Rebel Heart: The Full Moon in Aquarius

On August 9th, the Full Moon in Aquarius rises like a spark in the night, a pulse of electricity through the sky, stirring our inner rebel to life. It’s a lunation that calls for authenticity, freedom, and bold vision, illuminating the tension between individual freedom and collective belonging.

Arriving just after the Leo New Moon, with the Sun still blazing in Leo, this Full Moon holds us in the vibrant heat of Leo season. The Leo–Aquarius axis represents a dance between self and society, “me” and “we”; it means we stand at a powerful threshold, where personal fire meets the call of the collective.

Aquarius energy challenges the status quo. It urges us to break free from old patterns and outdated expectations, and to think about the future, one that values individuality over conformity and collective progress over personal gain. Leo, on the other hand, calls us back to our heart: to self-expression, passion, and unapologetic presence.

Together, they create a cosmic axis of authenticity. Leo roars, “This is me,” while Aquarius whispers, “This is us.”

This Full Moon invites you to embody both: lead with love, rebel with purpose, and align head with heart.

As the Full Moon rises, consider:

·        Where have you been holding back your light to fit in?

·        Where can your truth serve not only yourself, but something bigger?

Now is the time to shine with soul and stand for what sets you free. The rebel heart doesn’t just defy, it dreams beyond boundaries, and dares to build something better.

Catch and Release: The Wisdom of the Sturgeon

This moon is also known as the Sturgeon Moon, named after the ancient, resilient fish that stirs in deep waters. Its name is thought to derive from the German stören, to poke or rummage, reflecting the sturgeon’s habit of searching through the muddy lakebed for food.

Sturgeon rise closer to the surface in August, where they can be more easily caught, and if ever there was a metaphor for the emotional work of a Full Moon, this is it. Full Moons bring illumination, surfacing what’s been buried. Therefore, this Full Moon, we are encouraged to embrace our inner sturgeon, and that’s a phrase I never expected to write!

Like the sturgeon, we’re invited to sift through our inner depths, uncovering what’s been dormant, stuck, or hidden in the mud of memory, and we get to choose what to keep and what to release.

The Aquarian flavour to this sturgeon moon speaks to reconnecting with soul-deep wisdom, the kind that has stood the test of time, and to consider how this might inform a future not yet imagined. We are invited to ground ourselves in our ancestral and cultural wisdoms while simultaneously swimming upstream against convention, in an ever-changing world.

Under this moon, consider:

·        What truths are surfacing that you’ve long buried?

·        What old patterns or identities are ready to be released?

·        What still aligns with the truth of who you are now?

This lunation asks us to stir the silt, catch what still matters, and let the rest go.

The Visionary and the Engineer

The visionary and the engineer sounds like either the beginning of an epic adventure or the setup for a bad joke, a visionary and an engineer went into a bar…

However, it makes perfect sense when unpacking the complex nature of Aquarian energy.

Aquarius is a paradox. It embodies a dynamic notion of evolution through tension, a bridge builder between contradictory concepts. It is both deeply individual and fiercely collective; rooted in logic yet driven by vision; a builder of systems and a breaker of rules. Aquarius represents control and freedom, order and rebellion, tradition and progress, what is old and what is new.

It’s also governed by two contrasting rulers and charged with walking a careful tightrope between them.  Depending on whether you ascribe to traditional or contemporary astrology, or if you are like me and prefer to consider both options because they both have merit, the ruling planet changes.

On the one hand stands Wise Elder Saturn, an engineer and architect carrying a karmic blueprint, a teacher who plans with purpose and builds with legacy in mind. On the other hand is the wild-eyed awakener Uranus, cloaked in lightning, chaotic, visionary, inventive, and ready to bring on the revolution. Saturn calls for constraint and discipline, and Uranus tempts us with freedom and chaos. Yet, together, they form a strange alchemy built on polarity.

Aquarius walks between these forces and embodies them both: visionary and engineer, rebel and reformer, who also just happens to have a blueprint and a plan.

So, what does this have to do with the Full Moon and growth and transformation?

We all carry Aquarian energy, and therefore we all face the tension of reconciling the contradictory facets and forces within ourselves, in others, and the world around us.

This is not about choosing one side over the other. Growth lies in experiencing the tension and integrating opposites, not either/or, but both/and. In this way, we are all both genius and rebel, visionary and engineer.

This Full Moon asks:

• Where in your life do you need to embrace your individuality, and where do you seek deeper belonging?

• How can you carry your past without being bound by it?

• Where must you follow the rules, and where must you break them?

• How do you balance discipline and innovation in your personal growth?

  
  

Leading with Heart in Wild Community

Personal transformation is never just personal.  As a coach, and through my own inner work, I have come to trust that the deep work we do, the sometimes messy work of radical self-acceptance and inner truth-telling, creates a foundation for authentic leadership, the kind that serves, connects, and inspires.

Now, as someone without particularly strong placements in Aquarius, it may not surprise you to learn that I wasn’t exactly a rebellious child. Aside from wearing bright luminous socks and a lumberjack jacket to school to annoy my maths teacher, and a few things I won’t commit to writing. This may well be because I was lucky enough not to have much in my life I needed to rebel against, or my Capricorn Moon kept me pretty much on track.

However, I always resisted being boxed in, labelled, and categorised. I was seen as different, not radical, but definitely different. I thought differently, viewed the world differently, sought out the unusual and alternative paradigms or ways of doing things, and I fiercely defended both my own and others’ autonomy (hello Uranus in the First House).

As I graduated from loud socks to loud tights (still wearing them by the way, it became quite a “thing” with colleagues and my students), I realised that I had always questioned and challenged, I had never been afraid to rock the boat, and I always sought to do so with heart and intention. And when I found my cause? I led from the front, soul-first, yelling “freedom!” like a one-woman Braveheart.

Because no matter who we are, each of us holds an inner Aquarian spark, a rebel with a cause, and a visionary waiting to be heard. And each of us has an inner Leo, ready to remind us that we are all the main event in our own lives. A friend recently reminded me to reclaim my main character energy. And she’s right. If we’re all the leads in our lives, then we are all leaders in our world.

Leadership isn’t about taking the spotlight or holding power for the sake the performance, it’s about authentically showing up, embracing vulnerability, and living with courage. Especially now, with Mercury retrograde in Leo until around 11th August, we’re being invited to reflect on how we use our voice, to reimagine how we express, connect, and co-create.

It’s common to worry we’re too much, or not enough. To dim our light for safety. But leadership, in Aquarian terms, isn’t solo. It’s shared. It’s about co-creating a future greater than any one individual.

This Full Moon is also a call to not only lead but to find your people, the ones who see your brilliance, your weirdness, and your wildness, and welcome it.

You might reflect on:

• Where are you being called to lead, even if it feels uncomfortable or uncertain?

• How can you share your gifts without losing yourself or burning out?

• Are you leaning into the strength of connection, or trying to carry the load alone?

  
  

Remember, you’re not here to blend in or shrink. You’re here to shine in a way that inspires and liberates others to do the same.

Final thoughts

August’s full Moon in Aquarius energises us to connect with people near and far, to assess where we stand, and what brighter future we want to build together.  If you are anything like me, you know: we need that brighter future now more than ever.

But here’s the magic: we don’t have to choose between being true to ourselves and making a difference in the world: We can do both.

Aquarius brings objectivity, vision, and the courage to rebel. Leo brings authenticity, joy, and heart. Together, they urge us to live our truth, not in isolation, but in service to something greater

So let your weirdness, your wisdom, your wildness shine. Not everyone will understand it, but those who do? They’re your people.

And, if you only ask one question this Full Moon, let it be: How can I align my personal power to be the change I want to see in the world?