by Robert Wilkinson
We have the Full Moon coming Sunday which brings light and power to this year’s Aquarian focus, with themes of renewal, freedom, and leaving the past behind. This future-oriented, structuring, stabilizing, creative and expressive Full Moon occurs at 10:29 am PST, 6:29 pm GMT on February 5, and falls at the 17th degrees of Aquarius and Leo. Use the light of the sense of fellowship being born since the New Moon to see a more important part to play in the group work. Communication is of paramount importance the next two weeks.
So what can we expect from this Lunation? Given the power of the recent eclipses, we’re still releasing many things in our Taurus and Scorpio sectors, and finding a deeper connection with Source. We are at the end of being tested in wielding spiritual power wisely. The next two weeks offer us the understanding of something protective to be managed, as well as something new to commit to. This is another time to accept responsibility, as well as compassion and forgiveness when it’s time to shed the ghosts of the past.
With the Saturnine emphasis in this chart, it is important to demonstrate Saturn’s virtues of patience, discipline, patience, maturity, patience, understanding, and yes, patience. Be thoughtful as you examine what needs to be managed in a mindful way, always with an eye to gratitude for the things which help us grow safely into our purpose. Warmth of feeling and trusting “the god within” are needed to deal with any stuck or disruptive situation.
This is another Full Moon focused on actional and material levels of functioning and awareness. We now move into a time of rest before we have to spring into action. The next two weeks are a time to show self and others that we are up to whatever role we’re playing. Leave your ghosts behind, and you could find that you’re operating at an entirely different level of functioning.
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.
An Overview
This Full Moon brings the Light of the Aquarius New Moon involving being “liberated from adverse conditions” by a “cosmic visitation” which mobilizes us. The New Moon is bringing the light of the lessons we learned in 2020 into an entirely different context. This is another Full Moon which will bring growth, with the need for management, protection, and an ability to operate on multiple levels at once while finding enjoyment in each level. Saturn is now in the sector teaching us individual and spiritual commitment as we approach a point of global transfiguration.
This Lunation features multiple conjunctions. We find Mercury conjunct Pluto, Sun conjunct Saturn, Venus conjunct Neptune, and Jupiter conjunct Chiron. This makes for more complex experiences, as we won’t simply have Mercury experiences, but instead Mercury conjunct Pluto experiences! There will be rewards for prior courageous acts and the ability to read omens in concrete objects. Some of our ideas will be revised in profound ways, and some of us will attain a much higher visibility than we had before now. That's why attention to what's being communicated is important, as well as communicating accurately in a disciplined and organized way.
As with all Full Moons, use the light you’ve been seeing and expressing since the New Moon, and give it form and focus to see how to anchor those themes in expression. The New Moon’s themes were about new birth, fellowship, mobilization, and a greater contribution to the future. This helps us integrate that as we leave some ghosts behind.
This Full Moon shows Pluto leading the Sun, thus becoming “the entry to the great Light.” That implies that we shall have to “encounter the underworld” on our way to the Light, probably involving some purification, or with Mercury conjunct Pluto, some idea or view to the core of things. This can bring depth realizations, as well as an “x-ray vision.” Be fearless in facing what needs to be faced, and dispassionate when responding.
Is the Sun Following the Moon, or the Moon Following the Sun?
This Lunation is the nineteenth Full Moon where the Sun is in the same sign (Aquarius) as it was in the New Moon two weeks ago. We are still in “the regular order” of the Sun/Moon relationship cycle, with both New Moon and Full Moon themes of acting to end some things and begin others which are more future oriented.
There are two patterns; one is when the Full Moon Sun is the same sign as the previous New Moon Sun, and the other is when the Full Moon Sun is in the next sign from the Sun in the previous New Moon. The Sun was in the same sign in both the New Moon and Full Moon, the so-called “natural” order, between April 2019 and August 2020. At the August 2020 Full Moon we entered the “reverse pattern” of the Sun of the Full Moon occupying the sign after the New Moon Sun, since the previous New Moon Sun was at 29 Cancer and that Full Moon Sun was at 12 Leo.
Now that August 2021 brought us the New Moon Sun at 17 Leo and Full Moon Sun is at 30 Leo, we’ve been back in the natural order which will continue until the New Moon of April 19, 2023, which will be at 30 Aries, with the following Full Moon Sun at 15 Taurus. (That Full Moon is a Lunar eclipse). You can find out more about the “seed forms” of the New Moon two weeks ago by going to the archives.
Past As Prologue
The 2020-22 Eclipses moved us all in new directions, reorienting wherever we have Taurus, Cancer, Gemini, Scorpio, and Sagittarius in our charts. Remember that all Eclipses are “Cosmic recyclers,” taking away what is obsolete or de-magnetized in our lives. These losses clean out psychic and physical spaces so newer life substance can come forth. We’ve cleared out many old ideas, truths, habits, and perspectives the past 2 years, and now have a wider view regarding our life and the Life around us at the beginning of a new 20 year Aquarian era for humanity.
As you know from other articles, 2020 was the last year of a 200 year Earth era, with Air power building throughout the year which primed the pump for the 200 year Air era which began on the Solstice with Jupiter conjuncting Saturn at 1 Aquarius. However, we will still be “under the beams” of the powerful conjunctions in Capricorn, since between January and March 2020 we began new Saturn/Pluto, Jupiter/Pluto, Mars/Jupiter, Mars/Pluto, and Mars/Saturn cycles. The first of these launched a new 33 year era into motion.
Due to these conjunctions in late Capricorn and both Mars/Saturn and Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions at 1 Aquarius, we are in a long term period of finding wisdom by understanding transfiguration and enlightenment as verbs rather than nouns. We’ve now officially taken the first step into the coming Aquarian era. While this is not yet “The Age of Aquarius,” this is the final intensification of those energies which will sprout seeds in the second quarter of the century which will take us across the threshold of the Great Age soon after 2050.
Planetary Distribution
In this Full Moon, the span occupied by the inner planets (in this chart Mercury at 23 Capricorn through Venus at 12 Pisces is 49+ degrees, an exceptionally wide span. This will be the primary area stimulated in our charts. At this time Mercury, the Sun, and Venus are filling in the front end of the outer planet span, making this the first of a series of Bucket Jones pattern Full Moons over the coming months.
Right now all the planets occupy about half the chart. As the inner planets have entered the outer planet span, all the planets except the Moon are between late Capricorn and Mars in mid Gemini. This month the Moon adds a Leo focus.
Because the occupied span runs 138+ degrees and the Moon is by itself in Leo, we now have a “Bucket” Jones pattern. In this chart we have 2 oppositions made by the Moon to Sun and Saturn. In this “tensional awareness field,” the Moon is very strong, while all the other planets defer to their ruler Saturn, which is both strong and favorably aspected.
At this time we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs. Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Pluto in late Capricorn, then moves through Saturn in Aquarius, Neptune in late Pisces, Jupiter in early Aries and finishes with Uranus in mid-Taurus. Since last August, Mars has extended the span into Gemini which continues through late March.
So What is a “Bucket” Jones Pattern and how does it work?
This is a Bucket Jones pattern, since the Moon is far enough away from the nearest planet to become a nozzle for the focus of all the other planetary energies. Since the “handle” of the Bucket involves the sign Leo, that energy helps us focus the energies of all the other planets.
A “Bucket Pattern” is a type of planetary spread with all the planets in about half the signs with one outside that span wide enough to be a handle. 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.
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 17 Leo.
Mercury at 23 Capricorn is the leading planet on a degree of receiving rewards for prior acts of courage. It is in the Virgo decan, adding more Mercury influence with an added Solar influence. This entry to the occupied part of the Bucket tells us to think about primary causes and structural factors in any experience. With Mars at 12 Gemini as the closing planet to the span, keep getting free of old ghosts, be clear about what’s a right and what’s a duty, and explore your spiritual potential, expressing all that you have experienced through the Moon at 17 Leo on a degree of rebirth. As Mercury is about communication, and Gemini is also about communication, be organized in your approaches and precise yet adaptable in your finishes. This leads with individual and spiritual group performance and closes with individual and spiritual discovery, expressed through actional release.
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?
Because this section is so long, I decided to create an article which explains what it is, how long it’s been in effect, and which zones of the zodiac have been most impacted and when. You can find all you need to know about this configuration associated with widespread irrationality and hard-edged “forks in the road of destiny” we’ve all confronted at various times by going to The Grand Irrationality. As we’re at the very end of the long wave configuration, I’ll update the main article to sum up all that has happened to our world these past 29 years.
Any transit making multiple 7th harmonic aspects put this “7-pointed Star of Destiny” evolutionary configuration into play, bringing choices and changes affecting our future. The generic configuration is why things seem so crazy and hard-edged at this time in history, and why humanity seems to have been at an unending “fork in the road of destiny.” In this chart Uranus is in the heart of its last septile to Neptune, but there is no other planet in a septile series aspect to either of these spiritual heavyweights.
Obviously, this evolutionary configuration is activated throughout the year when a planet moves through any of the hot zones of the configuration. This configuration will next be triggered when Mercury transits early Aquarius and septiles Neptune and biseptiles Uranus. I’ll speak more about the aspects in part 3 when I cover the special configurations.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn continues to occupy center stage in its home sign of Aquarius, it is the final dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius from now through March. This chart marks the final approach to a collective transfiguration, with Sun conjunct Saturn bringing the light of a new Aquarian cycle for the year in just a few days.
Saturn continues to make many favorable aspects with the other planets, bringing growth at the beginning of another expansive year. We continue to be shown how to add quality to our lives, and by the beginning of March we will have a radically different understanding of many things than we did even a few months ago. The Sun and Saturn provide the power in this chart, expressed through the Moon in Leo, giving us a period to embrace a greater wisdom of the heart. The next two weeks will show us how illumined self-discipline can be managed to fulfill our spiritual purposes. Detachment and friendliness help keep boundaries clear.
Saturn, ruler of our Capricorn and Aquarius sectors and any natal or progressed planets we have in those signs, is not taking through the last part of our Aquarian training to play our part in the larger group work of the future. Though Saturn can feel heavy and bring heavy life lessons, it also in the part of us which can take charge of our lives and destiny by using Saturn’s virtues in the right way and time. Our ability to steer our “ship of personality” into its rightful “role of destiny” has brought us to the threshold of new parts to play on the stage of Life.
We’re still in a long wave period of crystallizing visionary roles to play in the emergent Aquarian era, and the past friction between Saturn and Uranus in 2021-2022 have now given way to coming realizations of a deeper nature. We now know what matters to us and what doesn’t, with a transformation coming to each according to what they’ve learned and done since 2020. Uranus awakened us to new roles to play, while Saturn brought new mutations and an accelerated evolution which are part of us learning to use spiritual power effectively through deliberation rather than instinct.
I explain how Saturn and Uranus work together to awaken us to our Higher Powers to take command of our destiny in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization; in Capricorn, it teaches us how to accept and use personal power within a socially responsible context, while in Aquarius it teaches us how to make a greater contribution to our civilization and come together with others in a great effort “ensouled by a great vision.” Coupled with Uranus having awakened us to the fact that the old answers aren’t enough along with the need to accept spiritual power to shape our world, we are collectively “breaking on through to the other side” into an unfolding Higher awareness.
The book was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers. Even those with little or no understanding of astrology will benefit from understanding why you had to make certain choices at crucial times that shaped your life in profound ways.
Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to throw off all the attitudes and memories which hold you back from finding and living the life and purpose. If you’ve haven’t already gotten your copy, you can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon 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! 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 two and three on this Full Moon which will offer us opportunities for protection, closure, renewal, and receiving rewards for what we did well in the past. This is a stabilizing Full Moon which activates growth in our Leo and Aquarius life areas. Our past dreams are now taking shape and this month brings us to a point of release and social rebirth.
Because Venus is a key player due to being in a special evolutionary “Kite” configuration with Mercury and the Moon, it’s the way to know what role we’re playing, and how we have to prove we are qualified to play that role over the next two weeks via cooperative efforts in some pioneering group work. As it is still square Mars, there will be cross-currents in all Venus/Mars ruled areas of our lives. Leave the past behind, have a sense of humor and vision, unveil whatever needs to be seen in the light, and pay attention to details.
Venus was the first inner planet to conjunct Saturn this year. That began a new cycle of forward-looking relationships for us all. Saturn in the emotional/social level of management brings that quality to Venus’ 2023 Aquarian lessons. Now Venus is conjunct Neptune. As Venus makes a conjunction with each outer planet, she receives that planetary wisdom but expresses it in her own Venusian ways in the months which follow.
If you want to know more about your Venusian power to shape your relationships into enjoyable interactions and friendships, please consider getting a copy of my newest book The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. It is the most comprehensive book on Venus ever written, and explains why we attract who we do and how to create more satisfying relationships in the future. You will understand the foundations of long term healthy relationships and friendships, why Soul Mates come into our lives, and how to dance with your inner Beloved and mirror that to your world.
Since 2019, we’ve all seen greater truths and taken on new roles and responsibilities which led us to new social effectiveness in 2021-22. Where we have late Capricorn and early Aquarius in our chart is the focus of coming years. The compressions in Capricorn led us to forms of personal power and very long wave cycles showing our work for a long time to come. We finished the 2022 Aquarius compression in March, creating cycles of learning how to manage our responsibility to become better educated to fulfill a greater role in the long wave Aquarian energy.
We’ve entered a new chapter in our spiritual journey at a fork in the road of our collective destiny. 2020 was about forging our connection with the World Soul, our Wisdom, and our greater dedication. 2021 began the new era in our lives. We’re all wiser than we used to be, have been given ample opportunities to value our heart connections with our friends, and display the vaster spiritual awareness we share with our Brothers and Sisters.
2022 brought us training and skill, divine mutations, endings and beginnings. 2023 began with one last look back before the rapid acceleration now happening. We’re on the edge of radical change these next few weeks, so see the big picture and move into your future!
I’ll see you soon when we’ll discuss Sabian Symbols, evolutionary configurations, and other important chart factors.
This article explains past, present, and future compressions, where they fall, and who they affect. The Great Compressions of early 2020, 2021, and 2022
This one explains the January 2020 compression and the multiple conjunctions setting themes for decades! The Great Compression of January 2020 – Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Pluto all Conjunct in Capricorn
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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