by Robert Wilkinson
This Full Moon is efficient, responsible, transformative, purifying, and like the last Full Moon, governed by discipline and the need to be mature in our responses. Recent crosscurrents have now cleared, and we can move with the flow into a more personally relevant expression of our Soul
The Sun in Earth and the Moon in Water shows a time of Initiating Earth (Practicality, Groundedness) of Capricorn expressing its organized, responsible, power-asserting influence through the “up close and personal” Initiating Water (feelings and experiences) of Cancer. As noted in part 1, the inner planets have been closing in on Saturn and have now begun to approach their conjunction with Pluto, with Mars still closing on its old cycle with Jupiter, preparing for their powerful conjunction at 18 Scorpio in early January. We’ve now begun about 4 months of conjunctions between the inner planets and the outer planets. Harvests abound these next few months, so make the most of it!
Why Are Full Moons So Important?
At a Full Moon, that which has opened since the previous New Moon surfaces in a public form, and heads toward the culmination and fruition symbolized by the second half of any cycle. First half, birth into form and field. Second half, culmination and completion of the purpose of that cycle.
That’s why it’s important to regard the New and Full Moon charts as “God’s Footprints in Time,” since one follows the other in an unending sequence of births of newer and newer seeds. The New Moons show us the seeds that will flourish under the reflected light of the Full Moon.
Full Moons heighten feelings, due to the opposition of the Moon and the Sun. Last month’s Full Moon was the last Lunation for many months with an opposition that doesn’t involve the Moon. At this point, we won’t have another opposition involving a planet until mid-April, when Venus in Taurus opposes Jupiter.
Dispositors - What's the Backdrop to the Energies?
The Moon is in Cancer, making the Moon its own ruler. The Sun is in Capricorn, making Saturn in Capricorn its worldly ruler, and Uranus in Aries as its Spiritual Ruler. As Saturn is in its home sign, it is its own ruler. If we look at the other planets, we also see Mars in its home sign of Scorpio, and Neptune in its home sign of Pisces, giving us FOUR “final dispositors” at this time! This is extremely rare. So Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus are ruled by Mars in Scorpio, and the Sun, Venus, Saturn, and Pluto are ruled by Saturn in Capricorn. The Moon and Neptune are both outliers, secure in their own realms, with the benefit that these are in trine, and also trine Mars and Jupiter, giving a harmonious and stable flow in all things related to Water signs at this time.
By looking at how “chains of dispositors,” “final dispositors,” and “mutual reception” are in play between the planets, we get a clear picture of the backdrop for how each planet operates. You can find out more about dispositors in general, chains of dispositors, and mutual reception by going to Astrology Class – What Is A Dispositor and What Is Mutual Reception Between Two Planets?
The Sabian Symbols for the Full Moon
This Full Moon falls at 12 Capricorn and Cancer. It is said that the middle third (decan) of any sign deals with the emotional, social, and cultural levels of life, and as the Lunation is in the second decan of those signs, invokes a sub-influence of Taurus and Scorpio.
Since the Moon always focuses the light of the Sun in specific forms, the degree symbols for both are important. The Sun degree is the illumination or enlightenment of the Lunation, whereas the Moon shows us the potential forms that enlightenment will take. Though I’ve given you a sense of what this is about up to now, here’s where we go into detail.
The Solar degree symbol for the 12th degree of Capricorn is “A student of nature lecturing.” According to Rudhyar’s notes from the Marc Jones class, this degree is one of "”Piercing through appearances; disclosing the magic splendor of the core of things,” “a universal living touch,” and “keen vision.”
In the Astrological Mandala he states this degree is one of "the ability to explore unfamiliar realms and discover the laws underlying the complex processes of nature.” He offers that this symbol emphasizes “the acquisition of extensive knowledge” and “the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity,” presumably in terms of natural processes.
He states here “the intellectual search for empirical knowledge” is the counterpoint to the previous symbol’s emphasis on wealth and culture, and says “civilization is founded on an ever-extended capitalization on knowledge and the use of technology.” He offers us the keyword “exploration,” and says this degree falls in the Span of Illusiveness, Act of Capitalization, and Scene of Crystallization on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the wide ramification in experience by which (we achieve our) greater opportunities,” especially when we use our intellect “as (we) participate in events and share meanings.” He says “Here is direct fulfillment in consciousness.”
Continuing, he offers that “life gains its illimitability as (we) discover that (we) can master its endless facets through ever-expanding facilities of the reason.” He says the keyword is EXPLANATION, and when positive, this degree is "self-confidence through the acquisition of knowledge and effective self-direction through the practical application of all values.”
So this is a degree of exploring nature and natural processes, where we can see the Light through mastering facts that help us expand the scope of our understanding. This Light will help us “pierce through appearances” to find “the magic splendor of the core of things.” As this degree was where Pluto went SRX in April 2013, no doubt these two weeks will a) help sprout some of those seeds into life, and b) help us see the light of what was sprouted or killed out in 2013-2014.
The Lunar degree symbol for the 12th degree of Cancer is "A Chinese woman nursing a baby with a message.” In the original Jones class notes Dane Rudhyar published in The Astrology of Personality, he states this degree is about “the promise to all that God may take birth within their Souls,” “personality integration,” and “illumination; or frustration.”
In The Astrological Mandala,, Rudhyar offers this degree involves “the revelation of latent worth in an experience once it is seen in its deeper meaning.” He states this symbol “demands that we look beyond common appearances and try to discover the ‘occult’ (hidden) character of every … experience,” and reminds us that all of us are potential avatars who can manifest our Soul in unique and specific ways so we can find our function on Earth.
He reminds us that “to discover this occult potential of being, one requires a deeper or higher ‘vision,’ a holistic perception,” which could include developing potential clairvoyant powers. He finishes with “the true clairvoyant perceives the essential meaning (or ‘message’ and function) of the whole (situation.)” Rudhyar says it falls in the Span of Expansion, the Act of Stabilization, and the Scene of Decision on the Individual-Mental level.
According to Dr. Jones, this degree indicates “the wide ramification in experience by which (we achieve our) greater opportunities,” especially when we find “far flung capabilities of the race itself in (our) own individual complex of talents and skills.” He offers “Life gains significance to the extent that each person embraces the totality of (their) kind in (their) everyday consciousness.”
He states they keyword is MATERIALIZATION. He says that when positive, this degree "a gift for bringing the more Godlike resources or superior powers of self to a point of real community service.”
From these symbols it seems we can see the light of taking a scientific approach to exploring life processes and Nature Herself, and must pierce through appearances to see the magic at the core of Life. This Light of Self-organization in forms of personal power can be expressed in revelations we will receive about various mysteries of Life and Self.
This promises the birth of some aspect of our Soul into our everyday lives, and offers illumination to all who feel what needs to be felt. The Grand Water trine will facilitate this quite nicely wherever the Moon falls in your chart, and so the Sun will express through the Moon, while the Moon’s trines will express through the Sun. This will move us into a more Soulful life, if we take responsibility and do what we must do.
TransPluto, Divine Mother, Neptune, and the Polarization in the Collective Atmosphere
Both Neptune and TransPluto represent very vast fields of feeling and connectedness beyond individual control. Neptune is the oceanic field of collective consciousness in which we all swim, and TransPluto is an almost incomprehensibly vast Divine Mother energy which redeems all things, brings grace to all circumstances, and is beyond even Death itself. When these two planets make an aspect, it shows us how the collective field is relating to Divine Redemption.
Many important collective developments related to these themes began to surface between 2009-2012, when Neptune in Aquarius was in very close opposition to TransPluto, or Divine Mother. That’s a major factor in why things became so polarized during those years, where the “tension of opposites” began to bring forth lessons in our Oneness, our need to share, and the human collective consciousness faced its need to embrace compassion and learn Viveka, or Divine Discrimination, especially when TransPluto was at the first degree of Virgo. Since that important opposition, we’ve all experienced intensified opportunities to join together in the Great Mother and realize our interrelatedness on a feeling level with All-That-Is.
In terms of the larger Era, we’ve now ended the TransPluto (Percephone, Parvati) in Leo era that we knew from September 20, 1935 through July 4, 2014. The transition period where this planet danced at the last degree of Leo and first two degrees of Virgo began October 2011 and ended July 4, 2014, when TransPluto left Leo for many centuries to come, and entered into Virgo for the next century.
TransPluto, or Divine Mother, danced between 1 and 2 Virgo between July 2014 and Oct 2017, showing us the larger view of what we are learning about how we conceive of God the Mother. The symbol for 1 Virgo is about how our ideas and ideals shape the outer forms in our lives, as well as how we act. It’s about picturing “the salient features and the overall meaning of any life situation,” as well as the Path of discipleship and other forms of training.
So one of the two great themes Divine Mother has taught all of us is to see life as a whole, and find meaning in seeing the significant features of the whole picture. This is about understanding the value and function of differences, and seeing how our personal integrity allows us to make our ideals real through accepting some sort of responsibility.
TransPluto then made its first entry into 2 Virgo October 2014, and we began humanity’s “liberating ordeal.” That initial visit was between October 2014 and mid-January 2015, and began the themes of the “crucifixion” of our sense of ego-separateness so that compassion and understanding could come forth. We are told it symbolizes “eminence at the cost of struggle,”’ which certainly seems to be very much the case as humanity redeems the promise of its better nature.
So it was at 2 Virgo between October 2014 and mid-January 2015, after which it retrograded back to 1 Virgo. It re-entered 2 Virgo in early September 2015, and stayed at that degree until February 2016, when it retrograded back to 1 Virgo again. In mid-May 2016 it went stationary direct at 1 Virgo, and then re-entered 2 Virgo in early August 2016. It remained at 2 Virgo until the end of March 2017 and then retrograded back to 1 Virgo between April and the end of June 2017.
It then again entered 2 Virgo until October 11, 2017, when it entered 3 Virgo, which we are told is a degree of “Two angels bring protection,” symbolizing inner powers and “divine help when human efforts fail.” Its occupancy of 1 Virgo is now complete, and this is the next phase in our collective “liberating ordeal,” promising relief, protection, as well as the manifestation of unexpected latent powers.
This should bring forms of security via “the simple and consistent convergence of all good things toward their own kind.” This is a type of conviction that guarantees “an effective fulfillment of our dreams.” With the planet symbolizing Divine Mother expressing help via guardian angels, it should provide us a welcome relief from some parts of our “liberating ordeal.”
It went stationary retrograde at the end of November at 3 Virgo, and is now retrograding back and will enter 2 Virgo on Jan 19, 2018. It stays at 2 Virgo, going stationary direct in mid-May 2018 on that degree, occupying it until Sept 6, 2018, when it re-enters 3 Virgo again. As you can see, while we dealt with themes related to 1 and 2 Virgo for a long time, we’re now moving into themes related to 2 and 3 Virgo for many months to come.
The energies of Divine Mother will only grow stronger throughout this century, and these will be demonstrated each time the planets make significant aspects to TransPluto. One major set of cycles were set into motion when Jupiter conjuncted TransPluto in August 2015 in Virgo, beginning a new 12 year cycle of how these “Divine Mother energies” will manifest. It also began a new long wave era, since Jupiter will conjunct TransPluto in Virgo every 12 years until the 22nd century!
Related to this, Venus went stationary retrograde exactly conjunct TransPluto in late July 2015, setting up Venusian manifestations of Divine Mother that will show each and every time 1 Virgo is transited. That means the Venusian Divine Mother promise of late July 2015 was expanded, or set into motion somehow, by Jupiter's transit of 1 Virgo in mid-August 2015, and then took expression due to Mars’ transit of that degree in late September 2015, and found “beauty of form” when Venus transited it in early October 2015.
Those two conjunctions have dominated the Virgo landscape in our charts since then, and were given new value, new power, and new understanding each time the inner planets transited those early degrees in 2016 and 2017. Also of importance, the Mars-Jupiter cycle set into motion in October 2015 in mid-Virgo will continue through their next conjunction in mid-Scorpio January 2018.
So we’ve officially entered a different Spiritual Era that will last through July 2107, when it leaves Virgo for good and re-enters Libra for the first time in many centuries, also after a few years of dancing on the cusp of Virgo and Libra. I offered you a bit more about this vast spiritual energy field in Astrology in the Age of Aquarius - Transpluto, a.k.a Divine Mother, Parvati, and Percephone.
See you soon with part 3, covering aspects, planetary sequencing, and other important factors in this Full Moon!
© Copyright 2017 Robert Wilkinson
Dear Robert thank you for this essay which I have been keenly waiting for. My sun stands at 11 degree and 3 minutes in cancer in my second house flanked by Venus and Mars on either side. So this full moon on the first day of 2018 hits my natal chart very personally and deeply. I'm not sure I understand fully what lies ahead but I remain hopeful that good things will come in this new year. I wish you and your readers a very happy new year!
Posted by: Aisha | December 31, 2017 at 01:40 PM
Thanks Robert for clearing the landscape of what this Full Moon brings to the forefront.
Happy New Year to you, yours and everyone in this Cosmic Community!
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | January 01, 2018 at 05:00 AM