Deck Out the Halls
The General Holiday Spirit is pulling me in, as it is almost December, which has me looking at the year ahead in Astrology.
I’ve been taken over by some genie in this process. I am actually getting excited, and not for presents. I am broke af and I don’t expect anything because I’m single and 31. My grandparents will probably throw me some cash but they do that pretty often anyway. I’m excited because my niblings (niece and nephew). We’re doing the thing! We are doing Christmas.
When I was a kid, Christmas meant a lot. There were chorus concerts, visited with family, and watched all the Christmas movies. Some of these are traditions my sister held on to and passed down to her kids. Traditions like going to look at Christmas lights in neighborhoods. The Christmas Spirit has not devolved into consumerism, the perception of it has. For us, Christmas is in the decorations and the way they light up your soul. There is a wonderful energetic association I have held on to with regards to the Spirit of this time of year. For me, its still the holly jolly fat fuck we all know and love. Christmas is jingles and jangles, smiles, and a surprising number of applications for spiced rum.
I think that part of what I’m sensing is the general energy of Sagittarius, with Venus, Mercury, and the Sun there, as the moon opens into her first quarter phase. Sagittarius is pretty optimistic and hopeful. Honestly, I am very happy to be experiencing this after the Scorpio eclipse (October 25). This feels much lighter and helps with the frustration I was feeling from a stationary Mars, as well. Whatever seeds were planted at the New Moon on the 23rd of November are now taking root and becoming seedlings. We are approaching the Full Moon on the 7th, which will be a time of pruning back that growth. For now, we are to dream as big as we can.
Mercury
Its impossible to overlook the fact that Mars plays a really big role in this lunation, we’ll get to that in a moment. To begin, the message is being received from Mars to Mercury, as the two oppose each other at 19° later on today. Mars likes to cut things, and combined with Mercury can manifest as a sharp tongue, for example.
Another remarkable aspect is that Mercury is the Ruler of this Full Moon (because it is in the sign Gemini). Mercury will be moving into Capricorn just hours before the exact opposition of the Sun and Moon. He moves from the optimistic, adventurous, fire sign of Sagittarius into the grounded, ambitious, Earth sign of Capricorn. I think something is going to bring us down to Earth, and all of these big dreams will require some ground work. During this time of being in Sagittarius, it’s felt like I can do anything, but I can foresee the need to cut back the amount of work, but hopefully after this huge up-front energy investment. I don’t expect to be any less excited for what is possible, because Venus and the Sun will still be in Sagittarius and supplying a lot of optimism when it comes to life and love in general.
Venus
Speaking of Venus, she will move into the opposition with Mars the very next day. Described by Renn Butler in the Archetypal Universe as:
Passionate enthusiasm for life, emotional warmth and vitality, dynamic cravings for fun and enjoyment, harmonious self-assertion. — The interplay of love and anger in one’s relationship life, issues around selfish gratification, emotional discord and disharmony, rough and coarse manners.
After that, Mercury will enter into a square with Neptune, right as the Moon passes by, at 22° Pisces. A few days later, Venus will move through the same square, but something very special happens when she does. A couple of hours after Venus moves into this very same square at 22° Pisces, Neptune will turn direct.
Full Moon with Mars
Now, I bring us back to Mars. Depending on the severity of Mars’s affect this Full Moon, this cycle may last into June of 2023, when there is a New Moon in Gemini. Mars will be exactly conjunct the Moon. That needs time to sink in. Mars will be at 16° at the time of the Full Moon. The Full Moon will be at 16° of Gemini, opposing the Sun. The Sun, the last in the procession of planets moving through Sagittarius (I know the Sun is not a planet, stay with me). This has impact. Brace for impact. The Moon is accompanied by Mars, the God of War. Expect delays. Expect explosions. Of all of the possible degrees that Mars could have retrograded to, its at the very same degree that the Full Moon will occur.
Mars and the Moon can indicate determination and inner strength, or it can be a tendency to react sharply or in emotional outbursts. I think this Full Moon is asking us to take a look at what we are willing to fight for and build towards. What is it that gets us going in a way that feels like we are possessed by a Spirit? Even in Capricorn (go-getter) mode, what feels juicy? What feels gutsy, edgy, feisty? Let out the wild side here. Howl at the moon! We need to find a way to expend the Martian energy. This will be in my first house, so it might get quite interesting in terms of my personality or my body. I am not leaving the house, I’ll tell you that.
Originally written in Collective Journaling at The Stoa
