WEEDING & WATERING
After this summer’s reboots and retrogrades, a float in the sweet, gentle waters of the Full Moon in Pisces on Aug. 25/26 may be just what the doctor ordered.
“This Full Moon in Pisces will be a time to heal, to claim back our cosmic rights to thrive in this world.”
Nicole O’Byrne, Inner Doorways
“A dream is locking into place and coming into being. The Pisces Full Moon shows just how far along that process is – and what needs to go to allow it to develop.
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“It may also feel like the first real chance we’ve had in months to breathe, to contemplate and to simply be.”
Then again, maybe these waters aren’t so sweet and gentle after all.
“‘It’s complicated!’ is an understatement.”
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology
Let’s take a deeper look at how astrologers around the Web are viewing the waters.
Pisces Full Moon
A Full Moon occurs when the Moon opposes the Sun. The standoff pits emotions against reason. It’s particularly pronounced when it involves the boundarilessness of the Moon in Pisces and the logic and order of the Sun in Virgo.
My forecast explores this lunation’s dynamics.
“A Full Moon is always a time of emotional culmination, of cresting and harvest and culling. It delivers a status report on recent events and particularly on how we feel about them. This report’s scope likely goes back further than the norm, coming as it does near the end of a tumultuous summer, with a pile-up of retrogrades and three consecutive eclipses.
“Think of this Full Moon as the aftermath of protracted storms – storms that were exciting, destructive, challenging and exhilarating; storms that knocked us off one course and oriented us to another. Now we’re standing on the beach seeing what the tide has brought in. Some of the bounty we’ve been requesting. Some is unexpected. Some would have appealed to us before but doesn’t now. Some is damaged or useless. Some we toss back; some we put in a garbage bag; some we leave untouched.”
The process teems with healing potential, says Nicole O’Byrne, Inner Doorways:
“Pisces is the ultimate healer, the ruler of our subconscious where our stored memories, habits and beliefs live. During this Full Moon we will awaken what has been laying underneath the fear, what has been keeping us stuck and allow our inner shaman to heal us. This is a time to call back our soul from places where it has been forgotten and to return back to our wholeness.”
Dreamweaver
A sense of heaven-sent possibilities, or maybe just wishes coming true, pervades this Moon. One reason is the teamwork of Jupiter and Neptune — Jupiter the traditional ruler of the Pisces Full Moon and Neptune Pisces modern avatar. Each is boundless, Jupiter in optimism and expansiveness, Neptune in imagination and transcendence.
They have been pumping each other up all year traveling in a trine, which I have described as bridging the deepest and highest parts of our beings. Their link was exact for the final time on Aug. 19, one week before the Full Moon.
The emotional tides may reveal what has come of their teamwork. Opportunities for deep and thorough cleaning may accompany what you see, thanks to a sextile from both to the regenerative potency of Pluto in Capricorn.
Making It Real
Bringing form and order to the bounty of this Full Moon is a what astrologers call a grand trine in earth. That means three planets in earth signs forming a supportive and harmonious equilateral triangle — from Uranus in Taurus to Saturn in Capricorn to the Sun in Virgo. A sextile to the dreamy Pisces Moon brings a real need to incorporate your vision into your earthy plans.
Let’s look at the components, starting with the grand trine.
Three’s Company
The earth grand trine imposes form onto practicalities, amid the emotional Piscean waters. The cornerstone is the slow-moving trine between the outer planets Saturn and Uranus.
“Saturn trine Uranus was last year’s big aspect. Here it is revived — but in earth signs rather than fire. Usually, this is a revolutionary aspect…but the trine could be the sugar coated-pill that enables the Uranus changes to be made without too much rebellion. There is challenge to the reigning authority, but the changes made will seem familiar, so that people aren’t really thrown too much out of their comfort zone. It is like having a divorce in order to get back with an Ex from your teenage years! It is like a rejuvenation, feeling young again, even if you are past 50. Uranus tends to make change drastically, but a trine from Saturn suggests that it will be done considerately and incrementally.”
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology
“Saturn trine Uranus represents a transition phase in life. This is the ideal time to make positive changes in your life because they should run smoothly. You will stay calm and patient, planning every step methodically. You can find new ways of doing old things without rocking the boat. Or you could take the lead in your career to start needed changes and gain respect and recognition from your boss.”
Jamie Partridge, Astrology King
Each of the titans is trine the Sun. The aspects are beneficial, says – Jamie Partridge, Astrology King,
“Sun trine Saturn brings achievement and recognition for earlier effort. You can focus on achieving your long-term goals and stay well-balanced. This means that other areas of your life do not need to suffer from your strong work ethic and determination. Relationships with men and superiors will be serious, practical and beneficial. Valuable guidance can come from elders and leaders.
“Sun trine Uranus brings increased intuition and flashes of insight that lead to self-discovery and revelations. Increased self-confidence will allow you to express the more unique or quirky side of your personality. You may feel like trying sometime new and exciting, outside of your normal routine and comfort zone.”
Emotions On Tap
The Moon is making a sextile to both form-loving Saturn and innovative, disruptive Uranus.
Emotional stabilizing and security are gifts of the Saturn link.
“Moon sextile Saturn makes you feel protective of your family and partner. You will show how much you care for them in practical ways, not through public displays of emotion. Your task is to give nourishment and comfort through food, shelter and a shoulder to cry on. Commitment, loyalty and your family home become more important. You can carry out your duties and responsibilities with care and patience.”
Jamie Partridge, Astrology King
“The sensitive moon and severe Saturn do not usually make easy bedfellows, but the soft aspect warms and soothes things here nicely. The over-riding theme at this Full Moon then will be the need to achieve in order to build personal security. Moon sextile Saturn can be a critical or strict mother, used to keeping to a fixed timetable. This is a great Full Moon for getting all our homework done and deferring gratification.”
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology
The Moon’s sextile to Uranus encourages flashes of genius and willingness to risk.
“Moon sextile Uranus is an artistic aspect that flowers an original and eccentric mind. This Full Moon will support innovators and inventors that think outside the box.”
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology
“Moon sextile Uranus brings stimulating personal encounters and exciting events. You will feel more open to change in your life and may actively seek it out. Your stronger than normal intuition can guide you in making quick decisions on which way to go. Follow your instincts and make the most of any opportunities. This is a good time to find original ways of doing things because of your inquisitive and inventive nature.”
Jamie Partridge, Astrology King
The Moon’s sextiles extend the grand trine into a kite. They serve as the kite string, providing an outlet for release and expression of the grand trine’s energies.
My forecast explains how this works:
“What delicious cosmic irony: our emotions, our compassion and empathy, our connection to something greater than our egos, are the point of grounding for all these earthly, practical, mundane energies. And we don’t have to stew in them. This Full Moon provides the wherewithal for cleaning, changing or banishing aspects of them.
“The line-up helps you see what you have been creating, or what has been firming up while you’ve been reacting to the chaos and dramas and do-overs of the summer. Efficiency, sober living, and healthy (perhaps newly drawn?) boundaries are factors. (Raise your hand if you’ve been eating and exercising radically differently.) So is assimilating the tilts in perspective and recently changed conditions.
“Wild cards are definitely in play, too. Even if you’ve been consciously working toward (or asking for) a particular, practical development, it comes with a twist – in timing, in direction, in form, in your attitude toward it. Consider the Uranian element a safety valve for Piscean waters, a mechanism to yank us free from situations and feelings that are detrimental to us (even as we hope against hope that they aren’t)”
Let It Go
Venus and Pluto, rulers of desire and money, form a challenging aspect astrologers call a square, demanding that something has to go.
The aspect offers a convenient, timely and efficient clean-up helper for the grand earth trine. My forecast explains:
“The summer has brought abundant opportunity to revisit the past and to say many a goodbye. In the wake of that, this square forces the questions: What do you actually want? What do you actually value? This square adds a scalpel’s touch to the releasing properties of a Full Moon. Now that new situations are emerging, which of the old still have meaning? Which are taking up room? Venus and Pluto’s dance encourages cutting away what you don’t value or want, to make space for what you do.”
Venus and Pluto together also invite healing. Says Nicole O’Byrne, Inner Doorways:
“Together they remind us of the destruction of the old world. Go back to a time, when our planet was suffering and remember the tools of transformation. It will give us a chance to look back at what went wrong, how we got separated from nature, and forgot our magic. Here we can teach ourselves of how to choose a different path, something not yet understood but fiercely accepted faithfully. For we are in the age of remembering, where we claim back the roots of our ancestors, we surrender to the elemental forces of nature and reconnect to our world of wonder.”
Clean Up On Aisle You
Enhancing the “Endings” feel of a Full Moon, this one is sandwiched between the completion of two inner-planet retrogrades: Mercury, which stationed direct on Aug. 19, and Mars, which goes direct on Aug. 29.
As a result, Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrologycalls this a “mopping up Moon” that helps “get a grip on the fall out from this summer’s shenanigans.”
Other Considerations
The heavens are vast, and so are the techniques astrologers have used to explore them. Let’s look at how some of these add meaning, nuance and depth to the Pisces Full Moon.
Fixed Stars
Fixed stars Sadalmelik and Fomalhaut assist this Moon’s emotional review.
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology, says:
“The Full Moon falls between stars Sadalmelik the constellation of Aquarius and one of the most important stars in the sky Fomalhaut. Imagination is needed to somehow cobble together a collage of everything that has happened over the summer and make some sense of it all.
“Fomalhaut is one of the four archangel stars, It can be extremely fortunate, but only if you use its gifts with integrity and for the greater good. Otherwise, Fomalhaut can be corrupt, fall into sorcery and be disgraced. …Water needs to keep flowing since it can absorb negativity more than any other element; stagnant water becomes toxic very quickly.”
Jamie Partridge, Astrology King, elaborates:
“Sadalmelik gives prominence in occult matters, success in large companies, and is favorable for gain. [quoting Vivan Robson] Even though this star in general can portend danger and cause persecution, the favorable aspects to Saturn and Uranus make sure of the most positive manifestation.
“The name Sadalmelik is Arabic for ‘Luck of the King.’ [Eric] Morse says ‘it is an indicator of the most brilliant success and favor for those in authority, and a sign that they will put it to good use if they have it well aspected.’
“Fomalhaut is one of the most important stars of all. It is one of the four Royal Stars of ancient Persia or Archangel Stars of the Abrahamic religions. Fomalhaut represents Archangel Gabriel. Robson said the Moon conjunct Fomalhaut brings secret business causing much trouble and enmity, but eventual gain after many difficulties.
“In general, Fomalhaut is very fortunate and powerful yet can cause malevolence of sublime scope and character, and change from a material to a spiritual form of expression [quoting Robson].”
Asteroids & Minor Planets
Asteroid Lilith exactly conjunct the Sun and opposite the Moon. Marina Marcario calls her the eternal teenage, rebel, and freedom fighter; the shadow of Uramus, “shocking, eccentric, stirring things up.”
Minor Aspects
The Moon and Saturn are each incojunct to the Moon’s North Node in Leo. My forecast explains:
“The Pisces Moon and Saturn in Capricorn are pointing right at the North Node in Leo, in a configuration called a yod or Finger of God. The grounding power of emotions combines with the stability of incremental progress toward practical goals (with a stroke of Uranian genius) in a message we’ve heard earlier this summer: this way to the future. This way to shining brighter and being more your own self. (Perhaps the formula for success is finding common ground between your emotional and physical structural needs?)”
Decans
Each astrological sign can be divided into three sections, known as decans (10 degree divisions of the Zodiac). This Moon is in Pisces decan 1, which is ruled by Saturn and Jupiter.
Marina Marcario, Darkstar Astrology, says of this decan:
“The great imagination generated by the Moon is obvious when you find that both Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci had their Moon here. This decan explores fantasy, the dreamscape and the surreal. There is also a sense of prophecy too. Those touched by Full Moon will be able to access other timelines and weave together seamlessly elements from the past with those of the future. We feel connected to our childhood and there is a love of nostalgia. At this Full Moon, we find the magic in nature and are enchanted. Designers are able to pull out geometric shapes and styles from what they see in the landscape.”
Sabian Symbols
Over the years, astrologers have devised systems to assign meaning to each degree of the Zodiac. The most popular of the past century has been the Sabian Symbols, proposed by Marc Edmund Jones.
The Sabian Symbol for the 4th degree of Pisces is: Heavy Car Traffic on a Narrow Isthmus Linking Seaside Resorts.
In his commentary on the Symbol, astrologer Dane Rudhyar explained, “What is stressed is the need to establish unceasing dynamics relationships between all aspects and functions of the social life….The proximity of the sea stresses the collective nature of social experiences and of what may appear to be ‘individual’ achievements.”
Lunar Mansion
Before the familiar 12 sign solar Zodiac, the ancient world used a 28-sign (or 27) lunar Zodiac. In Arabic astrology, the nightly “resting” places of the Moon were know as manzils, which we translate to the Mansions of the Moon.
The Moon falls in Lunar Mansion 26, which the Arab astrologers called Al Fargh al Mukdin(the Spout of the Water Bucket ). Donna Woodwell of Donna Philosophica nicknamed it “The Muse.”
The mansion’s purpose is toinspire love and beauty. For this lunation, Donna counsels: “Create or be inspired by art or other forms of beauty, romance and social engagements. But don’t waste time getting bogged down with what’s boring or uninspired. Pursuing profit for profit’s sake won’t fulfill you.”
Summing It Up
This Pisces Full Moon brings cleaning, clearing and concretizing. You may get more. Elsa Elsa sums it up succinctly:
“Things are illuminated under Full Moons. This is how I would approach this Full Moon: if you’re looking for wisdom, that may come in a flash from an ethereal source.”
Make sure you have your notebook handy…
Lunaria Datebook
Last Moon Phase: August New Moon in Leo
Next Moon Phase: September New Moon in Virgo
August Full Moon Times and Dates:
San Francisco: Saturday, August 25, 4:56 a.m. PDT
New York: Saturday, August 25, 7:56 a.m. EDT
São Paulo: Saturday, August 25, 8:56 a.m. BRST
London: Saturday, August 25, 12:56 p.m. BST
Istanbul: Saturday, August 25, 2:56 p.m. TRT
Mumbai: Saturday, August 25, 5:26 p.m. IST
Tokyo: Saturday, August 25, 8:56 p.m. JST
Sydney: Saturday, August 25, 9:56 p.m. AEST
Thank you for all the great information! I had a huge fairy ring show up in my yard on the night of the full moon. And I’m a Pisces. Extra special <3
Just wanted to say thanks!
Thank you for reading!