The Moon will reach its full phase with the Sun on October 17 (4:27 a.m. PT, 1:27 ET)) at 24 degrees Aries. This will be another in a recent series of “super moons,” coming a day after the Moon reaches a point in its orbit when it’s closest to earth, making it look extra-large.
In north Native American traditions, this October lunation goes by the name of the Hunter’s Moon as it’s traditionally a time of hunting and preserving food to prepare for the winter. In our contemporary culture, we do this as well. Gardeners may be canning the last of the harvested tomatoes and drying herbs. Homeowners may be changing their furnace filters and cleaning out rain gutters.
And, metaphorically, this is a season in the Northern Hemisphere to prepare for the darker days of December, when mainstream society will have people partying, shopping, and over-indulging while Nature’s call is to rest. With December as my annual retreat month, around the time of this Hunter’s Moon, I start gathering some things I’ll enjoy on a winter break: books, astrology videos to catch up with, projects cast on knitting needles.
On October 17, the Sun will be more than midway through the cardinal air sign of Libra, the Moon in the opposite sign, fiery Aries. The Libra/Airies polarity highlights issues of negotiating one’s personal independence while also relating skillfully with others. Aries is an energy of wanting to charge out of the gate while Libra has smoother concerns with keeping the peace. The Libra/Aries combination can be thought of as the beauty of a courageous heart. The Aries Full Moon prompts the question: what is truly worth fighting for?
Looking at the chart for the October 17 Full Moon, it’s noticeably similar to the chart of one of the most prominent people on Earth right now. Kamala Harris was born on October 20, 1964, also on an Aries Full Moon. She’ll be about to turn 60 at this Full Moon. Politics aside, hers is the chart of one who fights for justice, with graceful determination and charm.
The key transiting aspect for the October 17 Full Moon (and not for Harris’ natal chart) is a friction-generating cardinal grand cross. What’s that? With the Sun and Moon in cardinal, initiatory signs of Libra and Aries, they are also making tense squares with Mars in cardinal water sign Cancer and Pluto in the final throes of its long sojourn through cardinal earth sign Capricorn.
A square aspect is like two planes of reality meeting at a 90-degree angle, unable to get past each other and yet forced to somehow reconcile. A grand cross occurs when four of the planetary bodies are making four squares. It’s a rare aspect, and on October 17, it’s a brief transit, as the Sun and Moon will quickly move on.
But at the time of the Full Moon, with so much cardinal energy and four planetary bodies at cross purposes with each other—this spells a brief time of frustration, like having too many cooks in the kitchen or wanting to do too many things at once. Though the cardinal cross transit will be brief, the days surrounding the Full Moon may be optimal for sitting still and thinking about where and how to best use one’s drive to achieve.
Also at this Full Moon time, there’s a square forming between Jupiter in Gemini and Saturn in Pisces. This square was exact in August and will be exact again in December, meaning we are pretty much in the middle of this longish transit.
Jupiter and Saturn are relatively slow-moving “outer” planets. Before telescopes, Saturn was known as the furthest planet from the Sun. Saturn and Jupiter are the “social” planets. Their 20-year cycles with each other are central to mundane astrology, the study of societies and historical eras. Jupiter and Saturn began their current cycle with each other with their conjunction in December 2020 in Aquarius, a sign having to do with themes of individuality and egalitarianism. This year and next, Jupiter and Saturn are forming their first, opening square, such that there’s tension in the symbolism of each.
Jupiter is the planet of expansion, Saturn the planet of contraction. Jupiter and Saturn in close aspect with each other is like having one foot on the gas and one on the brakes. That may be frustrating but it’s not necessarily a bad thing, because thinking realistically about opportunities and limitations is a wise Saturnian skill.
Over the course of each month, the Moon passes through each zodiacal sign and makes a brief conjunction with each of the moving planets. On October 17, the Moon at full phase will be just past its monthly conjunction with Chiron, the asteroid symbolic of the “wounded healer.” This Full Moon conjunction with Chiron may coincide with heightened sensitivity to emotional suffering, our own and that of everyone else. It takes courage to face what’s been called “the full catastrophe” of living. To do so is the first step on any long road toward healing.
Blessings for the Aries Full Moon and with prayers for peace,
~ Sara
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