The Full Moon in Aquarius hit just after midnight PDT, and you can consider the entire weekend amplified and potent. I’m honoring this lunation today, rather than yesterday as the Moon was waxing. Don’t worry about when you connect to it, the Moon won’t care what day it is. This is a rather unusual Full Moon geometrically for two reasons. First, two powerful patterns, a Kite Formation and a Castle, offer movement and strong foundation. When the planets form shapes like this, energy is more focused, powerful, and therefore transformational. Second, there’s what’s called an unaspected point (not entirely accurate, as you’ll see): the Moon and Sun at 17° Aquarius and Leo make no direct contact with any other planet in the solar system at the moment of exactness. Strange times bring strange lunations.
I rarely use Sabian symbols, though they are beautiful, channeled images from the last century that many modern astrologers embrace. Each degree carries an evocative image, and the one for 17 Aquarius is ironic: “A watchdog stands guard, protecting his master and his possessions.” This speaks to standing in our values, protecting home and safety. It implies there may be threats, but also assures that we are protected by forces both known and unseen. Keep this in mind during this lunation and in the months ahead.
With the Sun in Leo, awareness focuses on the self, so think leadership, creative expression, and the benevolence of the Sun itself, giving warmth, heat, and life. Leo invented joy in all its forms, and this mansion of the zodiac is ultimately about play and the dance life becomes when you own your center, like the Sun does in our solar system. Aquarius, by contrast, is about community and service to others. If Leo serves only the self, the Aquarius Full Moon is ready to strip away whatever blocks you from sharing your gifts, whether that’s excess ego and narcissism or fear and inhibition keeping you from stepping fully into your power. This axis always reminds us that personal radiance and collective service are not opposites, but partners. The more fully you stand in your own light, the more brightly you can help illuminate the way for others.
We are all striving toward an Age of Aquarius where all are cared for, even as conservative patriarchal consciousness rises in unprecedented ways. It’s called an extinction grab, when an old way is outdated, tries valiantly to remain relevant, but is destined to fall apart. But don’t expect Utopia too soon, we have way more dystopian things to move through, certainly this year and next year. I usually focus on the personal path, but these times demand that we also acknowledge the collective upheaval. No one will escape the profound impact of the radical changes ahead.
A Kite flies when a perfect equilateral triangle forms the base, with a narrower isosceles triangle extending from one side. The head of this Kite is Saturn and Neptune in Aries, so we’re flying high, led by responsibility and discipline (Saturn) and creative and spiritual inspiration (Neptune). The side points flanking Aries are the agents of change: Pluto in Aquarius brings slow, molecular transformation, while Uranus in Gemini signals revolution from the people (Gemini reflects populations). At the tail is Mars, making the Kite both personal and transpersonal. Mars in detriment in Libra can bring indecision and explosive anger over the next six weeks, so keep restraint close at hand. But understand, we all must carry the weight of all that is changing, and also keep our personal peace. This is hard.
If the Kite gives this lunation its lift, the Castle is what grounds it, a structure of stability and cooperation built right into the chart’s geometry. A Castle builds from a Mystic Rectangle, two Sextiles and two Trines forming a rectangular frame, with a planet splitting one long Trine into two more Sextiles. Think narrow house with a pitched roof. In this case, Pluto’s Sextile to Neptune and Saturn combines deep change with discipline, focus, and inspiration. Mercury Rx in Leo forms a Sextile with Mars, which integrates our walk and talk into the powerful setup. Uranus in Gemini is what is at the top of that angled roof, adding swift, revolutionary change to the whole configuration. This foundation allows us to work with power and authority, bring in inspiration from higher realms, and translate that into movement in body and mind. Though the passage we’re in is unstable, this pattern offers strength through balance. Stability may be tricky to embody, but that is the task: to find steadiness in unstable times.
The almost-unaspected quality of this Full Moon is rare. An unaspected planet sits at a degree without geometric connections to other planets or points. Here, the Sun and Moon float apart from the rest, while Saturn, Mercury, and Mars engage in the stunning shapes described above. It’s “almost” unaspected because the Sun will inconjunct the North Node and the Moon will inconjunct the South Node. Our conscious awareness sees where we need to go, and also what we must drop to get there. The Moon’s touch on the South Node takes the release mechanism of any Full Moon and turns it into psychic surgery, removing what needs to go.
This is one of those rare lunations where the geometry is as dramatic as the times. The Kite and the Castle give us lift and stability, while the unaspected Sun and Moon shine in pure, undiluted light, asking us to strip away what no longer serves and step into a more liberated, powerful self. In true Leo–Aquarius fashion, center yourself in your own light, but release what must go so you can offer your gifts to the collective. The landscape is volatile, and the work ahead is nothing short of revolutionary. If you can find your footing in the wobble, you can ride this energy into the future you’ve been aching to create. The Moon has the scalpel in hand. Trust what it’s cutting away, and have at it!
