The full moon in Pisces is the second full moon of this month – a blue moon. (For my report on the first full moon of August, see here). Blue moons occur for the most simple of reasons; though we have divided our calendar year into twelve months, the Moon orbits the Earth every 27.3 days (27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes to be exact) – and that’s about thirteen times a year. Thirteen full moons into twelve months means that one month has that extra lunation. It seems simple, right? I’m afraid not. Things are never as straightforward as they seem.
The pattern of lunar phases – from new moon to full moon – takes 29.5 days to complete, two days longer than the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth. This means that we only have thirteen full moons every 2-3 years, so that ‘once in a blue moon’ saying really does apply to things – including that elusive thirteenth full moon – that are less commonplace than you would think they are.
This is a full moon in Pisces – and given that sign’s talent for undermining the things that we think that we know, it won’t surprise you that the definition of a blue moon is also the stuff of debate. What I described in the first paragraph is the definition of what we call ‘the monthly blue moon’ – the second full moon within a calendar month. However, scientists often prefer to use another definition – the ‘Seasonal Blue Moon’. A seasonal blue moon is defined as the third full moon of a season that contains four full moons. By that definition, we’re not due a blue moon until 19th August 2024…
Full Moon in Pisces: The Essentials
However you define this full moon in Pisces, it’s going to be a big one. This full moon is a ‘Supermoon Blue Moon’ as it is going to be the biggest and brightest full moon of this year. The Moon is at its closest point to the Earth – termed being ‘at perigee’ – and this time around, the Moon will be approximately 222,043 miles (357,344 km) from the Earth, much closer than its average distance of 238900 miles (384, 472 km). It’s the third of the four supermoons in a row that we will have seen since July 3rd; the final supermoon will occur on September 29th. Astrologically, this full moon culminates at 7˚24′ Pisces at 01:35 (UT) on August 31st.
When you look at that basic information, a lot of things begin to make sense. A supermoon emphasises the essential nature of a full moon – to bring issues to completion, to bring things to a head and to shine a light on things that were previously hidden. And it does so with real power – nothing escapes the light of a supermoon. Astrologically, the blue moon symbolises transformation, growth and letting go. It also marks the point where your intuition and insight are at their peak. In so many ways, this lunation represents the peak of this year’s supermoon cycle.
So, this month, we have the the transformative symbolism associated with Scorpio – as each lunation provides us with the space for renewal – and the mystic, emotional sensitivity of Pisces. Hunches, things that have been brewing for a while, dreams, subconscious issues and all of the stuff we try to ignore – all of those things are likely to spill out into the open and demand your attention. And it’s not just your own stuff that you’ll need to be aware of. Dealing with things that are not your own comes into the picture too, as you may need to navigate through other people’s issues and deal with their excuses and denials.
Pisces is a sign that can make it hard to know what you’re dealing with, so it’s a supermoon that will require you to trust your intuition and follow your nose – it may be the only way to get through what lies ahead. If things aren’t clear, you may feel as if you have a good excuse to wait this one out – but what you’re being asked to do is proceed with caution and have faith that you’re heading in the right direction. Those are the general rules – but each full moon has its own set of rules – and in Pisces there may be no rules at all. What rules there are will be shown in the lunation chart.
Full Moon in Pisces: the Chart
Full Moon in Pisces: The Aspects
The chart shows that this is going to be a full moon in Pisces with some ground rules. The moon is conjunct Saturn – and Saturn always adds a serious not to the proceedings. Other than this aspect (and the obvious one, the opposition from the Sun) the full moon has no other direct contacts with other planets.However, it’s the background noise that makes this lunation particularly interesting: through Saturn, the Moon in connected to Mars via an inconjunct aspect and, at the other end of the lunation, the Sun trines Jupiter. Sometimes we need to look beyond the lunation itself to get the full story.
Full Moon in Pisces Conjunct Saturn
This is serious stuff. Saturn has the habit of making you face up to things that you would prefer to ignore. In Pisces, this is a combination that suggests more than wilful ignorance has been going on behind the scenes. This aspect suggests that some matters of importance are reaching their peak, in both our personal lives and beyond. There is always some emotional discomfort with this aspect and, in Pisces, it’s a conjunction that confronts you with the material reality of a situation – and it often leaves you feeling disappointed. Something (or someone) lets you down or turns out to have been misrepresented. It’s a rude awakening.
I’m sure that many of you can think of situations where those dynamics apply. Let me run a few of those by you: Saturn conjunct the full moon in Pisces limits the imagination – though not necessarily in a bad way. For example, if you need to get creative in order to resolve a certain issue, Saturn’s presence adds enough realism to keep you focused on what you need to do, and ensures that your imagination is channeled realistically. In other words, you’re not going to go off on a tangent, or spin out 0f control, or become lost in a maze of irrelevance. That’s the good side of this.
There are two sides to everything and limiting your imagination may result in literally that – you may feel as though your options are limited or external factors (such as the rules or regulations) are preventing you from doing what you need to do. That may be true for some people, but – in truth – much of the limitation that comes from this conjunction is of the self-limiting variety. The weight of the world bears down on you with this conjunction and, with this supermoon, you may see exactly how heavy that burden is – and why you’ve been expected to carry it for so long.
Pisces is not the sign you associate with common-sense – it’s quite the opposite – but this full moon in Pisces is showing where you need to take a common-sense approach to a particular situation. An injection of stability, realism and responsibility may be long overdue – though you may have pangs of guilt about why it’s taken you so long to reach that conclusion. The full moon may burn through the fog of illusion – and your excuses. Saturn is connected to Mars with an awkward inconjunct (150˚) aspect – and that shows that you need to make a big adjustment to present reality. Things are simply not the same as they were – or as you imagined they would be.
Mars Inconjunct Saturn
To get the full feel for the full moon in Pisces, I’m going to have a brief look at the most influential aspects that are connected indirectly to this lunation. Mars inconjunct Saturn is the first of these – and both the aspect and the planetary combination are awkward. It’s the wake-up call that you didn’t want to hear, or the situation that escalates out of control despite your best efforts, or the feelings of guilt about things that you may have done in the past, or the angst that arise because you refuse to change your ways. And then you wonder why everyone is mad at you.
The bottom line with this aspect is that you need to accept some home truths to be able to move on – and that’s not necessarily going to be an easy process – though it is an essential one. It’s always easier if you resolve this dynamic internally; the full moon in Pisces may offer you the moment of realisation that enables you to make adjustments to the situation that needs it – otherwise it may come at you from outside. And that will be far more uncomfortable to deal with. If you’re in a position to do so – and have the awareness that the full moon in Pisces is giving you – go with the first option.
Sun Trine Jupiter
At the other side of this lunation, the Sun trines Jupiter. Astrological wisdom tells us a couple of things here: There is a big note of optimism in this aspect and potentially an even bigger note of complacency. It’s the kind of aspect that leads us to make assumptions – especially that all will be well. On some occasions, your faith will be justified – on others, less so. Taken in the round, you’re not going to achieve what you need to do without working hard – as that’s the only route to take where you’re going to be confident about the outcome.
One message I’m getting from the full moon in Pisces, relates to that core issue of confidence. If there is a situation that is concerning you, how confident are you that it will turn out well? Fortunately, Jupiter is in Taurus – another sign of earthy reality. This time around, confidence is best achieved by keeping your feet on the ground. The trine aspect is also a sign that this is a situation that you’ve been working on for some time – if you’ve done your homework, things should work out just fine – if not, you may find it hard to ‘blag’ your way through this one – though you may feel it’s worth trying as luck could be on your side.
The Big Picture
All of this is happening under the gaze of a Mercury retrograde in Virgo, the sign opposite Pisces. The Virgo-Pisces axis represents the pull between precision and imprecision, detail and inexact, veracity and inaccuracy. they are themes which dominate this full moon in Pisces and they are issues which this Mercury retrograde in Virgo will focus your attention on as Mercury approaches its station. Mercury stations less than a degree from the degree of the full moon – in astrological terms, that’s exact – and that’s important for the following reason: it puts the issues being brought to your attention by the full moon under investigation.
Why do I describe it that way? Investigation is what happens when Mercury is retrograde in Virgo. It gets to the detail, uncovers the facts, makes you look again at the information you have on a certain subject and, once you’ve digested all of that detail, it enables you to make up your mind about something. As a sign, Virgo energy is process driven – the opposite of Pisces. The full moon feeds into this process by stopping you in your tracks. It gives you a reason to look closer at something and make an appropriate judgment. If that results in you changing track – and becoming more realistic about a few things – so be it.
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© Sara Shipman 2023
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