Full Moon in Libra

Sunday evening, April 17

Sun in Aries, Moon in Libra, this Full Moon is deeper and more complex than it might appear at first.

Surrounded by surging Aries energy these last weeks, we've been caught up in currents of desire, anger, initiative, and action as warriors, pioneers and lovers stride in and out of our lives.

Aries, ruled by Mars, is a masculine sign. Fire is a masculine element. Aries, initiating fire, is the most yang energy of the zodiac, rash, brash, and burning.

Aries is Eros, primal desire ... and yet, eros is associated with the feminine, and the physical. In ancient philosophy, through the medieval scholastics, in alchemy, and in Jungian psychology, Eros, the principle of desire, was primal, unconscious, and associated with the woman, the anima. Through study and spiritual practice, we overcome Eros to move into a higher, purer principle.

That principle is Logos, the Word, the Platonic idea, which is Libra, the sign of this Full Moon. Especially when opposed by so much Aries, we tend to see Libra as feminine, the sign of grace, beauty and harmony, which it is. But Libra is also a masculine sign, and Air a masculine, yang element. Libran beauty is idealized and refined, the clear, satisfying beauty of pure thought. This is the principle Saturn in Libra embodies, as he's been valiantly holding the line against Aries' excessive zeal.

So one lens we can use to view this Full Moon in Libra is the difference between Eros and Logos as initiators. Is the universe created first in thought or in desire? Do we emerge from a concept or an impulse? In manifestation work, are we conceptualizing our intentions, or desiring them, into being?

It's not enough say "both," not at this Full Moon, because we're only asked again, which comes first? As with any opposition, a dynamic balance is needed that honors both. As with any Full Moon, each side is maximally illuminated by the other. Where we have been emphasizing one, the other will insist on attention. Where we have been ignoring one, it will not be denied.

Masculine and feminine energies reflect and refract each other in this Full Moon. The Moon is the mother, the feminine principle, and the body, the primal, unconscious matter from which we emerge. She calls to the primal fire of Aries to dance with her, yet she is in Libra, sign of pure thought.

the King and Queen

The Sun is the father, the masculine principle, the light we shine into the world, consciousness. He aligns with Logos, reaching for the objective clarity of thought, yet he burns in Aries, sign of pure action. What happens if we flip these two around?

Some cultures see the Sun as female and the Moon as male, a tradition reflected in feminine nouns for the Sun and masculine for the Moon. Patricia Monaghan's book O Mother Sun!: A New View of the Cosmic Feminine explores this theme, turning our contemporary ways of thinking inside out.

In alchemy, the resolution of polar opposites is accomplished through a series of dissolutions and transformations that culminated in a sacred marriage of the masculine and feminine. This journey describes a path of development we each can choose, exploring the roles and expressions of all the archetypes within us.

At this Full Moon, we see again a complex web of aspects involving all the planets, and the Nodes of the Moon. Everyone is in on this conversation, offering opportunities and challenges, clarity and delusion, invitations and refusals; in fact, the blooming, buzzing confusion of the world.

Raven Kaldera calls this Full Moon in Libra the Artist's Moon. As we encounter its powerful archetypes, may we also hear the voice of our muse, illuminating how we can find power and create beauty out of the stuff of our lives. In these intense times, the only way out is through.