Full Moon in Leo: Tapping into Excitement

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis

I dreamt last night that I was in the White House private quarters and I caught a glimpse of Joe Biden in his bedroom. He was swinging on a red velvet rope and then leaping onto his bed where he jumped up and down. I literally woke up laughing. I guess he was celebrating and his exuberance perfectly captures the energy of today’s Full Moon in Leo. There are challenging times ahead, but first we need to take a moment to celebrate our successful passage through 2020. Let’s have a little fun before we get back to work. Leo is about creative play, childlike innocence and delight in being alive which includes the need to express our joy. Try to remember this for the next two weeks.

This Full Moon is loaded with messages. For one thing the Sun is conjunct Jupiter – two very powerful sources of energy. Jupiter brings hope, optimism, faith and good fortune to our endeavors. A few hours before the Moon reached fullness, it made a conjunction to America’s North Node, a signal to look to the future. Just in case we miss the message, Mars and Uranus both square America’s nodal axis. Uranus is a powerful source of electrifying energy. Mars is another strong energy that manifests as our will. If we align our will with that of the Cosmos, transformation occurs. Transformation takes a lot of energy and we’re getting a huge dose of it. With Mars and Uranus as the fulcrums of our nodal axis, our Fate hangs in the balance, and while we may have won this battle, the war is far from over.

Saturn is approaching our South Node clearly asking us to reap the lessons of our past, take responsibility for our crimes against nature and humanity, and mature our values. Saturn facilitates our growth. At the same time it reinforces our resistance. Capricorn is about the status quo. Those holding the power do not want to relinquish it. We have dealt them a blow and they will return fiercer than ever. The next few years are about the struggle for Democracy. Pluto is a year away from a return to its natal position in our collective chart. Will our Union hold? Will our precious Democracy triumph for another 2-1/2 centuries?

The main astrological drum beat of 2021 is the square of Saturn to Uranus. It will be exact for the first time on February 17, but the energy is building now and we can expect previews of what’s to come. Squares are challenges to grow. A Uranus square is a challenge to awaken and transform. Saturn manifests the products of our collective consciousness into what we call our reality. If we are living in fear, Saturn manifests fearful things. If we succumb to negative thinking, our world will get darker. All this energy that is bathing our consciousness right now wants to lift us up into a higher vibration. Negative emotions and thoughts vibrate at a lower frequency. They drag us down. Positive thoughts and feelings literally vibrate at a higher rate. Love is the highest vibration of all reaching all the way to ecstasy. Our entire planet is being bathed in these energies and they are there to midwife our rebirth. All that is required of us is surrender.

That’s where Neptune comes in. This planet is the Unifier. Neptune washes away our differences and reminds us of our Oneness, that we all come from the same source, breathe the same air, share the same home and spiritual family tree. On Monday Neptune formed a perfect T-Square to the transiting Nodes. (Note the difference between the USA natal nodes in Leo/Aquarius and the transiting Nodes in Gemini/Sagittarius.) Neptune is in its domicile – meaning the sign which is most compatible with its energy – and that’s Pisces. Neptune and the Nodes are in mutable signs – signs that support change and evolution. The Gemini/Sagittarius axis is about what we know, how we know it and what we do with this knowledge. What new truth can we discover? What ideals can we live by? How high can we reach?

I know we’re all sick of conflict. We want it to end so we can return to our peaceful lives. But it isn’t going to end – not until we lift up out of it. The resistance to change engendered by Saturn in fixed Aquarius is all part of the process. Think of the Sagittarian Centaur drawing back his bow. The resistance increases until the arrow is released and flies upward, out of sight, toward an unknown target. The Centaur’s aim is guided by Jupiter to the highest possible outcome. The more resistance, the further the arrow flies.

How do we make the most of this gift of energy? We can honor Uranus and pay more attention. We can listen to the whispers of our inner guides. We can be alert to synchronicities in our experience that point the way. We can observe what works and what doesn’t and make some changes in ourselves. If we bring more awareness to the present moment, if we open up our senses and receive the messages from our bodies, from our emotions, from our relationships, from the world at large, Uranus will treat us with equal respect and support our evolution.

On the other hand, if we resist the inevitable change that is in process, we’re going to have a hard time of it. Uranus starts out with whispers, but when we ignore them, Uranus gets louder and if we get stubborn, Uranus can shatter our reality. Many will experience this shattering and it will add to the collective suffering.

Full Moon Conjunctions

There are many conjunctions on the Full Moon. I mentioned the Sun and Jupiter. The second is Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn. Here’s a whisper. We’re told to look to the feminine values and qualities. We can learn to receive, to open our hearts, to seek harmony and balance, to care beyond our personal lives. What darkness remains in our hearts? What can Pluto sweep away to empower our love?

Eris and Black Moon Lilith are sharing 23 degrees of Aries. The feminine energies of equality and independence join the archetype of belonging. Eris is seen in our patriarchal world as a force of disruption and unrest. I see Eris standing up for all of us who haven’t been invited to the party, who aren’t privy to the privileges of the white male world. Eris is the force that seeks its rightful place at humanity’s table. She also reveals to us what keeps us from claiming this power – our shadow beliefs and defenses. We can blame “The Man” but what Eris shows us is that we can’t wait for an invitation. We do belong and we can claim membership. What’s in the way is our dysfunctional ego, but that’s a huge topic beyond our scope today.

Ceres and Neptune are within two degrees of one another. The focus is on the spiritualization of Earth. On January 1st I participated in an extraordinary webinar entitled “Heaven on Earth.” If you’ve been with me for a while, you have read several posts in which I discuss this Utopian ideal. This presentation was about meeting the new challenge to human consciousness – experiencing and living in Unity.  The guest speaker was Carl Calleman who spoke about the 9 waves of evolutionary energy that inform our world. I want to share all of this with you in upcoming posts, but I have more research to do. In the meantime, if you are interested in a refreshing look at the evolution of consciousness, check out his book The Nine Waves of Creation. He says that the Mayan Calendar ended with the arrival of the final wave – the 9th wave of cosmic energy that is transforming our consciousness now. It’s fascinating and exciting.

Which brings me to my final point. The reason Saturn triggers resistance is that it brings up our fears. The cosmic struggle this year is between fear and love, between clinging to what we know and letting go to what is coming. Fear and excitement are two sides of one coin. The tail side is fear which drags us down into a lower vibration, triggers our defense mechanisms and reactive behavior. The head side of the coin is excitement. This is an energy that transports us.

On Saturday, January 30th, Mercury turns retrograde. This is a good time to refresh ourselves, review the past three months, recalibrate our compass heading and reset our course. Meditation helps us refresh. Half an hour every day to sit in silence, to turn within, to get back in touch with our depths. This reconnects us with our original nature. With Uranus active, we can expect flashes of insight. Write them down because they can disappear in a flash as well. Retrograde Mercury is a great time to journal. What’s going on for you right now? Mercury and Uranus can lead us to new solutions.

We don’t know what the future will bring, but we can call it to us by holding a resonance. Dream big dreams for yourself, for our nation, for the future of our beautiful planet. Focus on wonders and let the excitement grow.