Full Moon of Divine Alchemy

This is an unusual Full MOON; our second in LIBRA.

The last Full MOON occurred at 00 degrees LIBRA, and this one falls at 29 degrees on April 19 at 4:12am PDT.

LIBRA is a sign of duality, always needing the other, always seeking to achieve balance on the divine scales of life, and so somehow this double dose feels appropriate.

We are all in relationship here on earth, to each other, to ourselves, and to life itself. There is never a point when we arrive at perfect balance and harmony for more than a moment or two. It's an ongoing process of calibration and recalibration to find the right dosage of togetherness vs alone.

The Full MOON makes an out of sign opposition to URANUS at 2 degrees TAURUS. This then becomes a double invocation of the two VENUS ruled signs of TAURUS and LIBRA. TAURUS is the sign of self-love and self-esteem, and one's relationship to the divine essence of God/Goddess found in nature. It is all about filling one's own cup and taking good care of self and resources. Once that cup is filled, then the LIBRA aspect of VENUS becomes operative where the one then seeks to be two, to share life with and learn through the other's perspective.

Now let's add in a healthy dash of uncompromising, Promethean change-maker URANUS and see what we come up with.

Both our self-esteem and our capacity for partnership are seeking a significant upgrade under this Full MOON cycle.

We are in the alchemical alembic, cooking away. The intensity dial just keeps on getting turned up higher and higher, with no end in sight. This means that we really need to be at our best, our most capable of meeting the path as it rises in front of us.

In the last week, we've collectively witnessed the first image of a SUPERMASSIVE black hole that absolutely dwarfs our solar system, we've seen whistleblower Julian Assange dragged from his asylum, and we've seen the burning of Notre Dame.

I do not think it is all doom and gloom, but I do believe having our eyes open to the reality of the world we find ourselves in is necessary. The shadow and the light are always in a tangle here, as the Tao tells us.

We all have both dark and light inside and must navigate them in ourselves and in each other, wisely and compassionately. The alchemy of this Full MOON lies in awakening to what needs to happen, knowing that the goal is optimal partnership, in whatever form it takes. This kind of support will help us achieve what we need in our lives.

Any one-on-one relationship counts and good ones are hard work. Healthy partnerships take a lot of energy, focus, and care. They are like a garden, that once planted, require attention, water, feeding, and tending or they will become an overgrown patch of weeds. Conversely, this could also be a catalytic flashpoint for relationships that are struggling. One way or another we are seeing things clearly.

The 29 degree LIBRA Full MOON quickly turns into a SCORPIO MOON, just an hour and a half post full, meaning that we add a libido powder-keg to the overall flavor of this MOON. SCORPIO is where a more mental approach to partnership gives way to a physical need. SCORPIO wants to emotionally and physically fuse with their object of desire and sex is the tool.

This is a very powerful Full MOON that is bisected by the NODAL AXIS, with SATURN and PLUTO. To me, this speaks to the intersection of the sacred and the profane, where we all exist. The tragic burning of the Notre Dame cathedral in France on April 15 embodied this in a haunting way.

Astrologer Heather Roan Robbins:

"Astrologers have been talking about the breakdown of old structures with the coming Saturn-Pluto-South node conjunction in architectural Capricorn;

Saturn= history, tradition, and structure, Pluto= death and rebirth, transformation. (remember Saturn and Pluto opposed each other on America's ascendant- descendant axis during 9/11/01). For the next two years, we may see more symbolic breakdowns of old structures, buildings, infrastructure, societal institutions, painful losses that could make room for new growth or force us to rehab old systems. (last two times these planets conjunct in Capricorn were 1284 and 1518) I wish it didn't hurt so much."

This loss of this beloved, sacred, landmark built over 800 years ago and taking 200 years to complete, made with wood from 52 acres of virgin hardwood forest, highlights the ongoing losses we are facing on the planet right now. The 3 black churches in Louisiana burned in the last 3 weeks, the Jerusalem mosque burned at the same time as Notre Dame, the pollution of our waterways and oceans, the leaking of the god-forsaken pipelines that criss-cross sacred lands, unprecedented extinction rates, the list goes on.

But here's a timely reminder from far seeing AQUARIUS SUN-loving protectress CANCER MOON, author Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D:

"Do not lose heart. We were made for these times.

For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement, and that we have been raised, since childhood, for this time precisely.

We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come to Earth. We are needed, that is all we can know.

One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair – thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do."

MERCURY our planet of communication and transactions is FINALLY out of PISCES, where he doesn't love to be. Now that we find him in ARIES, fuzzy headed, indirect ways of communicating give way to the blast of cardinal fire.

There is a danger of overcompensation and very sharp tongues, especially with its defensive conjunction to CHIRON. If you feel this in yourself, remember to try and temper it a bit as the polarity point of LIBRAN diplomacy will often get you farther than brute force and it's harder to soothe hurt feelings than it is to be gentle in the first place.

That said, some things have been pent up or avoided that do need to be addressed, so speak clearly and truthfully, just do it with compassion.

The SUN enters TAURUS less than 24 hours post Full MOON and makes its first contact with URANUS since it entered TAURUS for good. This activates the TAURUS part of all of us and especially those of us with prominent TAURUS planets. The work is 'progress and change' and the method is 'unexpected.'

We all have TAURUS somewhere. Find the house cusp/s that TAURUS rules in your chart (ask me if you don't know) and that will tell you the topics of life that are up for significant change over the next 7 years. URANUS functions in a non-emotional, very rapid way.

If there is ballast weighing you down in this area of your life, consider being proactive and getting ahead of this transit and paving a pathway of willing change. One way or another, change is coming, so you might as well roll out the red carpet.

But despite the extra intensity now applied to TAURUS, it's still important to take some time to smell the flowers, eat the fruit, and take a nourishing nap in the sunlight.

VENUS changes signs the day after the Full MOON, leaving her exalted status in dreamy and romantic PISCES for the full-blooded huntress of VENUS in ARIES, where she is considered in her fall. VENUS prefers the diplomacy and inclusivity of LIBRA her domicile, so being in the opposite sign of ARIES is a tight squeeze, but... springtime in the north (where astrology was developed) is an undeniably fiery time. The soft ephemerals of early spring quickly give way to the volcanic peaks of plant life seeking the solar zenith. Grasses need to be mowed, plants need to be fed, baby animals need to be taught how to hunt and how to fight, and to protect themselves. Most of all VENUS in ARIES is about the hunt for a mate. Those born with VENUS in ARIES have great passion and ardor while weaker in constancy. Here she is impetuous and voracious and afraid of losing herself in the other, so under her influence, we are quick to merge, quick to separate again. Enjoy the heated flirtatious energy of VENUS in ARIES by going for a run with the object of your desire.

With all that is happening, the following feels like an apt reminder from astrologer Timothy Halloran;

While the NORTH NODE in CANCER teaches us to care for and hold close all that we love, NEPTUNE in PISCES teaches us that ultimately all goes back to the great mother, and we can practice along both sides of that spectrum, as they are equally valuable lessons.