Chiron, Illuminated by the Pisces Full Moon

Now it’s been 10,000 years / Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew / Now man’s reign is through
But through eternal night / The twinkling of starlight
So very far away / Maybe it’s only yesterday

— “In the Year 2525,” the #1 hit at the time of the first Moon landing.

It’s now the last week of August, and we’re just a few weeks from the equinox. It seems like a moment ago when it was the last week of July and we were a week from Midsummer.

For those whose minds are focused on space, or those who grew up witnessing history as the Apollo program made its way into there, I want to take another moment and commemorate the life of Neil Armstrong.

A civilian pilot, Armstrong was the first person that we know of to set foot on an extraterrestrial world — the Earth’s Moon [see related article looking at his astrology].

It’s difficult to put this into context today. We think of the late 1960s as ‘modern times’ though most TVs were black and white and people were still impressed by transistor radios, and relatively few had ever been to an airport.

For context, this was the year that both the Concord and the 747 flew for the first time, so it was a big year for aviation in general; that aspect was Jupiter conjunct Uranus in the first degree of Libra, opposite the Aries Point. Jupiter has the sensation of knowledge and flight (connected to Sagittarius, also associated with flight) and Uranus is often present for breakthroughs and inventions. The two are conjunct for a little while every 14 years. This time it was in the first degree of Libra, a sensitive point in the sky as it aligns with the September equinox.

Imagine the astonishment of watching shaky images of two men stepping out of a fragile spacecraft (characterized by its gold foil-like substance in various places) and leaving human boot prints across the powdery surface of another world. Imagine the guts it would take to do such a thing — to have yourself placed on the surface of another planet, with no guarantee of getting home. (Nixon had even prepared a speech to use in the event that Armstrong and Collins got stranded on the lunar surface.)

For those of us back on Earth, it’s a reminder of how far we are from everyplace else, how isolated on our own planet. It may take much wider context than we have, and many more years of observation, to account for how this event influenced consciousness and our sense of existence; but we know that that Neil Armstrong led the way. I describe his chart in an article below, though I will sum up again and say that his astrology reveals him as a mystic, an adventurer and a peaceful warrior. Eagle scout and engineer — it’s all there to see, described as an offering in service and a clairvoyant intellect.

This week as so many people remember our first steps into the frontier of space, the Moon will be heading toward full phase in Pisces. That has a Sixties-like flavor, as that era was seasoned with Chiron in Pisces, as is ours. The Moon will be conjunct Chiron as it peaks in full phase. Chiron in such a configuration speaks about the deepest and most poignant level of feeling, as a cosmic experience. We’re reminded that existence itself is what is ‘special’. Pisces is full-spectrum and so this spills over into the subtle realms infused with greater passion than a Full Moon might ordinarily offer.

Also this week, the nodes of the Moon change signs, which happens just once every 18 months, shifting from the Gemini/Sagittarius axis to the Taurus/Scorpio axis. The lunar nodes are, among other things, pointers to where solar and lunar eclipses will happen, and they are indeed shifting into Taurus/Scorpio (we will have the first eclipses of this group in mid-November). The nodes enter the fixed signs under strong aspects — Mercury squares them from late Leo, and the Mercury/nodes aspect aligns with the hypothetical point Transpluto. This seems to push a question or an issue, pointing to something that we need to reveal to ourselves, or about ourselves, to others.

As the energy of the Full Moon gradually accumulates all week, that revelation may start to fill your psychic containers and spill over the brim into full consciousness. There is plenty of watery energy in the sky right now; Venus is in Cancer and Mars is newly arrived in Scorpio. The Sun is making oppositions to Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. Then the Full Moon has the Sun opposite Chiron and the Moon conjunct Chiron, which you can think of as illuminating Chiron from both sides of the energetic spectrum. The Pisces Moon is bringing the intuitive, psychic and subtle emotional light to Chiron, and the Sun is bringing the light of fully alert consciousness.

Many people ask me, “What is Chiron about?” To me it’s about the focusing of awareness, usually on something urgent, necessary and meaningful — and this is often related to some experience of healing, maturity or contact. That contact can be with ourselves, it can be with others or, as is likely with this Full Moon, a sense of the presence and our relationship to something beyond ourselves. We are in a moment of awakening, which some may experience as a delicate calling and others may experience as raging passion.

Because this is Pisces, we are in that zone where what we think of as ‘spiritual’ consciousness — that is, non-ordinary awareness influenced by love — meets sexual feelings, desires and phantasies. This is being fuelled by the trine from Mars in Scorpio, one of the most palpable placements in all of astrology that describes the outwardly expressed desire nature. Keep your feelings close to the surface this week, where they are available to you and others who want to connect with you.

I’ll have more thoughts for you as the week develops, and a full subscriber edition on Friday. On Tuesday, I’ll be sending out the Inner Space monthly horoscope to subscribers. Then on Friday, I’ll have my extended weekly interpretations, as well as an article documenting the discovery of the first planet found beyond Pluto. That would be 1992 QB1, and the 20th anniversary of that discovery is Thursday, Aug. 30. I have interviewed Jane X. Luu, the co-discoverer, who has shared some never-before-published details from the moment of discovery.