As a young musician, I was afraid to take guitar or singing lessons for fear they would make me sound like everyone else. Later on, I taught myself astrology for 16 years before fate put me in the path of my teacher. And while I’m grateful for each and every editor I’ve ever worked with, I would never dream of showing my writing to anyone else before submitting it for publication.
All of this might suggest that I think I know everything, that I feel I could in no way benefit from the input of others. On the contrary: I’ve understood from an early age that I am, in fact, far too susceptible to the opinions and ideas of others. I was born with the Moon’s South Node in my third house, a placement with themes similar to the current transiting South Node in Gemini. The South Node suggests the nature of your default setting, what feels safe and easy and natural; when it’s in the third house or Gemini, it’s easiest to play the role of the eternal, restless student, interviewing and asking questions, consuming information rather than formulating knowledge and opinions.
On the other hand, the North Node in Sagittarius or the ninth house demands that, like a confused college undergraduate, we must choose a major emphasis for our life’s curriculum. We have to acknowledge that we can’t ever have all the answers we seek, or even know all the questions; at some point, we have to turn off the stream of incoming information and trust that we can make something worthwhile from what we already know.
Eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius
This year’s eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius signal a turning point in resolving the tension between what we know (Sagittarius) and what we have yet to learn (Gemini). With the Moon’s South Node moving through Gemini, society seems to be gorging indiscriminately on fast-moving information. It’s no wonder Twitter, which limits ideas to 144 characters, has become the acme of modern journalism: Gemini lends itself exceedingly well to glittering sound bytes. And there’s no question that the ability to easily exchange information is, in many ways, a blessing.
But when was the last time you read a book? Or even a magazine or website article that was longer than a couple of paragraphs? With the Moon’s North Node traveling through Sagittarius, digesting big ideas just feels like too much work. My new book was released this week, and while I was excited and proud when my first copy arrived in the mail, I don’t feel like reading it. Part of it is the fear of finding the inevitable gaffs that can no longer be fixed. But part of it is the weariness I feel when I crack open the cover of any book, and scores and scores of words swim together before my eyes, refusing to coalesce into a meaningful pattern.
This Full Moon in Sagittarius is eclipsed by the earth’s shadow. It’s harder than usual to access our own knowledge and understanding of the world, to see the big picture; much easier to just listen to the world’s chatter. But during the period between eclipses, intuition is especially strong, stronger even than the ego’s need for certainty and supremacy. For this reason, it’s a time when we sometimes feel a little unhinged, but when wisdom is uncommonly available to us – if we’ll only slow down and look for it.
We think of Sagittarius as a gregarious sign; certainly I’ve seen that side of the archetype alive and well in many of the people I know with the Sun, Moon or Ascendant in this sign. But just as often, the archer has a solitary quality. Sagittarius’ ruling planet, Jupiter, is exalted in Cancer, the sign of home, of the womb, suggesting that its aims are best realized in a quiet, secure, cozy incubator.
Pieces and patterns
I’m reminded of my grandmother, who created beautiful quilts. My sister and I loved going to her house and sifting through her bags and bags of colorful fabric swatches. Grandma’s giant quilting frame dominated the living room of her small, simple house; it always held a quilt in progress. I was fascinated by her ability to turn a seemingly haphazard selection of colors and patterns into something cohesive, a whole that seemed to exist even before the scraps were pulled from the bag.
With the South Node moving through Gemini, it’s extremely diverting to sort through grandma’s rag bag, marveling at the endless variety of patterns, shapes and colors. To sift through websites, Facebook, and Twitter for juicy bits of tantalizing gossip about illicit Tweets and the emails of a failed vice presidential candidate.
But just across the room, a quilting frame is set up and ready to receive your vision — and if you spend too much time with the individual pieces, you’ll never have a finished quilt. To fulfill the promise of the North Node moving through Sagittarius, you’ll need to take a deep breath, stick your hand into the bag, and grab a fistful of scraps. Then sit with them for awhile in the quiet solitude of your dwelling space, contemplating and rearranging them, until the pattern emerges.
© 2011 April Elliott Kent. All rights reserved
