An Airy and Inward Turning Full Moon

It is an interesting and introspective Full Moon that comes along on Friday, February 14th, Valentine's Day. In spite of the sentimental nature of this day for many, the nature of this lunation actually partakes of both connection and isolation, because the contracting and limiting nature of the planetary archetype of Saturn is involved, and because Mars in Venus-ruled Libra has slowed to a crawl as it gets ready to retrograde at the very beginning of the following month. The Sun and Moon in this configuration exactly aspect this slowing Mars in late Libra, by trine and sextile, while the Full Moon makes a T-square to Saturn in Scorpio and the Sun collides with retrograde Mercury. This phase represents the flowering of the impulse from the New Moon two weeks ago, when we started out bright with energy and the promise of new beginnings. Now we might be taking a pause to reflect on the relationships in our lives, and on where our evolutionary journey of this powerful late winter and early spring has thus far led us.

Mars moves little more than a degree during the whole last half of February, stationing retrograde at 27 and a half degrees of Libra on the first of March. In the sign of his "detriment," Mars in Libra is generally less assertive and more inward-turning, and with his forward motion down to a mere tenth of a degree per day, Mars feels like an outer planet in its relative speed, and is therefore, in a powerful chime with the ongoing retrograde of Mercury, a more potent influence for this inward inclination. Once Mars retrogrades, the morning after the last day of February, just as Mercury stations direct, there will be a further turn to the inside. This is foreshadowed in the current cosmic patterning, where we might feel both a muted push toward inter-personal connection and also the inward tug of self-reflection.

Mercury has also reached the point of its own backward motion where it contacts the Sun, exact on Saturday, representing one peak of the self-reflective energy of the entire Mercury Retrograde period. Still, there is the impulse to relate, as the Sun in the relationship-oriented energy of Air — along with Mercury and Mars also in the Air element — reminds us. We might be thinking about the ways in which we connect and also the ways in which we remain on our own, independent and separate from one another. The advantage of this dual proclivity for connection and for separation is that we are thereby enabled to see ourselves as both whole unto ourselves and as an integral part of our union with others, which is after all the truth of the matter. It is when we are freestanding as individuals that we are best able to support each other in relationship.

The Sabian Symbol for the current Mars degree, the 27th of Libra, is "An airplane hovering overhead," which Marc Edmond Jones identifies as "the self-satisfaction which follows from seeing things in terms of their consequences and relationships." He also refers to "high effectiveness in self-adjustment or real skill in meeting the crises of life." This symbol is obviously in poignant alignment with the oncoming retrograde of Mars. The symbol for the degree on which Mars actually retrogrades two weeks from now, on March 1st, is the 28th of Libra: "A [person] in the midst of brightening influences" which Jones refers to as "complete spiritual fellowship." It is by intelligent and courageous inquiry, the search inside, that we find ourselves. By this means, we paradoxically truly discover the important others in our lives as well.

An Airy and Inward Turning Full Moon

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Chart for the Full Moon on February 14, 2014

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