Overnight tonight, the Full Moon in Gemini arrives. In my time zone (EST), this will happen just after midnight on Thursday. For points west, it will still be Wednesday.
This either/ or, both/and quality is so very Gemini.
Gemini is the mutable Air sign ruled by Mercury, who is the patron of both merchants and thieves. Gemini never has one idea, one approach, one way of seeing. This is the sign of multiple perspectives.
Can’t get in this door? Let’s try the others. Or the windows. Or a hole in the wall. Or the roof. For Gemini, there’s always a way. We just need to find it.
This sign is social, always looking out for the next thing. There is a youthful optimism here. Relevant archetypes include the child, Peter Pan, the student, the deal-maker, the trickster. Lighten up. There’s always another angle.
Yet even the Gemini Moon can’t escape the weightiness of the rest of the sky. The patterns and details show how deeply this Moon is connected to everything else that’s happening.
The Moon at 19°52’ Gemini teeters on the edge of the second decan, less than a minute away from the third. This too reinforces how multivalent this Full Moon is, as we move from a full exploration of dualities into a realization that choices will have to be made.
The Moon naturally is opposite the Sun at 19°52’ Sagittarius. These two signs share a deep curiosity about the world and a fundamental optimism. Here.we find hope in our capacity to solve problems (Gemini) or in our deepest beliefs about how life works (Sag).
Rising Moon Astrology is now a PODCAST on iTunes and many other platforms. Please listen, subscribe, and leave a review.
At this Full Moon, they are squared by Neptune at 15° Pisces. Neptune, the mutable Water sign, brings feeling, intuitive insight, visionary capacity, and confusion into the mix.
How do we know what we (think we) know? How accurate are our perceptions? Who can we trust? What does trust even mean? The meaning-making enterprise of Gemini and Sagittarius is now in question.
The Moon also sits at the apex of a yod. We’ve seen several versions of this aspect pattern in the last few weeks. It looks like a sharp triangle. Beneath the sharp point (where the Moon is, this time) are 150° angles, the inconjunct or quincunx.
These three points are connected but struggle to effectively communicate. The three share neither a mode nor an element. There is a problem to be solved and the answer is not obvious.
The Full Moon is quincunx Mars at 15° 09′ Scorpio and on the other side, the difficult Capricorn group: Saturn, Venus, and Pluto. We have mutable Air, fixed Water, and cardinal Earth.
They are not thrilled to be linked together. Where can they find common ground?
The answer to a yod lies opposite the apex. Since the Moon is there and is full, the answer to this Moon–Mars–Saturn/Venus/Pluto puzzle lies with the Sagittarius Sun.
The way out of the heavy, seemingly endless maze we find ourselves in is knowing what our story is.
We are tellers of tales. Even the claim we should give up all stories (psychologically speaking) is itself a story. We can’t not do it. Story is how our minds and souls organize themselves.
We can question the story though. We can choose to step away from old ones and embrace new ones. We can choose to write our own and participate in the creation of new stories in the world.
The Moon in Gemini juggles many bits of story: characters, plots, themes, turning points, interpretations. This Moon is clever, with an endless supply of everything.
This kind of bright cleverness does nothing for Mars in Scorpio. He is committed, deeply and irrevocably. The very idea of multiple interpretations is anathema unless he himself can put them to use. Whether the goal is vengeance, or a throne, or a resurrection, or some other shadow aim, he has made a choice and will follow it through.
Capricorn is the elder whose role is to disapprove of youthful Gemini energy. Tradition is Capricorn’s watchword. Innovation is distasteful. Good fences make good neighbors and these fences are more like thick walls.
Saturn is king here and happy to draw the line at any crazy ideas. Pluto is more about checking foundations. He’s interested in kicking the tires before buying the vehicle and tends to find Gemini too flighty and insubstantial.
Venus’ role is less clear if no less important. As one of the personal planets, she creates a stronger connection for each of us with Saturn and Pluto.
In Capricorn, Venus directs our attention to what is solid and well structured. Whether finances, relationships, or creativity, it’s time to check foundations, test boundaries, and shore up any weak places.
Venus is the one planet in this yod who could be considered sympathetic to the Moon. Both are storytellers and storykeepers. Both feel that emotional memory is valuable, perhaps more valuable than the facts Saturn deals in.
Of course, all this changes our usual expectations of a Gemini Full Moon. Here we are heading into Christmas and Solstice and all kinds of celebrations and things feel heavy. Sometimes this is simply the way things are.
We’re back to the Sagittarius Sun, the “answer” to the yod. The Sun here can be a jurist as well as a genial host, a philosopher as well as a partygoer, an explorer of foreign lands searching for truth.
Perhaps this year, we see more of the three wise men than we do of Dickens’ expansive Ghost of Christmas Present. Yet even this ghost, my favorite of the three, draws our attention to the poor and destitute. Ignore them, he admonishes Scrooge, for your factious purposes and abide the consequence.
This year, consequences seem to be imminent.
Full Moons illuminate. What shines most brightly for each of us will depend on our birth charts and also any wishes we made at the New Moon.
We may also glimpse––or even be hit of the head with––the consequences of our own stories. If our stories are based in scarcity, or abundance, how good is that fit with our real lives? If our stories show us as competent and strong, or weak and fallible, what are the consequences of each?
We need stories to carry us across the Neptunian oceans. We need stories to help us ride Pluto’s tiger. We need stories to take the helm of our own ship and sail it.
These stories need to be authentic (which is not the same as being factual). They need to be exciting, enthralling, engaging. They need to carry us through to a new world.
This Full Moon can show us where our current stories are threadbare or out of date or off target. If we take note, we will have some clear pointers to where we need to reweave, rewrite, and craft the kind of vibrant story we need for the time ahead.
All astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title,
adapted from the glowing book by Nong Vang,
and the following images:
woman reading by Toa Heftiba, and
ancient manuscript by Mark Rasmuson