by Robert Wilkinson
We have a Full Moon coming in about 96 hours, so I'll give you this early. This distributive, intuitive, practical, and truth-finding Full Moon illuminating practical adjustments occurs on August 29, 2015, at 11:35 am PDT, 2:35 pm EDT, 7:35 pm BST and falls at the 7th degree of Virgo and Pisces. As with all Full Moons, use the light you’ve been seeing and expressing since the New Moon, and give it form and focus through the ideals you began to experience in a huge way in March, April, and August 2014.
Today’s Full Moon post will be an overview of the Lunation and some of its primary qualities. In parts 2 and 3 we’ll cover the Sabian Symbols, aspects, distributions, and patterns.
We’ve now entered many months where the Full Moon Sun is not the same as the Sun sign of the previous New Moon. I’ll explain the importance of this later in this article. 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 in Leo Pt. 1 - What’s Happening in August-September 2015 as well as The New Moon in Leo Pt. 2 - Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means.
An Overview
This Full Moon helps us all see the Light of the emergent Jupiter in Virgo year to come, and marks a significant turning point in the destiny of individuals and nations, given the aspects at work. The good news is that much will be seen as it is at the core, and new perspectives will come forth. This Lunation will help us see how to make critical decisions to change direction as needed, and “gathering our medicine” will predominate these next two weeks.
This chart has some great aspects, and very few difficult ones. Venus is now speeding up preparing to conjunct Mars, marking a point of moving forward now that we’ve learned whatever Venus retrograde taught us. With Venus and Mars both trine Uranus, we should now be comfortable with generating forms of power on the social or emotional level, as well as know how to take a break when in between actions without getting stressed about not knowing what’s coming next.
This is “a pause that refreshes,” though we still have to be ready to jump into action when opportunity knocks. This Lunation is liberating, and many will find expressions of their Soul coming forth with great power. The favorable Pluto aspects indicate a great time for renewal, purification, and efficiency for those who stay clear about what roles they are playing and what roles they are not playing.
We’re in the final manifestations of the Jupiter in Leo era that will be done as Venus and Mars pass out of Leo a few weeks from now. And we’ve entered the Jupiter in Virgo era, kicked off by the recent Sun conjunct Jupiter at 4 Virgo. Whatever that conjunction is about will be set into motion in late September as Mars transits that degree, and again in early October when Venus crosses over that degree. Expect new openings, new truths, and go for the fellowship.
As I’ve told you, by September we’ll be in the heart of showing what we know about this “world servant in a master’s training class,” since Mercury brought the news in early August and the Sun powered it up in mid-August. With Venus dancing back and forth in Leo until early October, enjoy and appreciate the heart and/or creative training you’ve done since last December!
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?
The Grand Irrationality, along with the other non-rational configurations that happen off and on, indicate that we’ve been living in an era of very heavy decisions determining the future destiny of humanity since 1993. To refresh you, the Grand Irrationality is a long wave configuration set into motion every time a planet makes a conjunction, septile, biseptile, or triseptile to Neptune and Pluto. Septile series aspects show us points in time when our future destiny is precipitated by critical choices made in the present.
This Lunation again brings the “off-set” version of the Grand Irrationality front and center in global and individual affairs through the Moon conjunct Neptune with both triseptile Mercury and Mars which are in septile. That makes for 3 points of a 7 pointed Star pattern, and powers up that “critical forks in the road of destiny” energy wherever this configuration is active in national and individual charts. And of course, it will be activated any time any of the transiting planets move through the seven affected zones.
Because this configuration involves Neptune and Pluto, the outermost spiritual planets, they show a long wave evolutionary crisis for the entire human race. Since 1993, at one point or another, everyone on Earth has experienced a nonstop energy of having to choose, at the bottom of our beings, the path to evolution or devolution, progress or regress, love or fear, joy or control. It’s why things have been so weird, irrational, and hard-edged.
At this time, the current seven “hot zone” spans that trigger the Grand Irrationality are approximately 10-14 Leo, 1-5 Libra, 22-26 Scorpio, 13-17 Capricorn, 5-9 Pisces, 26-30 Aries, and 18-22 Gemini.
We’re now out of the time period of the year when Neptune is in septile to Pluto, which is the main aspect anchoring the Grand Irrationality. Right now Neptune is still 55 degrees and 20 minutes away from Pluto, so they’re too wide to be in septile.
At this time, the Grand Irrationality gains strength as we move through Autumn and Winter, and will again lessen in strength in the late Winter into the Spring and Summer. As I’ve explained in other articles, that means that in the Autumn and Winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) they operate as a simultaneous “pulse,” since they’re both aspected near the same time. But in the Spring and Summer we 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.
Important Factors
This Lunation brings us a mixed bag of forming aspects which I’ll discuss in parts 2 & 3. Besides the Moon triseptiles mentioned above to Mercury septile Mars, we also have Venus conjunct Mars, biseptile Saturn, and trine Uranus. We see the Sun binovile Saturn, opposition Neptune, and trine Pluto, the latter two aspects making a very powerful and favorable configuration.
Other aspects include Mars trine Uranus and Jupiter sesquisquare Uranus, opposition Neptune, and trine Pluto. While Saturn is just separating from a semisquare to Pluto, it’s still partile, so in force, and we have the ongoing Uranus novile Neptune described in my 2015 Year Report, and Uranus square Pluto.
In this Full Moon, the span occupied by the inner planets (in this chart Mars in Leo through Mercury in early Libra) is 49+ degrees, and includes three signs. That makes that span very active these next two weeks. This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs, but in a very widespread and irregular distribution.
This Lunation, along with the inner planets, creates an occupied span in Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, and Aries, with a 1/3 span unoccupied. That creates a “Locomotive” Jones chart pattern, where we lead with Mars in Leo and close with Uranus in Aries.
So What is a “Locomotive Pattern” and how does it work?
This type of spread, with all the planets occupying approximately 2/3 of the signs with an empty third, creates an imbalance that leads to power if we can find the compensatory “weight” to make things move forward smoothly rather than rock side to side creating friction. Target what is needed, and provide compensatory energies accordingly.
As Marc Jones put it, “this type of horoscope reveals a balance of this sort in the life. A third part of things… consisting of a free span in experience, is set against a two-thirds part, embracing a related but limited span in experience…. The basis of the dynamic is found in the native’s resulting strong sense of a lack or a need, of a problem to be solved, a task to be achieved in the social and intellectual world around him.”
Dr. Jones states “The temperament reveals a self-driving individuality, an executive eccentricity that is not … unbalance but rather is power. It exhibits a dynamic and exceptionally practical capacity which is neither the broad universality of the Splash pattern, nor the special obsession with some particularly narrowed aspect of experience characteristic of the Bundle people.
He goes on to state “The Locomotive classification is … moved more by external factors in the environment than by aspects of its own character. The point of application for the powers of the self is shown … by the “leading planet,” or the one of the two in the empty trine which forms its aspect clockwise in the zodiac, irrespective of any distinction as “applying” or “separating.”
Mars in Leo is the leading planet in the Locomotive. Take the humor, vision, and heart strengths you cultivated when Jupiter in Leo was the leading planet of the Locomotive in 2014, and find ways to act effectively. Express your heart with courage, joy, and genuine conviction to make those potential Jupiter visions, truths, and virtues into reality.
We can use the Jupiterian joy and enthusiasm we experienced between June 2014 and August 2015 for the next few weeks begin to find ways of making those a part of our lives through the direct action of Mars spurring us forward. Because the leading and closing edge of the Locomotive are both in Fire signs this month, keep opening to a genuine and natural self-expression, moving through experience coming out with the power of your true higher individuality. Be light, see light, live light, express light!
As the Locomotive keeps things out of balance, Mars at the front end is the means to find ways of initiating activity that must be accompanied by a compensatory “weight” to keep things moving forward rather than sideways. The more we work with the imbalances that can lead us to effective action to ground the process while adapting to acquire future needs and protective devices.
As we open the span of experience with Mars in Leo, and close the span with Uranus in Aries, this is when a lot of the promise of the past 13 months can take shape quickly, leading us to ability to generate power in our own unique way. With Uranus closing the span, we can complete our experiences with genuine and honest forms of original and/or unique self-expression.
Is the Sun Following the Moon, or the Moon Following the Sun?
We now continue the pattern of the Full Moon Sun falling in a different sign than the Sun of the previous New Moon. We’ve now completed the “normal” pattern we last experienced between September 2013 and September 2014, and are now in the “reversed pattern” we last experienced 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....
The first New Moon in the new pattern had the Sun at 30 Aquarius, with the Full Moon Sun at 15 Pisces. The second New Moon was the Solar Eclipse at 30 Pisces, with the following Full Moon Sun at 15 Aries. The third had the New Moon Sun at 29 Aries, and the Sun at the next Full Moon at 14 Taurus. The fourth had the New Moon Sun at 26 Gemini, and the last Full Moon Sun is at 10 Cancer. The fifth had the New Moon Sun at 24 Cancer, and the Full Moon Sun is at 8 Leo. This one had the New Moon Sun at 22 Leo, and this Full Moon Sun is at 7 Virgo.
So we’ve ended the pattern of the “natural” order of Lunation Suns, offering us seeds shown in the first half, fulfillment in the second half, and have begun a new order of things. This one takes the “Seed Light” of the Soul-ful creative expression of Leo and comes to a Full Moon illumination through the Light of Virgo expressed through the compassionate sign of Pisces!
See you in the near future with parts two and three, where we will explore the Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other important chart factors.
© Copyright 2015 Robert Wilkinson
Mars direct station April 2012 was on 4 degrees virgo. Sun / Jupiter conjunction 2015 is also on 4 degrees virgo. Please shed light on this
Posted by: Adam | August 25, 2015 at 04:31 PM
Hi Robert- thank you for posting this early. I am a huge fan of your work! In 2012, I was outcasted and voted off of the island by a family member. So adam's question above has great significance for me being so the family member's decision was made on the day of Mars went station retrograde April 2012. And I have yet to recover from this loss(emphasizing yet:) could this potentially open any doors that we're closed then or is this 'a time of reflection' sort of thing? Thank you, sir and please continue being a conjunction of Jupiter, Mercury and awesomeness!!!
Posted by: Clay | August 25, 2015 at 06:23 PM
Thanks Robert. Interesting and as always full of useful information that allows for a clear view of things past, present and future, but more so, of the pespective to understand them and work with them.
Ready for part 2&3.
Blessings be to all
Posted by: Nic | August 26, 2015 at 10:51 AM