The Full Moon and Sign Polarity
What is it about a Full Moon? Why does it seem so magical? Why might it make some people “crazy”? The astrological answer is in the illumination of the two lights, the Sun and the Moon, through opposite signs of the Zodiac.
The Zodiac can be viewed as 6 pairs of opposite signs, or polarities. The signs of each pair are poles of an axis whose function they both share and serve in contradictory, yet complementary, ways. For example, Taurus (birth) is at one end of the axis it shares with Scorpio (death), the sign at the other end. There’s a time for everything, including “a time to be born and a time to die”. It’s the natural economy, the way all values in Time are kept in balance with one another. A different value is toggled in each of the 6 polarities.
Sunlight is the light of conscious life, shining steadily on our thoughts and activities through a single sign for a whole month at a time. Moonlight is the light of unconscious life, reflecting our feelings, moods and dreams through signs that change every 2 - 2.5 days. While we are always functioning in the present in the objective clock time of the Sun, we may feel and dream of a remembered or imaginary past or future in the subjective dreamtime of the Moon.
During the days and nights when the Moon is Full, the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs, ‘speaking’ to us simultaneously from opposite poles of an axis. The Sun affirms conditions of the current moment. The Moon reminds us that there was or will be another moment in time with conditions exactly the opposite of whatever they are now.
The effect of the contrast between the opposing lights is a feeling of bittersweet poignancy as we experience simultaneous contradictory emotions. They are equally compelling. We seem to be stuck with one of them, while the other haunts us from somewhere out of reach. For relief from any discomfort from the effect, we can seek connection with the paradoxical center point between the two extremes, where they meet in timeless union and perfect peace.
In this series, we explore the Full Moon’s effects each month as the two lights confront each other across successive sign polarities.
Full Moon in Aquarius: Something Familiar, Something Peculiar
When the Moon is Full in Aquarius, the Sun is opposing it from Leo. The two lights are illuminating the Leo-Aquarius axis, bringing us in touch with its high-voltage complementary energies and charging us with not just two, but three kinds of spiritual light. The purpose of Leo-Aquarius is connection of unique individuals with one another. It’s an ongoing experiment with unpredictable results, a source of endless novelty, excitement and fun. The dynamic is something like that of King & Jester, or Straight Man & Clown.
There are countless examples in stand-up comedy and other entertainment. An illustrative example from TV that comes to mind is Mork & Mindy, the late 1970s sitcom, about a normal young musician (Pam Dawber) and her bizarre extraterrestrial friend (Robin Williams).
Leo is the regal sign at the familiar end of this axis, where one’s own innate talents are the focus. Leo is all about developing self-confidence, and the pride and honor of individuality and autonomy. It evokes the courage and spirit needed to discover and express the very best of one’s own unique potentials. In spite of the required risks and uncertain outcomes, Leo meets all challenges with a steady, centered, happy, playful spirit. It’s as though Leo is channeling a magical blend of noble sunlight and enchanting moonlight to fashion a creative space that is a personal work of art.
Aquarius is the sign at the peculiar end of this axis, which is neither steady nor concerned with any particular focus of talent, but scintillates with mental awareness of many talents and possible creative combinations. It evokes creative excitement with unforeseeable, mentally stimulating, perspective-challenging anomalies and surprises, which Leo needs in order to flourish. Aquarius is the quirky friend with original ideas, or the ‘crazy’ boyfriend or girlfriend that baffles conventional parents but stimulates their offspring’s development. Aquarius makes for creative communities that value all individuality and sparkle with originality and inspired teamwork. It sees each individual, noble Sun as a single Star in an entire galaxy of Stars, each sharing its own gifts in the limitless creative force of starlight.
Another helpful metaphor for the Leo-Aquarius polarity is the patchwork quilt. As an individual, I express my individuality through Leo in my very own ‘patch’ of life, where I am the rightful Queen of Me, free to create as I see fit. But my personal will applies only to my own ‘patch’. As a part of humanity, I recognize the same right of all other individuals to rule their own ‘patches’ as they see fit. There is no “King or Queen of the Quilt” to whose whims all must conform, and it doesn’t matter that each comes up with a different design. What matters is that all maintain simultaneous respect for one another’s individual rights of personal design and for the fundamental integrity of the quilt as a whole. That’s how we channel the forces of all the lights in the heavens to keep peace in the material world.
The influence of the Leo Sun puts us mentally in the earnest place of the King, or the Straight Man. Either we’re unusually aware of actually being on a youthful heroic quest for personal glory, or we’re unusually in touch with our “inner hero” and the special talents we’ve already developed. How different are we now from our hopeful adolescent selves? Maybe not as different as we’ve thought.
The Full Aquarius Moon may bring to mind our friends: examples of honorable individuality that differ from our own. They are unique people whom we admire, and who seem to recognize something unique and admirable in us. With a special few of them we experience a very unusual ‘chemistry’ that is strangely magical and exciting. Such a person is our inspirational hero/mentor, or maybe our beloved, someone who is not like anyone else, and who seems to be WONDERFUL. When the Moon is Full in Aquarius, we tend to be in the mood for surprises and celebration, and may dream of the magical wonder in our connection with such a person, imagining ourselves impressing them as deeply as they impress us.
These few special people have a way of strongly triggering beautiful qualities within us that we might not otherwise have realized. Expecting us to be always ourselves, they challenge us to resist external pressures to conform or imitate external models in favor of the shining talents within us. Yet their equal respect for all talents discourages our taking ourselves too seriously and helps to keep our egos in check. We gain strength as we learn to accept and enjoy their eccentricities while maintaining centered equilibrium within ourselves.
When it comes to the unusual people in our lives who might help (or have helped) us to discover and develop our individual talents, the content of our visions might be an exciting, circus-like jumble of anything and everything. Does our experience with them delight and intrigue us, or does it seriously upset us and throw us off balance? If their influence proves to be too much of a shock, either we are not ready for the challenge or theirs is not the influence we need. Is our interaction with them truly free and constructive, or are hidden control or dependency issues undermining healthy progress? A re-balance of powers may be needed. How do we amuse ourselves and others now? Do we need a startling ‘blast of fresh air’ to renew our creativity? Is the Moonlight enchanting us with the magic of a special contact or relationship? Bringing nostalgia for an unusual friend or lover of the past? Dreams of creative collaboration in the future? All of the above? Something else? To each of us come our own emotional variations on the Aquarian theme.
Sharing its title with a Walt Whiman poem, the song “I Sing The Body Electric” was written for Fame by Dean Pitchford & Michael Gore. Its lyrics express perfectly the youthful exuberance of developing personal talent in Sun-charged Leo while aspiring to membership in a Starry brotherhood under a Full Moon in Aquarius.
I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC
I sing the body electric I celebrate the me yet to come I toast to my own reunion When I become one with the sun And I'll look back on Venus I'll look back on Mars And I'll burn with the fire Of ten million stars And in time and in time We will all be stars I sing the body electric I glory in the glow of rebirth Creating my own tomorrow When I shall embody the Earth And I'll serenade Venus I'll serenade Mars And I'll burn with the fire Of ten million stars And in time and in time We will all be stars We are the emperors now And we are the czars And in time and in time We will all be stars
How a Full Moon in Aquarius Might Feel
The songs below express some feelings individuals might experience under a Full Moon in Aquarius.
Pink Shoelaces
He’s a Rebel
My Generation
I Sing the Body Electric
Comedy Tonight
Dancing in the Moonlight
