Full Moon in Gemini 2019

©2005 ML Monroe

Aaaah.... Here we are. The last Full Moon of the year ~ many say of the decade. In my personal way of counting, this decade ends with 2020. But that's just nit-picking....

Gemini Full Moon urges us to dive deeper into the power of our Self and use it to work with circumstances around us that are out of our personal control. Each challenging situation encourages us to find and express our deepest, truest Self. Gemini's objectivity and neutrality gives this Full Moon flexibility, perspective and adaptibility as we do that.

Friends and I have jokingly said that 2019 has been the Dickensian best of times (and) worst of times, the epoch of belief (and) the epoch of incredulity. A year of changes, of metamorphoses, of activations, it demanded we shift perspective and shake off what doesn't serve us individually or as members of the collective. And it's led us to the Gates of 2020 and our best future Self.

Being in the sign of the Twins, events and challenges may occur in twos. This energy may follow a similar path or may diverge into opposing ones. Two facets of our life may tug our attention. We may be of two minds on a decision that's before us.

As Saturn and Pluto come closer to their alignment (exact January 12th), they keep us reeling between the visible, concrete Middle World (Saturn's realm) and the hidden, secret Lower World (Pluto's realm). All this while the square of Neptune's influence ~ which can cause us to slip and slide into fantasy and forgetfulness as well as loose our inflexible grip on physicality and connect to intuition ~ obliges us to face our disappointments by surrendering our limiting beliefs, reassessing our priorities, and confronting our difficult truths.

Remember that Full Moon energy is all about releasing what no longer serves us. This Full Moon provides the opportunity to let go of whatever we wish to leave behind as we enter the new year. This includes any issues that arose around the time of the last eclipse on July 16th. Ablsolutely anything on which we need closure. Spend time considering this carefully.

Healing is a strong theme since right now, on this edge of the Full Moon, Chiron ~ the Wounded Healer asteroid ~ goes direct in Aries after being retrograde since July 8th of this year. Assess our physical, mental and emotional health. Schedule a check-up. Follow up on a health issue that's been niggling at us. Boost our immune system. Get a massage or give our Self a bit of extra care. Be kind to our Self. Speak up for our Self. Appraise our spiritual and soul health. Be clear about our motives. Practice self-acceptance.

Rest and breathe before the new year ~ and the coming eclipse season ~ begins. Slow down and listen closely for messages from the Divine. Trust your intuition.

What feels out of place in your life? What habits, behaviors, patterns are you willing to let go of? What habits, behaviors, patterns are you ready to bring into your life? How will you allow space for your own health and healing? How can you more clearly be the person you want to be? What is your opinion of your Self? How can you better accept who you are now?

Leo New Moon, After Eclipsing

Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

All this week, in every venue, talk eventually turns to the eclipse. Every news outlet, all social media, each conversation on the street begins with some comment about it. "Did you see?" "Where were you?" "We seem to have survived..." "Didn't realize the temperature would drop so significantly!"

With the Leo New Moon and the solar  eclipse happening at virtually the same time, the energetic effect of each increased with the power and impact of the other. Leo is all about the will, specifically, choice and action. After our experience of the new moon and eclipse, what action will we choose to take?

One of our most significant choices in life is whether we choose to see an experience as happy or miserable, as positive or negative. Our first reaction may be anger or upset or angst or fear. We cannot change the feeling. What we can change is how we move forward with it, how we see it in the larger perspective, how long we allow ourselves to sit in the stew of those emotions. We have the opportunity to use our will to move forward in whatever manner we desire.

The solar eclipse not only brought up emotions, some sensitive people had physical reactions as well. Like when we fall in love or we lose a job or someone leaves or dies, our system may respond with restlessness, a lack of appetite or an upset stomach. It's how we experience and cope with rapid change. Prior to the eclipse, discussions focussed on whether to be outside during the event, be with large or small groups, or be alone. People had celebrations, camped out, created rituals. No matter where we were or with whom, the expansive eclipse was a communal experience.

We are moving through one of those liminal places where what we choose as our focus ripples out to help form our communal future. The eclipse and this Leo New Moon are not only about our desires but also about our will to create and co-create the story of our future. Choose concisely, wisely and with care.

What did you do for/during the eclipse? What emotional responses did you have? What physical reactions did you experience? How did you choose to respond? What action are you choosing to move forward into? How do you want your future to be? What part of the story of our communal future are you willing to write?

Bottle Cap Tarot

Every now and again words of wisdom pop up in the strangest places. I shake my head and chuckle when that happens. It's the strip of words in a fortune cookie striking a chord. Or the magazine ad attempting to catch the consumer's eye catching the heart instead. Or the teabag tag with literary quotes.

Or it shows up on a bottle cap: Live life to the fullest.

In the midst of today's craziness with the media bombarding us with the most devastating and negative information. With governments in every sector taking strong or threatening or isolating stances. With events in nature distracting and destroying. All around us, something offers the opportunity to step into a defensive mode.

What of all this negativity and defensive posturing is truly in our best interest? My first response would be, 'None.' Simplistic and reactionary. Realistically, some of it is in our best interest. Knowing what's true about climate change is in our best interest even if it makes us sad or angry or defensive....maybe even because it does. Seeing the devastation caused by war-like behaviors and natural disasters help balance out our perspective on things that go wrong in our own lives. Awareness of governmental shifts that may adversely affect those with little or no voice is important to know so we can join our voices on those issues.

Of lesser importance is the posturing of angry men ~ and women ~ who may have authority and power, yet are mainly looking to keep us distracted. There is a sleight of hand happening over which we have no personal power.

At the times of our greatest frustrations, we need to keep in mind the wisdom of this little bottle cap: Live life to the fullest. We are responsible for our own lives. We are accountable only for our own actions, including our attitudes and our happiness. Life is for living fully. As we reach out to those we who are nearest and dearest to us, we experience moments of joy, peace and contentment. Our capacity to step into those experiences thwarts the power of the negativity and the naysayers. We take control of the definition of a full life. It's the best form of rebellion and resistance we have.

How do you respond to the negativity in the news today? What do you find works in your best interest? How do you break away from participating in the negativity? How do you define a full life? How do you share your definition with those around you? What is it about your definition that keeps you positive?

Gaining Perspective in High Spaces

Not long ago, I hiked Lower Table Rock in southern Oregon. To my mind, the path was steep. Walking up was less difficult because the ground rose in front of me, making it easier to see. At the top, we walked the path to the edge of the mesa. I snapped this picture standing near the edge and looking over the valley as well as Upper Table Rock in the distance. I watched eagles gliding over the field below and laughed at the thought that we were standing above the soaring eagles.

Hiking back down was more difficult for me. I kept my head down and focused on the bright turquoise shoes of my daughter hiking down before me (purposefully close to me). I was grateful for the assistance. It calmed me so much that I hiked down the steeper part of the path beside her with my head up. A very different view!

The following week, I found myself ascending Mt. Evans, one of Colorado's Fourteens ~ over 14,000 feet ~ on the world's highest paved road. At one point, this was our view: no horizon to speak of, nothing ahead but fluffy white clouds on which to focus. From what we'd already driven, I knew we were coming to another hairpin turn. My heart was racing and I pulled my right side closer to the center of the vehicle ~ as if that would help!

At the top, we met a fellow traveler on a bicycle and a couple riding a motorcycle. Mountain goats with their lost, bleating kids wandered and nibbled at the sparse grass or relaxed at the side of the road. Yellow-bellied marmots dotted the landscape and chirruped as they chased across the rocks. Our view was vast, rocky and distant. We could truly see for miles and miles. Pike's Peak appeared through the clouds as well as the other Fourteens. The view was breath-taking ~ as was being over 14.000 feet in the air! Hence the sign:

As I reflected on these trips, I realized how much perspective I gained on each of them. Although Lower Table Rock seemed an easy jaunt for most of the hikers, it was my perspective making it more difficult. Hiking next to my confident daughter afforded me the opportunity to notice that I felt safer when I limited my view. However, I did not feel better. Once I recognized that I was limiting the view, forcing a narrower perspective, I could lift my head and see the fullness of the wooded landscape I was traversing.

Mt. Evans, on the other hand, was a different sort of trek. We were in a car, driving up and up and up. The same what-if fear gripped me at times. I recognized more quickly that I could breathe deeply and enjoy the beauty of the heights or I could focus on the narrow space where the fear resided. Again, it was a matter of perspective. When I let it flow out in a wider circle, my fear dissipated. I felt the incredible awe of the adventure. I wondered about the First Peoples who traversed this mountain on foot and marveled at the people who created the paved road.

As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: "We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down." Being close to those cliffs physically, recognizing the ones I carry within, I have a new perspective on how and why I develop those wings. I am grateful for the journeys in such quick succession ~ as well as for those who accompanied me up those heights, and those who accompany me on the internal cliff jumping.

At what cliffs have you stood? How do you face them? How do you feel when you stand there? Has the fear ever overwhelmed you? What do you know of your perspective at those moments? How has your perspective changed over time?

Warning and Perspective

Wisdom of Avalon cards by Colette Baron-Reid

From the guide:

The Wasp

anger, retaliation, jealousy

The Wasp has a stinger that hurts with poison when confronted. Be mindful of how you address the world when the Wasp appears on your path. If you're not careful, you may sting or be stung. The Wasp reminds you that pain is a choice, so don't waste your stinger on a petty quarrel. Are you jealous or envious or the victim of someone who is? Jealousy and envy are the children of fear and lack---send love, light, and compassion, and stay clear of the sting. Mind your own business today, and save it for a life-and-death situation. Chances are that whatever comes up today is smaller than you perceive it to be in the grand scheme of things. On the other hand, when you feel the sting of a wasp, be smart and swat it away! Defend yourself! The wasp sends an omen of warning to protect yourself as well.

What is it that I need to face the day tomorrow? That was my focus question as I chose the card for today. I was stunned to silence by the choice. What? Me? Wanting to retaliate? Well ~~ truth be told, there are moments when I want to 'get back at' someone for an injury or wrong I believe has been committed. When I feel that way, I'm not always careful with my words or with my actions. I'm attempting to snatch back something that was never mine in the first place or something that, under other conditions, I wouldn't care to have. Usually, it's my sense of the spotlight or recognition or acknowledgement. Most of the time, I don't care if people notice or acknowledge anything I do. I do what I do for another reason ~ because I want to do it or because it's the right thing to do. Occasionally, I want the spotlight that is focused on someone else to be focused on me. When that happens, my words and actions can sting ~ and once I recognize what I'm doing, I regret it. The sting comes back to me.

Then there's the sting I receive from others. I've experienced someone recently publicly taking me to task for something about which she did not have full information. Others saw, heard and steered clear of the chastisement. Although I felt affronted by the verbal slap, I knew it came because she did not have control of the situation and was stung by that herself.  It's not easy to take a step back and recognize those injured feelings ~~ and turn around to wish the person well, to send love and light, to recognize that whatever that person is feeling, whatever is causing the lashing out, is his or her own pain. I am only the target, and perhaps the trigger, but not the creator of the other's pain.

The sentence from the guide that jumps out at me is: Chances are that whatever comes up today is smaller than you perceive it to be in the grand scheme of things. It's a variation on a question I was asked by a mentor years ago: In a hundred years, what of this will matter? Most of the time, I can reduce it to: In five years, or even next year, what will this matter? Perspective makes all the difference. So for now I will heed the warning to protect ~ and defend ~ myself and not go looking for someone to sting!

What is your response when you feel attacked? What warns you that there is an attack? What is your preferred method of retaliation? If you're being honest, how do you respond when you feel jealous or challenged? Have you developed a practice of taking a step back? of adjusting your perspective? Try doing it consistently for several days. How does it change your responses?

Adjusting Perspective

Every experience, every thought, every lesson we have, shows up in our lives from one perspective: our own. No matter what we do, we cannot entirely change that.

One definition of perspective is "true understanding of the relative importance of things; a sense of proportion." The word's origin comes from medieval Latin: perspect- [looked at closely], and the verb perspicere, [to look through].

Our perspective on an event or comment is always seen through our own eyes, our own experiences, our own values. We have nothing else. However, like the pigeon perched above the city, we have the opportunity to change that view. We can perch ourselves in the middle of a busy street, on a housetop, on a 10-story apartment building or on a 80-story skyscraper. We have the capacity to adjust our perspective.

My personal experience is generally starting in the middle of the street ~ surrounded by the murkiness of whatever was just slung at or buzzed by me. It's dangerous there. Sometimes I wallow in whatever is happening on the street, often unintentionally, because I'm reacting ~ and I am in the middle of it all.

At those exact moments, it's difficult to shift perspectives. It's a struggle to remember that I can fly; I don't have to muddle across the active street. Spreading my wings, getting lift, rising ~ all have their own challenges. Once I do that, though, I can adjust my perspective, the view of what's happening, and breathe differently.

What do you do when you find yourself in a metaphorical street fight? How do you feel when things get thrown your way? Do you feel the need to change perspective? If so, how do you do that? If not, how does that work for you?