WILD CARD: FULL MOON IN GEMINI
Ulay (mars RX in gemini) & Marina Abramovic (Sun in Sagittarius) … creative embodiment of the mars retrograde/sun opposition aligned with the full moon in gemini today
“We had rows of paper, stretching it along the wall, making drawings & writing. Expressing everything of what she and I could do in order to meet, to merge.” - Olay
As the Full Moon arrives in Gemini today, this writing series is celebrating a special milestone!
a little bit about this full moon moment…
The Moon’s rhythms have always been a way of keeping time. Each year we get a New & Full Moon in all 12 zodiac signs, and they happen about 6 months from one another. The New Moon acts as a moment that something begins, and the Full Moon six months later shines a light in that same place in the sky bringing clarity to what was initiated as it reaches a culmination point of growth… the Full Moon can be compared to the full bloom of the cycle.
I started writing this series under the Gemini New Moon (May 30), so today we celebrate the time & energy put forth for this to grow and become what it is. The brightness of a Full Moon is revealing, it lights up the shadows, giving a moment to see the whole picture with more clarity.
Full Moon’s can be stimulating. This one, lining up with Mars retrograde in Gemini, feels extra spicy… but in a ‘the first bite didn’t seem so hot’ melt your face kind of way.
…REFLECTIONS ON THE MOON…
On a biological level we understand that the Moon’s effect on water creates an ebb and flow, even within our own bodies. Through this writing series, I have found lunar rhythms to be extremely helpful in tuning into & stabilizing my own life. Anchoring myself to the pace of the Moon allowed me to receive often spectacular lunar waves of insight. What I found most curious was that no matter how much was going on in my life over the past 6 months, whether the information felt personal, or it arrived on a collective level such as a new album release/podcast episode/news story ect… it always seemed to relate back to the Moon’s sign/phase. It seemed magical and strange, and like many magical experiences, I almost didn’t believe it would last... and that is why I love Astrology. It is the only system I have ever known that keeps me in the magic, even when I want to doubt it.
One of the Moon’s significations is that it represents the collective energy. The Moon is the vibe. The vibe check is where the Moon is wandering through every 2.5 days as it moves through all the signs of the zodiac. As the Moon travels through the signs, it passes planets on its route and collects information. Another one of the Moon’s significations is memory and what has been written or remembered through living experience. The Moon is somatic in this way, it receives information and the imprint is a collection of happenings, events, and impressions that eventually build to represent the subconscious realm of our mind (on both a personal and collective level). This is another aspect of how the Moon represents mother, that we were once in the belly of our mothers, receiving information from her in the darkness of the womb. That how she felt, what she ate, and her overall state of wellbeing had an effect on our development connects back to this experience of the Moon’s rhythms. There is no such thing as an isolated event, even in the origin of the first cells replicated to create our bodies, we are in connection to information from the Mother.
If Moon is collective, Mother, subconscious, written words, memories, matter, time, growth, cycles… Moon is also connection. It is the celestial body that represents the information that must pass from one moment to the next in order for growth to occur, it informs through contact.
It is ever so fitting that this series began on a Gemini New Moon. At the time I thought it was a good idea since I am a Gemini Rising. It turned out to be much more than that & under the light of this Gemini Full Moon, I see that very clearly.
This Full Moon in Gemini…
I want you to contemplate your perspective on strategy, intentional use of time & energy, and the difference between relevant & irrelevant information. There are actually two major “full moon” moments happening. Because the Moon sets the tone for our embodied experience, we can also translate lunar phases into a metaphor for the synodic cycles of all the planetary relationship with one another (synodic cycles represent the spacial relationship between two planets). Less than an hour after the Moon reaches peak fullness, Mars (retrograde) will reach its exact opposition to the Sun… a ‘full moon’ illumination of this Mars RX cycle.
The Laundress, 1887 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (mars rx in gemini)
**This post goes out to all the Mars Geminis I have met in the past three months.** Although I, as a native mars in gemini person, know a few friends the same age as me with this placement, I have never in all my 10 years of studying astrology and reading charts met this many folks with mars in Gemini in their natal chart (across multiple decades!). Sometimes, when a planet is retrograde, it will bring up things that need to be revisited that have to do with its current cycle. For me, that has appeared as people, and the thing that has connected us is stories that link back to the thing we all have in common: Mars RX in Gemini (a mars return).
Gemini is a sign that gets a bad rap. We can blame things on Gemini’s too easily (Trump, Kanye… it’s a slippery slope.) What doesn’t get talked about so much (although this does not give anyone permission to be a ‘bad person’ in my opinion) is that often times Gemini’s have a proclivity to say the things that other people might hesitate to say (or do). Often times, Gemini is trying to move the energy of a space by pollinating the airways, giving little bits of a message here and there, not necessary thinking or worrying about how that information will land. I have even noticed that the more you speak with a heavily influenced Gemini person & the more random the conversation seems to be, there will be flashes of truth that seems to come out of the Gemini person as if it is a surprise to them just as much as it is to you. Does it mean that all of it will add up? Not necessary, but somewhere in the data there will be a thread… often it’s what they’re not saying that seems to be the point.
To be able to stir anything means you’re working your way around the center of it.
That’s what Gemini’s do best.
the proof is in the poison
Peripheral information can be helpful, it can be the ‘secret ingredient’ of the potion. It can also be cosmic chaos. Under the Full Moon today, with Mars and the Moon sitting in the spotlight of the Sun… what shows up? Think of it as a moment of two truths and a lie. Whether you like what you see, or not, what emerges under the light of the Full Moon brings a message, a sharp reality check, an awareness of something that may have been difficult to have perspective on until now… and it may do so in a series of seemingly nuanced happenings. Could every detail of the day be relevant to the message you need to receive? Maybe, baby. But most likely, this Full Moon feels busy. Busy enough to make the message hard to read if you’re not listening for it.
Mars has a separating quality, through Mars we experience being cut away from something. While the Moon is full, notice what feels like busy work or distraction and give yourself permission to cut it out of your life. Is it a mindset you want to leave behind? Is it a routine that needs a new flow? Can you find ways to harness your energy, saving it for what you care about instead of spreading it thin?
Joni Mitchell ( Mars RX in Gemini)
Mars is a fighter, so if what shows up is something worth fighting for, well now is the perfect moment to consider the strategy you will need to embark on the path ahead. Mars opposite the Sun can be understood as a warrior who has retreated from battle. It is from this vantage point that rebellion percolates, and we find our strength in our agency to either continue to blaze ahead, or equally valid… the refusal to participate any longer in the fight.
Mars in Gemini, especially retrograde, has a way of saying sharp things woven like a lullaby. As if, you will only hear it if you’re truly listening… and most people aren’t.
Mars in Gemini weapon of choice : words.
Used to win, used to capture, to cut, to celebrate, or curse… used to survive. How do we say the hard things with lightness?
Gemini knows that the only way to get to the answer is by letting the questions lead. Gemini understands that not every question will lead you to what you wanted to know, but the information you gain might come in hand down the road. The Moon in Gemini collects information, stimulated by the breeze that arrives down the grape vine. Mars in Gemini wants to put a match to the flame of all the ideas that feel exciting but…. while retrograde… we are asked to pause and assess how much of our energy needs to go towards these exciting inspirations (or passionate bouts of fury). Some things are meant to be passed on, not every experience or idea is meant to land in our lap and stay there.
Kissed her with his freedom
Wherever you are in your life, whatever phase or circumstance this Full Moon finds you in… it’s a brilliant time to pause and assess if you’d like to keep on keeping on the way you are today.
Do you have enough information to begin to see how to move forward? It’s a call to cut away some of the excess… to refine the questions being asked. Where/how can we direct our energy, and where/how can we summon the courage it takes to protect and nurture an idea or strategy, even before we really understand where it will lead us?
Since the Sun is still holding ground in Sagittarius, the light of this full moon seems to organize itself around a vision forward. Sagittarius wants to take us there, and with the Gemini Moon/Mars conjunction opposite the Sagittarius Sun, we’re being asked to double down on fact vs. fiction with the big picture goals in mind.
When ideas & conversations begin to circulate (Gemini) around the gravitas of a meaningful purpose or visionary path forward (Sagittarius)… it can be a real force to be reckoned with.
Being able to adapt to change & stay open to new information while staying true to what you believe in is a brilliant balancing act. It requires the risk of being wrong sometimes, it requires not ‘knowing it all’. tethered to faith, a belief in the visionary perspective from your unique vantage point, all the information you need eventually begins to orbit… landing gently at just the right moment if you’re paying attention. Sometimes, curiosity leads us into a kind of chaos that breeds creativity. In uncharted territory, instinct makes all the difference.
As Martin Luther King Jr. (Mars Rx in Gemini) spoke,
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Take care out there. Sooth the nervous system. Drink lunar teas- blue lotus, marshmallow, comfrey, chamomile… and pause for a moment amongst the frenetic fullness of this early December lunation. What feels sure to you, what information do you know now that can guide your next steps?
“PEOPLE HAVE MOMENTS TOGETHER, BUT IT’S LIKE THE PLANETS… DIFFERENT GRAVITATIONS WILL TAKE THEM TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE GALAXY.” MARINA (SUN/MARS IN SAG) SPEAKING ON OLAY (MARS RX GEMINI) LEAVING THEIR relationship.
As Marina and Olay would do, make it epic… how you begin something might just bring you closer to understanding how that thing will eventually end if you’re paying attention. all things eventually end, it’s how we live them that matters.
