by Robert Wilkinson
This stabilizing, grounding, “Buddha-Nature” infused Full Moon helping us use our highest teachings and experiences to rise to some “challenge of transformation” falls at the 24th degree of Taurus and Scorpio. This Lunation, stripping away chains, fears, and obsolete duties and limitations in order to see our purpose more clearly, occurs May 14 at 12:16 pm PDT, 3:16 pm EDT, and 8:16 pm Greenwich (BST). It is the second of the “Three High Moons” of the Northern Hemispheric Spring.
This Wesak Festival Full Moon will help us stabilize our lives while helping us clear away the debris of the recent fracturings. Since the Wesak represents “Buddha Wisdom” of some compassionate form that helps us all to end suffering, it would seem the next two weeks can help us capture simple truths that can be expressed through what we let go of, what we choose to regenerate, and how we choose to fill recent voids.
Today’s Full Moon post covers various rising signs around the globe and an overview of the Lunation and some of its primary qualities. In parts 2 and 3 we’ll cover Sabian Symbols, aspects, distributions, and patterns.
So What's Happening Where?
Now we take a look at the rising signs around the world. The Lunation finds 21 Leo rising in Santa Monica, 23 Leo in Vancouver, 24 Virgo in Toronto, 29 Virgo in Montreal, and 26 Virgo in Washington DC, showing (from west to east) late Leo through late Virgo as the rising signs across North America.
Continuing east, we find 7 Scorpio rising in Rio, 20 Scorpio in Lisbon, 20 Scorpio in London, 29 Scorpio in Berlin, 14 Sagittarius in Sofia, 20 Capricorn in Johannesburg, and 14 Sagittarius in Moscow. That means the span of Ascendants across the Atlantic to Central Europe and Africa is between early Scorpio and late Capricorn.
Moving into Asia and Oceana, we find the Ascendants to be 10 Aquarius in Abbottabad (May 15), 18 Aquarius in New Delhi, 24 Aquarius in Trivandrum, 29 Pisces in Jakarta, 8 Aries in Hong Kong, 17 Taurus in Tokyo, 7 Aries in Perth, 30 Aries in Melbourne, 10 Taurus in Brisbane, 22 Taurus in Wellington, and 14 Cancer rising on Maui (May 14).
So you can construct a rough chart for where you are in the world, I’ll give you the rounded up degree for each planet. Use the Ascendants given above to get a rough sense of what’s on the eastern horizon where you are, and using an Equal House system, you can see what’s going on in your part of the world for the next 2 weeks.
In this Full Moon with the Sun at 24 Taurus and the Moon at 24 Scorpio (Saturn’s last stationary retrograde degree!), Mercury is 13 Gemini, Venus is 14 Aries, Mars is 10 Libra retrograde (on its stationary direct degree), Jupiter is 18 Cancer, Saturn is 20 Scorpio retrograde, Uranus is 15 Aries, Neptune is 8 Pisces on its stationary retrograde degree), Pluto is 14 Capricorn retrograde (still on its stationary retrograde degree), TransPluto is 30 Leo retrograde, Chiron is 18 Pisces, and the NN is 29 Libra.
Because the New Moon preceding the Full Moon always represents the seed forms that are brought to surface at and after the Full Moon, please check out the recent New Moon articles The New Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus Pt. 2 – What’s Happening in May 2014, and The April-May New Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus Pt. 3 - Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means. You will recall it was an extremely beneficial Solar Eclipse. Though its effects will be short-lived, they will bring great gifts and blessings to those with degrees impacted by that Eclipse chart. Refer to the links to learn more.
Those around the world who will definitely feel effects of this Full Moon are the places where it falls near the angles of the chart. Places on our list where the Lunation is near the angles and activating energies powerfully are (Sun/Moon): the West coast of North America, (MC/IC), Rio, Lisbon, London, Berlin, Sofia, and Moscow (Dsc/Asc), Pakistan and India (IC/MC), and Tokyo, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Wellington(Asc/Dsc).
An Overview
An overview of this period ruled by this Full Moon shows it will illuminate our ability to assert ourselves in ways where we take command of situations, or see the broader context of some path we’re on. This is a stabilizing, practical, and liberating Lunation, with a lot of focus on deep feelings that will help us eliminate what is stuck and regenerate out of incorporating “inspired teachings” into our daily lives.
This is a threshold Lunation, where Mars shows the way to a sense of relief at having made it through some metaphoric “rapids.” This one takes us into unknown zones that are strangely familiar, where courage is everything as we move into a deeper faith, as well as new values, new life forms, new life resources, and new ways to enjoy life. See what brings you down, and renounce it completely at the core of your being.
This can give us a sense of control over what fills the voids of our existence, and we can grow through hanging in there, putting our best self forward, not settling for lesser things when greater things are at stake, and continuing to reinterpret upheavals in our recent past, seeing them from a wider, more symbolic angle. While this is an agitating Lunation, it also will substantiate and confirm certain elements of our new life that we’re learning to value within the dance of relationship.
The coming weeks will be powerful in helping us eliminate whatever is no longer relevant to our purpose and ability to respond to growing into a more mature role in our world. Dualities that arise can be resolved by making a leap of faith demonstrating some form of magnetic or emotional mastery over those dualisms. We’ll all certainly be able to get to the core of things, and see the innermost life and vitality (or lack thereof) in people, situations, and arguments.
With the Moon in Scorpio, find an appropriate emotional vehicle to navigate this time of tremendous feelings. Clean out, clear out, and/or repair whatever you need to in order to be able to interact with others in non-corrupted ways. This period can bring us a great joy by opening to a more unique way of dancing with others, and seeing recent beginnings and endings as offering a glimpse into a higher purpose.
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?
The Grand Irrationality is definitely triggered in this Lunation by the Moon biseptile Neptune. I wrote extensively about this long term configuration in Astrology in November-December 2013 - The Grand Irrationality Affecting Everyone and Astrology in late November and Early December 2013 – In the Heart of the Grand Irrationality. When you’re done here, please check out those articles to find the current seven “hot zone” spans, and I’ll update the information sometime soon.
As I’ve noted previously, Neptune has begun to pull apart from the exact septile to Pluto at this time, which is the main aspect anchoring the Grand Irrationality. Right now Neptune is 54 degrees and 03 minutes away from Pluto, but by the end of May they’ll be 54d 30m apart, which is a little too wide an orb to be in septile.
As I explained in a recent article, that just means that in the Autumn and Winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) they are close to exact, and operate as a simultaneous “pulse,” since they’re both aspected near the same time. But in the Spring and Summer we’ll experience it as a rolling influence, with first Pluto aspected, and then Neptune at some time after that, depending on which planet is doing the aspect to these planets.
So while the Grand Irrationality continues to be an influence, it’s not as strong now as it will be in the Autumn and Winter, especially when Saturn re-enters the Scorpio zone occupied by the Moon in this Lunation. However, there are other septile-driven aspects in play in this chart, showing we all have more critical “forks in the road of destiny” confronting us these next two weeks. The influence will also hold for the year as a whole, since this Wesak Full Moon shows “Buddha Wisdom” that will help us all to overcome suffering over the next year.
Important Factors
This Lunation brings us a mixed bag of aspects. On the harmonious side, we have Mercury sextile Venus and Uranus, Venus biquintile Saturn, Jupiter trine Saturn, and Saturn tredecile Neptune. The Jupiter trine Saturn is harmonizing and giving us a last stabilizing understanding of the emotional intelligence we’ve built since Summer 2013. There are also powerful minor aspects in play which I’ll go into in future articles.
We only have one residual forming aspect from the recent “Great Fracturing,” though Mars about to go direct in motion will bring echoes of that Fracturing to the fore, since it will continue to square Pluto and oppose Uranus through June. These oppositions and squares are putting major pressure on those who have planets or angles between 9-15 Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, and 24-30 Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. If you have something in those zones, then you can bet you’ll see some breakthrough action over the next two weeks.
As usual with Mars in Libra, don’t let things spin out of proportion. The Cardinal T-square requires that we be very balanced in extreme situations or when with extreme people. This is a time when we should be able to look back at rapids we’ve successfully navigated, with the provision to remember to continue to blunt unnecessary aggressive tendencies, be moderate and measured in your responses, and when appropriate, be a peacemaker, since that is leading us to a vision that will be perfected between now and mid-July.
We will experience a Mars response or lesson based on what we learned from Saturn, some discipline or duty or responsibility, in October 2010 that we began to act on in June 2011. Something related to then could become an irritant, or require action, or recalibration. Again, be moderate and compassionate in all responses, be balanced when it’s time to move into a greater or more elegant or refined archetypal role, and use what Saturn taught you then to concentrate on what matters now. This one quickens us, but in a strangely frictional way.
We all began to learn how to overcome fear in the Spring of 2012, and then entered an unknown space time sector where we began to learn to view much of what goes on at core through a sense of life being a “science experiment,” with our task to understand the laws that underlie what’s going on. We’re now able to use that knowledge to get a new perspective on what has affected us in the past, and can let go of nonessentials as we claim the enduring patterns and symbols of “the movie of our life.”
I’ll write more about these things in parts 2 and 3. The next two weeks will bring lessons in self-transformation toward a more effective destiny, or set of duties and disciplines. Continue to maintain balance as you clean up the residue of what has already fractured in your life. We are now in a new era, and are on the threshold of things beginning to develop a lot more quickly than they have in recent months. While things may still feel somewhat slow, they are about to quicken in a big way.
Jupiter is moving forward, continuing its “last pass” over the span it’s occupied since last August. As noted, this gives us a new chance to apply the emotional intelligence we built last June, July, and August. The coming weeks will help us get new understanding about what we consider to be true about those new cares, new feelings, and a new sense of stability we’ve embraced since then. Now that it’s forming its final trine to Saturn, we’re stabilizing whatever “feeling-knowing” we’ve been cultivating since last Summer.
Jupiter has been in Cancer for all Lunations since last July. That shows we’re in a one year period where family and personal feelings will continue to run strong, so be clear about what you’re feeling that feeds you, or nurtures your growth in some personal way. We’ve all gone deeper into how we experience everything, and the past 5 months we’ve been given a new look at how we measure success, and figuring out how to “put on the show” and receive what we need from our audience.
Is the Sun Following the Moon, or the Moon Following the Sun?
This is the tenth Full Moon where the Sun falls in the same sign to the Sun at the previous New Moon. We’re now back to the “normal” pattern we last experienced between September 2010 and June 2012. We’re now done with the “reversed pattern” we dealt with between June 2012 and August 2013, where the Full Moon Sun was in a different sign than the previous New Moon.
As I've explained in previous Full Moon articles,
... the Full Moon being in a subsequent sign than the previous New Moon indicates that what is released as realizations in the Full Moon period actually "prepares the ground" for the coming New Moon seed. Strange reversal of function, since you would think the New Moon provides the seed for the next Full Moon. But this set of Lunations works the opposite way....Another way to look at this is the Sun sign of the Full Moon is the same as and precedes the Sun sign of the next New Moon, reversing the usual way Lunations work. So the fulfillment of the Full Moon sets up the next "seed" to be revealed at the next New Moon....
So Sept 2010 through May 2012 we had the New Moon Sun in the same sign as the subsequent Full Moon Sun every month. This shifted in June 2012, when we had a New Moon at 1 Gemini in late May, a Full Moon at 15 Gemini-Sag in early June, and another New Moon at 29 Gemini in late June. That began the sequence of the New Moon Sun at the end of one sign, with the following Full Moon Sun in the next sign.
So June 2012 began the reversed experience from the “normal” New Moon-Full Moon cycle. We had an illuminated form shown to us at the Full Moon, followed by the Sun being in the same sign as the previous Full Moon. This is fulfillment followed by similar Solar seeds of potential while reversing the natural process.
That ended in August 2013, and we’re again in a sequence where the Full Moon Sun is the same sign as the previous New Moon Sun. To illustrate, the January 11, 2013 New Moon Sun was at 22 Capricorn, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 8 Aquarius. The February 10, 2013 New Moon Sun was at 22 Aquarius, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 8 Pisces.
Continuing through the Spring, the March 11, 2013 New Moon Sun was at 22 Pisces, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 7 Aries. The April 10 New Moon Sun was at 21 Aries, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 6 Taurus. The May 9 New Moon Solar Eclipse was at 20 Taurus, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 5 Gemini. The June 8 New Moon was at 19 Gemini, while the next Full Moon Sun was at 3 Cancer.
This “reversed Sun sign” phenomenon ended then. In August 2013 we had a New Moon Sun at 15 Leo on August 6-7, and then the Full Moon Sun at 29 Leo. In September we had a New Moon Sun at 14 Virgo, and then we had a Full Moon Sun at 27 Virgo. In October we had a New Moon Sun at 12 Libra, and then a Full Moon Sun at 26 Libra.
In November, we had a New Moon Solar Eclipse Sun at 12 Scorpio, and then a Full Moon Sun at 26 Scorpio. In December, we had a New Moon at 11 Sagittarius, and then a Full Moon at 26 Sagittarius. In January 2014, we had a New Moon at 11 Capricorn, and a Full Moon Sun at 26 Capricorn.
The New Moon of late January had the Sun at 11 Aquarius, while the Full Moon Sun was at 27 Aquarius. The New Moon in late February/early March had the Sun at 11 Pisces, and Full Moon Sun is at 27 Pisces. The New Moon in late March had the Sun at 10 Aries, and the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse had the Sun at 26 Aries.
The most recent New Moon Solar Eclipse in late April had the Sun at 9 Taurus, while the Sun here is at 24 Taurus. So this continues the pattern of the “natural” order of Lunation Suns, offering us seeds shown in the first half, fulfillment in the second half.
In parts two and three, we will explore the Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other important chart factors.
Previous articles in this series:
© Copyright 2014 Robert Wilkinson
Very clear and a great starter for the articles to follow. Thnaks Robert.
Blessings be.
Posted by: Nic | May 12, 2014 at 01:14 PM
Hi Robert,
I consulted the I Ching yesterday about a friendship and drew the hexagram for Retreat. (My friend is engaging in some very self-destructive behaviors and I didn't become aware of that until this past Thursday evening.) In seven plus years of friendship I don't think there have been more than a handful of times I didn't return his call immediately (or pick up!). But I ignored his two calls today. Then I read this: "See what brings you down, and renounce it completely at the core of your being."
Many forecasts for this next week suggest it's a time to communicate honestly from the heart. I am going to have to let my silence communicate for me, and pray that it registers my disapproval. The hexagram Retreat suggests that retreat is tactical and of the moment while it also plans for the counter movement (advancing). This is good since my friend is behaving like a teenager and doing the sort of things that one would refer to as a cliche ... as a "cry for help". To rebuke him makes me sound maternal and easy to shut me out and turn a deaf ear. Praying silence can speak volumes in this time.
Posted by: Lee | May 12, 2014 at 06:21 PM
Thank you <3
Posted by: Crystalstiletto.wordpress.com | May 15, 2014 at 06:21 AM