In the Pacific Time Zone, the Moon will be full at 11:10 a.m. on Monday, August 7. With this Full Moon, the Sun in Leo will be in opposition (180°) to the Moon in Aquarius. To further clarify how this Full Moon will impact you on a personal level, locate 16° of Leo and 16° of Aquarius in your birth/natal chart. The issues associated with those two houses are going to be most impacted by this Full Moon’s presence.
With this Full Moon in Aquarius, we begin a series of two eclipses that will likely leave many of us changed. Whether we are changed for the better or worse is entirely up to each of us to decide for ourselves. Many astrologers are foreshadowing times of intense interpersonal, ego-based conflicts, especially with the upcoming Solar Eclipse on August 21, but to a lesser extent during this Lunar Eclipse. Any time Leo’s energy is involved, the needs of the ego can come to the forefront. However, as with all astrological events, my belief and experience is that we get to choose how we will engage in this energy. We can choose the highest expression of the energies involved . . . or not. The choice is always ours!
All Full Moons challenge us to find a balance between the qualities of the two signs involved, which in this case are Leo and Aquarius. Being a Lunar Eclipse, it is an extra powerful Full Moon that will be influencing us for the next six months, until the next Lunar Eclipse. Leo and Aquarius are both fixed signs, which means we are ready to get down to work on something, and the Full Moon means we need to find a healthy balance, and preferably a blend between the qualities of these two powerful (and yes, fixed and therefore stubborn) signs. Leo is about the individual expressing itself in the world in a unique and creative way. Aquarius is about finding a way to serve humanity so we may progress on our evolutionary path as a collective whole. So, the blending of these two energies often involves deciding to use our special gifts and talents to serve the greater good.
The challenge is to not get lost in the shadow elements of either sign, which can happen during a Full Moon. With Leo, that can involve an excessive need for approval from others and a conscious or unconscious creation of drama, drama, drama! For Aquarius, the shadow side can include being scattered or spacy, and/or we can feel responsible for the world and neglect self-care. We don’t need to achieve a perfect balance between these two signs every day in order to make progress. Overall, we simply need to move in that general direction. It will help if we strive to be an example of leadership infused with love and self-respect. Leo says we shine brightest when we believe in ourselves and what we have to offer, and Aquarius reminds us that this needs to come from a place of humility and service.
As was true with the last New Moon, Mars is still conjunct (0°) the Sun; but this time Mars is in opposition (180°) to the Moon. The presence of Mars is providing us with the courage to take necessary action in a positive direction. Many of us are feeling the intense, fiery Leo energy right now. Not only is the Sun and Mars in Leo, but so is the North Node. For some, this is like a shot of espresso. If you channel this energy appropriately, it can serve you incredibly well. For example, I’m moving to a new apartment literally on the day of this Full Moon, and this is unexpectedly occurring during one of my busiest times of year. I can’t believe how much I’ve been able to accomplish in the last few weeks while the Sun and Mars have been conjunct in Leo! However, others (and even myself at times) are feeling worn down by the relentless energy and even jittery or having trouble sleeping. And some, especially in the political arena, are expressing the aggressive side of Mars. Again, we have a choice; we can use the energy productively or we miss an opportunity to get something major accomplished. And given the Aquarius Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse, the best use of all this energy is to find a way to be a heart-centered leader who serves humanity through the use of our gifts and abilities.
The transiting Moon is in a wonderfully supportive trine (120°) with Jupiter, which means it’s also in a sweet sextile (60°) to the Sun. Jupiter brings hope, optimism, and the ability to see the bigger picture. With the Moon in Aquarius and Jupiter in Libra, that means we have ample air (i.e. mental!) energy to help objectively sort out what is going on and see what path into the future best serves us and others. It will also help us view our ego in an objective way and not get carried away with an excessive need for pride that can even veer into arrogance, which is Leo’s lower expression. With the North Node in a wide conjunct (0°) the Sun, we are being reminded that we need to move forward into the future developing the gifts that make us shine (Sun) rather than choosing a path that might feel safer or more comfortable.
Now is also a good time to assess what in our lives might be draining us of life energy. With the Moon being a wide conjunct (0°) with the South Node, we may experience emotional changes that are more likely to involve endings than beginnings. This culmination of some energy in our lives is essential for us to move forward on our life path toward the lessons we were meant to learn in this lifetime (North Node). And given the involvement of the Aquarius Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse, we are being reminded that our path needs to be fully aligned with our heart (Leo).
Right now, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Chiron are all in retrograde. And Mercury is about to join the retrograde club (see below). That’s a lot of retrograde energy! This means that some of the changes we will be experiencing may be internal, only to be expressed externally once some of these planets begin moving direct again later this fall. For now, we may need to look back into the past (or have the past find us) in order to do some healing work. The goal here is completion that leads to new beginnings.
The work of “finishing up” is reinforced by the third and final square (90°) between Jupiter and Pluto. Although exact on Friday, August 4, this event will be influencing us for at least a week (or even two) before and after the actual event. The first two squares occurred in November 2016 and March 2017, respectively. It may be helpful to look back at those time periods. It’s likely we were becoming aware of something we had outgrown and needed to let go of. Given aspects occurring back then and the fact that this is a square between two powerful planets, this awareness may have come through contentious interactions with others. Jupiter often involves our beliefs and Pluto brings deep transformational change. Therefore, it is likely that over the course of these three squares, we have changed some fundamental belief systems. For many, these insights have involved finding a better balance between our personal and business worlds or between the needs of others and our own needs. In order to move forward, it is very likely that we had to leave behind various relationships and even part of our identity (i.e., how we were viewed by others and/or how we viewed ourselves). We also had to take a serious look at how we deal with (or don’t deal with) power in our lives (both our own and others).
An interesting minor aspect becomes exact on Friday, August 11. It’s a semi-square (45°) between Uranus and Neptune. The last time these two outer planets were in aspect with each other was back around 1987 when we experienced the Harmonic Convergence. This was a time when a number of planets lined up and a great deal of spiritual energy was projected onto the Earth plane. This resulted in the quickening of humanity’s ascension process. During that time, many “Lightwokers” began to “wake up” and take steps on their evolutionary path. This semi-square is the next step in our process as individuals and as a species. We may be assessing how far we’ve progressed during the last 25+ years with regard to our spiritual development. It is also a time when we may feel nudged to make decisions about where we are going next. As always, we have a choice to stay where we are, however, semi-squares tend to make us feel unsettled and urge us to at least consider doing something different. But the impact may be subtle at first, almost like a whisper in our ear from the Divine saying, “Hey, have you considering coming over here and trying this?”
The next day (Saturday, August 12) is when Mercury begins its next retrograde phase. Good news: This retrograde period is unlikely to be as unsettling as others, and it will more than likely actually aid us during this eclipse season. Mercury is in Virgo, which is its home sign. If we are needing to get organized, now is a good time to go inward and get all our ducks in a row. Yes, we could allow the Virgo energy to get out of control and become overly critical of both ourselves and others. But a more positive use of this energy would be to spend time rethinking and reviewing what has recently been going on our lives, especially if it has to do with our day-to-day work environment, service to others, and/or our health (Virgo).
And the next day (Sunday, August 13), a trine (120°) between the Sun and Saturn will help us feel grounded and ready to take action toward a specific goal. With Saturn involved, any progress may be slow, but it will definitely be steady. Taking responsibility for our choices and our actions is essential.
Overall, this Aquarius Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse are asking us to explore how we may be dimming our light or avoiding the use of our gifts. Especially with the upcoming Solar Eclipse on August 21, we will all feel pushed to “step up” and find new ways to serve, and to serve with our heart and not from an ego-based position. After this eclipse season has passed, the next few months will likely find us increasingly unable to hide in the shadows denying who we are or what we are here to do. We need to shine our light brightly and unapologetically. If we can’t do that, we need to get the outside support in order to work through our blocks because humanity needs us now. This is why we came to the Earth plane at this important time. Each of us was given gifts to use with our family, friends, and our society. As spoken by Mahatma Gandhi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” But we need to always remember to take care of our own needs and love ourselves unconditionally first, because only then do we have anything left to give to others.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE NEW & FULL MOON REPORTS?
If you are not already on our email list, please be sure to join so you are guaranteed to receive her New & Full Moon Reports.
THIS BLOG POST WAS WRITTEN BY
- Anne Reith, Ph.D. (AnneReith.com)
- For information about Dr. Reith’s downloadable ebooks and meditations, feel free to visit her online Store
SOME INFORMATION TAKEN FROM
- The Mountain Astrologer (magazine)
- Various online sources (e.g., www.cafeastrology.com)
REMINDER
- New Moons and Full Moons often influence us for the 3 days before and 3 days after the actual event.
FULL MOON
Full Moon at 16° of Aquarius
- Monday, August 7, 2017, 11:11 a.m. PDT
- Monday, August 7, 2017, 2:11 p.m. EDT
- Monday, August 7, 2017, 6:11 p.m. GMT