Full Moon November 23rd, 2018

At 5.39 a.m. (set for London) on November 23rd the Moon will be full at 0 degrees Gemini. 0 degrees of any sign speaks of the enthusiasm of youth of a sign, that kind of puppy like rawness of thought and action you get with the first flush of excitement of a feeling.

As an overview at this Full Moon, the Sun is sitting with a very strong Jupiter, in his own sign, and a retrograde Mercury. Added into the Full Moon mix we have a difficult aspect to Mars and Neptune in Pisces. So now let’s break this down into something meaningful.

Jupiter signifies expansion, so we can expect to see an excess of Sagittarian ‘stuff’. Jupiter’s nature is one of benevolence, but it can also manifest as a bit OTT and be seen as self-righteous or giving more promise than action. What we may see is an energy for truth, wisdom, freedom, travel, justice, fairness and good fortune. Mercury represents the mind, learning, thinking and communication and we must remind ourselves that the retrograde period does bring with it opportunities. Yes, we may have some communication glitches, but we also get the chance to re-view, re-assess, re-edit, re-evaluate and do all the things we keep putting off, which counterbalances Jupiter’s naturally ‘gung ho’ attitude with a little more caution of thought. Mercury doesn’t really like having to wear Sagittarius clothes, but here’s another opportunity. When we can’t dress as we would like we are taken out of our comfort zone and that’s exactly where we need to be at this Full Moon – having to look at situations where we perhaps feel uncomfortable but with the benefit of knowing that we need to look at a situation from a fresh angle with a different set of eyes.

Venus has moved from retrograde to direct and we can now take advantage of what we learned about relationships and our value systems during her retrograde period. Rising before the Sun, she is in ‘warrior’ mode as Ishtar and endeavours to help to bring some kind of enlightenment and new thinking to situations.

The Moon’s nodes, which I tend to think of on the one hand in terms of the gifts with which we have come into this life, and on the other hand as the direction and method with which we are meant to use these gifts, have also changed signs. They now sit in the Capricorn/Cancer axis, which for me speaks of using the gifts of responsibility, structure and solid hard work in an empathetic manner for the benefit of family, emotional health and the nurturing of ourselves and others on a soul level.

At the Full Moon the Sun and Moon sit exactly opposite each other – the one time they can see each other in full light. Soul and Spirit hoping to be perfectly balanced so that the shadow can be truly seen and released. However, at this Full Moon we should caution ourselves that the balance is not exactly perfect because the Moon sits on her own whilst the Sun sits with Jupiter and Mercury. So, on an inner level, you may feel outnumbered and with your back to the wall. It’s a bit like having three people sitting on one end of a see saw, and with Jupiter’s ebullience in the mix we may experience a likelihood of elements of excess, exaggerated behaviour, intolerance, foolhardiness, speaking without thinking and the desire for adventure and risk-taking; but also a desire to break free of restrictions in the search for the real truth and fairness. Also remember my earlier comment – we are out of our comfort zone taking advantage of an opportunity to deal with an issue from a fresh angle and with a different raw, young energy.

And now on to the real nitty gritty. This Full Moon makes a conflicting aspect to Mars in Pisces as well as Neptune. Mars’ normal warrior type energy is somewhat dissipated in Pisces and If not used correctly the natural Martian energy of fight and assertion could manifest as passive aggression and over-sensitivity, but if used on a soul level to help ourselves and others who are in need physically or with spiritual help, it has a lot more potential. Neptune brings clouded judgment, delusion, lies and fake news; but equally to intuitive thought and flashes of inspiration. This is because Neptune removes the boundaries, which in turn also means that we can let go of limited belief systems about our abilities and ourselves. Put Jupiter in this mix as well and we have the real possibility of taking this to sky high levels.

So, putting this all together, there is a choice at this Full Moon – use the energy for philanthropy and for the expansion of knowledge and wisdom as we search for the truth, or alternatively ‘fake news’, deception and dominance may come out in a passive/aggressive fashion.

And knowing all of this how do we deal best with the energy of this Full Moon? Firstly, we must ensure that we are coming at issues from a point of realism and not what just we want to see. We must use logic and our own mental abilities to focus on whether our ego is acting from the point of truth rather than super-sensitivity. Right brain and left brain must come together in the form of our third eye so that we use our highest levels of thought and intuition to fully focus on a higher good for ourselves and for others. And, because Mercury is retrograde and not wearing his favourite comfy clothes, we get to have a re-run view from another angle. Maybe embattled Mrs. May gets another chance too!!! So, be aware that there may be delusion or deception in the background but use the logic of the air element of Gemini to apply to an issue, alongside the Fire of Sagittarius that seeks both the truth and freedom.

This Full Moon in communicative Gemini wants us to search the aspects of self and ego that we not only fail to acknowledge but also project as something to dislike about others. We can easily project resentments of a perceived unfair life on to others as we seek to apportion blame rather than take our own personal responsibility. It can always be someone else’s fault, but it takes an honest and realistic person to acknowledge the shadow of the self and bring it into the light of the Full Moon. Once we make the shadow sides of ourselves conscious, we not only release the destructive element of the shadow we can also release that pot of gold on which our Sun is sitting. We must always remind ourselves that there is always something within the shadow that could be used for good – it’s just that leaving it in the shadows allows it to be like Medusa and keep growing one bad head after another. But, by being given the opportunity to look from another angle and with our third eye, we can see that shadow more clearly and release it with vigour and new energy.

So have courage at the Full Moon and allow yourself to see your shadow so that it can no longer undermine you and so that your personal ‘pot of gold’ can be released and bring nurture rather than destruction.