Tonight’s Full Moon in Sagittarius has lots to say.
Of course it does! With the Sun in curious Gemini and the Moon in convivial Sag, there’s a social vibe and yet there’s more than meets the eye. So, let’s unpack this chart carefully.
In this Full Moon chart, the decans are especially important, so let’s review what those are. Each sign of the zodiac can be divided into three parts of 10 degrees each (decan = 10).
Far back in astrological history, each decan has been linked to general significations and also specific meanings that bring important nuance to our interpretations.
In a very general way, the beginning decans (0º- 09º) are about beginnings. We learn something about what this sign starts, how it initiates, how it handles beginnings.
The middle decans (10º-19º) are about reaching a goal, or a desired state. We started something and now we have something.
Generally, the third and final decans (20º- 29º) are about endings. We’re wrapping up the experience of this sign of the zodiac and heading into a new one.
This Full Moon chart includes first decan and third decan placements. The planets and points in each group aspect each other, creating two overlapping but distinct points of focus in the chart. This tells us we’re at a point of endings, with new things emerging or about to emerge.
These patterns are important, so I created one chart that includes only the late-degree planets, and another that includes only the early-degree planets so you can see the layouts.
The Full Moon itself is part of the late-degree pattern, so let’s review that first.
We see the Moon at the apex of a Kite pattern and a Grand Cross. Both of these also involve the Sun, opposite the Moon in late Gemini.
Sag and Gemini are bright, energetic, and warm. They reach out, include, and explore. Near the end, though, they are tired.
This Sag Moon is roadworn, longing for their place, a place they can rest. The tarot card associated with this last decan is the Ten of Wands, a person carrying an unbearably heavy load.
The Gemini Sun is faced with the final choice: Only one twin goes forward, only one survives. In quantum terms, the probability function is collapsing. One reality state has been chosen. The tarot card is the 10 of Swords, a man lying on the ground, pierced and bleeding.
Notice that the end of each mutable sign (Gemini and Sag are both mutable) is not just the end of a sign, but also the end of a season–we’ve completed one cardinal-fixed-mutable arc, and begin a new triad. Note that these 10 cards also signal the end of a cycle. Something is ending, but something new will begin.
Mars at the end of Leo, one arm of the Kite, trines the Moon and sextiles the Sun. This Mars is determined. He’s won his throne, and now he’s got to maintain it. He’s ready to face all comers. His card is the 7 of Wands.
The other Fire point of this Kite is the Chiron and Eris conjunction in late Aries. One way to read these two asteroids is simply to say, well, the world’s on fire. Yet the final decan of Aries is not about loss, but about transmutation.
Venus rules this third decan of Aries, which Austin Coppock names The Burning Rose. Here we have a story arc completed, but instead of going up in flames, it ends in a celebration. The tarot card is the 4 of Wands, a card of homecoming.
This Kite tracks a long journey. We are tired, desperately tired. Yet what’s ahead is not disaster, but a new reality, something we haven’t seen yet and can’t quite grasp.
The Full Moon is also part of a Grand Cross in the mutable signs with the Nodes of the Mood. So, this Full Moon is at the bendings of our current eclipse pattern. The choices we make now, make a difference. We are not at the end of the story. There is meaningful work to be done. Valuable options to explore.
The last of the late-degree planets is Uranus in Taurus, focusing our attention on the dangerous state of the world, specifically, the environment. He squares Mars and trines the South Node. Is there some martial stance or energy we need to let go of, so we can protect what’s left of our planet? The tarot care if the 7 of Pentacles, a man leaning on his rake, watching his vines, wondering how things are going to turn out.
The early-degree group includes the happiest planets, which is great, because they are just starting out, optimistic, and in great shape.
Venus has moved into Taurus, where she is home, cozy, and nurturing. She loves abundance and tends to revel in it.
Jupiter is newly arrived in Cancer, his sign of exaltation, where he is benevolent and generous. He’s accompanied by Mercury at the beginning of Cancer, who is happy to translate warm emotion into language or express ideas with hugs.
A more intriguing and challenging pair is the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in early Aries. This one, which will be around for a while, deserves some unpacking. Neither Saturn nor Neptune is at their best in Aries. Neptune prefers a gentle drift to a hard run. Saturn prefers measured, careful movement to quick, direct action.
These two together are tricky to describe, so, I’m going philosophical here to frame something I feel describes an important difference. The question is, how do Saturn and Neptune orient themselves in Aries, where action is happening?
Saturn wants to have a firm basis on which to act, and leans into authority structures. He’s not necessarily a totalitarian, but he does want firm, clear lines of responsibility and accountability. I see Saturn in Aries as looking to Plato’s concept of Ideal Forms.
Saturn aligned with Plato can say, I know what the Ideal looks like, and I am moving toward that. I will build that. I will defend that. With Plato, Saturn can be certain that action is aligned with truth.
The problem is that Plato’s Ideal Forms are not directly accessible to ordinary humans and so we need (according to Plato) to rely on superior men to see those forms clearly and tell us what they are. Except, in real life, “superior” means “powerful” rather than, say, ethical.
But Plato’s philosophy is seen as world-changing, still respected and taught today. This is a place Saturn in Aries can stand, saying, there’s historical precedent, and clear lines of authority, and I can work with that.
The Rising Moon Astrology Podcast is available on an expanding number of sites including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Castbox, TuneIn, Podtail, TuneIn and Pocket Casts. Listen in on your favorite and please leave a review.
And you can always list here: Rising Moon RSS Feed
Neptune in Aries leans toward Immanuel Kant’s idea of the Thing-in-Itself, which is a recognition that while every thing has its own essential quality, we as humans who exist in space and time, do not have the capacity to see that those Things-in-themselves actually are.
With Kant, we exist in a cosmos where there is an unbreachable barrier between who we are and what we can know. This means that we act, but with a sense of humility, and a shared responsibility to understand the world in its suchness together, not by privileging anyone as superior.
What happens with Saturn and Neptune together in Aries depends on how respectful we are of each other, and also on real power dynamics in the world.
So we might see so-called superior men asserting they know all the things and so they get to call the shots–but then they run up against an ineluctable but uncrossable divide. We cannot know all things.
Or we might see decision makers unable to proceed because there’s not enough certainty, but then a decision must be made, and so we say, ok, this is what we DO know, so we’re going to call this Ideal-for-now and move ahead.
In our lives as individuals, I imagine we’re going to be called on to make choices, real decisions, in the face of uncertainty. A process that leads us to confront Saturnian containers and boundaries and responsibilities, and also to confront a need to move forward in the face of Neptunian uncertainties.
As Mercury–Jupiter in Cancer squares Saturn–Neptune in Aries, we have a window through which we can explore this arena from a place of heart. What, in all of this, do we care about? What do we long to preserve, protect, and shelter?
Venus sextiles Mercury–Jupiter and squares Pluto at the beginning of Aquarius. Pluto also sextiles Saturn–Neptune. Yep, we’re considering philosophical questions partly because Pluto has entered the building. He’s bringing inescapable depth.
There’s a link between the late- and the early-degree groups:
The Moon and Jupiter are in mutual reception. Jupiter in exaltation helps relieve the Moon’s weariness by offering glimpses of a warm and promising future. The Moon lets Jupiter know that those of us tracking through the wilderness need hugs. So, Jupiter, please send hugs.
This Full Moon illuminates both endings and beginnings. It seems clear the world we live in is changing.
These changes will include endings, so one fear we have is not knowing how much will end, and whether these endings will in fact be survivable.
The beginnings do not make promises, but do offer hope while pointing to paths forward.
The journey is not ending. Some stories arcs seems to be ending, but some of those story arcs need to end. What we find along the next stage of the journey will depend on how we orient to community, to abundance, to ourselves, our ethics, and our actions in a cosmos we cannot know fully.
Finding Home might seem like an odd title for a Full Moon in Sagittarius, a sign usually connected to journeys rather than homes. Yet I think what we’re looking for, on our journeys, is home, a place where we can be at home.
I’ll close with a well known quote:
“… the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
—T.S. Eliot, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets
Leave a Reply