Notes on The Esoteric Approach to Full Moon Meditation
written by Peter Joy - co-facilitator of our monthly Full Moon Meditations
A few people have expressed concern about a discrepancy between the zodiac sign discussed at the monthly Full Moon meditations held at Fairfield Wellness and the actual zodiac sign placement of the Moon as discussed by other astrologers online or elsewhere. They have observed that during our meditations we discuss the zodiac sign opposite to the sign in which the Moon is placed at the time of the Full Moon. For example, the next Full Moon will occur locally at 10:22am on April 13th, 2025. (We will hold our meditation at Fairfield Wellness the day before at 7:15pm on April 10th, 2025). This meditation is being advertised as “Full Moon in Aries” and yet the Moon is actually placed in the opposite sign of Libra.
So why this contradiction? Rest assured it’s not a case of false advertising, nor is it due to ignorance on our part.
To answer this question, it helps to first look at what a Full Moon is from an astronomical perspective. As seen from Earth, a Full Moon can only occur when the Sun and Moon are 180 degrees apart. In other words, they form an opposition to each other with the Earth in the middle.
Sun ----------------------------------- Earth ----------------------------------- Moon
This means that at the time of the Full Moon, the Sun and Moon will always be in opposing signs. To return to the upcoming Full Moon on April 13th, we can see that it will occur across the Libra - Aries axis of the zodiac wheel.
(Sun in) Aries ------------------------------Earth ------------------------------ (Moon in) Libra
So astronomically, the Full Moon phenomenon is composed of three bodies. The Sun projects its rays towards the Earth creating daytime on one half of the globe and nighttime on the other. The Sun’s rays project beyond the Earth towards the Moon which reflects them back to the Earth giving the appearance of the full Moon in the nighttime sky. Astrologically, we note that the energies of two zodiac signs are brought into dialogue. In this example, Aries and Libra.
This highlights a certain bias in our thinking about astrology which tends towards focussing on individual components rather than larger patterns. This thinking is no doubt influenced by the movement in the early 20th century to bring astrology into the mass media by developing Sun sign columns in newspapers and magazines. These columns took the one element of a birth chart which could be (relatively) easily determined if someone knows their date of birth – the sign placement of the Sun. While the Sun plays an important role in an individual chart, to separate it out from the relationships (or angles) it forms to the other planetary bodies can create a distorted view of the bigger picture. We don’t see the energetic exchanges represented by the placement of the Sun in relation to the other planetary bodies. It’s a bit like standing 5cm in front of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. You will see a blur of yellow but you won’t be able to distinguish the larger shapes of the painting. You are simply too close to it and all you get is a distortion of the true form of the painting.
In Esoteric astrology and our Full Moon meditations we are trying to see the bigger picture. This means we are looking at the zodiac energies from a more global or humanitarian rather than an individual perspective. We ask ourselves questions such as “How is this particular zodiac energy manifesting in the world?” and “How can I contribute to the best, most inclusive manifestation of this energy?”
Another way of expressing this is to say that we are considering the phenomena of the Full Moon from a wholistic perspective; as an energetic pattern involving three planetary bodies – Sun, Moon and Earth.
The Sun is the source of life and the beating heart of the creative impulse within our universe. Understandably then, within the tradition of Esoteric astrology, it occupies an important role. As the late astrologer Alan Oken wrote, “the Sun is the source of physical consciousness – the self-conscious “I” and “the heart of the Sun stimulates and enlivens soul awareness”. The creative spiritual energy of the Sun can also be described as Love/Wisdom. This energy seeks to unite and bring people together through loving actions which benefit all. It is this impulse of Love/Wisdom which underlies all the 12 zodiac signs. The 12 signs represent the variety of ways in which Love/Wisdom may be expressed. For example, the air signs express themselves through mental energy and will seek to express Love/Wisdom through thought and the intellect. The water signs will express through the emotional body, the earth signs through the physical body and the fire signs through creative and inspirational impulses.
By contrast, in esoteric astrology the Moon is associated with the life of the personality. It has to do with deep emotional responses which are often driven by fear; our family conditioning and the ways in which we participate in mass consciousness rather than the consciously chosen acts of the individual. (The great toilet paper crisis during the pandemic of 2020 is an example of the mass consciousness in action!). The Moon gives an indication of the fears and behaviours which block us from truly expressing the creative solar energies which are the vehicle for Love/Wisdom.
As such, it is the zodiac sign placement of the Sun which assumes greater importance during our esoteric meditations. We seek to align ourselves mentally to this sign at the time of the Full Moon as a way of gaining insight into how we can increase our capacity to express Love/Wisdom and humanitarian acts through the lessons of each zodiac sign.
When we talk about a Full Moon in Aries esoteric meditation, it is probably more helpful to think of it this way:
The Full Moon which takes place while the Sun is passing through Aries and the Moon is passing through Libra.
This way we preserve the sense of the Full Moon as a larger pattern involving three planetary bodies and not just the single placement of the Moon in a specific sign. We highlight the importance of the Zodiac sign placement of the Sun – the creative source of our consciousness. Thirdly, we acknowledge the binary relationship of the Moon to the Sun and how it can give clues to the release of the personality traits and blocks which impede our full creative expression of Love/Wisdom.
If I can step back further to offer one final thought on an even larger pattern. Each of us as individuals actually have a connection with all the zodiac signs, no matter which signs are emphasised in our birth charts. The full moon meditations offer a great opportunity to heighten our awareness of each zodiac sign and its lessons as we work through the 12 months of the zodiacal year. As we do so, we increasingly resolve the conflicts and fears in our personality thereby releasing the greater expression of our Soul purpose – the expression of Love/Wisdom.