Full Moon in Gemini: A Light Touch

Sunday, December 3, in the morning (10:47 am EST), the Full Moon in Gemini arrives, which means it will appear most full on Saturday night.

This is a supermoon. The moon is closer to earth than usual and appears larger in the sky. It’s our first and only supermoon this calendar year. She will remain close, bringing two more supermoons on January 2 and 31.

Her closeness increases her pull on us, making this Full Moon super in influence as well as size. It brings a shift in the heavy, dark energies we’ve been swimming in. So it’s well worth a look to see what’s ahead.

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A Gemini Moon is light, playful, maybe a bit scattered. Gemini is the connector of the zodiac, always looking for ways to link people, ideas, places, theories, and things. Ruled by Mercury, this is the sign that can never do just one thing.

The Sun in Sagittarius is ready to celebrate. This is the sign of open hearted and open handed liberality, one I associate with the Ghost of Christmas Present in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the jolly giant ready to sprinkle everyone he meets with a touch of good will.

With these two, then, we’re headed for a fun weekend that initiates the winter holidays, right?

Maybe.

I could say, yes, but … which would be the wrong approach. With Gemini and Sagittarius leading the way, this Full Moon is all about yes, and.

First, we’re heading into a Mercury Retrograde. We’re already in the retrograde shadow, that time inside the space Mercury will traverse.  The retrograde begins about six hours before the Full Moon.

Since Full Moons illuminate, this is a signal to look closely at this particular retrograde. Mercury has already slowed to stop and turn at the strong, focused, final degree of Sagittarius. We are being asked to reflect on how we’re experiencing Sagittarius in our lives.

This Jupiter-ruled sign has all the expansive generosity I mentioned and also holds excess, especially inflation and hubris. It is so easy today to find examples of wild excess on the world stage, we might forget to check in with our own lives.

As Mercury stops and turns, he is conjunct Saturn, the guy in charge of boundaries and limits. Where are we overdoing it? Where we reaching too far? Where are we courting collapse?

We can also ask, where are we less generous that we could be, with our wallet, our time, our attention, or our words?

Absolutely, this Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius invites us to slow down and savor the richness of this time of year, filled as it is with celebration and ceremony. And let’s not miss the chance to check in and correct course as needed.

The Full Moon lands at 11 degrees of Gemini, with the Sun at 11 Sagittarius. Mercury turns retrograde at 29 Sagittarius, with Saturn at 28. Looking to see where these fall in your birth chart can alert you to where in your life these questions need to be asked.

Mercury will turn direct on December 22, the day after the Winter Solstice. Astrologically, the Solstice occurs when the Sun enters Capricorn. This year, that winter Sun will be conjunct Saturn who will have also just entered Capricorn, the sign he rules.

Again, we hear messages from different sides: The generosity of Sagittarius and the carefulness of Capricorn. Can we celebrate judiciously? Can we, perhaps, celebrate Saturn? Hard work, patience, and responsibility are not strong values these days, except when someone is being castigated for not having them.

Where in the world and in our lives might we need to be open (Sagittarius) to the idea of hard work (Capricorn). Where might we become generous through respecting limits? In a world in which so many are working so hard just to stay in place, where might we find ways to celebrate anyway? Where are we facing the consequences of too much?

There are many ways to combine these two very different energies. Play around (Gemini) with how this might apply to you, in the light of the Full Supermoon.

This Full Moon supports the Nodes of the Moon, with the Gemini Moon trine the South Node of the past in Aquarius and the Sagittarian Sun trining the North Node of the future in Leo.

Here we’re invited to bring the ease and openness of the Full Moon to the Nodes in the more stubborn fixed signs. The Full Moon might illuminate where we’ve become too set in particular stories about the past or our hoped-for future. Gemini and Sagittarius can open our eyes to new ways of seeing what we already have, or recognizing possibilities we might be missing.

Last but not least, this Full Moon is squared by Neptune in Pisces.

This challenging aspect, meeting as it does with Gemini and Sag, calls for a cautionary note. Don’t go off the deep end. Avoid excesses of mind-altering substances or addictive behaviors. Don’t kid yourself that one more won’t make a difference.

The more hopeful possibility of this square from Neptune is to invite us into an even deeper examination of where we are now. This is, and still can be, a time of magic, of hope, of dreams. Where Gemini and Sag might be content with amusement, Neptune in Pisces wants something deeper.

Mercury, the ruler of this Full Moon, turning retrograde, invites us to dive into deeper meanings. Gemini might be superficial. Neptune in Pisces is all about depth.

As we head into the end of 2017, a year of many challenges and disappointments, what have we gained? What do we love? Where do we find hope?

These are vital questions, not empty ones. This Full Moon lights the way into a time of reflection and review. It can show us exactly where we need to look to find the answers. If we approach the big questions with a light touch, open to new possibilities, dancing with what is and what might be while respecting limits, we can find the best of the Full Moon in Gemini.

I use Unsplash for almost all my photo illustrations. All astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title, created from the Curvy Bokeh photo by Alysa Bajenaru, the bird on hand by a-shuhani, and the Moon-like frozen bubble by Aaron Burden.