The Moon will reach its full phase with the Sun, at 23° 52’ of the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity on December 15, 2024 at 1:01 a.m., West Coast time. This Full Moon comes just a few days before the December Solstice, a turning point in the Wheel of the Year. One of the folkloric names for this lunation is the Cold Moon.
Brrr. It’s physically cold in the northern hemisphere. It may also feel cold, on these long nights, in the sense of wanting to become a bit aloof, to go inside, to get under a blanket away from the “madding crowds.” The end of the calendar year is a time of (en)closure.
Curiously, the December Cold Moon occurs (more often than not) when the Sun is traveling through the fiery, adventure-seeking sign of Sagittarius, and the Moon is in sociable Gemini.
Gemini and Sagittarius are both mutable, changeable signs, both having to do with knowledge. Gemini loves data—as in more, more, more—because Gemini wants to share information, whether that be through writing, telling stories and jokes, or on the low end, by spreading rumors. Sagittarius wants big-picture knowledge for the sake of forging ahead to the next meaningful, higher purpose.
The Moon has no light of its own. It reflects the light of the Sun, and does so fully when its orbit reaches the side of the Earth opposite from the Sun. In astrology, the Moon signifies individual and collective needs for security. A fully illuminated Moon symbolizes something coming to a peak of expression. Gemini and Sagittarius are both inquisitive signs. Their style is to keep asking: What’s going on?
The chart for the December 15 Gemini Full Moon hints at the ways such questioning may play out. At this Full Moon, the Moon and Sun are forming a tense t-square with Neptune, now moving slowly through the latter degrees of Pisces. Neptune’s domains include the mystical spiritual paths, as well as idealism and illusions. The prominence of Neptune at this lunation may highlight concerns for how to distinguish between fact versus fiction.
At this time, also, the Sagittarius Sun is making an awkward aspect called a quincunx with Uranus, another of the slow-moving planets. When planets are traveling in signs about 150 degrees apart, they share no element, mode or polarity. The energies between them can be annoying, like a fly buzzing in a room. Uranus brings surprising disruptions, for better or worse. The Sun/Uranus quincunx is a brief transit that may add a bit of rowdiness to this Full Moon time.
The dispositor, or ruling planet, of the Gemini Full Moon is Mercury, the planet that moves fastest, and close to the Sun. Mercury has been in one of its thrice-yearly periods of retrograde motion (since November 25, 2024) and will be stationing to start moving direct, on December 15. A stationing planet—about to change directions—is particularly potent in its symbolism. Mercury signifies the life of the mind. Mercury in Sagittarius, moving direct, invites one to move forward with the highest of aspirations.
In pop astrology, Mercury often gets a bad rap because much of the general public now connects “Mercury retrograde” with scheduling and technology snafus. There is so much more to Mercury than that! And most of the time, Mercury is moving forward.
Mercury is named for the Roman god who was earlier revered by the Greeks and called Hermes. In ancient cosmologies, Hermes has a range of roles. For one, he’s a psychopomp, someone who guides the souls of the deceased from this world into the afterlife. I like to think of a period of Mercury’s retrograde motion as a time let go of something that’s come to its end, so that something new can be born.
At the December 15 Full Moon time, Mercury will be making a harmonious trine aspect with Mars, now in fiery Leo. A trine is an approximately 120-degree aspect between planetary forces. They share the same element—fire. Thought and action are mutually supportive during this brief transit, with Mercury in Sagittarius bringing fiery inspiration to the unabashed creative displays of Mars in Leo.
Mars has a two-year cycle around the Sun, with a period of retrograde motion for about 2.5 months every two years or so. In astrology, Mars is named for the Roman god of war, known by the Greeks as Ares. Whereas the Moon symbolizes what we need, Mars is direct action, even struggle, to get what one wants.
On December 6, Mars began its current retrograde period. It’ll back into the sign of Cancer on January 6, and then will start moving directly on February 23. During this retrograde period, Mars will traverse two signs, Cancer and Leo, for an unusually long time.
Both Leo and Cancer are creative styles of being. Leonine creativity is royal, majestic, loving an audience. Cancer’s style is incubatory and protective, like planting seeds that will later bloom and shine, like Leo.
During the next few months, with Mars moving back and forth in Leo, then Cancer, then Leo again—there’s an invitation to focus on one’s unique style of creativity, something along the lines of answering the poet Mary Oliver’s famous question about what one plans to do with one’s “wild and precious life.”
Blessings for the Gemini Full Moon and the December Solstice!
Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
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