The Moon will reach its full phase at 27° 14” Aquarius on August 19 at 11:25 a.m. Pacific time. The Full Moon in August was traditionally nicknamed the Sturgeon Moon because this was a time when fishing was plentiful in the Great Lakes of North America.
Any Full Moon time is a call for balance. When fully illuminated by the light of the Sun, the Moon reveals all that might otherwise remain in shadow. When the Moon is full in Aquarius, the Sun is in opposite sign Leo. Aquarius and Leo have in common the fixed mode of being: stable, if not resistant to change. Fiery Leo, with a healthy ego, basks in creative expression and attention from others. Aquarian-style individualism is more about contributing, with or without recognition, to the well-being of groups and societies. As an air sign, Aquarius’ style is cerebral, rational, even detached.
One astrological take on the Aquarius Full Moon is that it’s a time of rebelliousness. Modern astrology casts the Aquarian style as unconventional, inclined to break through barriers. That’s because modern astrology considers Uranus to be Aquarius’ “ruling” planet. Uranus was the first of the invisible, far-out planets to be discovered, in 1781, with the advent of telescopes. Before that, for millennia Saturn was known as the ruler of Aquarius. Saturn is the planet of limits and structures, symbolic also of old age and death.
My own preference is to think of Aquarius as having dual rulers, both Saturn and Uranus. Paradoxically, the symbolisms of Saturn and Uranus contradict themselves, like Aquarius does: combining old and new; set in its ways while also seeking to reform; betwixt and between.
On August 19, Aquarius’ modern ruler Uranus will be the focal planet of a tight t-square with the Leo Sun and the Aquarius Moon. Uranus is currently at 27 degrees of fixed earth sign Taurus, the same degree of the Leo Sun and the Aquarius Moon.
A t-square is an aspect of uncomfortable pressure as it includes an opposition (the Sun and Moon in this case) with those two opposing forces in 90-degree tension with a third, focal planet, in this case Uranus. The August 19 Full Moon t-square, focused on unpredictable Uranus in Taurus, spells emotional volatility and entrenchment.
To work with a t-square, whether in your own life-long natal chart or with a quick transit like a Full Moon, a remedy may be found in the sign opposing that of the focal planet. Opposite Uranus in Taurus right now is Scorpio, the fixed water sign.
Scorpio is like the still, dark water at the bottom of a lagoon. The medicine of Scorpio is an invitation is to muck around in the stuff that’s bothering you, to inquire and dredge up what lies unconscious into the light of awareness. Scorpionic processes make me think of the fertility of compost and a quip from the late, revered Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hahn: No mud, no lotus.
There’ll be another t-square in play on August 19, this one mutable, with Venus in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces and both Venus and Saturn square to Mars and Jupiter in Gemini.
Jupiter is the planet of wide-open vistas. Saturn says: not so fast. The square between Jupiter and Saturn is like having one foot on the gas and one on the brakes. Movement is stalled, yet with these two in mutable signs, change is inevitable. The square between Jupiter and Saturn is part of the long, 20-year cycle between these two “social” planets, seen to be heralds of trends in the world. With Jupiter and Mars as the focal planets of the square from Venus and Saturn, there’s pressure on expansive Jupiter and warrior Mars in the Geminian realms of speech and ideas. All of this is to say that the mutable t-square indicates ongoing bellicosity—verbal, if not physical—seeking resolution.
Gemini’s opposite sign, Sagittarius, gives a clue for resolution: focus, like Sagittarius does, on the big picture, the forest more than the trees.
Meanwhile, on August 19, Gemini’s ruler Mercury is still moving retrograde in fiery Leo and will be making a fleeting opposition with the Moon in the cool airs of Aquarius. This Mercury/Moon opposition offers a brief chance to think rationally, maybe even to think before talking. Mercury, on August 19, will be just past the midway point of its current retrograde period (August 5–28). These past few weeks, decision-making may have been slow or erratic.
Midway through a planet’s retrograde period comes a moment of renewal, when the planet conjoins with the Sun as it starts a new cycle. The moment when a planet meets the Sun is called cazimi, a medieval astrological term derived from Arabic, meaning “as if in the heart of the Sun.”
Mercury enters the heart of the Sun three or sometimes four times a year, during each of its periods of retrograde motion. Mercury cazimi is a magical moment—if you tune in to it—a rite of purification for the mind. On the evening of August 18, Mercury will enter the heart of the Sun just as the waxing Moon will be approaching its fullness, appearing as if full in the sky.
You might imagine yourself to be like the great god Mercury, known in the Greek pantheon as Hermes, the Winged Messenger. Hermes moves between this world and others, carrying souls to their next destination. Imagine yourself to be like Mercury, entering the Sun’s temple of light in a moment of mental clarity, ready for what this Full Moon might unveil, for you.
Blessings for the Aquarius Full Moon and with prayers for peace,
~ Sara
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.
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