• A HELLUVA FULL MOON!

  • Showing love in an unconventional way…

    On the 31st January we’ll witness an exceptional lunation:

    A Full Moon

    A Blue Moon (second Full Moon in the same calendar month)

    A Super Moon (closer than usual to the Earth and visibly much larger)

    A total Lunar Eclipse (the first of this year’s series)

    Naturally, a Moon like this could only occur in the zodiac’s most flamboyant sign at 11°37’ Leo!!

    Leo is a Fixed, Fire sign. In traditional astrology Leo governs the 5th house, so this Full Moon operates on the 5th-11th house axis (Leo-Aquarius): the things we create for our own personal satisfaction (including our children) vs our group efforts, the artist vs the scientist, the autocrat vs the democrat etc.

    It’s time to shine as we put our emotions into the spotlight as suggested by the tight Moon-Ceres conjunction whilst keeping at the same time a rather detached attitude to love as the Sun-Venus conjunction, in the opposing and unconventional sign of Aquarius, advises. A Full Moon in Leo could also give us a transient emotional mood for extravagance or for showing off!!

    Full Moons are also known to be times when things climax, when we decide that enough is enough for certain aspects of our life because we avert an intensified conflict between two major areas of our life and we need to find a way to honour both. They shine a light on the area that is “hidden” and in this case, in traditional astrology, all matters concerning the 5th house and the sign of Leo. This is certainly more evident when the Full Moon closely aspects any personal planets or angles in your chart and it also depends on the houses involved in your individual chart.

    Author, Raven Kaldera, in his book “Moon Phase Astrology” calls this Full Moon

    “The Queen’s Moon”

    and he encourages us to take charge of a situation or become leader for a day or failing this to do something nice for a woman who is in a position of power in public life.

    The last lunar eclipse at 11° Leo was 21st January 1999 (but of a different Saros cycle)

    What was going on then for you?

    Whilst Solar eclipses manifest as external events in our lives, Lunar eclipses indicate more intimate, emotional changes which could of course still manifest as external events if the brooding that accompanies our innermost vicissitudes causes changes to our behaviour at an individual level. Such events are in fact brought about by our own thoughts and feelings.

    Personally, I consider only the conjunction and opposition aspects (the square only if the Sun or Moon is affected in your chart) and orbs should be less than 2°.

    This Eclipse (like the next Solar one) belongs to the Saros series 1 South* which according to Bernadette Brady heralds the expression of new ideas which are sure to bring positive reactions (if it touches your natal chart).

    Eclipses can be considered as a “spotlight” on the matters of the house axis where they occur in your chart (particularly so if personal planets or angles are involved in the eclipse degrees). It shines its light and brings to our attention those areas of our lives that need to be addressed for some reason. Dealing with these matters, once identified, could lead to a life-changing event in some cases. However, since events under eclipses are often unexpected and sudden it’s not always possible to prepare in advance but having a notion of the matters of the houses interested in the event could give us inkling as to where the disruption might come from.

    The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 12° Leo: “An evening party of adults on a lawn illuminated by fancy lanterns:” Indicating group-relaxation in fashionable surroundings as an escape from work routine.

    For the Sun at 12° Aquarius: “On a vast staircase stand people of different types, graduated upward.” Indicating the necessity of recognizing differences of types and levels of development whenever human beings live and work together.

    “Don’t let someone dim your light simply because it’s shining in their eyes.” Karen Salmansohn

    Bibliography

    *to learn more about the Saros cycles “ Brady B (1999) “Predictive Astrology, The Eagle and The Lark”, chapter 5 Eclipses and Saros Cycle, pp 334-335, Red Wheel/Weiser LLC, San Francisco CA USA

    Kaldera R. (2011) “Moon Phase Astrology” pp. 216-218, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont. USA

    Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. pp. 138-139 and 256-257, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA

    Image: Lunar eclipse – Al-Burani—Moon phases and Leo arab illustration

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