Curiosity Saved the Horse: Full Moon in Gemini

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On November 22nd, the Sun joins Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius. Later that day, the moon slips into Gemini and immediately opposes the Sun, forming a Full Moon at 0 degrees (52 minutes) of Gemini. The very last and first degrees of a sign are critical. They signify the necessity of change, and this Full Moon carries that energy of urgency. Even though this is a Full Moon, at the peak of the cycle, yet we stand at the beginning of something, just barely able to glimpse a new horizon.

This lunar month began two weeks ago with the Scorpio New Moon, initiating us into deeper intimacy, calling us into the depths of our shadows to acknowledge the greater truths of who we are. And now, we’ve moved out of the deep internal waters of Scorpio and into the external and upward moving fire and air of Sag and Gemini, which look outward and seek to learn and grow and expand.

So, we set our sights on a new journey, that is yet supported by the ongoing emotional work we cultivated during the past month with the Sun in Scorpio, and the past year, with Jupiter in Scorpio. We may feel ready for adventure, and yet, with the ruler of the moon, Mercury, currently retrograde, there is also a need to reflect, consider, rework, revise, and plan carefully. So there is at once the desire to rush forward and the need to hold back, like a horse raring to go before the race. And indeed, with three planets in Sagittarius, sign of the centaur, we may well feel the tension between our animal and human natures.

The Gemini-Sagittarius axis signifies the mind and communication, and highlights the polarity between our worldview, beliefs, philosophy, and intuition (Sag), and our everyday thought processes, communications, and consensus reality (Gemini). A typical Gemini New Moon may encourage us integrate our everyday reality with our intuitive knowing. Yet, with Mercury retrograde and Jupiter bringing more weight to the Sagittarius end of the axis, we are being pulled toward the expansion and evolution of our worldview. It’s clear that humanity is undergoing an immense transition. And the extent to which we are able and willing to move with that shift, will determine to some extent how easy we experience the shift to be.

From a certain perspective, many of the world’s problems can be traced to an inadequate worldview. The dominant scientistic and patriarchal paradigm sees human consciousness as an anomaly in a lifeless and random world, ordered through the unintentional collisions and interactions between particles. No wonder there is such disrespect for Earth, its creatures, and our fellow humans. So this transformation we are undergoing is directly tied to worldview.

Jupiter will be in Sag for the next year, offering us this time to expand our minds and philosophies, to open to new ideas, to travel to new lands, both inner and outer, and to grow into worldviews that better fit this time and place. While Gemini learns through other people and books and courses, Sagittarius instead taps into its own intuition. It seeks personal revelation, subjective truth, a higher knowing--all of which may well be facilitated by teachers and books and courses, but they must in the end be left behind for one’s own truth. Like the horse, it moves according to impulse rather than intellect.

There are many cultures and traditions that see the world as inherently replete with life and consciousness and intention and meaning. There are many worldviews that see life as sacred. There are many worldviews other than our own. There are also many ways of expanding consciousness, and opening to new ways of being, including philosophy, travel, meditation, divination, psychedelics, and connecting with people who are different from us.

As we gaze over these new horizons, readying ourselves for this new journey, already, we confront our first challenge. The Full Moon is square to Mars in Pisces. There is a potential for passive aggression, or for failing to act. There also may be a tendency toward dogmatism. Be aware of any inclination to assume you are right, to rigidly hold to your own view, without listening to others. We are never required to change our beliefs, but if we can’t even listen, if we can’t even open to what others have to say, we will forever remain stuck in our own small world. Our worlds expand through considering other ways. This is how we grow. This is how we evolve.

Gemini holds the key to resisting dogmatism; its gift for curiosity. Curiosity keeps us engaged and lighthearted even in difficult times and enables opening to new ideas and ways of being. If we can be curious about perspectives other than our own, and about our own patterns and resistances, about what drives people, about how trauma shapes us, and so on, then we will be able to learn and grow from even pain. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it may just save this horse.