the last full moon of 2015 is a full moon at 3’20 cancer which is exact on friday december 25th at 3:12am PST, marking the midway point of the current lunar cycle we are in that began with the new moon in sagittarius on december 11th. this date is important cosmically as it’s the day of the return of the sun/son. at the winter solstice the sun appears at the lowest point in the sky at noon (reaching it’s lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator), making it the longest night and shortest day of light of the year in the northern hemisphere (it’s reverse in the southern hemisphere with the longest day of light). at the solstices the sun stands still in declination as the seasonal movement of the sun’s path comes to a stop before reversing direction. at the winter solstice the sun stands still with the 3 days of the least light, whereas at summer solstice the sun stands still with the 3 days of the most light. so from 12/24-25 the sun resumes movement by declination by moving north and is reborn in Light (the sun increases in Light until the longest day of Light at summer solstice) whereas from 6/24 the sun resumes movement by declination by moving south and starts to die in Light (the sun decreases in Light until the longest day of night at winter solstice). the full moon on december 25th marks these shifting points of the sun’s journey and as such making this full moon cosmically important. christmas was actually aligned with this time intentionally as the birth of the Son/Jesus is aligned with the (re)birth of the Sun. (p.s. an interesting anecdote i got from classical astronomy on Facebook is the fact that this is the first christmas full moon since 1977 and the next one won’t be until 2034!)
full moons tend to bring things to Light, illumination, culmination or crisis points. with the full moon triggering the important degrees of 3-4 cancer and capricorn we have a focus on what we are holding onto out of safety, security, expectation or obligation in our lives. the star sparks degree by elias lonsdale for 4 cancer is in complete alignment with this. his meditation on this degree is called ‘Weeping willows by a pond’ and it states:
Life is a dream. Inside the dream, we remember, we envision, we play out roles and masks. But somehow, everything passes us by. We are waiting and longing, wishing and hoping. These are passive conditions. We sit back inside and we yearn toward that which is unattainable.
We have backed ourselves into a snug corner. It becomes our life. We belong to something so familiar. It holds us, fashions us, feeds us, clothes us. And it keeps us forever a child, a dreamer, a possibility that is held in suspension.
This is not a good deal. It does seem like one sometimes. We can be secure and safe in here for a good long while. We can be taken care of by life’s good graces indefinitely. But we will remain dependent, attached, clinging, needy and regressive.
This is a cul-de-sac. We cannot take it further. What we need is to activate soul force. We need to argue with our propensity for giving way. We need to rage and ferment and cause some trouble. For if we stay put in this stupor, we will be passed over as background material.
There is a crying need inside to care, to realize, to step out of the way we are accustomed to. And at first this can be a formidable demand and challenge. Once we get hooked on the sweet sensation of self-forgetfulness, it’s a hard habit to break and to stay out of.
We cannot indulge any addictive patterns any further. We must not rationalize negligence and self-betrayal. Being a visitor is a poor excuse for living.
Our path here lies legitimately in reclaiming the fiber of our true heritage. This is something so substantive that it disproves the liars and controllers. And soon we discover, if we begin to stir from the nightmare, that we are a clean slate for a whole new life to begin from the source purely.
elias is reminding us that holding onto safety and security, staying within the confines of being a child and letting someone else take care of us so we don’t have to be responsible is in truth negligence and self-betrayal. our true heritage is this Light that we project onto others- onto celebrities, public officials, religious figures, parental figures and more. it is this Light that we see in the sun as it dies and is reborn. when we reclaim this Light as our own from a Soul and Spirit place (not from an egotistical, narcissistic one- which is not true Light but is hubris and egomania) then we can begin to truly awaken and clear ourselves of the dogma and illusion and begin life from “the Source purely”. on an esoteric level this full moon is a reminder of that Source- yet on a personal level it can be a reminder of what illusions obscure that Source. illusions outside as well as illusions inside need to be seen through for what they are. and this full moon at the time of the rebirth of the sun/son is a reminder that projecting the Divinity outside of ourselves keeps us spiritual children and also can be an excuse for not stepping up in spiritual responsibility and mastery that is not only our birth right but is a necessity if we want the world to change (as change starts within).
interestingly the full moon makes NO ASPECTS to any other planets- making it very pure in it’s expression. to add to this the moon is in it’s rulership- making the full moon time (a few days before and after) highly intuitive, sensitive and emotional. the only aspect the full moon makes is a wide square to the nodal axis (nodes of the moon)- about 7-8 degrees wide. anytime a planet squares the nodes we are brought to a pivotal point of choice in our lives. we can either keep on doing the same old same old (karmic patterns) and stay stuck in the past. OR we can move into new directions and grow into the unknown. it’s important to realize that the north node is the path of growth and evolution- but it’s not the easy growth. it’s the point where we get pushed out of the nest and figure out how to fly falling down. with the north node in virgo and the south node in pisces- we are challenged to find balance between seeing the pieces and seeing the Big Picture, identifying with the body and identifying with the Spirit, trusting logic and trusting intuition. the south node tends to point to the shadow aspects of the sign it is in as we tend to overdo the south node energy. so the shadow of pisces points to where we are deluding ourselves, in denial, avoiding reality and turning to addictions to numb ourselves out from seeing and discerning the Truth (of ourselves and the world around us).
luckily we have jupiter- the Greater Benefic planet- in virgo and aligned with the north node in the full moon chart. there are two variations of the nodes- mean and true. the true variation is erratic and moves forward and backward a lot. the mean variation is the average of the movements of the true position and only moves in one direction- backwards- and is a lot easier to write about in weekly forecasts (i use the mean position when i write). yet both are important and insightful to pay attention to. jupiter will align with the true node 3 times next year- on january 23rd and january 28th 2016 (which can make that week or two spanning these two super important personally and collectively) and the third alignment is on june 20th 2016- the same day as the summer solstice. the mean node will only align once with jupiter and that occurs on june 24th- the day that the sun starts to move again after standing still for 3 days and it commences decreasing in Light. this is super telling- as the full moon at 3’20 cancer is at the same degree as the sun will be on june 24th when jupiter aligns with the north node (the exact position of the sun when jupiter/north node is exact is 3’47 cancer). so something is only just beginning to come to the Light of consciousness now that will culminate next summer on june 24th. pay attention!
a few other things to take note of in the full moon chart include the sun/moon midpoint (3’19 libra) being opposite vesta at 4’15 aries. hidden in this chart is a Cardinal Grand Cross with 3-4 degrees of aries (vesta), cancer (the moon), libra (the sun/moon midpoint) and capricorn (the sun) involved. the cardinal signs are signs of initiation of the seasons- and as noted above this important degree of 3-4 cancer/capricorn is the day the sun starts moving after having stood still for 3 days (often symbolized in myth as the death or birth of the Sun/Son). vesta is the priestess archetype and has to do with commitment to some purpose or work one feels call to do. vesta was the keeper of the flame and she tended the inner fire. where the capricorn sun is identified with work out in the world and cancer moon is identified with home, family, mothering and nurturing others- vesta in aries is identified with blazing a Spiritual path for herself that goes against the traditional and the expected (which harkens back to elias’ meditation about our True Self/true heritage). this commitment to the Self is key for individuation and for enlightenment. if we get caught in the traps of the outer life, expectations, demands, roles and regulations- we lose sight of the path to the Self which is actually why we are here (and the more people who re-member this the better for our world as a Whole).
another thread in the chart is an alignment by declination of the sun (and mercury) with ceres, asteroid lilith and bacchus. ceres is the Great Mother asteroid that governs our environment, agriculture and the health of our planet- as well as nurturing and nourishment (physical and emotional). lilith is the Dark Goddess and is the victimized expression of her archetype- where we feel our power taken away from us and we have anger and rage that turns inward and can express as depression and illness. bacchus is the greek god of ecstasy and wine- but he’s also the god of “excess, addiction and attempts to manage feelings, people and situations through substitution or avoidance”. put these all together and we have an interesting picture forming where we play the victim, give our power away or have it taken from us, and as a result we turn towards addictions or avoidance and denial of reality- rather than caring for ourselves and the world around us in the way we need to for health, healing and wholeness. to me this is an apt picture for what is going on in the air, water and food supply right now (things ceres governs) and our victimized position we take on which causes us to prefer to be in denial of what is happening and check out (spend money, drink alcohol, watch TV, glue yourself to your iPhone!) rather than face it, raise our voices and do something about it. yet on a personal level this can speak to situations where we play the victim, go into denial and avoid taking responsibility for our lives. if there are any situations in your life right now that you don’t like and you wish were playing out differently- this full moon is a great time to take stock of your own actions or non-actions that have ultimately led you to the place where you are at today. when we begin to take responsibility for creation we can become conscious creators in our lives. doing this requires we pay for the consequences of past actions but also allows us to experience the rewards for living our lives with integrity. doing this also changes the whole ball game of life BIG TIME.
and last, but certainly not least, we have a stationary uranus. the rebel, revolutionary and Great Awakener stations direct a mere 16 hours and 40 minutes after the full moon is exact. with uranus stationary the winds of change are strong at the time of the full moon. when a planet stations they become the most powerful planet in the sky (as michael lutin says- the slowest planet wins). uranus as most powerful brings a strong energy of change, reversal, the unexpected and the unplanned for. so keep that in mind as you celebrate your holy-days or travel to see loved ones (unexpected travel changes and even accidents if you are not being present and paying attention to LIFE as it’s lived around you can occur). uranus can bring Higher Mind revelations, realizations and inspiration! and he can also bring unresolved conflict, anger and aggression to Light (he is in aries after all). the key with uranus is to stay open to the unexpected. if you expect it- it probably won’t happen. but if you can stay open to the winds of change and even set your sails to move WITH the winds of change- you can find your course radically altered in a really, really good way.
clearly this full moon is a deep one- and yet water rises to it’s own level so we can certainly experience it a myriad of ways. the sacred lies concealed in the profane- so look a little deeper this holy-day season to see what your Self is trying to reveal to you in the midst of the chaos and drama of mundane life. a spark can be lit at this full moon! it’s up to you to decide if it will be a creative fire or a destructive one!
blessings…
~divine harmony
p.s. stay tuned for a new offering in the new year- DARK MOON MEDICINE TEACHINGS. dark moon teachings with astrology, ritual, meditations, shadow work and more with myself and my dear sistar and High Priestess teacher Holly Hamilton. information will be forthcoming very soon. the first dark moon of the year is exact late evening on tuesday january 5th. 2016 is the year to get initiated into the mysteries, magic and profound healing that can be found in the dark!