Sagittarius) since late November — but with Mars nearly on my natal point, I’ve found all the best and worst qualities of Mars in Sadge at work in me lately.  And by that I mean big accomplishments combined with crippling, impulsive, wanton self-indulgence.  Getting your work done and playing with fire… right?

I’ve heard a number of people remark that this March 23rd Full Moon eclipse felt strongest on the previous day.  I felt this to a great extent as well, and now I find myself better integrating some of its messages as I’ve perceived them.  Before exploring those, let’s delve into some Aries and Libra dynamics from the ground up.

In modern psychological astrology, the contrast between Aries and Libra is often referred to most basically as the axis of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’.  Aries commences Spring’s inhalation toward the self, leading to Summer’s full lungs and self-development.  Libra marks Autumn’s exhalation toward merging with the other or ‘object’ of relationship, leading to Winter’s empty lungs and the further immersion in worldly endeavor.

The Sun’s occupation of Mars-ruled Aries, cardinal fire, instigating intuition, demonstrates a headfirst, warrior-like trailblazing impetus.  Throwing itself into all creation and interaction, the Ram is correlated to the infant or toddler stages of human growth, a newborn filled up with spirits it doesn’t quite know how to control, yet whose screams, cries, appetite and intuitive power cannot be denied.  It is the sign of “I must do this myself,” like a child struggling to take its first steps without held hands, then suddenly running free all over the place like the transitional period never happened.  We ‘must’ make the decision ourselves, yet we can’t do it without the help and nurture of others.

The Moon’s presence these couple days has passed through Libra: cardinal air, instigating thought, whose rulership by Venus softens this yang’s signs mental proclivities.  It is in my observation the least ‘upper chakra’ of the air signs.  Libra often exudes a considerate and diplomatic flavor, a graceful appreciation for and synthesis of beauty — not only as sensory and aesthetic immersion, but also as peace and harmony in principle, airy social ideal.  It is the Scales’ consideration and ‘fair judgment’ of multiple perspectives… expressing a sort of distillation of conflicts through their relational synthesis.  This no doubt connects to Libra’s fence-sitting tendencies.  Whereas Aries needs guided baby steps at times, Libra might do well to act more without weighing options fickly or worrying about another’s approval.

A Full Moon lunar eclipse across the Libra-Aries axis, so soon after the Spring Equinox, interests me.  This Full Moon shows the contrast of Aries internality and self-honoring blaze, with Libra’s identity in beauteous reflection amidst the other.  It shows passionate rage of assertion, with angelic lightness of the inconclusive.  What is our internal fire, and how do we want it to be perceived ‘out there’ in our relationships, collaborations, in the world at large?  Are there recent circumstances in which we should sacrifice our pride and know when to ask for help?  Is there anything wrong with moments of unsureness…?

Sagittarius needs a target to hit, the sign of the Archer indeed.  With Mars there, at a trine to the Sun, and taskmaster Saturn nearing his retrograde, we may very well be revising and re-visioning some of the moment’s highest goals.  And this is necessary in refining the impulsivity that these solar and martian placements can bring in the coming weeks.  It may very well be important to be as sure as possible, lately, moreover to think before acting.  And one can’t move forward without some measure of a unified will.

Not to leave lovely Venus conjunct Neptune in Pisces out of the equation.  The Crystal Crones describe Neptune as a higher octave of Venus, particularly in the way of relating.  Such truths are better sought in one’s own experiences as transits occur in one’s life, rather than mentally relegated to a given planet and what it might represent.  A planet’s spectrum of symbolic meaning is always multivalent, far beyond the mere linguistic attribution of one quality.

The ongoing square of Saturn in Sagittarius to Neptune in Pisces has already posed a sort of ‘get it get it’ attitude with a ‘fuck it’ broodiness.  As for my life, I’ve described myself as being sure of my goals and fairly confident in where I’m going, while not always feeling as though I know where any of it’s going.  This is human and normal really, but the way I’ve been experiencing it feels very Saturn square Neptune… what a roller coaster!

For me this culminated on the Full Moon, when in a simple but profound way I learned to set aside both my fiery pride (Sun/Aries) and knowledge that I could do something on my own (Mars in Sagittarius), embracing instead my felt truth: I needed most to dissolve into (Venus/Neptune/Pisces) the healing care of another way (Moon in Libra) and ask for someone’s help.  It was a very simple thing really, but it’s connection to the celestial weather sort of rocked me a day after the fact.  I suck at the human act of asking others for help, but I’m getting there.

Looooooove.  I am grateful.

A solar system sanctuary.

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