FULL MOON – 19 Degrees Libra, 8 April 2020 (03h35 BST)
April’s Full Moon in Libra has been dubbed the ‘Pink Supermoon’ an indirect reference to the planet Venus, the goddess of love and beauty whose energy will preside over the Easter 2020 waning moon phase. In many ways, this Full Moon is all about navigating and overcoming potential difficulties in both close relationships and social connections. Both Venus (Libra) and Mars (Aries) energy will be strong, highlighting the need to find a healthy balance between our individual needs and those of others.
Venus and Mars are also the archetypes of peace/harmony and war/aggression – the Greeks referred to this planetary pair as Love and Strife. With many of us cooped up in close proximity with family or loved ones under what for many people, are likely to be fairly stressful conditions, it is easy to see how discord might arise. With nowhere to run or hide, however, many of us will have to learn new – and more constructive – ways of handling difficult emotions such as anger or resentment, and of resolving disputes healthily.
Luckily, Venus will be sextile to Chiron, Chiron, archetype of the shaman and wounded healer, this Libra Full Moon also has the potential once more to be a time of mending and healing, particularly for the yang/masculine aspect within all of us, and more generally, for anybody who is currently feeling angry but disempowered – lacking in the agency needed to be able to change/affect your sitation, perhaps due to what’s happening currently in the world and the wider impact of the coronavirus. At the time of the Full Moon, Venus will also be close to a harmonious trine to Mars, giving us a chance to resolve any outstanding issues from their standoff back on 27 January – something I covered in my New Moon in Aquarius extended video forecast.
However, this Full Moon also has a social dimension to it. We need to remember that Venus is the planet associated with social harmony and all the pleasantries that oil the wheels of civilised society, such as good manners, agreeableness, politeness and consideration – not to mention those uplifting activities and delightful rituals that encourage people to come together such as music concerts, art exhibitions, dinner parties, fashion shows etc With large gatherings now strictly forbidden, many of us may begin to realise: a) how much beauty, art and social connection enrich our lives and bring us joy; and b) how quickly we humans can descend from civilised to barbaric when the going gets tough and scarcity/separation/us vs. them thinking sets in.
This is the third Supermoon (which only occur at Full Moon) we’ve experienced in a row now, so don’t be surprised if emotions run ultra high. Here, it is worth having a look at the lessons being offered by this moon’s Sabian symbol in to order to identify what to avoid doing during this time.
Coming in the wake of the intense Jupiter-Pluto conjunction at the 444 earth gateway together with a tension-filled Mars-Uranus square on April the 7th, this Full Moon is almost certainly likely to feel like a strange and uncertain time when reality gets turned on its head and we are forced to question our assumptions and beliefs.See the Aspects section for more info on how this is likely to play out in your life.
In the tarot, the sign of Libra is also associated with the card of Justice, which can represent both the righting of wrongs (including karma – this is the sign, after all, where Saturn, planet of karma, is exalted), but also the rebalancing of opposites. So it is entirely possible that this Full Moon could highlight areas where there has been a great deal of social inequality and/or injustice, and create conditions that will allow the scales to begin to swing into a fairer and more reciprocal position.
SIGN
The April Full Moon takes place in cardinal air sign Libra, which is ruled by sensual and relationship-oriented Venus – planet of pleasure, joy, creativity, abundance and love.
When the Moon is placed here, it can be a bit of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it dovetails well with the feminine, relationship-oriented aspects of Libra, encouraging qualities such as peace, kindness and diplomacy. These are the sympathetic friends and soft-spoken therapists who always know exactly what to say in difficult situations – people who are soothing, rather than vexatious, to the spirit.
However, Libra is an air sign and in general, it is fair to say that the Moon prefers the element of emotions: water. So when in Libra, it can make people over-analyse their feelings and become a little detached and overly cerebral about relationships. This combination likes the IDEA of intimacy, but when it comes down to it, isn’t terribly keen on the claustrophia and messiness that this can involve.
It’s worth remembering that Full Moons are about culminations and endings, and also involve trying to balance opposites. At the pink Supermoon, which strongly highlights Venus/Libran vs Martian/Aries themes, we are being asked to find a healthy emotional balance between deliberation (Libra) and action (Aries), between courage (Aries) and compromise (Libra), and between asserting our own needs (Aries) and considering those of others (Libra).
Libra Full Moon Themes
Overall, the Full Moon in Libra points to a high point or pivotal moment in relation to the following themes:
- Karmic justice and a restoration of balance and reciprocity
- Compromise, reconciliation and peace-making in personal relationships
- Getting the equation right between ‘me vs. we’
- An urge to create beauty, harmony and symmetry both in living spaces (quarantinign with family, anyone?!!!) or on the physical body
- A need for fairness, proportion and equality, especially in your home or everyday working environment
- The need to create social harmony and show consideration to others
- Kindness, politeness and consideration – anything that smoothes the wheels of social interactions
SABIAN SYMBOL
The April Full Moon takes place in the 19th degree of Libra. The Sabian symbol for this is:
A Gang of Robbers in Hiding
From the imagery in this symbol, we get the distinct sense of the what is likely to be the darker side of this particular Supermoon – the influences brought to bear by combative, ‘me-first’ Mars and bad boy Uranus.
Creator of The Sabian Oracle, Lynda Hill suggests that this this period may highlight or bring about a situation in which you feel you have been wronged, or where you feel a certain amount of paranoia. Given that we will also be coming out of a rather intense Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, and all the fears surrounding coronavirus and the need for social distancing, and it is possible that we could become overly suspicious of others around this time.
In light of this, I think it worth taking Hill’s advice, which is to be cautious and sensible in protecting yourself from harm, but also not to ‘get confused between reality and paranoia.’ She adds:
Make sure that there is no undermining of faith in others by indulging in suspicions that are ungrounded in reality. Locking out life can lead to feelings of being a prisoner or result in alienation from others.
– Sabian Oracle
And, given how many people are being asked to stay at home or practise social distancing, it is probably fair to say that we have never felt the disconnection epidemic more keenly or realized both the fragility – and value – of social connections and structures.
Fear of the Other
It’s interesting to note that the last time we had a major moon phase in this particular degree was back in October 2015 when the refugee crisis in Europe was at its height. However, notice that we are now facing similar types of issues, but now in a different context – coronavirus. Social distancing is forcing us to become suspicious of strangers whereas last time, it was the fear of possible terrorists hiding amongst genuine refugees.
In fact, as we enter the Age of Aquarius – the sign of the humanitarian and of social cooperation – it is worth reminding ourselves that part of what makes us human is our ability to cooperate and work as a pack, as the Dalai Lama reminds us:
“We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.”
– Dalai Lama
So, rather than get sucked into ego-based separation thinking (“Survival of the fittest” ), it’s far better to aim for Libran values such as peace, harmony and co-peration – in other words, we, rather than me, which is a typical Aries-Libra theme, actually!
The Sabian Oracle also offers us the following suggestions for how to consider the hidden significance of this particular zodiacal degree:
Keywords: Gaining unfair advantage. Robbers and thieves. Spying. The cold war. Big business ripping off the “little guy”. People appearing to be something that they are not. Con-men mentality. Holding up proceedings. Mental attitudes that sabotage, restrict or control. The need for light. Voyeurism. Gangs. Private detectives. Ambushes.
Caution: Gaining unfair advantage at someone else’s expense. Finding it hard to trust anything. Difficult hidden energy that may erupt into consciousness. Feeling that someone is going to “get” you. Hiding in the shadows. Locks and shutters that prevent true relationship. Unbalanced mental states. Paranoia. Distrusting life.
KEY ASPECTS
Major changes and shifting belief systems – Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction
The Libra Full Moon comes off the back of April’s headline cosmic event: the Jupiter- Pluto conjunction that takes place on April the 4th (= 4-4-4 portal, which is all about Emperor energy and mastery of the four material realm) See this as an extension of events back in January when the Saturn-Pluto conjunction kicked off a new 36 year cycle. This energy is all about revelations – having our blinkers removed so that we can see the stark truth about certains situations AND learning to adapt to circumstances that are beyond our control. This is a major transit, so its energy will last for some time, which means it is likely to bleed through into the energy of this Full Moon. Change in relationships, or in the balance between things, are therefore a distinct possibility, no doubt in part brought on by the pressure-cooker of current circumstances.
Mars-Uranus square: Tension & Anxiety in a Time of Uncertainty
A Mars-Uranus square the day before the Full Moon is also likely to create some waves and up tension and anxiety levels because of the contact happening between Mars aand Venus-ruled Libra. As I mentioned in my New Moon in Aquarius video forecast, Uranus does have a tendency to short-circuit the electrical system in the body, which can make us feel very ‘wired’ and unable to relax. This transit is also likely to exacerbate feelings of helplessness and frustration at the chaos and uncertainty we find ourselves in due to coronavirus lockdown measures. Uranus isn’t a fan of restrictions or confinement at the best of times – so to be restricted to a small space for long periods of time is bound to create cabin fever. Exercise – especially if aided by a gadget or app – will be an important way to release some pent-up tension and stress at this time. Although this aspect can be tricky, if used well, it can actually be very liberating – helping us to free ourselves from unhealthy patterns around a fear of intimacy/commitment or anxiety spirals, and develop better coping mechanisms for dealing with uncertainty and feelings out of control. For tips on how to cope with anxiety during the current COVID-19 crisis, visit my Facebook page.
Venus sextile Chiron: A Chance to Heal Conflicts in Relationships
As was the case at the Equinox New Moon, the Sun will once again be in close proximity to both Chiron and Black Moon Lilith in Aries. These two planets have been prominent since late Jauary 2020 and are helping us to heal old ancestral patterns and emotional blindspots, both individually and collectively, particularly those considered ot be typically Mars-ruled areas such as conflict, aggression and self-assertion. Venus and Mars will form a minor grand trine to Chiron at the time of the Full Moon, suggesting that close personal relationships and financial dynamics (which so often reveal the very same sub-conscious patterns, beliefs and attitudes at work within our relationships) are one area worth focusing on because a lot of healing can take place here. Given that so many of us are cooped up with spouses or family members right now, with nowhere to escape to, it’s very likely that any outstanding issues between you will come to a head at the Full Moon. So why not take the bull by the horns ( a very lunar metaphor) and try to hash things out for once and for all? For those of you who are interested in the astrology of Chiron and BML in relation to the luminaries, I do discuss it at some length in my extended March New Moon video forecast so check it out if you want a recap of how these particular energies have been playing out, both in relationships and in terms of self-sabotage during Pisces season.
