Full Moon in Scorpio

This is tomorrow, Friday the 22nd April, around 6:30 am GMT.

OK, so at the new moon in Aries a couple weeks ago, I wrote about desire: excavating your True Will and focusing intent and stuff like that.

Well here we are at the full moon, the culmination of the cycle opened at the new moon. And it's in Scorpio, which is all about primal desire, psychological depth work, power, intensity, death/rebirth, self-transformation and purgation.

So we are looking at a continuation and culmination of this theme of examining / transforming desire, and focusing intent.

And it's pretty intense! We are at fever pitch here. Shifts, shocks and transformations are underway.

These transformations likely have to do with relationships, money, possessions, self-esteem and values – all Venus themes. The sun is now in earthy, pragmatic Taurus – and Taurus is ruled by Venus.

So Venus is highlighted here. And right now, she is in Aries (where she is basically Xena, Warrior Princess) and tangled up with the violent and transformative Uranus-Pluto square. So she's in fighting mode. She's really not taking any shit.

Venus squared Pluto in Capricorn on the 20th, just as the sun moved into Taurus – and right on the heels of Pluto stationing retrograde. And she will conjunct Uranus in Aries on the evening of the full moon.

This denotes some major upheaval, in relationships especially. Hidden corruption and buried injustices coming to light, power dynamics shifting in wildly unpredictable ways, new opportunities popping up out of nowhere...and an unwillingness to play out the same old stories and dramas.

I think something is going to change radically here, of necessity.

It could also be about a shift in values; a change in what you want or need. Or a shift in your finances...especially shared assets and debts.

But whatever form it takes for you, this won't be superficial. It's about deep structural change. The kind that puts your life on a new footing.

It could well involve an abrupt, decisive ending – maybe there's something you have to leave behind for good here, be it a relationship, a habit, a situation. This kind of Venus action puts me in mind of a woman discovering she's been two-timed, and walking out for good. Righteously!

Like pretty much every Mary J. Blige song, ever...

Yep!

OK, but I also have to say, this moon is pretty sexed up. Scorpio and Taurus are sexed-up signs, and the sun and moon are a charged polarity at the full moon – so I guess that's another way to use this energy, if you don't want to be lighting cars on fire or taking people to divorce court.

Scorpio and Taurus are fixed signs, and Scorpio in particular brings a intensity and fixity of focus to emotional matters. And full moons are about emotional intensity...So all in all, this full moon is really fired-up.

Plus it makes no aspects except for a very weak trine to Neptune in Pisces - so the intensity of it is pretty much unmodulated. It's an all-or-nothing kinda vibe.

Please bear in mind that it might bring an intensity of frustration! Scorpio's ruling planets, Mars and Pluto, are both retrograde as of the 17th April.

I have said this is is about reconsideration, inwardness, excavation of True Will etc. – and I think at the deepest level, that's really what this is about.

But at the everyday level, it's likely to manifest as blockage, delay and frustration. Being held up or thwarted in some way, especially in regard to what you most deeply desire.

If your progress in the outer world is stalled and things are not happening the way you want them to happen or on your schedule, please just sit tight and focus inward. Think about what you really want and need, and where you want to go. Locate the obstructions in yourself that keep you stuck – because the obstructions you face in the outer world are often a mirror of the inner ones.

And please remember, things ARE shifting – just not necessarily on a surface level. Nothing can be forced right now. Lashing out in anger or frustration isn't going to help.

It will be easy to feel frustrated and jangled-up, with the mutable t-square we have going on now (and for much of this year). This involves Saturn and Mars in Sagittarius, Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Virgo. It's just kind of a hot mess – energy and drive all over the place, the future completely unknowable, our minds all frazzled and neurotic.

And it's made even more frustrating by all the retrogrades we have going on right now: Saturn, Mars, Pluto and Jupiter are all moving backward, denoting a ton of blocked or inward-directed energy.

Compounding the frustration, they'll be joined next week by a Mercury retrograde (29th April to the 23rd May). He'll be retrograding through Taurus, and this is about mental energy and communication that move about as fast as a damn glacier. Things are going to feel a whole lot slower by the end of this month.

Expect some mega frustration and blockage with this. Remember: things really are not going to happen according to your schedule, so don't expect them to. They will happen when it's time for them to happen. (With Neptune involved, you can have faith in that.)

Annoying as it may be, please remember the blockages you encounter are in service of deep restructuring.  This Mercury retrograde through Taurus creates a grand earth trine with Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Virgo – all moving retrograde as well. It'll be in effect till early June, and it looks immensely beneficial, as far as creating a solid new foundation goes. Blockage and delay will provide us with plenty of time to consider all the details of what we're entering into, and to get things right.

Anyway – remember there's really no big rush. Everything will get done if you keep attending to the little details as they come up, per Jupiter and the north node in Virgo. Please don't drive yourself crazy with deadlines and schedules and expectations, because things aren't likely to go according to plan.

It's important to keep working but also to trust in the larger design. And to view delay as a kind of gift...Because the way things are set up right now, it really IS a gift.

Anyway, to sum up: we are in the midst of a lunar cycle that is all about profound structural upheaval and transformation – especially in the context of YOU, what you really want out of life, where you want to go etc. 

This full moon is where the self-transformation stuff gets really intense, lit-up and unavoidable. There might be some stuff you have to cut yourself free of decisively, before you can move forward. There is likely to be some deep psychological reckoning involved. Don't expect it to be painless. 

Also, “moving forward” right now is more about quiet planning and internal psychological processing, because outward progress is likely to be delayed or blocked. You'd do well to treat any blockages you encounter as opportunities to refine your plans, or to re-examine your assumptions. Things will happen when it's the right time, not when you want them to happen. 

PS - RIP Prince.

He would shed his mortal frame at a sexed-up, super-intense, transformative full moon in Scorpio. He just would.

New Moon in Aries

This is today, the 7th April, around 12:20 pm GMT.

Oh man. It's such a zinger. Just in time, too.

Our last new moon, in Pisces, ushered in a swampy, drunk kind of 28-day lunar cycle – quite dank and depressing really.

Well this new moon is the antidote. It's a powerful, charged-up new start.

A new moon in Aries is the start of the whole astrological year. It signifies beginnings in all their rawness and urgency. And this one is a bit more raw and urgent than usual!

The sun and moon will be conjunct Uranus in Aries, planet of shock and rebellion. They'll also be squaring Pluto in Capricorn, which is about restructuring, hidden corruption coming to light, death and transformation.

We are past the historic, transformative series of exact squares between Uranus and Pluto (2012-2015), but those heavies are still in square aspect, and this new moon sparks it off again.

Under the Uranus-Pluto square over the past few years, a lot has changed. For better or worse. Think of your life, your self, in 2012 – and now look at you, four years later. Did you ever think you'd be this person?

A lot has been absolutely blown to bits; a lot has been re-built from the scorched earth. And the restructuring process is ongoing – the future isn't what it used to be, and we all have some adaptation to do.

Anyway, whatever way you look at it, this new moon will be a deep jolt. Especially if you have planets or chart angles in the cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn) - something is going to shift in a lasting way.

A deep jolt, and possibly nasty – Aries is warlike, and with Pluto involved, things can get pretty dark. I guess it won't be the calmest month on the world stage – but that's the norm now.

But nevermind the world stage. We are dealing with Aries, sign of the self – so this is all about YOU.

What do you want for your life? Not for anyone else, not for the planet, not for your highfalutin' ideals. For YOURSELF. What do you really, actually WANT? What kind of future do you envision?

Because by now you must know: nothing is going to go according to plan! Nothing is going to be quite what you'd expected.

Maybe you need a new M.O., because the one you had pre-Uranus square Pluto just doesn't cut it anymore. You don't believe the same things as you did, you don't want the same things. You're not the same person.

This new moon looks like a really good time to look at what you really, truly, deep-down want, going forward – and to set your intentions toward that end.

New moons are magical. Setting intentions at a new moon is a powerful thing. This is when you plant your seeds. The act of clarifying and articulating a desire is like planting a seed – something is bound to come of it.

But Aries new moons are super-special, because they set the tone for the entire year ahead. Meaning today at the new moon, you can set your intentions for the year ahead and expect them to carry a charge.

Ask yourself: what do I want for ME? What do I need? What has to change completely? What baggage do I have to drop?

Aries has an association with selfishness, but this is really not about being selfish. It's about being true to yourself. Your deepest desires are in you for a reason, and it's bigger than just you. Desire is how destiny manifests itself. What you want, what you're drawn to, what you value, what you love – that stuff creates the shape of your life.

This lunar cycle really does look to be about desire. We have Venus (love and money planet) in Aries, where she is a total warrior for what she wants. She's beneficially aspecting the new moon's dispositor, Mars in Sagittarius. There is a lot of sparky desire-driven energy here.

Mercury (mind and communication) has just moved into Taurus, where he is preoccupied with practical, earthbound reality – and also matters of pleasure, desire, contentment, self-esteem, ownership. This is a calming, stabilising influence on our minds and communication – useful when we are dealing with so much fire and drive. It'll help us to look at what we want in the light of reality, and see what is actually possible (and healthy) vs. what is not.

Plus Saturn in Sagittarius beneficially aspects the new moon – and this is about having a vision for the future.

Clearly, this is not about short term anything. It's about the long haul. That's why I think this is a really good time to set intentions for the future – with Saturn involved, your intentions will carry weight. Maybe write them down. Jupiter and the north node are in systematic Virgo, so list-making is favoured!

It can be pretty difficult to clarify what we actually, deep-down want. It can involve some psychological excavation. You have to cut through layers of things you think you want, that were programmed into you by your culture or family or social circle.

We are looking to get down to the core of what actually drives us here. What lights you up, engages you, makes life vital and meaningful for you? It's different for everyone.

But this is not about superficial desire. It's about the deepest levels, and it may involve stuff that is buried or taboo for you. There's a need to excavate – who are you really? What are you really about?

And to purge all the stuff you're carrying that isn't really yours and has nothing to do with what you actually want out of life. No more distractions, no more drama.

Sing it Mary J!

This emphasis on depth work has to do with Pluto's involvement – now at the new moon, and also at the full, which will be on the 22nd April, in Pluto-ruled Scorpio.

Scorpio is about psychological depth, the taboo, the Shadow. Also, desire in its most primal, compulsive form.

Driving home this focus on the depth stuff, we'll have the sign's two rulers, Pluto and Mars, both stationing retrograde just a few days prior to the full moon in Scorpio. There is a deep inward focus here, and it will be in effect all through the summer, as Mars retrogrades through Scorpio.

So yeah – this month definitely looks like it's about focusing True Will.

Aleister Crowley was an unsavoury human being and largely full of shit, but I think he was right on this score: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”.

But first you have to dig out what it is you really want – not what you think you ought to want. Not what would please your parents or your friends or even your ego.

If you can identify what really drives you and be drawn by that lodestone, provided you're not harming anyone, you can't go far wrong.

Anyway, I really like the look of this month, though it's quite violent and intense! And fraught. The usual cautions apply. Expect some kind of depth charge / jolt this new moon, especially if you have planets or angles in mid-degree Cardinal signs. Something is going to shift in a lasting way, and it's likely to be uncomfortable. Don't be surprised if it's nasty - there are some hidden agendas at work here. But whatever hits you or erupts out of you, it won't really be out of the blue. This has been building for some time.

Mind yourself and don't fight anything out to the death please. Don't blow yourself up, or anyone else. It'll be easy to overdose on rage.

Also, we are dealing with a mutable t-square now, involving Neptune in Pisces, Mars and Saturn in Sagittarius, and Jupiter and the north node in Virgo. This influence will be in play for nearly the rest of the year. It looks pretty jangled and confusing to me – like it'll be hard to know what's true.

I guess this makes it all the more important to clarify your deepest intentions and desires now. Like, now. TODAY.

Happy new astro year!