A Full Moon in fiery Aries: A SuperMoon (larger than usual) and a full lunar eclipse transform this Harvest Moon into a Blood Moon. Could the cosmos do more to focus our attention?
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September’s Full Moon arrives on Sunday the 27th at 10:50 pm EDT (Monday morning in Europe and parts East). What illuminations can we expect from the larger, bright, yet shadowed luminary?
This Full Moon offers contradictions and double messages that could feel like one hand giving while the other takes away. We’ll feel compelled to move, shake things up, break set. At the same time, a cautionary hand on our shoulder warns against rash action.
Instead of a frustrating accelerator-and-brake feeling, go with this ancient motto: Festina Lente: make haste slowly. From ancient Greece, through classical Rome, the motto of the Medici’s, the mark of a famous Renaissance printer, this motto neatly packages the contradiction of this Full Moon in a way that works.
Aries, sign of the Full Moon, is energetic, vital, impetuous, impatient, and a risk-taker. At a Full Moon, he’s ready to argue, start a punch-up, and bleed. The Sun opposes in calm and diplomatic Libra, soothingly suggesting a cooler approach.
Take a peek at the Full Moon chart to see how emphasized these two signs are:
The Moon is conjunct the asteroid Vesta, and trickster Uranus and asteroid Eris, goddess of discord, join him in the sign he rules. Lots of edgy fire here. The Moon is also conjunct the South Node.
The Sun sits with the North Node, Mercury, and asteroids Juno and Lilith, also strong energies. Aries and Libra are the strong base around which this Full Moon chart organizes itself.
Mars, the combative Aries fighter, is aligned with the South Node of the past, what has been, what we’ve already tried. Yes, this is the Full Moon and focus of our attention, but it has a been-there-done-that vibe. Libra, which is harmony, peace, creative solutions, rests in harmony with the North Node, the way forward, the thing we need to learn.
Remember too that Mercury is retrograde and only five degrees from opposing the Full Moon. This is a time to RE-flect, RE-think, RE-group and do all those “re” things that keep us from going too fast.
In a significant shift this week, Saturn finally left Scorpio (and won’t be back for thirty years). Now he’s in Sagittarius. Saturn is the original stick-in-the-mud, the lord of patience, restriction, prudence, and slow cooking. And now he’s in Sagittarius, an energy of expansion, movement, liberality, optimism.
How will this work? Well, festina lente. This combination will ask us to look before we leap, to get decent structures in place to support our movement. So, yes, we do finally get to move, but let’s figure out at least a few of the basics, OK?
An example: I’ve been struggling all this year to find an approach to revising my writing, and feeling pretty stuck about it. In the last month or so, I found structures that feel good and seem to work. There’s wind in my sails. I am hoping, finally, to make way and move faster.
At this Full Moon, Saturn in Sag is squaring off against Mars in Virgo. How’s that for more festina lente? Mars, ruler of Aries and this Full Moon, wants action. But Virgo is prudence personified. A square from Saturn could stop everything dead, but Saturn is in Sag, so we move, we definitely move, but we’re careful.
With Jupiter also in Virgo still opposing Neptune in Pisces, we may not be able to see the way forward too clearly anyway. Jupiter and Neptune in aspect bring wonderful creative visions, but clarity may need time to develop.
This Full Moon carries a powerful intensity. Her light will show where movement is possible. Her mystery and gravitas will help us wait until the opportune moment to make our move.
Another thing to note about this Full Moon: It falls close enough to the beginning of Aries to stimulate what’s known as the Aries point, the place in our birth charts where new things emerge. So, I always recommend finding where each Moon falls in your birth chart. This time, the Full Moon points to where new stuff bubbles up all the time.
My Aries point lies in my 8th House, a place of mystery and transformation. I am hoping this Full Moon will illuminate how I can connect more deeply with my creative source, and develop my ability to bring projects into being more easily and with less angst. That’s where my attention will be on Sunday night.
I love the ancient emblems for the festina lente motto: The dolphin, swift and playful, wrapped around the anchor that holds us back but also keeps us from drifting aimlessly. The slow and careful turtle with the wind-filled sail on his back. The hare emerging from the snail shell, who I imagine as energized by his time inside that spiral home.
This Full Moon carries a powerful intensity. Her light will show where movement is possible. The eclipse stretches the influence of this Full Moon over the next six months. Her mystery and gravitas will help us wait until the opportune moment to make our move.