Breaking Through: Full Moon in Libra 2021

Full Moon @ 08 degrees Libra 18’

Marc h 28, 2021

11:49 AM PDT

2:49 PM EDT

This month's Full Moon in tropical Libra has a significant social dimension, highlighting relational/communicative interaction and a mental flow that can give rise to notable ideas, conversations, and perspectives. The Full Moon's culminating nature can also correlate with breakthroughs, turning points, and resolutions in various relational categories from friendships, business partnerships, and love/sexual relationships.

Libra's archetype symbolizes how we forge connections between other people, sentient beings, and disparate elements. An emphasis on beauty, peacemaking, and creativity are inherent to the Libran domain. Look for opportunities to empathically seek another's perspective, experience, or point of view and increased sensitivity to attractive people, objects, and experiences.

Adding to this is Venus' inferior conjunction with the Sun correlating with serendipitous encounters and the culmination of seemingly fated connections, projects, and endeavors. All of this can lead to a significant breaking through of relational barriers providing the potential to reach beyond typical experiences and interactions.

Some challenges of this lunation might lie in a struggle to find common ground, especially in foreign environments. Chiron's conjunction to the Sun and Venus and opposition to this lunation will inevitably add a magnification of perceived flaws, defects, or insecurities in how we relate or come off to others.

However, given the culminating/releasing nature of the Full Moon and Full Venus, there is also a powerful potential to rapidly heal such wounds or perceived defects through a shift in perspective. Look for the attainment of new levels of connection or taking bold risks that lead to an increased ability to love ourselves and others. When it comes to Chiron, it often boils down to seeing our wounds as actual sources of power and strength.

Dreaming in the Deep: New Moon in Pisces 2021

Photo by Chad Woodward, August 2020.

New Moon @ 23 degrees Pisces 04’

March 13, 2021

2:22 AM PST

5:22 AM EST

This month's lunation occurs in tropical Pisces just as Mercury leaves the retrograde shadow zone. You will likely find that many of the setbacks, delays, detours, and glitches encountered over the last several weeks will begin to dissolve beyond this New Moon. And while new potentials are emerging, absolute clarity or certainty are not hallmarks of this New Moon, so move ahead with some level of caution.

This Piscean New Moon conjoins both Venus and Neptune, two archetypes that, especially in combination, strongly relate to idealization, romanticism, and experiences of unity. As always with astrology, such themes can have both positive and negative manifestations, so be mindful of both.

On the negative side of this lunation, we need to be mindful of failing to see the reality of a relationship, opportunity, or situation that emerges or reaches a turning point under this New Moon. Be wary of falling for facades that might obfuscate potential pitfalls or more complexity that might not be obvious from surface appearances.

Under such a combination of archetypes, one might act or respond in an overly emotional manner and not critically assess what's going on. Temptations might be all the more alluring, so be aware of that reality, especially concerning anything begun now. Additionally, some can effortlessly slip deeper into harmful, escapist outlets.

On the other side, however, romantic idealism, creative visualization, and various outlets for exploring the fantastic are not all inherently self-destructive. Consider also the capitalistic and materialist bias against legitimizing anything "non-productive" or absent of utilitarian value.

Neptunian experiences can open us to incredibly numinous encounters that can inspire, awaken, and spiritually invigorate. Most things that humans eventually enact or create begins with some visionary process--the revelation, idea, or image that arrives in a moment of mundane transcendence.

The Venusian component to this lunation brings in the creative, aesthetic, and relational. In consideration of what was mentioned above, relational interactions may not be what they initially seem. Still, they can also be our entry point for encounters that challenge materialist assumptions. This New Moon has the potential to, albeit briefly, open our hearts to soulful encounters and experiences that awaken us to beauty, mystery, and reverence.

The New Moon's sextile to Pluto also correlates with the amplification of cathartic emotional experiences providing a brief moment where more profound levels of connection and feeling pervade the collective. Be mindful of this over the few days surrounding this New Moon, as sensitivity is magnified and interest in the hidden, obscure, and incredible can become compulsive.

Yet, this New Moon may also be a refreshing break from the tension-filled lunations of the past several months, a moment to disconnect from limiting conceptions or routines, and a chance to restart one's faith in the inspirational or uplifting. Look for boundary dissolving experiences, especially in connection to others, that allow a momentary glimpse of a more idealized or even hyperreal reality from the usual day-to-day.

Getting Better: Full Moon in Virgo 2021

Photo by Chad Woodward, August 2020.

Full Moon @ 08 degrees Virgo 57’

February 27, 2021

12:17 AM PST

3:17 AM EST

With the Sun and Venus now in Pisces, this Full Moon in Virgo briefly highlights these two signs' polarity. There can be a momentary tension between the Piscean proclivity for the transcendent, mystical, or fantastical and Virgo's more grounded, earth-based pragmatism. Yet, conflicts are also opportunities for integration, where the Virgo/Pisces polarity can bridge the numinous and the mundane.

As with every Full Moon, you'll often note a significant turning point flavored by a sense of something budding, culminating, or resolving. Think peak experiences but with a Virgo quality: seeing the results of hard work/effort, organizational strategies reaching efficiency, or a greater sense of competence, skillfulness, or usefulness.

Something you've been working to improve or perfect could reach a critical milestone under this Full Moon, aided along by a sudden surge in progress or a light-bulb revelation. Uranus' trine to this lunation is brief but dynamically innovative and liberating. And Venus' opposition from Pisces adds the ability to more effectively make connections across time and space.

However, Mars' wide square also poses a challenge that can incite aggression and aggravation as much as it pushes for action, bravery, and assertion. Mars can also correlate with taking the initiative in getting better organized or finally putting together an effective self-improvement strategy. Nit-picking, fault-finding, and overly critical assertions can peak, so be wary of such tendencies in yourself or others.

Two quincunx aspects to this Full Moon from Chiron and Saturn also form a unique yod configuration. The Virgo Full Moon is the focal point, adding a symbolic layer suggesting that for the sake of healing and tending to responsibilities, we might feel inevitably compelled to get our lives in better order. A sense of fate might be at play surrounding this.

The Virgo archetype embodies the humility required to get better at anything. To step up and improve, we have to admit that whatever we're doing or wherever we're at isn't quite at that perfect place (despite perfection never really being a realistic goal). Those admissions, confessions, or realizations can come erupting forth alongside this Full Moon, so take notice and correct the most essential or critical. Yet, on the flip side, those steps we've already taken and those admissions we've previously made can also bear significant fruit.

Alternate Paths: New Moon in Aquarius 2021

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; Photo by Chad Woodward, August 2020

New Moon @ 23 degrees Aquarius 13'

February 11, 2021

11:07 AM Pacific Standard Time

2:07 PM Eastern Standard Time

As this month's New Moon arrives, we are given greater space to move more freely. With Venus, the last inner planet to clear the Saturn/Pluto conjunction zone, a significant layer of personal and collective weight has been lifted. Symbolically, this New Moon brings with it fresh currents to filter and clear any stagnant air in the form of new ideas, conversations, and perspectives.

Occurring in tropical air sign Aquarius, there is an emphasis with this New Moon on distinct Aquarian themes: individuation, collaboration, alienation, and innovative maneuvers. And with six objects currently occupying this sign, the Aquarian archetype dominates the moment.

One critical piece of this lies in Uranus and Mars' square to the Aquarian cluster zone. The inherent Aquarian polarity of individuation/alienation becomes significantly louder here, adding friction necessary to draw new distinctions between oneself and the tribe.

Yet, also at this moment, the individual and its agency, subjective experiences, and unique points of view can easily get drowned out and lost. Thinking for ourselves can be challenging when inundated with endless objective data points to reflect on. Groupthink or a herd mentality are pitfalls of Aquarius, in addition to apathy or antisocial tendencies.

As with every New Moon, there is something beginning to take hold, tangibly as much as psychically. Perhaps that represents a step forward in the direction of greater individuation, embracing new ways to think and act in accordance with authenticity. Mars' square compels action and initiation through the prodding of personal and collective agency.

Facing fears related to embodying individuality, such as the fear of rejection or cultural/social exclusion, can also emerge with this New Moon. Taking a unique path connected to that, perhaps stepping forward in a more confident way, or maybe backing and limiting some interaction altogether.

Mercury's retrograde cycle here in Aquarius urges a rethinking and retooling of how we are to represent ourselves and our collective endeavors, as well as our thoughts, perceptions, or opinions related to anything outside the bounds of normalcy. The modern Aquarian carries an edge, one that challenges the consensus as much as it seeks to distinctly define itself admist the herd.

And while there is some conflict contained in this fresh, new emergence (via a square to Mars), there is also a greater sense of expansion and a willingness to embrace alternative ideas, tactics and approaches. It's usually a good idea to trust the more unusual path when it comes to anything Aquarian, despite the inevitable detours and unforeseen end results.

Emerging Light: Full Moon in Leo 2021

WillMatt4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Full Moon @ 09 degrees Leo 05'
January 28, 2021
11:16 AM Pacific Standard Time
2:16 PM Eastern Standard Time

With the first month of 2021 nearly over, we are greeted by a tension-filled and dynamic Full Moon in tropical Leo. While this lunation's thrust is initially uncomfortable, it brings about synchronistic wild cards sure to bring some surprising breakthroughs and turning points.

The sign of Leo emphasizes several archetypal dimensions. There is an emphasis on playfulness and the cultivation of joy, as well as the pursuit of visibility--putting oneself "out there" through various means of self-expression. And as Full Moons so often correlate with budding and erupting, there is likely to be the debut of some interesting performative displays.

The tension and inevitable uncomfortable factor of this lunation likely acts as a catalyst to push something or someone more into view. For anything that's been hiding out, this lunation can help bring it forward into expressiveness. Jupiter's opposition and solar conjunction add optimism, confidence, and opportunities to expand an audience.

However, with the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn opposing the Full Moon from Aquarius, there is equally an invitation to consider the balance between self-expression and collaboration, as well as the interplay between subjective and objective points of view. The tendency to get stuck in self-focused pursuits can lead to missing a more realistic perspective.

Mars and Uranus' square can also lead to arrogant overconfidence or hypervigilant overactions. Oversee aggressiveness and impulse with this Full Moon since things can quickly move above and beyond what is necessary. Yet, Uranus and Mars also relate to a sudden challenge to pursue a unique approach, style, or tactic.

Whatever shows up for you with this Full Moon, it's likely a culmination of something in which you can be recognized, acknowledged, or appreciated. Leo's innate message is that we all have a place to shine in the universe, and doing so (within reason) is a fundamental right to being alive. In times like these, we could all use a little light and a boost of confidence to nudge us further along.

Pushing Through the Shadows: New Moon in Capricorn 2021

Scott Wylie from UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

New Moon @ 23 degrees tropical Capricorn 13’

January 12, 2021

9:00 PM PDT

January 13, 2021

12:00 AM EDT

2021's first lunation is a New Moon in tropical Capricorn. With the New Moon in conjunction to Pluto and the Moon in detriment, this can feel like a heavy and stoic few days. Additionally, Mars' building conjunction with Uranus and square to Saturn and Jupiter add further tension and instability to this New Moon moment.

However, despite all that's emerging externally on the world stage, utilize this New Moon for self-reflective insight acquisition, solitude, or honing in on specific tasks or projects. As with every New Moon, this is a fresh start, but one that can help narrow and prioritize both dreams and responsibilities.

While the Capricorn archetype's streak of conservatism is likely to play some role during this New Moon, Saturn's conjunction with Jupiter and square to Uranus adds a unique dimension. It challenges us to break the mold, liberate our routines and daily structures, and incorporate radical new ideas or approaches.

Pluto's central role with this New Moon also speaks to the necessity of utilizing our agency to willingly confront the ways in which we've allowed limiting beliefs about reality to stifle progress. Saturn and Jupiter's transits through Aquarius tilt the emphasis away from solidifying structures toward their innovation.

And always with Pluto, there may be a test to see how far we've pushed and plunged our inner darkness. With this New Moon, there may be subtle reminders of the power we've attained from facing blindspots, as well as reminders of those we've yet to confront. The intensity of this New Moon lies in the synchronistic emergence of an inward call. If we heed it over the next few weeks and remain honest with ourselves and others, we can break through to new vistas and possibilities.