“This above all: to thine own self be true. ”
-Polonius in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet (Act I, scene iii)
On Saturday, January 23rd, 2016 the Moon will be full in the sign of Leo, a fire sign traditionally ruled by the Sun: the light of all life! One of Shakespeare’s most famous lines from Hamlet is the perfect embodiment of what this full moon is really all about. Leo is the sign of the Self, most associated with the high notes of creative expression and charisma, as well as the darker notes of egomania and selfishness.
This Full Moon in Leo will cast a huge solar spotlight upon your subconscious, summoning the spirit of dramatic tension as you endeavor to be true to yourself.
There will be temptations and surges of overwhelming emotions, but the light of your own soul’s yearnings will guide you every step of the way.
Lulled into a state of openness by the warmth of Leo, whatever aspects of the psyche that have been hiding in the shadows will reveal themselves. If you are repressing desires, you will feel possessed by a voracious hunger for love, attention and pleasure. If there is unresolved jealousy or rage inside, your fangs will glint in the moonlight.
With the addition of another powerful transit, Mercury Rx conjunct Pluto, this Full Moon will bring a feeling of being lit up inside, filled with purpose, but heavily crowned. Your thoughts and words will not just skim the surface, but will be dredged up from deeper and darker places. The Plutonian influence over Mercury deeply magnifies hypnotic powers of seduction. Stay above reproach by meaning what you say and saying what you mean, no matter how tempting it might be to play games of manipulation.
The Plutonian influence over Mercury deeply magnifies hypnotic powers of seduction. Stay above reproach by meaning what you say and saying what you mean, no matter how tempting it might be to play games of manipulation.
Never doubt that Pluto conjunct Mercury retrograde on a Full Moon night may entice you to make promises you can not keep. You may recall what Hamlet wrote to Ophelia, though his actions never matched the beauty of his words and Ophelia’s life became a tragedy.
“Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.” – (Act II, scene ii)
This full moon will offer situations that cast you in the role of the grandiose protagonist, (filled with ethos, pathos, and light) who is shadowed by the infinite Universe that remains wholly indifferent to your struggle. You will feel exultant and eternal at the same time that you feel as dissolute as a shape-shifting cloud. These paradoxical feelings of vast importance and crushing insignificance are the tightened strings of melodrama that Leo so loves to play upon.
“Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
– Ophelia (Act IV, scene v)
The best way to discover the full potential of what you may become is to return to a childlike sense of “Me!”, which on a Full Moon night will be almost narcotic in its ability to alter your senses! Because Saturday night revelries tend to overflow with intoxicants, bear in mind that you are already starting out drunk on the romance self-exploration.
With so much intensity of feeling, some of your demons will surely come out to play trying to prod you into overwrought dramatic scenarios. Even if you are home alone, the inner world will feel considerably stirred up. Remember that Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy is spoken alone in the dark.
“To be, or not to be, — that is the question: —
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? — To die, to sleep…” – (Act III, scene i)
Luckily, the potential for danger will be greatly softened by stable Venus in Capricorn, who is strong enough to withstand many slings and arrows and who always remembers that when something seems too good to be true, it probably IS NOT true!
With Venus’ guiding wisdom, and the North Node conjunct Jupiter in Virgo, it is likely that whatever you feel you need to express will be highly therapeutic and in alignment with your desire for healing.
A highly benevolent conjunction in Virgo will use this Full Moon’s light as a catalyst to empower new studies, business ventures or health regimes. This weekend is a powerful opportunity to refresh your inspiration, weeding out anything that is suffocating your growth.
This Full Moon in Leo ultimately asks that you swell with so much passion that you exhaust the expression of Self, finally relinquishing control to a power which moves through you, shaping your experience in ways that YOU could never contrive. The sign of Leo is about developing the “Self” into an instrument that plays with life force, knowing courage, sexual vitality, and artistic genius to be like various rays of the same golden Sun.
As Hamlet says in the last Act:
“Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well
When our deep plots do pall, and that should learn us
There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.” (Act V, scene ii)
featured Image – Author’s own
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