Pisces Full Moon: August 30
The Full Moon at 07°25 Pisces that peaks at 9:35PM on August 30, in a conjunction with retrograde Saturn at 03°33 Pisces, is shifting our reality. The soli-lunar spotlight on the God of Time in the sign of Eternity is forcing us to explore where our refusal to accept reality is delaying the dawning of a new day.
The paradox between the mundane that Virgo manages, and the mystery where Pisces resides, is heightened due to Mercury’s retrograde in Virgo, which began on August 23, and Saturn’s presence in Pisces. Saturn's job is to teach us how to achieve our goals through solid and sustained effort. Pisces is the poet prince of dreams who reminds us that without a soul centered focus, even the most successful life will ultimately feel meaningless. Pisces is the starving artist who would rather pawn their favorite family heirloom to keep painting than take a 9-5 job.
The amorphous nature of Pisces is fertile ground for all manner of magic, but it's also where we can get lost and drift aimlessly without realizing we’re going nowhere. Virgo brings needed practicality to balance the raw potentiality with a healthy dose of get ‘er done motivation. Saturn in Pisces is serving as a bridge between these two far flung points of view by inviting us to commit to a beautiful vision and work to make it real. Mercury retrograde in Virgo is revealing where the details are misaligned. The places where the data doesn’t add up to our foregone conclusions.
This is the first Virgo season that we’ve had to contend with Saturn’s ominous shadow across the waters, but it won’t be the last. Saturn transits Pisces from March 7, 2023 through February 15, 2026, with a brief foray into Aries for a big meeting with Neptune from May 25-September 1, 2025. The Pisces mission is to create something heavenly on earth–whatever you were most longing for during the long cold nights when Saturn was in Aquarius from March 2020-2023.
Now Saturn swims through Jupiter’s waters of wisdom seeking to heal through wild experimentation and unfettered imagination. Nothing is too trippy and bizarre for Pisces, but not all the fishes we find are friendly.
Pisces correlates to The Moon card in the tarot Major Arcana, which symbolizes the dangers of the nocturnal realm. The card has been described as a Full Moon, or an eclipse, that is situated between two pillars. Either way, it represents a heightened state of emotionality and what we fear will happen when feelings take primacy over logic (the ultimate Virgo nightmare). Below the Moon is a path flanked on either side by baying dogs, which leads towards dark distant mountains. A red crustacean emerges from a pool of water, representing the unexpected creatures that suddenly arise from our subconscious realms. Red is associated with Mars, the planet of conflict, and the dangers that cause emergency rooms become busier on full moons.
The Moon card has been interpreted as the dark night of the soul or the terror lurking under our bed. It signifies emotional experiences that force us to face our worst fears. We all know what it's like to cry ourselves to sleep or to be kept awake by hounding thoughts of impending doom. Saturn invokes our deep seated insecurities, doubts, and a sense of hopelessness, but faith is Jupiter’s speciality. Together, they are pulling off the covers of what we don’t want to look at, but are capable of dealing with so we don't have to be afraid of turning off the lights.
Saturn at this Jupiter ruled lunation is helping us to cultivate both the capacity to cope with scary stuff and the trust required to believe that things will work out. Hope is a discipline because we practice it even when we don’t want to and don’t see the point.
The Pisces Full Moon is offering solutions to problems that beset you just a month earlier. Mars in Virgo had us feeling frustrated about the limitations of time from July 10-August 27. The Moon in Virgo was conjunct Mars when it opposed Saturn at 06°20 Pisces on July 20, bringing us into confrontation with difficulty. Now Mercury is retrograde, creating little foibles and mishaps that help us to remember that life is about more important things than being productive.
Think back to the dreams you hatched at the Pisces New Moon on February 20, just weeks before Saturn arrived. Take a moment to consider how your spiritual life has become enriched since then. How the difficulties you’ve encountered have freed you of fear in some way. Saturn in Pisces wants us to enter the dream state open to the strange and beautiful creatures we find there. The parts of ourselves that we lost and are waiting to be recovered. This Pisces Full Moon is illuminating the barriers we have to living our dreams, but it is also illustrating the solutions in soft and subtle strokes.