Full Moon Astrology: A Step By Step Guide

Full Moon in Libra 

4/19/19  4:12 AM (Pacific) 

Natural Chart / Whole Houses 

For the second time this month, the Full Moon occurs in Libra. If you'd like, you can go back and read what I had to say about the Full Moon in Libra last month. Keep in mind, however, that although the Sun and Moon are still 180 degrees apart (forming an opposition), the other planets have since moved and so the aspects, or relationships, between the planets will have changed. 

If you would like to learn more about how the Full Moon affects you astrologically, below is a tutorial I used some time ago. Enjoy.

Full Moon Astrology 

A Full Moon is the opposite of a new moon. Whereas a new moon occurs when the Sun and Moon occupy the same degree of the same sign in the zodiac; a full moon occurs when the Sun and Moon occupy the same degree of opposite signs of the zodiac. For example, if the Full Moon occurs in 9 degrees Scorpio, then the Sun will occupy 9 degrees Taurus which is six signs away on the opposite side of the chart.

That’s not where the differences end, however. Whereas a new moon is all about beginnings, starting new projects and brings new ideas, new concepts, and new opportunities; full moons are a time of harvest where you reap the rewards of your previous efforts and they bring completion and endings.

The Full Moon's Placement 

The astrological house where it occurs natally is said to be activated by the full moon and will give an indication of the type of  change or completion you can expect. To determine the house which is activated by the full moon, you must first ascertain when and where the full moon will take place.

There are several ways in which this can be determined. For example, let’s say I want to know where the Full Moon in September 2018 will be. I can go the old school route and check the ephemeris. According to The New American Ephemeris for the 21st Century the Full Moon in September will occur at 2:52 PM on 9/25/18 in 2 degrees 00 minutes of Aries. ​
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However, since all the times in the this ephemeris are set for UT, or universal time, you will have to convert this to your local time. I currently live in the American Pacific Northwest so 2:52 AM UT on 9/25/18 translates to 7:52 PM on 9/24/8 PDT.

If that seems complicated, you can use an app such as iPhemeris. It is an ephemeris that you can set to your local time  and have information about the positions of the planets on any given day without having to convert the time.

If you look in the bottom left corner of this screen shot, you’ll see that it states the full moon will occur in 1 degree 59  mins of Aries on 9/24/18 at 19:52 PM (or 7:52 PM) and the Sun is in Libra (six signs away) at 1 degree 59 min. 

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Obviously these two sources are off by one minute. It shouldn’t make that big of a difference in regards to the house that is activated, however, you can check both times against the natal chart. Next, you may wish to draw up a chart for this date and time for your location or the location you will be when the Full Moon occurs.

 

The Full Moon Transit Chart 

​The Full Moon Transit Chart is actually two charts in one. For this example we will use the natal chart of actor Chris Evans. The inner chart (pictured below) is his natal, or birth chart, and the outer ring, shows where the planets are at the time of the full moon. You can have this drawn up using a program or you can simply do this yourself by printing out your natal chart and then drawing in the placements for the transit around the astrological wheel.

 

Looking at this natal chart, 1 degree 59 Minutes Aries falls within his fourth house. The same is true of 2 degrees 00 minutes Aries. You can see his Full Moon (the red crescent moon symbol) on the lower right side of the chart.  Therefore the full moon will take place in Chris’ fourth house. Each of the 12 houses rule over a different area or aspect of life. They are
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• The First House is naturally aligned with Aries and is ruled by Mars  and as the first house it is associated with all kinds of "firsts" such as first impressions, the self, ego, appearance, initiative, leadership, fresh starts and new beginnings.
• The Second House is aligned with Taurus and is ruled by Venus. It is associated with money and material matters.  Your physical environment, income, money, and your sense of self-esteem.
• The Third House is aligned with Gemini and  is ruled by Mercury. It rules communication in all its forms (thinking, writing, speaking, etc... ) as well as siblings, local travel, teachers and community events.
• The Fourth House is aligned with Cancer and is ruled by the Moon. It rules over your home, privacy, your basic sense of security, your mother, children, and your own ability to nurture others.
• The Fifth House is aligned with Leo and is ruled by the Sun. It is associated with creative expression, drama, attention, love, and romance.
• The Sixth House is aligned with Virgo and is ruled by Mercury. It is associated with your health and service to others. Your routine, diet, exercise and helpfulness to others.
• The Seventh House is aligned with Libra and is ruled by Venus.  It is associated with marriage, partnerships, and relationships of all kinds.  Contracts, business deals, etc...
• The Eighth House is aligned with Scorpio and is ruled by Pluto. It is associated with birth, death, sex, other people's money and property.  
• The Ninth House is aligned with Sagittarius and is ruled by Jupiter.  It is associated with expansion, the higher mind, foreign matters (languages, cultures, travel) luck, adventure, risk, philosophy, ethics and morals.
• The Tenth House is aligned with Capricorn and is ruled by Saturn. It is associated with the public, fame, honors, reputation, awards, boundaries, rules, discipline, authority, the father.
• The Eleventh House is aligned with Aquarius and is ruled by Uranus. It is associated with groups of people such as friends and associations, networking, social justice.  Originality, sudden unexpected events, invention, surprises, and all things futuristic.
• The Twelfth House is aligned with Pisces and is ruled by Neptune. As the last sign in the zodiac, it is associated with endings. Completion, tying up loose ends, old age, karma, making amends, and the afterlife. Imagination, creativity, poetry, and the subconscious mind.

Therefore the area of home, family and issues of personal privacy are being activated by this full moon.


Getting Started

As a general rule you should look at what house your moon is in your natal chart and determine what house is ruled by your moon. Your natal moon placement is the area where full moon energy will begin and the house ruled by the moon is where the energies will culminate.  Finally, the house where the full moon falls is where the main action will occur.

For example Chris’s natal moon is in his 12th house. In astrology the moon rules the sign of Cancer and in Chris’ chart Cancer is aligned with his 8th house.  So for him all Full Moons will begin with the desire to escape and nurture himself and culminate with his shared resources and this particular full moon’s action will take place in and around his home.  

Sun and Moon: The Axis Powers

Once you determine where the Moon is, you can see where the Sun is too.. These two placements are said to be in opposition to one another, that is, there will be a tug-of-war between your ego (the sun placement) and your emotions (the moon placement).

For example

• 1st and 7th- The first house is all about you, your identity, and ego and the 7th house is about the “other”, that is, relationships of all kinds (i.e. romantic, platonic, business, etc.. ). Me vs. You.
• 2nd and 8th- The second house is rules your income and resources and the 8th house is about shared income and resources. What is mine, what is ours.
• 3rd and 9th- The third house rules communication, siblings, and short journeys while the 10th house is about foreign people, cultures and places. Us and Them. Here and There.  
• 4th and 10th- The fourth house rules home and family and the 10th house rules your career. Private vs. Public.
• 5th and 11th- The fifth house is all about personal creative expression and the 11th house is about friends,  associations, and causes. My Goals vs. Our Goals
• 6th and 12th- The sixth house rules our routines, work and service to others while the 12th house is about escape and withdrawal. Your Needs vs. My Needs.

Using our previous example, the Full Moon is in 2 degrees 00 minutes of Aries (Chris’ fourth house); the Sun is in 1 degree 59 minutes Libra (Chris’s 10th house)  So for Chris he may experience some kind of conflict between issues of home and family and his career. For example, he may feel pulled in two directions where on one hand his ego may want to complete a project related to his career while on the other hand he may feel the need for more rest and down time spent with his family at home.

Types of Astrological Houses ​In astrology the houses are divided up in several ways, one such way is into groups of three called Angular, Succedent and Cadent. The type of house the New Moon falls will give you an indication of how the Full  Moon will be activated in your life.
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• The Angular Houses (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th) are action oriented and are thought to be the most powerful and influential in a person’s life. A  full moon occuring in any of the these houses will often work on the surface and in a public manner.
• ​The Succedent Houses (2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th) are all about your security and what you need to feel and be secure. These houses are less powerful than the angular ones but more powerful than the cadent houses. A full moon occuring in any of them will require some investigation on your party to  identify how to best take advantage of this placement.
• The Cadent Houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th) are the last houses in each quadrant and therefore are thought to be the least powerful of all the houses. A full moon in any of the cadent houses will require you to look deeper and more thoroughly than the new moon in the other houses in order to get the best results from your work.

Aspects to the Full Moon

The next things you will want to look at are aspects of the full moon to placements in the natal chart with a focus on the personal planets (the sun through mars) You will only want to focus on those aspects within two degrees either way of the full moon placement.  

• Any planet +/- 2 degrees in the same sign are conjunct each other
• Any planet +/- 2 degrees 6 signs away are in opposition to each other
• Any planet +/- 2 degrees 3 signs away are square to each other
• Any planet +/- 2 degrees 4 signs away are trine to each other
• Any planet +/- 2 degrees 2 signs away are sextile to each other.  

Aspects are thought to be either “hard” (difficult) or “soft” (easy).  Trines and Sextiles are soft, while conjunctions, oppositions, and squares are hard.  Soft aspects typically occur quickly and easily with little effort. Hard aspects bring challenges that help push us past our own personal boundaries and give us the impetus to achieve our goals.

• When the full moon conjuncts another planet, their energies are fused together. However, the moon carries more weight. The keyword for conjunctions is fused or blends.
• When the full moon is in opposition to another planet, their energies are challenging each other. We often identify with one planet and cast someone or something in our lives in the role of the opposing planet. Someone or something is doing something to you and it’s not your fault. The key word for oppositions is split or divided.
• When the full moon is square another planet a tension forms between the two planets and you are forced to take some kind of action. The keyword for squares is challenges or pushes
• When the full moon is trine another planet, things tend to occur easily and in a natural way. The keyword for trines is allows
• When the full moon is sextile another planet, it brings opportunities. The keyword for sextiles is coaxes.

Keeping in mind that the Full Moon in September 2018 is at 2 degrees Aries, look at your natal chart for any planets which are 0 - 4 degrees in any given sign. Using Chris’s chart above we see that the following placements falls within this range:

• Mercury is at 4 degrees Cancer and 3 signs apart (square)
• Jupiter is at 0 degrees Libra and 6 signs apart (opposition)
• Saturn is at 3 degrees Libra  and 6 signs apart (opposition)

However, we will ignore Jupiter and Saturn because they are not personal planets.

Interpreting Aspects

In order to interpret the aspects between the planet will will use our keywords to help build up sentences.

• Moon (I Feel) Square (Tension)  Mercury (I think)  

The struggle between feelings and thoughts is externalized. You may be opinionated and prone to sharing your thoughts and feelings with others without any regard to how they feel.

Putting it All Together

Next we will take all the information we have gathered and put it together

• The area of home, family and issues of personal privacy are being activated by this full moon.
• For Chris full moons begin with the desire to escape and nurture himself (12th house) and culminate with his shared resources (8th Houses)  and this particular full moon’s action will take place in and around his home and family. (the fourth house)
• Chris’ transit full moon is square his natal mercury so he may push his thoughts and options on others without taking their thoughts and opinions into consideration. He may be prone to outbursts where he tells others how they should think or act. Again because the full moon occurs in his fourth house, these outbursts may be triggered by anyone encroaching on his personal privacy.
• Because the full moon takes place in an angular house, these events will manifest in a fairly public and straight-forward manner.
• Chris he may experience some kind of conflict between issues of home and family (moon in the 4th house) and his career (sun in the 10th house)

The Final Interpretation

On or around the full moon on September 24th, Chris may experience some kind of conflict or divide between issues of home / family and his career.  For example, he may feel pulled in two directions where on one hand his ego may want to complete a project related to his career while on the other hand he may feel the need for more rest and down time spent with his family or at home alone. Anyone or anything that violates his privacy or invades his personal space may trigger outbursts in which he tells others how they should think or act and again, this will likely be related to the invasion of his privacy and violation of his personal space. These events may play out in a fairly public manner.  

Where does the Full Moon in Libra  fall in your Natal Chart and how will it affect you this month?

Carolina Dean