This Full Moon in practical Capricorn is called the Buck Moon, for the time of the year when male deer grow their antlers. It’s also called the Thunder Moon, named after the summer storms in the Northern Hemisphere. This Moon is also more extreme than others, occurring at a Major Lunar Standstill, a point that occurs every 18.6 years when the Moon is pulled to its most extreme inclination due to the Sun’s gravitational pull. You may find the Moon is at a very low (Southern) point in the sky around this time
Uranus in Gemini
The Big News is that just 3 days before this Full Moon the planet Uranus entered Gemini, for the first time in 84 years. The last time this happened was in 1941, at the beginnings of the US involvement in WW2. And the time before that was in 1859, just as events were brewing prior to the years of the US Civil War. And the time before that Uranus entered Gemini in 1775, the year before the US Declaration of Independence.
I’m certainly not doing any predictive casting here, and yet it stands to reason that Uranus in Gemini certainly brings in an historical period of great unrest. We can certainly see the antecedents of this already. Let’s break it down:
Gemini rules our thoughts, not necessarily our beliefs, but the thoughts that we generate day to day, including the information we gather, and the patterns and deductions we create out of that info, whether it’s “alternative facts[1]” or real events. Gemini is about the words we use and the meaning we give to them, and rules the media and all communications. It is ruled by the planet Mercury who is also Hermes, the god who takes messages between the worlds of spirit and humans. As such he is also associated with thievery, trickery and deception. The information of the heavens is not very compatible with logical, limited human brains and is often misconstrued – hence the difficulty of translating divine wisdom into mortal language and perceptions, as well as the human penchant for trying to make sound bites out of ineffable cosmic truths.
Uranus is the first of the three outer planets, including Neptune and Pluto. It is the first of the invisible planets to our naked eye, and thus is the beginning doorway representing the forces that are beyond human awareness, the subtle yet powerful cycles that are what we call historical trends. Uranus is the oddball planet, the only planet whose north/south axis faces the Sun rather than is mostly perpendicular to it. Astrologically it rules revolutionary thought and actions, sudden changes, and importantly, the urges for freedom. It’s also the higher octave of Mercury and since Mercury rules the nervous system of our human bodies, Uranus in Mercury’s sign of Gemini super-charges our electrical/nervous system, putting us all on high alert, high activity. But also this placement is capable of allowing us all to have greater access to universal truths, to inventiveness, to insights into solving our world’s problems.
And so you can see why at the beginning of Uranus’s entrance into Gemini, these are times where we long for change, and we want it now, and are willing to march for it and defend it (especially with Saturn and Neptune now in upstart Aries). Later on (2026 and beyond) as we absorb and integrate this new stage of activity and let go of old constraints, the electrical charge will begin to settle in us, and we will begin to enjoy new freedoms. But will it be freedom for all, or for just some, as in the past?
With Uranus’s ingress (entrance) into Gemini, all the outer planets have changed signs within the last year. This is huge, because Pluto can remain in a sign for 20 or more years, Neptune for 12, and Uranus for 7. And they rarely all change signs within the same year! (We can also throw in the fact that Saturn changed sign into Aries this year at the same time as Neptune went into that sign, bringing an extra accelerated shifting of events.)
The Magic Triangle
Outer planets are the bellwethers for changes in the zeitgeist. This last shifting of Uranus, however, is a bit different, as it creates a strong harmony amongst the three outer planets. Uranus will trine Pluto, and both Uranus and Pluto will sextile Neptune in Aries. This event will create a Magic Triangle of powerful transformative energies, and will be exact in July of 2026 and last through to the year 2028. Astrologers have been talking about this for some time as it indicates a major shift in mass consciousness, and part of the Great Turning that Joanna Macy has foretold. More on this later.
That this shifting has occurred at a Full Moon in Capricorn is symbolic of and points to a future that is screaming a need to steward the Earth. Capricorn is an earth sign, and deals with our need for conserving our resources, for becoming conscientious, and for re-organizing the ways in which we do business to meet the needs of the collective of humanity. Also in this Full Moon chart, Venus is conjoined with Uranus, both trine (harmonious 120˚ angle) to Pluto. This shows where regeneration needs to take place, through the ways in which we communicate the needs of the Feminine, within ourselves and the Mother Earth. Without the Feminine archetype, there is no birth, no life, no regeneration. No beginnings, just endings.
Wherever Uranus transits, its effects are to turn things upside down. With Uranus in Taurus 2018-25, its influence has shaken up our beliefs about our relationships to the Earth and brought about an even stronger awareness of our need for environmental protections[2]. Then came a reactionary phase toward the end of Uranus’s Taurus cycle, resulting in a last gasp to rescind the progresses made. Similar to this, Pluto’s last stretch in Capricorn, which took place during the last US election, brought about the reactionary regime we have now in place. Though the outer planets have shifted their emphases, there is almost always a reactionary phase of denial before progress settles into solidity. Unfortunately, many ask me when we will we see that progress, and I have been saying we will have to hold on till 2026 when that Magic Triangle’s magic gets stronger.
What’s Coming Up
Saturn will go retrograde on the 13th and Mercury will do its retrograde 5 days later on the 18th, ending on August 10th. Saturn retrograde may slow down some of the crazy hyperactivity that we’ve been experiencing with Saturn in Aries with way too much action and little forethought. Particularly since Neptune went retro on the 4th of July, this Mercury retro may feel more mentally fuzzy than usual. But we can use these retrograde periods to do a bit more internal work to clarify what our inner needs are, the primary one being (for all of us) to keep our connection to our internal Voice of Clarity swept clean of any detritus. Meditation, purposive quiet time, is not only crucial it’s critical in these times of so much loss and suffering planet-wide.
Last Thoughts
Capricorn Full Moon brings us to a place of clearing the decks and allowing for new practices to emerge. To cope with the stressors of our lives right now, we are urged to get more structured (Saturn rules Capricorn). Yet within that structuring we also need to blend in Capricorn’s polarity, which is the nurturing quality of Cancer, for a balanced self-discipline that is based upon self-care. By this I mean nurturing our soul with a practice of gratitude, with what I call “another day on Planet Earth”, a prayer to appreciate the gift of another day of living, another day of loving, another day of opportunity to bring some kind of peace and blessing to another human, or life form, and especially to the Earth beneath our feet.
[1] Remember Kellyanne Conway’s historical moment here?
[2] Witness Greta Thunberg’s address to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2018, starting a renewed movement of protests and strikes worldwide.