Full Moon in Pisces

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 24, the Moon is full at 1:04pm EDT in early Pisces, sign of visions, dreams, and our longing to merge with something larger than our individual selves. Pisces feels connected always to all that is, empathic, sensitive and intuitive.

At the Full Moon, the Moon and Sun are opposite, their point of maximum illumination, looking each other full in the face. This intense dialogue takes place across the wheel of the zodiac. For this Full Moon, the Sun is in early Virgo, sign of practical details, careful analysis, and grounded action.

These signs share a devotion to service and a willingness to lose the self in the process. Their ways of perceiving, knowing, and acting are rather different. Pisces senses energy and emotions, resonating with people and situations like a delicate tuning fork. Virgo is hands-on, collecting and analyzing empirical data, carefully building a picture of the whole from a detailed understanding of the parts.

When Pisces is skillful, she moves energy in healing and calming ways without losing her own boundaries. People feel better just being with Pisces, sometimes without knowing why. When Virgo is skillful, she quietly and efficiently manages the practical details of life without criticizing. People find what they need ready to hand, sometimes without knowing how it got there.

Pisces and Virgo seek balance between the cosmic and the tiny, embracing the beauty and majesty of the whole without losing the wonder and fascination of the individual parts. Each can get lost without the other. Virgo reminds Pisces that universes exist in a grain of sand. Pisces gently redirects Virgo's view to the stars.

Once again, we see the Full Moon connecting with complex outer planet patterns. The Moon conjuncts Neptune and Chiron, emphasizing the Piscean connection to dreams, visions, creativity and healing of this Full Moon.

The Sun and Moon flow energy in trines and sextiles to the Nodes of the Moon and to transformative Pluto.

The Full Moon's relationship to the Saturn opposition to Jupiter and Uranus is complex: The Sun shares an edgy energy with Saturn, and looks for adjustment with Jupiter and Uranus. The Moon shares edgy energy with Jupiter and Uranus, and looks for adjustment with Saturn.

This Full Moon will illuminate issues for us in whichever House it appears in our birth charts, in relation to birth planets and points it touches, and in areas related to Pisces. Are we aligned with the natural flow of energy in our lives? Are we connected to spiritual or intuitive guidance in ways that nurture our spirits? Where in our lives does the balance between the big picture and the small detail need to be illuminated? Auntie Moon sees this Full Moon as a time to honor our need for sanctuary as we ponder deep questions.

With the emphasis in the sky remaining in cardinal signs, focused on initiating, acting, moving forward, striking out on new directions, it's good to note that this Full Moon falls in mutable Water and Earth, energies that are receptive as well as flexible.

Pisces and Virgo wish to serve, not to command. Creating webs of relationship among the more prickly and demanding archetypes, perhaps this Full Moon will point the way toward balance among seemingly incompatible forces, and illuminate ways in which we can bend gracefully, maintain our center, and dance with the universe.

The images of the spiral galaxy Messier 81 (today's Picture of the Day), of the dandelion clock, and of the dancer stretching are from WikiMedia Commons.