Full Moons are halfway points in the lunar cycle, where the Moon is at its highest energetic reflection of the Sun’s light, and as such, for the next two weeks, the signature of that chart is in play. This Full Moon’s signature is at 26˚ of Sagittarius, which is only one degree away from the galactic center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This is the center of our vast evolutionary cycle, the rotation of our solar system around the galaxy’s center, which, to our temporal nature, may even signify what we think of as eternity.  The energy that pours out of and into that black hole is off the charts, and when a Full Moon radiates its energy and is aligned with that center, we are capable of experiencing an “overview” kind of energy, a time to look at the long range period of our own lives, and observe from that awareness where we have come from and where we are headed, both personally and globally.

The energetic signature of Sagittarius is about gathering knowledge from our accumulated experience, from the facts we’ve gathered so far. Gemini, the opposite of Sagittarius, represents the gatherer of facts, of scientific proofs, of logic. The integration of these two opposites generates wisdom. Wisdom in this sense is valuing the larger overview of our lives, the life beyond our life, the integration of what we know with what we dream and imagine, and of our mind with our bodies. Jupiter is the ruler of Sagittarius, and is presently in travelling through that sign, adding significant emphasis to this phase of our lives (Jupiter is in Sagittarius only once every 12 years). It’s that bright “star” that’s been close to the Moon these past few days, having formed a conjunction on the 16th.

This Full Moon makes a T-square (an opposition of two planets which forms a 90˚ angle to a third) to Neptune, the planet of the unconscious, and all things imagined. This formation with Neptune in its own sign of Pisces, is aligned with the paradigm shift of our times: asking us to reformulate the basic structures of the stories we carry ourselves with. A T-square tests us, asks us to integrate seeming opposites with a third point of view. We are all carrying the stories of our lives, based upon certain precepts. But since those basic precepts or our reality are changing, how then do we live? With humanity’s survival in the crosshairs of eternity, what needs to be changed? Even the Pope has declared climate change to be a worldwide crisis, and for the first time, the voices of religion and science are starting to overlap.

Mars is now in the sign of Cancer, and is close to opposition with Pluto (exact on the 19th). Happening just before the energetic high point of the year, Summer Solstice, this opposition signifies a defining moment in our history. Mars, our personal ego and action center, opposite to Pluto, which is the power of the gods entrusted to us, will face off and test our ability to handle conflict, to handle our tendency toward ego inflation, arrogance and aggression. Mars opposed Pluto is a signifier of aggression and even violence, if our egos take precedence over our higher consciousness. And of course, world events mirror the planets, with war drums pounding in the US toward Iran.

With Jupiter and Neptune in a continual square (90˚ angle) aspect this year (see New Moon in Gemini) especially exact during the Solstice, the idealism of Sagittarius, which can degrade into arrogance, must be tested against the depths that Neptune reminds us about, that we are not just able to spin information according to our thoughts and whims, that reality is what we make it to be, and the results of what we’ve been creating and imagining are directly reflected in our environment.

Saturn will conjoin the South Node on the 23rd just as Venus makes a T-square to the Jupiter/Neptune square. This is a giant finger-pointing to humanity, asking us to take full responsibility for our actions, both present and past. Though this is of global importance, it also is personal to each of us, that the actions of our past may come back to us as memories that need to be revisited, recapitulated, and seen again in the light of our present awareness and development. Venus’s passage now through Gemini suggests that we find a loving perception of our past and present experiences, loving in the sense of supportive and understanding, not wishing or thinking it away, but truly embracing the knowledge of what our experience has given us, to digest even the painful and grievous events of our lives, so that we live a wholistic, integrated existence, aware of our shadow, and aware of our potential for becoming creators of new ways of living peacefully together.