The Archetypal Roots of Astrology: The Mountain Astrologer's Special Issue

Basking in the last rays of this morning's Full Moon in Leo, stepping into the organized task-oriented energy of a Virgo Moon, the perfect time to reflect on The Mountain Astrologer's current Special Issue, The Archetypal Roots of Astrology.

Always wonderfully insightful, this special issue arrived as I'm stepping into who I am as an astrologer ... archetypal! At a dream workshop eight years ago, using shamanic journeying to explore a powerful dream, an androgynous figure in gold and silver came to me, announced he was Mercurius, and said I needed to get to know him better.

That invitation led to alchemy, mythology, Jungian psychology––all past loves I happily revisited––and astrology, where I met Mercurius in my loaded third house, opening with a Mercury-Neptune conjunction. We've been exploring together ever since.

With this Special Issue, The Mountain Astrologer offers the threads I need to weave my shamanic work, Tarot reading, love of myth, Jungian and depth psychology, into my astrology practice in a stronger, more conscious way. This is what meeting the archetypes is all about.

Special Projects Editor Kate Sholly introduces the issue with her own encounter with the archetypal realm, tracing her path to a special collection that includes articles on symbolism, dreamwork, theater, alchemy, the Water houses, daimons, and Pluto, written by experts, explorers, poets, dreamers and fellow travelers on the path.

Each article is worth reading and re-reading. Jodie Forrest's "The Water Houses" tipped me into the deep waters of my own "aquifer beneath the chart." Dena DeCastro's "Pluto Transits: Alchemy and Initation" helped continue the process of understanding my recent Pluto square to my Sun which, accompanied as it was by a Saturn conjunction, pretty much leveled everything in my landscape. Alice O. Howell's "Pluto: My Descent" honors our encounters with this powerful transformer.

The archetypes are not isolated, appearing singly here and there. They are a rich matrix whose vitality and power highlight the links among the many intuitive languages we speak. In October, I presented a workshop at the online PsiberDreaming Conference on Astrology and Dreaming that opened up fascinating discussions of this intersection. So, Ariella Gutman's "Using Astrology and Myth to Interpret Dreams" is a wonderful beginning to what I hope will be more explorations of this particular connection.

Ray Grasse's "A Conversation with Laurence Hillman" led me straight to a copy of Hillman's Planet's in Play, which I've been reading during the lead up to this Full Moon in Leo. Seeing the planets as archetypal actors on an inner stage, looking for voice and expression in our lives––this is the Moon in Leo, calling us to step into the spotlight, bringing heart, passion, creativity and joy into the Aquarian world of astrology.

Moon in Virgo

Friday morning through Sunday morning

Tonight's Full Moon arrives in a blaze of fire that ends the Moon's transit through Leo and opens the waning half of the lunar cycle in careful, organized Virgo. Friday morning's dreams may be dramatic, but waking leaves us ready to sort out whatever happened and make sense of it.

phoenix rising

The Moon enters Virgo at 4:39am EST Friday, her opening aspect a flowing trine with Pluto the transformer, still in hard-hitting Capricorn. Having moved through the brilliance of the Full Moon, we're ready to surrender. The phoenix consumed in flame will be reborn in new form.

This transformative Moon transit through Virgo opens a dialogue on what Virgo is all about. Donna Cunningham at Sky Writer hosted a discussion of Chiron's role in Virgo led by Joyce Mason. Many astrologers note the affinity between Virgo and Chiron, wondering whether his healing archetype might be a better fit as ruler than scattered Mercury.

As Chiron moves into Pisces, it seems likely his role will be reassessed and redefined, illuminated perhaps by his conjunction with the Sun at this Full Moon. The Sun moves into Pisces Friday afternoon, reaching an exact conjunction with Chiron on Saturday that sheds more light on this question.

Friday also brings a square between Venus and Saturn, whose mutual reception (they sit in each other's signs) challenges us to consider how they feel the same, and how they are different. The planet of work, responsibility and karma is bathed in the energy of beauty and harmony, as the planet of balanced relating works through the energy of determination and steady effort.

Saturday, the Virgo Moon flows energy in trine with Venus in Capricorn while semi-sextile with Saturn, maintaining our focus on the square. Maybe work flows easily today and relationships are hard, as the Virgo Moon loves getting things done. Or perhaps we have the energy today to do what needs to be done in our relationships, even though it's difficult.

The Virgo Moon brings energy for organizing. If your weather is warming up, it might be time to prepare the garden, or sort out garages and basements. If not, well, tax season is upon us. Where's that paperwork gotten to?

Overnight Saturday, the Moon reaches conjunction with the asteroid Juno, ruler of equal partnerships. Again we look in a detailed, analytical way at where we are in key relationships, and what (if anything) needs to be done. The Moon's final aspect in Virgo is an opposition to Uranus, where we catch a glimpse of the big picture that might surprise us, before slipping into the Moon's time between times.

As the Moon moves through Virgo, her aspects and her position at the beginning of the waning cycle ask us to reassess. What needs organizing in our lives? Where are our service and attention most needed? Where can we heal? The Moon enters harmonious Libra at 4:01am EST Sunday morning.

Moon in Leo

Wednesday morning through Friday morning

The Moon steps into the Leo spotlight early Wednesday morning (4:14am EST), and flows energy in trine with Jupiter in fiery Leo. This is a day for strong feelings and high courage; a day when awareness allows us to move into creativity and heart-centered passion, deftly avoiding emotional excess and drama.

Thursday, the planets align for the Full Moon in Leo, a complex and powerful pattern of aspects involving all the key players. This Full Moon will be a performance to remember.

Early Thursday morning, the Sun conjuncts Neptune, joining our core selves with cosmic dreams and visions, in the sign of radical insight. With the Sun's light and Aquarius' clear thought involved, this could be a great night for lucid dreams.

Lucid dreaming has had pretty mixed press lately, with reports it's a method for escaping reality, or imagining we have superpowers to control our lives. Rather, lucid dream is a disciplined practice focused on increasing our awareness, bringing light and consciousness to what is dark.

As Thursday unfolds, the Moon begins with a flowing sextile to Saturn in Libra, balanced and responsible thought speaking to passionate feeling. Then the oppositions to the Aquarian cluster begins with the asteroid Ceres, and moving to Mercury, Mars and Neptune.

This Leo Full Moon comes with a strong focus on Aquarius, with five planets clustered there. This allows us to think in clear, innovative ways about whatever this Full Moon brings up, while adding extra emphasis to the Leo-Aquarian polarity.

At this Full Moon, we have Fire and Air, elements of movement and high energy. Like any element pair, they're essential to each other but dangerous when unbalanced. There is no fire without air, and no wind without warmth. Too much air either extinguishes flame or creates an inferno; too much fire consumes all available air, extinguishing life.

With Leo and Aquarius, we seek the balance between head and heart, between thinking rationally and staying with the ground of our feelings. We also look for the balance between self and community, the constantly negotiated boundary between following our heart's desire and meeting the needs of our communities.

Since this Full Moon falls in the last degrees of Leo and Aquarius, the characteristics of each sign are intensified. In the print edition of The Mountain Astrologer, Stephanie Austin reminds us this is the last of the series of five Full Moons falling in the last degrees, in which each polarity has been heightened. It's also the first of six SuperMoons coming this year, in which the Moon is at perigee, her closest approach to Earth, and at syzygy, aligned with the Earth and Sun.

Because it falls at the final degree, the Full Moon initiates the Moon's time between times, ending her transit through glorious Leo. The Full Moon arrives at 3:36am EST Friday morning. If this has been a winter of discontent for you, allow the brilliant illumination of this center stage Moon to open new doors of perception and understanding.