The Monsters Are Still Under My Bed

 On October 17th we have a Full Moon – and this is a seriously ‘active’, powerful and intense Full Moon.   A Full Moon is always a ‘peak point’ – a ‘harvest’ time – a point when we see a climax, a result; and, therefore, an ending of one phase and the beginning of the next.   Full Moons always involve the Sun and the Moon being opposite each other; it is the time that the Moon takes advantage of the Sun’s light to fully show herself, because the Moon itself has no light of her own – she merely reflects the light from the Sun.   At a Full Moon, therefore, we can see more clearly; back in the day this was important because the hunter could see his prey more easily – but, of course, his prey could also see him!   Being ‘in the dark’ or ‘in the light’ can reflect many meanings – not least in terms of our perceptions and our conscious awareness. 

 Firstly a roundup of what have we seen since the New Moon Solar Eclipse.

·      Right on the Solar Eclipse Iran retaliated against Israel – troops from the UK were rushed to Cyprus and October 13/14 US troops were deployed to Israel to operate advanced anti-missile system.

·      Iran rumoured to have carried out a nuclear test in a deserted area of the country. 

·      American independent journalist Jeremy Loffredo arrested in Israel, potentially facing the death penalty.

·      Hurricanes Helene, Kirk and Milton hit the USA.  Huge damage and loss of life with very little compensation.

·      In the UK £22 billion to be spent on untested ‘carbon capture’ – strangely, exactly the same amount as the new government’s black hole. 

·      ‘ChickenBritain’ - bird owners required to register one single bird or face a large fine/prison sentence.  Britain reacts with dark humour registering visiting pigeons and their chicken nuggets, crashing the DEFRA website in the process. 

·      Public Health Bill in Northern Ireland proposal considers mandatory vaccination.

·      Capture of giant booster rocket following launch of SpaceX rocket.·     

• Having imposed VAT on private school fees enables schools to reclaim 10 years’ worth of capital projects and Vatable fees.  This oversight is likely to cost billions.

 This Full Moon is extremely intense and powerful - it is also a SuperMoon because it’s very close to the Earth.  It forms part of what is termed in astrology a Cardinal Grand Cross.   Cardinal – because the aspect involves Cardinal signs and Cardinal signs always have a need to take action, to achieve and to accomplish a task.   And the Grand Cross part means that it consists of two planetary oppositions, with all four ends of each opposition in a square to each other.   This is an aspect that produces a great deal of tension and frustration, which then leads to the need to act, or to merely react if the consequences of those actions are not done with thought and consideration.   The planets in opposition are prodding, poking and pulling at each other, whilst the planets in square are at a 90-degree square angle, creating conflict.  Think of it as a room with four corners where the opposite corners are closing in on each other or trying to pull each other apart, while each planet at the corner of each square is pulling at the planets and ‘corners’ on either side of it to try and make some space.   All four elements – Fire, Earth, Air and Water – are represented.   Furthermore, the energy in this particular Full Moon chart is exacerbated by one ‘end’ or corner having a planet – the Moon – together with two further planets all in the most assertive, warrior type sign of Aries.

 So, what do we have?   We have Sun in Libra opposite Moon in Aries.  But it’s not just the Moon – it’s the Moon who has her pals - Chiron and Eris.   Chiron represents wounding (as well as healing), whilst Eris is Mars’ sister in myth, aka the Greek Goddess of Strife and Discord. In myth the Goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, along with the rest of Olympus, had been invited to a prestigious wedding.  Eris, however, was snubbed because of her troublemaking and spiteful inclinations.  Her actions eventually sparked the Trojan Wars.  Eris, therefore, contains an edge of spitefulness in her actions but, in effect, she throws her toys out of the pram because she fights for fairness and justice.   Now the Moon is a planet who is always reactive in terms of how she feels or what mood she is in – but at this Full Moon she is partnered with wounding, hurt and spitefulness in the warlike sign of Aries.   What could possibly go wrong?

 On top of this the Moon and Mars have basically swapped signs, so they are actually mutually supportive.  Mars is in Cancer and Moon is in Aries – so there is a strong pull to defend the family and the home.  But Mars becomes very emotionally persuasive in Cancer.  So we have a very reactive Moon who has her mates hanging out with her and a Mars who, rather than physically stab someone or go for an obvious fight, becomes the ‘groomer’, the one who ‘persuades’; the coercive controller even.

 Mars sits opposite Pluto, who is literally on his last legs in Capricorn.   He has already turned direct and is getting ready to leave Capricorn forever in terms of our lifetimes and re-enter Aquarius in November where he remains for the next 20 years.    This aspect has an edge of harshness, possibly even violence, about it, similar to the Moon, Eris and Chiron square to Mars. Where we have Pluto we often see power struggles – Mars will become exactly opposite Pluto exact just days before the US elections – the energy will be intense, forceful, violent even.  However, the Mars/Pluto aspect can also bring with it huge levels of willpower which, if positively directed, could be extremely useful to push events along.

 The Moon in mundane astrology represents the people and, therefore, society and humanity as a whole.  Well thought out, constructive action has the potential to be beneficial, whilst ill-thought out, purely re-active energy may bring the exact opposite.   Is it the people who are being ‘groomed’ as a whole?  If they are, who indeed is the Sun?  Just to add a bit more intensity to this chart Mars, Sun, Moon, Chiron and Eris sit at, or very close to, the magical 22 degrees of Cardinal signs – a point where key events seem to occur or where key organisations contain key planets.

 For the UK I think this Full Moon is going to be pretty noticeable because the Sun and Moon fall across our Midheaven axis – it may be seen within Government action that affects our society in terms of its cultural roots and within homes and family (highly likely considering rumours on the future budget at the end of the month).  Mars and Pluto are working across the money houses 2nd and 8th in the chart set for the UK – my money/your money.  It’s going to be very important that we have our wits about us to ensure we protect our money in the UK.   Our fiat money system that I spoke about in the last blog is an outdated system – it is based on debt and has nothing behind it whatsoever to back it.   We are in times of huge national debts and many would, therefore, like to see a reset of the system.  Cancer is a very ‘shrewd’ sign financially, so perhaps what this Full Moon is saying is protect your money, protect your homes, protect your families.   Get up and fight and don’t just assume that others have your best interests at heart.   Take personal responsibility and resilience for as much as possible.

 It could be that whatever happens at this Full Moon jolts the people into realising that they are being treated unfairly (Moon with Eris and Chiron).  Take note here Mr. Starmer – you may well wake up the sleepy dragon; and this is the Year of the Dragon!  

 If we dig a little deeper into this Full Moon chart – the Sun (kings and leaders) is in Libra, ruled by Venus who is in very manipulative Scorpio.   The Ascendant of the Full Moon chart, set for the UK, is in Sagittarius, which leads us to Jupiter (Sagittarius’ ruler), who has just turned retrograde and who will not return to this degree until end April 2025.  What do we need to learn whilst he retrogrades?  Jupiter sits on an ‘angle’ of the chart and, therefore, has great importance.  Jupiter sits just in the seventh house of others, including our enemies, so we are very susceptible to being influenced by what appears to be the beneficial actions of others.   Jupiter in Gemini takes us to Mercury who is absolutely influential in terms of how our minds work, influencing our perceptions and our actions.   But Mercury, just like Venus, is in Scorpio – a sign that is ruled by both Mars and Pluto, who remember both sit at ‘corners’ of the Grand Cross and sit opposite each other at this Full Moon.   They are indeed ‘big players’.  So the whole aspect of this Full Moon just got even more complex.   And if we look at Mercury – the only deity who was able to travel to the sky and to the depths of the Underworld – he aspects nothing.  He is absolutely doing his own thing, answerable only to himself. In essence also he is the one strong planet in the whole chart.

 None of the planets involved in this Cardinal Cross is in a particularly ‘strong’ condition individually, which may lead even more so to unwelcome outcomes.  This is definitely something that we must always keep in mind, because the individual archetypal planetary energy remains the same, but the sign the planet is in in alters its mode of action. For instance, the Sun is ‘in fall’ in Libra and the Sun always wants to be in charge and do what he wants, but in Libra he has to consider ‘the other’.   Mars is in Cancer, also in fall.  Mars wants to be strong, assertive and warrior like.  He also wants to lead and go right to the point of what needs doing.  But in Cancer he is tempered not just by his own needs and feelings, but also by those of others.  In Cancer he will be particularly good at protecting his home and his family.  The Moon is never particularly happy in fiery Aries; she much prefers an emotional, wallowy, water sign.   And Pluto is at the anaretic 29th degree or crisis degree of Capricorn – as I said in my last blog, he’s incredibly busy ‘burying the bodies’.

 Interestingly, these four ‘corners’ pick up on the four angles of the chart of Israel, where tensions are incredibly inflamed at the moment.   Additionally, the Solar Eclipse chart of October 2nd highlighted the position of Eris in the Israel chart.  I would conclude, therefore, that this is not a region where feelings are dying down in favour of peace for the foreseeable moment.  This has the potential to be a difficult Full Moon.   But, on a positive note, perhaps the climax/outcome of whatever takes place may lead to something more hopeful.  Sometimes things have to be completely broken in order to arrive at some kind of new beginnings and a sense of healing.  The Cardinal energy may lead to something good to be created that will bring positive change to us all.

 Countries/Organisations impacted by the Solar Eclipse and the Full Moon:  In addition to Israel, the UK Sun and Midheaven were highlighted at the Solar Eclipse and the UK Moon at the Full Moon.   China’s Sun/Mercury conjunction was aspected by the Eclipse; Lebanon’s Ascendant and Sun by the Eclipse.  Turkey’s Mars (war) was impacted by the Solar Eclipse and its Mercury/Saturn conjunction by the Full Moon.  The Ascendant and the Mars/Saturn conjunction of the UN also are brought into focus by the Full Moon.   Of course there will be many more, but this is just a sample I picked out.

 At a Full Moon the Moon and the Sun are always opposite each other with the Moon reflecting the Sun’s light so that we think we have moonlight.   This leads me to duality and the duality of everything, because everything has its opposite.   Dark and light, good and evil, rich and poor, male and female, joy and sadness.   We have to appreciate both sides - by experiencing one side we can appreciate the other, or we can try to achieve a middle point between the two.  At the moment it feels that the pendulum has swung too far – too much evil and too much money in the hands of too few for instance, bringing extremes to the lives of the many?  Too much dependence has been placed on others such as governments, politicians etc when really we need to be much more independent and build our own resilience to keep ourselves healthy etc.

 Thinking about duality led me further down another rabbit hole – our brains are bi-hemispheric; the brain has a right hemisphere and a left hemisphere.   Their functions and their differences are not clear cut.  In The Master and his Emissary, Dr. Iain McGilchrist states that our brains mould culture, but in turn are also moulded by the culture in which we live.  He also states that about one third of children now have difficulty in carrying out tasks requiring sustained attention that a decade ago virtually every child in mainstream school would have had no problem with.  Additionally the structure that holds the two hemispheres together and allows them to communicate with each other – the Corpus Callosum – is becoming smaller and functionally more inhibitory as we evolve.  Where we place our attention changes who we are.

 Both hemispheres are involved in reason and both in creativity.  They are different but they need each other.  We have in a relatively short space in time replaced a more natural world experience with ‘non-living’ surfaces and straight lines.  More exploration of this book I feel is definitely required.[1]

 On September 27th, just prior to the Solar Eclipse, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, travelled especially to the UN meeting to give a speech on dualities – in this case ‘blessings and curses’.   His mission was to set the record straight following criticisms of Israel being seen as a warmonger, when in his view Israel is seeking and ‘yearning for peace’.   The blessing, as he sees it, is a historic reconciliation between Arabs and Jews which would also lead to a greater Israel; the curse is Iran’s aggression.  He sees Israel as fighting on seven war fronts to achieve a peace, one being Iran itself and the other six being organised by Iran.  Success would create ‘the blessing of a New Middle East’.  He demonstrated how Israel and its Arab partners would form a land bridge connecting Asia and Europe.   Between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, he said, they would lay rail lines, energy pipelines and fibre optic cables.   (Does he see a connection between Ukraine and the Middle East perhaps?)  Against this he demonstrated Iran’s ‘malignant curse’ shutting down international waterways.  In his mind this is the curse ‘bringing carnage and chaos’ versus the ‘blessings of peace and prosperity’ that Israel and its Arab partners would bring against Hezbollah, ‘the quintessential terror organisation’, who ‘has tentacles that span all continents’.  For Netenyahu it is ‘the battle between good and evil’.[2]

 Just before the Full Moon we see the arrival of Comet A3 also known as Tsuchinshan – ATLAS.    Coming from the Oort Cloud – a vast distant region on the edge of our solar system - it is apparently one of the brightest comets in our lifetimes and only becomes visible every 80,000 years.  So the last time it was visible to the Neanderthals!   The Greeks and Romans believed the appearance of comets to be portentous – heralding something very good or very bad.  They also believed comets could herald the birth of a great figure.

 Putting this all-together, charts such as this Full Moon can look the worst ever, but they can lead to something very much more positive because they produce such a great need for action and solutions.   There may indeed be intense violence particularly in the Middle East - the ‘cradle’ of our Western society in terms of religion and beliefs; are we awakening the ancestors?  The energy of the Full Moon contains enormous strength of will, which could potentially bring healing and transformation.  When rules are made that are unfair (Chiron/Eris), the people (the Moon) react.  The black humour applied to the registration of bird life that crashed the DEFRA website stands out. A small, seemingly insignificant thing in the scheme of things, but when we all come together we find we are powerful – the monsters under the bed unwittingly wake up the sleepy dragons!

[1] The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, Dr.Iain McGilchrist, Yale University Press, 2019

[2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-netanyahus-un-speech-enough-is-enough-he-says-of-hezbollah-also-warns-iran/