Aquarius Full Moon, 2023: Illuminating Shadows

The Moon will reach full phase on August 1, 2023 at 11:31 on the West Coast, at 9°15’ Aquarius, the first of two Full Moons this month.

Aquarius is a curious place for the moon to pass through for a couple of days each month. The Moon is watery and fast-changing, whereas the style of Aquarius is dry and stolid. A Full Moon in Aquarius shines its light on things in a relatively objective way, lending a feeling of detached interest.

The Leo Sun and Aquarius Moon are both of the fixed mode. Each of the 12 astrological signs is grouped in one of the three modes, or ways of being: cardinal/initiatory, fixed, or mutable/changeable. The fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) have qualities of consistency and staying power.

On August 1, the Sun and Moon in the fixed signs of Leo and Aquarius will be moving toward a tense 90-degree square aspect with Jupiter, now in Taurus all this year. Jupiter in Taurus is an invitation to stay put, relax, and enjoy abundance wherever one finds it. Yet with the Full Moon and the Sun making a square aspect with Jupiter, there might be a transitory feeling of stress, a pressure to take on too much or to succeed in a material way.

Aquarius is one of the signs that has two planetary rulers. Modern astrologers assign Aquarius to the far-out planet Uranus, correlating Aquarius with innovation and rule-breaking individualism. But for most of astrology’s multi-millennial history, Aquarius has had just one planetary ruler, Saturn, the planet furthest from the Sun that is still visible to the human eye. Saturn represents past conditioning and also our processes of growth and maturity over time. I like to think of Aquarius as ruled by both Uranus and Saturn because every Aquarian-type person I’ve known has seemed both quirky and rebellious while also wedded to some traditional ideas.

The two rulers of Aquarius, Saturn and Uranus, both play prominently at this August 1 lunation.

Saturn will be facing off with Mercury, the planet of thoughts and speech, meaning that it’ll be wise to watch out for harsh words and arguments over boundaries and rules.

Uranus, in the midst of its seven-year transit through the fixed earth of Taurus, will be receiving a friction-y square from Venus in Leo. The transit of Venus in Leo plays a starring role this summer and fall as Venus is in is in one of its periods of retrograde motion from July 22 to September 3 (followed by a “shadow period” into early October).

 With Venus in Leo forming a square with wily Uranus, some kind of unusual relationship dynamics may pop up. You might find yourself doing something extra fun and romantic, or changing your appearance. Leo is a sign of creativity and re-creation, so strike while the iron is hot, as they say.

Neither the Venus/Uranus square nor Venus’ period of retrograde motion is a cause for any alarm. Classically, during a Venus retrograde period, you might run into a love interest from the past, in person or metaphorically. (On July 22 just as Venus was turning retrograde, my current boyfriend was looking through my personal files and found a stash of 1970s love letters from my high school boyfriend. Ha-hah.)

In anyone’s natal chart, the placement of Venus by house, sign and aspects with other planets points to who and what you love, and your style of loving. Venus’ significations include how you spend your money, and who you spend your time with. Money and time are values, and it’s right to make judgments. Venus invites discriminating wisdom: not this one, not that one, yes to this one.

It is fitting at this Full Moon time that the Nodes of the Moon have recently moved to the signs of Libra/Us and Aries/Me. On August 1, powerful Pluto, now in the final degree of Capricorn, will be square to the lunar nodes, pressing precisely on quandaries about what is “ours” and what is “mine.”

Venus in Leo is guided by Leo’s ruling light, the Sun. When the Moon, at its full phase, reflects the Sun’s light unhindered, there stands all of one’s shadow material, all waiting to be illuminated.

Blessings for the Aquarius Full Moon!

~ Sara 

Sara Diamond

Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.