Gemini rules communication and all elements associated with it. So we can expect some emphasis regarding this force in our lives. Additionally, retrograde Mars stands next to the Moon, influencing the kind of emphasis we are experiencing. Anytime a planet is retrograde, there is a call to pause, reassess, review, and reevaluate. The goal, of course, is an opportunity to be better, to improve, and to use that force in a more empowered way. The challenge is we will get plenty of opportunities for accountability. There will be many moments to observe where we may have gotten it wrong. So we can get it right.
We will need to heed our words. That may mean we need to assert ourselves in some fundamental way. Set some required boundaries. Stand up for our highest good and best selves. There is that. More importantly, we may also need to set some essential inner boundaries to STOP talking. To listen. To be open to new information. To stop needing to be right or be the expert on other people’s experiences. Maybe we need to listen to those that know more than we do.
More collectively, we need to reassess the privilege of speech in public terms. The freedom to speak freely is an important right, but what if those words intentionally hurt, degrade, or incite violence? Words have real-life consequences. There is responsibility in that too.
This Full Moon also forms a T-square with Neptune in Pisces, asking us to look deeply at this issue through the lens of universal rightness and wrongness, which is confusing at best. The empty leg of the T-square offers answers to this confusion by locating the intent behind our communication. Are our words meant to heal or attack, resolve or justify, join or “other” someone different than we are? Are we listening to be right or to understand? Are we confusing opinion and fact? Are we aware and responsible for our biases and personal filters? Are we open to learning and rethinking? Good questions to ponder.
Because we define ourselves as thinking beings having emotional experiences. In reality, though, we are emotional creatures learning to have a thinking experience. What we feel is important and valid may not necessarily be logical, accurate, or helpful. In other words, just because we feel it strongly doesn’t necessarily make it right. Unfortunately, we seem to have normalized these impulsive reactions, even celebrate them. The current lexicon appears to be if you feel it, you can and should say it regardless of the outcome or truth. In fact, people in all media forms are making their careers on this concept. These conflict entrepreneurs fan the flames, modeling and condoning reactionary and inflaming language. If communication creates our world, what kind of world are we allowing when we engage in that kind of rhetoric?
This Full Moon asks us to pause and assess communication in our lives. It asks us to put some space between feeling and thinking and action. Because emotional maturity is the ability to navigate our feelings to decipher what is past, present, and future and withstand the impulse to defend. It is the ability to recognize intention and determine our best from our wounded selves. Emotional maturity is the ability to respond not react and listen to understand. It is the ability to be rational, reasonable, and utilize critical thinking skills.
The Sabian Symbol for this degree is “The head of a robust youth changes into that of a mature thinker” (Rudhyar).
In the words of James Burgess, “Any fool may imagine, but it takes grit to actually deal effectively with reality, and a high degree of subtlety to understand how others deal with it differently. We all have to release the illusions and distractions of youth at some point as we come up against life’s hard knocks, and this process investigates everyone.”
Because real wisdom is not about having all the answers, it is about a commitment to rethink what you think you know. It is a commitment never to stop learning by reassessing and challenging our perceptions. It is about placing a value on understanding rather than rightness.
So, the challenge at the Full Moon will be pausing amid reaction. The way through is accountability, curiosity, and an open mind. The gift will be clarity. Insight. Answers. Perception shifts. Because what we say matters in both our internal and external worlds. What world are you creating?
“It’s better to be the wisest person in the room than the smartest. People prove their intelligence by showing what they know. They reveal their wisdom by integrating what everyone knows. Intelligence can be used to advance personal agendas. Wisdom guides groups to shared goals.” ~Adam Grant
~This Full Moon occurs at 16° Gemini.
~Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash
~Want to know what this time is revealing for you? Contact me, for more information.