October 20, 2021 // 27 Aries
There’s an Edith Wharton quote that I love, and have been thinking about in regards to this Full Moon: “There are two ways of spreading light: to be a candle or the mirror that reflects it.” Throughout the Sun’s stay in Libra, as we’ve navigated that liminal span of space-time, and ridden out all the retrogrades, we have each of us been reflecting in one way or another. Now we reach a culmination of this theme, putting a finer point on those lessons we’ve been learning in the cardinal axis of our charts and lives; and we reach a turning point, before Scorpio season tips the scales into darkness; Mars, restrained and reticent for all this time, comes back in the game; and the eclipse portal reopens for the final act of the year.
For now, that Martial drive, that Arian single-mindedness—the heat and the horns that rule this lunation—still point us in the direction of the Venusian Other, like it or not. As my wise Aries rising/Libra south node friend said to me today, our relationships—the people in our lives—are the greatest indicator of who we are ourselves. This Full Moon is about the fulfillment of promises, about being brave for each other, about testing our boundaries and learning our limits, and about how building and reaching consensus often means pushing back on points of disagreement, or standing strong in our truth. It is about following Hecate’s lamp, and finding peace in the valley of the shadow of death (and indeed, as I write this, the Moon is conjunct the asteroid goddess). Whether you blaze, glow, or quietly flicker; whether at this time you are the candle or the mirror, our luminaries both stand sentinel in the sky to remind you that you are a beacon of light for someone else.
All aboard the wheel of fortune! Venus has embarked for Sagittarius. Casting aside her underworld chains, she is now a rolling stone, a runaway bride—though whether she is running away with, or away from, her lover depends on the way the wind blows the mutable flame of her soul. She pierces hearts with her arrow, but again, whether she enamors them, entertains them, hurts them or heals them is also a matter of Jupiterian chance and fate.
Her journey takes us first into the Old World. As she crosses the south node of the Moon, and opposes the Black Moon Lilith in Gemini, our philosophy of the Feminine is up for review. We may find ourselves eulogizing, or evangelizing, the stories upon stories of women’s bodies, sacrificed on the altar of dogma, doctrine, and zealotry; and confronting the misogyny that must be exorcised from every one of us, regardless of gender.
And as for our personal altars, whether or not we refer to them as such, they too are calling for our attention. What objects, artwork, photos, mementos, and souvenirs—collected from our travels, or possessing some symbolism or unusual beauty to us—are we giving pride of place? What can be both loved and let go, to make room for the new? How might we draw creative inspiration from the past? A Sagittarian Venus craves something of the foreign, the exotic, the wise, or the mind-altering, to expand our worldview, and to imbue our relationships with meaning. How are you honoring the explorer in yourself? What has your devotion lately? And what is calling to your wild heart?
In the early hours of Wednesday, as the stars look on dreamy-eyed, the Sun and the Moon renew their vows in Libra. Mars and Venus take to the floor for their final dance, before the goddess moves on to Sagittarius, and their mutual reception ends. The retrograde Mercury spins all our old favorites, and least favorites. Do you hear that? They’re playing our song…
Ah, love. It’s a dance that has tricky steps. And with this New Moon, we are maneuvering with Mars, on the one hand, and with Venus at the tail end of the Scorpion, on the other. This is a corner of the Zodiac full of edges and thorns, as well as deep healing and transformation, so we’ll want to proceed carefully and tenderly. The desire for rush and the desire for release vie equally in the psyche; the pathways between pain and pleasure are open and lit up; we seek calm by way of catharsis. Let us find ways to satiate and soothe without poking at wounds, picking at scars, or harming ourselves or others. Libra, by way of Venus, will have equilibrium one way or another. So let the endorphins come through healthy physical exertion, through music, through artistic expression, through hugs and laughs and respectful, consensual touch and talk. And honor our human needs for both solitude and connection, for independence and partnership, for we are planting the seeds in that particular flower bed now, to be harvested in the coming spring.
