06 Apr The Best of Times and the Worst of Times ~ Full Moon in Libra – April 7th, 2020

On April 7th, 2020 there will be a Full Moon in the cardinal air sign of Libra, bringing the energies that were born at the New Moon in Aries to a climax.

The Full Moon in Libra is pregnant with paradox. Symbolized by the scales of justice, Libra represents perfect balance between light and dark. In the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, the scales of Libra symbolized the threshold between life and death.

Upon entering into the underworld, the souls of the deceased were said to be judged by the goddess Maat who used the scales of justice to weigh their hearts against the lightness of a feather. If their hearts were light, they were invited into eternity. But if their hearts were heavy with regret and cruelty, they were devoured by a terrifying beast.

This myth provides a glimpse into the foundational philosophy of the ancient Egyptians, who believed that the secret to eternal life was to remain lighthearted. Life may be full of suffering, but those whose hearts were free inherited eternity. 

At this moment in history, the world’s heart seems to have become very heavy. But as an air sign, one of the gifts of Libra is to lighten things up. To honor this Full Moon, find an opportunity to unburden your heart, letting go of some of the fears that are weighing you down.

You’ve probably heard that this global pandemic is unprecedented and that the economic consequences of this crisis will outdo any depression on record. Conversely, you may have heard that a New Earth is being born to support a New Age of humanity. Both sides of the scale are heavy with promise. However unique the circumstances, such paradoxical feelings about the fate of the world have arisen countless times throughout history.

As a reminder of this fact, consider the famous opening lines from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities which seem to perfectly capture the paradoxical quality of the moment.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

A Tale of Two Cities is about the class wars that erupted in Paris and London during the time of the French Revolution. As the opening paragraph describes, this was a paradoxical time of liberation and hope; suffering and despair. 

Beyond the duality of good and evil, A Tale of Two Cities describes how human evolution always arises from times of great paradox. The wisdom of this Full Moon in Libra reminds you that throughout history, the more extreme the darkness becomes, the more light that arrives to bring balance.

At the Libra Full Moon you will learn through great opposition and contrast. The scales of justice know that you can not understand hot unless you understand cold. And you can not truly appreciate prosperity without knowing austerity.

Ask yourself how much more you count your blessings as a result of the pressures that have recently emerged. And how much more sacred has freedom become now that you have been restricted?

Full Moons occur when the Moon opposes the Sun, offering a deeper reflection upon the energy of the zodiacal season. The Sun in Aries brings the gifts of cardinal fire, a sudden rush of blood to the head that flickers with renewed vitality. It is the heat of Aries that flushes your cheeks and awakens all the color and fragrance of the earth.

In the best of times, the season of Aries quivers with the joy of budding flowers and frolicking lambs. And in the worst of times, the hot blood of Aries directs its energy towards war.

In 2020, the season of Aries has had much of its spirit depressed by weeks of confinement, economic destruction, and the mass media’s rape and pillage of the collective psyche. 

Mars, the ruler of Aries, is currently transiting Aquarius and is making an exact square to Uranus in Taurus under this Full Moon. The urge to break out of confinement may become explosive. Wherever your mind has been chained by fear, you will experience a liberating breakthrough. Rather than simply being force fed information, you will seek out answers through independent means.

This war of the worlds has been waged through prophesies of doom, through threats of death, poverty, and totalitarianism. Most news stories right now could be headlined, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” 

The intensity of this climate of plague and pandemonium is also due to this Full Moon’s square to Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn. Their recent conjunction magnified the influence of Pluto, catalyzing an explosion of the collective’s most primal fears. And yet, Jupiter and Pluto represents the beginning of a purgative process, one that purifies all these poisoned and corrupted underworld rivers.

Looking once again to history, the great paradox of apocalyptic feelings during the blossom time of spring is nothing new. The great poet, T.S. Eliot wrote his masterpiece The Wasteland under similar conditions. Following the devastation of WWI, Eliot was committed to an asylum for severe depression. Socially isolated and feeling hopeless, he wrote:

“April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire…”.

Eliot experienced the spring as being cruel, the flowers mocking the memories of the dead. To someone in deep grief, winter seems to reflect the sadness. But the joy of spring seems totally out of place, a cruel irreverence to what has been lost. 

As mournful as The Wasteland may be, the transformational power of poetry is a means to unburden one’s heart from the heaviness that weighs it down. Eliot lightened his heart by offering his heap of broken images to the reader. Thus, in his confinement, he faced the end of his world with great courage using whatever voices, symbols and sounds were at his disposal to raise his lantern high.

The Wasteland fearlessly observes the ebb and flow of the tide upon the Plutonian shore, witnessing how ages and epochs rise and fall upon the waves.

At this Full Moon in Libra, poised between the best of times and the worst of times, remember that it is the horror of war that gives birth to the love of peace. And it is the power of art to uplift the spirit and shine the soul’s light even in the darkest times.

So now, at this Full Moon in Libra, let there be light.

Much Love,

Rachel