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Full Moon in Leo

11:16 am PST, 1/28/2021

  9:16 pm UTC 1/28/2021

Full Moon in Leo

Full Moons are reflection times of the monthly cycle, times to look at where we have come in the last two weeks, and see what’s going well, and what we need to pay more attention to. With a Full Moon in Leo we are poised to look at the world with a bit of optimism, a bit of hope. This chart appropriately describes where we are since the momentous Winter Solstice Jupiter/Saturn conjunction of 12-21-20. On the one hand, The Sun and Jupiter are closely conjoined, by only 12 minutes of a degree. This is a much-needed boost toward optimism. Jupiter, the positive, expansive force in Aquarius focusses upon human rights, upon making the higher choice in difficult matters. Since Biden has become President, some of his first moves have been along these lines, to un-do the wrongs of the past.  

On the other hand, Saturn is also right behind the Sun, about 4 degrees away. Saturn energy can take many forms, but right now, with tensions in governments worldwide, its structures of limitation, severity, rigidity are making themselves known. Saturn contracts, Jupiter expands. Together with the Sun’s energy now, and at this Full Moon, we feel as though we’re coming and going at the same time. Hope and fear. Saturn in Aquarius, however, reminds us to “do the right thing,” stay focused, if we are paying attention to the more constructive ideas of what Saturn also stands for.

And then we have Mars the instigator, conjoining with Uranus the King of Revolutionaries. Together these two are changing up things, making agitation happen, both in good ways and challenging ways, for better or worse, as the archetypal forces contain both polarities. These two could definitely stir up trouble, especially in the sign of Taurus, which rules our stubborn earth-bound ways of being.

To top things off, Mars/Uranus forms a tight T-square to the Sun/Jupiter/Saturn to Moon opposition. This is one of the most tense aspects in astrology, because it’s pushing at an opposition. Each of the polarities of the opposition is being activated and challenged by the protagonist, Mars/Uranus. Those two planets together are a recipe for volatility and unpredictability. But then we are living with great instability right now, and the planets are accurate mirrors of our internal states.

These are the splits that are happening all over the globe. In the US, Russia, in Ukraine, in Brazil, India, most every country is encountering this revolutionary force which takes the form of people taking to the streets, and extreme unrest. Uranus rules electricity and lightning and our nervous system, and is charging Mars’s take-action energy, pushing hard against or for, whatever our individual psyches are prone to.

Two days after this Full Moon, Mercury will go retrograde for about three weeks. Already at this Full Moon, it has slowed down, and we are about to enter a period of reflection upon what has happened in our lives. It’s a time to reconnect with parts of ourselves or friends that we’ve neglected or needs we’ve become unconscious of. Mercury will remain in Aquarius for much longer due to this retro, and this reflects a turning of our thoughts and conversations toward reform, the changing of our ways.

We are in mid-paradigm shift, and it’s essential to remember that things must enter a state of confusion in order to let go of old structures and begin a new chapter. Another near-exact conjunction (by 9 minutes of a degree) of two planets, Venus and Pluto in no-nonsense Capricorn at this Full Moon is a very interesting aspect to happen right now. Capricorn is a sign ruled by Saturn, which is about rules, law, structure, practical sensibility. This could be seen as a love of the rule of law. Pluto, wherever it is, is about regeneration, transformation, breakdown and renewal. Together, they speak to a kind of love that surpasses polarization, that unifies what has been broken, a bridging of chasms. In order for this to happen, we must be willing to transform, willing to appeal to a higher wisdom. Venus in bed with Pluto is like Persephone in the underworld, growing out of her child self and into a sense of wisdom, Queen of the Underworld. In their sextile to Neptune conjoined with Ceres, [see the New Moon blog 2 weeks ago] this theme is repeated. Our archetypal feminine energy is getting transformed by being submerged in the depths of the riches of the underworld, seeking vision. Often to us personally, being in the underworld feels like “all is lost.” Depression and desperation are byproducts of the underworld journey. But we need this energy to build bridges, to make connections, to build relationship between the disparate parts of ourselves, and of this world we live in. Having been long subjugated, ridiculed, and demonized, the archetypal feminine in us all is undergoing a rebirth, a power that stands up to injustice, that will fight for the Earth and basic human rights.

Again, we must remember that we are in the midst of an important shift that will require us to double down on our compassion, our kindness, our patience and our resistance to ignorance and the old “make enemy” ways of dealing with conflict. Interestingly, Chiron, the wounded healer is the release point in this chart for the tension of the opposition, forming the only harmonious trine (blue line in chart) to the Moon and sextiles to Jupiter/Sun/Saturn. Recognition of the meaning of our wounds allows us to heal the past and go forward into the future with wisdom, instructed by Aquarian ideals for healing our world, and guided by Leo’s center which is the heart.


All charts here are using Natural House system: i.e. the Ascendant is always at 0˚ of Aries.