At night we sometimes sleep with the curtains open, allowing the moonlight into our bedroom. Moon-bathing under her silvery mystical rays can be calming, healing, soothing. But sometimes the full moon’s energy has an opposite effect; instead of a soothing lullaby, she enlivens the night air with an electric feel, making it impossible to sleep. Last night was one of those nights of restless kids, cats, lovers. The kids stayed on the computer and in animated conversation well into the wee hours; our normally snuggle loving cat stubbornly refused to crawl into bed and stationed himself next to the window. With pupils dilated, Obi looked expectantly upward to the night sky because, who knows, anything could happen – a squirrel or bat or owl might fly through the window! – and he didn’t want to miss out on that surprise. 

The Sun’s summertime passage through Leo is conducive to entertaining, performing, having fun, offering our creative seeds and talents to the world, but life doesn’t always oblige our desire for playtime and playmates and mid-summer lethargy and boredom prompt a sort of summer restlessness that only an Aquarius Full Moon can shake off. Aquarius Full Moon spices things up with an unexpected surprise or shock. We need to take our own pulse, feel our heartbeat, to be startled into the present, to become a child again. Remember the shock, joy and thrill of running through sprinklers as a kid? That’s the Water-Bearer pouring starry-eyed visionary water over us, making the world new again- one unexpected thrill at a time.

Nature’s periodic renewal during the height of summer extends back to ancient Egypt. Every year at this time, melting winter snow and summer rain flows from the Ethiopian Mountains into the Nile River. Ancient Egyptians would hope for the best, yet plan for the unexpected. Too high a flood from their river, and villages would be destroyed; too low a flood, and the land would turn to dust and bring famine. One flood in five was either too low or too high, so if you were living at Egypt at that time (now, dams control flooding) you just never knew what the season would bring – prosperity and abundance, or famine and devastation.  The Nile has even more parallels with Aquarius. Just as the Nile river’s water flow is inverted, water flows up from south to north (Egypt is south of the equator) Uranus irregularly rotates on it’s side like a spinning top, making the question of what’s up or down irrelevant. There’s nothing regular or predictable about the archetype of Aquarius.

When we receive a Uranus transit, there is a cosmic law at work: we’ve veered so far away from our individuality or our True North that an extended period of disruption is necessary to rediscover or reinvent our self more truly. Our habits have calcified so that in order to progress (and eventually prosper) an extreme system reset is necessary. Inventiveness, experimentation, and willingness to try new things all help. Uranus transits bring raw, untamed energy, often re-introducing instincts that have been so buried they feel chaotic & unfamiliar but  when followed leads to a newfound sense of freedom and authenticity. If this period of prolonged instability and change is hard for you, ask yourself: What if I regarded the volatile periods of life, times when my inner compass spins so wildly I can’t tell North from South, as a call to realign with my natural instincts? Would knowing the treasure of self-discovery is close at hand make this uncertainty bearable -hopeful even?

The Water-Bearer bears water (change), bringing the sparkling clarity of fresh perception. We can reinvigorate our self-awareness by aligning with what’s changing and what has changed, within us and without. We might even surprise our self with our own unpredictability–doing something “out of character” may be called for. One of the wondrous things about life is it’s delightful unpredictability. What delightful creature will fly through the moonlit window?  A piece of information, an idea, a new awareness moon dances across the light of every Aquarius Full Moon. This full moon, we might plan, as our Egyptian ancestors once did, for an abundant future while being flexible enough to accommodate unexpected changes. May our surprises enliven us, awaken our wild-eyed love for life, and remind us to live each day to the fullest.