Sun Signs
By Whitney Will
A penumbral lunar eclipse of the Gemini full moon reddens the sky on Nov. 30. This is the first eclipse in the sign of Gemini since the nodes of the moon ingressed into Gemini/Sagittarius in May, setting in motion a series of eclipses that will take place every six months through the next year. For an astronomical description of how eclipses work in relation to the nodes, see tinyurl.com/sunsignseclipses for my previous article.
In astrological terms, eclipses signal a rebalancing of two polar energies. Eclipses destabilize through sudden beginnings and endings, and as shifts occur in life and culture, there is progress and reorganization, both for the society and the individual.
With the nodal shift earlier in the year we are due for a tumultuous review of the Gemini/Sagittarius axis. This axis represents knowledge and consciousness, the power of ideas, how they spread, and to whom they belong. The south node in Sagittarius signifies a shedding of material in that sign, whereas the north node in Gemini leans into a deeper thirst for the Gemini end of the spectrum. Sagittarius is the specialist, expert, and guru – Gemini the generalist, critic, storyteller. Sagittarius rules places of higher learning, religious creed, dogma, and ideology. Sagittarius is the ivory tower, the holy mountain, the missionary, and the world traveler. Gemini has the hive-mind, periodicals of all kinds, gossip, and the neighborhood. Gemini is the small-town newspaper, the journalist, quick-witted and nimble. Sagittarius is knowledge condensed into belief, Gemini is raw perception.
Under the joint purview of these signs are the topics of education and travel. Seen any sudden changes in those lately? With the travel industry stunted by COVID-19 restrictions and all levels of education wrestling with restructuring of accessibility due to the ongoing pandemic, the Nov. 30 eclipse and the following solar eclipse in Sagittarius on Dec. 14 herald further developments as the hive-mind of Youtube replaces the inflated costs of the college degree and we cancel holiday travel to pace our living rooms in service to vulnerable members of the community.
Nov. 30’s lunar eclipse will offer a culmination of the Gemini ethos, seeded by the new moon in Gemini last May. The social unrest of the early summer protests has not been healed, though the election results sway the balance of power.
The truth is, as a nation we remain deeply divided. The south node dissolves, and its time in Sagittarius will expose the shadow of sacrificing our humanity to the creed of any political faction. We will be offered the opportunity to turn back in areas where our opinions have robbed us of our empathy, or we will be blindsided by the limitations of our own mental models.
The Gemini-Sagittarius eclipse cycle will not help unify us if we as citizens and political groups choose to double-down on our hardline ideologies. It is by the dissolution of dogmatic party lines that we will find the power of democracy in honoring the sovereignty of each point of view.
The redistribution of knowledge that belongs to the few (Sagittarius) being released to the eyes of the many (Gemini) is another possible outcome of these eclipses and can be seen in the controversial case of Ed Snowden, who breached confidentiality with the National Security Agency to expose the extent to which the government of the United States was spying on their own citizens without the knowledge or consent of the latter. He rejected the protected knowledge afforded to him by high-security clearances and felt it his duty as an American to expose the covert data collection to the individuals of the collective for their judgment. Snowden was born with the south node in Sagittarius and the north node in Gemini.
Another whistleblower, Karen Silkwood, also has this natal chart placement and her whistleblowing incident occurred during a transit of the nodes through these signs. She worked as a chemical technician in a nuclear facility and began raising concerns about health and safety practices. On a November evening in 1974, on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter to go public with her concerns, she died in a mysterious car crash.
It does not stop there either. The whistleblower nature of the north node in Gemini goes all the way back to the founding fathers. The first Whistleblower Act was put into law by the Continental Congress on July 30, 1778, while the north node was transiting Gemini.
If history is any precedent, the next year of eclipses should hold quite a few striking revelations, as we wrestle with the ideas that divide the nation.