Full Moon in Aries: Red Alert!

Fiery Full Moon!

Full Moon in Aries
7:38 pm EDT, October 18, 2013
12:38 am GMD October 19, 2013

OK, peops, head up and stay awake for this one: There's a Full Moon overnight Friday, October 18 and it comes with a partial lunar eclipse and it's in the fiery sign of Aries and it's conjunct the asteroid Eris who's the goddess of turning things upside down. So. Here. We. Go.

Remember, Full Moons are illuminators, the bright lights highlighting exactly what we need to look at. It's easy, at this Full Moon, to go with gloom and doom. Eclipses are more than a bit foreboding when predicting world events, and the aspects to this Full Moon could be read as, shall we say, alarming.

But, you know what? I'm just not in the mood for the kind of apocalypse where everything goes to hell in a handbasket and we stand around with the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments and all that.

So, I say, let the red alert be us! Let's go with the energy of Aries as the initiator born anew every Spring, the one who can't sit still because the world is way too exciting, the one who blazes a new trail, the one who lights up the sky.

Aries is the sign of passion, the pulse of life and the thrill of being alive. Aries is courageous, lives from the heart, and laughs out loud. This is where I want to be for this Full Moon.

That said, I would add this is one of those "go high or go home" events. No sitting on the sidelines. Drag out that birth chart, and see where this Full Moon will be lighting up your chart.

The Full Moon arrives at 25 Aries, with the Sun at 25 Libra. It's squared by Jupiter at 19 Cancer, making whatever happens bigger. The Sun is close enough to the North Node to create the partial lunar eclipse, bringing destiny into the mix. Pluto and Uranus are really close to their next exact square, amping up the transformative power.

This is a Full Moon likely to push buttons. Mine, yours, everyone else's. So check out what issues are likely to be front and center for you:

• Anything in or around 25 degrees of any sign will be affected, especially the cardinal signs of Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn.

• Anything in the same House as the Full Moon in your birth chart, whether it's in the same sign or not, will be affected.

• Anything in Aries or Libra may also feel the fire, depending on how far away and how strong a placement it is.

At this Full Moon, it will be tough to keep the lid on, or sweep things under the rug. Instead of getting all anxious about that, let's grab the bull by the horns and ride that tiger ... let's split those infinitives and mix those metaphors with gay abandon.

With a Moon like this on our doorstep, we can try diving under the covers, or we can say, bring it on. Looking at what comes up will be a great way to see where we're hiding, either from old hurts holding us back, or from our own magnificence.

This is the Hunter's Moon, a name that comes from the fact that we'll see this amazing Moon for several nights in a row––which happens because of the angle of the Moon relative to the ecliptic at this time of year, and which ancient people recognized as a great change to hunt whatever was needed before the cold winter set in.

We can be hunters too. As we head into the shadowy time of Samhain and the darkness of winter, we can first take this bright opportunity to track down what we need to heal, to embrace and to celebrate. This Full Moon fuels the introspective time to come, ensuring that Spring will indeed arrive with new wonders to be witnessed.

Yes, this Full Moon will be exciting, challenging, fiery, and bright. It's that wonderful?
    

On the Road: From the New to the Full Moon

... on the road ...

Crescent Moon in Sagittarius
October 8, 2013
9:04 am EDT / 2:04 pm GMD

First Quarter Moon in Capricorn
October 11, 2013, 7:02 pm EDT
October 12, 2013, 12:02 am GMD

Gibbous Moon in Pisces
October 15, 2013
5:29 am EDT / 10:29 am GMD

Full Moon in Aries
October 18, 2013, 7:38 pm EDT
October 19, 2013, 12:38 am GMT

"Oh, I'm on the road, I know I am ... " ––Cat Stevens

Tomorrow brings the Crescent Moon, the first hurdle when the cosmos poses the question, "Those New Moon wishes you were after making ... were you serious about those, at all?"

Today we're in deep emotional territory with the North Node, Mercury, Saturn, Moon and Venus all in shadowy Scorpio, and Venus in the last, emphatic, intense anaretic degree right now. So, whew, give yourself a hug and pay compassionate attention to whatever comes up.

Tomorrow's Crescent, now, that's a different kettle of fish entirely. The Moon and Venus will be together at 0 Sagittarius, ready to head out onto the open road and see what happens.

The Moon and Venus will be squaring Neptune in Pisces, as if to say, we don't care if it's cloudy, we don't care about the fog and the mist, we've got our lanterns, and whatever happens, we'll find our way. And that half-square back to the Libra Moon is just enough to push the Moon out the door on her quest.

Tomorrow, the Sagittarius Moon will trine Uranus the revolutionary trickster (tomorrow) and later in this waxing cycle, Venus in Sag will make her own trine. We're on an adventure, and the Crescent Moon's heart and hopes are high. Courage up, everyone! The world's an amazing place, after all, filled with wonders and magic. Now's the time to open our eyes and see what we're being offered.

"It's a dangerous thing going out your door, Frodo ..." ––Bilbo Baggins

Which is not to say everything will be easy. What fun would any journey be without some trolls and dragons along the way?

The First Quarter Moon brings a T-square. By definition, the Sun and Moon are square, the Sun maintaining a lovely equanimity in Libra, the Moon having moved into harder-edged Capricorn. At this First Quarter, we'll also see Jupiter in Cancer opposing the Moon and squaring the Sun.

This First Quarter reminds us of the ongoing need to maintain good balance between the masculine and feminine energies that were so strongly squared off at the New Moon. The Sun in the sign of balance squares the Moon in her own opposite sign of Capricorn with Jupiter broadcasting strongly from the Moon's home sign of Cancer.

Male and female, masculine and feminine, father and mother, god and goddess, and all they represent: the First Quarter square asks, are we in balance? If we found balance at the New Moon, are we learning to maintain it, embody it, live it?

The Gibbous Moon in Pisces brings a different reminder. Saturn continues to hang out with the North Node in Scorpio, where Mercury readies himself for his final retrograde for this year. The is not a vacation trip we're on, but a journey of transformation. We're going deeper into who we are and what our lives are meant to be.

The Scorpio group is getting energy in trine from Chiron the wounded healer, who remains in Pisces. The Gibbous Moon land right between Chiron and Neptune, conjuncting both and trining the Scorpio group.

Misty Pisces offers both spiritual insight and enticing illusions. Are we seeing clearly? Are we on the right path? Where's that lantern we brought with us? In the end, it's our own internal compass we must rely on, which will always point us to our own true North.

The Full Moon (which I will explore more deeply later) will be in Aries, the energy that knows with absolute clarity which way to go. At the Aries Full Moon, it'll be full speed ahead. Take the time these next weeks before we get there to enjoy the first stages of this new journey.

In a way, this waxing cycle is the shake-down hike. We're already deep into our transformational program, and yet there's a sense of newness, of wonder, maybe with a bit of fun. No one's forgetting the seriousness of the times or the challenges, and the reminders are right in front of us.

And yet, there's laughter, even if the joke is sometimes at our own expense, and healing, and new vistas head.

What's that around the corner there? Let's go look ...
    

New Moon in Libra: Delicate Balance

New Moon in Libra
October 4, 8:35 pm EDT
October 5, 1:30 am GMD

Libra, ruled by Venus, bringer of balance, of harmony, of cooperation and diplomacy, oh, we need you now!

We find ourselves in the midst of transformational energy so intense the word "crisis" does not seem too strong:

This New Moon opposes revolutionary Uranus in impetuous Aries, and squares Pluto the alchemist in intransigent Capricorn.

Also squared by edgy Lililth, and widely squared by Jupiter, both in inflexible, needy Cancer.

Meanwhile, Venus in dark Scorpio and Mars in passionate Leo continue their square-off.

Which means there is a lot of take-no-prisoners energy around, insisting we change everything, completely, yesterday, and then change again. Relationships, especially, can feel hard-edge and downright unworkable at the moment.

So what do we reset at this New Moon? What new beginning do we hope for, what wishes do we make?

Libra, we're sometimes told, is wishy-washy, a people-pleaser, codependent. Surely we're not being asked to simply give in, give up, and follow along, are we?

No, we're not.

This Libra New Moon brings a very different energy––a path of brinksmanship, the ability (f needed) to tell someone to go to hell so he looks forward to the trip. Right now, that's the level of diplomacy we need, and Libra has it.

Sometimes, of course, we're mired in difficult inner dialogues. It's within ourselves where negotiation is needed, and a new balance needs to be found.

That's OK. Setting the intention to find a place of harmony and beauty within is perfect for this New Moon.

For those challenging outer world conversations... this is the New Moon to wish for understanding, new perspectives, creative problem solving, diplomatic skill, and balanced outcomes. If we don't need it in our own lives, we can send the energy toward our governments, whose skills in empathy, as well as cooperation, seem sadly lacking these days.

We're poised at a difficult time. Mercury has entered Scorpio, heading into his last and most shadowy retrograde. Another exact Uranus–Pluto square arrives in early November (previewed at this New Moon). Change is inevitable, not optional.

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    –– Yeats, The Second Coming

This Libra New Moon offers hope, which is more than Yeats does in his evocative poem. At this New Moon, we set our sights on a new center, a place where all voices are heard and, more, listened to. We make wishes for insight, for creativity on a grand scale, and for heart.