Sign Ruler: Saturn Decan Rulers: Aquarius II Mercury and MercuryKeywords from Wild Way Oracle: Known and Unknown, Liminality, Open Mindedness
Tarot Correspondence: 6 of Swords
This lunation asks you one burning question: What truth are you ready to translate from vision into form? Must you leave something old behind to do so?
How comfortable are you in liminal places, those places and spaces in between? Doorways, corridors, passageways, bridges, stations, airports, foyers. Do you rush through them, ear buds in, head down, barely noticing the signs and symbols around you, or can you see them in a new light. They can be deeply magical, these spaces of interaction, crossing paths and sliding doors. What might you find when you pause, look up and wonder. Join me to seek the stardust in this lunation and find how it can help you.
Aquarius - Fixed Yang Air
Aquarius is often described as the sign of the outsider or the innovator, it is a sign of paradox. It is the fixed air sign, idealistic, mentally focused, and enduring, and yet its symbol is the Water Bearer. The bearer has one foot planted firmly on the earth, with one in the water, symbolising the ability of Aquarius to bridge the spiritual and material realms. Ruled by Saturn, the farthest out of the 7 traditional planets that Hellenistic Astrologers work with, also thought to be the closest to the Divine.
Aquarius seeks to replace old structures with future focused innovation and long-term vision, always with one eye on the well being of the collective. It is also the place where the Sun is in exile and struggles, far from home. There is no concentration of power on one individual here, individual ego expression is challenged, progression and status is awarded on merit and achievement.
Aquarius looks through the lens of the big picture, it needs to see the whole system, the collective trajectory, and the innovation needed to evolve. It is masculine or yang in quality, meaning that Aquarius directs its energy outward, seeking to change, invent, and reform the world around them. That change works best when it is built on Saturnine foundations of discipline and truth.
Aquarius Full Moon Family
Full Moons illuminate what was seeded either 2 weeks ago at the New Moon in Leo or six months ago at the New Moon in Aquarius, bringing the themes which have been growing with the Moon’s light to a visible peak. The Moon is opposite the Sun and fully illuminated by, and reflecting the Sun’s light. Symbolically, this shows how clarity and visibility of our concerns are also illuminated. It can be a tense time, many experience disruption or difficulty sleeping.
Symbolically, this is a time of:
* Culmination or fruition
* Clarity, insight or realisation
* Sometimes confrontation, crisis or release
They invite us to pause and see what has become of the seeds planted at the previous New Moon, maybe through ritual, journaling, reflection, drawing tarot cards for guidance, or just sit a moment and bathe in the light of the Moon.
They also mark the third phase of a longer 27-month Moon family cycle, a concept developed by Dietrich Pessin in Lunar Shadows III.
* This Full Moon is part of the Aquarius Moon family that began on 9 February 2024 at 20° Aquarius.
* The First Quarter arrived on 9 November 2024 at 17° Aquarius, calling for action and testing our progress and direction.
* This Full Moon at 16°59' now shows us clearly what has grown, and what still needs tending.
* The final Last Quarter will come on 9 May 2026 at 19° Aquarius, when we must decide what to keep for the next cycle and what we are ready to release.
For those with planets or angles within 14–22° of the fixed signs, Aquarius, Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, this is more likely to be impactful. Make a note of the dates, or check back in your journal or photos to see if the New Moon and first Quarter Moon dates tell you the first parts of the story.
Also, those with prominent Saturn, for example as their Lord of the year or ruler of their Solar Return ascendant, or if you have planets or angles in the Air trilogy at those degrees, Aquarius, Gemini and Libra.
You may now feel the urge to review decisions or pivot toward a goal initiated in February 2024. Do you know what house Aquarius is in for your Natal (Birth) chart? This will tell you more about what themes might arise? An astrologer or Astro Coach can help you explore this further. You can book a reading with me here.
I have YouTube videos you can watch to learn how to cast a chart and identify the houses so you can clarify what themes to expect. My Astro Coaching workbook will help you work and co create with the lunations.
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Aquarius II: The Decan of Liminal Places
This lunation shines from the second decan of Aquarius, ruled by Mercury in both the Chaldean and triplicity systems. Mercury is the Messenger planet who rules how we think, rules translation, communication, borders, and commerce. With Mercury still retrograde in Leo, just days away from stationing direct on 11 August, we might find we are caught in a moment of inner recalibration. What needs to be reworded? What needs to be said more clearly, from the heart?
Austin Coppock names this decan Heaven and Earth he writes that this is a place “of independence of living and becoming according to one’s principles” and that we may “connect worlds without becoming beholden to them”. This is how we see the water bearer connecting the two worlds or realities, and yet not fully belonging to either. Think of a bridge, it is rarely a destination in itself, more often a helpful way that assists us to find a simpler route from A to B.
Kira Ryberg calls it Translation, she emphasises “understanding is a core concept of what Mercury is all about…it does not merely signify speaking and listening, but also the ability to comprehend what someone else is trying to express”. In this decan, she suggests that those with natal placements here eventually “might take the place of the guide, having travelled the route enough times to confidently know how to navigate their own way through”
Both evoke the need to bridge two worlds, ideal and actual, thoughts and matter, divine and human, visionary and practical. This is the decan of the translator, the code-switcher, the communicator who knows how to turn insight into action and can act to guide others.
The Wild Way Oracle’s card for Aquarius II is “Spaces In Between,” featuring a jay navigating the liminal zones of the known and unknown. It carries the caduceus, a symbol of Mercury, the planet who turns retrograde the most frequently, and thus regularly travels between borders and between worlds, as a psychopomp.
It asks us to remain open-minded, to hold ambiguity with grace, and to think outside the lines we’ve drawn. This is not a time for fixed assumptions. The medicine of the in-between lies in its creative potential. We find unique perspectives and innovative thought here which can help us think out of the box, to leave the old and create an inventive approach to our questions.
The Wild Way Guide gifts us the keywords for this decan:
Known and Unknown; Liminality; Open Mindedness
What do these words bring up for you at this time? Where might an open mind be more helpful for you? Can you stay comfortably with the unknown in the liminal places?
Tarot: 6 of Swords – Peace in Motion
The tarot correspondence for this decan is the 6 of Swords. On this card we see three figures in a boat, one is the ferryman and the others, the passengers, one a small child, looked hunched and exhausted. They appear to be moving from rough waters towards calm.
Swords, symbols of thought and struggle, are carried with them, but there is a sense of peace in motion. We are journeying away from mental conflict, carrying hard-won wisdom across an inner sea. The card speaks to emotional processing, transitional space, and the hope of safe passage.
T. Susan Chang, Dreaming the Decans: Seeking Stardust
T. Susan Chang’s verses deepen this imagery:
“O psychopomp, we are alone.Conduct me safe through the unknown.Together we shall navigateWhere patterns spin and constellate.”
“Troubles past have made me wiseHelp me traverse this bridge of sighs.Looking out towards what will be,I seek the stardust in the sea.”
Aspects: The Astrological Conversation
This full moon is framed by separate, but impactful astrological conversations.
* The Leo Sun, strong in its domicile or home sign, sits opposite the Moon in Aquarius. Mercury, decan ruler, is retrograde in Leo but preparing to station, this may bring reflection on identity and voice, with a slowly emerging readiness to speak or act more clearly. Insights may be delayed until after the Mercury station on 11th August.
* The Aquarius Moon forms a harmonious whole sign sextile to Saturn and Neptune in Aries. Retrograde Saturn offers the opportunity of stability and long-term framing of our identity while Neptune, the dissolver and dreamer, softens our ideals, helping us imagine new futures. The Moon also trines Mars in Libra, encouraging ease of movement through collaboration, diplomacy, and balanced assertion.
We also find the sky has other stories to tell.
* Mars is preoccupied by a series of intense oppositions and trines. On the day of the full moon, Mars in Libra opposes Saturn in Aries, followed by Neptune. The Saturn-Mars opposition is exact at 01°20’, intensifying themes of disciplined action, effort against limitation, or struggle for control. This can be productive for us individually when focused, but exhausting or demoralising when repressed. The combination of the hot, fiery planet opposite the coldest planet creates a gas and brake, stop/go confusion. The opposition to Neptune dissolves Mars’ edge, blunts the sword, offering surrender or spiritualisation of struggle, but also possible confusion, weakness, or loss of direction and motivation.
* On the following day, Mars forms a trine to Pluto in Aquarius. This aspect offers catharsis, transformation, and potent, regenerative force. Now, we are asked to dig into the roots of our desire and willpower. Something powerful can be seen, but it may also expose what we’ve tried to avoid or sweep under the rug. This is the volcanic force beneath the still waters of the 6 of Swords, what lies under the calm can rise in force. Pluto might demand honest answers to the question:
What do you fight for, and why?
Which brings us back to the burning question of this Full Moon:
What truth are you ready to translate from vision into form? Must you leave something old behind to do so?
The Aquarius Moon asks us to let go of ideas that we have outgrown and trust the wisdom that emerges when we surrender to the unknown and can stop the illusion that we have the answer. Mercury’s station direct, on the 11th offers a turning point. It might be that truths we have rehearsed internally, or the reflections we have gained during the retrograde, are almost ready to speak themselves into being, or be put into action. Moving in an Aquarian way from one realm to another. With Mars triggering intense forces of the Outer Planets, there is the potential we are being reshaped from the inside out, this may be a more subtle process, hard to identify and name just yet.
Journal Prompts
* What message or insight have I received lately that still feels hard to put into words?
* Where am I navigating “in between” space, can I hold it with curiosity and open mindedness?
* What does the boat, or the water, in the 6 of Swords represent in my life right now?
* What do I need to leave behind to continue my inner journey?
Astro-Coaching Suggestions
* Reflect on the Aquarius Moon family cycle if it impacts you. Can you identify what has changed and grown since February 2024?
* Make space this week to write a vision statement. This is not a goal list, but think of it as a philosophical compass, guiding your boat into calmer waters, seeking the stardust. Allow Mercury to shape your words.
* Practice comfort in liminal spaces. Schedule time this week for quiet mind-wandering, journaling, automatic writing or dialogue with a trusted confidant. Notice where new ideas spark.
Ritual Suggestions
• Create a “translation altar” with symbolic items from two realms. Consider adding something from your past (a meaningful photo, a letter, a worn object) and something that represents your future (a symbol, a crystal, or image).• Identify a belief or identity you are ready to leave behind. Speak it into the air under the full moon allow time to pass while you practise comfort in the liminal space, and then speak aloud a truth you are ready to embrace.• Meditate with the image of a boat crossing water. Visualise the shores on either side and what they might represent for you. Let whatever needs to come to mind reveal itself, don’t push or steer the images, or thoughts that arise, maybe you hear a song. Stay open minded and relaxed to however you may receive insights.
And Finally…
This Full Moon in Aquarius is teaching us how to think differently by pausing between the known and the unknown. It encourages translation, of thought into action, of insight into innovation, of pain into wisdom. When Mercury stations and Mars meets Pluto, we may find ourselves called to speak from a deeper place.
“I seek the stardust in the sea.”Allow that line to guide you home to your own version of clarity having spent meaningful time in this liminal place and time.
The Spaces In Between are not empty when you have attuned your eyes to see and opened your mind, They are rich with possibilities that are unimaginable in the mundane world. What truth is asking to come through you now?
Travel well friends,
Sonia
Chapters
00:00 Translating Truths: The Aquarius Full Moon
03:00 The Liminal Spaces: Bridging Realities
10:37 Astrological Insights: Navigating the Full Moon
14:36 Reflection and Ritual: Embracing Change
#astrology #aquariusfullmoon #6ofswords #moonfamily
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Please do leave a comment below, I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences or questions.
References:
Bernadette Brady Star and Planet Combinations
AustinCoppock.com The Decans: Images and Applications
Dietrich Pessin Lunar Families III
KiraRyberg.com The 36 Decans
T Susan Chang Dreaming the Decans
The Wild Way Oracle deck and Oracle Book by Nicola Allan
