It’s my nature to be practical and a little skeptical.
I was born in the first week of May, in the middle of Taurus season, the most practical and grounded of all the Zodiac signs. I like things that are concrete, tangible, and prove-able.
With a highly analytical mind, and a tendency toward a methodical approach to anything, it’s no surprise I gravitated to law as my first career. For me to believe in something, I want to see evidence. Proof.
In this context, my embrace of moon cycles as a tool in guiding the rhythms of my life, and of astrology in understanding my life, may seem strange.
Can the moon’s cycles really impact us?
If you’ve spent any time around boats or bodies of water, you know the answer is an unequivocal: YES.
Full Moon Energy
Full moons amplify. They are big. And they bring big energy.
If you need proof, go to an ocean or other natural body of water around a full moon.
The low tides are much lower; the high tides are much higher.
Spend at least a full month in nature — real nature, far from a city or metropolitan area — and notice how the coyotes howl around the full moon.
At a full moon, the sun and moon are directly opposite each other in the sky, allowing the whole moon to be illuminated by the sun.
The full moon illuminates and reveals what otherwise stays hidden in the dark. This is both literal and metaphorical.
Many people have trouble sleeping in the nights surrounding a full moon. The bright light in the sky is one factor that keeps us awake.
Another factor keeping you awake may be your inner dialogue. This is a time when our shadows get revealed and we see what we have pushed away: the issues we don’t want to address, the emotions we don’t want to feel, the questions we are afraid to answer.
Full Moon in Sagittarius: Go Big
Perhaps no full moon is as big as today’s full moon in Sagittarius, which peaks at 11:42 pm Eastern Time at 13°18’ of Sagittarius.
Ruled by Jupiter, the planet of amplification and abundance, Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign.
Sagittarius is bold, loud, exuberant, and buoyant. It is flexible, idealistic, and optimistic. Sagittarius is an explorer; it seeks adventure, wisdom, and meaning. It wants more from life, a bigger life, expanded horizons. Freedom.
It is, in many ways, the opposite of Taurus.
Is this life enough?
The Sagittarius full moon invites us to explore where we have pushed our Fudesire for bigness into shadow.
It gives us permission to ask one the biggest issues of all:
Is this enough?
Am I living the life I truly desire?
Am I playing big enough?
Am I secretly harboring a yearning for more?
This full moon is the midway point in a cycle that initiated with the new moon in Sagittarius 6 months ago.
It’s also a peak in the current moon cycle, which began with the recent new moon in Taurus.
Taurus craves security and stability, which can feel diametrically opposed to Sagittarius’s yearning for adventure. Adventure is inherently insecure and unstable.
This can give context to the big question of this full moon.
If I feel like I’m not living a big enough life, where am I playing small to stay safe? Is this actually giving me a feeling of security?
Amplifying Desire and Hunger
At the time of the Sagittarius full moon, Jupiter, the ruler of this lunation, is still in a tight conjunction with the North Node.
The North Node is also a point of amplification; it’s place where our hunger and desire is magnified, where we are insatiable.
This is like adding steroids to a full moon that is already very big.
If not careful, we can go overboard, devolving in to greed or over-indulgence.
Working With Restriction vs Reacting to It
Sometimes our desire for more comes from a place of true knowing and integrity.
I know I’m not living my full potential. I feel called to serve more, to play bigger.
But sometimes our desire for a bigger life comes from a place of reaction: when we feel we have been held back or made small, we might become “big” as a way of compensating.
Think of the insecure person who takes on the role as the “life of the party” as a way to mask their insecurity.
Leading into the full moon, the Sun and moon both make a square to Saturn, the planet of boundaries, limitation, and restriction.
At the time of the full moon the sun and moon are pretty far from that square to Saturn, but the energy might still be there.
This invites a new level to the exploration:
Is my desire for a bigger life coming from a place of truth and authenticity, or as a reaction to where I have felt restricted and limited?
If we get too greedy, we will pull ourselves out of alignment with our values.
Where’s the sweet spot between the big life I desire from an authentic place and going overboard in reaction to feeling held back?
Sagittarius is fueled not by a desire for more stuff or more money, but rather for greater meaning and contribution.
Let that be a guiding compass.
If your desire for a bigger life is truly aligned, the next question is:
Are you willing to do the work required to make your life bigger?
Are you willing to take the consistent and persistent actions over the long arc of time?
Jupiter in Taurus is about building slowly and sustainably, and Saturn teaches us the value of effort over time.
Find Grounding in the Details
Full moons illuminate polarities, and one of the polarities we get in a full moon in Sagittarius is the tension between the details and the big picture.
Sagittarius is about the big picture.
Symbolized by the arrow, which indicates directionality, it’s mantra might be “go big or go home.”
Gemini, ruled by Mercury, is the other extreme. Gemini is about the details. Mercury is the communicator, and also the planner and the counter. No details are too small for Mercury.
Sometimes we get stuck in our desire to play bigger because we don’t have a plan or we aren’t clear on the details. And sometimes we get too caught up in the details that we lose the bigger picture.
This full moon invites us to mediate that polarity to find the sweet spot. Mercury in Taurus can help us ground our idealistic and optimistic vision within practical and methodical implementation of a plan to grow ourselves.
Listen to the Messages
That said, be on the lookout for innovative ways to plan your growth. Mercury is moving toward a conjunction with Uranus, and they will connect shortly after the moon peaks.
Uranus is the planet of innovation and revolution. In Taurus, it is inviting us to abandon our tried-and-true methods and explore new ways of getting things done.
This may flow from the full moon.
When we follow our Sagittarian urge to seek adventure and broaden our horizons, we gain new perspective.
Seeing the world from a different angle leads to new insights, which can lead us to innovate the ways in which we approach life.
Have Faith
It can feel uncomfortable to throw caution to the wind and explore new horizons. But if you desire a bigger life, you can’t approach life in the same old ways.
Sagittarius seeks adventure with optimism and faith that every experience will serve the bigger outcome.
Jupiter in Taurus asks us to trade bring a little faith to the places where we typically seek proof.
Growth begins with a willingness to abandon the familiar and trust that things will work out.
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