The Full Moon on March 12th marks the culmination of the month long lunar cycle. This round features the annual face off between the Sun in compassionate Pisces and the Moon in service minded Virgo. What makes this Full Moon more significant than usual is that the cycle commenced with a Solar Eclipse, a supercharged New Moon with vibrational waves that can last for months. The February 26th eclipse in Pisces carried with it an archetypal message indicating a sudden event that could bring about positive changes (see February 25th AstroCast). While the Piscean lens through which we may have been imagining numerous fantasy scenarios about what may constitute our own personal “lucky break,” this Full Moon will bring us back down to earth for a reality check due to its square to Saturn in Sagittarius to ensure the new information being presented is integrated in our physical material world in a sustained way.
Less than a few hours before the Full Moon becomes exact, Mercury will square the planet of structure and hard work on March 12th, kicking off a Saturnian integrity test that will peak with the Sun’s exact square to Saturn on March 17th and remain in effect for another week thereafter. Still within orb of last week’s Superior Conjunction, the Sun and Mercury opposite the Moon, and all three planets in square to Saturn creates a pressurized T-square configuration in mutable signs stressing that no step be missed as we navigate changes big and small brought on by the eclipse, along with concurrently running outer planet cycles at significant crossroads discussed in this blog and others on many occasions, such as the 2017 signature alignment of disruption between Jupiter in Libra and Uranus in Aries.
Strong Saturn energy always demands that we slow down enough to be able to methodically assess and honestly address anything that isn’t working efficiently. There is always a reason it isn’t and usually some adjustment or learning curve must be incorporated into any action plan. Or it may be we simply come to realize that trying to force something into being can’t manifest without significant collateral baggage. I have Sun square Saturn in my natal chart and it took me a long time to understand that the obstacles in my path were messages from the cosmos to help me. I needed to be less in denial about the feedback I was receiving (i.e. when things weren’t working!) and take greater care to be truthful with myself about where my motivations were coming from and what they would ultimately serve – the ego or something beyond? Only then could necessary course corrections be taken through different choices. When in doubt, a useful question to ask is “What is in alignment with my soul’s purpose?” Or coming at it from the other direction, perhaps consider changing directions if fixated on a goal that is just not manifesting no matter how long or hard we persist in pushing to make it happen.
On a socio-political level, Saturn square the Virgo Full Moon may manifest as a major stop sign on public initiatives. With Virgo ruling health and Sagittarius ruling the law, the GOP lawmakers’ proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act may hit their own wall in the form of millions of people protesting the loss of their coverage. Sagittarius also rules all things foreign so the President’s revised executive order banning refugees and immigrants from entering the U.S. may find similar injunctions from the court of law as the first version. The Pisces/Virgo polarity created by the Full Moon, representing an emphasis on service to humanity that is tolerant of all points of view, is energized by the T-square with Saturn in Sagittarius demanding justice for all.
On a personal level, the Full Moon in Virgo is all about details. It archetypally represents the desire to keep everything in order and in service to the purest purpose. Opposing the Sun in Pisces, the Moon is symbolically challenged to let the physical details blur a bit so their energetic matrix can be sensed in a holistic way, taking into account a consciousness system so vast it cannot be comprehended by the mind. While finding the balance between matter and spirit is the call of this climatic Full Moon midway through the “sudden happiness” eclipse cycle, its square to Saturn may bring about a sudden awareness of fear-based blockages manufactured by the mind. Saturn in Sagittarius is also concerned with mastery of a philosophical or educational nature. Perhaps some shock will propel us beyond the standardized learning methodologies dependent on repetitive, lifeless conditioning. Once free of the old program we may experience a taste of the true freedom of our innate wisdom. Now that would be lucky indeed.
The balance of elements tips to the fire signs when Mercury enters Aries on March 13th. Fast-talking, self-branding speech replaces the imaginative poetic musings we may have experienced while Mercury was in Pisces. Any planet’s return to the first sign of the zodiac generates a “rush of spring” quality that may increase spontaneous creativity. Mercury here leans in to unfiltered commentary giving little regard for the views, much less feelings, of others. Mercury in Aries symbolically represents the free thinker unbound by thoughts of consequence, an adventurous perceptual experience that will only last 18 days when Mercury moves into sensual, peaceful Taurus on March 31st. Quick thinking and ready to take on new ideas, Mercury in Aries may inspire us to clean out the closets of our mind and look for fresh ways to express our core being.
Here’s the data (using Pacific Time and planetary positions rounded to the nearest whole degree, unless otherwise noted):
March 12 – Mercury square Saturn at 27° Pisces/Sagittarius at 5:10 a.m.
March 12 – Moon opposite Sun (Full Moon) at 22° Virgo/Pisces at 7:54 a.m.
March 13 – Mercury at 0° Aries at 3:29 a.m.
March 17 – Sun square Saturn at 27° Pisces/Sagittarius at 2:47 p.m.
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