October Full Moon Sunday 9th October 09:54 PM GMT 2022

The focus of this full moon, the famed Hunter’s Moon, is relationships and how we relate to others. Astrologically it falls in Aries and is conjunct Chiron. Chiron is an asteroid denoting healing and wounding. It is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek Myth and means ‘hand’ (it is where the words surgery and chiropractor originate). Although Chiron was sired by Cronus, he was raised by Apollo and Artemis and taught the healing arts, poetry and music, and was renowned for being the wisest and noblest of the Centaurs. Chiron went on to become a mentor for the most famous Greek heroes, including Achilles, Jason and Asclepius. He met his demise after Herakles accidently shot him with a poisoned arrow during one of his labours (in some versions of this myth, Herakles is given the poison for the arrows by Chiron). Unable to heal his own wound, he surrenders his own immortality.

Chiron often represents healing, being wounded and/or being saddled with a wound that will not heal. In the Greek myths, Artemis represents the Moon as well as archery and hunting. Chiron and the Moon this month are both in Aries, the sign of the warrior. So, the archetypal energy of the Hunter and Warrior are very strong this month.

Opposite these two are the Sun conjunct Venus, and they are both in Libra. Libra likes harmony, diplomacy and balance in all things. With Venus, the ruler of Libra, here this tendency is doubled. With Venus and the Sun together, there will be a desire for sociability, enjoying oneself and the finer things in life, in good company. However, the Moon, together with Chiron, is in warrior mode. The Moon in Aries often denotes sudden and unexpected flare-ups of emotion and sensitivity. Together with Chiron, we can expect past hurts and grievances to come into play. I expect that over the course of the next two weeks we will find ourselves either in the Sun sociability camp, or the Moon’s emotional outbursts camp. Whatever side you fall on (and I expect most people will see-saw between the two, as we are in the time of the Scales), the challenge is to acknowledge the view of the other side. So, for those of you that feel sociable and just want everyone to get along, expect some intense, deep conversations and that they are necessary. Similarly, for those that are more Moon-aligned and feel as if they are bursting to get things off their chest in some way, recognise that those not feeling things as intensely as you still want resolution and harmony. A delicate balance can potentially be struck at this time, between letting the warrior energy storm the barricades without razing metaphorical cities – in this case our relationships to the ground. Basically, there is an underlying desire for peace and harmony this month, but people will have different ideas of how to get there. The difficulty is Libra energy can become passive-aggressive and dismissive when threatened, which infuriates Aries. On the other hand, Aries can be too forceful and blunt, which upsets Libra’s delicate sensibilities. Each needs to try and understand the other. Libra needs to remember that sometimes awkward confrontation is the best and quickest way to restore balance and harmony.

This theme is reflected as well as further clarified by a Jupiter/ Mercury opposition, nearby to where the Sun and Moon oppose. Jupiter is in early Aries and using a wide orb is conjunct Neptune in late Aries. They oppose Mercury in late Virgo. Jupiter likes growth and in Aries likes to take over. The wide conjunction with Neptune suggests not only a tendency to be overly idealistic and perhaps a tad self-absorbed, but also caught up in the emotional whirl going on in Aries and not focused on the practical, mundane details, which Mercury represents in late Virgo. It’s going to be an emotional time over the next couple of weeks, so discussing the spectrum of energy available will help people get back into balance most quickly, which is the purpose of the next couple of weeks, especially until the Sun moves into Scorpio.

Fortunately, this full moon we have a lovely grand air trine which makes some very supportive aspects to these oppositions and takes the edges off them, so to speak. Mars in Gemini, Sun and Venus in Libra, and Saturn in Aquarius are all very masculine, action-orientated planets, so it will be easy to develop strategies this month as to how to move forwards in relationships and working with others. It may not be possible to see any tangible results yet, due to this being an air trine, but it’s a good time to network, have honest conversations/clear the air and start building new ideas for the future.

Saturn is important this month as it is sextile the Moon and trines the Sun, so it draws out a lot of the tension in the Sun/Moon opposition. If you are having any relationship issues, working towards common future goals is a good thing to focus on right now. Similarly, Pluto also helps mitigate the Mercury/Jupiter opposition as it is sextile Jupiter and trines Mercury. This aspect encourages us to develop good communication with our innermost feelings and desires and to ‘know thyself’. This is because ultimately what we deal with in our relationships is an aspect of our own thoughts and feelings about ourselves reflected back to us. Supportive Pluto aspects are always good for clearing the air, clearing out and regaining personal power.

The Sun/Venus are quincuncx Uranus and this aspect has a bit of a wildcard/maverick energy. Uranus is often off the wall and unpredictable at the best of times, but this aspect suggests to me that we would do well to allow any relationship tensions to play out, otherwise such tensions will come out in weird and capricious ways that are not easily dealt with. We are being asked to clear any relationship tension as much as we can so that balance is restored. That is what this month is all about. Stand firm on both sides of Libra for this lunation, aim for diplomacy and fairness in all dealings, but be prepared to defend yourself if needs be.

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