The Full Moon occurs at 06:08 (UT) on April 11 2017 at 21°Li32′.
When the Moon is in Libra, we feel comforted by our relationships. There’s a need to relate, to connect, to socialise. We also need to be in an environment that fosters fairness and equality for everyone. Libra is refined, a peace-maker, co-operative and also indecisive, vacillating in its affections and co-dependant. The problem is, Libra doesn’t like to deal with the messy stuff of life; those wayward emotions, instinctual feelings, animal needs. Libra wants to keep it all on an even keel, the ever gracious host, the kind and considerate partner. Heaven forbid that Libra has to deal with the difficult stuff.
But just as in art we have paintings by Caravaggio and Tracy Emin’s bed, so too we have equal and opposing sides to ourselves. All of these themes are magnified and even exaggerated with the Moon conjunct giant Jupiter. The Moon may feel under pressure to ensure everything is not just good but great in her relationships and may feel the need to make generous shows of affection. But at the same time, little niggling issues underneath could tip the scales off balance. Mars and Ceres in a tight conjunction are like a thorn in the side as both are quincunx the Moon. There’s a fierce need to nurture others yet also a powerful desire to look after ourselves. Either way, there’s some tough loving needed which may feel awkward for polite Libra.
With the Moon conjunct Jupiter, she’s triggering the Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto t-square that we have in the skies currently. With Pluto the focus point of this t-square, surface appearances absolutely won’t cut it. Whilst developing and maintaining good relationships with others is necessary for our emotional security, the Sun and Uranus in Aries also point out that we need our own interests and independence. Relationships that don’t give us room to breathe and be ourselves are likely to fall by the wayside under this influence unless significant changes (Pluto) occur. What’s interesting to note here is that the more we can be ourselves, the more we have to give to those people who are special to us.
With the Moon opposite Uranus, we could experience the pull to detach and get some space in order to work out our feelings. The lunar square to Pluto means that unconscious material that has been unearthed cannot be shoved quietly back into the ground. Now, we have to look at it like an artist studies a decaying bird, drawing each tiny bone and feather with the same delicate attention as they paint the glorious lines of a nude.
Venus, ruler of this lunation, is still retrograde so the pull to explore our inner world as well as outer is also accentuated here. The conjunction between Venus and Chiron recognises that nothing is perfect, everyone is wounded and sometimes love can hurt right down to the soul. But this same conjunction can also show how unconditional love (Pisces) heals. Retrograde Venus is also in a difficult square to Saturn so some may feel the pointed pain of feeling unloved, unappreciated and unworthy. As ever with Saturn though, these difficult feelings force us to re-examine where we can increase self love and create more happiness in our lives, alone or partnered.
The Sabian symbol of this lunation is :-
A Child Giving Birds A Drink At A Fountain
I can remember when I used to feed the birds as a little girl, I experienced immense pleasure in giving them something they needed. It made me feel part of something, connected, vital, alive. In my little girl’s mind, I believed I mattered to the birds and delighted as they lined up along the fence at the first call of my whistle. It was a symbiotic relationship; I fed the birds but the birds fed me.
This is what we are looking for now, a feeling of connection and it comes from giving selflessly in the first instance. Water is the humblest of offerings yet the very stuff of life. What we give out, we get back – an endlessly balancing see-saw of give and take.
Sometimes the scales tip too far. If the child moves too fast, she will scare the birds up and away into the sky. Despite the heavyweight planets involved in this lunation, we must move delicately, gently, quietly, offering love with both the innocence of a child (Venus) and the maturity of an adult (Saturn) who has clear boundaries.
As an adult, I still feed the birds. I still marvel as they settle on my hand and peck sunflower seeds from my palm but I know these are wild creatures with a life of their own. They are feral and free just as we too each have a secret place inside that is unreachable and unknowable, even to those who love us dearly. We all have a place in the sky and sometimes we choose to fly together and sometimes to fly apart but all is equal in the heavens.
