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 Leo: The Road By Which I Came
When the Moon is Full in Leo, the Sun is opposing it from Aquarius. The two lights are illuminating the Leo-Aquarius axis, bringing us in touch with its high-voltage complementary energies.
Leo is the regal, Sun-ruled sign at the ego 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. It lends itself especially to the many forms of art and recreation, including the romantic adventures of love affairs. In spite of the required risks and uncertain outcomes, from the Leo perspective one meets all challenges with a spirit that is steady, centered, happy, and playful.
Aquarius is the quirky, Uranus-ruled sign at the community 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. Aquarius makes for creative communities that value all individuality and sparkle with originality and inspired teamwork. From the Aquarian perspective, each individual, noble Sun is a single Star in an entire galaxy of Stars, each sharing its own gifts in the limitless creative force of spiritual starlight.
The planets that rule Leo and Aquarius show the meaning of their signs’ polarity in their positions relative to Saturn’s in the solar system.
Saturn is the planet of Time and Authority, Preserver of the Past. We can think of Saturn’s orbit as a circular ‘wall’ or ‘container’ that keeps everything established through past experience and common approval inside, and everything else outside as unrecognized and possibly unsafe. Saturn works to mold whatever it contains according to established standards.
The Sun, signifying the ego, is right in the middle of Saturn’s demarcated territory, symbolically at the point of perfection in the Saturnine mold, and recognized by authority as “superior”. In Leo, the (adolescent) sign of ego building, the quest to “become one with the [heroic] Sun” in that central ‘spotlight’ involves seeking the approval of authority (and authority’s other subordinates). It’s the coming-of-age stage of development, by which we progress from (dependent) childhood to (independent) adulthood capable of admirable performance within the establishment.
The orbit of Uranus, the planet of future-oriented creative thinking that is unwilling to be limited by the past, is appropriately outside of Saturn’s boundary. Uranus offers original and unconventional alternatives to the limited selection of establishment-approved options. Uranus doesn’t seek approval, nor does it depend on codified rules for personal guidance. The positive intuition of an open-minded creative thinker can guide him safely towards good, constructive original ideas and away from bad, destructive ones.
When an individual’s ego is secure enough no longer to need the establishment’s approval or to take itself too seriously, the individual is ready to break free of the Saturnine ego mold. Then, like his liberated fellows, he can be comfortable making choices that are either conventional or original, according to his own intuition.
The purpose of Leo-Aquarius is connection of unique individuals with one another, each ego shining through its own Sun (Leo) while opposing/partnering with the community of Suns, aka the Stars (Aquarius). The community (or an agent of it) enthusiastically affirms the talents of each member, but refuses to allow domination by any one individual. It’s an ongoing experiment with unpredictable results, a source of endless novelty, excitement and fun. The ego-tempering dynamic of Leo-Aquarius 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).
The influence of the Aquarius Sun puts us mentally in our liberated “clown” role as a member of our community of friends and colleagues. The unique individuality of the other members differs from our own, yet a common enthusiasm for some cause or project draws all of those unique personalities together in creative collaboration that can work eclectic magic.
The Full Leo Moon links us emotionally with our own “inner hero” and memories of the hopeful quest for personal glory that we undertook (or may have yet to undertake) during the ego-building years of our adolescence. We weren’t so sure of ourselves then. Like the “straight man”, we had all we could do to discover and express who we were. We had some talents that were all our own, some dreams, and some courage. And we had fun with what we had. Of the destiny that awaited us and its strange complications, we knew nothing.
What was our life like in those days? What did we have to go through in order to develop our own special talents? Has our road led us to the place that we originally envisioned, or have unexpected turns brought us to some other place? What changed for us along the way?
Lives that were relatively simple and carefree in youth can become incredibly complex and challenging in maturity. Uranus’s lightning-like influences on this axis are notorious for splits, shatterings and scatterings that disrupt our plans but somehow take us into experiences that we need. Some of us follow through with our aspirations in the arts or other special talents; some switch to other interests or concerns; friends and lovers come and go. That’s just life. Each of us follows the unique road that we are meant to follow, and most of us are probably okay with wherever we are in that regard. But when the Moon is Full in Leo, we tend to pause, look back to our younger years, and remember where we used to be.
How a Full Moon in Leo Might Feel
The songs below express some feelings individuals might experience under a Full Moon in Leo.
[Newsletter Readers: To listen better on the website, click on the purple & black Elixir banner at the very top.]
Born in a Trunk
Gotta Dance
Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love (from A Chorus Line)
Lyrics: Hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love Changes, oooh, down below, up above Time to doubt, to break out, it's a mess, it's a mess Time to grow, time to go, adolesce, adolesce Too young to take over Too old to ignore Gee, I'm almost ready But...what...for? There's a lot I am not certain of Hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love (lalalala) Goodbye twelve, goodbye thirteen, hello love Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, My God, Robert Goulet! Oh! Down below, up above... Playing doctor with Evelyn La la la I'll show you mine, La la You show me yours La la Seeing Daddy naked Time to grow, time to go... La la la Mom and Dad were doing it There's a lot I am not certain of Hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love Hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love
Summer of ‘69
Castle on the Hill
Jack and Diane
Last Night When We Were Young
Don’t Stop Believin’
As Time Goes By
Hello Young Lovers
Remember the Days of the Old School Yard
When the World Was Young
