The Full Moon in Aquarius is exact at 11:25 am PDT. When the Sun is in Leo, we are focused on how we shine at the individual level. Leo invented all the joyful aspects of living in a body. Personal creative expression is front and center, and our capacity for leadership is heightened. Leo invented things like children, sex, play, hobbies, and all the ways we serve ourselves. Leo is ruled by the Sun, which is at the center of our solar system, and so in this mansion we are at the center of all of our considerations.
In the opposing sign of Aquarius, it’s all about the community. The Water Bearer (the origin story of Aquarius) has the hero know something’s missing, go on a trek, find water, and bring the life-bringing elixir to the community, starting life itself, which needs water to thrive. When these two sensibilities oppose, there is a transcendent third created: A life of service. This is where we know our individual gifts, and we clear out whatever keeps us from knowing what our individual gifts and talents are, and then bring them to the world in service to others.
There is so much happening alongside this Full Moon, but I will start with the T-Square with Uranus that is exact. The Sun and Moon are at 27-degrees of Leo and Aquarius, the Uranus is splitting this Opposition exactly in half, at 27-degrees of Taurus. This is a setup for this lunar cycle – and these few days in particular – to bring about sudden and unexpected changes and shifts. This is that anything-can-happen-and-probably-will sensation that Uranus is known for. Be flexible as you go, during this Full Moon itself, and for the rest of the lunar cycle. Things are shifting fast, and there may be some sudden endings and changes in direction that this Full Moon is taking us through, and there may be things that rise up you did not see coming.
Jupiter and Saturn are in an exact Square in this Full Moon. Back at the end of 2020, that profoundly transformative year, Jupiter and Saturn both entered Aquarius at the exact same moment, and they came together by Conjunction. Any Conjunction between two planets is like a New Moon: It’s the beginning of a cycle. Now they have moved into their first Square since that Conjunction and this Full Moon may be pointing to breakdowns and challenges in projects and desires that rose up back at the end of that transformative year. Certainly, this lunar cycle is marked by difficulties in creating things because we need both structure (Saturn) and expansion (Jupiter) to manifest, and in this lunar cycle, they are in conflict. We may struggle this year (this transit hits again in December), so try and remember that sometimes it takes some conflict and challenges (and time) in order to build things that last.
There are other Squares in this lunation. Mars and Jupiter are still close enough together that we are fired up in whatever we are trying to make happen in the world of expansion, abundance, and generating more of what we desire, and this Conjunction holds all our hope, possibility, and excitement for this moment and the future we are trying to build. But they both are holding a T-Square with Venus and Saturn. We talked about Jupiter/Saturn above, but a Square from Mars to Saturn tells us we are in a lesson, and there may be breakdowns, delays, and frustrations built into this Full Moon. Mars (and Jupiter) Squaring Venus puts passion, intensity, and emotional friction into these few days as well. Venus Opposing Saturn slows us down so we don’t miss the lesson, but even that is an energetically bothersome transit. It’s a bumpy Full Moon for sure.
Mercury retrograde is all over this lunation. Yesterday was the Inferior Conjunction, where the retrograding Mercury and the Sun come together at the midpoint of the backward journey, delivering us some important info from the unconscious about whatever is going on under the surface in our process. Mercury is also Squaring Uranus, which means our minds are up for sudden insight, but also breakdowns and instability in our communication.
If you glance back to the third week in July, there may be themes in this Full Moon that first rose up as last month was ending. And no matter how you slice it, this Full Moon is being made more intense for us because Mercury is retrograde, and some of what is rumbling below the surface during this lunation will not be made clear to us until Mercury goes direct later this month, and wraps up his cycle in September.
We are in an interesting moment in our healing journey as reflected by Chiron. In Aries, the Great Healer has been helping us burn through our wounds, and we have a Full Moon where we are not bumping into the wounded self, but ready to let some things go that hold us back because of healing we have recently been through. Simultaneously, things we release right now will take some of us in entirely new directions down the line, because the Sun and Mercury are creating a Finger of God with Neptune and Pluto right now. The Sun and Mercury are holding the Great Eliminator angle with both Spirit and Power (Neptune and Pluto), and this pattern allows us to receive assistance from higher realms. Small releases now lead to very different territory ahead, though again, we may have to wait for Mercury to complete his cycle before we truly know where this Full Moon will take us.
So back to the Sun in Leo, where we are all captivated by our personal experience of Self. The Sun integrates all that happens around it, and so the Sun is completely capable of understanding all that is happening in the system around it. But now think of Aquarius, and the demand to release anything egoic or narcissistically self-focused that keeps you from all this powerful integration being focused on the ways you are of service to others. This Full Moon addressed the other side of the coin as well, so if you feel inadequate to the demands of your life right now, let this Full Moon help you release anything that inhibits you from knowing your true worth, and sharing it with the world.
I have used this quote in the past, and it always applies during an Aquarius Full Moon, and I leave it here for you to consider as we move through this bumpy and powerful lunation. This is from Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet and teacher. It goes, “I slept and dreamed that life was joy, I woke and found that life was service, I served and found that service is joy.” This is the foundation through which I live my life. Won’t you join me in this sentiment and understand that a life of service is the best way to meet this otherwise brutal journey. Have at it!
