Full Moon Eclipse in Aries

This is on Monday the 28th September, 3:50 am (GMT).

We are in the middle of a tough week, and we're headed towards an intense and difficult full moon.

It's a supermoon, meaning the moon will be at the closest point to earth in her orbit, and will therefore appear freaking huge.

It is also a lunar eclipse, the fourth in a much-hyped tetrad of “blood moons” which some people believe heralds the end of the world, as in the Book of Revelations or some such shit.

Well I don't think it'll be the end of the world. But it does look quite violent. And as eclipses represent supercharged culminations or endings, the effects of this one will be long-term. So it's good to approach this with caution.

But before we look at it, let's look at the week leading up to it. What a crazy week.

We had the equinox – the balance-point of light and dark, the hinge between seasons – on the 23rd September (Wednesday), as the sun moved into Libra, sign of balance and harmonious relationship. And straight into conjunction with the north node at 1 degree Libra. Meaning Libran themes of balance, fairness and relating to the Other are paramount right now. This is the aim of the whole story, remember. It is about relational harmony and balance, even as everything is falling to shit around you. Civility and basic manners will get you far.

They will be needed, as we have all kinds of mental and interpersonal misunderstanding and nastiness going on right now. This is courtesy of retrograde Mercury in Libra, in lousy aspect to Uranus and Pluto. The Mercury-Pluto square was exact on the 24th September (Thursday) – and on the same day, we had Pluto, king of hell, stationing direct. Painful.

This is the sort of thing that incites verbal nastiness and suspicion. Or obsessive, stinging doubt and worry. Very mentally uncomfortable and lacerating stuff.

So there's just some very ugly, painful and dangerous – but potentially honest and transformative – thought and communication going on here. These influences are in effect (and culminating) at the full moon. And remember this full moon is in Aries, a fiery, warlike, impulsive sign. So there is the possibility of verbally eviscerating people, blowtorching your relationships all to hell...Or setting things on a new footing via radical honesty.

We also had Mars moving into Virgo in the early hours of the 25th (Friday), straight into a square with Saturn in Sagittarius. This Mars-Saturn square speaks of extreme frustration and potential cruelty. You put it together with the Mercury-Pluto stuff, and it's the perfect set-up for all kinds of nastiness. This can be internal (in your own head) or interpersonal – but there's so much pressure involved in this, it might feel like your head's in a vice. Or you might be on the receiving end of nastiness coming from other people.

Again, civility and basic manners will get you far with this. Seeing all sides of a story, not just your own prejudices. Fighting for accommodation and compromise, instead of fighting to 'win'. With the north node at 1 degree Libra, the story is supposed to be about 'we', not 'me'.

OK, and here's something kind of amazing about this eclipse: it involves a massive and very interesting clash of female archetypes. The sun in Libra will be conjunct Lilith (the lunar apogee) and asteroid Juno; the moon in Aries will be conjunct Vesta.

As we've seen, the north node in Libra is about a focus on relational issues - so these should be all lit up at this time. And the relationship story, as influenced by these three female celestial points, is a real wife vs. mistress dynamic. Or Madonna/whore.

Juno is named after the long-suffering and perpetually enraged wife of philandering Jupiter, king of the gods. She represents the good wife and mother: the woman who stays within the bounds of established patriarchal order and gets served a shit sandwich in exchange for her fidelity, over and over again. In the mythology, Juno's fury at Jupiter's recurrent betrayals was directed in extremely cruel ways toward his conquests, not at him. (Nevermind that these 'other women' were often actually raped by Jupiter.)

Lilith on the other hand represents a bitch goddess or outlaw woman – someone who cannot be held within patriarchal norms, who refuses to submit to any authority save her own, and is ostracised and demonised for her independence. Classic temptress / mistress stuff here. This is the one who lures men to their doom...a representation of dark, uncontrollable, wild feminine power and rage.

So these two opposite, but equally angry, destructive and powerful archetypes of femininity are hanging out together in Libra, the sign of balance and interrelationship. And on the freaking equinox to boot, the balance-point of light and shadow, the time of year when the day and the dark become equal. And at a full moon eclipse. I think it's all highly significant!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Plus we have Vesta conjunct the moon in Aries, and this is another powerful female influence. Vesta was the goddess of hearth and home, and keeper of the sacred flame. In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins were women specially chosen to tend Vesta's temple fire, the heart of the city of Rome. They took a vow of celibacy for 30 years, and were freed of the ordinary obligations and strictures put upon women in a rigidly patriarchal society. They were highly respected and independent – as long as they kept to their vows. Because the life of the city was thought to depend on their sexual purity and integrity, Vestals who transgressed their vows were scourged and buried alive.

So we have these three very powerful archetypes of femininity bound up with the eclipse – but all three are to some extent defined by their relation to patriarchal structures of control over women. They are also defined by their relation to their own sexuality, and by how female sexuality is contained and controlled within patriarchal structures.

We have Juno, the married one who outwardly is highly revered and respected because of her association with a powerful man – she gets to be freakin Queen of Heaven after all. But inwardly she's frustrated, dishonored, hurt and furious at his infidelities – and she takes her jealous rage out on other women.

We have Lilith, the dark temptress who could not give a fuck about marriage or respectability or 'belonging' to a man – but she's also defined by her bitterness and destructive rage because of her treatment by men.

And we have Vesta, the sacred virgin, whole and complete unto herself, independent and respected – as long as she renounces her sexuality in service to the patriarchal state.

It's all very interesting! These archetypes, when you look into them, are a lot more alike than they might seem at first glance. They are all images of dishonored or feared (or tightly controlled) female power.

And with Pluto in Capricorn (representing rotten, corrupt old power structures which must fall away or be transformed) squaring this full moon, maybe it's a good time to look at how we are all affected by these constricting gender dynamics. Things have to change. The 'good' wife, the 'other woman', the saintly Madonna – these are shitty roles for women to be caught in, and they put women at odds with each other in a destructive way. They don't serve men too well either: they prevent men from seeing women as actual, complex human beings.

I keep thinking of this movie. Saddest thing ever:

Or this one:

Or this song:

Anyway, all in all, a very powerful and intense eclipse - for women especially. Potentially very shocking, cruel and hurtful thought and communication - but it can also liberating.

I think the sacred hearth-fire imagery associated with Vesta is a key thing to focus on. As Vesta is in Aries, which has to do with selfhood, I think it's all about defining your own internal core of meaning / value / intergrity / autonomy. What do you hold pure and inviolate; what fires do you devote yourself to keeping lit, no matter what? What is sacred to you at your core, and how do you protect and nurture it?

If we can keep the focus on what keeps our internal heart(h) fires lit, it should be easier to transcend the rage and darkness associated with the Lilith/Juno stuff.

Anyway, beware of nastiness directed toward you or coming out of your mouth – maybe cut people some slack this week, because this moon will be stressful enough. And remember your manners (Libra). Basic civility is pretty important right now.