Full Moon in Aquarius square Uranus: Frenetic and Jarring
The energy in the days leading up to and after August 19’s Full Moon in Aquarius is frenetic and jarring. Frenetic because there is a lot of tense energy in the “mutable” signs in the chart and jarring because Uranus, the god of lightning strikes and “shit hitting out of the blue,” is in an exact square to the Full Moon.
The day before the Full Moon, Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is exactly conjunct the Sun (“cazimi” the Sun). When Mercury is in the heart of the Sun, we can receive sudden information or insight that brings clarity and awareness.
Putting all the pieces together, you can see that around the time of this Full Moon, we may learn something unexpected and uncomfortable in our personal lives or collectively; we may receive news out of the blue and struggle to find our footing as we take in the new information.
Saturn, the god of restrictions and limitations, rules this Full Moon. Looking at the chart below, without even being able to read an astrology chart, you can get a feel for the tense energy that is arising with this Full Moon. Beginning on August 14, on the days before and after the Full Moon, there are multiple difficult aspects between Saturn (circled in brown) and other planets, including Mars (circled in red), the god of war and strife. These aspects occur in the “double-bodied” or “mutable signs” of Pisces, Gemini, and Virgo. These signs can experience life in an “either-or” or “everything at once” way. When stressed, planets in these signs can want to do many things simultaneously and feel overstimulated and confused.
With Saturn in Pisces, a sign related to spiritual beliefs, the tense energy we experience with this Full Moon may involve conflicts around religious or spiritual ideology. We may have a difficult time accepting others’ perspectives, and the Saturn in us may attempt to shut them down through the force of our convictions.
Saturn in Pisces is in a square to Mars and Jupiter (circled in blue) in Gemini; Gemini is the sign of the twins, a sign that asks questions and gathers information without coming to a set conclusion, a sign that wants to grasp and understand the reality that more than one thing can be true at the same time. When Mars, the god of war and action, is in Gemini with Jupiter, the god of expansion, it can bring a feeling of wanting to gather as much information as we can as quickly as possible.
The Full Moon chart also has a tense energy between Venus (circled in pink), the goddess of relationship, beauty, and justice, and Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; she is opposite Saturn and squares Mars and Jupiter, bringing the feeling that our relationships will be stressed during this time. When Saturn opposes Venus, we can feel sad and lonely, separated from the world. And that’s ok. Sometimes, during a conflict, we need to separate from the folks around us, find a space to reflect, lick our wounds, and sort out what is ours and what is not before reconnecting.
Amid all this tense restrictive energy, on August 18, Mercury (circled in green), the god of communication, goes “cazimi,” and sits in the heart of the Sun, occupying the same degree. The Sun represents spirit and consciousness, and when Mercury is cazimi the Sun, we can receive a sudden flash of insight or information that clarifies our understanding.
Mercury and the Sun are in Leo, the fire sign ruled by the Sun and associated with leaders, royalty, and places where we are meant to shine as an inspiration to others.
The next day, the Sun's light fully illuminates the Moon, further expanding our understanding of the Cazimi moment. At the same time, Uranus (circled in purple), the god of sudden change and revolution, squares the Full Moon, adding to the sense that the Full Moon may bring sudden news or events that shake us up a bit.
The Full Moon falls at 27 degrees of Aquarius. The tarot card associated with Aquarius's third decan (10 degrees) is the 7 of Swords. Austin Coppock likens this decan to the energy of the Gordian knot; there is a feeling of a complex, knotted situation that is difficult to resolve and a feeling of “Should I stay, or should I go?” This energy can bring the sense that it is best to cut the knot; like the man in the tarot card, cut your losses and leave town—grab what you can and leave what you must.
7 of Swords, Rider Waite Tarot
As noted earlier, if we do experience something jarring during this period, all the mutable energy in Pisces, Gemini, and Virgo may have us scrambling to make sense of what is happening; with Mars and Jupiter in Gemini, we may be tempted to run around and gather as much information from different sources as possible to calm any anxiety we may be feeling.
However, more information, analysis, and hand-wringing are the last things we need when complex mutable energy hits us. Instead, if you feel anxious or nervous during this period, try balancing the revved-up energy with experiences that calm and slow down your nervous system. As they say in Great Britain (lol, I’ve been watching a lot of BritBox lately), “take a beat;” if you’re on social media, commit to a 3-day cleanse; if you’re on your computer all the time, take some time to be to connect with nature physically—go outside when it is dark and gaze at the full moon, take a hike, hug a tree, walk barefoot on the grass.
And remember, as with all things, “this too shall pass.” If you feel triggered by some energy during the next few days and feel reactive, see if you can hold that energy rather than act it out in the world. After the stormy energy subsides and you’ve had time to reflect, you will better grasp whether and how to act upon what you learned during this moon cycle.
As always, these transits will affect some folks more than others. If you have a planet at or near 27 degrees of a fixed sign (Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, or Aquarius) or 17 degrees of a mutable sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces), you may feel these transits more than most folks. If you’d like to know more about how this Full Moon and its transits may affect you, there is a link below to book a reading.