Full Moon 27º Aries October 20 8:56 am MT

Full Moon in Aries, Sun Conjunct Mars in Libra, T-Square Pluto

Happy full moon, my lovelies. I didn’t have a new moon post this cycle, because I needed to prioritize rest and self-care, but I wanted to touch on the power and intensity of this full moon—and how to best use its energy for your creative cycles.

This full moon is in Aries, sitting across from the sun (and Mars) in Libra. The Aries-Libra axis centers on self vs. others—on the balance between the individual (Aries) and the relationship (Libra), so you may find these themes playing out in your personal life. Especially in the pendulum swing between finding and maintaining a strong sense of self, while also adapting to and compromising with others. How do we retain our authentic individuality while also co-existing in relationship?

This full moon is a powerful—I mean powerful—time for release and for transformation. It will also bring a lot of intensity and an impulsive desire to act, and act now (occurring in the action-oriented sign of Aries, with Mars, planet of both aggression and getting shit done, in the mix to boot).

There’s a lot of surface-movement energy afoot—but beneath that, the real current, the undertow under-pining all the tumult, is the deep, transformational, evolve-or-be-destroyed tide of Pluto’s underworld.

Pluto has a LOT to say in the astrological weather of the week, so get your umbrella ready for intensity, deep excavation and brutal honesty.

With Pluto, and especially with this t-square to the sun (our identity, sense of self, the hero to your journey) and the moon (our deep feelings, subconscious, and childhood experiences), expect buried, repressed and denied emotions, ego states and habits to surface. Expect pain, traumas and generational patterns to be triggered.

And while this may not sound fun (and to be honest, Pluto gives no fucks whether it is), this is a powerful time to make real and lasting change—if (and this is a pretty big if), we’re willing to recognize, own and accept these parts of ourselves.

One of my favorite astrologers, Jessica Lanyadoo, spoke on her podcast about how, if we want to reach any real healing, we first have to accept whatever it is we want to heal. And that’s central to the deep work Pluto asks of us.

Pluto is not about “fixing” and Pluto is not about painting on a perfect face—Pluto is about taking off the mask, and doing the often excruciating work of real authenticity. Warts, scars, and all.

Pluto reminds us that we do not get to bypass our own pain—whether or not we caused that pain. And we don’t get to shirk responsibility for what we’ve done or become in response to our trauma or suffering.

But more importantly, we don’t get to reach healing by cutting off from our injured or “unloveable” parts and past—we only get there by acknowledging and taking ownership for all of it.

By accepting that it happened, that those parts of ourselves exist, that we do not get to leave them behind—but that through calling them back into the fold, by retrieving the selves we have abandoned along the way, we have the chance for authentic, deep and transformational change and evolution.

This is also happening on a collective level, and we’ve seen Pluto’s imprint in the past years with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction on January 12, 2020 (three days after the first reported death from Covid-19). These are, as scholar-astrologer Richard Tarnas calls them, “cycles of crisis and contraction,” times of tectonic upheaval, collapse and subsequent rebuilding. (The Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions were also part of this generational-shifting, and fell near important dates in the Black Lives Matter movements in 2020.)

This impact will continue, especially reverberating in the US as Pluto approaches the country’s natal Pluto for its Pluto return (a 250-year cycle where Pluto finally returns to the place it was in the sky when the “United States” declared independence as a nation). We’re in the midst of a reckoning, one with reverberations which will echo into the future, as one cycle ends and a new begins.

Mercury (+ More) Goes Direct!

You’re probably well aware (at least if this Mercury Retrograde was as much a doozy for you as it was for me), but Mercury was retrograde, and as of October 18th is direct again, huzzah! We’re still in the shadow, so there’s still time to finish up reviewing, rethinking and revamping any communication projects, but the energy is pulling forward again, so it’s time to start implementing these new or revised visions.

As well as Mercury, three outer planets stationed direct this month—Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter, those heavy-hitting planets that move slowly and tend to have larger, longer, societal and generational impact—so expect the momentum to shift and you may suddenly find that things that were languishing start to take form.

Just use this moment for your final review and decision on what and where you want to invest your energy and time.

How to Use the Full Moon for Your Creative Work

So how can we best use this energy, these astrological weather patterns? Well, as I said, work with the triggers that arise as best you can by trying to sit with rather than run, hide or further deny them.

See what levels of acceptance you can push into now. This is not a quick-fix kind of energy or endeavor. This is the long game. These are patterns and experiences we may wrestle with our entire lives. That doesn’t mean its not worth doing.

In your creative projects and life, use this full moon (+ Pluto) vibe to untangle and release stories, habits and triggers preventing or blocking your authentic self-expression. Again, this is a long-term process, but see if there’s a layer of fear (or something else?) you can shed with this full moon and the waning that will follow. Use the ritual and writing prompts below to guide you.

Full Moon Writing Prompts + Ritual

Full Moon in Aries Ritual

I’ll say it again, this is a powerful time for release. It’s so intense, in fact, that a little will go a very long way. So use this ritual sparingly, and really focus on what you’re absolutely ready to release. I highly recommend journaling to gain clarity before performing the ritual.

1. Light a black candle with one or more of the following stones: black tourmaline for protection and cleansing negative energy, obsidian for clearing subconscious blocks, onyx for grounding and shielding.

2. Journal on the following ideas (adapt them to your own needs as desired):

• What are some of the blockages that stop or derail your creative process?

• List or name some stories, beliefs, habits or patterns of being that get in the way of your authentic creative expression.

• Make a list of parts or versions of yourself you’ve had difficulty accepting, or have denied, repressed, disowned r abandoned.

• Freewrite on how you can move towards greater acceptance of one or more of these parts. Where can you find compassion and understanding for parts of yourself or your history you’d rather disown or pretend weren’t “yours”? What are ways you can reconnect with these past versions of yourself?

3. After some of this pre-writing, choose one part or version of yourself you’ve distanced or disowned that you are ready to accept (or begin the work to acceptance). Write it down in a word or phrase on a small strip of paper, with the words: “I accept _____.”

4. Now choose one blockage or story or habit you are ready to release in order to move closer to an authentic expression of yourself. Write this on a small strip of paper, with the words: “I release ____.”

5. Burn or tear up what you are ready to release before snuffing out your candle, or letting it burn itself out.

Writing Prompts for the Full Moon

Read the poem, “The Guest House” by Rumi. Then use the writing prompt below to explore the ideas further for yourself.

The Guest House

by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Writing Prompt:

Write a short poem or story about one or more “visitors” you’ve had to the guesthouse of your life. What have you learned from them—the experience or emotion? Whether or not it’s something you’d wish to repeat, are there gifts, lessons, wisdom from the experience, or ways in which it helped you become a more authentic or expanded version of yourself?

Important: There are traumatic and painful experiences we don’t need to appreciate, value or forgive. And accepting the injured and affected parts of ourselves does not equal consenting to the harm. If there are experiences you don’t want to try to find value in, that’s okay, you don’t have to. If there are experiences or parts of yourself you do want to try to learn from, find value in, or come to a deeper level of understanding with, try this writing prompt with those.

Speculative Writing Prompt

Write about a world (or ours), where when people are emotionally scared or hurt, it shows up somehow in their physical being. And when they heal, that also manifests on their exterior body or somehow in the external world. Explore: how are the concepts of injury and healing handled differently (and/or the same) in such a world?

Photo by Stepan Kulyk on Unsplash