This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, there is even more atmospheric weight bearing down on us. Welcome to Full Moon in Libra, 2018.
Saturn is the planet of time: rules, constriction, control. The Roman god Saturn finds his equivalent in the Greek god Cronus, who is remembered for overpowering—castrating—his own father, only to eventually be overpowered by his own son, Zeus. After Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, he threw his testes into the sea, which spawned Aphrodite, Venus, the ruler of Libra. The ancient Greeks associated Cronus with harvest and bounty. So we see that on one hand Saturn/Cronus brings themes of fertility, and on the other hand brings themes of power, domination and control.
At this moment, Saturn sits conjunct the planet Mars, named after the famous god of war. Both planets are situated in Capricorn, the sign of endurance, control, and the riches that come from focused and dedicated work. They both form a difficult angle, a square, to the full Moon in Libra. Square aspects are interesting because they simultaneously stimulate and then frustrate planetary energy. Squares between two planets show that these cosmic bodies are aware of one another, eyeing each other in the heavens, unsure of how to relate. The energy is often aggressive, or electric, like the moment before a combustion.
In addition to Saturn conjunct Mars squaring the full moon, we also are experiencing Saturn squaring the Sun, which puts pressure on our ego-selves. Saturn is about work. Saturn is about duty. Saturn in a negative aspect to the Sun makes us question the very nature of the work we have thrown ourselves into at this point in time. Increasingly through this transit, I have felt myself wondering what the point of my various projects are, where it is all leading. It has felt uncomfortable, like my whole body is a hangnail. Saturn is putting pressure on me, on you, on all of us, to get clear with ourselves about where we are going. He wants us to not just go through the motions of our day, but know why we are going through the motions. He wants us to get honest with ourselves about the merit of our goals, the validity of our ideas. Saturn is here to put pressure on your foundation.
One way of swallowing this bitter pill is to consider the pressure from Saturn as a tool that shows you where to next focus your energy. If you were working on a project that you thought was going well, and all of a sudden details are leaping to the fore that you hadn’t considered, this is the work of Saturn. If you are working on relationships to yourself or to lovers or friends or parents, and thought you had it figured out, only to find that there were issues still to address between you, this is the work of Saturn. It’s like shining a light on the structure of your life, not to be cruel, but to make sure you’re working toward self-mastery. Saturn is a master of completion and he wants you to be the best, most fertile version of yourself you can be.
Saturn has been in Capricorn since December 2017, and will remain there for the next three years. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, thus this transit is one where the planet feels most comfortable to be himself, and Capricorn themes of diligence, perseverance under pressure, perfectionism, earth connection, will be inescapable. But this is all in service of your own transformative power, of the tremendous strength locked inside you. Saturn gives us criticism, but he wants us to surpass his expectations. He wants us to grow.
All of this transpires under what would usually be a sweet, feathery, airy full moon in Libra. Perhaps the richness of this Venusian Moon can be a way through the Saturnine heaviness. Libra, a cardinal air sign ruled by Venus, is symbolized by the scales of justice. Libra is a sign that tends relationships and love objects like a garden of Eden. Libra is receptive to the home environment and to the needs of others, ruled as she is by love goddess Venus. With the tense state of those malefic planets above, we could use some Libran energy to melt things a bit, to find softness for ourselves, to remember that for every grain of rice placed on one side of the scale, Libra can help us find balance on the other side. As an air sign, Libra is quite intellectual, and this too can be a point of focus for us. The frustrating energy of Saturn makes us feel like we’re starting and stopping without making much progress. This full Moon in Libra can be a time where we turn to our intellectual guides, or find some way of engaging the rational mind as an antidote to the pressure of Mercury and Jupiter retrograde, and Saturn and Mars’s cosmic pressure.
Cardinal signs like Libra, Cancer, Capricorn, and Aries signify the beginning of each season they rule. It is a beautiful thing that this full Moon comes to us in the first days of Spring, just after the equinox. Cardinal signs are the best at beginning. They view the world as new and open, and so are unafraid to throw themselves into projects without fear of rejection or failure. This is also a beautiful and helpful energy to tap into this week. Remember that any project you started deserves that fresh eye of a cardinal sign. Remember that you are doing this work for a reason, and if you cannot honestly tell yourself the reasons for being on this path, perhaps it is time to change course. Guided in the time of Aries during a Libra full moon, a fresh gulp of air might be just what you need most.
Lovingly, from the space between balance and imbalance,
Your Celestial Hermit
-
This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, […] -
This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, […] -
This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, […] -
This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, […] -
This morning at 5:37 a.m., the full Moon bloomed in cardinal air sign Libra. This full Moon comes to us at a time of great cosmic pressure, with several uncomfortable squares from malefic planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (which can become malefic when aspecting other malefic planets). Given that Mercury and Jupiter are still retrograde, […]
NO COMMENT