Agent Amor – Margaret Gray

The Core Theme for this Full Moon = Love ourselves and Love others

This Full Moon is the second Full Moon within a month and hence is commonly called a Blue Moon. These occur approx. every 2.7 years and the next one will be in 2018.

Effectively the Full Moon in Capricorn on July 1st and this Blue Moon, form a symbolic set of bookends for our emotional experiences during this period of time. Playing around with the potential symbolic meaning of the colour blue, it can be interesting to notice what we commonly associate with it on a personal, collective and cultural level.

In nature, blue is commonly the colour of both the sky and the ocean, with a huge variety of different shades on a scale from cold to warm and from deep and dark to light.

Emotionally we often describe ‘feeling blue’ as feeling a little sad which may in part derive from feeling somewhat ungrounded in our body and on this earth plane as the sky and ocean are removed from the Saturnian plane of matter. Blue is often associated with the element of Metal which in the Hermetic tradition, is transformed into gold when transmuted by the passion of warm fire. Astrologically we equate blue with Air, which brings detachment and objectivity and is located in the mental realm of communication. Verbally, in the western world, we commonly use the term ‘out of the blue’ as something that occurs suddenly and unexpectedly and ‘once in a blue moon’ as describing an infrequent occurrence.

The above themes are reinforced in this full moon as it is in the Air sign of Aquarius, which we generally associate with emotional lunar comfort through detachment and a somewhat intellectual observation of the interior emotional realms. This Moon in its essence is also naturally idealistic and tends to find satisfaction through its contribution to the greater expansion of the collective.

The opposition to the fiery Sun in Leo, invites an integration between the Solar principle of individuation based on self-love and the ability to also be cognizant of the needs of the greater whole. During this time, the individualistic, albeit generous Sun in Leo, is also reminded by the quincunx to Neptune, that we are a unified part of something greater. One of the greatest contributions by Jung of course, is his work on the importance of the process of individuation to enable us to fulfil our soul purpose on this planet of matter. Through initially individuating and separating from our family and tribe of origin, we can more easily tune into our individual (Leo), soul/heart purpose. Once this process is sufficiently underway, we can recognize our oneness, whilst staying on course with our soul purpose.

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Writing these notes on my way back from the International Astrology Conference in Perugia, Italy, I have been thinking about the presentation by Eleonora and Marino Cortese on ‘Astrofisiognomica’. In their talk they reminded us of the three stages of life we all need to go through as part of our human development: dependency, independence and finally the realization of interdependence. The latter is the most challenging as it requires a sufficient level of completion of the initial two stages. Otherwise we are likely to unconsciously recreate life situations where we seek to complete incomplete stages, until they are sufficiently resolved.

Without a doubt we are in new times and hence this Full Moon, which is taking place against the backdrop of Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn is awakening us almost on a daily basis individually and collectively to a new way of being based on self-empowerment. However, what can easily be forgotten is that the playful nature of Aries most enjoys shared, rather than solitary adventures and that the ultimate aim of the adventure is to create something fairer and more equal. This theme is strongly reinforced by this Full Moon in Aquarius. Within this context some helpful questions to consider include the following:

What stage is predominant in my life at the moment – dependency (on family of origin, work, relationship, money, substances…), independence (rebellion and rejection of family, friends, relationships, connections…) or interdependence (balanced and self confident open hearted relationships and interactions with family, friends, spouses, partners etc., balance of work/relaxation, mind/body/spirit…).

The other important note that is playing in the background right now, is the last stage of the dance of the Nodes in Libra and Aries inviting us to focus on justice based on balance as well as compromise and individuation, before they move into Virgo and Pisces in November. There, the focus will shift into service based on the recognition of oneness. Without a sense of having an individual self the invitation by these new nodal positions could prove somewhat challenging, as we may struggle to fully be of service for fear of losing ourselves. Hence, this last part of the current nodal journey invites us to embrace our Martian sense of self at its best, so that we can allow ourselves to comfortably compromise.

One of the very interesting and important features of this Full Moon is that it is occurring within the context of 5 Retrograde planets – Pluto, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Saturn + Chiron. They are all revisiting previous territory in the arenas of power and self-empowerment, spiritual inter connection, values, ideals, fears, blocks, self-understanding and self-healing. Hence, there is a lot of depth work taking place in our unconscious. The two Retrograde energies that we are more likely to be consciously aware of presently are Saturn in Scorpio and Venus, who is currently in Virgo, on the threshold of moving back into Leo on Aug 1st.

Forming a quincunx to this Full Moon, Venus is getting ready to walk back into the fiery realms of the heart, inviting us to explore the arenas in our life where our self-value would benefit from some strengthening. With the latter, we may be held back from stepping forward into being of service when it returns to Virgo on Oct 9th. Reinforcing the ideals of the Full Moon in Aquarius, Venus in Virgo reminds us momentarily, that ideals need to be grounded in practical efficiency in order to manifest in the world of matter. In light of the coming Venus/Jupiter conjunction on Aug 5th it may be helpful to explore the following questions:

Where might we be overcompensating for this in other areas?
What part of our self-value is real and which part is based and dependent on feedback from others?
Is the feedback feeding our ego or our core sense of self value?
What can we do to strengthen our self-value a real way within ourselves?

As the Moon in Aquarius is more comfortable shifting rapidly into our thinking function and observing feelings, rather than actually feeling them through the physical; and emotional realms, dropping into our heart with the help of the Sun in Leo, can help to access our body and feelings at this time.

Although it is slightly out of orb, the opposition to Mercury which is also in Leo, can offer an opportunity for truthful heart-centred communication.

On a Global Level:

The core Leo invitation to open our hearts was highlighted very clearly and concretely by the recent sad slaughter of the beautiful and much loved lion Cecil, in Zimbabwe who was lured out of his safe and protected sanctuary in order to be killed for a high price by an American dentist. It seems that if our hearts cannot be opened by the ongoing deaths of humans, animals will continue to sacrifice themselves in the hope that we may finally awaken to the extremes of what the absence of love can result in.

Institutional abuses of power continue to be highlighted on an almost daily basis within structures, particularly within the Police force as well as in the financial sector, as was evidenced in Greece over the past few weeks. However, the amazing work of other institutions, such as firefighters and rescue agencies has also come to the fore. Here in Ireland, hundreds of members of the public took time off work and drove down to Baltimore in Southern Ireland from all directions with their boats and diving expertise to help to find the body of a young man who had drowned whilst trying to save his girlfriend and father. Watching the funeral procession through the town with many of those who had generously helped in the search, was a reminder of the Leo and Aquarius at their best.

Some Tools to work with during this Full Moon time and throughout the rest of the month:

Reassessing what friendship means for you and enjoying some fun times with likehearted and likeminded friends
Reconsidering which areas of life you would like to be of service in – what is your contribution to the collective?
Expressing heartfelt thoughts and feelings through a creative medium

Who is most likely to resonate with these energies?

If your Sun, Moon and/or angles are between 5’ and 8’ Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio and/or Taurus you are more likely to resonate with this Full Moon. If you have planets between 14’ and 29’ Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio and/or Taurus you are more likely to resonate with the Venus Retrograde themes.

Some final thoughts on this Blue Moon:

The grand trine in water which includes Mars in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces, reminds us that although this Full Moon in the Airy sign of Aquarius may not feel very emotionally laden on the surface, there is in fact a deep well of feelings coming up from some of the deepest parts of our unconscious ready to be understood, healed and integrated. This is beautifully described by the Sabian symbol for this Blue Moon which is: ‘Beautifully Gowned Wax Figures On Display’ which begs the questions: what is on the inside? Is it real? Is it alive? Where is the passion?