All week the Moon will grow brighter and brighter until it arrives at the last Full phase of summer on Saturday, when it will occupy the same region of the zodiac as the planet Neptune. Neptune is not visible to the naked eye, but its reputation as a planet of illusion and confusion sets up a mood of mystery and deep storytelling for the weekend. 

All month long we see the Moon waxing and waning through the sky. This gives it the reputation, through history, of being associated with the blossoming and fading of youth. 

The planet Neptune is associated astrologically with the fluid and watery element, which means it has the reputation for increasing the illusion of glamour.

For me, this Neptune~Moon combination is the perfect set up for revisiting my high school reading list, and Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". "Dorian Gray" is a tale of the latent and potentially sinister nature that lurks behind the illusion of eternal youth and beauty, and Oscar Wilde, who was notorious for his candid social commentary, was severely criticized for the story because his contemporaries believed it violated the laws of public morality.

In the story, the title character Dorian Gray realizes that his beauty will fade, so he agrees to sell his soul, so that the portrait painted of him will age and fade instead of him. 

So if things are dreamy and beautiful and confusing tiring this weekend, blame it on the Full Moon and Neptune, and take time out this last full weekend of August with a good book and the words of Oscar Wilde which he wrote in defense of his art: “Yes: I am a dreamer," he wrote, " For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”