FULL MOON at 22 Sagittarius-GEMINI 26
December 13, 7:06pm EST, 4:06m PST,
December 14, 12:06am GMT, 11:06am AEDT
Image: Sputnik Planum is the large heart-shaped feature on Pluto’s surface as photographed by the New Horizons fly-by in 2014. We see half the heart here. The other half will be revealed as we investigate a whole-hearted way to enter the New Year. Read below about Pluto’s impact on the upcoming Mercury retrograde cycle.
“In between stars, what distances, and yet,
how much vaster the distance
that we learn from what is right here…”
—Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus
The pattern of this FULL MOON is dynamically centered on CHIRON in Pisces—keyword: COMPASSION. In more ways than one, our attention is brought to the essential element of water in our lives. We are already keyed in to the power of waters, of course, from storms, flooding, tsunami threats and the water protectors at Standing Rock, the Amazon and so many other places.
An increasing sense of responsibility is indicated by SATURN, conjunct the SUN and therefore a powerful force under this Moon. Saturn is into its second round in Sagittarius, lasting through 2017. This awesome ringed planet demands respect and is often feared for the “reality check” it inevitably brings. If you are staying “with the program,” you have nothing to fear, just stay on track. Don’t get too “side-tracked” during the holidays.
Perhaps you need to change gears for this next round. Saturn focuses our attention and requires goal-setting, vision and a true aim of the Archer’s Arrow. The Gemini Moon invites many voices and multiple points of view that motivate (or distract). We are all prone to biases that resist multiplicity and push out other viewpoints. Is the whole world supposed to talk your language? Some people seem to think so. As we are confronted with our own biases, look at whom you think is in the wrong. That person is a mirror back to your own resistance to other ways of seeing. Yet it may add perspective to your views, options and possibilities. We all have blind spots. The definition of truth is largely subjective. We tend to have some distortions in our worldview, a natural result of being raised in a particular religion, country, community, family, etc. and how we were educated and influenced.
If there is anything recent events are teaching us, it is that there is a vast multiplicity of viewpoints and ways of thinking, arising from our personal life experiences. Eveyone has a part to play, a destiny to fulfill. We can’t all be right and we can’t all be wrong all of the time. If we open our ears to listen and try to understand another point of view, there is a potential of healing, of finding common ground—at least on essentials, like water…..
There is such potential now for deep discussions that bring new approaches, some of which happen serendipitously, secretly in hidden corners or out on the global stage. Quite a merry-go-round we are riding, or is it down the rabbit hole we go? Deep doings are afoot. Participate! Voting is not over. We vote for what we believe in with every action that we take.
Sagittarius is confronted with necessity to walk its talk, or be busted. Even while opting for open-mindedness, Gemini can speak with a slippery, forked tongue, and may be able to wheedle out of trouble— or ask a simple question that stirs up a riot. Gemini has a Trickster side, called up in spades when Mercury goes retrograde on the 19th (more below). A basic question becomes: Who do you believe? Don’t believe everything you hear, as power struggles influence the news. Remember, media outlets have biases as well. Listen for the bell inside that rings to the truth.
Powerful and paradigm-shifting partnerships and alliances are forming, within the square dance between PLUTO and JUPITER. We experienced one key moment in late November. We’ll have two more in late March and August 2017. We already see global leadership and relationships changing, with more to come. What is more important to you and I is our own relationships, finding that common ground, that the mystic Rumi wrote about,
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
We can only get there as we suspend those biases and judgments—not discernment but judgments as in wrong and right. Let’s open the space in our hearts and minds to allow grace and blessings to pour down and inform our lives, to invite and welcome ideas and solutions that benefit the world. From the starting point of our individual Self center, to our personal spheres of influence, and ever-widening circles, as in another famous Rilke poem:
“I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.
I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I’ve been circling for thousands of years
and I still don’t know:
am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?” —Book of Hours
We approach the December 21 SOLSTICE, a turning point of the year, celebrated by cluster of holy days culminating with the calendrical New Year and Three Kings Day on January 6.
Throughout that time, we will be experiencing a profound Mercury retrograde cycle, profound because it meets up with PLUTO when it turns backward, auguring deep atomic impact. Pluto changes things from the inside out, at an atomic, nuclear level. The retrograde lasts across into the New Year, from December 19 to January 8, with the full shadow of its circle stretching from December 1—January 27, from 28 degrees Sagittarius to 15 Capricorn. This is the territory of the Zodiac that Mercury visits and revisits. If you have a birthday in that time frame or planets in those degrees, you are tapped for some serious re-thinking. Well, we all are. [see Astro Special below].
Let’s get a clue from the Sabian Symbols:
16 CAPRICORN: “BOYS AND GIRLS IN GYMNASIUM SUITS”
brings attention to the youth of the world. Many young people are doing incredible things to serve the planet and radiate love, to be inspiring role models. What can we do to help them? Many young persons feel incredibly pressured and traumatized—by expectations, by war, by poverty. In the U.S., opioid addiction among the young is a huge issue, as is the mushrooming autism spectrum in children, and the contentious debate about mandating a rapidly expanding roster of multiple vaccinations. Child soldiers, child trafficking and pedophilia are dark topics increasingly leaking out in global news. What more will we learn along these lines during the Mercury retrograde? Pluto exposes in order to redeem and heal. This is a healing Full Moon, if we answer the call.
Back to you and me, back to the personal: What is the storyline we each live by? The times we live in call for a new way to think and speak about our lives. Listen to yourself, the words you use, the mental attitudes you hold. Turn from the negative to dwell on the positive, on possibilities and potentials. We are part of something bigger than ourselves. Invite synchronicity and the magic of the living web we share. The mundane little things, the smaller self distract. Let’s focus on the bigger picture, with a serious consideration of why we are here, the true meaning of life, of our individual lives.
Let’s examine to what level we feel personally empowered or disempowered, and take charge of what we can change for the better. Don’t worry about what is going on in the news. Whose storyline is that? Vote for yourself to fulfill your life path. We get back to basics, clear the desk, overhaul old ways of thinking and outdated plans, carve out some urgent time to consider the most effective attitude to take as we head into this new year, looking for an aesthetic simplicity to streamline the complexities and reduce stress. How can you proceed so that you experience a rewarding new year? This is what I referred to above when I wrote that we vote with every action we take—and with every thought we think, and emotion we feel. Come back to your life situation, get out your Sagittarian arrow (we all have one) and aim toward your highest mountain and let your imagination fly, informing your daily flow. The Serenity Prayer is a good mantra for this next month:
“God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”
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