Today is Friday, August 12, 2011. The Moon is in Aquarius all day and this is the eve of the Aquarius Full Moon. It happens at about 2:58 pm EDT Saturday, right in the same degree where Nessus is hanging out now, which is right at the midpoint of the Uranus-Pluto square. Wow. Obviously that is the big event for the weekend, and like most Full Moons, it may feel polarizing. That feeling may be even stronger given that while Nessus is lined up on one side of it, Venus and the Sun are directly on the other side.
The important thing to remember, especially with a retrograde Mercury ready to work a little mischief with communication, is to be kind to yourself — and to others. Between the building lunar energy and Mars acting up lately, you may find yourself ready to tear up the town; or make yourself known for who you are; or really take charge in some of your social situations/group dynamics. Then again, maybe not.
With the Moon staying in Aquarius until Sunday morning, when it enters Pisces at 8:54 am EDT, you may actually feel a little detached from things or people in general. And that is okay. Don’t make the mistake of confusing this with misanthropy. The rap on Aquarians is often that they love humanity but not people. This is because sometimes people mistake aloofness for being stuck up or not caring, when in fact it can often be caring too much that causes people to withdraw. So if you need some space don’t be afraid to say so, and if people don’t understand try not to take it personally.
In last Friday’s post I talked about Vesta, the concept of sacred space and tending the inner flame. As a reader reminded me, Vesta recently went out of bounds. Out of bounds means a planet has gone beyond the path of the Sun along the celestial equator (that is, the north-south bounds). In human terms, this means our needs for this archetype might feel a little extreme for a while. It is one thing to ‘need space’ from something and quite another to take that space and make it sacred. Hierotopy is the word for creation of sacred space. For some it can involve the art and architecture of a space, including feng shui. For others, the sounds, smells and lighting are more important. As a young architecture student, Le Corbusier’s chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp was the epitome of sacred space to me.
As an avid stargazer, now it is being with the sky and stars that is sacred space for me personally. So, I’m pretty psyched about the peak of the Perseid meteor shower this weekend. Even though they may be fewer and less bright than other years, due to the Full Moon, you should still be able to see at least a few if you spend much time outside at night. I’ve already seen a few really nice ones here in Asheville. Whatever sacred space is for you, with Vesta going out of bounds, be sure to feed that urge when you feel it. If you pay attention when it comes up, then you won’t find it manifesting in extreme ways later in order to get your attention.
By Gary Caton and Amanda Painter
Note to Leos: Your birthday report is ready. Read this page to find out more. Note to All the Signs: We’re still offering the Mercury Retrograde Report (one of Eric’s favorite 12-sign reports ever; this one came in on a beam of light) and the Midyear Report also offers 12 signs of astrology for one low price. And if you’ve read this far, here is the August monthly horoscope (premium content), available for just a click — you’ll get an auto-reply with the link.
Brendan, Do please let us know how spontaneous and oxymoronic your unplanned weekend turns out!
Ah, Aquarians and Leos – always my best friends and beyond!
(Venus on AQ zero, Chyron at 18, Merc at 24…7th house…..hmmmm.that makes Leo my AC…Uranus hangs out there too – in Leo that is, but 12th house…….:)
Well, keep us updated!
Wellll, as a natal Aquarian, the degree being no less than 22, with Leo rising, I find all this verrrry interesting. I will have to revise my non-existent plans for the weekend to include the option of allowing whatever comes up to simply happen. Planning to be spontaneous in other words, which is a little oxymoronic…
As to any similarities in the emotional response arena, I’m afraid I must admit to having a strong resemblance to the aforementioned generic Aquarian.
One-on-one emotionally charged intimate relationships have never been easy for me, ever. Friendships are easy, but going beyond has been anything but. What has never been easy is to completely put my trust in someone immediately, unconditionally. It takes time for me…
I’ll let you all know how the weekend goes!
“And confirming my decision to exit the ‘sacrificial mom’ role and return to ‘generally available but appointment-required’ mode.”
I have been working on that too….but I am a bit too sensitive to their angst (Pisces sun) about it to be very good at it. It is also a touchy spot for me because my mother was way too much into the “what about ME and MY needs” mantra at times when I needed her most so I fear doing that to my kids (and harming them because of it) as well. Walking a fine line between being the martyr and the healthy Mom is really hard for me. I do the former way better but these days the latter is rearing its head a lot more often. And one daughter is really good at guilting me about it. One of my other daughters said I need to grow dragon scales. I am working on it.
“but a bit of the ‘come here, go away’ personality as well,”
You nailed it perfectly, Susyc!
Thank you Gary and Amanda,
For reading the stars and outloud giving me “permission” (as it were) to attend to need/s which normally I would shove under the rug and not attend to (because I am not worthy – thank you too, Jan).
I have for several days had an overwhelming need to re-create/re-distribute/re-arrange the space in my apartment to better suit my Real Needs — and yes yes! said vesta-ing (now gushing, not repressed) is about finding and holding sacred my personal/professional space . wow. I like this.
Happiness Abounds Here Now.
Thank you!
xo
I slept all night outdoors under the last full moon and may well again tomorrow night, specially with the promised treat of the Perseid showers. Love your ‘ripples upon ripples’ photo Amanda, kind of reminds me of the ancient’s petroglyph spirals carved into rocks out here in the SW, and so appropriate with the focus on Aquarians. I have an Aquarian child, and a warmer heart I can’t imagine, but a bit of the ‘come here, go away’ personality as well, that needed working out with his best beloved. She had to play it back pretty hard to help him figure out what he really wanted, almost sending him away for good at one point. But now they are really friends. Still waters run deep as they say, and I don’t think they are really cold, just defending against perceived vulnerabilities/sensitivities.
sabian :: ” Leaving the room is a well-groomed and striking and conspicuously solitary woman long disappointed and disillusioned.”
Wowsah, Patty! Seriously? this is the symbol? You have no idea how perfectly perfect that is for me (w/ my Aq moon) this month.
Stunning. And confirming my decision to exit the ‘sacrificial mom’ role and return to ‘generally available but appointment-required’ mode.
Awesome.
i agree on the interesting aqua luckyD, i find my Aqua rising often balances my crabby moon and sunny virgin. i also met a crab rising (gemini moon and aqua sun) soul*love that was uncannily and amazingly reflective, but no matter how divinely awesome it felt to me (internally), all i kept getting (externally) was that earth/air don’t mix. i still don’t get it …
This Aquarian conversation is pretty intriguing to me because I am a Scorpio with an Aquarius moon and Aquarius rising. Sometimes it feels a bit like two people are inhabiting my psyche, but mostly I find that the Aquarius in me tends to give all my strong Scorpio emotions a bit of a time delay. The stronger the emotion, the more I need to step back a bit and make sure I am in a safe environment before releasing it. There is a soul matey kind of friend in my life right now who is a Gemini with Cancer rising, and the ability for each of us to recognize the other’s way of processing emotion is a little eerie. The air/water combination is pretty entertaining in a lot of ways!
“The rap on Aquarians is often that they love humanity but not people. This is because sometimes people mistake aloofness for being stuck up or not caring, when in fact it can often be caring too much that causes people to withdraw. So if you need some space don’t be afraid to say so, and if people don’t understand try not to take it personally.”
Thanks Gary and Amanda; excellent insights. I would add my own insights:
I would say it is more that they love humanity but have difficulty with one-on-one relating. They are kind souls and very attuned to human needs, desires and all that but try to get one to do a one-on-one relationship and they sometimes run away…fast. Many just cannot handle that level of intimacy and emotion without having an escape route. I say this from experience in dealing with a lot of people with strong Aquarius (moon or Sun or rising) over a lifetime. It is as though they, being air signs, are not “wired” for strong emotions like water signs tend to be.
I once read in an astrology book that Aquarius folks are like that kind, helpful robot who is wonderful to have around but who can never be an emotionally close friend because their hearts are made of metal and wires and all that Aquarian stuff. While that is a very simplified (and stereotype) explanation, my experience has found that to be the truth a lot of the time. Air signs seem to be less comfortable with emotions in general (again, my experience speaking here; yours may vary). That may be why they get that rap you wrote above.
::::disclaimer:::: [Please note all the qualifiers I have placed in this post; “some,” “seem,” “many,” “sometimes,” “may,” “a lot of the time.” I do not intend to say that ALL people with strong Aquarius in their charts are the way I described.]
gary —
apparently i accidentally deleted the close-tag for the italics in the bit at the end of this post. i had no idea it would apply to comments!
well said, Patty! I always tell my students that people come to us for a reason -that is because of who we are -so we need not try to be Rob Hand or anyone but ourselves
ps- I go over that symbol, and more modern symbology on Cygnus the Swan in my latest newsletter -anyone who wants a free copy just e-mail me: Gary at DreamAstrologer dot com
pss -curious how all the comments are in italics now
I like the original sabian symbol for this full moon: Leaving the room is a well-groomed and striking and conspicuously solitary woman long disappointed and disillusioned.
To me, it says that disappointment and disillusionment could leave if we want them to leave. The full moon is shining the light on the problem. People have been living beyond their means for quite a time and now need to get in touch with the spiritual nature. No matter how much you have, how pretty you are, how powerful your job, it is never enough and will never make you feel good enough. I listened to a young minister, age 23, just out of school. He was preaching about how the teens he’s prayed with will always pray something like, “please help me be good.” What followed was the most awesome sermon I’ve ever heard in my life and I wish I had a tape to replay it. You can never be good enough. We are imperfect, and if your prayer life and desire life are to be something that you are not, you will always be disillusioned and disappointed and you will set yourself up for failure. He followed with other examples, like how can I tell a gay couple that they won’t go to heaven when they are the only people willing to take in children with major handicaps and diseases, and not only that, who give a lot of money to charity and churches? He said, “I CAN’T!” Stop judging others and stop trying to be someone else. You were created to be you, not someone else.
My two cents for the full moon.
thanks! I was out last night gazing at the summer triangle and saw two meteors in the vicinity of Arcturus. one of them pretty big! I was only out about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
gc
wonderful ! thank you !
Gary (and Amanda),
Absolutely perfect piece for the current situation. Excellent score brining in retrograde Vesta. Brilliant reference to the holy ground that Le Crobusier’s chapel is. Seeking out and getting the feel of a sacred piece of ground is a perfect project for the moment. Gonna do some ley line hunting upon the `morrow. Thank you!