By Henry Seltzer
The Full Moon in Leo, taking place on Tuesday, February 7th and coming two weeks after the very powerful Aquarius New Moon from the 22nd of January, represents a culmination of that energy and a launching forth of what is quite literally another phase. This is because two of the key players, namely Neptune and Saturn – symbolizing blue skies possibility on the one hand and on the other, for holding back –.have dramatically changed since the New Moon time. Neptune has changed signs, moving into Pisces, the sign of his rulership, while Saturn has stopped still in the sky, turning to retrograde motion just on the brink of Scorpio yet still in the last degree of Libra. This shifts the tone but not the fundamental contrast represented by these archetypal energies, which remain very much part of the national dialog and of our individual lives as well. At this Full Moon time we reach for a balance of these energies.

Neptune in Pisces rather than Aquarius represents an important characteristic of the remainder of this year, and indeed for the remainder of this decade and for years beyond. This energy is highlighted now. At the time of the Full Moon, Venus, in the final degree of Pisces, makes a close inconjunct aspect to Saturn while Jupiter and the Moon aspect Neptune. Since the initial degree of Pisces, the degree that Neptune now occupies, is also aspected by Jupiter, Uranus and Chiron, there are cosmic harbingers of this event that have been felt as an increase in synchronicity over these past few weeks, going as far back as the recent holiday season. The Neptunian archetype – also represented by Pisces, so now doubled – transplants us to the mystical spaces behind and beyond our conscious minds. This energy literally takes us out of this world, or at least the world of physicality that we normally operate in, or that we operate within as far as our conscious brains are concerned. In truth, there is a numinous reality underlying and underpinning that visible world that we can perceive with what William Blake referred to as our senses five. This world is available in dream and in vision but these visions are often not trusted by our smaller viewpoint. Blake also famously stated that “if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

In contrast to the other-worldly energy of Neptune that is now so very prominent, Saturn, representing the physical world, has been stationing or standing still in the sky and strongly aspecting Neptune. In another reflection of this same polarity, Saturn has also been powerfully aspecting Jupiter, an out-of-sign opposition that is now beginning to fade. Saturn is the sense of limitation and restriction that presents the perfect counterpoint to the idealism represented by Neptune and Jupiter, but in fact we need both modalities to function in this world. There is a way of seeing this Saturnian influence, which has been difficult, as also a grounding of the Neptunian vision into the reality of mass consciousness and of concrete action. The Occupy movement, at least in the non-violent part of its activity, is one indication of this contrast. The ideals of millions of people, outraged by perceived injustice, is able to be concretely realized and even to affect social outcomes. The President, who knows what to say to engage the American public if anyone does, included in his State of the Union a veiled reference to the 99 percent, the rallying cry of this movement, and to higher tax rates for the wealthy, with the possibility that legislation might be forthcoming. So that is action.

In our individual lives, with this Full Moon event and the Saturn retrograde, we might reflect on how well our actions match our ideals and where we are forced to surrender to the restrictions of physical reality. This does not mean that our dreams are dead or dying; far from it. But it does imply that we have to take a balanced approach to life and to give over as necessary to what actually works.