Auntie Moon

• It is the gateway to a new season ~ the Winter Solstice
• It asks the monthly question of Have you found balance in this part of your life? This month Luna leads us to answer this question in light of Gemini and Sagittarius ~ the axis of knowledge.
• It is a total Lunar Eclipse

Syzygy

Isn’t that a magnificent word? Say it out loud. It’s fun, even though a bit of a tonque-twister. Syzygy is a rather bizarre looking word that means alignment or conjunction, and usually refers to three celestial bodies being “yoked together” as in a lunar eclipse. Syzygy is what distinguishes an eclipse from a regular Full or New Moon.

In the case of this Lunar Eclipse, the Earth (in Gemini) comes between the Sun in Sagittarius and the Moon in Gemini. The Earth and Moon are conjunct each other, the Sun is in opposition and ~ voila ~ we have syzygy!

If you plan on using this Full Moon to find balance in the Gemini/Sagittarius areas of life, you’ll find it helpful to add the planet Earth (not the element earth) to your meditation. The Earth is necessary for a Lunar Eclipse to occur because it is the Earth’s shadow that falls across the face of the Moon, blocking it from view.

It’s easy to locate Earth in your chart. It lies directly across from the Sun. If you’re a Gemini sun sign, your Earth is in Sagittarius. Think about what your own Earth/Sun combination means in your chart.

There’s another way to consider the Earth in your chart. Put the Earth at the center of your chart (where you usually see all the aspects). That’s YOU. Put the name of the sign opposite your Sun sign there. What insights does this new symbolism bring to you about your life?

Syzygy also represents male and female energy, and what better symbol is there than the Earth itself. Cradled between the Sun and Moon, this balanced and blended energy produces the paradise of our solar system ~ Eden/Earth, genesis.

Stephanie Gailing at Planetary Apothecary has a super post on the Gemini Full Moon. She tells us that “it’s important to remember that it’s not just information that contributes to a sense of knowingness,” and offers some excellent tools for embracing this Full Moon.

The Long Nights Moon

Each Full Moon has a Native American name in the US. The Full Moon of December is also known as the Full Cold Moon. To use the alternative name, Long Nights Moon, is very appropriate this year as the Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. Other names are Oak Moon, Frost Moon, and the Moon before Yule.

The Long Nights Moon ushers in the season of night. We enter the realm of the sleeping bear and the time of introspection.

Bear . . .
     Invite me
     Into the cave
     Where silence surrounds
The answers you gave.

Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson

We cannot learn something unless we are receptive. What begins as an idea or bits of teachings matures with personal experience and transforms into true knowing. When we are with the bear ~ isolated in the cave of introspection ~ we gain wisdom for our “awakening,” our Spring.

During the next three months ask yourself this question, What do I need to learn? Gather information, but remain in the cave. When the Spring Equinox arrives ask yourself, What do I know?

Notes:

• For a discussion on which sign the Earth rules, see Donna Cunningham’s article on Mother Earth in Your Chart.
• Stephanie Gailing’s post on the Gemini Full Moon.
• Lunar Eclipse Photo Credit: Lunar Eclipse on March 3rd 2007. A time lapse movie created by Thomas Knoblauch of the lunar eclipse from March the 3rd 2007. More Information can be found at http://foto.star-shine.ch/