Tomorrow’s Full Moon takes place at 10:56 am EDT on April 9th in the sign of Libra, and will serve as a reminder to us that everything in life is a dance of polar opposites that need to be brought into balance.  Libra IS the sign of balance – of looking at both sides of the question, of bringing both sides of an argument into compromise.  We are well into the shadow now of the Full Moon as it moves into alignment to oppose the Aries Sun.

Balance and polar opposition is a key component to the astrological language.  The twelve zodiac signs are actually six pairs of polar opposites.  The need for peace and serenity of Taurus is balanced against the intensity and depth of Scorpio.  The craving for stimulation of Gemini is balanced against the Sagittarian need to find one truth rather than many. The Cancer need for a secure home life is balanced again the Capricornian striving for success in the world.   The development of the personal ego in Leo is balanced against the Aquarian desire to transcend the ego for the sake of community.  And the focus on mundane details of Virgo is balanced against the desire of Pisces to transcend such mundane details and instead experience the dissolving into an experience of divine majesty.

In the Full Moon, the Libra Moon is opposite the Aries Sun, creating a polarity that requires the balance between our ability to develop and fully a personal identity (Aries) with our ability to learn the compromises and adjustments that are required in order to forge successful relationships with others (Libra).  Individuals (like me) with a strong Libran component to their chart often feel that they are responsible for keeping the peace, and often give up their personal identity (Aries) in order to maintain relationships (Libra).  This kind of accommodation fails to bring about the balance that is required between the Self and the Other, and this is the test of this upcoming Full Moon.

But this is only one call to balance of this lunation (lunar event).  Venus, the planet that rules Libra and presides over relationships and issues of self-worth, is retrograding back to 0 degrees Aries.  While Venus has traveled through Aries it has brought up time and time again the necessity to balance our personal needs (Aries) with the need to compromise for our relationships (Venus).  In two days Venus will retrograde back into Pisces where it will temporarily release the call for better boundaries and encourage a creative flow in our lives instead.

In addition to relationships, Libra calls for a life of beauty that is free from the ugliness of suffering and darkness, and this is balanced by the courage of Aries to face the dim realities of life and do battle against injustice.  This Full Moon is also asking us to look within ourselves and learn to balance the emotional courage of Aries with the desire for peace and beauty of Libra. 

We also have the opposition between Mars (our drive and desires) to Saturn (limits and restrictions) which culminated last Sunday and is now separating.  This opposition has put the brakes on progress and reminded us of the need to balance what we want (Mars) with what is practical and reasonable for the moment (Saturn).

When we are balancing oppositions, it’s important to remember that neither end of the polarity is the correct one.  Both sides of the equation are equally useful to us, and it is the balance between them that is important.

This Full Moon is particularly personal to me as it falls right on my Libra Sun which is nestled in a tight conjunction between Saturn and Neptune and squared by Uranus.  Under the Full Moon influence, the instinctive reality that the Moon provides has a stronger voice than the conscious solar influence which is usually predominant.  

This is a time to listen to our instincts and our inner voice.  Traditionally the Full Moon has been a time for divination for this very reason.  So get out the Tarot cards and the Runes, and see what your inner self has to say!