Full Moon 23*52’ Gemini
December 15th 2024, 4:00 AM Eastern
7th Shape: Dog
17° 8' 34'' Gemini â 0° Cancer
The current astrology is at peak screwball and convoluted to the point that irritation is starting to be noticeably exacerbated. People are feeling perpetually unprepared, unable to focus, without sharpness of mind, out of sync with their surroundings and backsliding down their timeline. We know that a lot of cardinality is going to come into play by late spring/early summer, and this Full Moon in late Gemini somewhat foreshadows that upcoming initiation into structures of imaginative action, fantasies of autonomy and expansion of generating new beginnings with clues strewn about the otherwise scrambled message. Mercury and Jupiter will be loosely opposite each other this upcoming lunation, in each other’s signs, their own detriments and both retrograde— where as in early to mid June when you get the Sagittarius Full Moon with the luminaries switched in position, Jupiter and Mercury will be conjunct in the early degrees of Cancer. In fact, Mercury turns direct around 12 hours after this upcoming Gemini Full Moon, but only after the Moon has ingressed Cancer for over an hour, and positions herself where Jupiter will be by June 11th’s Sagittarius Full Moon. Clearly the two periods are related, as is Mars’ upcoming retrograde motion in Cancer to Jupiter’s 2025/6 time spent covering the same tracks, all of which also likely relates to having Cancer now free of oppositions from Pluto for the next few centuries. What the Moon is free to need for nourishment now that it is not in direct contention to infrastructural fears and power dynamics makes us emotionally aware of what great abundance of care and resource flow could be unlocked after a period of going a little insane to protect and keep fragile and sensitive subjects in tact. We are all likely being extremely inefficient with our energy and it's not great for bolstering authenticity, honesty, impressive displays, genuine enthusiasm or curbing the compulsion to grab for more individual autonomy. It’s just this winter’s story, the literal opposite of the ideal scenario we imagined, but irregardless, we get to something new and altogether different by spring 2025 even if its through a zig zag loop de loop of what the fuck ever which we might emerge from swearing we’ll never waste our time the same way ever again even though there’s no way to not just say fuck it and just move on as there’s literally no one to blame.
I’ve been listening to many sailing podcasts and there are often origin stories of how people ejected themselves from their former, more pedestrian lives and became full time live aboard cruisers. This usually includes a sequence where someone describes how they were working full time, saving money for retirement unfulfilled and realized they were not really living the life they were blessed with and since there is only so much time for us to be incarnated they come to realize “it just didn’t make any sense” and transitioned to a more suitable, directly fulfilling life that didn’t have as much security and structure. There seems to be some of whats at play here lurking in this trope. We are currently in the absurd moment of how clearly where we are at doesn’t make any sense. Later on when we are busy being more fulfilled and engaged we’ll look back and remark, “I realized what I was doing just didn’t make sense”. So, being lucid and critically on the ball at the current moment is simply not the mode. It’s a time of ludicrous energy wastage and irritating inefficiency which is not the best for motivations and fueling high minded pursuits.
The lunation occurs in DOG Shape, which in the Greek Magical Papyri’s Greco-Egyptian syncretic logic is likely a reference to Anubis, as this is the final 12 plus degrees of the zodiac which lead up to Summer Solstice. The dual canines of Anubis and Wepwewet stand on either side of this Solstitial Gate and guard the place where souls migrate between worlds. This is interesting as Mercury is often associated with dogs generally, such as in syncretic Hermanubis, and transiting Mercury stations direct after the Moon crosses this solstitial gate, as if in response to the subtle shift. With Mars in boastful Leo and retrograde I’m reminded of a figure from Irish epic myth, Cú Chulainn, who’s name means the “The Hound of Culann”, as he swore to replace the dog of Culann who he slayed in self defense and be the man’s guard instead until a replacement could be raised. Conchobar the king of Ulster encountered the boy Cú Chulainn (who was at this point originally named Sétanta) hurling, while on his way to a feast at the house of Culann the smith. Conchobar was impressed by Sétanta’s skills so he invited him along after, but forgot to tell Culann about it and when Sétanta arrived he was attacked by Culann’s watchdog which Sétanta killed, and subsequently replacing his post.
Cú Chulainn was thought to be the son of the god Lugh via strange circumstances. Conchobar was out hunting magical birds accompanied by his charioteer and sister Deichtine. Them and their company took shelter at some point in a nearby homestead where the host’s wife ends up going into labor and Deichtine gets involved in delivering the boy child; meanwhile a twin horses are simultaneously born on the property. When the hunting party awakes the following morning they are at the mound site of Newgrange with the house and its inhabitants disappeared except the child and the horses. Deichtine attempts to raise the boy at home but he only gets sick and dies, after-which the god Lugh arrives and explains he was actually the host in disguise and he is installing his perished child in her womb to carry and birth and name Sétanta. The issue is that Deichtine is engaged to be married and to avoid suspicion aborts the baby, but when she does get pregnant legitimately she names the boy Sétanta anyway, and the demigod Cú Chulainn is born.
Interestingly, the etymology of Lugh means “to swear by oath”, but shares an etymological root with the word lie, as in to tell lies or make false claims, as Proto-Indo-European *h₂lewg had meant “to announce” or “tell publicly”. Both Cú Chulainn’s origin and the origin of his name are convoluted situations which involve falsity. Even though he has simply forgotten, Conchobar falsely tells Culann no one is to be expected after him at the feast, leading to Culann releasing the doomed dog, and Deichtine aborts the baby so her virginity is in tact for her husband who might falsely suspect Conchobar of having conceived with his wife. Such scenarios are reminiscent to the communication and info exchange slip snares strung across the current astrology and illuminated by this Full Moon, which at best can hopefully help us sniff out misunderstandings like acutely sensitive dogs. Although, I’m reminded of the “lier’s paradox”, where the statement “everything I say is a lie” creates an inescapable logical problem, similar to the infamous Bertrand’s Paradox, in which an attempt to prove numbers are an objective reality leads to what’s called “set theory”, and eventually to an identical issue of paradoxical self-reference which can’t be logically contended with. Sometimes truth is obliterated by multi tonged expression and a distribution of looping semi-false untruths are all we have available to assemble into the mapping of the moment, like it or not.
Further down the rabbit hole of who is Lugh and what does his name mean, scholars had previously thought it was related to luminosity, like Lucifer, and Lugh was related to solar, oracular and lucid Apollo. Although, further and more contemporary etymological analysis leads academics to now associate Lugh with Hermes, as they also might equate Woden to Mercury, thus Anglo Wodens-day being the same day as Roman Mercurys-day. This makes sense in the mercurial conundrum of announcing simultaneous true and false statements which we already looked at, and the association with games and skilled, shamanic warriors and dogs. Although, Lugh is also called the “long armed” similar to how Apollo is called the “Far-Reacher” (Picatrix also calls this Mansion “ The Forearm”) and the former associated with skills of spears and the latter with magical arrows. Apollo shows up in the Shapes that fall into zodiacal Sagittarius, the archer’s sign, and thus we are finding an archetype in DOG Shape that may speak to the whole axis as spectrum, that of the mercurial and jupitarian simultaneously. It very well may be that the mutable signs are explicitly about this dynamic of polarity; both mutable axises are ruled by Mercury and Jupiter at either end.
The Nakshatra speaks of The Two Chariots, which is reminiscent of the pair of horses born alongside proto-Sétanta, and refer to the stellar Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri directly related to Mercury although a symbol of this Nakshatra is the bow and quiver, so again Sagittarius and Jupiter. It is said it relates to the nose, which tracks with the Picatrix requiring sweet smelling things for the making of the talisman of this mansion. Interesting, as dogs are so known for their nose orientation and excellent sense of smell. They also smell things at quite a distance, something which might be associated with far reaching and oracular Apollo as well as thoroughly investigative Mercury. The Picatrix sees a man clothed in robes with hands to heaven praying, and the talisman is for the acquisition of good things. Dogs sniff on the air morsels for which they go a-scavenging. The Nakshatra also mentions the “Two Restorers Of Good Things” and the Picatrix elections are for the increase of merchandise, profit, safe travel, increase crops, beneficent sailing, cause friendship/allies, expel flies, destroy officials, and favor of kings/nobles. Typical for Picatrix, but also markedly Mercurial/Jupitarian dimensions.
The Exu of Quimbanda syncretized to the Grimorium Verum spirit is Exu Veludo, or ’animal hide’, ‘shaggy’, the messenger for the hunter god, also called ‘velvet night’, or simply ‘velvet’. The appropriateness for Mercurial DOG Shape is obvious, and the relationship to a hunting deity collects the aforementioned spears and arrows into orb. The Chinese Xiu mentions a dung basket, so smell in the dog sense is appropriate. Beyond that more alignment to the Cú Chulainn story tracks as gossip of sexual misconduct and slander are associated with this station, although instead of mentioning dogs another animal hide is described, that of the leopard, whose skins are worn by military shamans like Heracles/Dionysus in the Greek world. The dung basket is sometimes the winnowing basket, winnowing being a mecurial activity and surprise abundance is mentioned, like the acquisition of good things which is quite jupitarian, and finally the Fangshi deity is also an archer. I feel the bountiful abundance of DOG Shape has something to do with it leading directly to Summer Solstice and zero degrees Cancer, where souls are thought to enter into the world and fecundating floods feed things growing where the Moon has her rulership and Jupiter his exaltation. As this is where the Moon gets to just post Fullness in DOG at which point lunation ruling Mercury turns direct and Jupiter plans to bless us with his visit starting June 9th, there is probably some key here, around what wants to be born in the world, in our lives, what is good for us, and nourishes our existences flashed before us oracularly in the next few days which is born in earnest later on towards the Summer Solstice, similar to Proto Sétanta who was miraculously born, died, was redirected to Deichtine’s womb, was aborted and then re-conceived and finally born to become the legendary Cú Chulainn further down the line.
Thinking about the brightened halos surrounding Celtic warrior shamans led me to looking into the history of Joan Of Arc, who’s visions of Saints Catherine and Michael inspired her to fall into the prophecy already circulating of a virgin bearing a sword and restoring France, ending the Hundred Year’s War, crowning a king on the throne and expelling the English. She as well was struck with arrows twice and her visionary zeal in the front lines of battle transitioned the conflict from a territorial war to a holy war. Parallels abound to mythic battles such as those of Cú Chulainn in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, including their shared eventual deaths tied to pillars and the theme of virginity inspection. Joan’s father had precognitive dreams of her marching off with soldiers later in life while she was only just a child. These visions woke him up at night and irked him as he assumed it meant she was going to be along as a prostitute and considered they drown the child before witness her fate. I’ve also been investigating accounts of psychic phenomenon between parent and child in the Telepathy Tapes podcast which documents the study of non or semi verbal autistic children who achieve telepathy within their families and then with other non verbal friends as well as engage with ancestors and other beings in the field. The lack of ability to communicate verbally seems to find pathway via other means. This seemed very fitting to listen to throughout the array of current astrological aspects, and made me think also of DOG Shape and dogs in general, who also live within human families they can’t communicate with verbally and in their own packs with whom they communicate non verbally. I’ve always thought something like remote viewing must be taking place when you see a dog sniffing the air and receiving information to interpret, data that must enter some synesthetic process filled with impressions as they draw themselves towards what they need and what they are interested in. One girl in the podcast mentions that she prefers psychic communication with her mother more than conventional communication and that she knows what number her mother is thinking about with 100% accuracy while seeing it in her mind as a color rather than a figure. Dog’s, like all other animals including us, must be experiencing the expressions of the world as well as each other in similar ways, even though most humans pay it no mind and all the nuance gets thrown away into the random meaningless noise of mental chatter, which if you are willing to assess and sort out in a meaningful way might be an abundance of good and lucid things to acquire about existence.
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