Shine—Full Moon in Aquarius—August 19th.

Shine—Full Moon in Aquarius—August 19th.

Darkness will always give you an opportunity to create your own light—Iain Thomas.

 

August’s full moon arrives trailing appellations: She’s a Supermoon, a Blue moon, an Aquarian moon.

In these dog days of summer, as Sirius, the fabled Dog Star rises with the sun and Venus shimmers at sunset, this full moon blazes close to the earth and for a fleeting moment, softens the rough edges of this world with her shine.

In a world that so often steals our ability to see any light, this full moon arrives at a peak point astrologically. Today, a graceful celestial duet commences as Jupiter in airy Gemini (growth, expansion, optimism, hype and misinformation) squares Saturn in watery Pisces (discipline, effort, limits, finality, contraction). This marks an all-penetrative change in tempo. An opportunity to create our own light even when the world around us seems so dark.

This choreographed dance across the night skies repeats three times: August 19^th, December 24^th (Jupiter Retrograde 14° Gemini and Pisces), and June 15^th (Jupiter exulted at 1° Cancer and Saturn in fall at 1° Aries.)

This transit calls for cautious optimism and determination. Saturn transits arrive as the henchmen of stasis that often thwart our efforts to move forward. Yet they present as circumstances that grow us up, if we’re willing to learn. Jupiter brings bold vision, big possibilities, and the opportunity for self-enquiry as we carefully consider what will truly fulfill us. This is about the slow build towards a future that will feel more aligned, more authentic. If we are on the precipice of a big decision, these coming months will require thoughtful planning, patient vision holding. If we are feeling stagant or stuck, we might use this time to rest, enrich our connection to spirit. As we let go of the heaviness or fear,  perhaps we might become more compassionate and accepting of our imperfections, validate the small incremental steps that allow us to revive our energy, define ourselves once more.

This Saturn/Jupiter cycle was seeded at 0° Aquarius on the December solstice of 2020. This alignment marked the start of a pivotal period for humanity as we emerged from months of stifling restraints that prohibited our innate need for touch and connection.

Pluto has been energising this generative 0° Aquarius point  this year. We have already glimpsed the future: civil unrest, cancel culture, fanaticism, waves of migrants and homelessness, and the naïve belief that the new gods of technology and AI will offer redemption. Yet there is still so much goodness in this world. The innate kindness and generosity of so many who ask, “how can I help”? When the world looks so dark, let’s remember that Martin Luther King once famously said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

This big-bodied moon makes an unsettling square to Uranus, wild card of the zodiac. Look for  signposts and signals, embrace unexpected news that might shed light on a blind spot. Find the courage to take that momentus U-turn, that in hindsight, “was for the best.”

Mercury Rx times typically highlight setbacks, detours and delays that challenge our resourcefulness, hone our ability to be grateful for small wins.

One day before this lunation, in the lead up to the US Democratic Convention, a charismatic Mercury Retrograde in Leo is “cazimi”, nestled in the heart of the sun. When Mercury is re-forged in a tight alignment with the sun, it is bathed in the strength and vitality of solar fire, escorting brilliant ideas, effortless solutions, hightening our ability to think counter-intuitively. “The real heroes of race and culture would always be the people who stepped out of their own line to make a larger circle,” writes Naomi Shihab Nye.

The tail end of August’s dog days offer the potential for quiet introspection and attentive, practical planning. Mercury is Retrograde August 4^th-28^th moves from Leo into the sign of Virgo, as we bring our attention to the little things that make up the hours and days of our lives. Virgo presides over our health—what we ingest into our bodies and into our minds.

Past and future intersect this over-heated summer. For those who have planets or angles between 26-28° Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, this energy might manifest quite literally as an epiphany: a sudden, unexpected turn of events that compels us to redirect our plans in unexpected ways.

From Bangladesh to Butler Farm, Southport to Venzuela, it’s been an impassioned summer. We witnessed the ruthless, destructive, chaotic symbolism of the volatile Mars/Uranus/Argol conjunction portrayed in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13^th. Uranian symbolism infuses the race to the White House as Kamala Harris takes to TikTok, and Swifties mobilize in support.

On July 19^th, Mercury entered its shadow phase and came into square with the separating Mars/Uranus conjunction—a symbolic and literal electrical overload. A global IT outage reminded us of all of the fragility of our reliance on technology.

The horror of a mass stabbing of young girls and their teacher at a dance workshop in Southport on July 29^th froze a nation. Communities circled in grief. The moon and Uranus met in the heavens and a garrulous Mars in Gemini raced towards Jupiter, ratcheting up malicious misinformation, algorithms roused primal fear. Archaic xenophobia in deprived areas of the UK, where the scourge of poverty is the real villain, was deliberately unseen by millionaire politicians and the billionaires of Silicon Valley.

Wild winds whipped up fires in the suburbs of Athens as temperatures soared on August 12^th as the destructive energy of Mars combined with the largesse of Jupiter in airy Gemini.

Stock markets shuddered while glossy wolves of Wall Street gobbled up more profit.

The celebratory combative Mars/Jupiter combination was depicted in the triumpant, combative and courageous sporting achievements of the Olympian gods and goddesses.

Venus and Saturn form a tense T-square, activating the Mars/Jupiter conjunction from August 16^th-19^th, dismantling what has reached breaking point, illuminating situations that must change. This is about faith over fear as things fall apart: as we leave a stultifying job, move to a new city, finally have the strength to keep moving towards what feels authentic. 

 

The vibratory signature of this grand finale Supermoon may light the way to a flowering of purpose, a deeper way of listening, a different way of seeing, an outward rush of a life force that floods through us even in the darkness. “Despair is our chance to wrestle with fire and come through,” writes Christina Baldwin. Trust. Don’t let go.

There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this―Terry Pratchett

Please get in touch if you would like to book an astrology consultation: ingrid@trueheartwork.com