The Full Moon in Gemini this morning made an implicit opposition to the Sun at 5° Sagittarius, staring down Mars just several hours before.  The seesaw of our Lights across this sign axis — its first ten degrees in particular — is like a polarity playground of ‘what ifs’ but with often unrelenting momentum towards the central goal.

While Sagittarius, diurnal or ‘yang’ home of Jupiter, can be a sign of philosophical zest, prosperity gospels and oneness shtick, Gemini, yang home of Mercury likes to poke holes in the proverbial hot air balloon.  It is not that such soaring ideals or jovian optimism are untrue, but rather that Mercury’s multiplicity likes to see their reaches careen to the ground here and there.

Jupiter, particularly its yang home of Sagittarius compared with its yin home of Pisces, sometimes plays the role of professing ‘one truth’ — whereas Mercury, particularly its yang home of Gemini, often plays the role of professing the ‘many truths.’  This can result in staring contests of zealotry and plurality, and with both the Sun and Mars in the Archer’s first decan/face, emphasis might be placed on the ‘one’ fervent pace.

But this seesaw holds not so strict a binary — few things do — as this Full Moon in Gemini is dispatched by a Mercury presently in its detriment of Sagittarius, further along in the sign than the Sun and Mars.  What’s more, Mercury is square to Neptune in Pisces with its own flavor of smoke and mirrors, wherein it can be hard to sort the ‘real from the ideal’ or clarity from the kool-aid.

With our central star and the red planet having made squares to Saturn in Pisces the moment each entered Sagittarius just a few days ago, the lingering valence of these aspects adds emphasis to the possibility of ideological clashes and at times seemingly irreconcilable standards and beliefs.  Differences in vision, values and ideals, with a dash of fog surrounding them — as mutable crosshairs involving a debilitated Mercury square Neptune can feel like information overload to a saturated nervous system.

Sun-Saturn squares can be paternalistic, bringing solar pressure, identity concerns and the grit that comes from frictional encounters of the will — the ‘perfect’ solar image up against those saturnian forces that seem to negate, adding heaviness, gravity and gravitas.  The pressure to become this or that, things we might already know to be true within.  Mars-Saturn squares can be like a gridlock, an ambush, the ‘unstoppable force meets immovable object’ in an accidental or incidental head-butt.  Said collisions can also happen quite deliberately, as Mars in Sagittarius is often quick to take to philosophical soapboxes and pushy pulpits.

The lingering emotional tenor of these aspects has engendered for some an inner climate of ‘up one day, down the next’, wherein we must talk ourselves back into positive narratives in order to avoid plummeting to lowly depths.  While this will apply more to those with key placements in the early degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces, it’s helpful to keep in mind as Mars in Sagittarius, for all its shimmering brilliance, is peregrine in the sign between its yin home of Scorpio and exaltation of Capricorn — physically restless and prone to verbal jousting if its bursts of energy are not tempered.  Unless the arrow of truth feels exceptionally wise in the moment, sometimes it’s best to just hold one’s tongue.  Some will chalk these dynamics up to holiday months that mix jollity and political arguments averted (or not)… and many will experience just the joyfulness.  Yet unchecked fire, vision run astray is the stuff of unconscious tyranny — ‘the path to hell is paved with good intentions.’

A less dramatic take might be to restate that right now there is some radio static between the real and the ideal, with mixed moods and perhaps shaky ability to execute realistic plans amidst the ‘delulu.’  Mercury’s debility and square to Neptune this month will be ongoing, as the swift planet’s upcoming station will prolong what would otherwise be a quickly passing aspect.  Not everything is as it seems right now.  An ‘always truth’ (Jupiter) that is right now particularly true (Mercury).

This past weekend saw emphasis on Jupiter, midway through its year in Taurus, and its natural rulership of all Sagittarius and Pisces placements answering to Venus, presently in her yang home of Libra and on the recent eclipse degree.  It was a shiny venusian weekend, as the Moon in Taurus nearing fullness made a fleeting conjunction with Jupiter.  Yet Saturn is the exaltation ruler of Libra, and the ruler by face of Jupiter in Taurus’ third decan, adding further layers to the temporary peace between cold, even violent sociopolitical structures and a desire for relational harmony amidst them.

The astrological landscape has changed rapidly across the past couple weeks, with mixes of momentum and uncertainty, but December doesn’t look to be too afflicted as of now.

Just a bit of summary / dynamics to feel around for…

* a polarity playground of ‘what ifs’ and momentum towards one’s central goal
* a gap between the real and the ideal
* information overload, an alternately invigorated / zapped nervous system
* the need for physical stillness to quell mental movement
* the need for physical movement to exorcise mental acrobatics
* smoke and mirrors, clarity and kool-aid, snake oil seeming true and even vice versa
* with a debilitated Mercury ruling the Moon, and square to Neptune, the above qualities and a pervasive air of things ‘not as they seem’
* Saturn in Pisces’ first decan is already the ‘great negater’ in a labyrinthine funhouse where it can be hard to ascertain what’s what
* Mars in Sagittarius can have too much oomph; playful disagreement can become accidental violence
* squares between the Jupiter-ruled signs can imply ideological conflict and worse
* is it even a bad thing that “Jupiter can only grow to Saturn’s limits”? re: Rick Levine
* temporary peace might mask ongoing deceit
* that one weird fortune cookie fortune that reads ‘if you always tell the truth, you never have to remember anything’
* allowing faith to lead, just ‘give it to God/s’
* love still conquers all

Swim well, stargazers ~

—A.B.

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