by Robert Wilkinson
This stabilizing, creative, visionary, and revelatory Full Moon illuminating previously concealed powers expressed in creative and dramatic ways effective relationships and a greater group involvement occurs at 5:46 pm PST, 8:46 pm EST on Jan 23, 2016, 1:46 am GMT Jan 24, and falls at the 4th degree of Aquarius and Leo. As with all Full Moons at this time, use the light of the Capricorn structuring you’ve been seeing and expressing since the New Moon, and give it form and focus to see how to fulfill some need in your life.
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 been in 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 Capricorn Pt. 1 – What’s Happening in January-February 2016 as well as The New Moon in Capricorn Pt. 2 - Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means.
An Overview
This is a Lunation that puts the focus on some fairly important choices that will affect our future. We have major spiritual aspects in play this Full Moon, as well as the Grand Irrationality thanks to Mercury on its direct station conjunct Pluto and septile Neptune, promising major global events happening the next two weeks.
This Full Moon will show us all “the power of our spiritual ancestry,” and how the past has conditioned the present. This will tune us in on our genetic wisdom, and newer, more permanent elements will begin to take shape in our lives. During the next two weeks, we can take the faith we’ve been living since the last New Moon and use it to move forward with honesty and confidence, since the next two weeks bring rolling spiritual realizations and a further development of the practical seeds of material productivity.
The very powerful opposition-quintile-tredecile the Lunation makes with Uranus shows high specialization and unexpected or unusual serendipity associated with life revolutions in play the past 18 months. Since Uranus is aspected in very important ways by all the other planets except Venus and Saturn, we should see some highly Uranian manifestations going on in our lives these next two weeks.
Now that Jupiter is retrograde, we’re re-tracing ground we covered in late 2015. This is a review of opportunities that have opened in the past few months, with the need to take a new look at whatever Jupiterian promise we have received. By May, when it goes stationary direct in mid-Virgo conjunct the degrees where Venus and Mars conjuncted it last October, we will see rapid forward movement on both personal and social levels, even with Mars still retrograde.
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 directly triggers the Grand Irrationality, since we now have Mercury stationary direct conjunct Pluto and septile Neptune. This will throw affected areas of our charts into “forks in the road of destiny,” and many will find they need to show tender care as they sprout the seeds of unknown futures and quicken their evolution by dropping unnecessary or superfluous considerations and things.
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, 14-18 Capricorn, 6-10 Pisces, 27 Aries-1 Taurus, and 18-22 Gemini.
This is one of the last Full Moons for many months where the configuration will be powerfully active, since the Neptune septile Pluto is separating, slowly but surely. We are now moving through Winter when is it is strongest, since the aspect is still very close, being 52d 21m in this chart.
As we move into Spring, Neptune and Pluto will separate in distance, and unlike the past 22 years, by Summer they will no longer be in septile. Winter is when they are closest, but by Summer they’ll be too wide to be a septile. We’re now slowly moving out of the configuration, and within a few years Neptune and Pluto will be back in long term sextile, as they were for most of the last half of the 20th century.
At this time, the Grand Irrationality gains strength as we move through Autumn and into 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. In this chart, there are SIX septile-series aspects! We see Mercury septile Neptune, Venus septile Mars, Sun septile Saturn, Mars septile Jupiter and triseptile Uranus, and Jupiter triseptile Uranus. Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus all make for a powerful interlocking configuration. Even though Venus does not fit into it because it does not make septile series aspects to Jupiter or Uranus, it does show that over the next few days, it will trigger Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus by making aspects to them.
We also have quite a few Elftile series (11th harmonic) aspects, showing a lot of faith will be require to overcome some dualistic conditions. The Moon is trielftile Mars, Venus is bielftile the Sun and trielftile Jupiter, and the Sun is quadrelftile Jupiter. These subtle but powerful spiritual aspects will bring their own interlocking influence to the party.
In this Full Moon, the span occupied by the inner planets (in this chart Mars in Scorpio through Sun in early Aquarius) is a wide spread of 82+ degrees, and includes 4 signs. Within that spread we have 4 planets within a 33 degree span. That makes Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius very active these next two weeks. This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 8 signs, in a widespread distribution.
This Lunation creates an occupied span of 253 degrees that begins with the Moon in early Leo, then moves through Jupiter in late Virgo and the planets in Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and ends with Uranus in mid-Aries. Because the Moon in Leo is outside the occupied span between Virgo and Aries, it creates a “Bucket” Jones chart pattern, where we lead with Jupiter in Virgo and close with Uranus in Aries and have the Moon in Leo as the handle, or focal determinator, of the Bucket. However, since there is also an empty third between Uranus and the Moon, it creates a simultaneous “Locomotive” Jones pattern.
The handle of the Bucket shows us how the energies are focused or released. Of note is that this is the last Bucket for many months to come, since none of the inner planets will be far enough into Gemini to be a distinct handle until June 2016. Get used to using Lunar energy wisely!!
It’s important that Jupiter in Virgo leads the occupied half while conjunct the North Node. This position of Jupiter shows that we need to take the humor, vision, and heart strengths we cultivated when Jupiter in Leo was the leading planet of the Locomotive in 2014, and find ways to reclaim that power and vision in a practical form. This will bring back echoes of when Jupiter in Leo led the occupied segment, since the Moon in Leo will reflect that energy these next two weeks.
Be willing to experiment and be educated, or be experimental when called to educate another. Improve your effectiveness in forms of group interaction and training, since the next two weeks we can improve our social cooperation and effectiveness.
We can use the Jupiterian vision and optimism in precise ways to initiate concentrated Virgo actions. Because the leading edge of the Bucket is in Earth and the closing edge is in Fire, keep opening to a simple, grounded practicality and enjoyment of life, and close cycles of activity with an inspired individuality that knows when to hang tough and when to withdraw from agitated people and circumstances.
So What is a “Bucket Pattern” and how does it work?
This type of spread, with all the planets in about half the signs with one outside that span wide enough to be a handle, creates a “Bucket” Jones Pattern. The energies of the occupied half are focused through the “handle,” or “nozzle,” in this case Jupiter, termed the “focal determinator.”
The handle, or focal determinator, represents the way to greater effectiveness, the cause to be embraced, the lack to be filled, or the way to use the total energies of this time in a focused manner. With the Moon in Leo as the handle, we should be able to grasp what we need to move forward in an immediate re-grasping of experience. This will help us focus on the next stage of what opened to us back when Jupiter was in early Leo the Summer of 2014, kicking off a year of expansive inspiration.
Dr. Jones states “the bucket type indicates a particular and rather uncompromising direction in the life effort.” This pattern gives “interest in a cause,” with executive tendencies that will adapt allegiances to maximize results of the effort. He says “the bucket type at its best reveals the real instructor and inspirer of others, and at its worst the agitator and malcontent.” This is the larger planetary pattern within which we’re all trying to do what we do.
We are also told this pattern is more about finding an effective release for energy within social settings, but also about the individual imposing their patterns on society rather than adapting to what is there. It’s about focused intention. So all of us can expect some sort of focused attention on the house where we have 4 Leo.
Because it’s also a Locomotive pattern, I’ll also give the qualities of that Jones pattern again. You should see a combination of energies working out of balance, but generating power for those who know how to use the Lunar focus wisely.
So What is a “Locomotive Pattern” and how does it work?
This type of spread, with all the planets occupying 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.”
The Moon is the leading planet in the Locomotive. Find appropriate Leonine forms of expressing things so they take relevant shape in your life, and prove your skills in creative ways. Leo is about heart strength as well as dramatic self-expression. Because the leading and closing edge of the Locomotive are both in Fire signs, keep opening your hearts to the joyous song of life! Be light, see light, live light, express light!
As the Locomotive keeps things out of balance, the Moon is now the front end to finding the way 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 understand why we’re having to “show what we know,” and be creative and/or playful, the easier it will be to use the Moon’s energies skillfully.
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 in February 2015, with the Full Moon Sun at 15 Pisces in March. 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 last New Moon was at 20 Capricorn, while this Full Moon Sun is at 4 Aquarius.
So we’re in the heart of “the other” natural pattern, and will return to the pattern of the “natural” order of Lunation Suns beginning in June 2016 with the New Moon in Gemini and the subsequent Full Moon Sun also in Gemini. Since the New Moon offers us seeds in the first half of the month’s lunar cycle, and fulfillment in the second half, and we’re still in the stage of different Sun signs at the Lunations, this one takes the “Seed Light” of focused magnetism represented by Scorpio and comes to a Full Moon illumination through the clarity of Taurus.
See you in the near future with parts two and three, where we will explore the Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other important chart factors.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
Mercury is now at 16 Capricorn and about to go stationary direct in the next few days. We’ve now all had a form of “cosmic visitation” as a result of it going stationary retrograde in early January at 2 Aquarius. We’ve been mobilized, and now things begin to pick up speed. Of course, it will still be in its “shadow zone” for the next few weeks, helping us make progress as we traverse familiar ground yet a third time.
Because it will still be a big influence on what’s happening the next few weeks, if you haven't already gotten your copy, you may want to buy the new expanded 2nd edition of my pioneering book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde, the 2015 winner in its category of The Indie Spiritual Book Awards. It can certainly help you understand what’s been happening, and what will be happening in April-May, August-September, and December-January when Mercury is again retrograde.
As I’ve told you, it is the first major work on Mercury retrograde ever written, offering in-depth information about Mercury retrograde people, Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the entire Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about. If you want to know what this passing Mercury retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn was about and how it could impact the next few weeks, or 2015’s Mercury retrogrades in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, or the others in any other sign and the influence in the houses, it’s all in there.
By knowing more about 2014's Mercury retrograde periods in Pisces/Aquarius, Cancer/Gemini, and Scorpio/Libra, as well as 2015’s Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, you may see patterns in what was going on in your life, what you were taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" influenced your choices as you moved through past events. And you can get a heads up by taking a look at the coming 2016 Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius/Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn/Sagittarius. It’s all in the book!
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can order your paperback or ebook copy of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. It is an invaluable resource for understanding past, present, and future Mercury retrogrades, so get your copy today. Just make sure you get the 2015 edition, and not the 1997 first edition, since the second is a far superior product!
© Copyright 2016 Robert Wilkinson
Comments