The Moon is at home in Cancer. The Moon is the ruler of Cancer, and planets in their own sign are strong. This Moon is a big one, too. The Moon’s orbit around Earth is an ellipse, with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. The point of closest approach is called perigee, and that is where the Moon will be this weekend.
We may be prone to retreat and dwell in our emotions and feelings. Listen to your innermost feelings and the messages which will surface.
Mercury is stationing retrograde in Aquarius at the same time as the Full Moon. When a planet is retrograde, the energy is turned inward. Mercury may be operating in a different way from the normal, and his messages may be more clearly perceived.
In Roman mythology, Mercury was the messenger from the gods to humans. He also brought dreams to the mortals. With his winged sandals he was able to travel between the worlds, resembling in this the Norse god Odin. The Norse mythology also mentions the messenger Hermod, the son of Odin. Hermes was the Greek counterpart of Mercury. He was the god of roads and borders. Stone pillars called herms were used to mark borders and placed outside houses for good luck.
Jupiter has just recently entered Aquarius, the sign of brotherhood. Besides Jupiter and Mercury, Chiron, Neptune and the North Node are now there. The archetype of Mercury/Hermes, together with his brother Apollo, is said to represent brotherly love.
In the Full Moon chart, asteroid Hermes conjunct the Sun emphasizes all Mercurial themes. Among other things, Mercury/Hermes was the patron of liars. Some other chart aspects are bringing the themes of honesty and truth into focus, too.
The Moon is in conjunction with Varuna, a classical trans-Neptunian object and a potential dwarf planet on a long, near-circular orbit around the Sun. Varuna is named after the Hindu deity Varuna, who in art was depicted as a lunar deity. Due to his association with the waters and the ocean, he can be identified with Roman Neptune, and in astrology thus with the 12th house matters like the dream world and the unconscious. Varuna deals with matters of truth, lies and keeping agreements.
Venus in Pisces is in exact conjunction with a trans-Neptunian binary Borasisi. Borasisi generally relates to the theme of lies and living by the untruths that make one happy. Specifically in conjunction with Venus (desire for comfort) in Pisces (dreams and denial), pay attention to this kind of tendency.
The symbols of Mercury are the caduceus staff and a lyre. The lyre at first was made by Mercury/Hermes from a tortoise shell. He gave it to Apollo, who is said to have taught Orpheus on it, and after he himself had invented the cithara, he gave the lyre to Orpheus.
In Sagittarius, right at the Galactic Core, is asteroid Orpheus. At the bright core of our galaxy there is a supermassive black hole and a lot of dark matter. This is another metaphor for the 12th house and the unconscious. We may perceive the effect as something which is coming from outside us but which really is within us, in other words the Jungian concept of shadow. The shadow arises from the depths of the unconscious. It is dark material bursting into light. It is instinctive and irrational, but not evil, unless we try to push the dark issues away. The shadow may also be a great source of inspiration.
In mythology, Orpheus was a magical musician and poet. His lyre and sweet voice could charm even wild animals and make rocks and trees dance. When Orpheus¹ wife Eurydice died, Orpheus descended to the underworld. His songs were so beautiful that Hades agreed to allow Eurydice to return to the world with Orpheus. There was just one condition: he must not look back on their way back to the surface. Nonetheless, Orpheus looked back and lost Eurydice again.
In astrology, Orpheus is often associated with sorrow, sense of loss and grief, but also with sad or sweet music and lyrics. This aspect asks you to listen to the melody reaching from your core.
The Sun-Moon opposition is squared by two important minor planets, 1992 QB1 and Eris. Their last conjunction in the series of three was already about a year ago, but they both move so slowly that the conjunction is still within about one degree.
1992 QB1 was the first trans-Neptunian object discovered after the Pluto-Chiron binary system. The discovery was the first proof of the existence of the Kuiper Belt. Eris was the first object classified as a
dwarf planet. Eric has described QB1 as the cosmic bridge aspect, opening the way to those who need assistance or who are not fully initiated. Eris is representing the shadow feminine.
Saturn in Virgo is in an exact sextile aspect to the Moon and trine to the Sun. Uranus makes these same aspects to the Luminaries from Pisces. These easy aspects will help us put our intuitive ideas into effect in some practical ways.
References:
Biggest Full Moon of the Year: Take 2
Isabel M. Hickey, Astrology, A Cosmic Science, 1992, CRCS Publications
Wikipedia
Marja-Liisa Niemi-Mattila, Jumalainen Mies, 2008, WSOY
Eric Francis, Water Worlds
Theoi Greek Mythology
Eric Francis, Aries New Moon and the Radha-Eris Conjunction
Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, 1996,
Treehouse Mountain