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Aquarius/Leo Full Moon:
February 8, 20017:12 GMT 00:12 MST 2:12 EST 11:12 PST (2/7) 1:12 CST 16:12 GST
Rituals lift us from mundane concerns and connect us to the greater flow of things. Our MoonCircles CyberRitual is a monthly experiment in collective attunement -- to each other and the moon. Across time zones, we collect our creative energies into a healing meditation, as a gift to ourselves and the world. Feel free to harmonize at a time of your own convenience, so that our astral voices may continue throughout the moon's waxing and waning cycles, as in a round.Aquarius/Leo Full Moon: Here comes the Sun!
It may be the Full Moon, but, as the vintage Beatles song goes, "here comes the Sun..it's been a long, cold, lonely winter..." Indeed, this lunation falls just five days after Imbolc, the Pagan cross-quarter day that marks midwinter, or the pagan beginnings of spring. While it may still be cold and grey outside, it is time to start warming our spirits. Further commentary comes from the two Sabian symbols for this lunation: For the Sun at 19 Aquarius, there's "a large white dove bearing a message" (The moon, perhaps?!). For the Moon at 19 Leo, "Zuni Indians perform a ritual to the Sun." (Could her message point us to the Sun?) Behind the curtains of everyday life, invisible beings are stirring up powerful magic in the cauldron of the cosmos. Light is being born. A new peace is on its way.
The Leo Moon calls us to honor the Sun god Apollo: like the flaming orb of fire that rises each morning at dawn, Apollo lights up our world. He is the god of intelligence; of music, art and creativity; also spontaneous, childlike joy. Look to the house where the Sun falls in your astrology chart and the house ruled by Leo; this Full Moon may be a good time to bring new warmth and creativity to either or both of those areas. Like the Zuni Indians, you may wish to perform some kind of ritual to the Sun, drawing down the magnetism and energy of this solar fire into your life.
Next, reflect on the symbolism of the Sun in Aquarius opposite the Leo Moon. The Aquarius Sun is currently intensified through its conjunctions to creative genius Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius, as well as newly retrograde Mercury, also in Aquarius. Factor in the opposition between Mars in Scorpio and Saturn in Taurus, however, and a fixed grand cross marks the clear winter sky.
How to interpret the pattern in the skies this Full Moon? The fixed grand cross is an emblem of tension between powerful players. If there is a tense stand-off somewhere in your life, before rushing to resolution, consider holding all sides of the issue in your perception, with patience and spiritual largesse; a new inspiration may appear. Sit in the full moonlight, breathing in, breathing out, and find new ground.
You might also let your astrological imagination play with the symbolism of the planets and the aspects, drawing pictures, making metaphors, acting out an astro-drama, or intuiting predictions. One way of looking at the star-mandala above might be that while nature is assuring us that, as promised, the sun will rise again, and spring will blossom after winter's cold sleep, the time is not just yet. There is more work to be done. So in the meantime, draw down the lunar sunlight, make a fire, and warm your spirit at the heavenly hearthfire.
Because, as the song says, here comes the sun...
Next New Moon: February 23, 2001