The Meaning Of The Full Moon Actually Changes, Based On Each Zodiac Sign

As creatures made up of around 60% water, it should come as no shock that humans are deeply affected by the celestial body pushing and pulling the oceans’ tides. TikTok users sprinkling herbs and salts in a candle-lit, crystal-lined tub under the full moon aren’t just doing it for the aesthetics. Cultures across the globe have relied on the moon to track time, seasons, and energy for thousands of years, some even considering it a divine being. According to astrologers, if you understand the specific energy each of the eight lunar phases brings, you can work with it to your advantage. To simplify things, people generally look at the four primary phases: the new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter, with the new and full moon being the major players. The full moon meaning in astrology is one of the most frequented topics of discussion when it comes to lunations. Here’s everything to know about this peak phase and what to expect from it:

“Full moons are when the sun and the moon are opposite each other,” astrologer Indigo Witt tells Elite Daily. The moon is reflecting the sun’s light as it shines on it in a direct opposition aspect. This means the sign a full moon is in will be the opposing sign that the sun is in. For example, if it’s Cancer season, the full moon will be a Capricorn full moon.

The full moon meaning in astrology will be generally the same each month on a base level, but with unique additional energies depending on which sign it’s occurring in, the transits happening with other planets, as well as where in your specific birth chart it’s activating.

What Does A Full Moon Represent?

There’s a reason some people believe that hospital emergency rooms get extra busy on and around the full moon. People can start acting a little strange and maybe a little extra. “They’re getting into things like bar fights, altercations, or you have emotional outbursts,” explains Beverly Francis, astrologer of Elevation 44. “You see a lot of [intensity] around the full moon.”

Energetically, the full moon represents a culmination point. The energy is high, and whether a person follows the moon cycles or not, they’ll feel it. “This is the fifth phase in the moon cycle... following the waxing gibbous phase,” Francis tells Elite Daily. The new moon is like a rebirth, she says, “then it goes through the waxing phase and it's building energy, it's increasing its light” before it reaches its peak at the full moon, which also represents a time of harvest.

“If the new moon is when you're supposed to plant seeds, then the full moon [is] when those seeds bloom,” notes professional astrologer Dalanah of the Moon Matters podcast. “It's really about illumination and also release,” she adds — you’re putting the work into your intentions or manifestations during the active phase of the waxing gibbous. “From the new moon you're building, it's getting bigger and bigger. ... Then the full moon is that culmination point when everything is full and you can see the fruits of your endeavors happening,” Dalanah says. Here is a time to appreciate your hard work and accomplishments through the month and offer gratitude for where you are.

If you follow and work with the moon cycles consistently, it helps to know that the full moon is also supposed to correspond to the new moon in the same sign from six months prior. For example, during the Capricorn full moon in Cancer season, you would begin to see the “crops” from what you planted during the Capricorn new moon in Capricorn season. “This is a time of sitting back and acknowledging the work you put in,” Francis says. If you’re not seeing the results you want to see, she notes that you can use this peak energy to double down on your intentions.

Because the full moon figuratively and literally illuminates, you can also see the things you should let go of moving forward. According to Dalanah, it’s a good time to think about what you can release as the energy starts to wane back toward another new moon, where you would begin the cycle again. “That’s why people do like release rituals and things like that,” she says.

The Full Moon Through The Zodiac Signs

While each full moon will represent a peak, illumination, and release, the sign it's in will determine the specific flavor of the moon. In order to fully understand how a particular lunation will affect you individually, Dalanah says you’ll need to examine the planetary transits in relation to your natal chart and how it’s set up. “It's going to be different for everyone because we all have different placements,” she explains. “What house the full moon is happening in for you is going to tell you what area of your life it's impacting during that time.” It’ll also depend on how the moon is aspecting your planets, she adds. “So is that full moon conjunct any of your natal planets? Is it trining any of your natal planets or square any of your natal planets?”

Nevertheless, you can still get a basic idea of what the collective can expect during a full moon by looking at the zodiac sign it’s occurring in.

Aries Full Moon Meaning

Aries is a cardinal fire sign, so you can think of it as a “fire starter,” Dalanah offers. “Aries full moon to me always feels very momentous in the way of bold energy,” she explains. It’s very much an initiating, go-getter attitude. A full moon in Aries sets an emotional fire that ignites your passions, so it’s a good time to start a new project or push through and get something done. On the flip side, Dalanah notes that this moon can be rather rambunctious, so if you’re not comfortable with the cardinal fire energy, you might take this moon to just chill out.

An Aries full moon can also be emotionally explosive if you’re not careful, Francis points out. “So you can ... get angry quicker, make impulsive decisions, or just act recklessly or selfishly under this [full moon],” she warns. “But it really is [good] to get us passionate, fired up, and aligned [to] take action,” she adds.

Taurus Full Moon Meaning

Taurus is the sign of the finer things, indulgence, and self-care, so it can make for a really nice, relaxing full moon. “Fixed earth really likes to stay where it is,” notes Dalanah. It likes luxury and be surrounded by familiarities, “so this is the ‘treat yourself’ full moon,” Dalanah tells Elite Daily. A full moon in Taurus is a great time to slow down and chill.

Because the moon is exalted in Taurus, Francis explains, this creates a happy, peaceful vibe. “It helps us create emotional stability,” she says, adding that it “focuses on comfort and it focuses on our sensuality.” As a stable earth sign, Taurus energy is also very grounding and a good time to connect with the earth and focus on self-nourishment. Plus, there’s no moon like a Taurus moon to pull out all the stops with a lavish self-care ritual. Just make a point to avoid getting too comfortable and becoming stuck or stubborn.

Gemini Full Moon Meaning

Gemini is all about communication and intellect, so a full moon in this sign can bring emotional clarity. You might find it easier to say what’s on your mind or express your emotions through verbal or written communication, according to Francis. “Any heart-to-heart conversations that you need to have are easier to tackle when the moon is here,” she says. Gemini is also known to be chatty and quickly changing, so it’s possible to be extra talkative and have emotional ups and downs. “You can also get into the habit of oversharing and overthinking things,” adds Francis.

If you do full moon rituals, speaking things into existence is something that’s very aligned with Gemini energy, Dalanah tells Elite Daily. She suggests leaning into Gemini’s ruling planet, Mercury, for rituals — think speaking or writing your intentions and manifesting.

Cancer Full Moon Meaning

The moon is at home in Cancer, as it’s the sign’s ruling planet, so it is a happy camper here. “All the attributes of the moon shine best here,” Francis explains, adding that this full moon can help you get in touch with your intuition and feelings. With a full moon in this water sign, it’s also a good time to do some emotional healing.

Cancer energy is also cardinal, so it’s initiating like Aries. A Cancer full moon can push you to start things and “can move you, maybe even emotionally,” says Dalanah, “if there [are] emotional blockages you're trying to deal with.” Cancer is all about the home, family, and stability, so reconnecting with your loved ones and your roots, and also establishing a sense of home in and outside of yourself, are major themes.

Leo Full Moon Meaning

Leo brings creative, passionate, and proud energy. “That is the time when you are doing things for yourself,” Dalanah tells Elite Daily. “That is the time when you are investing in you [and] when you should be shameless about your goals [and] your ambitions,” she adds. With the moon in this fixed fire sign, it’s pushing you to recognize your worth.

As Leo rules the heart, this moon is also about the emotional expression of the heart and your desires. “It’s that heart-focused energy,” Francis notes. “Think of the lion from The Wizard of Oz.” There’s an overall need to express yourself when the moon is here, which could come out in a number of ways. “That could be verbally, creatively, [or] artistically,” she continues. “It could be with your generosity in how you give to people [or] even romantically — how you’re showing someone love through romantic gestures.” With this full moon, things to watch out for include over-dramatics, self-centeredness, and issues with pride or ego.

Virgo Full Moon Meaning

Virgo is the organized problem-solver and wants you to get your stuff together, so planning is huge. “When the moon is in Virgo, it wants to help us bring a sense of order to find solutions to our problems,” Francis explains. This is a great full moon for grounding your feelings and thinking about your emotions in an organized, analytical way. “Virgo is the connector between the physical and the spiritual body,” Francis says, noting the sign’s connection to health. So this full moon really helps with personal healing in areas of physical, emotional, and mental health, especially when it comes to your daily routines. It’s also about feeling what needs to be felt and letting it go, not overanalyzing.

Virgo energy might also push you to physically create more order in your life by cleaning your home and using the full moon energy to release what no longer serves you. It can also mean you’re “cleaning house,” as Dalanah puts it, within the astrological house the full moon is hitting for you. So whichever area of your life needs inspection and tidying, a Virgo full moon will do that for you.

Libra Full Moon Meaning

A Libra full moon calls on balance and beauty. “It's that peaceful, chill, ‘everybody just kumbaya’ energy,” Francis offers. Since it’s the full moon, it can be about finding emotional balance as well as inner beauty. You might feel more social, but in the sense that you just want everyone to be happy and get along.

“Since it's an air sign, it's about ideas and ideals,” Dalanah adds. And because Libra is a Venus-ruled sign, a Libra moon can inspire ideals around beautiful aesthetics. “Similar to Virgo — like cleaning,” she explains, “but in a way that you're adding beauty to the world, you're giving time and thought into the world around you and how you can just make it better.” You might be considering the way you interact with the world and others and how you can improve that. Libra is the scales. It calls on you to find harmony and equilibrium, especially in how you relate to others. “It's a really good time to check in and [find] what's out of balance,” Dalanah explains. “How can I tip the scales where they need to go?”

Scorpio Full Moon Meaning

As the fixed water investigators of the zodiac, a Scorpio moon will have you diving deep. The specific area of your life will depend on your chart, but Scorpio is also about transformation, so you’re really digging under the surface to illuminate what’s been hiding so it can be released. “When you talk about sparking inner transformation, this is the perfect moon placement for that,” Francis says, adding that with a very occult-y, magic energy, this is a great time to dive into those subjects.

Scorpio is intense, yes, but not just for the sake of being broody, as Dalanah points out. The house in your chart where you have Scorpio is where you care very deeply. “It's a place where you don't want to let go of stuff [and] you feel very rooted,” Dalanah explains, noting that the full moon here invites you to reassess where you may be a little obsessive and what you can release.

Sagittarius Full Moon Meaning

Sagittarius is the explorer, philosopher, and perpetual student of life. A full moon in Sagittarius will push you to broaden your horizons and encourage you to get out of your comfort zone. It’s about exploring and expanding, especially within your emotional world. “I like to call this the philosopher's moon,” Dalanah says. While the Scorpio moon will have you digging up “all the old bones of things,” as Dalanah puts it, the Sagittarius full moon will have you “up in the ether exploring and being a philosopher and thinking about higher-level concepts and just letting [the] mind wander.” It’s also about wisdom and luck, thanks to its ruling planet, Jupiter.

As the sign ruling philosophy, spirituality, and religion, Sagittarius houses your belief system and faith. According to Francis, the Sagittarius full moon “activates your belief in certain things.”

Capricorn Full Moon Meaning

As the opposite sign of moon-ruled Cancer, the moon is in “detriment” in Capricorn. “It's the sign that really isn't one for feelings,” Francis explains. It’s known to be a more avoidant and detached placement for the moon because Capricorn would quite honestly rather focus on goals. A Capricorn full moon can make for a good time to do just that: focus on your personal goals and responsibilities. Even so, a Capricorn full moon can be helpful in highlighting those feelings or even hard lessons you’re trying to avoid.

As a cardinal earth sign, Capricorn creates that productive, forward-moving energy. “It's [the] workaholic in the sense that you're moving, you're always doing something, you're starting a new project,” Dalanah explains. You’re at the culmination point of the full moon and thinking about what’s next. “You’re using that cardinal earth energy to ground yourself and then continue forward for a Capricorn full moon,” she continues.

Aquarius Full Moon Meaning

Aquarius is a fun moon. It’s not overly in the feels in this fixed air sign. As the inventor and humanitarian, Aquarius energy will have less of a focus on your personal feelings and more of a concern with how society or the world is doing as a whole. It invites in a much more objective perspective on emotion and is interested in leaning into intellect to figure out why people feel the way they do, “and coming together to create solutions to make things better,” Francis offers.

“People always like to say that Aquarius is quirky and a little out there, and they are, but that's just because they're in that intellectual sphere and really let themselves explore,” Dalanah notes. Ruled by Saturn and Uranus, Aquarius energy will also prompt you to do a little rule-breaking. “This is a really good time to look at whatever area in your chart it is,” offers Dalanah, “and be like, ‘OK, what can I change here?’” In what ways can you be more of your unique and authentic self?

Pisces Full Moon Meaning

As a mutable water sign, Pisces energy is extremely fluid, dreamy, and almost otherworldly in a sense. It’s highly intuitive — even psychic — and deeply feeling, but emotionally intelligent. When a full moon happens in Pisces, it activates areas where you do want to feel all the feels, as opposed to Aquarius and Capricorn moons.

This full moon triggers that emotional intelligence within you, as well as compassion, empathy, and vulnerability, which are all naturally expressed here, according to Francis. “During this full moon you can use your emotions to power your creativity ... All your spiritual gifts are activated — your dreams, your intuition, your psychic abilities,” she explains. “It's a great time for magic.” A Pisces full moon is also a prime time to explore and expand your boundaries around your dreams, according to Dalanah.

The full moon meaning in astrology will always begin with culmination, reflection, release, and gratitude. However, each one will exude its own unique energy and affect everyone in a different way, so be sure to look up your chart to see the exact vibes coming your way.

Experts:

Beverly Francis, astrologer behind Elevation 44 on YouTube and owner of Four Tea Four

Dalanah, professional astrologer and host of Moon Matters astrology podcast

Indigo Selah-Jael Witt, astrologer and Tiktok content creator focusing on interpreting the stars, spirituality, and pop culture