2009 Pisces Full Moon

by Stephanie Azaria

2009 Pisces Full Moon

September 4 2009

12:04 PM EDT / 9:04am PDT/4:04 PM GMT

12 Virgo 16 / 12 Pisces 16

This month’s Pisces Full Moon reviews what we’ve been learning about interconnectedness and intactness — the dichotomy of being linked with all of life while maintaining our own distinct and healthy boundaries. This has been the challenge of the past few years, actually. The skies have been increasingly attuning us to the awareness that we are all in this life together and that what happens to one of us affects everyone around us. At the same time, as we move more into consciousness of this linking, the skies have been reminding us of the importance of finding and shoring up our own boundaries.

This sounds inconsistent, but it’s not. We have just come through an intense summer bringing us back to the truth and joy of who we are, culminating in the rebirthing of and rededication to the self that occurred with the Aquarius Full Moon on August 20, Now that we have reclaimed that person, we are not to let him or her go. As we come together more fully energetically, it is critical to remain aware of where we stop and where other people begin.

In the past we partitioned ourselves from others in response to negative impulses, such as fear, resentment, anger, and disappointment. Now the interpersonal boundaries are to be built on self-love. Love and respect yourself, and you will remain intact when you merge with others.

This is related to two themes that have been ongoing this year. The first is the uniting of the masculine and feminine, which brought internal alignment and balance to each of us, eliminating the need to look outside the self for completeness. The second is the internalizing of responsibility for our own nurturance, which was a byproduct of July’s eclipses on the Cancer/Capricorn axis. There is no need to look to another person or situation to make us whole or bring us personal security. Everything we need is within the self. With this knowledge, we can bring ourselves completely and fully into the relationships that are most important to us, and also allow our partners and companions the right and respect to be who they completely and fully are. Every link in the chain will have personal strength and integrity, and so will every strand in the web.

This Full Moon gets an early start. It begins energetically the night before, when the Sun and Moon face off by declination mid-evening Thursday. By zodiacal degree, the luminaries are staring down within a couple of degrees of the location of Saturn’s long station last May. Saturn is, no coincidence, watching the proceedings at a close burt safe distance, loosely conjunct the Sun and opposite the Moon. He’s been broadcasting a message about healthy boundaries and choices for the past two years, since he entered Virgo at the end of August 2007. It’s appropriate that he’s overseeing (but not steering) this review session in his teachings. No one is going to tell us how to “do” this. It’s up to each person to take responsibility for the self.

The Sun’s ruler in this Full Moon is Mercury, the planet of communication. Mercury is squaring Mars, the planet that rules our personal drive and ambition. Mars is a trigger for this lunation. The Moon’s last major aspect before joining the Sun is a trine to Mars, which motivates us to exercise discernment and take responsible care of the self. The point is to make healthy choices, remember, and this trine kicks us effortlessly into that gear. The Mercury/Mars square also kicks us into verbal action, communicating our needs and boundaries and pushing them forward. Mercury and Mars are both moving out of stressful aspects to Pluto, the transformer. Mercury is moving out of a square, while Mars is moving out of an opposition. The three are forming a waning T-square, with Mercury as the focal planet, the place where the tension channels and must find expression. We must put our cards on the table, and the challenge is to do it with calm and equanimity — and taking responsibility for our choices and actions.

The Moon’s ruler is transcendent Neptune, which continues to be in a growth aspect to Uranus the awakener. The Moon is almost smack in the middle, only a couple of degrees from their midpoint. Spiritual connection, access to inspiration and higher love, insight and liberation, all these are accessible to us through our emotional experience.

The closing ceremony for this Full Moon the next day, when the Moon opposes Saturn Saturday morning. Our assignment has been self-mastery. Have we achieved it? How well have we been taking care of our bodies and our own well-being? How intact are our boundaries? School’s in session for only a few more weeks. It ends when Saturn moves out of Virgo at the end of October. A refresher session comes next April, when Saturn retrogrades back for almost four months. The bulk of the work, though, is coming to a close now.

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 13 degrees Virgo is
A Sword, Used in Many Battles, Is Now in a Museum.

Commentary: ‘A Sword’ that has been ‘Used in Many Battles’ is ‘Now in a Museum’. It has most likely seen many struggles, battles and conflicts. It may have had to defend the honor of someone or something, and now it is placed in a ‘Museum’ where people can come and look at it and wonder at its history. The ‘Sword’ is such a masculine image, strong, heroic, metallic, sharp, hard and forbidding. The ‘Sword’ has done its job and now needs to be put away, somewhere where it won’t need to fight or defend. The fact it is in ‘A Museum’ points to the fact that it is a reminder of the battles of days gone by.

Oracle: When reminded of the ‘Battles’ of the past, hopefully we are influenced towards peace, but we are also uplifted by the memory of the strength of the participants, their bravery and valor. You may be faced with the choice of fighting for something or reasoning with the intellect. This can be confusing if you lack training or experience in the ways of doing ‘Battle’. The obvious message is that it’s time to lay down one’s ‘Sword’, not in order to necessarily surrender, but in order to stop “the warring”. Perhaps this pictures someone who doesn’t know when to give up taking others on and fighting. This Symbol shows it’s time to give up ‘Battling’, to aim now for more peaceful solutions. There may have been a lot learnt in the ‘Battles’ you’ve experienced, but one thing that’s best learnt is that continuing to fight may lead to a bitter end, with no one being a true winner. Now’s the time to lay down the ‘Sword’ and accept love and peace back into your life. Putting the ‘Sword’ away in a ‘Museum’ can allow others to benefit from the struggles that have been undertaken, without worrying about how this weapon will be used in the future. How long can one go on battling, fighting and defending?

Keywords: Willpower. Martial arts. Putting aside thoughts of vengeance and revenge. Hanging up or laying down one’s ‘Sword’. Trophies of conquest that remind us of the past. History. Aging and maturing. Retirement. Remnants of battles. The Sword of Destiny. Souvenirs of the past. “Words as Swords”. The Spear of Destiny. The Sword Excalibur. Disarming weapons. The search for truth and justice. Suits of armor. The

Caution: A lack of sensitivity. A pretense of one’s abilities. Giving up and “falling on one’s sword” from defeat. Grudges. Wanting to go into ‘Battle’ at the slightest excuse. Selfish agendas. Weapons of mass destruction or weapons of mass distraction? Pre-emptive strikes. Defensive behavior.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword! Oscar Wilde