The Full Moon and Sign Polarity
What is it about a Full Moon? Why does it seem so magical? Why might it make some people “crazy”? The astrological answer is in the illumination of the two “lights”, the Sun and the Moon, through opposite signs of the Zodiac.
The Zodiac can be viewed as 6 pairs of opposite signs, or polarities. The signs of each pair are poles of an axis whose function they both share and serve in contradictory, yet complementary, ways. For example, Taurus (birth) is at one end of the axis it shares with Scorpio (death), the sign at the other end. There’s a time for everything, including “a time to be born and a time to die”. It’s the natural economy, the way all values in Time are kept in balance with one another. A different value is toggled in each of the 6 polarities.
Sunlight is the light of conscious life, shining steadily on our thoughts and activities through a single sign for a whole month at a time. Moonlight is the light of unconscious life, reflecting our feelings, moods and dreams through signs that change every 2 - 2.5 days. While we are always functioning in the present in the objective clock time of the Sun, we may feel and dream of a remembered or imaginary past or future in the subjective dreamtime of the Moon.
During the days and nights when the Moon is Full, the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs, ‘speaking’ to us simultaneously from opposite poles of an axis. The Sun affirms conditions of the current moment. The Moon reminds us that there was or will be another moment in time with conditions exactly the opposite of whatever they are now.
The effect of the contrast between the opposing lights is a feeling of bittersweet poignancy as we experience simultaneous contradictory emotions. They are equally compelling. We seem to be stuck with one of them, while the other haunts us from somewhere out of reach. For relief from any discomfort from the effect, we can seek connection with the paradoxical center point between the two extremes, where they meet in timeless union and perfect peace.
In this series, we explore the Full Moon’s effects each month as the two lights confront each other across successive sign polarities.
Full Moon in Gemini: Longing for the Local
When the Moon is Full in Gemini, the Sun is opposing it from Sagittarius. The two lights are illuminating the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, bringing us in touch with its complementary energies. Gemini-Sagittarius is about our orientation to the world around us, the smaller and the greater respectively. It stimulates simultaneous awareness of the details of a particular location and the way that location fits into the “Big Picture” of the whole world. We can’t be everywhere at once physically, but through shifts of mental focus on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis and awareness of the central point where those signs meet, we can come close to doing that mentally.
Gemini is the sign of details at the local end of this axis. The view of life through the Gemini ‘lens’ is “zoomed in” to the physical world immediately around us. Focused on whatever is there, we observe sensations, sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. Every day in the local area around our home, we experience the same surroundings and communicate with our neighbors in the same local language and accent. We’re naturally accustomed to our local neighborhood, and attached to it, comfortable in the stability of its familiar ways.
Sagittarius is the sign of generalizations at the faraway end of this axis, where deep, basic qualities matter more than superficial differences. The view of life through the Sagittarius ‘lens’ is “zoomed out” to a point too far ‘above’ it for perception of details. Through that lens, the external world looks like a map of whole territories with rivers and bodies of water. The inner view is our mental ‘map’ of categories, patterns, and energy dynamics — our understanding, theories, and beliefs about the world and life in general. If people everywhere share the same basic human qualities, intuits Sagittarius, “foreigners” may be more relatable than we know, and their ways may be interesting. Why not enjoy an adventure in an unfamiliar place, view life from a novel perspective, and expand our understanding of the world? We can do that by traveling, either physically or mentally (through study), to someplace far enough away to have a different culture from the one we’re used to.
This polarity of opposite signs is potentially complementary, because one end of it connects our thinking with our concrete experiences, and the other end connects our interpretive intuition with the Source of Everything. On this axis we gain perspective. We can appreciate both the unique qualities of our current location and its place in the greater context of the world. We can also understand other people better when we know more about the differences in their circumstances. Thus the Gemini-Sagittarius axis serves us as a sort of inner ‘compass’ in more ways than one.
Like all the polarities, this one can be well balanced and rewarding or unbalanced and dysfunctional. We need the emotional security of belonging to a familiar locality where we know our way around and what to expect. But if that’s all of life we know, our narrow perspective tends to keep us alienated from the rest of the world and disoriented to life in general.
Conversely, we need to broaden our experience of life from perspectives beyond our local neighborhood. But a life consisting of only rootless wandering deprives us of the emotional stability and peace that comes from belonging somewhere and being sufficiently grounded in the earth.
The influence of the Sagittarius Sun puts us mentally in long-journey intuitive mode. We want to escape from our usual surroundings and stresses into new adventures, to enjoy carefree, interesting holidays that let us sample life more simply. Our escape route may lead us through fascinating, mind-expanding interests and studies, or to one or more exotic faraway places. Looking and learning from new perspectives without involvement in any worrisome, wearisome details can be so much fun that we forget all about home for some time.
But for the two or three days when the Moon is Full in Gemini, we may find ourselves craving our familiar local neighborhood scene and people at home that we’ve been ignoring or left behind. Depending on our situation, our responses can range from mildly distracting nostalgic thoughts to painful pangs of culture shock or homesickness. We may or may not need — or be able — to do anything about our feelings.
On a journey of study, we could be physically at home but very far away in thought for quite some time. We may absolutely love what we’re visualizing and learning, yet now we’re easily distracted. We might look up from our book at a sound from the street or a ringing phone, and the next thing we know we’re off for a walk or a meeting with friends at a local gathering place.
If we’re far from home physically, we could be enjoying a perfectly carefree, happy vacation, yet find ourselves unexpectedly haunted by visions of our familiar local neighborhood. We can’t help thinking of its atmosphere and all of its peculiarities and associated people in vivid detail. For some, that could be an unpleasant vision, but it’s more normal to just feel like we want to be back there. This is when we’re most likely to write letters or phone home to hear a familiar voice and local news.
For most of us, a wave of temporary nostalgia is all the Full Moon in Gemini is likely to bring. Some homesick travelers may decide that it’s time to go home; others with obligations of work, war, etc., don’t have that option.
How a Full Moon in Gemini Might Feel
The songs below express some feelings individuals might experience under a Full Moon in Gemini. Although these examples are American, the feelings they express are universal.
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America
Carolina in My Mind
When Fall Comes to New England
New York State of Mind
Ohio (from Wonderful Town)
I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore
Tennessee Homesick Blues
LYRICS New York City ain't no kind of place For a country girl with a friendly face If you smile, people look at you funny They take it wrong The greenest state in the land of the free And the home of the Grand Ole Opry Is calling me back to my Smoky Mountain home I wish I had my old fishin' pole And was sittin' on the banks of the fishin' hole Eatin' green apples and waitin' for the fish to bite Life ain't as simple as it used to be Since the Big Apple took a bite out of me, and Lord, I'm so Tennessee homesick that I could die [Chorus] But I ain't been home in I don't know when If I had it all to do over again Tonight I'd sleep in my old feather bed What I wouldn't give for a little bitty taste Of mama's homemade chocolate cake Tennessee homesick blues runnin' through my head Mama, you can fluff my feather bed Just as soon as I can, I'm-a gonna head Back to the Tennessee hills and it better be soon Daddy, you can load the rifles up We're gonna load them dogs on the pickup truck, and Head up to Calhoun Country and catch us a coon [Chorus] But I ain't been home in I don't know when If I had it all to do over again Tonight I'd sleep in my old feather bed Eatin' grits and gravy and country ham Go to church on Sunday with dinner on the grounds Tennessee homesick blues are runnin' through my head And I ain't been home in I don't know when If I had it all to do over again Tonight I'd sleep in my old feather bed Good Lord, have mercy on a country girl Trying to make a living in a rhinestone world (It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world) Tennessee homesick blues are runnin' through my head I've got those Tennessee homesick blues runnin' through my head Tennessee homesick blues
California Dreamin’
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
Homeward Bound
Galveston
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
London Homesick Blues (Home with the Armadillo)
LYRICS [Verse 1] Well, when you're down on your luck And you ain't got a buck In London you're a goner Even London Bridge has fallen down And moved to Arizona Now I know why And I'll substantiate the rumor That the English sense of humor Is drier than the Texas sand You can put up your dukes or you can bet your boots I'm leavin' just as fast as I can [Chorus] I wanna go home with the armadillo Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene The friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen [Verse 2] Well, it's cold over here in London, daggummit, I swear, I wish they would turn the heat on And where in the world is that English girl I promised that I would meet on the third floor? And of the whole damn lot the only friend I got Is a smoke and a cheap guitar My mind keeps rollin' and my heart keeps longin' To be home in a Texas bar [Chorus] [Verse 3] Well, I decided that I'd get my cowboy hat And go down to Marble Arch Station 'Cause when a Texan fancies he'll take his chances You know chances will be taken, that's for sure And them Limey eyes, they were eyein' the prize Some people call manly footwear And they said you're from down south And when you open your mouth You always seem to put your foot there [Chorus]
Georgia On My Mind
The Sweet Sunny South
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