30.08.23: Full Moon in Pisces

Aug 30

'Stop trying to heal yourself, fix yourself, even awaken yourself. Let go of letting go. Stop trying to fast-forward the movie of your life, chasing futures that never seem to arrive. Instead, bow deeply to yourself as you actually are. Your pain, your sorrow, your doubts, your deepest longing, your fearful thoughts...are not mistakes, and they aren't asking to be healing. They are asking to be held. Here, now, lightly, in the loving arms of present awareness.'

– Jeff Foster, Beyond Awakening: The End of the Spiritual Search.

Wow, I got so excited when I saw that the upcoming Full Moon will occur in the sign of Pisces.

We certainly are in a relationship with the zodiac and its archetypes and I don't know exactly what it is that strikes me so much about Pisces. Maybe it's the deep waters, the kindness, or the hopeless dreaminess that radiates from it.

But before I get carried away with my love for an archetype, let's start from the beginning.

This Full Moon occurs in Pisces on August 30, 2023, at 9:35 PM EDT.

A Full Moon takes place every 29 days, so generally we have one Full Moon per month. Sometimes though, when a Full Moon takes place at the very beginning of a month, we can have another one at the end of the same month which is then called “Blue Moon”.

Remember we had a Full Moon at the beginning of August in Aquarius so this is the second Full Moon in August 2023 – a Blue Moon in Pisces.

As we know by now, a Full Moon invites us to release and to loosen our grip.

Imagine, this month we had two of them, this one taking place in the very last sign of the zodiac. To me, it all seems to scream: TIME TO SAY GOODBYE. But, wait, to what?

The general questions to ask yourself today are:

What process finds its culmination this August?
How does it feel when things come to an end?
How can I make space to grieve or celebrate endings?

PISCES: WHERE EVERYTHING ENDS AND BEGINS

If we believe that the zodiac is a representation of the evolution of human consciousness, then Pisces is the ending point from which a new cycle will arise (Aries).

From the womb of Pisces ,the Ram is born, with its horns still wet from the ocean. Remembering where he belongs, yet unable to picture because the veil of oblivion is already there, allowing him to dive fully into the exploration of who he really is.

In Aquarius, we regain a sense of individuality. It's the point where one water drop looks at the other and they realize, they both individually belong to one big ocean.

In Pisces then, these water drops emerge into the waters knowing that in the depths they are truly one and there is no separation. They are connected through an invisible web, guided by a higher force.

Imagine, what a vulnerable and yet powerful moment in the zodiac. In a moment where everything comes back together, Pisces carries the wisdom of all signs in it. It just knows, intuitively. No words needed.

As a Yin sign it may seem still and patient, yet the chaotic waters swirl deep to ignite another cycle from which a whole galaxy is born. That's why Pisces is a mutable sign that carves the way for the Big Bang so to speak.

Pisces is about deep emotions and about being connected to another world. You get the vibe: Light the candles, get your favorite incense & essential oil out, and put a box of tissues aside.

Virgo (where the Sun currently wanders through) is asking what needs to be done to be loved, to be accepted. The medicine of the polarity, Pisces, brings the answer: “My dear child, you are loved simply because you are. There is nothing that needs to be done, to be achieved. Being loved is your birthright.”

The Full Moon in Pisces asks you today:

Are you able to bow deeply to your emotions without wanting to fix them?
What do your night dreams (or the absence of them) tell you about yourself?
Is there a way you can be more kind to yourself? And if that's not available today, how can you be the least harmful to yourself?

The Full Moon occurs at 7 degrees and 25 minutes of Pisces, so people with natal personal planets and points at approximately 4 to 10 degrees of the mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces will feel it most significantly.

PISCES: WHERE EGO, SOUL AND SOURCE COME TOGETHER

If we look at the Grand Water Trine that is being naturally formed in the zodiac by Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, we understand the unity of ego, soul, and source.

And I'm not referring here to the ego as something bad in need of dissolving. I am referring to the ego as the flesh and bone person who you are, the vehicle through which your soul sees the movie of your life unfolding.

So while the ego is born in Cancer from the cosmic fire energy (Aries), the body (Taurus), and the word (Gemini) – in Scorpio it meets the depths of the soul and in Pisces, it all flows back where it all came from, to source.

What does the Grand Water Trine teach us? It makes us understand that if our ego is in coherence with our soul, we can utilize the vehicle called ego (Cancer) to fulfill our soul's purpose (Scorpio) to then return to the bigger picture, to the paradise state we long for, to a state of non-duality (Pisces).

“But for that, we need to fully embrace and celebrate our being human – and our daily duties”, reminds Virgo.

SATURN CONJUNCT THE FULL MOON: A CRY FOR RESPONSIBILITY

As you possibly know, Saturn, the big teacher, the strict authority known as the lord of karma is currently passing through Pisces.

So it happens with this Full Moon that the Moon and Saturn are very close together, an aspect that is called “conjunction” in Psychological Astrology.

As I mentioned, in Pisces the evolution of human consciousness is finding its close. It's either flowing into a sense of meaning, alignment, and trust into something higher – or, in its shadow expression, it's merging into escaping reality, confusion, and disembodiment – both individually and collectively.

The Full Moon is Pisces asks us to embrace wholeness, take responsibility for deep feelings, and celebrate our way back home into the flow of life from which a new cycle can be born.

“But don't forget: We've got a job to do here”, Saturn says 4 degrees away from the Full Moon in the heavens. Wherever Saturn appears, it asks us to take responsibility and to sink yet a little deeper into integrity.

I know, Saturn might not be one the most popular among the planets but its medicine is profound and sustainable.

This Full Moon calls out the bullsh**, it reminds us not to bypass our feelings but rather to create a space to hold ourselves with a fierce mountain-goat attitude of not getting lost in them – even if the deep waters can temporarily make you feel like drowning.

And this is so potent because as much as I do love the Pisces archetype, it can make us forgetful. The waters can shimmer so bright that we actually lose grip and fall into the ever-spiraling dance of the two fishes, forever swirling around each other.

Not with Saturn. He won't tolerate bypassing, instead, he asks you to create a structure from which you can hold yourself in the strong arms of your own integrity.

Saturn would ask the following questions today:

How can you take responsibility for your emotions rather than being the victim?
Is there a way to bring your dreams about the future into form, to materialize them?
Where are you bypassing emotions by using spiritual concepts?

6 PLANETS IN RETROGRADE: TIME TO FACE INWARDS

When it says “retrograde” in Western Astrology, it means that a planet appears to be moving backward from the perspective of the Earth.

In reality, it's an optical illusion and no planet is ever moving backwards but since I am not an Astronomer, I'll leave it right here. Astrologically speaking, it's believed that those retrogrades carry an introverted energy.

So, with this Blue Moon in Pisces, we've got 6 planets in retrograde motion: Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto.

It's not that uncommon that the generational planets, the outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are in retrograde – that happens up to six months a year.

What is more significant on an individual level is that we've got the personal planets Mercury and Venus both in retrograde with this charged Full Moon.

MERCURY & VENUS IN RETROGRADE: DEEP REFLECTION

Mercury retrograde has a bad reputation due to simplification – very similar to Sun-Sign-Astrology which should be forbidden.

I personally don't believe that you should or shouldn't do anything based on planetary events or alignments. In the end, you are in charge of your life and not some cosmic constellations. You're not a slave to the cosmos. You have free will and you are here to utilize it for your soul evolution – whatever that means to you.

Generally speaking, Mercury is the planet of communication, thought, and information. When it's in retrograde motion, which happens about 3-4 times a year, we can interpret it as facing inwards inviting us to slow down – especially when processing information and communicating.

Mercury retrograde is a request to be more conscious when dealing with matters of thinking and speaking. To maybe think twice before saying something or making big decisions. That's it.

Still, it has become the perfect scapegoat for any sort of misfortune. Right, it's always easier to blame something than actually take responsibility for your actions (ups, Saturn speaking here).

Let's redirect to something lighter: Ah, yes, Venus. Thank god(dess).

Plainly spoken, the planet of beauty and relationship. When Venus is in retrograde motion, which happens every 18 months, we're invited to reflect on the way we relate. We might revisit old dynamics, past relationships might come back up, things might get heated up and bigger shifts can occur.

Again, retrograde motion is about going inwards, about deep reflection. So with all this retrograde party AND the Blue Moon in Pisces we're invited to retreat, take a deep dive, and take responsibility for what we encounter down there – hermit mode is definitely on, people.

THE HOLY WHOLLY: BETWEEN UNHEALTHY EGO AND NO EGO AT ALL

I'd like to end this astrological love letter with a quote that has hit me deeply when reading it.

It reminded me of the shadow within the axis of Virgo and Pisces and I feel it can be an inspiration for this Full Moon to bridge the worlds between this very earthy life (Virgo) that often calls for perfection on one hand and the higher realms (Pisces) that want us to dissolve boundaries on the other. (I also do hear lots of Saturn wisdom here).

“We also see it in cultural fixation with perfection, a ridiculous notion that compels those who seek it to over-develop one aspect, while neglecting others.

And we even see it in the spiritual movement, where a vast cadre of pseudo-non-dualists seeks to master a unified field of consciousness while bypassing the very stuff of their humanness – their memories, unresolved emotional issues, personal identifications, egos, stories, the body itself.

Although they would appear to have a growthful intention, these spiritual seekers are, in fact, no less fragmented and dangerous than the unconscious capitalists.

The latter turns us into head-tripping accumulators, entirely unaware of the relational field and the earth that houses us. And the former turns us into self-avoidant automatons, bereft of feeling.

Too much unhealthy ego, or no ego at all – both leave us oblivious to what really matters. And oblivious won't get us anywhere good. It's integration we need. Not rarefied, but realified – available to and within all. The holy wholly.”*

With love,

—Karina

*from Radical Wholeness by Philip Shepherd

**graphic from GIPHY.com by @claudillea

Karina Schönberger