Lunar Eclipse Astro-Tarot; Knowing and Connecting
UPDATE; tune in to the energies of this lunar eclipse by listening to my guided meditation for the full moon in Gemini, just click here to listen. Let me know what you think!
With the full moon at the end of November, we move into eclipse season with a lunar eclipse in Gemini. A lunar eclipse acts as a supercharged full moon, when the earth, sun and moon are aligned by latitude as well as by longitude, so that the earth's shadow falls on the moon, blocking out the reflected light of the sun. A lunar eclipse is often a trigger point for ongoing transits and might bring a sense of completion, a culminating point and perhaps a shift in focus. Gemini is the sign of ideas and communication and the eclipse may bring a deeper awareness of our place in the web, the connections and exchanges we make with other people, our environment and also within ourselves.
Gemini is the sign of information and we might see new information revealed or reorganised with this eclipse, with outdated or irrelevant ideas falling away. There's some tension between the eclipse and Pluto, so that issues around power, who has it and who wants it, might be coming to a head - no prizes for guessing where that might play out... Pluto energy is deep and transformative, taking the sometimes superficial energy of Gemini deeper to reveal how feelings drive both words and actions, our hidden motivations and buried fears. This whole year has been a journey through the Underworld, Pluto's domain and I wonder if the eclipse will herald the beginning of the phase of return, carrying us back into the light as the Winter Solstice and the Jupiter Saturn conjunction approach. Or perhaps it will take us deeper and who us the work still to be done.
Like all full moons, lunar eclipses carry the energy of relationship so the duality inherent in Gemini may be especially visible, the darkness of this time of year here in the northern hemisphere and the pull towards the light which we begin to feel. Gemini is a sign which welcomes and seeks out change so the wild card energy of the eclipse might show up in myriad different ways, some more dramatic than others. This is an eclipse which shows up the many layers of the web of life, the threads we hold and the parts we all play. It carries a reminder that we are always changing, always in flux, and that there is always something to be learned from this process of change.
I've used the Tarot of the Crone for this lunar wisdom reading since we're in the dark season of the year.
Sun in Sagittarius - how can we connect with our higher wisdom? - Eight of Wands
The Eight of Wands is a card of movement and change so maybe there is more going on than we realise in the dark season of the year. It speaks of a need to take action, to set out on our journey even if we're not sure where it will take us. This card shows an image I often have in mind around this time of year, that of lights in the darkness. Like the Lantern Parade we usually (!) have in our community, a crowd of us walking through the parks and streets with our lanterns to herald the advent season and our longing for Solstice and the return of the light. So we connect with our higher wisdom by allowing it to light our way, to guide us forward into the next chapter, whatever the next chapter of "normal" might look like.
Moon in Gemini - what connections are we making? - Seven of Cups
The suit of Cups is the suit of the water element, so our connections are intuitive and imaginative rather than logical. We might need to watch out for confusion, a lack of boundaries, even deception. This particular Seven of Cups has an embracing energy, a sense of possibilities held with. We might be opening our awareness to deeper connections, to the ripples we make in the world with our words and feelings and actions. The connections and possibilities are nested within each other so that we need to sink into them, or perhaps allows them to surface in their own time.
Tense aspects to Pluto - what are the lessons of the Underworld journey? - the Crossroads
This is the card more commonly known as the Lovers and one of its main meanings (even as the Lovers) is choice. It shows that we are indeed at a turning point, that our choices right now will shape our journey in the coming seasons. Interestingly, the Golden Dawn attribute this card to Gemini - layers of connections! A major arcana card here reinforces the power of Pluto, the deep transformational energies at work right now.
There are so many opportunities and potentials in these three cards, which show a pivot point when all the possibilities are open and we can create genuine change. So the question becomes how do we balance taking it seriously and acting with integrity as we make our choices (the Crossroads) without getting tangled so far into our options that we can't actually make a decision (the Seven of Cups). We follow the light of our inner wisdom, the bright flower in the Eight of Wands, as we navigate through the darkness.