“Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” ~ Marianne Williamson

 If you’ve been anticipating that lovely, romantic Full Moon on Valentine’s Day, you might want to reconsider your approach. Instead of dreaming of moonlit skies and stardust, dust off your altar and pull out your journal and your magical tools, because you’re going to want to work to shift the energy of this Full Moon into some positive results. As with most difficult charts, there is power here, but you need to put a bridle on that horse, or you’ll likely get thrown.

 (Here's a paragraph for astrologers others can skip). The planets involved in the troubles are the Sun and Moon themselves, in opposition to each other of course, and both in a difficult square aspect to Saturn, the planet of authority, accountability, and restriction. (Here’s the chart) This forms a pattern in the sky called a T-square, a powerful and influential aspect. But there’s not just one of these in this chart. As you know if you follow this blog, we also have an ongoing square between Uranus and Pluto that has been, over the past few months, forming a T-square with Jupiter as the Big Guy opposes Pluto.  Venus recently joined the fray, and while she’s moving out to the edges, Jupiter and Uranus are starting to throw some big sparks towards each other, and with those two in the ring, anything can happen.

The signs involved give us a clue to the elemental powers that can be brought to bear on your personal interaction with the energy of this Full Moon. Whenever there is an opposition or square, the signs involved are always in the same “mode”, and in the case of the Moon-Sun-Saturn aspect, the mode is “fixed”, which promises solid, creative, but stubbornly unbending focus and either steady progress, or getting stuck in a rut. The Moon in fixed Fire sign Leo loves to play, party, and be admired, but do not threaten her cubs, whether those cubs are actual children or treasured ideas and ideals. Mama Lion will react fiercely to any menace she perceives. She can also be quite demanding. We’ll be seeing quite a bit of this kind of behavior over the next couple of weeks, possibly in ourselves. Be stalwart and focused, and don't let other people's roaring scare you into backing down from something you believe in. But you also want to welcome change with grace and insight when the circumstances call for it.

Particularly if this Moon hits a planet or sensitive point in your chart, you’ll want to watch how you react, especially to authority. Leo assumes an influential role easily, and the Sun — Leo’s ruler —  and Saturn are the planets of authority. So we are likely to see struggles between authority figures in our lives, and also be challenged to think about to whom we give power. (For instance, how has it happened that corrupt politicians who legislate for corporate interests, and corporate clones who sacrifice entire ancient rivers to their bottom lines, have the power to do so?)

This could be a good time to do some work to discover where you have given away your power, cut some cords that still bind you, and reclaim your inner authority.  You might also want to honestly observe where you may have tried to take authority away from others, by manipulation, making demands, or making decisions for them. On another note, you could also deliver some magical push-back to the corporate powers-that-be. Save the Earth-healing magic for better astro-weather.

The other T-square, involving Uranus, Pluto, Venus and Jupiter, is big and explosive, and what’s making so many people feel like things are spinning out of control. (Mars is ducking in and out of this dance as well, and when it promenades back in, which will happen in April, things could get very interesting…I’ll write more about that in March). The signs involved in this T-square are in the “cardinal” mode, which is innovative, inflammatory, creative, and yet another driver behind Jupiter’s quest for bigger and better, and Uranus’ search for change on the bleeding edge. Pluto, still within orb of a conjunction to Venus in Capricorn, is heavy-footing the control and authority, using fear of scarcity as the bridle. (Watch and see how often that kind of fear-mongering is used in the weeks ahead.) Jupiter and Uranus couldn’t give a damn about Pluto’s authority, they will gladly defy anyone’s authority in order to make it happen. Make what happen? Hell if I know  — it will be different for everyone, and some will feel it more than others — but it won’t be boring, I can guarantee that.  Again, this aspect is active in this Full Moon chart, but it’s an ongoing one, and all roads point to April as a pivotal time.

There are a number of techniques in the martial arts, particularly Aikido and Tai Chi, that use the momentum of one's opponent to enhance one's own strength. If you want to create magically with the challenging chart of this Full Moon, this is the tactic you’ll want to use. Don’t call in a truckload of change for your life right now because you’re feeling stagnated or impatient. ("Oh, I'll do some cleansing work, and change my job, and my relationships while I'm at it. I'm ready for change!") That kind of magical demand sent out to the Universe can be useful at times, but right now it will likely blow up in your face. A more subtle approach is called for. Instead of opposing what you don’t want, or demanding what you do want and damn the torpedoes, think about how you can use the momentum of transformations that are already in motion to divert and direct the flow of change towards your chosen goal. It may not get there in a straight line, and there are likely to be surprises along the way, so make sure you build some flexibility into your life. You know -- or can learn --  how to keep your personal energy well-balanced, and those practices are a must. As always, use divination and personal meditations to determine the best way to direct any energy you plan to invoke.

There is a strong call from this Full Moon to integrate Mind with Heart in the light of deep knowledge. The Aquarian Sun, over-shadowing Mercury right next to it, trines Mars in Libra and suggests that we stand up for truth, transcend our personal prejudices and look at the needs of others, the needs of the community. The Moon in generous, creative Leo invites us to appreciate our own strengths, build an authentic understanding of our own self-worth so that we are not “playing small”. A community is made up of individuals, and the more brightly each person shines, the stronger the community becomes. We can call in the courage, enthusiasm, and empathy that is needed for healing and direct it in a disciplined, controlled, thoughtful manner towards improving all our relationships and initiating needed change.

In the USA, we can expect the by-now-usual displays of greed and acquisitiveness at any price on the public stage over the next couple of weeks, and a lot of people are going to be digging in their heels about something or other. On the positive side, we-the-people may actually start taking some of our problems seriously, decide we’ve had enough, and take action against the aforementioned corrupt politicians and corporate clones who think that it’s OK to risk destroying an entire river ecosystem (which includes the people who drink from it) for the sake of a few more dollars on a multi-billion-dollar bottom line. We also may well see travel, transportation and/or communication network snafus through the end of February, and some questions raised around media censorship or self-censorship.

If you have any observations about how this Full Moon plays out for you over the next couple of weeks, come back and leave a comment — I’d love to hear about it.

 The Perfect Birthday Present

Astrology reports — the software-generated kind — do not offer the specificity, whole-person perspective, or intuitive insights of a personal consultation with an astrologer, but they can be useful if read with an eye to finding the repetitive threads that run through the report. Important issues in your life will be reflected in a number of different planetary configurations, you can pay particular attention to those explanations.

I recently discovered a report written by an astrologer I admire called The Birthday Report. It’s a beautifully presented, 30+ page look at your solar return chart for the year, which is the chart of the position of the planets as the Sun returned, this year, to the same degree it was when you were born. The solar return is predictive for the year ahead,  and this report gives you month-by-month insight. You can see a sample of The Birthday Report here. I decided I wanted to offer it to my clients, because it’s a perfect, inexpensive, and helpful astrological birthday present for someone (or yourself!). You can purchase it here. Cost is $15.

I will need date, place and time of birth. Time of birth is important — take it from a birth certificate, if possible, or from someone who was there, but not Mom. Mothers’ memories are frequently incorrect — she had other things on her mind at the time. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.