FULL MOON at 2 GEMINI-Sagittarius
May 21, 5:15pm EDT, 2:15pm PDT, 10:15pm GMD
May 22, 7:15am AEST
Image: Notre Dame Rose, photo by author.
This Full Flower Moon will certainly dispel any boredom and offer some relief from a pace that’s been slow like mud (or sludge)? The SUN just entered GEMINI, a sign is known for its short tolerance for the same old/same old. It’s time to pick up the tempo and change up activities. And—just in time— this is the eve of MERCURY turning forward, as if celebrating the Full Moon. Mercury is quite clever!
But don’t imagine it’s time to jump out of the starting gate too fast—no, not yet, for several reasons. First, Mercury is slow to turn around, especially in Taurus, a sign that moves like a tortoise, slow but sure. We are cosmically encouraged to stay grounded, thoroughly digesting all that we have chewed over and worked through this month so far.
ALSO, the MOON is accompanied by MARS RETROGRADE—not a signal to move fast or maybe even forward at all. Where are you going? Not likely too far, before you need to backtrack or before another tempting path catches your attention and diverts you. Where do you want to be going? What direction are you heading in? This is a key question of this Moon in Sagittarius with its backwards Mars companion. This goal-oriented sign has an arrow strung on its bow, just not quite sure in what direction to aim it. If you’re lucky, you’re close but not quite.
It is wise not to assume too much these days, caught up as we are in a kaleidoscopic whirlwind created by the ongoing planetary pattern of high (Jupiter and Saturn) and higher (Neptune) octave planets. This is not an easy road to maneuver. Carefully feel where you are placing your foot. One sure step after another is the way to go.
For the last New Moon I wrote about the inner process at work under the retrograde planets (you can review “Down to the Ground” in this website section or on FB page: Kelley Hunter, AstroMythology). Though Jupiter and now Mercury are turning forward, we’ve still got the retrograde Saturn and Mars taking us down deep, even under the ground. By the end of this month, on the 27th in fact, Mars crosses back into Scorpio. Mars rules Scorpio, offering its best here— powerful, strong, intense and willful. Careful on the willfulness, which can get manipulative. You may be the perpetrator or victim of such.
Scorpio is a sign of strategy, of passion and strong motivation. Sometimes its subterranean energy runs us, coming from so deep that it eludes our conscious understanding. During this significant plunge into the inner depths, we encounter and may act out unconscious agendas. These may be ultimately empowering. To begin with, though, they may carry shadowy reactivity that undermines our intentions and success. Something profound is calling for our attention. We are tapping a deep well for refreshing and regenerating waters. Something needs to change. What is it that will satisfy our deep thirst? In the process of answering this question, we are asked to investigate our motivations. Without our knowing, our motives may be “polluted” or muddied by unhealthy desires or obsessions, or other people’s energies that don’t match our best intentions. You may already be experiencing this or dealing with repercussions of such a situation from January-February or especially late February into March. That’s when Mars was last in Scorpio.
Some of this activity may take us by surprise, result in unpleasant effects, or otherwise subvert our energy. This is why it is very important to stay grounded and seek guidance as needed. As we stew in our juices, we may be wrestling with our “stuff.” The times are calling us to wake up in whatever way works. Pushed up in front of formulated belief systems, we struggle with our authentic sense of truth. Truth is not a one-size-fits-all commodity. As we experience realizations through this worthy struggle, we are going to come up with gold nuggets. The alchemical process turns lead into gold. This is a great experiment. We may come out like the bionic man, “better than before.”
Quoting one of my favorite teachers, A.H. Almaas (from ELEMENTS OF THE REAL IN MAN):
“Struggle is a friction inside you. That friction will make certain parts of yourself sweeter and sweeter….I’m talking about genuinely grappling with whatever situation is at hand, taking responsibility and really confronting it, whatever it is, and being there for whatever problems, whatever conflicts, whatever situations you have in your life. Completely embrace them; involve yourself wholeheartedly with life….
“Your struggle…is a genuine, total response to the deepest longings and yearnings of your heart. It is an acknowledgment of those deepest longings. Without struggle, you have to dismiss those yearnings for the deepest aspects of your and of your reality, and you will lead a life that is superficial, a life without depth, without roots that reach deeply into your true being.”
NOTES ON TIMING— Mars is retrograde in Scorpio all through June, going deeper and deeper back, down and in. Then it turns forward, releasing its coiled up energies —perhaps that is when the alchemy is complete and the cream starts to rise to the top. Still in Scorpio all through July, Mars springs forward with all the intensity that has been tapped. Early in August Mars reenters Sagittarius and strikes the degree of this very Flower Full Moon on August 5th. By then at least, the arrow can be sent on its way.
SOME GODDESS NOTES—
VESTA, Goddess of Sacred Space, Keeper of the Divine Flame, and Tender of Hearth and Home. She stands in the light of the Sun, focusing the life-generating radiance of our home star. She stands in the center, igniting our awareness like a magnifying glass channels the Sun’s light into flames. Have you ever seen that? Try it. Use a magnifying glass under a hot noonday Sun, holding it close to a thin piece of paper. It will ignite!
BLACK MOON LILITH— has moved the center point of her gyrating belly dance into Scorpio. The deeper you go, the more she smiles. VENUS, still in her glory in Taurus, is at 26 degrees, conjunct ALGOL, the LILITH STAR, which marks the Eye of Medusa in the constellation Perseus. The Goddess of Love is looking through that penetrating Eye, that
“perceives with an objectivity like that of nature itself and our dreams, boring into the soul to find the naked truth, to see reality beneath all its myriad forms and the illusions and defenses it displays.”
—from Sylvia Perera’s DESCENT TO THE GODDESS
Perhaps Almaas was referring to the Lilith part of ourselves when he wrote, later in the same section as quoted above:
“The problematic situations in your life are not chance or haphazard. They are specifically yours, designed specifically for you by a part of you that loves you more than anything else. The part of you that loves yourself has created roadblocks to lead you to yourself….It will go to extreme measures to wake you up, and it will make you suffer greatly if you don’t listen. What else can it do? That is its purpose. How much suffering and difficulty it brings you is immaterial in relation to the fulfillment and satisfaction you will have when you actually struggle and see the fruits of the struggle….The whole process works with the utmost purity, the most complete intelligence and compassion.”
Go for the gold. In the golden daylight of the Sun and under the silvery light of this FLOWER FULL MOON, remember to stop and smell the roses— the roses, lilacs, fall leaves, fresh pine-scented air, subtle aetheric scent of starlight or whatever beauties of Nature are happening around you. Look right into the erotic heart of Nature, an evergreen source of inspiration, a loving expression from the multitudinous creative imagination of the Cosmos.
