In the early morning hours on Friday, July 31 at 3:43am PDT, we have a Full Moon in Aquarius. This is the second full moon of the month, and also corresponds with two new moons in Aquarius that happened earlier this year.
It can be a powerful weekend to clear and release what has been hindering your growth or squelching your freedom, and to assert your desires and your own wild nature, realigning with your inner will and knowledge. Individuality and original authenticity are emphasized.
Aquarius is a fixed air sign, ruled by the planet Uranus (modern ruler), the planet of change and unpredictability, the unconventional and disruption. It rules electricity and modern science as well as inventions. This sign is symbolized by the Water Bearer, pouring out the waters of wisdom and knowledge for humanity. When the moon is in Aquarius, a sign of rational thinking, logic, and humanitarianism, altruistic qualities are enhanced as well as intuition and imagination, sensitivity and heightened perception. Aquarius moon encourages more idealism, creativity, tolerance, a visionary outlook, but can also bring some unpredictability and aloofness, as well as a fixed opinion. This is the sign of the future, knowledge, clairvoyance, the unusual.
The Aquarius full moon is the second full moon of July. And even more importantly, it corresponds to two New Moons in Aquarius at the beginning of this year. So there will be some sense of completion or ending of a cycle that began during the new moons of the first of the year. The same day as the full moon, Venus, planet of love and worth, moves into Leo. And it is considered to be Lunar Lammas, the astrological Lammas, a time of gathering together. In addition, on this same day it is Guru Purnima, or the full moon of the guru, a time set aside to honor and celebrate our gurus, Teachers and teachers, the teachings and lineage we are aligned with, and the Adi Guru (supreme guru) and Guru Tattva (guru principle in the universe).
Celtic and Northern European Pagans celebrate Lammastide from sunset on August 1 until sunrise on August 2. This is a time to pause and remember the seeds sown, literally and figuratively. We savor the last long days of summer before reaping the fruits of our labor, the harvest. It is a time to reflect and offer gratitude, with themes around health, hearth and home. Lugh, the Sun god, is honored and the first grains are harvested and baked into a loaf of bread, seen as the bread of life. The grains symbolize the cycles of death and rebirth and those gods that die and are resurrected.
Throw into the fire your regrets and those things you are releasing from your heart or life. Contemplate what you want to harvest as summer begins to come to a close. Honor the mysteries and magic of this day. Have a feast to celebrate.