
Tomorrow is the first full moon of 2020. They call it the Wolf Moon – significant to the activies of wolves during the winter months and their connection and acknowledgment of the moon. How many times have you seen the sillouette of a wolf in front of a full moon – well apparently that is a winter thing.
People seem to be more interested in the full moon from a spiritual perspective in recent years but I also get the sense that the full moon lore is largely mis-understood. If you know nothing else about the spiritual significance of moon cycles, know this – things tend to culminate on the full moon and so its a night when hospital emergency rooms are usually over filled and car accidents are more prevelent, bogging down morning commutes. I noticed that there were 5 car fires reported in this morning’s commute news and that was following my own witness of a car fire on the side of the freeway just yesterday afternoon. That is no coincidence. I can only imagine what will be provoked when the moon actually reaches maximum fullness tomorrow.
The moon has a special relationship with earth. One mystic, Rudolf Steiner said that the moon was once a part of the earth and broke free to began its own orbit – scientists are starting to agree with this idea through tests of the matter from samples taken from moon. The moon, Steiner says also has its own colony of spiritual beings. The experience I’ve read about of one of the first astronauts having a spiritual experience while walking the moon supports this idea for me. Steiner said that these spiritual beings were once inhabitants of the earth and they walked along side the early native and tribal peoples but during the “fall” of humanity they needed to remove themselves from the earth plane so that humans could evolve from collective knowing to individuals and then back to unity from our individual perspectives. We’re seem to be at the apex of our evolution into individualism now and only just barely starting to evolve back toward unity.
So from this perspective of the moon as a part of earth but separate and seemingly with out life but alive with spiritual beings – I understand the magic and the feeling that the moon is watching over us. It never feels un-important to me.
The moon we know helps regulate the tides. That our body is mostly made of water leads many astrologers to believe that it also has a great affect on humankind. Most women know that the moon cycles are relevant to our own reproduction and natural cycles.
There is ancient wisdom that suggests that the cycle the moon was in when we were born is relevant to our own reproductive story. If a woman is born on a waxing moon then she will only be fertil on the waxing moon – hence if her menstrual cycle isn’t aligned with her birth moon cycle, pregnancy could be challenged and vis versa it could be supported.
So as the moon approaches fullness and I notice the roundness each night becoming more and more semetrical – I wonder, what is the message of this full moon? Its like there has been something coming that will now face us in a straitforward, look us in the eye way. Like when a parent turns its attention toward a child and only when the parent faces the child strait on and makes full eye contact – does the child really hear the message. The moon is speaking to us and its message is about to become very direct and clear.
This full moon is also an eclipse – although I’m not sure it will be visible from my hemisphere. Eclipses happen in regular intravals. Usually there is a new moon eclipse and then it is followed by a full moon eclipse. The new moon was December 25th and the full moon, now in the new year is January 10th. An eclipse is a different sort of message. Its more like when a parent doesn’t need to use words, but takes action instead. The moon will usually eclipse something out of our lives during a full moon eclipse. What that is, largely depends on where we stand in the cosmic big picture. I’m an Aries, the eclipse will fall in my house of home on this full moon. I’m curious about that message and how I’ll notice what it is – what will be eclipsed out? What thing related to my home will the moon help me to see, no longer serves me. I like to think of it like when I remove some toys from my children’s room to pass on. My kids would never want to give up anything – but when I can see that they’ve outgrown it or it no longer serves them, I remove it from their space. That space never remains empty for long because some new thing usually will come in – once there is room. It’s like that for an eclipse. Once a door closes or gets eclipsed out and a new one opens. It might be hard but in retrospect it’s always an opportunity for growth.
If you’d like to see what the upcoming eclipse means for your sign, I highly recommend reading Susan Miller’s Astrologyzone. She is my favorite living astrologer – I’ve learned a ton from her. Once thing she always says is don’t try to use the full moon energy to make something happen. Don’t initiate events around the full moon. Full moons are about to deliver their message to us – its not the right time to ask for what we want or try to impose our will at the 11th hour. The time for that was at the new moon – what our heavenly parent was still listening to us and considering our perspective and best interest. The new moon is the time for intention setting. At the full moon we need to listen carefully, see what transpires and acknowledge the message from the universe before taking any action.
Sometimes I think there has been no message and then a week later, I’ll get the message. Usually there was a decision made on the full moon and the news just doesn’t reach me until a week or so later. Sometimes a day, sometimes a week or a month and a day. Be patient, stay attentive. Wait for the message and know that whatever it is – its for your highest good and an opportunity for growth even if it seems hard in the moment.