By Amanda Painter

Today the Sun enters Virgo, the last sign of the season, at 12:08 am EDT (4:08:27 UTC). It does so as we approach a Full Moon in Pisces (on Sunday) and Mars stationing direct in Capricorn (on Monday). If you’re feeling a little bit in flux, or like you’re not quite sure if you’re coming or going, or like your impulses keep switching, these combined events might describe that.

Unexpected action: a seagull photobombs the 2015 Pisces Full Moon over Casco Bay, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Think about it: right now we have a combination of energy loosening (the season winding down), energy peaking (the Full Moon), and energy that’s waiting in potential, like a charged battery (Mars stationary).

I am writing this with the Sun in the last degree of Leo, and must confess that the storied ‘edginess’ of the last degree of signs is feeling very real to me. The frustration and stuck-ness of stationary Mars is feeling all-too-real to me today (hello, writer’s block — really, more like ‘writer’s rebellion’: I just don’t wanna!). And while the Virgo-Pisces axis about to be lit up by this weekend’s Full Moon is a very creative axis of manifestation, I’m not feeling tapped into it yet.

I usually try to keep this column less personal and just about the astrology, but damn: this whole summer of retrogrades and eclipses and whatnot has been an interesting trip. I’m still processing and plotting and questioning and dreaming and scheming and trying not to back away from the possibilities that are being pointed to by what I’m discovering. Some days, like this one as I write, it’s taken a lot of effort to get my head out of my own navel and do my job. So I hope you’ll bear with me — even more, I hope that if you’ve had any moments like what I’m describing, you can take heart in knowing that you’re not alone.

Since I wrote a bit about the Sun entering Virgo in the ‘Monday Morning’ members’ mailing (sent Sunday night), I’m simply going to link to that essay here. With the three events I mentioned in the lead paragraph of this piece all happening so close together, perhaps we can think of them as phases of one large event: something loosening to allow something else to peak or be confronted, so that something else can actually get moving.

The Pisces Full Moon is the Moon in Pisces opposing the Virgo Sun: an aspect that usually relates to some kind of interpersonal meeting, confrontation or stuck situation. As I read in Planet Waves once, a Pisces Full Moon means that a ‘spiritual approach’ to resolving deadlocks may work best — as in, try honest, loving, friendly communication. Since this Full Moon is exact at 7:56 am EDT (11:56:05 UTC) on Aug. 26, you might find that Saturday is when you feel the pressure (if any) the most, and then you may wake to a sense of having more wiggle room, or a softer tone, Sunday morning.

At least, that may be the case in terms of interpersonal interactions. With Mars still retrograde until its official station direct — at 10:05 am EDT (14:04:52 UTC) on Aug. 27 — it’s possible that inner tension will persist a bit longer.

For Saturday’s Written in the Planets in the Four Winds newsletter, I wrote: “You might think of Mars right now as being kind of like all the horses stamping their feet inside those little pens at the starting gate of a race: pent-up energy that is just waiting for the ability to charge ahead. Yet there’s still a little time left to wait — and even when the gate opens, there’s really no big rush.”

If the planet of desire, ambition, motivation, anger, aggression, physical exertion and libido being retrograde has made you feel like you’ve been pacing for the last two months, it’s no wonder if you Just. Want. To. Get. Moving. Already. Chances are, being able to will feel really good — like finally getting to stand up and walk around after having to sit for a few hours.

Yet, while Mars stationing direct will give a long-awaited green light on bigger projects and ambitions, there’s much to be said for preparation: for getting some of the details sorted; for making initial inquiries; for noticing habits that could get in your way and beginning to shift them; for seeking out fresh inspiration, new potential collaborators or a cheerleader whom you can trust will have your back and push you as needed.

In that regard, I find a particular feature of the Full Moon and Mars direct charts especially intriguing: the presence of grand trines in the fire and earth signs.

In fire, we have Eris in Aries trine Pallas in Leo, trine Vesta in Sagittarius. (Also interacting with this pattern is Haumea in Libra — an air sign: a dwarf planet named after a Hawaiian fertility goddess who gave birth from many parts of her body.) You might want to see how your heart-wisdom can feed your sense of single-focused devotion, and how that in turn can light up some part of you that you tend to ignore, but which could be powerful. Haumea seems to suggest that you not worry if this process does not look ‘traditional’: our most interesting creative children often emerge through unusual means.

In Monday’s piece, I mentioned a grand earth trine that will actually be exact Saturday: the Virgo Sun (and hypothetical point Transpluto), Saturn in Capricorn, and Uranus in Taurus. I learned today that in addition to being about self-criticism, Transpluto in Virgo can also relate to holistic integration.

That means you have some choice in how you use this energy, and exercising that choice necessitates staying conscious of any negative, self-defeating thought-loops. Mental energy is still energy; it’s up to you to direct it away from burning itself up, and instead channel it into some practical-yet-inventive work. This grand earth trine definitely relates to the preparation you can do as Mars prepares to station direct.

I’m well aware that standing on the verge of a vision, a big plan, a long-denied desire, an unexpected opportunity or a new realization tends to evoke one of two responses: either full-on excitement to get going with it, or sheer terror of the change it will entail (or of the possibility of failing). Yet this Sun-Saturn-Uranus grand trine is so grounded, and such a beautiful balance of inventiveness/intuition and practicality/structure, I suspect that even modest steps have some manifestation power to them currently. Heck, even just hitting on a brand-new way to clean your house could be satisfying — and open some literal and metaphorical space for your next steps.

Finally, Mars in Capricorn is itself in a looser grand trine in the earth signs, with Ceres in Virgo and Juno in Taurus. This one has been a little tougher for me to read; and since it’s less exact, might not be as palpable. But there seems to be something here about one’s work ethic or ambition operating in harmony with the nourishing quality of service, and in harmony with one’s relationship values.

I think, perhaps, it relates back to those thoughts about the Pisces Full Moon: taking a ‘spiritual’ approach. No matter what it is you want to accomplish, can you do it with friendly, loving, honest communication? If you can, it should be clear that the highest good of all is being served. Let’s get on with it, shall we?