by Robert Wilkinson
The Equinox Full Moon will vitalize our being mentored into our Higher Self, and/or healing into a new individuality through humor and objectivity. This one mobilizes us all in new directions, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel clear or strong. Look back and listen to your inner voice, as the Source of your Wisdom calls you to prepare for a form of social rebirth. We’re finishing up any “long term ordeal” by remembering how we’ve let our highest Truths transform our daily lives these past 5 years. Synthesize the various major points of your transformation process, and you'll find a Divine Dispassionate view of how your Spirit has changed your life!
With the Moon as the nozzle focusing all the other planetary energies, while there may be power surges wherever we have 1 Libra, the growth is still in Cancer, indicating we must accept the Grace or power of leadership in some way related to where we have late Cancer in our charts. This assists us in becoming a significant archetype in some way involving a new heart strength or power, perhaps with friends or in a group situation.
In traditional astrology, there is a concept called “Critical Degrees.” They correspond to the entry points to the “Lunar Mansions,” which constitute an entire branch of Astrology unto itself. These are the “Asterisms” of Vedic, Arabic, and Chinese Astrology. The first degree of each Cardinal sign are 4 of these “critical degrees.” They are said to be point of major change in life and affairs, so we may expect that a Full Moon triggering two critical degrees portends major events these next two weeks!
In part 1 I explained why there’s some constant friction and agitation in the collective atmosphere off and on during these months due to Uranus semisquare Neptune anchoring constant friction whenever a planet moves through the middle degrees of the Mutable signs and beginning of Fixed signs. This anchors the on-again, off-again energies I have termed a “Rhombus Diamond,” associated with a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” energy that’s very frictional and disruptive.
Mercury retrograde conjunct Neptune and semisquare Uranus brings roundabout signals and understanding in this Lunation. Take a look back to see how internal friction helped you cut through a misunderstanding through your feeling-wisdom or hearing the voice of your inner Spiritual Master. This can help you understand how past friction helped you “let go, let God.”
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. This Lunation has one other opposition because the Sun is conjunct Chiron and the Moon is opposed Chiron. That makes Chiron extremely important as the Light Bearer these next two weeks. When you’re done with this article, please consider checking out Chiron, the Wandering Wounded Healer and Metaphysician Guiding Our Hero’s Journey in my archives to learn more about this Spiritual Mentor.
As for other oppositions, we are now in a period of no non-Lunar oppositions until Mars opposes Jupiter in early May 2019. While the compression of planets were very tight until recently, now that Mars is in late Taurus it’s expanding the compressed field. After it opposes Jupiter, it and the inner planets will then oppose Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus from June through November.
Dispositors - What's the Backdrop to the Energies?
The Moon is in Libra, making the Venus in Aquarius its worldly ruler and TransPluto in Virgo its spiritual ruler. The Sun is in Aries, making Mars in Taurus its worldly ruler, and Pluto in Capricorn its Spiritual Ruler. This returns Saturn to prominence, making self-discipline and spiritual maturity the keys to dealing with what comes up.
This month we continue having three “final dispositors” in Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Using only worldly rulers, Mercury is disposited by Jupiter in its home sign; Venus is disposed of by Saturn in its home sign; The Sun is disposed of by Mars, and Mars is disposited by Venus, and so is ruled by Saturn; Jupiter disposits itself, Saturn disposits itself, Uranus in Taurus is disposited by Venus and ultimately by Saturn, Pluto is disposited by Saturn, and as usual, Neptune disposits itself.
So this month we have all the planets ruled by three planets as final dispositors. 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 1 Aries and 1 Libra. It is said that the first third (decan) of any sign deals with the actional, physical, material levels of life, and as the Lunation is in the first decan of those signs, invokes a sub-influence of Aries and Libra.
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 1st degree of Aries is "A woman rises out of water, a seal rises and embraces her.” In the original Jones notes published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this symbolizes “potentiality of selfhood; the individual is emerging from the collective and realizes self for the first time.”
We are told in the Astrological Mandala that this symbolizes “emergence of new forms and of the potentiality of consciousness.” He says this first degree of the 360 phases begins “a universal and multi-level cyclic process” influencing the development of our individualized consciousness so we may manifest our destiny. He continues that “to be individually conscious means to emerge out of the sea of generic and collective consciousness,” which is “the result of some basic action: a leaving behind, an emerging from a womb or matrix.”
He tells us this is not a powerful act, and is more potentiality than “actual presence.” The symbol speaks of a receptive being emerging from the vast collective consciousness, surrounded by ghosts of the past and memories of previous cycles. He offers this is an “initial statement, or theme” of an “Impulse to be.” This symbol is said to be in the Span of Realization, Act of Differentiation, and is the initial degree of the Actional level of the Scene of Desire.
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this degree is one of “completely unconditioned potentiality,” where “elements of Soul emerging from primordial nonexistence,” and a receptivity calling up a more “personal and self-seeking initiative.” Here there is “an implicit emphasis on the mutual interdependence of the emotional and purposeful aspects of self.”
He offers us the keyword REALIZATION. He states that when it operates in a positive way, this degree "is an illimitability of experience of which anyone can take advantage under any or all circumstances.”
The Lunar degree symbol for the 1st degree of Libra is “A butterfly made perfect by a dart through it.” In "the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, he offers that this degree is one of “a symbolic death that is initiation into spiritual reality and wisdom," "sudden awakening," and "craving for inner light."
In the Astrological Mandala, he states this degree is one showing us "the immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated life reveals." He goes on to say that this initiates a “coming together,” where “the descent or externalization of archetypal realities is gradually occurring,” involving “metamorphosis of ‘worm’ into butterfly,” symbolizing “the possibility of being transformed” into more than we are, perhaps even becoming an Initiate, an Adept, or a Perfect Human.
He continues that “the perfect butterfly thus represents the outcome of the process of occult discipleship,” where we begin to live a standard of perfection greater than we’ve ever known. He finishes with explaining this is an actional phase, “because in it the perfection of individual activity is revealed and immortalized. This is the symbolical Transfiguration,” where the human is “made sacred, becoming the embodiment of a pure archetype. He states this degree falls in the Span of Expectation, the Act of Group Integration, and Scene of Transfiguration on the Actional level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of a degree of pure potentiality as it is conditioned through imagination. We are told this degree contains "elements of individual consciousness emerging from primordial formlessness," and wisdom deriving from our willingness to embrace new experiences.
He says we come into “identifiable being through the nature which has been molded” for us, which we refine for our self-expression. He offers us the keyword ARTICULATION, and when positive, it offers us "awakening to the need for some more whole-souled focus of character."
So the Light of an emergent pure potential for individualized consciousness will express through initiation and transformation from the lesser to the greater and from the human to the archetypal. We’ll be illuminated by realizing a new sense of Self, expressed through being "made sacred" so we can live some form of archetypal reality perfect for our Higher Self. This will show us elements of our immortality.
Of note is that the Lunar degree is the same as the Mars conjunct Saturn degree of July 2010 and the Mercury SD degree of October 2015. The first point influenced all Mars/Saturn related events between July 2010 and August 2012, creating a platform of transfiguration in late 2015 and early 2016. This Equinox Full Moon with Mercury retrograde could bring interesting flashes linking those periods with the next 2 weeks. Synthesize the narrative of your journey into the primary themes, and you’ll get a vision of how you’ve transfigured your life since 2010 from a wider angle of understanding.
TransPluto, Divine Mother, and the Tests of Human Redemption
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 in a historically significant way.
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 those years was to see life as a whole, and find meaning in seeing the significant features of the entire picture. We have had to understand the value and function of differences, and seeing how our personal integrity has allowed 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.
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 since October 2017 we’ve been in the next phase of our collective “liberating ordeal,” promising relief, protection, as well as the manifestation of unexpected latent powers.
The themes of 3 Virgo include 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, we’ve begun to be provided welcome relief from some parts of our “liberating ordeal.”
It went stationary retrograde at the end of November 2017 at 3 Virgo, and re-entered 2 Virgo on Jan 19, 2018. It occupied 2 Virgo until it went stationary direct in mid-May 2018 on that degree, continuing to occupy 2 Virgo until Sept 6, 2018, when it re-entered 3 Virgo again. Our guardian angels were then back on the job as we cultivated “inner powers” as well as a greater recognition of how we have divine helpers everywhere!
As you can see, while we dealt with themes related to 1 and 2 Virgo for a long time, we’re now occupied with themes related to 2 and 3 Virgo for many months to come. It occupied 3 Virgo until late February 2019, and now again occupies 2 Virgo in this chart. It will stay on this degree, go SD in mid-May, and in early August it will again occupy 3 Virgo. It will return to 2 Virgo one last time between April and June 2020, and then move forward through 3 Virgo again, finally moving into 4 Virgo in October 2020, introducing a new redemptive theme for humanity.
Planetary Cycles Bringing Forth Divine Mother
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 Saturn conjuncted TransPluto at 28 Leo in August 2007, and of course Saturn’s SD point at 2 Virgo in May 2008 is currently being transited by TransPluto. Those Saturn-expressed TransPluto Leo and Virgo lessons will hold sway until their next conjunction at 9 Virgo in Sept 2037.
Another important cycle was set into motion when Jupiter conjuncted TransPluto at 1 Virgo 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 that Jupiter conjunction, Venus went stationary retrograde exactly conjunct TransPluto in late July 2015, also at 1 Virgo, 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 again 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. Related to this, please take a new look at the Mars-Jupiter cycle set into motion by their conjunction in mid-Virgo between October 2015.
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 Equinox Full Moon!
© Copyright 2019 Robert Wilkinson
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