11:16 pm  AHST  11/26/2023
   1:16 am    PST  11/27/2023 
   4:16 am   EST  11/27/2023
   9:16 am   GMT 11/27/2023

As the Full Moon once again illuminates the darkest corners of our collective and personal psyches, we may be able to see some inspiration, or at least some pausing in the fury that Mars in Scorpio and two eclipses in October had brought. Just two days ago, Mars passed into Sagittarius, away from its revenge, power-struggle-oriented Scorpio placement, toward Sagittarius, which is more favorable for taking action (Mars) according to higher principles, and seeing the larger perspective (Sagittarius). The Sun has also moved into Sag and brings some perspective to what has been a debacle of destruction on both sides in the Middle East recently. Mars in his new, more elegant clothes, is conjoined with the Sun at this Full Moon, which helps bring us to the negotiation table, gives us an opportunity to see a larger perspective (though we are never obligated by planetary forces, they only work for us if we take advantage of them.)

Though it is not over yet, by any means. Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, is an asteroid that astrologers are watching closely, as it conjoins the North Node of the Moon, which signifies our collective destiny. This conjunction, which takes place every 18-19 years, is happening just 6 hours after the Full Moon. It heralds a time where we are called to address the injustices and hypocrisy of our ways of governing ourselves, and the ridiculousness of war being able to solve longstanding racial tensions. All over the world, racism is now what humanity must conquer in order to achieve a modicum of peace. This is especially true in the US, where “anti-woke” is simply a cover for the desire to use racism (and religion) as dogmas for the age-old ways of domination and white supremacy ways of doing business.

With a Sagittarius Sun and Gemini Full Moon, we are in the territory of gathering information (Gemini) which is an overwhelming task these days, along with how we put that information together into a world view, to make a belief system (Sagittarius, which rules among other things, philosophy). Forming an energetically challenging right angle to both (called a T-square) is Saturn, the planet which rules how we structure our world, according to our limitations of time and resources. Saturn is in Pisces now, the sign which at its deepest meaning asks us to evaluate our actions according to the principles of compassion and awareness of the larger order of things. Deep within each of us is our intuitive sense of the nature of our being, that there is beauty and power in loving each other, as evidenced in every newborn child. Saturn in Pisces asks us to develop the necessary self-discipline of behaviors in our interactions which represent that kind of healing presence in our daily lives — so necessary in our world. Developing this self-discipline means gathering information, such as listening to our guiding influences of spiritual and/or inspiring teachers, and then practicing our beliefs in our everyday life.

Speaking of love, Venus has quite a strong presence in this chart—opposite Eris and conjoining the South Node, which represents our past historical actions and their associated karma. In Libra, this is about how we’ve gone about forming relationships, which often has to do with money, opportunity, and alliances based upon mutual need. Nothing wrong with that, but in a world in which domination and control have been major factors in our collective, this also has its ramifications in the basis for our personal relationships. Venus here asks us to shine that Full Moon light onto where we have been “colonized” into behaving in the ways we interact with others, ways that are based upon societal roles. Are our relationships based solely upon need fulfillment, or business, or attainment? Or are we connecting from our hearts, from compassion which sees others’ suffering as our own, and kindness, which opens the doors to greater truths?

Venus is in a Yod in this chart (often called the “finger of God”) which is a divining rod pattern of angles, a strong energetic pattern that asks us to transform and face our past karma. The two planets that are the propelling energy (the “handles”) toward Venus are Uranus and Neptune. Since we’re talking here about how our love is expressed (both personally and collectively) Uranus asks us to break out of old co-dependent patterns, Neptune brings visions of a greater good, of how that feeling of making a difference in the world can transform us. Since the Yod is karmic in nature, we are faced with loving our “enemy”, and, at this stage of the planet’s evolution, if we don’t learn this, we all will destroy each other. So Venus is asking us to employ “higher love” in our day to day interactions, as well as on a global level, to resist and reckon with the doctrines that promote hatred and division in our politics, our business practices, and our personal relationships. This is our destiny.

Next week, (December 6^th) Neptune will move into direct motion, which brings its influence more actively present, more consciously accessible. Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, which can support a vision of how to enact our higher self, how to resist the old patterns of aggression/submission and see beyond our personal dramas to a stance that rises above the personal, toward “interbeing” as Thich Nhat Hanh called it. This is the insight that Neptune can offer us, that we do not exist apart from anything else, that each of us exists only because we are in relationship to everything else that sustains us, that brought us here, that brings us our lives every moment of our days. This is truly seeing the sacred path of life in the most mundane aspects of our lives, seeing everything as connected to everything else. Then we know that connecting force is everywhere, and it is Love.