Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse

June 15, 2011: Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (exact at 1:14 pm PDT)

Today is the second of three of this season’s Eclipses. Today is a Lunar Eclipse, which is also a Full Moon. June 1 initated this Eclipse season as we experienced a Solar Eclipse (New Moon) in Gemini. On July 1 there will be a Solar Eclipse (New Moon) in Cancer.

A Lunar Eclipse signifies a time when things come to fruition. It portends an auspicious time to let go of something that is outworn, whether it be a possession, a habit, a limiting belief, or a relationship that doesn’t serve your highest good. Additionally, Eclipses provide a great opportunity for outward manifestation with life-changing events—sometimes expected, sometimes not—often happening around this time.

As a Lunar Eclipse is a Full Moon–which features an opposition of the Sun and the Moon–it is often focused on finding the commonality between seeming opposites. There is heightened emphasis on synthesis and deconstructing duality for a more unified and cohesive understanding. As such it is often thought to be relationship-oriented, as each pole of the opposition tries to better understand itself through its association with the other. This is not always easy, mind you, and can bring conflict. But it is within that where insights into resolution of long-standing discordance may lay.

As such this celestial event may inspire critical examination associated with your relationships with other people or your relationship with various arenas of your life. For example, the focus may be on your relationship with your education path, your home, your career, your values, or your finances.

When the Full Moon features the Sun in Gemini and the Moon in Sagittarius, we are often compelled with a need to know. We strive to collect facts and figures not only because of intellectual curiosity but also because they are the vital ingredients that provide us with the deeper sense of the understanding that we seek. Maintaining a balanced appreciation for the pieces and the whole is emphasized. Remember not to lose the forest for the trees, yet don’t forsake the trees for the forest either; both are equally important.

The experience of travel—whether it be a weeks-long journey to a foreign land or a weekend road trip out of town—often coincides with this Eclipse. Even if exploration via a plane, train, or automobile isn’t in your plans, use this time for surveying new ideas or cultures; for example, read a book set in another country, flip through National Geographic magazine, or see a foreign-language film. All can magnetize to you enhanced understanding and a broader perspective on life.

This Eclipse is tied in with Mercury, the planet of communication that is ruled by Gemini. While Mercury’s aspects to the Sun and Moon are separating (conjunction to the Sun and opposition to the Moon), it still casts a heightened emphasis on the Geminian qualities of the day. Communication, the bridging of ideas, and the transport of material goods are enhanced. Mercury was a psychopomp, the messenger god who could freely travel from earth to the Underworld and back again. Therefore, given Mercury’s highlighted role during this Eclipse, there may be extra ability to traverse between realms of consciousness to gain access to essential knowledge that can further enhance your awareness and unfolding.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse falls at 24 degrees of Gemini (Sun) and Sagittarius (Moon). While everyone experiences the energies of a Full Moon, if you have planets or pivotal points (i.e., Ascendant/Descendant or Nadir/Midheaven) around this degree in Gemini, Sagittarius, or the other mutable signs—Virgo and Pisces—it may impact you more intensely. Additionally, like with other planetary alignments, the house(s) of your natal chart that this Eclipse falls in sheds light on how it may be influencing your unfolding.

Lunar Eclipse Apothecary Suggestions

Gemini is associated with the shoulders, arms, hands, lungs, and nervous system while Sagittarius governs the liver, hips, thighs, and buttocks. Pay extra attention to these parts of the body around the time of this Full Moon.

Collage project: Even for those who consider themselves not artistically inclined, a collage project can be a wonderfully therapeutic and relaxing activity to partake in on this Full Moon. Not only is making a collage a creative expression, but it can be a great vehicle for inventive problem solving. For this aim, just focus on a situation in your life that you are being challenged by and for which you seek a solution. Holding it in your mind’s eye, cut out words and images from old magazines and newspapers that reflect aspects of the situation as well as its potential resolution. Glue these to poster board adding fabric, shells, rocks, or other small bric-a-brac in an arrangement that makes sense to you. Remember that there is no right or wrong here; just use your imagination and allow for your creativity to flow in your quest for discovery.

Exercise: Schedule in some time to exercise. It need not be vigorous—in fact, gentle may be the name of the game today with a leisurely walk, restorative yoga class, gardening session, or tai chi practice some possibilities. The reason: the day may be rife with bursts of energy and push/pull dynamics that if left to settle in our bodies may cause tension and stress. Doing gentle exercise can help us to circulate the energies and impart relaxation. If exercise doesn’t seem to be “what the doctor ordered” then schedule in some time to meditate, do creative visualization, read, or write in a journal: whatever it is that helps you to feel centered and release excess tension.