The next few days are packed with astrological energy as Uranus makes a station (a standstill) at zero degrees Aries on the same day as a lunar eclipse.

As the planet of sudden change and shocking events, the role of Uranus is to startle us out of complacency and force us into an experience that will break through the shackles of closed-mindedness and attachment to the past.  Uranus is the revolutionary, the innovator – it also rules technology and a detachment in which reason takes precedence over emotion.

Planets don’t really change direction, obviously, but because we observe their movement from earth they sometimes appear to do so.  The outer planets generally spend about half of the year in what we call “retrograde” motion.  Planets changing direction operate in a similar fashion to cars that are making a U-turn:  before they make that U-turn they slow down, from our vantage point on earth, progressing just a degree or maybe a few minutes of arc each day until they make that change of direction.  When a planet slows down to a standstill and makes that “station” its effect is more powerful, rather like a car blowing its horn as it comes to a standstill right outside our home

Uranus is at the zero degree of Aries now, the first degree of the first sign of the zodiac.  Symbolically this is a point of initiation and action – something new is being birthed both within us, and in the world around us.  Because Uranus is stationary at that degree its energy is focused like a laser beam of intensity, inspiring a desire for change and letting go of the past and whatever is holding us back from venturing forth into a brave new world.

This is the backdrop for the lunar eclipse that occurs on the same day.  A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon is Full and the Sun’s light opposes the Moon.  The Moon represents our emotions, our needs – what we need to feel secure, what we need to feel safe and loved.  During a Full Moon our emotional range may be heightened as the solar light of the conscious mind challenges the lunar instincts.  An eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon conjoin the lunar nodes, and because the lunar nodes represent our evolutionary direction there is a fated quality to eclipses and an unmasking of something crucial that is required for our spiritual development.

The emotional realm is murky and hidden in the best of times, and during a lunar eclipse the mysteries of the subterranean realm of the heart become intensified. More magical, yes, but also potentially more frightening if you are a person who tends to hide from emotional matters. This is a Gemini Full Moon, and Gemini desires above all else to communicate.  This is not a time to hide your emotions and try to absorb them into the core of your being.  This Full Moon requires communication and expression of the emotional realm so that it can be transmitted and transmuted into personal growth.

Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication, and Uranus is considered to be the “higher octave” of Mercury in that Mercury rules mind and Uranus rules higher mind.  Uranus takes the chatter of our thoughts and converts them to intuition and insight.  In the Gemini Full Moon the Sun is in the sign of Sagittarius which is expansive and seeks the One Truth, but the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity requires that we find balance between curiosity and ideology.  Even when we think we know what is true (Sagittarius), we must always continue to learn and inquire (Gemini).

This Full Moon will appear huge as it begins to rise and will be colored by the Earth’s atmosphere.  The beauty and magnitude of this Full Moon reflects the power of this lunation which offers us the potential to see beyond the veil of our ideas and beliefs and to elevate our thoughts beyond the confines of our emotions.

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