February 16 11:56 AM EST
This is a very interesting full moon that serves as a bridge between the dominant energetics of the first month+ of 2022, and the upcoming months. 2022 began with a number of backwards-looking retrogrades and a continuation of the strong focus on Capricornian matters such as government, rules, regulations, bureaucracy, and authority figures. By the time this full moon roles around, Mercury is blazing forward and has re-entered Aquarius where it is positioned at 1 degree of Aquarius. It is still, however, conjunct to transformational Pluto at 27 degrees of Capricorn. So the Plutonian element is still strong and 27 degrees of Capricorn is an important degree which I will come back to momentarily. Pluto is connected to the ‘underworld’, where all manner of things that are secret, private, hidden, manipulative, deceitful or shameful are buried. Pluto oversees the process of the “dark night of the soul”, both personally and collectively, whereby these aspect are slowly revealed to the light to be seen, acknowledged, healed and transmuted. While this collective transformation has been ongoing for decades, it was deeply catalyzed by the Saturn Pluto conjunction in January of 2020 which kicked off the past several years of change. We have been in a significant “dark night of the soul” collectively for the past several year, but we are now entering a new phase of it.
Venus and Mars, the cosmic lovers, are exactly conjunct at the time of the full moon, at 16 degrees of Capricorn. In the average calendar year, Venus and Mars only unite one time, but due to Venus’ recent retrograde, the planets meet up twice this year, and within weeks of each other. This Capricorn conjunction, at the time of the Leo full moon, is a preamble of their next exact conjunction on March 6th at 0 degrees of Aquarius. 0 degrees Aquarius is the same degree where Jupiter and Saturn met in December 2020 for the Grand Conjunction, a reset of the collective energetic for the next 20 year period. Hence, this upcoming 2 week period, influenced by the Leo full moon, is an excellent time for closure and endings of all kinds related to financial, governmental and business matters. By March and April we will be wanting to move our attention to the new.
But before Mars and Venus move into Aquarius and unite at 0 degrees on March 6th, they both pass over Pluto. And hence on March 2nd, Mars and Venus both pass over Pluto and form a very potent triple conjunction at 27 degrees of Capricorn. We could see the rewards of past actions writ large, and unexpected things can easily come to the surface. That also happens to be the day of the Pisces new moon! So we will talk more about that in the next blog post, but once again we can see this lead-up full moon in Leo as a time to reassess where we have been over the past several years and what we are willing to take a stand for now. At its highest, Venus knows its own values and Mars is ready to take action to put those values into action. When unified harmoniously, they are a “dream team” at getting things done with maximum ease and highest reward. That sense of clear personal purpose is our north star in the upcoming weeks and months, first as we tidy up business related things, and then as we set plans in motion for the future.
Leo itself is the sign of confidence, courage, self-expression and playful romance. It wants us to shine and open our hearts to our own creative gifts and talents and to share them with others. It wants us to connect to others from the heart level and take risks when we feel inspired. At 27 degrees of Leo, the full moon is exactly quincunx to Pluto at 27 degrees. A quincunx is a ‘minor aspect’ which I rarely delve into these posts, but because of the depth of nuance and transformation happening now, it is worth addressing the energetic spectrum of the quincunx from Leo to Capricorn. At its highest capacity, a quincunx can unite very different energetics (Capricorn and Leo) towards harnessing their mutual gifts and skills and combining them effectively. This could look like showing great heart and taking a risk for our passions (Leo), while also understanding how to be mindful of not ‘rocking the boat too much’ and making our overtures palatable to more pragmatically oriented individuals (Capricorn). At its lowest, a quincunx between the full moon in Leo and Pluto in Capricorn, highlights a deep incompatibility between our ability to express ourselves authentically (Leo) while also being able to ‘take care of business’ (Capricorn). It should be a goal of ours during this upcoming 2 week period to straighten out any wrinkles of conflict we may feel along these lines. That way, when Venus and Mars unite with Pluto, we have the opportunity to act in mature and thoughtful ways (Capricorn) that are also true to us and our individuality (Leo).
All of these Capricornian/Saturnian themes are duly reinforced by the fact that the sun is still loosely conjunct Saturn (which is at 17 degrees of Aquarius), and hence Saturn is also loosely opposed to the full moon. During the new moon in Aquarius which kicked off this lunar cycle, the sun moon and Saturn were all tightly conjunct. Saturn’s pivotal role during this entire Aquarius season reminds us of the fact that collective change (Aquarius) is often challenged by the ‘ruling elites’ (Saturn), and that in order to progress most effectively in the development of our own unique authentic selves (Aquarius/Leo) we must also work and live productively within the existing social and political structures (Saturn). Saturn is, after all, one of the co-rulers of Aquarius, and Aquarius’ visionary impulse must be translated through Saturn’s filter of pragmatism and durability. And all of the themes of the 3 year transit of Saturn in Aquarius are extra-highlighted now.
At 27 degress Leo/Aquarius, the full moon itself is the final aspect that the moon makes in Leo, which in essence makes this a “void of course” full moon. This reinforces it as a time to clean up loose ends, and to work on resolving any inherent tensions we may be experiencing along the aforementioned Leo/Capricorn quincunx spectrum. This will serve us very well when we feel called to take bigger risks and rely on both our faith and our pragmatism, in the upcoming months.
*art by @sarashakeel
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