BREATHE Full Moon in Pisces 5:13am EDT

There’s a Full Moon in gentle Pisces – but beware, it packs a punch. I don’t know about you but, on the one hand I’m about ready to jump out of my body (thank you Uranus) and, on the other hand, I could just surrender to the forces within me (and above) by being baptized in Neptune’s cosmic waters. If you’ve been feeling the build-up to this Harvest Moon, please let me know how you’re doing with it.

A full moon happens when the Sun and Moon are opposite each other. Flirting from across the sky, the Moon reflects Sun’s light. This is the symbolic theme: Luna acts as a mirror and, bathing in the sun’s glaring rays, she holds up a mirror to us all. Sometimes the light’s too bright and you see more than you care to. If that hasn’t generally been your experience with full moons, it will be hard to avoid the truth of the looking glass this time round. We’re all being asked to reflect on our relationship to Self, to others and to the Divine.

We’ll look at the lunation chart for greater clarity. Sun and Saturn are side-by-side in Virgo. Sun refers to your essential being and your spiritual home base; Saturn represents the limits of your environment, and the restrictions on your self. When Sun and Saturn join forces in the 1^st house of Self, it becomes apparent that we need to learn how far our boundaries extend. We explore the limits (Saturn) of our identities (Sun) and we get feedback from the various people and situations in our lives (Moon).

Virgo energy strives for perfection, for it is the polar opposite of Pisces, the last sign on the zodiac wheel. Pisces is associated with finality and submitting to a greater power. But, unlike watery Pisces, Virgo is an earth sign, so its drive to perfection is situated in the here and now, not in the ethereal realm that Pisces aches for. Virgo seeks to ground Pisces’ idyllic search for cosmic union in the everyday world, to make the mundane sacred. These two signs compliment and need each other, as do all polar opposites (in deed, opposites of any kind). The good news is that, while Saturn trines Jupiter, we learn how to expand (Jupiter) our boundaries (Saturn) with ease (trine aspect). That means you’re going to lose some of the restrictions that you previously believed were necessary to keep you “in check.” It’s a cosmic kudo along the lines of, “You’ve proven you can be trusted on your own, so we’re giving you the car on Saturday night.” So, trust in Self is established and, no doubt, being tested on a new level now. I’m great with myself in the car; now what happens when I drive with passengers? (Fasten your seat-belt ‘cuz you’re about to find out.)

Let’s switch focus from the Sun and Saturn in 1^st House Virgo to the Moon in Pisces, in the 7^th House of partnerships (intimate and business). Moon represents how you process feelings and emotions. Moon in Pisces emotionally connects or merges with the All. As anyone with Sun, Moon, Jupiter or Ascendant in Pisces knows, there is a futile sense of boundaries between ‘me and thee’ with Pisces energy. Pisces is the sign of the mystic, choosing any number of avenues to explore the Divine: through prayer and devotion, through creative expression and output, or through the murky haze of drugs and alcohol. If you’re susceptible to such escapism, this full moon will highlight those addictions. Moreover, Pisces Moon in the 7^th House may see the Beloved as another pathway to the Divine – forgeting that you are your own Divine Lover first and foremost.

This Full Moon has joined with Uranus. Uranus signifies the Individual, the renegade, the rebel. Differentiation is its key. I gotta be me, I just gotta be me. Yet in Pisces – the sign that leans faithfully back into the loving arms of the Universe – how do you merge your identity with the Whole without melting into a puddle of unhinged mystic goop? It’s all very well to commune with Mystery but if you don’t have an anchor to keep you tethered you could just as easily scramble your brain, Ophelia-style. Perhaps the deeper meaning of blending Moon and Uranus in Pisces lies in how you relate to Source (Pisces) in your own unique way (Uranus).

There’s a necessary element of forgiveness and compassion associated with this lunation, for these are key components to Pisces energy. Whatever you’re carrying around that needs to be forgiven, it’s time to let it go and bless it. And if tears are part of that process, let it be. Pisces is a water sign, associated with emotion and feeling, so weep if you want to. Forgive yourself, forgive others. Let it be.

You may have already noticed the gremlins and monsters floating to the surface from the deep recesses of your mind. That’s courtesy of Pluto having resumed direct (forward) motion just one week ago. You’ve had your summer, worked out some of your shadow issues under the sun, and you figure you’re good to go for Fall. All cleaned up. Triumphant, feels great. Then Pluto - aka Lord Hades – ambassador to the Underworld, comes out of hiding. And, suddenly there’s your shadow thumbing its nose at you. Humbling. Because, if you can’t strike up a harmonious relationship with your shadow – that part of you where you banish the fragments of yourself you hate to see – your shadow will be only too pleased to take over, leaving you at the mercy of urges that you can’t identify, much less reform. No wonder Pluto is squaring Sun in Virgo. Virgo is effective at naming and categorizing. If you can label it, it means you’re at least aware of its existence. Maybe it feels like you ought to slap one of those big ol’ scarlet letters on you. “Hi, my name is Can’t Do Monogamy” or “My name is Addict” or “Quitter” or whatever self-label plagues you.

With Pluto direct again, and by the light of the full moon, you can see the destructive trait you tarted up long ago in a ball gown and tiara. The gown is now tattered, the tiara looks more like horns, and it brings you to your knees. “Oh no,” you whisper to the dark, “please don’t lead me down this road again.” “Oh yes child,” whispers back the darkness, “we’ll travel this road again and again until you change.” By squaring both Lights, Pluto’s imperative to acknowledge your shadow is impossible to defy. But if his intent is to drag you into the Underworld, he also holds out the promise of purification and redemption. It’s no coincidence that Pluto rules Scorpio, signified by the phoenix rising in glory from its own ashes and decay.

If you feel vulnerable to repeating a doomed history, you need only ask for help. Whoever you call upon – be it your rational mind, your higher self, your spirit guides, angels, or creator – you need only ask for support and it will be given. In this lunation chart, Pluto straddles the cusp of the 5^th House of creativity, signifying a need to release powerful urges and feelings through acts of creation. (That includes sex y’all, ‘cuz Pluto’s got a major thing for sex.) Neptune, concerned with creative expression, echoes this theme by trining Mercury, Venus and Mars in artistic Libra. Sing it, dance it, write it, paint it, photograph it, praise it – you name it. The key is to allow whatever emerges to have some kind of expression or release, preferably through creativity or devotion to a cause or higher power (rather than blowing up at some poor schmo who’s not really to blame for where you’re at).

Look to your chart. Where do Virgo and Pisces line up? These two houses represent areas of life where something has come to a head. Where is Sagittarius in your chart (specifically 28 degrees)? That’s where Pluto is demanding some kind of purge that brings you into greater relationship with Self, with Others, and with the Divine. This Full Moon brings to light the profound shifts happening within you, within us all. Breathe, weep, breathe, love, breathe, create, breathe, forgive, breathe, shift, breathe.

Here’s a link to Anna Nalick’s song, Breathe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPz3YaIJkjQ

And here’s a link to the love scopes I’ve written for Jeffrey Kishner’s Seduction Central: http://jeffreykishner.com/astrology/love/ Please go there, tell your friends and family to go there, and come back here too.

And may Peace be with us all.