The Cosmic Story: Gemini/Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse 2020
Learn to Think for Yourself
Be Suspicious of Convention
Take charge of your own thinking.
Rouse yourself from the daze of unexamined habit…
Conventional thinking – its means and ends – is essentially uncreative and uninteresting. Its job is to preserve the status quo for overly self-defended individuals and institutions.
Trust nothing and nobody but yourself.
Be ceaselessly watchful over your beliefs and impulses.
~Epictetus: The Art of Living~
We’re into eclipse season again. Eclipses occur when the planes of the Sun, Moon and Earth align and we can visually see how the three interact. With a lunar eclipse on a Full Moon, the Earth comes between the Sun and Moon and casts her shadow on the Moon. This lunar eclipse is a partial eclipse, so it will not cover the entire face of the Moon.
Astrology assigns meaning to the difference eclipses depending on the signs they occupy. With the lunar nodes in Gemini and Sagittarius, the cosmos shines its light on our thinking and our beliefs. After the past 4 years, we’ve been twisted back and forth between truth and lies. Fake news on both sides of the spectrum has put the ball solidly into our own court. We are the deciders. The cosmos pushes us to look at ourselves and our beliefs and decide who we are, what we believe and what we stand for.
Neptune squares these lunar nodes, and since it just turned to direct motion hours before the eclipse, it is a very potent part of what we’re learning. With Neptune changing to direct motion, Uranus is the only retrograde planet in our skies right now. An inner revolution is still at work on us.
Neptune is the planetary energy of dreams, imagination, myths and visions, a misty, illusionary energy that transports us to other dimensions and states of being. While it can inspire us to mystical visions and wonderful works of art, it can also delude us with addictions and fake news if we have no guiding vision of life. On this lower level of Neptune, we get foggy and uncertain about what we’re seeing and believing. It’s easy to be manipulated, especially if it touches off an old belief system. When we connect to Neptune’s higher vision, we’re put in touch with the spiritual basis of life. We connect consciously to the creative imagination, where all manifestation begins.
As Caroline Casey so artfully states, Neptune lays the tracks for Saturn’s reality train. Neptune can delude us into thinking that things are not as they seem.
Neptune can also set us yearning for what our souls desire most, inspiring our vision. When Neptune is in its own sign of Pisces (Jung’s collective unconscious) it is our shared, collective yearnings that want to be incorporated into our personal reality. These yearning come up against old Sagittarian beliefs. Can we let go of those beliefs and open ourselves to new possibilities?
With Neptune in Pisces turning direct on November 28th and squaring the lunar nodes, we’ve had time during its retrograde to look at some overblown fantasies that were believed to be the Truth. When in fact these fantasies/ conspiracy theories/illusions often arise from the tension between fear and hope.
The way to discern our truth is to ground ourselves in our own inner guidance system. With Neptune going direct now, it’s up to us to use our imaginations in more creative ways and think for ourselves. As Epictetus said, be wary of conventional, unconscious thinking.
Road to Emmaus~Robert Zund
The Sabian symbol for Neptune stationing direct at 19* Pisces is: Teacher and student commune in strength in a long walk. This is an image of that grounding we need. We often have spiritual teachers who shape our beliefs. If they are worthy mentors, they help us to discover our own path and seek our own truths.
Beliefs run deep within our psyches, impressed on us when we’re still children and have no sense that we can decide what to believe in or not. These unconscious beliefs shape our thoughts, our expectations and even our desires.
As we enter the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere, we have the opportunity to clean out old beliefs and habits that no longer serve us. As we wait for Winter Solstice and the return of the Light, we can let those things die so we have room for something new to fill us.
And since this Winter Solstice is a big turning point in our collective destiny, it is especially important to spend time in self-examination. Because on December 21, 2020, the social planets Jupiter and Saturn will join together, as they do every 20 years, in the Air elements for the first time since 1220 CE (except for once in 1980 when they came together in Libra-- look at all the new relationship options that sprang from that!)
We are ending a 200 year Earth cycle between Jupiter and Saturn – the last happened in Taurus in 2000. As we end this cycle, we need to see what gifts and lessons they brought us both personally and collectively. What have we all learned in this last year of the Earth cycle when we’ve had to let go of our consumerism and our work as we face both death through the Covid virus and the death of our cultural institutions? How have we changed in these past 20 years?
These two planets that shape our social outlook have come together in Earth signs for the past 200 years (except 1980), focusing our collective attention on material wealth and purpose. Every 200 years or so, the elements of this conjunction change to shift our collective focus. Last time they came together in Air was roughly from 1220-1420 CE – the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. It looks like we’re about to enter a new age of information exchange, intellectual curiosity and communication. Hopefully, a new Renaissance.
And since Jupiter and Saturn will conjunct (you can see this happening in the night sky) in the sign of Aquarius, we can perhaps say this is the beginning of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Especially since Pluto will be finishing up with transforming the sign of Capricorn in the next two years and will enter Aquarius in 2023-2024. That’s when our Aquarian energy gets re-birthed.
The Sabian symbol for the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter at 1* Aquarius is: A cubical white temple in the desert. This is a symbol of the seed groups that have a new vision for civilization, a new reality and vision based on spiritual and natural law. This is a symbolic Yes to humanity as we rediscover our place in Earth’s biosphere and assume our role as Stewards of the Earth.
Gemini-Sagittarius partial Lunar Eclipse
This Full Moon lunar eclipse occurs on Monday November 30th at 12:30 am Alaska time, 1:30 am PST/ 4:30am EST and 9:30am GMT.
Gemini Lunar Eclipse 2020
With this eclipse in Sagittarius and Gemini, curiosity and seeking knowledge are up for us. What is worth believing in? What information fits our soul’s story? Each of us has a different story to live and a different part to play as we begin to re-imagine our world. But old ideas and beliefs won’t encompass this new story. The information we seek to inform us about what’s happening in the world will determine whether we escape the old, worn-out belief systems that shaped our world-view or we open up to new possibilities that might not seem possible yet.
Mercury in Scorpio rules the Gemini Moon and is sextiling both Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, and Saturn in Capricorn. We can use Mercury’s deep insight into death and life to see what needs to change in society. Saturn and Jupiter are at the end of Capricorn, adding to the heaviness we might be feeling as they transit the last degrees of Capricorn. We might get caught up in the heaviness of the government’s power plays. Or we might find our own authority in the world.
The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 9* Sagittarius is: A mother is leading her children up a broad stairway. This is an image of the Morning Star of Wisdom, the Great Mother leading her children into the light. It is an image of an open and unobstructed path to higher consciousness, teaching us to trust our instinctive pursuit of love and the beautiful goals in life.
The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 9* Gemini is: Medieval archer, with pointed beard and feathered hat, takes aim with a bow. This image reminds me of Robin Hood when he goes to the archery contest where the Sheriff of Nottingham hopes to capture him. Robin is a trickster, one who can change the course of energy. Robin has to stay alert, use his keenly trained perceptions to win the contest and escape capture. When we aim an arrow, we send our minds over space and time to pin down something we want. This begs the question, What do we really desire? What are we taking aim at?
On both sides of this eclipse, we’re asked to become aware (full Moon) of those beliefs that keep us chained to the denial of our talents, self-worth and needs. Or, those shadow qualities that keep us unconscious of what we really desire. With this global lock down shutting off our usually sources of entertainment and distractions, we can take the time to look into our hearts and discover what we really want out of life. Do we really want more stuff that soon loses its importance, or do we want community and connectedness?
A regular Full Moon challenges us to develop awareness of the life issues the two complementary signs signify, to break free of any unconscious compulsions we have, and to objectively work with its energy. A lunar eclipse is a high-powered Full Moon that offers us a chance to see and finish off dealing with that particular issue. This lunar eclipse offers us the chance to let go of limiting beliefs and open up to new knowledge and ideas that can help us form new beliefs about our self and life. Beliefs that will shape our new story.
Any planets aspecting the eclipse will indicate how we can develop that awareness. As you can see from the chart, there is another opposition that also aspects the Full Moon and which forms a rectangle made up of butterfly wings. The two wings in blue indicate what we call inconjuncts, 150* aspects which are quirky and often hard to see.
“The rectangular shape was used in temple chambers of initiation. These buildings were built to symbolize the process of transition from one stage of personal-spiritual unfoldment to the next — the fulfillment of a great goal. Seen in the vertical plane, a rectangle becomes a door, something to pass through, to enter a new realm. This figure joining two oppositions by semi-sextiles and inconjuncts indicates that the oppositions can be integrated through everyday work and all our personal relationships, geared toward better ways to serve other people’s needs.” (Dane Rudhyar)
So this eclipse offers us the idea of a great initiation into higher states of consciousness, through the integration of masculine knowledge and feminine wisdom.
The other opposition at this lunar eclipse is that between Uranus retrograde in Taurus and Venus in Scorpio. In the creation myth, Uranus is the Father of Aphrodite/Venus, who is birthed by his phallus/generative energy within the womb of Mother Ocean. It feels like this opposition pushes us to awaken our feminine power, grounded in both our physical and emotional bodies, allowing the original Uranian Mind of Nature to reconnect us to Mother Nature’s biosphere.
The two blue-winged inconjuncts are between UranusRx and the Sagittarius Sun, and Venus and the Gemini Moon. Uranus inconjunct the Sun pushes us to open up to new beliefs concerning the spiritual dimensions of our physical world – acknowledging that the world and our bodies are not evil and corrupt, but as Matthew Fox states, our original blessings. The Earth and our bodies are divine creations and we have to honor them. Venus inconjunct the Moon pushes us to explore and learn about the things that call to us from our depths, to understand their power and purpose and to share them with the world.
Therefore, opening to new beliefs and acknowledging the purpose and power of our desires can aid us in shedding those intellectual shadows and unconscious beliefs that keep us locked in an old story of scarcity and unworthiness.
The next stage of our evolution is upon us. The new story for humanity is waiting for us to step into it as responsible and conscious co-creators of life.
How this Eclipse season is affecting the United States chart
US 4th of July Chart, 1776
This lunar eclipse falls across the ascendant/descendant of the 4th of July US Sibly chart at 12* Sagittarius—Gemini. It could signify a shift in our national identity, which is already underway from the Trump presidency. Our allies will wonder who we are as we go forward into the next four years.
With the US having its Pluto return in the next two years, we are undergoing a transformation – hopefully a spiritual transformation rooted in returning to our core values. Since we’re in the energies of the American Revolution now, people will continue to take to the streets, especially with Mars and Eris in Aries squaring both Pluto in Capricorn and America’s Mercury in Cancer. If we can communicate with truth and honor about our basic needs, perhaps we can make it a peaceful revolution.
There’s another potent T-Square between transiting Neptune in Pisces opposite the US Neptune in Virgo square the US Mars in Gemini. We have to learn to discern what is truth and what are lies. If America’s original dream was to have a free and open society, transiting Neptune is asking us who and what we’ve left out of that equation. Mars in Gemini says we have the knowledge and know-how to ‘make it so’.
This eclipse occurs on the US Uranus at 9* Gemini, activating our native intelligence and brilliance. We can solve our problems if we put our collective Will behind it. If the media would put its focus and story-telling ability to work showcasing the possibilities before us rather than the issues that drag us down, we could awaken a collective spiritual awareness about the issues that face us and the world.
This is America’s time to transform itself into a truer, more democratic version of itself. It’s time to live out the ideals that shaped our mythology.
With Gratitude,
Cathy
Entrance / (After Rilke)
Whoever you are: step out of doors tonight,
Out
of the
room that lets you feel secure.
Infinity is open to your sight.
Whoever
you are.
With eyes that have forgotten how to see
From
viewing things
already too well-known,
Lift up into the dark a huge, black tree
And
put
it in the heavens: tall, alone.
And
you have made the world and all you
see.
It ripens like the words still in your mouth.
And
when at last you
comprehend its truth,
Then close your eyes and gently set it free.
~ Dana Gioia ~
(Interrogations at Noon)
