by Robert Wilkinson
This Full Moon at 9 Virgo-Pisces shows a lot of dynamic release tearing us away from the known and familiar through intensification of the urge toward unique self-expression. Be open to many points of view, exchange information, get clear about your place of greatest service while keeping the momentum and initiative in your own hands, and you’ll find that what you drop only serves to help quicken your movement into a new life.
As most of you already know, forming aspects show things to come, while separating aspects show things already in the past. This Full Moon has quite a few frictional forming aspects at work, showing we’re hitting a point of decision that will shift our direction in both our inner life and outer affairs.
While the Grand Irrationality was in full force at last month’s Full Moon, and again in this month’s New Moon, it’s not a player in this chart. Jupiter’s biseptile to Neptune and triseptile to Pluto are separating, showing the real “forks in the road of destiny” are in our recent past, where decisions were made that demonstrated our character qualities and threw us into definite paths that will unfold in the future.
As noted, we have a host of frictional aspects in this Full Moon period. The chart shows Moon sesquisquare Venus, square Jupiter, and sesquisquare Saturn, while the Sun shows a semisquare to Venus, square to Jupiter, and semisquare to Saturn. That creates 5 points of a Great Octile, or 8 pointed Star pattern that is dynamic, frictional, and releases a lot of energy to move us in different directions, either through challenge or necessity.
As I explained in part 1,
Full Moons heighten feelings, due to the opposition of the Moon and the Sun. This particular Lunation makes one very important configuration, a Kite in a double semisquare and double sesquisquare with the close Venus square Saturn. This will release a LOT of energy through the Moon as the focus and form builder of what’s being released by the power of the Sun semisquare the very powerful Venus in Cancer square Saturn in Libra.Venus rules Saturn in this chart, making it more powerful than usual, which in turn amplifies the Lunar influence, since it rules Venus. I’ll discuss the planetary aspects and dispositors of the Sun and Moon in part 2, which will explain the complex mix of frictional energies pervading this chart. In any case, it will be liberating and free us for new work, new tasks, new compassion, and new wisdom.
This will bring about radical changes for all who have planets or an angle around 9-12 Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, as well as 24-27 Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. Expect some significant shifts in the area represented by the planets or points you have there, with the need to move out of subjective shock or fear, or not let agitation or getting annoyed throw you off your game.
This “Kite” should mobilize many inner and outer things. The need will be to take concentrated doses of spiritual energy, shape your expectation according to the best you can imagine, be patient, and reclaim something thought to be lost. Also, focus on what would constitute your sense of “transcendent security,” realize you might achieve it more comfortably than you suspect, open to the infinite flow of natural energy of the World Soul, and remember that you’re on the same vast pilgrimage that the rest of us are.
Other forming aspects are a mixed bag. We see Mercury decile Venus, and sextile Mars and opposed to Neptune in out of sign aspects, showing some condition must pass before those are in play. Besides the aspects outlined above, Venus is novile Jupiter, tredecile Uranus and biquintile Neptune, Mars is biquintile Jupiter, quincunx Uranus, and sextile Pluto, Saturn is quadranovile Uranus and trine Neptune (out of sign), and Uranus is decile Neptune and in a very close square to Pluto.
The biquintiles show unique interactions between those planetary forces, where each expresses some element of the special qualities related to those degrees, as well as the voids created by those aspects. Mars should help us all get to the heart of any matter, and promotes efficiency, though sacrifices and adjustments will have to be made.
Productivity will be found in discovering information that can lead to wealth and/or power, as well as finding the faith to do what must be done to get the nourishment you need. This will probably necessitate some meltdowns, but the adaptation will yield major results sometime in January or February 2013.
Also favored is the ability to navigate the ups and downs of the emotional body as we demonstrate skill in doing something that can further our momentum, and learning how to use the down times productively. This is the beginning of a form of training, where self-induced movement demonstrates our willingness to learn to achieve a skill that will lead us to a future mastery. As we’ve already been practicing a preliminary form of that skill and self-discipline, the next two weeks will merely serve to reinforce it.
So Just What Was the New Moon Theme for this Period?
Remember that the qualities of the Full Moon express whatever new directions we were shown at the previous New Moon. You will recall its theme is one of linking “Heaven and Earth within us, and find a new “revelation of worth” that will enable us to a lot done using innovative methods to learn and teach new skills, new ways of releasing the energies of our individuality, and new rhythms of productive, balanced creativity and play.”
From the article:
This New Moon in Leo will stabilize all of us somehow, and right now we have so many sextiles and quintiles happening that the next four weeks will continue the major productivity and gifts that we’ve had for several weeks. Here we get to realize some long held and well-practiced element of our ambition, put on a show, find enduring elements of Being and long wave patterns showing us what’s relatively permanent in our lives, and demonstrate our creative mind to demonstrate something of our individuality.Many gifts and unique insights and qualities will make their appearance on the stage of our lives, and these will be the gifts that keep on giving! We discovered some element of these in April, got new insights in June, and now can expand on them in highly specialized ways. This is a unique time when we can link our personalities to our Higher Self (or even our Soul) in conscious ways, and find blessings in releasing obsolete things, attitudes, and behaviors.
This will be an incredibly productive period over the next 4 weeks, where we will develop new heart strengths and find new ways of using both heart and mind to find a transcendent security in something more creative or balanced as a result of reconstructive activities on the emotional and social, as well as the individual-spiritual levels of life.
This time helps us move forward on the basis of the information and insights we got during Mercury’s recent 3 week retrograde period that ended a week ago. We got many new ways of viewing and regarding things in the last half of July and beginning of August, and now we can act with purpose in embracing a more enjoyable and natural self-expression, knowing larger and more enduring patterns in our lives.
The Mercury retrograde period was a time when we looked back in order to learn new things overlooked the first time we went through the experience, and rehearsed, researched, or took a new look at creative possibilities, or enthusiasms, that had gotten off track. Now Mercury is still in its “shadow span,” giving us a specific focus on something we’ve experienced from three different angles of understanding.
Here’s more:
... this will be a time when we can get a LOT accomplished in short order if we know when and how to adjust and/or make crucial sacrifices!... the symbol is “A rainbow.” According to Rudhyar, this degree is one of “Promise of conscious immortality after the death of useless things,” “Spiritual linkage through emotional stress,” and “blessing.”... this degree involves “Linking above and below, the Covenant with one’s divine nature, promise of immortality.” Here we confront our divine Archetype to the degree we have been victorious in “crossing the desert” and making it to “the other shore.” Our striving to overcome our trials has established the link between our earthly self and Heavenly Self, and we are told this link must remain unbroken.
... this degree “shows us the need to maintain a state of open communication between the Sky and the Earth within our total being... to face the totality of our individual selfhood.” He states “after every successfully met crisis, the revelation of worth comes to us, and with it comes the promise of success, if only we do our part.” He says it falls in the span of "Interpretation,” and it’s the first degree of the individual mental level of the scene of Consolidation in the Act of Release.
... the degree is one of “the overall realization which comes… whenever we strive to reach the goals of a more enduring sort.” Here we’re assured “divine participation” even in difficult circumstances, where we learn about the “consistent ordering” of the world, and that “nature will cooperate effectively with every vision (we choose) to keep alive.”
He offers us the keyword of SIGNIFICANCE. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is "a sense of very real spiritual power and presence in all personal effort and desire.”
So we enter a time of seeing how we are the divine guidance we seek, and we are the bridge between worldly and heavenly things. Here the vision we’ve kept alive will be aided by Nature Herself, and we can find a transcendent peace beyond the push and pulls of this world of duality. Let go of useless things to receive the blessings that enable you to be a greater love, wisdom, productivity, and creativity.
The planets in this chart are again in a Splay Jones pattern. This "Splay" Jones Patterns indicates a widely spread out experience, with many strong involvements in areas that may not have that much in common. With 2 planets in Air, 2 in Fire, 4 in Water, and 2 in Earth, we have a heavy emphasis on feelings and experiencing things in depth, with a good balance between inspiration, association, and practicality.
Mercury leads the Sun in this Lunation. That makes the area in our charts where we have Leo of extra importance, since it promises stable information showing us how we can be more creative and heartfelt in our expectations, as well as more compassionate, caring, and sharing of what we know that others may need.
More on how Uranus Square Pluto Is Ramping Up Radical Energies!
As I’ve told you, we’re all learning to manage the “out of control” energies of Uranus square Pluto. I’ve discussed this aspect at length over quite a few articles in the archives. Use the site google box to find out more about this years’ long disruptive revolutionary influence. Welcome to the 21st century of upheaval, transformation, and titanic collisions between a new world being born and an old age that’s digging in even as it’s dying.
That square represents the ongoing revolution of our times, with innovations and pioneering energies in conflict with restrictive and controlling power structures. We’ll be dealing with this for a few years, and it promises to make this year and next very “electric and eclectic,” moving the world through a revolution unlike any seen since the 1960s!!
Uranus is on a degree of being receptive to spiritualizing influences while appreciation the protective forms that allow us to know the origin of those influences. We are in the next phase of learning how to concentrate to see the whole picture, showing us how to externalize our higher Self in new individual ways. It’s going to be the major theme for 2013, and given the aspects in play in this chart, there will be some adjustments to recent productive understandings resulting from previous aspects in the New Moon chart governing this period.
Like the last one, this Lunation will definitely free us from old perspectives and views so we can see our part to play using more cosmic or universal truths and values. Here we settle into certain natural limitations so we can play the roles we’re born to play, and find happiness in refining our self-expression that furthers our knowing of how to express our individuality in new ways.
Uranus square Pluto will show us the hope for some form of rebeginning, where we can sense the unseen spiritual agencies promising us a life renewal. We will be shown patterns to imitate, so that we can begin to participate in a greater or higher order of life, so be willing to grow, and if necessary, use one part of your life and experience to help you grow even further. Every sincere effort will be rewarded by Providence, and things will arise you could not have dreamed of before you made that effort.
In the recent past, we’ve all been challenged to learn to concentrate to align with a deeper and higher power, and now we can enjoy playing a new role and living in new ways. We are still being challenged to get beyond fear, see things from the past differently, and find relief through expressing the Higher Self that’s been “cut and polished” in past months. We can grow into a larger role when we’re confronted by old Pluto roles, coercions, and heavy-handed corrosive behavior. We can use this square in two big ways, both now and into the future.
We can exercise good Pluto function to put the brakes on negative Uranian manifestations, and good Uranus function to put the brakes on negative Pluto manifestations. Look to the harmonizing aspects to each to show which is building and which one is the release point for those energies. Given the Mars sextile Pluto, we can certainly “cut to the chase” and efficiency is up.
Separating aspects, showing things just past, include Moon trine Mars, conjunct Neptune, and sextile Pluto, Mercury quintile Jupiter and sextile Saturn, Venus biseptile Mars, Sun sextile Mars, quincunx Uranus, opposition Neptune and trine Pluto, Mars trine Neptune, Jupiter biseptile Neptune and triseptile Pluto, and Saturn quintile Pluto.
I can't possibly explain what these were all about, since there are too many planets in aspect to explore the possibilities. Just remember these symbolize things in the near past, so examine what's happened over the past weeks in light of these aspects.
In general this indicates that we’ve had a lot of harmonizing and productive energy as we turned the corner in major ways in our lives. Recent clarity of understanding and what to do and when to do it produced unique gifts and circumstances that showed us the way to stability.
We were all forced to make major choices regarding our ideals. Overall, productivity and harmony of understanding has led us to this critical junction that is quickening and freeing us to embrace our new lives, new work, new relationships, and new ways of doing our Being.
The Cusp of Where The Age of Pisces Gives Way to the Age of Aquarius
As I've mentioned in other Lunation articles, a major factor in this season is that Neptune now stands close to "the cusp of the Age." It’s now moved forward from its stationary direct transformational degree of 29 Aquarius last November where we began to finish being collectively transfigured, and is now at 2 Pisces where we can glimpse how to protect ourselves against aggressive social elements so we can lift our life to “surer foundations.”
Neptune in very early Pisces has major implications for humanity as a whole. I’ve discussed this phenomenon of Neptune dancing back and forth between early Pisces and late Aquarius in previous articles, opening the collective consciousness to the energies of this transitional period, this “time cusp” between the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius. This happened throughout 2011 into early 2012.
In the larger precessional Age, our world is at 1 Pisces right now. Thanks to prior transits of both Neptune and Chiron to this degree, many of us have collectively awakened to a vast connectedness with all Life and all Time. This degree is one of joyously rallying as we begin the closing of a long cycle. Fairness is paramount in all dealings, and with Saturn in Libra, the scales are weighing many things right now.
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, points out that the first degree of Pisces, "the cusp of the Age," is "a symbol of full maturity in (humanity's) social estate, with an emphasis on the group integrity" facilitating each to develop their special patterns. This degree is about a willingness for each of us to do our part in the larger "common ideals of a community life."
Here we refine our ambition through "a consistent generosity toward the aims of others with a real intensity of effort directed toward its own ends." The keyword is COMMERCE, and when positive, this degree "is an exceptional capacity for organizing the converging and conflicting interests of many people in practical arrangements of mutual benefit."
So this is where humanity as a whole is at right now. I believe we will finally enter the Age of Aquarius sometime between 2045-2070, when we all will see the concrete manifestations of Aquarian patterns that were awakened by Uranus and have been dreamed into collective consciousness by Neptune during these planets' movement through late Aquarius. (Please also check out part one of that series since it elaborates on the transition between the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius.)
Mercury rules the Sun in the Lunation, while Jupiter and Neptune rule the Moon. The interconnecting aspects between these three planets show coming awarenesses within a vaster field of cosmic compassion and redemption as a result of major forks in the road we’ve been confronting, and will again confront throughout the rest of this year and beyond.
Be creative in sharing what needs to be shared, free yourself from old life views that were more constricting than liberating, and get clear about what roles you’re playing or not. Do not allow yourself to be taken for granted or dismissed too lightly, and see what phase you’re in relative to where you’ve been so you can see clearly what’s ahead.
As a process of moving through events, first get clear about what you’re feeling and/or experiencing, then get new information or understanding so you can update your perceptual files. Pay attention to attachment to old interpretations, perception, and views, and get a new understanding or view of things.
Then decide and act with an eye to those ideas, visions and perceptions. Once you’ve decided and/or acted on those ideas and perceptions, then allow new feelings to arise that will in time lead to even newer information and interpretations.
To sum up, this Lunation will help us find a unique form of self-expression that’s perfect for our special skills and talents, so drop all the unnecessary considerations and superfluous things and activities to spur yourself to attain some goal. Get clear about your place of greatest service, and then find a creative self-expression that allows your expectations to take clear shape in your life.
Relax into playing whatever roles seem natural on the basis of previous purifications and transformations. Be receptive to spiritual impressions that show you “which way the wind is blowing,” and imitate a better way when appropriate. See this as a time when you are free to begin anew based in whatever brought forth gratitude and appreciation before now.
This is a time to be creative in adapting your will to embrace new ideas. Be open to discovering new ways to view what you can and cannot do, and how you do what you do.
This continues a new freedom and adventure that will fill the void created by the Eclipses of 2011. This is the entry way to a lot of new activity and information, and since this Lunation promises new awareness of what works and what doesn’t, keep adapting to a new efficiency, a new world of activity, and a new way of rising to the opportunities to embrace your mission while eliminating negative expectations around people.
We’ve all gotten clear in the past six weeks about what forks in the road of destiny we need to take, and are now challenged to enjoy playing with new experiences, new perceptions, and new ideas while expressing unique elements of acting and doing our Being. As with last month, do not equivocate or lose your balance as you leave old roles behind and move toward your new (if unrealized) heart strength. Since the process of self-transcendence continues to be front and center, embrace it with joy, creativity, the spirit of exploration, and see the adventure of discovery as teaching you that enlightenment is as much to be found in the body as in the mind.
To remind you, you cannot take the larger tensions, pressures, and friction personally. Though the larger atmosphere is tense and conflicted, it’s really only the play of invisible forces leading us all to new forms of individualization that will block old shadows of control mechanisms that are useless anyway.
As I’ve noted in recent articles, since all shadows result from light hitting a dense object, it’s better to become as translucid as possible to dispel lurking shadows. And if you must look at the shadows, then refocus on the object being illuminated, since that’s the source of the shadow.
Find the correct 4 angles of illuminating whatever you want to focus on, and all shadows will be dispelled. Then you’re seeing things with an illuminated mind, and can act accordingly.
© Copyright 2012 Robert Wilkinson

Robert, this is such an astounding time...I have Pluto at 24 degrees Cancer, Ascendant/Descendant at 10 degrees Virgo Pisces, Neptune at 10 degrees Virgo, SN at 14 Virgo, Jupiter at 19 degrees Virgo. You put words to all the transformation I am feeling (and dreaming!) Thanks.
Posted by: jo garceau | September 03, 2012 at 04:40 PM
Thank you Robert, for your once again inspiring and very timely reminders, as I now have allowed myself to believe I am a process of "everything being in divine perfect order" so to speak.
I have been in very challenging times as I mentioned, for years, pluto's transit of saggitarius in my second house, wiped everything material based on the false beliefs i was trained with in life, leaving me pretty much with only my real values, honesty and those i love who love me as i am by the time he was in capricorn and i finally ended up without my own homme last october and i have been searching for work. I was offered a job as the last merc rx was ending which i because of govt rules down here I allowed myself to be made to accept, needless to say the inner turmoil and anguish at a very deep level was after only a couple of weeks giving me physical ill health, i knew it was not my place or area, but fear of the consequences of leaving it kept me fighting with myself for a while, till i finally quit last friday. I have MC leo 5, h48 10 (opposing my POF) BML 15, uranus 22, mars 26, nth node 29, my natural vocation is spiritual/philosophica (sun and merc 9th moon 12th neptune 1st) and believing there is a place for me to be me and do what i am here to do has taken a lot to get passed general concensus.
However, as i felt the strong undeniable push to quit and honour myself, saturn conjuncted my asc, squaring natal sat, pluto is opposing mer and uranus is square it. chiron and neptune are conjunct chiron whilste trining my sun. Sedna is being opposed by saturn as well, challenging me to leave the victim behind and help others to do so to.
I have had a huge challenge to walk my talk and although the good outcome is yet to be seen, i finally feel successful, have put my whole heart into a leap of faith, knowing that it is possible to turn this around. So once again, I genuinely do thank you for your part in educating me to a point where the astrology supports what i used to only have intuition to go by, a little added proof from the occult. Namaste
Posted by: Debbie Eastick | September 03, 2012 at 06:34 PM
Lovely article, Robert.
During this time I have been contemplating and practicing new ways of being and experiencing my path, including letting go of old facades and self-defining roles. In allowing my heart to lead me, I have been attracted to creative, artistic and healing modalities that bring a sense of "enlivened" being.
I trust the process of becoming.
Thank you for your wisdom and guidance.
Blessings to you and yours!
Posted by: Elah | September 03, 2012 at 06:38 PM
Could you say a few words about this full Moon's conjunction with Chiron? Most appreciative!
Posted by: Claudia | September 09, 2012 at 10:42 AM