by Robert Wilkinson
This Lunar Eclipse will be extraordinarily beneficial, even though some will go through internal crises when they find old habits don’t work, old rigid or rule bound ways of relating to others don’t work, and many things come to an end. This one helps us see a broader vision of our spiritual Way as well as who we share it with. Tremendous growth is found in creative outlets, children, play, and forms of self-dramatization. And Uranus continues to redeem a promise or two, offering us gifts and blessings for embracing spiritual individualization!
This stabilizing, synthesizing, creative Full Moon occurs at 5:27 am PST, 1:27 pm GMT on January 31, and falls at the 12th degree of Leo and Aquarius. Continuing the theme that proceeds at each Full Moon as they move through each polarity, this one gives us the ability to use the clarity we’ve been seeing and expressing since the New Moon, and take the light of a greater vision of our Spiritual Way, giving it form and focus through a more natural and heart-felt expression.
Today’s Full Moon post will be an overview of the Lunation and some of its primary qualities. In parts 3 and 4 we’ll cover the Sabian Symbols, aspects, distributions, and patterns.
An Overview
This Full Moon Total Eclipse in Leo-Aquarius will take away all that would inhibit us from expressing the new personality integration we’ve opened to since the New Moon. It takes the vision of Sagittarius-Gemini that was organized in Capricorn-Cancer and turns it into an enduring contribution to our life and our world in creative, heart-felt ways. Here we see the redemption of a promise we’ve waited for these past 20 months in unique forms that will yield deep revelations about why some things in life have to end.
We’re now beginning to move into a new phase of the off-again, on-again Rhombus Diamonds anchored by Uranus semisquare Neptune. While it’s not activated in this Eclipse, the Rhombus Diamond Octile has a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” quality, so catch your breath until September, when this configuration will happen again.
That’s not to say we’re entirely free of the friction, since we’ve had transits that were semisquare Neptune and square Uranus in January, with more friction to come in late February when Mercury and Venus both conjunct Neptune and semisquare Uranus.
After that, we have planets conjunct Uranus while semisquaring Neptune in March, April, and May, culminating in mid-May when Mars enters Aquarius and semisquares Neptune and squares Uranus, also generating friction. The difference is that the semisquares are internal friction, whereas sesquisquares are external friction. The Rhombus is created by a combination of both, along with oppositions, so technically we won’t have a full Rhombus Diamond until September.
Interestingly, while the last Full Moon had only two forming frictional aspects, in this eclipse chart we have quite a few more, including Moon opposed Venus and quincunx Neptune, Venus square Jupiter and semisquare Saturn, Mars semisquare Pluto, and Uranus semisquare Neptune. Venus waxing square to Jupiter and waxing semisquare to Saturn are points of internal crisis relative to their emerging cycles, like Uranus in a waxing semisquare to Neptune. Mars waning semisquare Pluto is the “death blow” to the old Mars-Pluto cycle, preparing us for the coming Mars conjunct Pluto at 22 Capricorn in late April.
Even though the first Jupiter semisquare Saturn is now separating, we will have another coming between late February and early March. This indicates that the Jupiter-Saturn cycle that began with their May 2000 conjunction at 23 Taurus is now beginning to disintegrate. Even now the seeds of what will begin at the Great Mutation of 2020 are beginning to take shape. 2020 features Saturn conjunct Pluto at 23 Capricorn, followed by Jupiter’s two conjunctions with Pluto at 25 Capricorn that Spring and Summer, culminating in the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 1 Aquarius in December. I’ll write more about that very important period in coming months.
We’ve now moved into a time period of shifting Jones pattern. The patterns change mainly due to the position of the Moon, and at this Full Moon, we’ve again returned to a combination of a “Bucket” and “Locomotive” pattern. I’ll explain more later in this article.
Now that Saturn has entered Capricorn and Mars left Scorpio, the dispositors have again shifted. We now have Saturn as a final dispositor, with Mars and Jupiter in Mutual Reception as the other dispositors at work behind all the other planetary energies. I’ll discuss the ruling dispositors in another article. At this time, Mercury leads the Sun, showing the need for organized thinking and a high level of practicality when observing or evaluating situations and people. Claim the power, and when appropriate, join with others in crucial decision making.
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?
The Grand Irrationality, along with the other outer planet non-rational configurations that happen off and on throughout the year, 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.
In this Full Moon, there is no planet in a septile-series aspect to Neptune or Pluto, and we’re actually in a fairly calm period. The next triggers will be when planets conjunct Neptune and septile Pluto in late February and early March, and late April and early May when Mars conjuncts Pluto and septiles Neptune. Each of these represents a “fork in the road of destiny” for those affected, as well as humanity as a whole.
At this time, the current seven “hot zone” spans that trigger the Grand Irrationality are approximately 13-17 Leo, 4-8 Libra, 25-29 Scorpio, 18-22 Capricorn, 10-14 Pisces, 1-5 Taurus, and 22-26 Gemini.
We’re now slowly moving out of the configuration, and we’ve already hit a point in time when Neptune and Pluto are beginning to form a 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. (Right now they’re 52d 57m apart, their closest orb for centuries to come.)
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.
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.
Planetary Distribution
In this Full Moon, the span occupied by the inner planets (in this chart Mercury at 30 Capricorn through Venus in mid-Aquarius spans 16+ degrees. Add Mars, Saturn, and Pluto on one side, and Neptune on the other, and the span involves 7 planets within 99+ degrees, so the areas between early Sagittarius and mid-Pisces will be very active these next two weeks. We’ll hit maximum compression in March, with all planets between Jupiter at 24 Scorpio and Uranus at 27 Aries, making a very powerful triseptile which I’ll discuss as it gets closer.
At this time we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs, in an uneven widespread distribution, which is why this has elements of both a “Locomotive” and “Bucket” Jones patterns. Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Jupiter in Scorpio, then includes Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Pisces, and Uranus in Aries, with the inner planets now occupying Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. This chart’s Moon in Leo is outside the occupied hemisphere, and due to its 106+ span with Uranus, it creates both an almost perfect Bucket and Locomotive pattern, combining the two influences.
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 the Moon, 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 “get a handle on what we need to do” by demonstrating good Leo skills and approaches. Thus the focus requires creativity, spontaneity, heart, love, enthusiasm, and a natural connection to life.
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 12 Leo, in some way related to the past or our everyday life and loves (Moon).
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 and Uranus the closing planet in the Locomotive. Find appropriate Leo ways to enter into experience, let the song of your heart and Soul to sound forth in your world! Leo is creative, heart-felt Solar Fire bursting forth in an abundant and radiant Light so entire solar systems may be sustained. Because the leading and closing edges 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!
The Moon’s degree shows we can all find easier ways to relate to others and let go of stress and strain when in the company of other adults. Uranus at the degree of “promises to keep, promises to fulfill” shows we’ll all find unique ways to express our individuality at the end of every significant interaction. Examine social values, and make sure yours will bring you the cooperation you need as you fulfill your natural responsibilities that have opened since the Summer of 2016.
As the Locomotive keeps things out of balance, the Moon in Leo 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 by referencing our ease of interacting with others, the easier it will be to achieve the ideal Lunar focus.
Is the Sun Following the Moon, or the Moon Following the Sun?
The late July 2017 New Moon in Leo was the final Lunation since June 2016 where the Full Moon Sun fell in the same sign as the Sun of the previous New Moon. That pattern happened between June 2016 and August 2017 and before then, between September 2013 and September 2014.
This is sixth Full Moon since the period between October 2014 and May 2016 where we again have a “reversed pattern” of the Sun of the Full Moon occupying the sign after the New Moon Sun. So we’re now in a different New Moon/Full Moon sign expression.
We finished the period of the “natural” order of Lunation Suns at the August 2017 Solar Eclipse in late Leo and began the new sequence, since that New Moon Sun was in Leo, but the subsequent Full Moon Sun was in Virgo. Since the New Moon offers us seeds in the first half of the month’s lunar cycle, and fulfillment in the second half, we now are in a sequence with the “Seed Light” of Capricorn coming to a Full Moon illumination through the current Sun in Aquarius and Moon in Leo.
Because the New Moon preceding the Full Moon always represents the seed forms that are brought to surface at and after the Full Moon, this begins the fulfillment of the theme of the recent New Moon at 27 Capricorn. You can learn more about the recent New Moon in Capricorn by going to The New Moon at 27 Capricorn Pt. 1 – What’s Happening in January-February 2018, and The January New Moon at 27 Capricorn Pt. 2 – Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What it All Means.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn is now in its home sign of Capricorn for the first time since 1991, it is the dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius, and the ruler of both the Sun and Moon in this Eclipse. That makes it an important factor through February (as well as the next few months due to the eclipse), and it will continue to play a different and powerful part in world affairs between March and November because Mars will be transiting those signs during that time. That makes Saturn a major force to be reckoned with in 2018!
Add the fact that it’s doing a very interesting dance with Uranus all of 2018, and once they come back into trine between May and October involving Capricorn and Taurus, and it will be the next chapter in us learning how to blend past and future together and craft your future destiny. After the 2017 Fire trines between these planets stabilizing Electric Fire and distributive “Fire by Friction,” this will provide practical grounding to our efforts.
This will help us organize and simplify our Saturn-Uranus “dance of individualization” in our charts. You can learn more about mastering the Saturn and Uranus part of generating your future destiny by taking a look at the material in my book “Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend.” Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and in Capricorn, will help bring an “organized personal structure” to the Uranian energies infused with concentrated doses of spiritual energy that is making our spiritual life come alive.
Our inner Saturn gives us the power to take command of our lives and destiny. Saturn shows us those things we must master to become spiritual adults and fulfill our purpose for being alive on Earth. By knowing our Saturnian strengths, we can overcome fear and any sense of victimization or powerlessness.
It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, shows why some things happened when they did. Even those with little or no understanding of astrology will benefit from understanding why they had to make certain choices at crucial times that shaped their lives in profound ways.
Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to steer your personal evolution. You will understand how to throw off all the attitudes and memories which have held you back from finding and living the life and purpose. Through your journey of self-discovery, you can find ways to live your life on your own terms, and fulfill your purpose for being alive as an Eternal having human experiences!
If you’ve haven’t already gotten your copy, you can go to the Createspace page and this should be all you need to order your copy. It’s also available on Amazon and as an ebook on Kindle, so if that’s more to your liking, go for it! I’ve been told people who live outside the US can get their copy much faster by going through Amazon. If you would, whether you’ve gotten the ebook or the paperback, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the more of a boost they give it.
On A Final Note
See you in the near future with parts three and four on this visionary and creative Total Eclipse Full Moon challenging us to mobilize, claim the power, see who to admire and who to help, and which elements of our past we need to leave behind. We are now in the end game of receiving a promise of redemption we’ve been waiting for these past 18 months.
Stay identified with your Higher Self, look at reality through the lens of creative imagination, and remember that sometimes we need to train “protective agencies” as we rest after finding our “gold strike.” This one both gives and takes away, and our courage in being true to ourselves will be what heals us.
Serendipity is in the air in unexpected and unusual ways, so find the balance that helps you understand that life and death are an eternal process, with one giving way to the other, and then giving way in its own turn. Enjoy the “relaxed intensity” of your interactions, and I’ll see you soon when we’ll discuss Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other important chart factors.
© Copyright 2018 Robert Wilkinson
Comments