Saturday at 11:38 pm EST is the Leo Full Moon — the yearly opposition between the Sun in Aquarius and the Moon in Leo. This particular Leo Full Moon is raising questions around being our own authority, especially involving our sexual identity and healing. Where do you take ownership in your life and where do you give your power away?
To broaden those questions, how do we contribute to healing the sexual or emotional abuse pain that permeates our culture’s collective consciousness? How do we claim our sexual identity?
On one side, the Aquarius Sun is conjunct an asteroid called Ophelia, highlighting our frequent mistrust of our value to others, especially in terms of having our sexual value recognized and respected. In Aquarius, the sign of the group, this aspect touches on a collective wound brought up for healing. Opposite the Sun, the Moon is in Leo conjunct the asteroid Askalaphus, which brings with it a message of healing the collective through healing our personal material.
Where Aquarius is about the collective, Leo is about self. The Sun and Moon opposed along this axis is asking how our authentic self can influence the collective — and what impact the collective has on us. This Leo Full Moon is an opportunity to impact the emotional collective through focusing on healing our material around sexual value and identity.
Watch for experiences accompanied by the sensation of mistrust of how others treat you. Fear and jealousy are two clues that you are working from a place of an internal wound, rather than rational facts about you and another person (Full Moons tend to polarize issues, both internal and external, and it can all show up as tension between you and another person). As you pull back the projections, push through the emotions that arise. Even if what you encounter feels like a solid brick wall, keep going. Remember that you can slip sideways and around the corner to find a more easily scaled section of the obstacle.
Depending on what comes up for you, this could be deep work; it may happen in stages, and you may not get through all (or many) of the layers this weekend. Think of this Full Moon as the catalyst for a process, or as providing a missing puzzle piece, rather than a ‘fix’. It is often said that the universe only hands us as much as we can handle at any given time.
Yet it can still feel daunting — overwhelming even — to take on this sort of material. If it does, what sort of tangible steps do you feel ready to take, in terms of reaching out to your support network or establishing a counseling relationship to facilitate your journey inward? If that in itself feels like a deterrent, what emotions or beliefs are holding you back?
Consider also that groups can be part of the problem (as suggested by planets currently in Aquarius). Is your support network actually supportive?
Mars and Nessus forming a conjunction in Aquarius are also setting the tone for this Full Moon. Mars is energizing Nessus, shaping and pushing the sexual wounding/healing dynamic to the foreground of our lives. Themes of sexual and emotional abuse spanning continents and generations are prominent in our collective psyche this lunation.
Unhealed abuse in individuals adds to the group wounding we all experience. Connecting with our sexual identity is a tool for healing our part of the collective wound. Owning our unique sexual make-up forces us to both honor who we are on a fundamental level and restructure our relationships to support that identity.
Exploring sexual identity is a push inward — part experimentation, part information gathering. The Full Moon is providing an opportunity not only for healing, but also a great sexual awareness of our needs. It holds the potential to help us reshape old structures that do not fit with what our exploration reveals about ourselves.
Genevieve Hathaway is a western astrologer, Planet Waves contributor, photojournalist, and a trained Egyptologist and Osteoarchaeologist. Genevieve is available for astrology readings. You can contact her at genevieve@venusinblue.com.
Lizzy, Len, Awordedgewise, and Monina – thank you all the for the lovely feedback. Sorry for the delayed response. Found out the hard way that the Australian outback has neither internet nor phone service. 🙂 The idea of connectivity here is slightly different than in the States or Europe.
Hope you all had a great Full Moon and floated on top of the intense heat and emotions. Yet learned a thing or three about yourselves and found a little healing or self-knowledge along the way. 🙂
Yes. Your article perfectly describes what I have been struggling with over the past few weeks. “As you pull back the projections, push through the emotions that arise. Even if what you encounter feels like a solid brick wall, keep going. Remember that you can slip sideways and around the corner to find a more easily scaled section of the obstacle.”
….. What a clear way to describe an important way to move through fear space!
“Owning our unique sexual make-up forces us to both honor who we are on a fundamental level and restructure our relationships to support that identity. Exploring sexual identity is a push inward — part experimentation, part information gathering…providing an opportunity not only for healing, but also a great sexual awareness of our needs. It holds the potential to help us reshape old structures that do not fit with what our exploration reveals about ourselves. ”
……..These insights have crystallized for me what I have been going through. Thank you so very much, Genevieve.
Thank you Genevieve, this is so useful.
Transiting Ophelia on natal Pholus having just taversed natal Venus with the Sun.
Mars and Nessus are transiting natal Merc and the Full Moon is upon natal Uranus/AC.
With natal Chyron equidistant between them, healing may indeed be forthcoming.
I would say “one step at a time” but lol! perhaps one giant leap with Pholus in the mix!
Thank you again for helping me to make the most of this weekend.
Genevieve: Thank you for bringing the reciprocity ambient with this Full Moon. Your take on Ophelia is also appreciated. Finally, thank you for the prescriptive protocol for the weekend.
This is just amazing! “Themes of sexual and emotional abuse spanning continents and generations are prominent in our collective psyche this lunation”.Yes. Thank you, Genevieve. Sexual healing, at last.