Full Moon in Gemini | December 18th, 2021 - when it's better to be confused than sure, a disappointment, pain followed by good news, faith, luck, future opportunities, having an ace in the hole

On Saturday, December 18th, 2021 at 11:35PM EST the Gemini Moon opposes the Sagittarius Sun giving us this month's Full Moon - our annual Full Moon in Gemini. 

This is our 3rd of SIX Fulls Moon at 27 degrees (remember all the 23 degrees New Moons this time last year?!) - this one near the mid-point of this celestial magic happening with the Sun conjunct the Galactic Center - our homing signal, black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. We will explore this 27 repeat pattern at the end of this Full Moon post.

 

Full Moons are times of heightened emotions. The sky is bright. Something is illuminated. It shows us what we are holding onto/where we are/what is reaching its peak/what is finishing up. In Gemini this is about communication and learning, opinions and options. Our siblings and local community. Stuff that is moving. Stuff that changes. 

 

Gemini is the sign of duality (and how, yes, two things can be true/right at the same time) - think of its symbol of 'the twins' - and we often find we have more than one important thing FINISHING UP at the time of a Gemini Full Moon. 

There will also be more than one way forward - Gemini holds the space of the crossroads.

 

With the Moon in Gemini and the Sun in Gemini's opposing sign of Sagittarius - the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity is activated. This is mutable air vs mutable fire. Flexible, adaptable  - these are signs of transition periods. Mutable signs are restless and prepare us for the change of seasons. Gemini is ruled by Mercury and rules our collective 3rd house of day to day communication and language. It also rules siblings, neighbors, local travel, early education, transportation - movement. Its polarity sign is Sagittarius. Sag rules our collective 9th house of the larger world aspects of movement. So big picture thinking and processes, philosophy, higher education, foreigners, long distance travel, legal issues, etc.

Although the Moon's North Node is still in Gemini for another month, this Moon is too far away to create an Eclipse, but I think happening in the sign of her North Node, still gives the Moon an extra whallop here.

Let's unpack the chart. 

The Moon, at 27 degrees Gemini, opposes the Sun at 27 degrees Sagittarius. The Sun is conjunct the Galactic Center. The Moon is trining Jupiter (applying). The Sun is sextiling Jupiter. They are both squaring Neptune - this aspect is separating/in the past. The ruler of Gemini is Mercury and so as ruler of this lunation we look next to see what she/he is up to (Mercury is an androgynous energy). Mercury is in Capricorn with an EXACT square to Chiron. He/she is sextiling Uranus (applying) and has a quintile to Pluto and a bi-quintile to the North Node (both gifts if activated) - which, remember as ruler of Gemini he/she also rules. We can also see Venus is conjunct Pluto - this aspect is just barely separating, but we know she is going to station retrogarde and run into Pluto two more times. We can also see Saturn is squaring Uranus - we know Uranus is retrograde and going to back into Saturn on Christmas Eve (this year's final Saturn/Uranus square - I don't think 'not a creature was stirring not even a mouse' will apply this year) AND we can see Ceres is conjunct the North Node and Mars is opposing them and moving across the South Node - whew. 

 

The Moon's most exact aspect (besides her opposition to the Galactic Center - which we'll talk about at the end) is a trine to Jupiter in Aquarius. And it's applying - in the near future. Jupiter brings optimism, faith, confidence, luck, good news. In Aquarius this ties in to the future, to groups and 'the people'. This trine and the Sun's sextile (opportunity) is this Moon's ACE IN THE HOLE. All's well that end's well.

(I should also add Jupiter is conjunct the U.S. natal Moon 'the people')

Mercury's exact square - remember Mercury rules the Moon here - to hurting/healing Chiron speaks of a vulnerability/wound we have to get past. Maybe words/a conversation, some information now is painful. Maybe we are worried about being able to take care of ourselves or be ourselves. Maybe some bad news comes in or we face a disappointment.

So, we get the bad news/whatever this is, and Mercury is in Cappy, so its serious news and we take it seriously. BUT remember our ACE IN THE HOLE. Have faith. Stay optimistic. Something BETTER is coming along. This Moon covers the next two weeks (and in some ways the next 18 months) and it speaks of LUCK, EXPANSION, FORTUNE, HOPE.

There is a sextile to Uranus that is applying, too - this, speaks of the opportunity coming through us doing something different or differently this time. Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius and so Jupiter is answering to him. Uranus is retrograde, so this change is somehow #new/#notnew.

 

What have we learned after 18 months of the South Node in sage Sagittarius? What have we learned after 18 months of the North Node in smarty pants Gemini? The Nodes are at the very beginning of Gemini/Sag now - just 1 degree - and because they are ALWAYS retrograde, this is the very ending of the signs for them.  There is also a separating transit - that square to Neptune, more endings/dissolvings and the Full Moon is itself a time of endings. And keep in mind what transits are without all the astro babble. They are POTENTIALS that we can witness (in others and within the collective), and, become part of our experience as well, to a greater or lesser extent depending on our birthchart/road map/strategic plan for this lifetime. 

So, there is a pain/disappointment/vulnerability triggered. This is very old/inherited. It is here. Cannot be avoided or glossed over. AND this chart shows luck/expansion in the future. So, if something doesn't work out now, have faith it is because something BETTER is coming. The future is opportunistic. This chart is more indication, I believe, that omicron is going to be beneficial as far as the virus itself goes. What authority does with it - we have that final Saturn/Uranus approaching - is a whole other ballgame. We'll talk about that this upcoming week.

OK, let's dial back to that 27 because we had a 27 degree Full Moon in Taurus last month (that Eclipse that kind of seeded the upcoming Taurus North Node) and a 27 degrees Full Moon in Aries the month before that. Next month we have a 27 degree Full Moon in Cancer (January 17th) and the following month a 27 degrees Full Moon in Leo (February 16th). The 27th degree is a very late degree, but not the final ending degree.

In the iChing, hexagram 27 is called Nourishment. With Ceres on the North Node and the Node preparing to move into Taurus, it feels appropriate to think about this. What is needed to nourish us? 

 

How is our hunger motivating us? If we swallow this 'nourishment' - this is a Gemini Full Moon we don't have to 'swallow' every opinion we are offered - what will we become?

Some of the lessons of hexagram 27 in the iChing are - 

 

the ways the truths we choose to nurture and cultivate become the foundations of our personal eco-system, if what we are depending on is not our true support it will be stripped from us, our jaws literally not lining up - taking too big a bite or too little, what happens when we push away the nourishment that is offered/what we actually need to live (to be left starving not being a good idea, but maybe the need to fast/sit fallow at times), the need sometimes to take a big/intense bite to get to the heart of something/to eat like a lion, rejecting established sources and the need to refuse the way things have always been done in order to get to richer flow, learning that we carry our nourishment with us even as we avoid the pitfall of thinking ourselves invincible. 

 

Maybe something here is helpful to someone. 

 

This month's Moon, opposing the Sun on the Galactic Center is uber important. New energies are being illuminated. The Galactic Center is our homing signal, the black hole at the center of our Galaxy. Things are changing so quickly/so much is in such great flux that our data is way out of date and so are the falsely conditioned  instinctive and emotional survival responses we’ve been limited to. Here's where new data comes in even as our emotional (although less emotional in Gemini) Moon opposes and maybe speaks of challenges trying to make sense of it all. With this Gemini energy and that square to Chiron in Aries/sextile to Uranus - there is some kind of paradox about being whole/alone and THAT bringing us closer to others.

 

We will have to keep thinking about the 27's.

xo all

Today's Astrology Forecast and some thoughts about covid cycles | December 16th, 2021 - risk assessment, longish void moon, respecting the mother, making a new choice

 

The Moon continues her monthly journey though Taurus, the sign of her exaltation. 

 

She trines Pluto at 6:28AM EST (with the North Node's move into Taurus next month, this Cappy trine will become a long term thing - highly competent, stable, creative energy), trines Venus at 8:14AM EST (smooth flow with Venusian themes - money, love, women, beauty, values, self-esteem) and will go void off a square to Jupiter at 11:08AM EST (watch over-doing, over-promising, over-spending, etc). 

 

She will be void until 3:43PM EST when she gets into Gemini and starts heading toward her solar opposition - Full Moon - this weekend. 

 

Early this morning EST, before her Plutonian trine, the Moon inconjuncted the Sun - this month's Waxing Inconjunct.

 

This is the Taurus/Sag inconjunct and is kind of echoing that square to Jupiter that carries us into the void, so there is something here about our need for comfort/security/stability at odds with our need for freedom/expansion/more. It's an uncomfortable reminder that we need to take care of our basic needs/self-care FIRST - this is going to be really driven home to us as the North Node moves into Taurus next month. We can't holiday shop (play Santa) if we have no savings. We can't have the energy we need to explore/expand if we aren't nourishing ourselves properly, etc, AND on the flip-side, we can't sit totally still in order to be completely safe. Living requires risk. Growth is what we came for.

We talked in the weekly about Mars journey across the South Node now - a kind of final TEST about not making a mountain out of a molehill. About being older and wiser (Sagittarius is the guru after all) with whatever we have going on now. 

 

Hopefully this will be applied to collective reasoning in terms of the omicron variant. Maybe we can see the long-term gift - benevolent Venus in Cappy back and forthing over the "time runs out" degree of January 2020 - as yielding a more contagious, but less dangerous and much better prepared for virus than we faced before. We need to work that safety/stuckness vs expansion/risk inconjunct. We can respond sanely and not over-react. Remember it is our collective narcissism (which comes from de-valuing mother/Mother Earth, our natural immune system) that got us into this mess. 

In Vedic astrology, there is a term called Kala Sarpa Yoga.

 

It is the name given to a time period when all planets (they only use planets up to and including Saturn) are captured in one half of the chart by the North and South Nodes of the Moon - which they call Rahu and Ketu, the head and tail of the dragon. The times of Kala Sarpa Yoga are considered troubling times/unfortunate

Even less common than Kala Sarpa Yoga are the times when ALL the major planetary bodies are captured in this 'container' between the nodes (called the Draconic Bowl - sound spooky enough for you?). As Mars crosses the South Node we are ALL IN in the Draconic Bowl - our third trip of three over the last two years. The first two have coincided with greater virus spread and increased lock-downs/responses.

The first Draconic Bowl was February 25, 2020 through May 28, 2020. The second was January 1, 2021 through March 6, 2021 and the third begins now. We truly are 'all in this together' folks.

If we consider Ceres a major planetary body - and why wouldn't we? although keep in mind the Vedic astrologers do not - remember she was at "time runs out" in January 2020 along with Saturn, Pluto, Mercury and the Sun and I think in the future astrologers will see her as the ruler or at least the co-ruler of Taurus - then when Ceres leaves the 'bowl' on January 31, 2022 - this cycle ends. The "mother" has delivered.

 

If we discount Ceres - Mother Earth - and remember it is our discounting of mothering/Mother Earth that creates this narcissistic wounding that got us into this mess (we are going to talk about this in the Nodes post after the Full Moon post), then the bowl will not be 'escaped' until April 23, 2022.

The good news is that after April 2022 this bowl pattern doesn't repeat for at least a decade. Keep in mind it is the decisions we make now, the things we ALLOW that impact the rest of the 2020's and future Earth for our children and grandchildren.

For today, keep in mind that void Moon and the discordance between safety/comfort and growth/being receptive to the new and unknown. There IS a place these energies meet and we can find it.

Back with the Full Moon post and then we'll start talking about January's nodal shift which will change everything.

xo all

a thank you to astrologer Louise Edington for the Kala Sarpa Yoga heads up (say that three times fast)

artwork by the talented Ethemos

Today's Astrology Forecast | Tuesday, December 14th, 2021 (and another look at Wednesday) - chickens coming home to roost, one of the final tests, don't make a mountain out of a molehill

 

 

The Moon has gone void Monday night and moves into Taurus at 3:11AM EST. 

 

With the Moon in Taurus - the sign of her exaltation - we are nourished/nurtured by traditionally nourishing things - good food, comfortable clothes, a warm bath, the soft touch that feels like love. Our focus turns to what we have - our purchases, our resources, our money. We are feeling good if we are feeling valued and if we value ourselves. The Moon begins the day with a trine (brakes off) to Mercury at 5:19AM EST and finishes the day with a square to Saturn (in Aquarius) at 11:36PM EST. 

 

Both Mercury and Mars changed signs Monday, so we might be feeling busy/have lots of errands or things to finish up/have had to change direction or shift what we are doing or saying. Ceres has been moving backward through Gemini and is now hooked up with the North Node (our best collective way forward). 

Both Mercury (through an inconjunct - rock and a hard place) and Mars (through an opposition as he meets up with the South Node) move into tense aspects with Ceres - and Mercury with the North Node today, Mars with the North Node tomorrow.

 

Keep in mind Mercury rules Gemini, so his change of signs is impacting both Ceres and the North Node. In Capricorn, he brings serious information/conversations at odds with Gemini's leanings toward keeping things light/funny/flexible. The inconjunct speaks of the need to honor both sides while understanding there won't be any sure-fire winners here. Traditions and rules need to be more flexible. Authority needs to use a lighter touch AND our need to keep things more airy/nonchalant needs to be balanced with very real responsibilities/commitments. With Ceres here this could pull in mothering situations, situations that require compromise, things that feel outside our control. The Mars opposition could stimulate a culmination/ending.

Tomorrow, Mars is going to move across the South Node (been there, done that) and oppose the North Node. 

 

Moving on old beliefs or taking the same risky actions or thinking we know-it-all or making over-the-top moves like we've made before or escaping with travel/adventure/the old quest instead of dealing with the nitty gritty details could be problematic now. We are dealing with karmic cycles and want to be pointing our sails in the best direction.

 

Impulses/passions/anger with its roots in old situations or that feel familiar are activated. 

 

This is one of the final 'tests' of the South Node Sag of the last 18 months as Mars passes through to see what actions we will take this time based on what we have learned. Everything isn't a test, but this kind of IS. 

 

(we can see this playing out in the collective via the virus) 

 

The way through is still that Gemini North Node and we have a retrograde mama-bear Ceres here to enable some smart nurturing and activate our ability to compromise. 

With Gemini, there is always more than one way through. The steps will be small, so, if it looks like some giant leap is required - LOOK AGAIN.

Ask questions (with Gemini ruler Mercury in Capricorn, they will be more practical, serious, goal-oriented now). Talk. Listen. Deal with facts. Stay flexible. The student is more needed than the teacher. 

 

It's not a coincidence we get this final opposition with Mercury (Gemini's ruler) in serious as a heart attack/daddy-bear Capricorn.

Choose a new way through.  

 

xo all

 

Soooo .... if a problem crops up that feels familiar - choose to dial back a bit what you did before - keep it lighter, smaller, smarter, more localized - does that make sense? No mountains out of molehills right now. 

artwork by Poplavskaya

weekly astrology forecast for creatives | December 13th-19th, 2021 - shifting sands, the conversation gets serious, unfinished business, bold moves, disappointment followed by better opportunities

 

 

We come off Sunday's confusing/draining Sun/Neptune square and start the week with two personal planets changing signs (we will finish the week with another personal planet changing direction, so this week is going to flip around on us). Our attention/our thinking/the conversation shifts. Our actions become less focused/more 'big-picture'. 

 

Unfinished business/old situations are activated. 

 

The end of the week is all about this year's BIG Full Moon in Gemini - 

 

not an Eclipse with the Nodes a hair's breadth from Taurus/Scorpio - but still another nail in the coffin of the last 18 months. Expect multiple situations to come to light/culminate/conclude. With the Moon's ruler squaring hurting/healing Chiron, painful information/conversations/disappointments are possible BUT we also have multiple indicators we can get something BETTER if we go bold/optimistic/faith-full/confident and lean into THE NEW.

 

MONDAY - Mercury into Capricorn, Mars into Sagittarius

WEDNESDAY - Mars conjunct South Node and opposes North Node

SATURDAY - Mercury squares Chiron, Full Moon in Gemini

SUNDAY - Sun sextiles Jupiter, Venus stations retrograde, Chiron stations direct

On SUNDAY/MONDAY we have two planets changing signs. Mercury moves from fun/freedom-seeking Sagittarius - mutable fire - into serious/realistic Capricorn - cardinal earth. Our attention turns to important matters. The conversation changes. We want to start something real. Mars moves from deep/focused Scorpio - fixed water - into fun/freedom-seeking Sagittarius. We want to explore/take bigger steps forward. 

 

We talked about both these transits in greater detail for Sunday HERE.

 

The Moon is waxing. Venus is still direct. This is still good 'start' energy - keep in mind Mercury will return to Cappy during his upcoming Aquarius retrograde and Venus will be repeating this week's storyline, so whatever is 'started' could require some revisions or face some logjams/delays.

WEDNESDAY - Almost immediately, Mars (as us) hits a snag, running into the South Node in Sag and opposing the North Node. Something from the past is returned to/activated as we are given the chance to respond in a new way (rather than make an instinctual reaction - what have we learned?). Or maybe something needs to be finished up. Here in the U.S. many important legal matters (Sag situations) should be and have been a focus and reaching a conclusion. Sagittarius also rules foreign situations, immigration, higher education, weddings, politics, publishing and your own Sagittarius house theme.

SATURDAY - the end of the week is all about the BIG Full Moon in Gemini - not an Eclipse because the Nodes are too close to Taurus/Scorpio now, but our FINAL Full Moon in Gemini of our 18 and a half month Gemini/Sag nodal axis. 

 

Gemini is a dualistic sign (think of its twins signifier), so more than one situation can be culminating, concluding, coming to light now.

 

With Gemini's ruler Mercury squaring Chiron this looks like some painful conversation/information, old vulnerabilities triggered (this is Chiron's final aspect retrograde, before his direct station tomorrow as we move on from this), BUT with the Moon applying to a trine to Jupiter and the Sun a sextile to Jupiter AND with Mercury's next move a smooth trine to change-maker/future-focused Uranus the hurt/pain/disappointment is followed by expansion/LUCK/something ELSE. Keep this in mind. Stay optimistic. Look in a new direction. This sounds like, as these things are apt to, our last 18 months encapsulated into the next two weeks! 

 

The Sun will be on the Galactic Center so this is awakening energy (they are both conjunct asteroid Industria, interesting with the Venus/Pluto in industrious/industrial Cappy activating big-money stuff and Indistria's connection to the Dow Jones). With the Moon opposing and Mercury stressed this is big-time transformational energy. Things are INTENSE.

 

Expect a BIG post!

SUNDAY - the Sun sextiles Jupiter, at 28 degrees Sagittarius/Aquarius conjunct the Galactic Center - this is optimism/hope/faith pulled into our new collective timeline. Sextiles require some effort to get going - this one is fire and air, so something can catch fire/expand QUICKLY. There is opportunity here. Our faith is rewarded. This is empowering/optimistic energy that is future-focused/humanitarian. Sun/Jupiter says GO FOR IT.

Venus stations retrograde - that post is HERE. Yes, this probably takes some of the oomph out of the Sun/Jupiter but re-view, re-assess we must, AND, keep in mind, the Sun/Jupiter as Venus stations aids her story-line.

 

Collectively, happening in Capricorn this will be about us reviewing our goals, careers, reputations, the authority/structures in our lives. For some, work is put into context as we re-evaluate our feelings about needing to 'earn' love. Personally, our Cappy natal house theme is pulled into the mix. All Venus retros pull in Venusian themes - women, love, money, resources, Earth, our values, our self-esteem, beauty. Part II to the Venus retro as we factor in her multi-leg journey over the January 2020 "time runs out" degrees and, as ruler of Taurus, her appointment as our next guiding star - will be out this week. 

 

We are reaching the end of the line for Jupiter in Aquarius AND heading toward next week's final chaotic Saturn/Uranus square - stay flexible. Take care of yourself and maybe especially your nervous system. Google tapping or mindfulnesss. Figure this sh*t out. Meditate. Long walks in nature. Get enough rest. Hydrate. Mars is in a fire sign, so exercise will really help now. We know the drill, we just have to do it.

xo all - back with that BIG Full Moon post and we'll start looking at next week's final Saturn/Uranus

artwork by the talented proxi-mity