The Cosmic Story: Aries/Libra Full Moon 2016
Make Love Not War
Volatile. Tense. Strained. Charged. Explosive. Inflammatory. Turbulent.
This weekend's Full Moon is supercharged by disruptive Uranus, the newly discovered dwarf planet Eris, transformative Pluto and assertive Mars. Wow! Explosive energies. Or transformative energies. It's up to us. The Full Moon falls right into the lap of the intense Pluto/Uranus squares of 2012-2015. Have we woken up and evolved?
While most of us know about revolutionary Uranus and evolutionary Pluto and their 60s dance, and the always on-demand warrior archetype of Mars, few of us know about this new 2nd largest dwarf planet in our solar system out beyond Pluto. Named after the Greek goddess Eris who was made famous in Homer's Iliad as the Goddess of Discord, Strife & War. As with all patriarchal myths, we have to dig deeper to see the real goddess energy behind the perceived (by Greek men) energy.
In Homer's tale of the Trojan war, Eris is the sister of Ares, the war god. When she isn't invited to a wedding, she comes anyway and rolls a golden apple into the banquet hall where all the Greek gods are celebrating. For the Fairest One it says, thereby causing Strife among the gods, who turn to a human prince, Paris of Troy, to make their choice between Hera/Power, Athena/Wise Strategy and Aphrodite/Love & Beauty. The human prince chooses Love. And so starts the Trojan War.
Like the 13th Faerie/witch/wise woman in the fairy tale Briar Rose or The Sleeping Beauty of the Woods, this aspect of the Divine Feminine was rejected by patriarchy, and it will always cause trouble if we don't acknowledge it. This is the feminine warrior who stands up for the truth of our hearts. And when she's ignored and enslaved, she causes strife and discontent. It's a big Shadow coming into clearer view in America at the moment. What kills love quicker than being forced? Aphrodite with her beauty and sexuality has been made to serve all patriarchal systems, and now we see the disease of that rape. Aphrodite's revenge is to cut ourselves and others off from our hearts and souls.
When we 'disconnect from our hearts', we're disconnected from our essential grounding and are plagued by our fears and insecurities. Then we disconnect from others. Through fear's lies and hypocrisy, we create discord and strife, choosing competition, domination and control rather than cooperation, consideration and compromise. And to win what? Money, power, fame—all the things that young prince Paris rejected. And the Beatles sang, “Can't buy me love!”
The core disease of our society is the disconnection between our Heart and our Head.
So the Sacred Marriage of Love and Strength must be consummated within each of us.
According to Wikipedia, the Greeks had another view of Eris. In Hesiod's Theogony, Eris/Strife, the daughter of Nix/Night, brings forth her children: Hardship, Forgetfulness, Starvation, Pains, Battles, Wars, Murders, Quarrels, Lies, Stories, Disputes, Anarchy, Ruin and false Oaths.
It's important to understand how our Western culture has been shaped by a patriarchal mindset. Strife does cause hardship, pain, forgetfulness, murders, quarrels, anarchy and ruin. And of course, false oaths, lies or broken contracts do cause strife. As the daughter of Nix/Night, Eris' mysteries are dark, but not evil. Starvation, forgetfulness, pains, stories and disputes comprise the painful aspects of life. That's just part of having a human, earthly nature. That's what we're here on Earth to experience. Perhaps it's even our soul's initiation: Who do we become in the face of the darkness of human nature? How do we handle those experiences? Do we choose war and betrayal? Or courage and compassion?
Strife and discord are part of the human experience. But the interesting thing is that if you look up the origin of the word discord, it means dis-against and cor-heart. So discord means to go against the heart. Of course it does. We are not thinking with our hearts when we choose wars, murders, quarrels, disputes and lies. Paris was a smart man when he chose love. Perhaps he was a follower of the Goddess, a kind and strong warrior of heart. And so he chose connection. But the rest of the guys were set on war and spoils, hell bent on strife. This story sets the tone for the next 4000 years of patriarchy. Make War, not Love!
So what does this have to do with our upcoming Full Moon?
The Aries/Libra Full Moon, October 15-16, 2016
The Aries/Libra Full Moon occurs on October 15 at 9:23pm PDT and on October 16th at 12:23am EDT/ 4:23am GMT.
The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 24* Libra is: A butterfly with an extra left wing, balancing on a wreath of baby's breath. This is an image of delicacy, for what is more insubstantial than baby's breath? What is the delicate balance we have to sustain? Butterfly is an apt symbol for the psychological freedom that comes from transformation. Butterfly symbolizes our soul and for this butterfly to have a third wing goes back to the tension of opposites and the transcendent function which creates the new pathway. And of course, left belongs to the feminine, so the feminine capacity for imagination is becoming more conscious and connected to the Self. Steve Eardley's The Revised Sabian Symbols states that this image is connected to Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance, to the High Priestess and to Aphrodite, 'to grace and poise and to graceful harmony and interdependence'. Our conscious viewpoint must be graceful if we want to relate well with others. Why be crude?
The Sabian symbol for the Moon and Eris at 24* Aries is: Spring breeze blows a gauzy white curtain into the shape of a cornucopia. The breath of new life, those gentle Spring breezes, can shape our imaginations. When we open our inner windows and let in fresh air, the thoughts and ideas that are 'in the air' take shape for us. Stay connected with your heart while you listen to the wind. The cornucopia is a symbol of abundance and nurturing. Why not imagine what good things you desire? Now this is where the balance needs to be struck between Self and Other. Yes, imagine what you desire, but also keep in mind the needs of other beings and the Earth. This mindset will ensure prosperity for all of us.
The Sabian symbol for Uranus conjoining the Moon at 23* is: A woman in a summer dress is carrying a precious veiled burden. The word burden comes from the same root word as 'to bear, to give birth, to carry'. When I first saw this symbol, I immediately felt the woman was carrying a baby. There is something precious about new life that needs to be veiled from too many eyes and opinions. The summer dress goes along with the cornucopia—summer is a time of growth and abundance. So there's that abundant attitude. And yet, she has a responsibility (part of the burden) to that veiled being. Once again, how do we make the Other a precious part of our consciousness?
Every year, the Aries/Libra Full Moon makes us aware of how we balance Self with Others. Aries fire leaps into the world, ready to take on any experience to achieve its purpose, which is the search for an individual identity—scientist, inventor, warrior, mother, teacher, writer, fisherman, thinker, farmer, artist…There's that Spring breeze blowing our imagination wide open! And because that's Aries’s purpose, Aries’s energy is self-directed. What do I want? What will fulfill me? Its ruler is Mars the Warrior, because we need both his desire and his will to grapple with life to get what we want.
Libra's steady flow of air circulates our breath and connects us to others, motivating Libra's purpose, which is to learn how to be in relationship with others. Libra is open to listening to, working with, helping and loving other beings and uses her ability to connect to others to bring fairness and balance to situations. Libra's ruler is Venus/Aphrodite, the goddess energy of Love, Sensuality and Wisdom. The energy of connection.
So at the Aries/Libra Full Moon, we work to unite these opposites of Self and Other. When the Warrior loves and is loved by the Goddess of Love, he becomes the Protector of Life. Whether we speak of Arthur and Guinevere, Mars and Venus, Aragon and Arwen, a warrior's energy needs to be bound by Love; otherwise he just wages wars on everyone and everything. The strength and power of the Masculine needs the softness and heart of the Feminine to make the best warriors.
So how do we hold the balance? As Jung would say, we need to stand in the tension of opposites, working to reconcile opposing needs, and wait until a third way opens for us. Then watch life change. What better energies to work with than the power of our will and the power of our heart's love, since this is the time for us to stand up for the truth of who we are, and at the same time as we also stand up for other people – for our environment and all of Earth's children. Hold both in mind until you figure out what you need to do.
This Full Moon is once again resonating with the waning Uranus in Aries/Pluto in Capricorn square. Revolution and evolution on a personal and cultural level. When we throw together the awakening, disruptive energies of Uranus with Eris' warrior energies on this Aries Moon, we can certainly expect the unexpected this weekend. Full Moons facilitate an awareness of something in our unconscious that's been influencing us. Our Shadow. A hurt, a pain, a grievance that shapes our actions. If we leave these unexamined feelings simmering in the unconscious, they can shape events in our outer lives, magnetizing experiences that will shake us and wake us up. Especially if we keep disconnecting from our hearts.
Pluto just turned to direct motion in the past few weeks, and so begins the next phase of his demolition derby. Mars, that warrior ruler of Aries, has joined Pluto in Capricorn, making for a dynamic duo that challenges this Full Moon. Our desires, shaped either by the patriarchy's vision or by a new vision of the possible future, become the hinge of these energies, and it's up to us whether they are used for life or for destruction.
Pluto reveals the horrific dead matter of our culture, such as the revelations about Donald Trump's crude sexual mindset, only the latest example of an old collective, patriarchal male mindset of domination and ownership over women and our bodies. Or Pluto reveals our own mindset.
We add the Warrior's energy to the challenge for us to do what's right for others as well as ourselves. Mars and Pluto together are hard to resist. Add Pluto's primal power to our individual desire nature and will, and we become a channel of either evolution or devolution. Is our desire appropriate to our soul's task? Can we be a vessel for the energy of a transformed warrior? What needs to get done in the most life-enhancing way?
Mars will conjunct Pluto in Capricorn on October 19th, carrying our Full Moon wake-up call into Pluto's cauldron of regeneration. Let the old die so the new can be reborn again.
The Sabian symbol for Mars and Pluto at 16* Capricorn is: An earthen cave crowded with uniformed men. Steve Eardley's explanation is pertinent. People are the basic resource a society can draw upon for all its group efforts. Ministering to the needs of the masses. The power of a disciplined subgroup to effect social change. Or, conformity, ignorance and authoritarianism. The symbol signals us to be prepared.
A good way to work with these intense Aries' energies—this Moon sparks our courage to explore the new, Uranus sets off the flames of self-awareness and inspiration, while Eris wants to know if we'll bring our hearts online—is to start with Eris and ask the questions. How do we handle conflict? Where do we create conflict and discord in our lives? What do we do when others create it and want to involve us? And then bring our heart into the picture. Can we get over our hurt feelings? Can we choose connection over competition? Can we step back, stay centered and bring some resolution to the conflict?
As we hold the tension of opposites, can we develop a strong compassion, a kind strength? Once we embrace Eris, the Great Awakener will use the power of the Pluto/Mars conjunction to bring down heavenly fire to inspire us to be more heart-centered in our relationships.
In the background, Saturn in Sagittarius still is challenging both Neptune in Pisces along with the Moon's Nodes in Pisces and Virgo. Now more than ever, life demands our full attention. We can stand up for what we believe and value or we can continue to let the world drift by. We can allow the lies and hypocrisy to swallow our hope, or we can imagine a better future. What is real and true? Aligning ourselves with our truth is our responsibility.
