On Wednesday evening, April 5th, 9:34 pm Pacific time, the Moon opposes the Sun and brings our first Aries month to a climax. We can pretty much expect intense and significant lunation charts for the next two years, and this one is particularly so. So let’s dive right in.
Full Moon Themes
The Sun at 16+ Aries is in the 4th House opposite the Moon at 16+ Libra in the 10th. Let’s just consider this axis before examining into the details.
The themes of Aries include selfhood, a vigorous exploration of what it means to be human. It involves blind courage which can result in impulsive acts of individuation. Think of the Fool in the Tarot, who steps off a cliff unaware of the consequences. Aries is ambitious. Aries can be a narcissist. It wants what it wants and goes after it, unconcerned about its impact on others. Ruled by Mars, it is aggressive, sometimes belligerent, associated with warriors and heroes.
Libra on the other hand is about finding balance between self-absorption and right relationship with others. Ruled by Venus, it brings themes of peace, harmony and aesthetic appreciation. It is also associated with justice and accountability.
The Fourth House addresses our home environment, early conditioning and psychological issues that result from abuse and misinformation. This is where the inner child holds sway, sabotaging our lives until we address its needs. It is fascinating that the USA 4th House begins at 1 degree of Aries and ends at 29 degrees. The first Aries New Moon was at 1 degree and the next will be at 29, an eclipse no less. And the only planet we have in our collective 4th House is Chiron, the inner mentor who brings up our karmic wounds for healing and release. We’ll return to this theme in a moment.
The sign of Libra occupies the entire 10th House which is our place in the world, the contributions we make and the impact we have upon it. It is our reputation – the way the rest of the world sees us. We obviously are not living up to our 10th House energies. We don’t honor the feminine values of Venus, we are constantly at war, we only pretend justice, and our life style is warped out of balance by our constant ambition for power and wealth. So how does the world see us? Not as the leaders of peace for sure.
I suppose we could put the blame on Saturn sitting in the middle of our 10th House, but Saturn, like Chiron, is a teacher, demanding that we take responsibility for our actions and the impact they have on others. Saturn is the karma lord, that delivers the consequences of our choices and encourages a wiser, more mature course of action.
Saturn is not alone in our 10th House, however. At 20+ degrees of Libra, exactly opposite our natal Chiron in Aries, we find Juno the asteroid of committed relationships. Our nation was founded on principles of equality and justice for all – Libra themes. We committed to forming a more perfect Union. Our founders knew that Democracy could only thrive if everyone participated and worked together to preserve it.
As an exclamation mark to all of these themes, Pluto entered Aquarius on March 25th shining the spotlight on our humanity. Aquarius is a complex sign. With two rulers it has both Saturnian and Uranian influences. Saturn flows its influence from Capricorn into Aquarius. Saturn is conservative, a structure builder, an institution creator. Uranus on the other hand is all about the future. It rebels against standardization and emphasizes the unique value of every individual. It celebrates freedom, independence, diversity and equality.
As we look upon our battered populace we can see these conflicting themes playing out, widening the divide and pushing our Union to the breaking point. For the last five years Saturn has held sway, but he has now moved into Pisces where his resistance meets the dissolving influence of Neptune. Uranus is taking the upper hand and the power invested in paternal authority will shift back to the people. We could finally draw the line and exercise our dominion over our future.
On the Full Moon, the Sun in Aries is conjunct Chiron within 15 minutes of arc – that is less than 1 degree. Transiting Jupiter is sitting on our collective Chiron, and transiting Chiron is opposite our natal Saturn. This chart cries out for collective healing. This is a big challenge because we have 250 years of collective karma, bolstered by several thousand years of masculine domination; but now we have Pluto on our side and while he will revisit Capricorn over the next 19 months, it’s just to remind us of the nightmare from which we are awakening.
With the Full Moon chart mirroring themes of karma come due and collective healing of old wounds, how fitting it is that Donald Trump received his first indictment over his attempt to hide an adulterous relationship with Stormy Daniels. Transiting Jupiter is exactly opposite the USA Juno. Jupiter in Aries is the sign of a new 12-year growth cycle. How could we possibly heal and move on without accountability?
The prosecution of a president who misused his power in office has been a long time coming. Richard Nixon resigned and escaped accountability. Spiro Agnew did the same. PBS aired an episode of “American Experience” recently that revealed the collusion of Republicans and Democrats in a decision to ignore the crimes of Ronald Reagan. And no one even thought to prosecute Bush and Cheney for lying to Congress about weapons of mass destruction. It is patently obvious that corruption grows in untilled ground. We can bless Pluto for his service in bringing the many failures of our social and political systems to light.
The picture is not complete without mentioning that transiting Mars in Cancer is exactly conjunct our national Jupiter. This reinforces the themes of faith, optimism and good fortune along with spiritual growth. It also brings in the Divine Feminine. Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and carries themes of nurturing, protecting and creating a safe, loving environment for our children. Plus, our natal Jupiter is conjunct our Venus, ruler of our Libran Full Moon. Clearly the path to spiritual enlightenment requires a restoration of balance.
Grand Fixed Cross
A prominent feature of the Full Moon chart is a Grand Fixed Cross involving the Lord of the Underworld and three other objects at the beginning of their signs.
A Fixed Cross involves all four fixed signs which represents the solidifying of systems, habits, conditioned beliefs and resistance to change. Fixed signs initially perform a great service. While Cardinal signs initiate the new, Fixed signs bring them into manifestation and stabilize them, set them in stone. We need structure and boundaries, but change is the cosmic law and we run into trouble when it’s time to evolve. There is latent inertia within fixed signs.
A Grand Cross consists of four heavenly bodies 90 degrees from their neighbors. It involves two oppositions. In this case Mercury in Taurus in our 5th House of creative self-expression is opposite the South Node and Haumea in Scorpio. Information (Mercury) is coming to light about unfinished business in our past (South Node) in Scorpio – secrets, phobias, complexes and repressed psychic material. Haumea promises a rebirth and regeneration in our collective interactions (11th House). Mercury is conjunct the North Node, meaning that information and clear perception will open the way to a more sustainable future (North Node).
The other opposition is between Black Moon Lilith in Leo in the 8th House of metaphysics, the occult, mysteries and mysticism, and Pluto which has just moved into Aquarius in our 2nd House. We will look deeper at Pluto shortly, but at the first degree of Aquarius it signals an enormous shift from authoritarian, “power-over” dynamics to the collective will of the people. The future is upon us and by the end of 2024, we will be engaged in rebuilding our nation based on new values. But let’s pay some attention to Black Moon Lilith.
Remember that Lilith is a point in space, as are the nodes of the Moon. It represents the second focal point in the Moon’s elliptical orbit around Earth. Lilith is at the most distant end of this orbit.
Lilith represents the fierce Feminine. As the original mythic first woman, she was made of the same clay as Adam. Lilith was replaced because she demanded equality. In our charts, she asks us to look at where we are disempowered by our current paradigm, men and women alike. In the 8th House she points to all that we do not know. She is a mystery and beckons us to explore. She carries the energy of the lion-hearted in Leo. And she’s within 3 degrees of Varuna and four degrees of the USA North Node, hence her significance in our future.
Varuna is about sovereignty. Conjunct the USA North Node, it is yet another signal to look to the future, when, as Spiritual Adults, we reclaim our sovereignty. Varuna is encouraging us to take back our power, to proclaim our right to determine our future. Imagine a society built upon the principles of fairness, kindness, empathy, inclusiveness, and a celebration of diversity.
Varuna is our reputation on the world stage. How do they view us? There has been a lot of head shaking recently as we top the charts in domestic terrorism. We are dominated by a minority that demands the right to firearms even as our children are slain by assault weapons.
While the Sun and Chiron are radiating healing energy, the opposing Moon is activating karma, bringing justice and accountability to close out a dark period in our history. Juno’s presence emphasizes the need to commit to peace, harmony and balance in our relationships with one another.
To recap, the themes of the Fixed Cross are creative thinking about how to embody our values – Mercury in Taurus; finding inner balance between masculine and feminine influences in our psyches – Black Moon Lilith; initiation into Aquarian values – Pluto in Aquarius in the 2nd House; regeneration and rebirth from the tyranny of the past – Haumea conjunct the South Node.
Pluto in Aquarius
Pluto changes signs about every 20 years. Because its orbit is also elliptical, it passes through some signs faster than others. This dwarf planet has already swung around the Sun and is headed back out toward its apogee, the furthest point away.
Pluto is in transition between Capricorn and Aquarius while humanity is moving from the Piscean Age into Aquarius. Pluto’s job is to clear the way by releasing the shadow side of both signs. The Capricorn process began in 2008 coinciding with the election of Barak Obama. Little did we suspect that repressed racism, white male superiority and entitlement were simmering beneath the surface waiting to erupt into hatred, violence and insurrection. We also didn’t expect such a fear-driven resistance to progress, especially in the face of a climate crisis. It has been baffling and disheartening to witness the conservative attempt to erase a hundred years of social progress.
By 2016 the pot boiled over and the Shadow King seized control of our government. Trump served as an agent of Pluto, giving permission to everyone to release their inner Krakens. When the new mythology is written about the birth of the Aquarian Age, he will become a legend.
Pluto was discovered in 1930, around the same time that two major innovations were emerging from different branches of science. On the one hand, nuclear physicists split the atom in 1932, preparing the way for the doomsday development of hydrogen bombs. On the other hand, Freud was evolving depth psychology, focusing on the three forces within – the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego – which manipulate us from the Subconscious. At the same time Carl Jung was exploring the Unconscious realms of mythology, archetypes and symbolic languages, such as Astrology and Tarot, to understand the blueprint of the human psyche.
The other day I realized that if we hadn’t split the atom, we would not have developed Quantum Physics and discovered the Quantum Field in which all consciousness is One. It is this field that will form the context of our new paradigm and the future we build upon it.
I’ve hinted at the meaning of Pluto in Aquarius so far. He is clearing the way for humanity’s entrance into a new Age. And he does this by revealing the shadow side of Aquarius. This Air sign is associated with the mind – our thoughts, our imagination, our vision. The darker side of Aquarius is cold indifference to the suffering of others. It includes runaway technology that carries serious consequences for the human race. AI will tempt us to surrender our souls. We need to take responsibility for our creations and temper our over active minds with an open heart.
Aquarius has two rulers – Saturn and Uranus. For the last two and a half years we have been locked in a battle between progressive ideas and the entrenched status quo. Obviously the problem with that lies in the vast majority of the world’s population suffering in poverty. Our system doesn’t work for everyone and that is the ideal of an Aquarian society. So Saturn has been putting on the breaks while Uranus has been lashing the whip. This tug of war has created an even deeper divide in the USA.
The good news is that Saturn exited Aquarius in March and is swimming in the limitless expanse of Pisces, which is about discovering our Oneness with everything. So Saturn will be otherwise preoccupied after 5 years in the two signs he rules.
Consequently Uranus now holds the upper hand. Change is inevitable. Resistance is futile. That fact never seems to discourage us, however. It’s part of human nature to want to preserve the security of the known.
I got to see it within myself this morning. Google is becoming a larger-looming monster in my life. It sends me “helpful” messages about how many miles I drove this week and where I went. Damn! On top of that, every time it upgrades its software, it wipes out all my passwords and I spend days trying to restore access to my apps. Grrrr. So I decided to switch browsers, but then realized I’d have to change my email, and alert everyone to the change. I’d have to reset everything to disengage from Google. My husband suggested Safari. My original experience with Safari was disappointing so I came out with a resounding, “NO!” I will not change. Made me laugh.
We will keep track of Pluto’s path – back and forth from Aquarius to Capricorn. It’s a perfect mirror of the very shift we are making collectively. We are straddling two worlds and have to make a choice, withdraw our foot from one of them. While we think we want change, we need to examine the truth of that. We know we want change for the world, and all those other people who don’t conform to our value system. But how willing are we to let go as well?
Next time we’ll take a look at Pluto squaring the nodal axis for the rest of the year.
Supporting cast
Ceres is in Virgo in the 9th House opposite Neptune in Pisces in the 3rd. Virgo concerns the harvest and Ceres is the goddess of grains. If our fertile fields suffer drought, or are flooded, what happens to our food supply? We need to restore our soil, return to organic farming, support family farms, form cooperatives, shop locally, eat seasonally, get back into the circadian rhythms of our planet.
Neptune on the other hand is about our imagination and our dreams. We need to figure out how to rouse the whole world into action to prepare for the Earth changes on the horizon.
In that vein, I discovered an amazing series on Apple TV entitled “Extrapolations.” This is not a documentary, but a series of short stories that depict the challenges of future climate change. The dramas are beautifully written. The cast of A-List actors is astounding. The photography impactful. If we are going to motivate the collective will, this is the best way to spark their imagination. People love stories. Our tribal roots respond. “Extrapolations” brings the vague future into focus and explores the impact on various populations around the world. It grabs the subconscious visually. It’s genius!
Saving humanity is a daunting challenge and while we recycle our plastics and purchase electric or hybrid vehicles, we simply can’t take responsibility for the fate of the world. It’s beyond us individually, which is the whole point of the Aquarian Age. We can’t do it alone, and we weren’t meant to. Our collective spiritual enlightenment occurs when we see all of life as sacred and choose to nurture it; when we recognize our interdependence and learn to cooperate in order to rebuild the Garden. That is Humanity’s Aquarian mission.
Venus is sextile Neptune. While Venus involves personal loving relationships, Neptune draws us into collective compassion. The two working together can open our hearts and expand our ability to love. This is something we can practice.
Uranus, the instigator in Taurus, stimulating our awakening, is sextile Nessus in Pisces. I wrote about Nessus last time, suggesting that this Centaur represents the toxic elements in ourselves as well as our environment. We are despoiling the very resources we need to survive – our soil, our air, our water. We are filling our oceans with plastic. Species are dying off every day from contact with our poisons. There have been several toxic spills recently but this news fades in memory as the latest drama appears on the scene. Uranus may surprise us with disasters until we stop poisoning our world.
Our collective spiritual path is further reflected by the sextile between Sedna, the new boundary of our evolving consciousness, and Selena, the illuminated path. Nessus, Neptune and Selena are all in our 3rd House. They are asking us to pay attention. Get the facts. Inform ourselves, then do something!
That’s where Mars comes in. Mars is at 5 degrees of Cancer almost exactly conjunct our natal Jupiter, which, as you know, is conjunct Venus, ruler of Libra where the Moon and South Node are alerting us to unfinished business. What a web they weave! This year and next are all about closure. We don’t want to drag toxic baggage into our pristine new world. And rather than see this as a chore, or a hopeless endeavor, we have to transmute the prevailing attitude into love for our Mother Earth, into gratitude for all she has given us. If we change the consciousness surrounding the debate about climate change, perhaps we can find common ground. We cannot force people to change, but we can inspire them to want to.
That’s the idea of course. I doubt we can resolve 250 years of abusive behavior in two years, but we must make a start.
Reinforcing Pluto’s shadow theme, dwarf planet Orcus is opposite our natal Sedna. Orcus moves slowly giving us enough time to process shadow material. He holds us to the oath we made to our Higher Selves to integrate our shadow and free ourselves from the dominance of the ego which, like Saturn, wants to preserve the status quo.
I’ll be back in two weeks when the second Aries New Moon of 2023 kicks off eclipse season. In the meantime, work with the Full Moon themes. Focus on your own healing. It’s the path to self-love which is also the path to freedom.
Leave a Reply