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| Lunar Eclipse |
The Full Moon is on her way, visible tonight (where skies are clear) and including a partial lunar eclipse. EarthSky describes the science of what's happening and where the eclipse will be visible.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth lines up between the Sun and Moon, so, during the eclipse we pass between the two luminaries, the lights in our sky, lining up directly with those energies.
This alignment gives an extra boost to the energies flowing at this time, strengthening the natural polarity of any Full Moon.
This is the Full Moon in Sagittarius, sign of the journey. Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, is the traveling sage, the benevolent philosopher, the exuberant explorer of many lands, the delver into great mysteries. With Sagittarius, we go farther than we have before, stepping outside the familiar to extend our knowledge and experience in many directions and dimensions.
This particular Sagittarean Full Moon points directly at the Great Attractor, the powerful and not-fully-known place in the cosmos toward which our galaxy, and the galaxies around us, inexorably moves.
Which means, since Moon, Earth and Sun are aligned at this Full Moon, we're all pointing like a Sagittarean arrow at the Great Attractor.
One question illuminated for us at this Moon, then, might be: What is the Great Attractor in our lives? What are we drawn to, always, steadily, almost without our realizing we're pointing that way? What mysteries and questions do we come back to again and again, bringing more understanding each time without ever quite working it all out?
The answer is likely related to where this Full Moon falls in our birth charts, and what is touched. Look to where the midpoint of Sagittarius and Gemini fall, and to any planets and points you have in the middle degrees of any sign.
Where Sagittarius is old and wise, Gemini is young and foolish. Where Sagittarius loves deep exploration of the faraway, Gemini scintillates with connecting many aspects of what is right at hand. Where Sagittarius respects ancient traditions and seeks to understand their systems, Gemini spills everything out on the floor of the now to see how this and that might fit together in new ways.
These opposite archetypes potentiate each other. Like yin and yang, the more we have of one, the more the other pushes in. With an eclipse Full Moon at hand, we're placed right between––an excellent opportunity to explore this balance in ourselves.
We're in a strong Gemini time. The last New Moon came with an eclipse of its own, and a powerful jolt of Gemini trickster power. Gemini rules communications, among other things, and some folks are still struggling to get their computer systems back in working order!
Because the last New Moon happened at 0 Gemini, the next New Moon will also fall in Gemini, surrounding this Full Moon.
Gemini is the young student ready to question everything; the crafter, maker of handy, clever, usable things; the innovative problem solver; the irreverent trickster who sees the Emperor clearly and can't stop himself from asking why he's parading around naked.
Sagittarius can find Gemini exasperating, disrespectful, exhausting, and shallow. Gemini can find Sagittarius slow, stodgy, narrow minded, heavy handed, and too ready to accept traditional authority.
Another question illuminated for us at this Moon is where we find the balance between these archetypes in our own lives. Imagine yourself on a line between Sagittarius and Gemini. Are you at the thumb-your-nose-at-all-authority, let's-party, end? Or are you at the life-is-serious, tradition-is-important, end? How comfortable are you with where you are?
Of course we need both archetypes in our lives. We can't avoid it, really, as they call each other out. If we've become too entrenched at one end of this spectrum, chances are we're meeting the other end in people and situations coming into our lives.
The strongest way to work with this, as with other polarities, is recognizing the strengths and weakness of each end and finding our way to integrate them within us. Both are present, both need to be honored, and each of us can find a unique path.
Finding this path is, perhaps, the true illumination of this Full Moon. Venus, retrograde in Gemini, is conjunct the Sun at this Full Moon as she prepares to transit across the Sun's face. Venus draws our attention to our relationships, which includes relationships within ourselves.
Neptune is poised to turn retrograde a few hours after the Full Moon, so her energy is strong as she slows and turns. What is the big picture here? How can we integrate Sagittarius and Gemini, and then take things to a new level, transcending our old understanding and bringing in something new?
This Full Moon is in a wide T-square with Chiron, the wounded healer. Chiron, as a centaur, is also associated with Sagittarius and certainly partakes of the "wise elder" archetype. He challenges us to heal any splits we have along this particular divide, releasing old, wounding ideas and seeking integration.
The Full Moon is in a tight T-square with Mars in Virgo, a sign also associated with healing, and also with analysis and organization. Mars pushes us to act, and to do so in an informed and careful way.
And so we come to the archetype of the Wise Fool, in all its complexities. Sometimes the Wise Fool is seen as an oblivious, inadvertent carrier of wisdom––the "out of the mouths of babes" phenomenon.
There is a deeper aspect to the Wise Fool, though, that stays in touch with the roots of wisdom. The Fool in King Lear, the only one who speaks truth to this deeply disturbed elder, is one. Another is Nasreddin, the tricksterish figure found throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, about whom many stories are told.
At this Full Moon, we're invited to embrace the Wise Fool, holding on to youth and laughter and irreverence, and at the same time, respect for learning and tradition. Each of us will find our own best way, as Nasreddin says:
- Nasreddin was walking in the bazaar with a large group of followers. Whatever Nasreddin did, his followers immediately copied. Every few steps Nasreddin would stop and shake his hands in the air, touch his feet and jump up yelling "Hu Hu Hu!" So his followers would also stop and do exactly the same thing.
- One of the merchants, who knew Nasreddin, quietly asked him: "What are you doing my old friend? Why are these people imitating you?"
- "I have become a Sufi Sheikh," replied Nasreddin. "These are my spiritual seekers; I am helping them reach enlightenment!"
- "How do you know when they reach enlightenment?"
- "That’s the easy part! Every morning I count them. The ones who have left – have reached enlightenment!"
I love working with the moon phases! Thanks for sharing, and explaining the benefits in more detail. I prefer new moons to full moons, I tend to get over emotional when its full, but feel a lot more motivated when the moon is new.
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