LEO FULL MOON / SUPERMOON/ TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE - 31 January 2018

Exact at 1.26pm GMT, 8.26am EST

This Full Moon is an extremely rare celestial event, as it is a super blood blue moon and also a total Lunar Eclipse! Phew!  Supermoons have more of an impact on our mind, body, emotions and spirits than your average moon, as it is closer to earth. This is the first time in 152 years that we have had a supermoon combined with a Lunar Eclipse, so this is rare indeed! Eclipse season is now upon us, which brings the potential for big shifts, helping us to release whatever isn’t serving us and start a new chapter. The reason Eclipses have such a big impact on us is because the Sun and Moon are triggering the nodes of the moon, which represent our destiny. As such, this Full Moon will feel more fateful and will have more of a long term impact on our lives and destiny.

The South Node, by sign and house, represents our past; our familiar patterns and habits; energetic patterns that we have brought from past lives that repeat and play out in our early life. The North Node of the Moon, by sign and house, represents qualities we need to develop in order to evolve and grow. The North Node may feel quite uncomfortable at first and we may resist it, but sooner or later we are urged to take the plunge and embrace its energy so that we have more of a balance between the two nodes. We can either go willingly or something can happen that forces us in that direction! We don’t have to leave the energy South Node behind altogether, as it has helped us to develop some valuable skills, but it does help to let go of any habits or patterns that are holding us back or preventing us from growing. A Lunar Eclipse activates the Nodes and as such it represents a key moment in our destiny and a chance to leave the past behind us so we can move forward to the next level.

The Sun is right next to the South Node in Aquarius during this Full Moon, while the Moon is next to the North Node in Leo. As such, on a collective level we are being asked to find balance between the energy of the two signs, while veering towards developing some Leonine qualities. Over the past month we have had two very intense, emotional moons in the signs of Cancer and Capricorn, which represent our childhood, emotional patterns and parental conditioning. These moons have helped us to clear the decks emotionally, facing up to any emotional patterns or habits that simply don’t work for us anymore. Now we are in Aquarius season and we have a chance to free ourselves from these old, outworn patterns, liberating ourselves from the past and letting go of any limiting stories or beliefs that hold us prisoner and prevent us from moving forward. This is a time of reckoning! The past is the past and now it is time to create a new future and do things differently. We are not these old stories; we are so much more! It’s time to break the loop! Leo and Aquarius help us to detach from our “stuff”, release old baggage and recreate ourselves, paving the way towards a better and brighter future. These last two moons have been very important, as we have been forced to face up to some pretty heavy emotional material, but now it’s time to let it all go and walk towards a place we’ve never been before.

We have a lot of Aquarius energy at the moment, with the Sun, Venus, Juno and the South Node all in this visionary, unconventional, humanitarian sign. Venus is the goddess of love and represents how we relate to ourselves and others. Juno is the goddess of partnership and intimate relationship. Goddess energy seems to be playing a very big part in this Full Moon! The Aquarius energy is asking us to try a different way of being in relationship, releasing ourselves from old patterns of relating and trying something new on for size. Aquarius demands the freedom to be ourselves and encourages fairness and equality. We are being urged to step outside of the box and allow a new way of relating and partnership to emerge which will allow greater freedom of expression, free from our old, patriarchal conditioning.  It seems that we are being asked to make the rules up as we go along. We have never been here before. This is unfamiliar territory. The old rules don’t apply.

Interestingly enough, we have another goddess sitting in exactly the same degree as the Leo Moon! Lots of female goddess energy influencing this Eclipse! Ceres, the goddess of nurturing, fertility and motherhood, is helping pull us forward on our path, towards our North Node. In Leo she asks that we nurture creativity, both in ourselves and others. We are encouraged to nurture each other by acknowledging how special and unique we all are and encouraging one another to follow what brings us our greatest joy. A seed is being planted at the moment, representing our hopes for a better future, and it is very important that we tend to it and help it grow. We are  currently going through a process, which started in 2008 with Pluto moving into Capricorn, of aligning what we do in the outer world with our true soul purpose. More and more people are finding it hard to get ahead in careers that hold no meaning for them. The Leo North Node will certainly help us along with this process and develop and nurture our own unique purpose! Leo asks that we learn to follow our joy and create the life we want for ourselves, based on Aquarius’s vision, taking control of our own destiny. It is time to allow our true nature to radiate out into the world without holding back! This Eclipse definitely has the potential to help us to shift forward. A new chapter is beginning.

Something to bear in mind, during this Moon, is that Neptune in Pisces is forming a nagging aspect to the Moon, which could make us feel acutely sensitive. Neptune doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries, and so we could find ourselves very emotionally absorbant, taking on other people’s emotions as well as our own. Full Moons are emotional enough as it is, and Neptune’s influence could bring considerable fluctuations in our moods and may even bring some disillusionment or sadness. Ultimately, whatever comes up could be very cleansing, so we should just allow whatever emotions arise in us to express themselves and treat ourselves and others with compassion, empathy and unconditional love, which are Neptune’s superpowers! It is important to be aware that our emotions could run away with us, which might make it hard to recognise what is real and what is illusion. There is definitely the potential for mixed messages and emotional confusion here, as well as deep compassion, emotional sensitivity and empathy. Whatever comes up could really help us to better understand ourselves and our loved ones, as we will see through to their heart rather than their emotional armour and the walls they have erected as protection.

The Sabian symbol for the North Node of the Moon is very hopeful indeed! 15° Leo: “The storm ended, all nature rejoices in brilliant sunshine” which Dane Rudyar describes as “the surge of life and love after a major crisis. How brilliant the light after the long “night of the soul”! The battered, but unconquered consciousness finds itself exalted in the marriage of sunbeams and rising sap. This indeed is “Release” – light and life singing in the cleansed and refreshed mind, flooded for a while by the waters of feeling.” This symbol speaks of “the joy and power of new beginnings”. The ruler of Leo is the Sun, whose symbol, at 12°Aquarius: “* On a vast staircase stand people of different types, graduated upward.” This symbol refers to “the ascending process of evolution of life forms and consciousness. Each person should be aware of the level at which he (or she) stands, even as he strives to move toward a higher one. He should look up for inspiration and examples, while helping the human beings of the next lower to reach up”. This symbol is certainly very hopeful, bringing the sense that this Eclipse can help us to take a step upwards in our growth, even though that might look different for each of us. Onwards and upwards!

This Full Moon/Eclipse certainly has an air of hope about it! Leo and Aquarius represent creativity and new vision, releasing us from old, outworn emotional patterns and conditioning. This year has certainly started off with a bang, as these past couple of moons have put a lot of people through the emotional wringer, but it is all part of the process. It is important to recognise what binds us before we can liberate ourselves from it! There is a sense of trying something new on for size and walking down an unfamiliar, untrodden path. This is the beginning of a new chapter and we are being asked to bravely walk towards our North Node, wherever that falls in our individual chart. Whatever sign and house our North Node is found in is what we are being asked to develop and nurture now. We have a chance for a big leap forward with this special “once in a blue moon” eclipse! Eclipses have 19 year cycles, so whatever occurs around this time will have a resonance with whatever was happening in January 1999. Possibly this is the next phase of something that was developing within us then. Certainly the message of this Moon is full of hope and promise, encouraging us to let go of our old stories, follow our joy and allow ourselves to shine the truth of our being out into the world!

Much Love

Amy

xoxo

Picture: Mammatus by Ryan McGinnis

My website: http://www.amybirdartandastrology.com/