Full Moon in Aquarius: July 23, 2021
This is a preview of the in-depth article for this Full Moon that is already up on Patreon! These in-depth scoops are normally exclusively available for Patrons, but with this Full Moon’s particular “flavor,” it seems quite aligned to broadcast it widely! Share freely!
If you’re interested in more in-depth articles like this, definitely join the Guided Learning Community!
Happy Full Moon!
The Full Moon takes place on July 23 at 22:36 EDT.
July 24 at 2:36 UT.
In this article, you’ll get the scoop on the astrology of this Full Moon in Aquarius on July 23, 2021, a deep dive into the astrological influences over it, and then finally you'll get a quick reminder of how to do a Full Moon ritual.
If you're just joining us and want to learn everything you need to know about Manifesting with the Moon, read this article.
Want to do a bit of retrospective astrology? Revisit the New Moon in Aquarius article!
What is a Full Moon?
The Full Moon is the energetic peak of the Lunar Cycle when the Moon and the Sun are at opposite sides of the zodiac, 180º away from each other, so the Sun's light fully illuminates the Moon, hence why we call it "Full."
Generally speaking, the Full Moon is when our emotions can feel like they’re at their most powerful and uncontrollable, so if things feel heightened now, it’s completely normal!
This intensity is especially the case for this lunation because Saturn is in Aquarius and involved. This gives this Full Moon a somewhat similar "flavor" as our last, Capricorn Full Moon. Emotional constipation, limitations, or constraints on our abilities to bring balance to the issues that emerge along the Aquarius-Leo axes.
This Full Moon comes right at the top of Leo Season and is all about releasing our individual and collective attachment to unhelpful ideologies of rulership and dominion, especially those that claim ownership over "truth."
The Scoop on the Astrological Influences on this Full Moon
Sun Ingress Leo
Luminaries Opposite Saturn
Aspects
Sun Ingress Leo (July 22)
Leo Season begins the day before this Full Moon, which is an excellent opportunity for you to really understand how transits work, how the Sun's movements are the basis of the Lunar Cycle, and why all of this matters.
The Sun Ingress Leo, which is when the Sun moves into Leo and Leo Season begins, happens around July 22 every single year.
The Sun's Ingresses are always annual. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs on the zodiac...voila! The Sun spends about one month in each sign!
There are 30 degrees in each sign and about 30 days in every month...voila! The Sun moves about 1 degree through the zodiac every single day.
The Sun Ingress happens when the Sun goes from 29º59' of one sign to 0º00' of the next sign. In this case, the Sun moves from Cancer to Leo.
So, let's bring this all together. If Leo Season starts July 22, and we have the Full Moon on July 23, can you guess which degree this lunation takes place in?
You guessed it! The Sun has been in Leo for one day, so he has moved ONE degree. This Full Moon takes place at 1º25' of Leo.
If you are still not getting how this all works, PLEASE do not hesitate to ask a Cosmic Question or join the Guided Learning Community!
2. Luminaries Opposite Saturn
Both Capricorn and Aquarius are ruled by Saturn. These are the signs that oppose the signs ruled by the Luminaries (Moon and Sun).
Sun, Moon, and Saturn are all connected to what we now might call the Ego.
Note that this is a more nuanced understanding than what most astrologers (including myself) usually present when we make lists of keywords and planets, where we tend to oversimplify and use Ego as a keyword only for the Sun. Everything is deeper than these lists make it seem, even the reflexive ones like mine, never forget that!
Saturn is the furthest visible planet, the least illuminated by the light of the Source, the Sun, ruler of Leo. Saturn's 28-year cycle and the Moon's 28-day cycle are the extreme ends of how the Sun's light is reflected.
The three planets Sun, Moon, and Saturn all have significations associated with rulership, power, and economics (cf. Postcolonial Astrology).
If you have not yet read Postcolonial Astrology, I'll be writing a full review and posting it here, but I definitely recommend you check it out.
In this book, Alice Sparkly Kat, presents an etymology of each of the traditional planets. Postcolonial/postmodern scholars since the 20th century (e.g., Bloch 1983) have presented "etymologies" of certain words or cultural things that we've taken for granted, but that have had a tremendous impact on how we as individuals see (and create) the world.
Postcolonial scholars look at the etymologies of certain words from a historic and synchronic angle in order to examine underlying power dynamics at play.
The opposition between Leo and Aquarius is all about ideologies of "truth," which is another way of saying "what material has been illuminated and constrained by being named," invoking Moon, Sun, and Saturn into our translation and interpretation.
All of this is happening alongside Lilith's Ingress into Gemini, which really is encouraging us to work on decolonizing our minds. What does that mean?
Well, it starts with being reflexive about how you've been socialized. That's exactly what this Full Moon is shedding light on!
If you're a white and/or "middle class" person from the Global North (e.g., USA, Canada, Europe), you've been socialized into entitlement and into having a colonial mentality.
There is literally no denying this. This is how we are raised. If you think you're an exception, you're wrong. If your mind is already full of "but" and "well" and "I'm not like that" and other similar thoughts, you are literally proving the point. I know because I've been there. This kind of superiority and exceptionalism is exactly what we're ingrained with from an early age.
If you think of yourself as "above" these socialization processes, you're demonstrating and embodying what a superiority complex is. You are saying you're superior than every other individual in the culture. You are enacting American Exceptionalism" on the individual level.
Why do we get so defensive about things like this? Why is it so difficult to accept? It's not our fault, after all! We're not to blame for the way culture works, in fact, even though this may sound weird to some people, we're actually a victim of culture, just like everyone else.
Culture is the colonizer of individual minds, and the colonial government it sets up is called "Ego."
It may be difficult for our Egos to let go of the assumptions we've taken for granted for our whole lives. This is the tug-of-war we need to balance. Once we enlighten ourselves and are able to remove our "bias baggage," we will realize how much lighter we feel!
This lunation involves Saturn, as mentioned above, with the Moon applying to a conjunction with Saturn and the Sun applying to opposition (they make opposite aspects because it's a Full Moon, which is itself an opposition).
There are also some other interesting aspects happening that give this Full Moon a flavor of revelatory awakening and radical mindset shifts, even if our material actualizing of these is a bit constrained at the moment due to Saturn's involvement.
We've got Mercury trine Neptune, which is a wonderful aspect that harmoniously links the planet that represents our Minds with the planet that represents our Imaginations. There's really no better time to truly understand that most of the things we think of as "truths" are really just imaginary things that we've learned the names of (in our socialization).
Note that this is also an excellent aspect to use for Manifestation purposes as it heightens our creative potency dramatically. If you're looking to let go of any kinds of creative blocks, now is the time!
The other interesting aspect(s) influencing this Full Moon is the Mutable T-Square forming between Venus, Jupiter, and Lilith.
T-Squares are what we call the aspect pattern that happens when there are three planets, two of them are in opposition, and the third forms a square to both of the planets in opposition. In other words, we have one planet sitting exactly in the middle of two other planets; this planet is 90º from the other two planets, which are 180º from each other.
The squaring planet (the one in the middle) is the "release point" of the tug-of-war happening between the opposing planets.
These three planets are all at the first degree of a mutable sign. Venus in Virgo, Jupiter Rx in Pisces, and Lilith in Gemini. Virgo and Pisces are the signs that oppose each other, and Gemini squares them both. That means Venus and Jupiter Rx are opposing each other and Lilith is squaring them both.
Lilith is the "release point" of the tug-of-war happening between Venus and Jupiter.
When Venus and Jupiter are opposed in the mutable signs of Virgo and Pisces, we are invited to balance our critical values with our unconditional love. Venus in Virgo loves to deem things as "worthy" and "unworthy" of our attention and care, but Jupiter in Pisces is like, "LOVE EVERYTHING INFINITELY."
Both are pretty naive approaches to life, with the one being overly negative and thus naive to the true unity underlying everything, and the other being overly positive and thus naive to the material reality of duality that we exist within.
That's where Lilith in Gemini comes in, to scrape away any trace of that naivety. Lilith in Gemini is a flashpoint of the tension between these two poles because she's making us super fascinated with conspiracies, secrets, and lies. How can we deem things as "worthy" and "unworthy" for ourselves if society is doing it for us? How can we love everything infinitely if society is constructing "others" for us to hate?
In order to bring balance to all of this, we must summon the fourth, missing point of the Mutable Square, which is Sagittarius. This yang, fire, Jupiter sign brings us clear direction, individualism, adventure, and, most importantly, heroism.
Actually, fun fact, one of the first things I did as part of my self-study of astrology was a kind of "sign + sign = sign" mental exercise. Of course, now, I realize how oversimplified and absolutely not technically accurate this was, but it's also still interesting to think about when you're starting to create your own translations and interpretations.
Anyways, in this mental activity, I thought about all the oppositional signs as if they were parents and I came up with what sign their kid would be. Leo and Aquarius are the parents of Sagittarius. This makes a bit of technical sense too because Leo trines Sagittarius (they're both fire signs) and Aquarius sextiles Sagittarius (they're yang signs).
All of this goes to say that this Full Moon has an interesting Sagittarius flavor to it even though it's not necessarily ABOUT Sagittarius. If you don't know how to channel this, you can refresh your memory and read all about Sagittarius/the Cosmic Hero's Journey here.
Personal Transits: How will this Full Moon affect me?
The basic astrological factors to consider for any lunation (and, in fact, any major aspect that happens in the general transits) include...
Transit aspects to the Full Moon, which were explained in detail above.
Do you have any placements around the 1-5º of fixed signs? This means you have a square (Scorpio and/or Taurus) or an opposition/conjunction (Leo and/or Aquarius).
Do you have any placements around 1-5º of the yang signs, so air and/or fire signs? This means you have either a sextile or a trine.
Which house is Aquarius for you? What about Leo? What's going on inside those houses? Do you have any planets or angles there? How are they interacting with everything else?
Where is Saturn (ruler of Aquarius) placed in your chart? What about the Sun (ruler of Leo)? Which sign and house? Are they making any aspects? What's their situation?
If you want personalized ritual recommendations, book a Moonology Session with me! I always go extra in-depth for Patrons!
Conclusion
With the Full Moon (Sun Opposite Moon) in Aquarius-Leo and all of its astrological influences, we're likely to experience a rushing streak of independence. And, we might need to do things to humble ourselves a bit. Reflexivity is a great tool for this!
Now that we're deep within the lion's den, we are deep within ourselves, and Saturn's participation signals that this self-involvement can turn into an all-consuming force.
We must acknowledge and appreciate our ego-selves, but we must also remember that when we come out into the light, we are not the only ones who are shining.
Happy Full Moon to all of you!
Always remember to FOLLOW YOUR BLISS!
Check out all consultations and reports here.
