Full Moon Astro-tarot: Soul Passion and Collective Evolution
21st January (at 5.15am here in London) brings a full moon in Leo, a lunar eclipse which is also a so-called supermoon. This is because the moon is almost at perigee, the point in her orbit when she is closest to the earth so that she appears bigger and brighter in the sky. Like the last full moon and the next one too, this super-charged full moon falls at 0° of its sign, so it's the peak energy of a new beginning, a shift of some kind. It's also the final eclipse in this Leo - Aquarius eclipse cycle, and the next eclipse across these two signs is not until 2026. So there are some powerful energies here, endings and beginnings.
The full moon in Leo is the fire burning bright, the divine spark in each of us which fuels our passion, our soul passion. Each of us has something, something which sets us alight, that lets our most divine self shine out and light up the world. If you don't know what it is yet, hopefully this eclipse cycle has brought you a little closer at least. Perhaps it's just visible, a pinprick of light at the end of a tunnel. Perhaps you've known what it is for years but are only just beginning to live it. Perhaps you've been living it for years and are seeking ways to go deeper. It may not be clear quite yet, because a lunar eclipse happens when the earth is perfectly poised between the sun and the moon so that the reflected light of the sun can't reach the moon and her face is darkened. Where is our light being obscured? Where are we still stuck in the tunnel? The earth symbolises our everyday reality, and this eclipse asks us to balance the mundane demands of life with the expression of our divine spark. A lunar eclipse, like a full moon, is often a point of manifestation. This eclipse might bring us up close and personal with whatever we have manifested throughout this eclipse cycle, the harvest we carry forward into the next cycle.
The Sun is in Aquarius, just, for this eclipse and the two signs together illuminate the dynamic between our individual soul growth and our collective evolution. How does our soul passion affect the collective energy, how do we contribute to society? Each of us is a single unique drop in a vast collective of human consciousness, of earth consciousness, of cosmic consciousness. Leo is the divine child, our divine self. It's not entirely happy being a drop in the cosmic ocean, it wants to be the sun lighting up the whole sky, the centre point of the revolving cosmos. The paradox of Leo and the lesson of this eclipse cycle is that each of us is both of these. The airy energies of Aquarius and the fiery passions of Leo are extrovert, dynamic, outward facing signs. They want to make a difference in the world. Every drop has the potential to change the ocean, every choice we make rippling out into the world around us.
With a tense aspect to Jupiter and an approaching tension with Uranus, this eclipse may focus us on freedom, on what freedom means to us and how making the most of our freedom affects those around us. Are we genuinely free to make our own choices, as we like to think we are? Or are we imprisoned by our circumstances, our past, our social conditioning? Can we use the fires of Leo to burn away that which holds us back? My tarot wisdom reading this time focuses on these questions and brings some earth and water to balance the fire and air.
Sun in Aquarius semi-square Jupiter in Sagittarius - How can we manifest genuine freedom?
Six of Stones - this seems to me to speak of the balance of resources in the world, or rather the lack of it. Some of us are free to consume as much as we please. It's entirely likely that there is enough available for everyone, except that some of us seize more than our fair share. We need to make space for others to have their freedom, as well as enjoying our own. Individual freedom is the prize of western society, but in gaining it we have disregarded our duty to the collective. Even those of us who follow alternative spiritualities tend to focus heavily on personal growth and development, instead of using our practice to give something back to the earth and the society which support us.
Moon in Leo - What can we do as individuals to aid collective evolution?
Queen of Cups - We can stay still and focused until our deepest dreams surface with treasures and nourishment. The Queen of Cups lives from her feelings, not from shoulds or social convention. She is willing to take the time to allow those feelings to manifest their fullest expression, with no rushing and no expectations. Aquarius is the water bearer, carrying our collective imagination. If you look at the bottom right of this card, you can see the setting sun of Leo held in the cup of the water bearer. The Queen of Cups asks what kind of vessel are we? Both of these cards are about receptivity, in their different ways. They ask us to allow energy to flow where it is most needed, instead of trying to force it in a particular direction or use it for our own gain.
The full moon in Leo is the fire burning bright, the divine spark in each of us which fuels our passion, our soul passion. Each of us has something, something which sets us alight, that lets our most divine self shine out and light up the world. If you don't know what it is yet, hopefully this eclipse cycle has brought you a little closer at least. Perhaps it's just visible, a pinprick of light at the end of a tunnel. Perhaps you've known what it is for years but are only just beginning to live it. Perhaps you've been living it for years and are seeking ways to go deeper. It may not be clear quite yet, because a lunar eclipse happens when the earth is perfectly poised between the sun and the moon so that the reflected light of the sun can't reach the moon and her face is darkened. Where is our light being obscured? Where are we still stuck in the tunnel? The earth symbolises our everyday reality, and this eclipse asks us to balance the mundane demands of life with the expression of our divine spark. A lunar eclipse, like a full moon, is often a point of manifestation. This eclipse might bring us up close and personal with whatever we have manifested throughout this eclipse cycle, the harvest we carry forward into the next cycle.
With a tense aspect to Jupiter and an approaching tension with Uranus, this eclipse may focus us on freedom, on what freedom means to us and how making the most of our freedom affects those around us. Are we genuinely free to make our own choices, as we like to think we are? Or are we imprisoned by our circumstances, our past, our social conditioning? Can we use the fires of Leo to burn away that which holds us back? My tarot wisdom reading this time focuses on these questions and brings some earth and water to balance the fire and air.
Six of Stones - this seems to me to speak of the balance of resources in the world, or rather the lack of it. Some of us are free to consume as much as we please. It's entirely likely that there is enough available for everyone, except that some of us seize more than our fair share. We need to make space for others to have their freedom, as well as enjoying our own. Individual freedom is the prize of western society, but in gaining it we have disregarded our duty to the collective. Even those of us who follow alternative spiritualities tend to focus heavily on personal growth and development, instead of using our practice to give something back to the earth and the society which support us.
Moon in Leo - What can we do as individuals to aid collective evolution?
Queen of Cups - We can stay still and focused until our deepest dreams surface with treasures and nourishment. The Queen of Cups lives from her feelings, not from shoulds or social convention. She is willing to take the time to allow those feelings to manifest their fullest expression, with no rushing and no expectations. Aquarius is the water bearer, carrying our collective imagination. If you look at the bottom right of this card, you can see the setting sun of Leo held in the cup of the water bearer. The Queen of Cups asks what kind of vessel are we? Both of these cards are about receptivity, in their different ways. They ask us to allow energy to flow where it is most needed, instead of trying to force it in a particular direction or use it for our own gain.