Full Moon in Leo

RIP Bowie:

and Lemmy.

Full moon in Leo, sign of the rock star, is exact tonight: 24th January, around 2 am GMT.

It's fairly dramatic. A Leo moon needs drama and creativity and romance. It needs to be in the spotlight, being seen and appreciated.  

So I like it that this is happening over the weekend. Tonight will be a good night to put on your bling and go out looking for trouble, if you're brave or crazy like that.

“Drama” is said so dismissively, mostly. But it's drama that keeps life interesting. Does anyone really want a life completely free of it?

I doubt it. In any case, some drama is called for here, and you can't fight the cosmic weather.

There is a dark edge to it. Something explosive and deep is liable to be revealed. Something dangerous and hidden may come to light.

And publicly: the sun in Aquarius is very group-oriented, and the moon in Leo wants to be the center of attention. Mars in Scorpio will be loosely squaring both – this is about deep, hidden agendas. Manipulations and machinations.

So something dark or hidden may come to light, in public, and it may be quite shocking.

It's like the songs above: someone's got the Ace of Spades up their sleeve. Someone's a Blackstar.

Kind of a futuristic film-noir vibe: something is not what it appears to be, maybe.

Re. revelations: we have Aquarius's ruler Uranus in tight square to Pluto and Mercury. And Mercury is about to go direct the day after the full moon, conjunct Pluto. (Mercury stationed retrograde, recall, at 1 degree Aquarius on the 5th January.)

This full moon is all about the import of the Mercury retrograde. Since mid-December, something deep, serious and life-changing has been under consideration and re-consideration. Now we have the answer / culmination. Pluto is involved, so there's nothing frivolous about what may come to light.

It's a radical change of mind, maybe. An insight that leads to a reassessment of the ground of your existence, maybe. Satori – or a life-or-death message. A commitment.

Or maybe you just hear something that hits you at a deep level, with the force of unvarnished truth. Maybe you are forced to accept something you've been avoiding. Maybe some important matter will be decided, finally; or some painful honesty will come your way.

Lilith (taboo female energy) is involved, opposing Uranus and squaring Pluto and Mercury. So this is a message from the shadow all right. The kind of thing you don't want to look at – but can't look away from.

Love and money planet Venus moves from free-wheeling Sagittarius to security-minded Capricorn just a few hours ahead of the full moon. Venus in Capricorn requires love you can bank on and a solid bottom-line – dependability and realism in love and money matters. Again, we are dealing in unvarnished truth here.

And Saturn (reality) in truth-seeking Sagittarius drives the message home: no pretense.

Saturn trines Uranus. Meaning there is a future to be built here – a real one, though it will take work.

And retrograde Jupiter conjunct the north node in Virgo re-iterates this: WORK. Anything worth having takes work. Humble, quiet, systematic work – and absolute realism.

With the south node in Pisces, we are being pulled at hard by dreams, delusions and the longing to escape mundane reality. But recall the reality-based theme of the new moon in Capricorn a couple weeks ago: there is no escape. There is real work to be done, and no conscionable way to evade it. The only way out is through.

This full moon is the culmination of the cycle that began at the new moon, and it looks like it involves some kind of revelation. Communication / information that reinforces the theme of absolute realism. Hard truths you have to work with.

I'm thinking of scenarios like: finding out all the piping in your house is faulty and will have to be replaced, and it's gonna clean you out financially. Or realizing the person you love is a little deficient in the character department, but you're too heavily invested to leave. Or dealing with long term illness, unemployment, difficult family or work situations – you name it. Maybe there are sacrifices to be made for love or money that you'd prefer not to be making... but there's no way out. You're in too deep.

None of this shit is just gonna vanish and disappear – you can't positive-think your way out of it. No “manifesting abundance” here, or any kind of new-age crapola like that. You will have to work with reality, and you'll get back what you've given. No more and no less.

Opportunities exist, but they may not be quite what you'd dreamed. A new direction is entirely possible, but it must be worked for. Stark realities exist, that must be accepted and dealt with. This is just life.

It's not that magic and loveliness aren't available...Just that it's a time for focusing on essentials.

With the moon in romantic, party-loving Leo: facing the music and dancing comes to mind here. "There may be trouble ahead..."

Or Churchill on the eve of World War II:

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”

Intensity alert for the next few weeks. We have Mercury direct conjuncting Pluto and squaring Uranus all next week. This is a depth-charge to the mind: a fucking torpedo actually. Whatever this full moon brings to light is going to have far-reaching import.

Then we have Venus moving to conjunct Pluto, exact on the 6th February – with the moon conjunct both of them. Old loves coming back from the dead, maybe. Tests, endings, resurrections, deep soul commitments, shattering losses, serious gifts, obsessions. Emotional intensities off the charts.

We have a new moon in Aquarius on the 8th February, and it looks like a zinger. I'll write about it closer to the time.

And we have Jupiter and the north node travelling together in Virgo for the next month and a half. Meaning the path – and I can't state this strongly enough – is attention to the little details, service to others, humility. Quiet, unassuming, systematic, ordinary WORK. No victim shit allowed; no escapism or self-pity. Whatever mess you are dealing with – literal, interpersonal, financial, health-related – the only way out is through.

New Moon in Capricorn

see here

This is tonight, the 10th January – around 1:30 am GMT.

The holiday season happens while the sun is in Sagittarius, which is about bounty, jollity and excess (among other things). But a new moon in Capricorn signals the end of the festivities. Time to take the shiny decorations down and get back to work.

Capricorn is about sober reality, discipline and achievement - so it makes sense that we start implementing our New Year's resolutions around this time. It's when we set intentions for the year ahead, and embrace austerity after the excesses of the holidays.

This return to sobriety is especially in evidence this year, with the sun and moon conjuncting Pluto, which speaks of deep, focused intent and a will to transform.

Also, we have Mercury retrograding through Capricorn, and this is about serious mental consideration. Mulling things over, seeing reality with sharp clarity. Communication that cuts to the bone.

And Saturn – Capricorn's ruler – is conjunct Venus in Sagittarius. This is about limitation and commitment in love and money matters. With Saturn and Venus in Sagittarius, a sign that loves freedom – and also squaring Neptune – there may be a longing to bolt, to escape, or to blot reality out altogether. Keep in mind that escape is not actually a viable option here. You have to work with what is being presented to you; there's nowhere to run.

Bearing this out: Saturn in Sagittarius is disposited by Jupiter in Virgo, which just went retrograde yesterday – and is conjunct the north node in Virgo.

Saturn and Jupiter are basically opposites. Saturn is about contraction, focus, duty, limitation – while Jupiter is about expansion, exuberance, fun and hope. What we are looking at with this new moon is a deep and intense focus on the Saturn side of the equation – while Jupiter's influence is blocked. In other words, party time is over. There are deep and intense burdens and commitments to be taken on, and you'd best put your head down and get on with the work. No escape.

There is just a hell of a lot of blockage, restraint, discipline and focus on the small-picture stuff here. It might feel tremendously heavy and depressing and bleak. On the plus side though – there is the power to see clearly and get things done. And with Pluto and Uranus involved (Pluto conjunct the new moon, Uranus squaring) – there is the potential to restructure things at a deep level.

Maybe your finances are shot to hell, and you have to do some serious belt-tightening. Or maybe your liver is shot to hell and/or you need to start a new health regimen. Maybe you're doing the dry January thing – and with headlines like this, we're being frightened into collective sobriety this new moon.

Or maybe it's time to commit to a new project or to a relationship, or a career change, or whatever.

Whatever you're taking on, rest assured there is plenty of follow-through available. Capricorn is about perseverance. You keep at something despite the obstacles (which often have a lot to do with your own fears), until it is achieved.

But the only way out is through.