Thanksgiving 2023, Gemini Full Moon, Sagittarius Solar Festival Cosmic Weather Forecast

Full Moon in Gemini, Sagittarius Solar Festival 2023 Cosmic Weather Forecast

Monday November 27, 2023 at 04:16 EST the Full Moon occurs at 4°51’ Gemini, opposed by the Sun in Sagittarius. This Gemini Lunar Festival presents an opportunity for playful celebration, gregarious socializing, and open-hearted sharing of the abundance we enjoy in our lives. For all these joys, we give our thanks to the Universe!

As we shall see, stellar configurations indicate that we're in a best of times, worst of times moment this Full Moon week, but we can choose to focus on what is best for us and for our loved ones, and that will mark this Thanksgiving weekend as the best quality of time it can possibly be.

Thanksgiving Cornucopia, Photo by Brad Switzer on Unsplash

While we enjoy the holiday vibes buzzing throughout the collective consciousness this week, it has become impossible to totally ignore the tensions that grip our minds from time to time, in response to the multiple tragedies unfolding in our world. 

We all mourn the re-emergence of proxy wars between great powers of the East and West, in Ukraine and Gaza, the likes of which had not been seen since the the mid-20th Century. 

We have heard from several friends and customers who have told us that even if they turn off the news, the painful energy consuming the collective consciousness penetrates their bodies, wounds their hearts, troubles their minds, and makes it difficult to stay grounded and centered in their spiritual practice.

Jane and I feel the same. It's no wonder! The world is burning. Wars are spreading. Something huge is dying.

The gods of endless economic growth, me-first individualism, and rational materialism see the candles flickering on their altars.

Our cheap hydrocarbon civilization and its global fossil fuel powered war machine is poised like Wile E. Coyote, or Icarus, to plunge from a great height of hybris.

Pax Americana is dead: the world is now suffering more wars than at any time since 1945.

The Ukraine war, now over two years old, has resulted in well over half a million casualties, with no end in sight.

Major wars in Myanmar and Gaza have produced over 10,000 casualties each in 2023, but there are so many more armed conflicts we hear little about in our social media feeds and on TV.

There are 32 active, hot wars across the globe this Thanksgiving. Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Colombia, and Mali are currently in civil wars.

Mexico is at war with the drug cartels in the country. Terrorist insurgencies rage on in Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, and Uganda.

Flash Floods, Photo by Saikiran Kesari on Unsplash

While wars continued to intensify across the globe, extreme weather events flared up in November 2023 and continue to rock our world.

Flash floods killed hundreds in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi and Malawi, and more than 20 in the Dominican Republic. Southern Brazil has been hit with several flood events, with numerous deaths.

This month we've also seen 139.5º F feels like temperatures in Rio de Janeiro, the most combustible fire season in Australia in 70 years, and most recently, intense flash flooding in Dubai, where the 28th round of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) will begin November 30th. 

UN Conference President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber will host the COP28 meetings in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first private sector CEO to serve as Conference President, Jaber's day job is chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the largest oil company in the UAE.

Pump jack mining crude oil at sunset, Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

Manon Aubry, a French Member of the European Parliament exploded upon hearing the news: “This is an absolute scandal," Aubry exclaimed. "An oil and gas company has found its way to the core of the organization in charge of coordinating the phasing out of oil and gas. It is like having a tobacco multinational overseeing the internal work of the World Health Organization.”

It's all become a bit much, looking at two dozen websites and social media each morning to try to research the issues of the day. I loved being a journalist for decades, but it's time for a break this weekend.

This Thanksgiving, while news feeds spew venom, bad news, fake news, and propaganda, Jane and I are tuning in to the positives in our lives. We are giving thanks!

We have enormous privilege in our lives, and have been gifted with relationships spanning the globe.

Curtis and Jane at the Big Coffee Pot in the Moravian Village of Old Salem,
North Carolina, Selfie by Jane Sherry

We are blessed with peaceful surroundings here in the Southeastern United States, we are not having dramatic climate emergencies near our home, and we have so much farm fresh food on hand we won't need more for two weeks! 

We thank our lucky stars this Full Moon week. We give thanks to our Guides and Teachers, Angelic presences around us, and the Devas, Elementals and Nature Spirits in our Blue Ridge state.

Looking up at the skies in the evening, we know that the current starscape symbolizes states of collective consciousness, among other things.

This fall, world events have created a swirling astral storm of intense emotions that impact all of humanity. 

As a result, we currently inhabit a multi-layered, conflicted, yet hopeful collective mindscape, which contains the potential for positive change and increased inner joy.

Outer conflicts are reflected in the stars above us this Full Moon week, and outer conflicts give brith to inner conflicts.

But we all can feel that somehow, despite all odds, we have the potential to release our fears and transform our pain and suffering into selfless love and insightful wisdom. 

In fact, as we shall see, the Cosmic Weather patterns from now through Christmas provide substantial support for celebrations of shared joy, fellowship, and romance.

This colorful Cassini Orbital image is the highest-resolution view of the unique
hexagonal jet stream at Saturn's north pole.  NASA / JPL / SSI / Hampton University

From November 23rd through the 25th, while we celebrate Thanksgiving, Sun and Warrior Planet Mars in combative Scorpio move on from their ill-starred, combustible opposition to Uranus in Taurus, winding down a time of intense, combative energies, which peaked with the unexpected, electrifying, polarizing, hence Uranian, onset of the Israel-Hamas war. 

As of today, November 24th, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four day ceasefire and hostages for prisoners exchange. This exchange was brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with substantial assistance from the Biden administration. Apparently, the negotiations took weeks because of the necessity to work through a series of intermediaries, which is par for the course for diplomacy centered on this long standing Israeli-Palestine conflict.

Unfortunately, by November 25th, just before the Full Moon, Sun and Mars in Sagittarius will move into a deadlocked, tense square to Saturn in Pisces. That bodes ill for any long term diplomatic breakthroughs stemming from the current ceasefire and prisoners for hostages exchange.

The "Teapot" asterism is in Sagittarius.
The Milky Way is the steam coming from the spout.
Eoghanacht, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sagittarius is the sign of the true believer, the religious warrior, and it is possible that both theocratic combatants in the Israel-Hamas war will find themselves locked into a painful embrace from which there is no easy exit for the next several months at a minimum. 

Mars remains in Sagittarius until January 4, 2024, with the potential hard edged energy emanating from Mars occasionally during that time. 

Negotiations to reach a diplomatic settlement are many times more complex than hostage release negotiations, and if past Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are an indication of what is to come, it could take a year or more before any comprehensive agreement can be reached. 

Yesterday Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to continue with the war against Hamas as soon as the four day truce expires.

"We are at war, and we will continue the war," Netanyahu told the Israeli Knesset, according to a story by the Associated Press. "We will continue until we achieve all our goals." 

Israel Defense Forces Standing Guard in Nablus

Those goals have not been articulated in any meaningful way so it's hard to know what that means. Eliminating Hamas is not a goal, nor is it a possibility. But a quick look around the Internet provides some clues.

For extreme right wing Israeli allies of Netanyahu, achieving Israeli goals could mean "allowing" two million Gazans to leave the area permanently, in a 21st Century replay of the infamous 1948 Nakba, when the Israelis expelled 700,000 Palestinians at gunpoint and occupied their land.

Yesterday, on Twitter I saw a video of Former Israeli Interior Minister Ayalet Shaked being interviewed on Israeli TV. She said that, "After we turn Khan Younis into a soccer field…we need to take advantage of the destruction to tell the countries that each of them should take a quota, it can be 20K or 50K. We need all 2 million to leave. That's the solution for Gaza."

“We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. From an operational point of view, there is no way to wage a war—as the IDF [Israeli army] seeks to do in Gaza—with masses between the tanks and the soldiers,” Avi Dichter, Israel's Minister for Agriculture and former head of Shin Bet told Israeli television.

Officially Israel’s agriculture minister, Dichter is a member of its war cabinet and was previously head of Israel's Shin Bet secret police.

Shirley Steinberg (שירלי שטיינברג), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
 Avi Dichter, Israeli Minister of Agriculture and former Shin-Bet director

When asked again whether this was the “Gaza Nakba,” Dichter replied “Gaza Nakba 2023. That’s how it’ll end.”

Are these people, apparently part of the Israeli elite, really just outliers, firebrands, outside the mainstream of Israeli thought? Surely the Israelis don't think they can occupy Gaza, remove the millions of civilians there, exterminate Hamas, and then rebuild the area as an Israeli city? 

If so, these negotiations won't go well, and the potential of a wider Middle East War is uncomfortably high. Israelis are gripped in an unprecedented war fever.

"Now," as reported in the Los Angeles Times, "Israeli politics, society and media are awash with annihilatory language against Palestinians in Gaza, from the dehumanizing language of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s 'total siege' order, where he referred to Palestinians as 'human animals,' and journalists who have called to turn Gaza 'into a slaughterhouse,' to banners on bridges in Tel Aviv that call 'to annihilate Gaza.'" Israeli state leaders, ministers in the war cabinet and senior army officers — people with command authority — have used such language dozens of times since Oct. 7 in a way that constitutes clear 'intent to destroy,' according to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."

Because the Israelis have pretty much total battlefield dominance, nuclear weapons, and the ability to render Gaza uninhabitable, it is incumbent upon the Israelis to have a clear picture of their desired end state and to communicate that to the Palestinians, the United Nations, and the world at large, so negotiations can begin.

If they dare. But how much of the Israeli rhetoric represents non-negotiable bottom line demands, and how much is just overheated threats?
We are all living in the Saturn plus Neptune in Pisces world of dense mental fog.

Because Saturn is involved there is an existential crisis involved, and there is no easy way to know what is going on exactly.

The fog of war, and the fog machine operated by the disseminators of social media propaganda are both aptly symbolized by Saturn in Pisces, and with global public opinion already extremely polarized, the next month is likely to see the proliferation of unverifiable claims and counter claims by both sides, along with even more fake news and videos.

Long term, Saturn remains in Pisces for the most part until February 2026, so that could indicate that negotiations remain foggy throughout that time.

Supporters of both sides exhibit an evangelical Sagittarian fervor, so we can also expect an increased number of cancellations by the gatekeepers of political correctness, whether left, right, populist or progressive, on all those who fall outside their tribal boundaries.

Full Moon Over San Diego, Photo by Jack Taylor on Unsplash

Mars will remain in Sagittarius until January 4, 2024, so the impact of the November 25th square with Saturn in Pisces could continue to reverberate for months to come.

So the war will continue.

And along with the killing war, the war of opinions, the cancellation wars, the demonstrations and counter demonstrations, will continue.

The collective consciousness is already boiling, so let us affirm that somehow both sides will soon drop the dehumanizing rhetoric and threats of total mutual destruction and begin to speak once again as civilized people.

Fortunately, there are numerous supportive elements in the stars over the next month, and already some hopeful developments have appeared, including the extremely important current ceasefire and hostages for prisoners deal.

"Gemini", plate 18 in Urania's Mirror, a set of celestial cards accompanied by A familiar treatise on astronomy ... by Jehoshaphat Aspin. London. Astronomical chart showing the twins Castor and Pollux forming the constellation. 1 print on layered paper board : etching, hand-colored.
Sidney Hall , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Full Moon in Gemini on Monday, November 27th features an aspect promising mental uplift and spiritual breakthroughs for those who tune into the energies of the moment and seek intuitive guidance.

Mercury in Sagittarius will square Neptune in Pisces. There is an impulse to project our thoughts towards our most elevated Sagittarian spiritual goals and future dreams and desires.

We find ourselves encountering support in the form of a Neptune in Pisces square, which imparts a dreamy quality to our meditations and visualizations.

If we can connect to the collective consciousness and we are open to intuitive guidance, we can integrate the loving wisdom of Higher Mind with the egoistic dreams and goals we so strongly desire.

This may provide clarity and flashes of insight that will support the single pointed Sagittarian focus of the moment, and is sure to expand our vision, turbocharge our creativity.

This astrological aspect can empower us to see how to achieve our deepest desires while insuring the best and highest good for all with whom we are connected and all who will be involved in the manifestation of our intended outcomes in life.

Watercolour from Splendor Solis, an Alchemical Text: A moon above a queen dressed in blue, and a sun above a king dressed in red; representing two alchemical principles: the dissolving 'lac virginis' (mercury) and the coagulating masculine principle (sulphur). Watercolour painting by E.A. Ibbs, from the Wellcome Collection, Public Domain Image

The Sabian Symbols for the Sun and the Full Moon provide us with valuable insights into the complex, conflicted energies of the moment, and indicate how we can make best use of this quality of time.

The Sabian Symbol for the Gemini Solar Festival is A Revolutionary Magazine Demanding Action.

Gemini represents dualistic mental models of the world, which are replicated by highly polarized political conflicts between groups of true believers. 

Black and white interpretations of complex social realities and individual choices require that alternative viewpoints be repressed.

Inconvenient emotions that might undermine the dualistic, black and white vision of reality must also be suppressed. 

Inevitably, over time, these repressed ideas and emotions explode into awareness with volcanic force. 

Volcanic Eruption, Day 51, Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash

In individuals, this psychic explosion can result in psychopathic behavior, or, alternatively, in total withdrawal from normal activities, and perhaps even in highly focused quietude leading to altered states of consciousness, such as mystical union with the Universal Mind.

In terms of politics and social realities, the expression of the repressed energies is often manifested by revolutionary action taken against the ossified social systems that suppress dissenting points of view and exploit the more vulnerable, less powerful members of society. 

We can see the volcanic eruption of the repressed this Full Moon as the dehumanizing religious war taking place in Gaza between Israel and Hamas reaches unprecedented levels of barbarism on both sides of the conflict.

The intensity of this war has generated tens of billions of comments on social media worldwide, as people in countries around the world attack and vilify one another in support of one or the other combatant groups. Political polarization is soaring worldwide while compassion and goodwill seem in short supply.

There is hope written in the stars however.

Square aspects, like the Saturn-Mars square on November 25th, represent acute conflicts that demand resolution simply because they are so painful that people will take unprecedented actions to achieve a new equilibrium that resolves the unbearable tension.

With luck and grace, the war could reach a kind of climax as we celebrate the Full Moon in Gemini, immediately after the Saturn-Mars square. 

It's even possible that the unprecedented level of public awareness about the horrific civilian casualties inflicted by both sides may create such widespread disgust with the belligerents that they will find it in their best interests to seek a longer ceasefire, and an entry point onto the path of diplomatic resolution to this tragic war.

Brown Owl, Photo by Richard Lee on Unsplash

The Sabian Symbol for the Sagittarius Solar Festival is An Owl Sits Alone on the Branch of a Large Tree. Dane Rudhyar's interpreation of the symbol is as follows: A poised and wise approach to existence based on a clear perception of unconscious factors and their operation.

The owl is at home in the realms of the human mind that normally escape the awareness of the egoistical personality self. 

The owl of Minerva, symbol of wisdom, hunts at night, able to see clearly in the occulted realms of the natural world, and symbolically, in the unconscious realms of consciousness.

This Full Moon week we seek to become like the owl. This is the antidote for the volcanic eruption of repressed thoughts, feelings and peoples, which, when they explode into the daylight, take their most demonic form as a reaction to their long suppression.

When I was young, during the Vietnam war, a popular saying was that Repression Breeds Violence.

We are being called this Full Moon week to fearlessly explore the root causes of the wars ravaging our planet. We would do well to ask for the grace and guidance we require to transcend the dualistic thinking common to the warrior mentality.

Only in this way can we begin to search for resolutions to the painful conflicts wracking our 21st century human civilization.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

This process has already begun. And the process is global and multilateral.

While the Americans, Egyptians, Israelis and Palestinians were busy negotiating the current ceasefire spearheaded by the government of Qatar, in another part of the world, a large multilateral conference concerned with keeping the peace in the Mideast Region as a whole has also been working diligently this week.

Representatives of the Palestinian government and the Arab League were greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday November 20th. The Arab League is asking China to be a trusted mediator between Palestinians and Israelis, a role that had once been reserved for the United States.

Foreign Minister Yi said that China would work with “our brothers and sisters” in the Arab and Islamic world to try to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible, according to The Hill, a daily newspaper covering Congressional happenings.

While world attention has been focused on the Israeli-Hamas war, American rhetoric surrounding the Ukraine war has undergone a significant change.

Now there is talk of having achieved a lot in Ukraine, and a growing willingness to suggest that Ukraine cannot possibly defeat and roll back the Russian army, which was just voted best army in the world by U.S. News and World Report.

Around two weeks ago NBC News reported that "U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war."

If you're interested in seeing more evidence that Washington's support for the failing Ukraine government has begun to wane, see the two dozen links to major stories about this, read NATO’s Proxy War On Russia Through Ukraine Appears To Be Winding Down, by Andrew Korybko.

This Full Moon week is the ideal time to send love and light to the collective consciousness of humanity, and to world leaders, with the intent that they see the wisdom in peaceful negotiations and diplomatic solutions to intractable conflicts everywhere in the world. 

Whether or not diplomatic conferences lead immediately to peace negotiations in Gaza and Ukraine, we can look forward to a variety of positive astrological aspects from now through Christmas. That is certainly a relief!

On December 5th Venus in Scorpio Trines Saturn in Pisces, and the stars want us to let go and go with the flow (Saturn in Pisces) in pursuit of sensual Venusian pleasures. Eat, drink share joy, and kindle a romance with life! It may be difficult, but sometimes a celebration of sensorial overload can be thoroughly therapeutic. That's just what the Doctor in the Sky has ordered up for us all!

Then on December 7th, we all benefit from two more smooth, productive aspects.

First, Sun in Sagittarius trines wounded healer Chiron in Aries. This fiery combo provides an influx of Universal Life Force Energy we can use to amplify the power of our healing practices, meditations, and group spiritual activities.

Second, Mercury in Capricorn trines Jupiter in Taurus. Practical, grounded planning and steady persistent effort combine to produce greater than expected positive developments manifesting at this time, especially the flowering of successes rooted in the rich soil comprised of long term projects you have nurtured over the long term.

Johannes Hevelius's chart of Taurus and surrounding constellations,
from his Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia.

 Two days later, Venus in Scorpio and Jupiter in Taurus oppose one another in the sky, an aspect associated with overindulgence in food, drink, psychoactive substances, romance, and sexual encounters. So enjoy but don't indulge and drive!

We celebrate the Winter Solstice on December 21st, 2023 at 8:28 PM Eastern time. The Winter Solstice is one of the most sacred moments of the yearly seasonal wheel for pagans and Esoteric Christians alike. 

Jane and I hope you'll take the time to read our article entitled Winter Solstice Gabriel Initiation: The Vision of the Inner Sun. Gabriel is the Archangel of Winter, known as the Messenger of the Lord.

As Messenger of the Lord, Gabriel is the Archangel of Vision, because he brings illumination and revelation and inspires intuitive creativity. 

We are pleased to offer you these instructions for obtaining “The Gabriel Initiation", a simplified version of an ancient technique that was originally offered only to advanced students of the Western Mystery School traditions.

Finally, on Christmas day, Venus in Scorpio trines Neptune in Pisces. We gather with family and friends for Venus-ruled holiday merry making, and we share our Neptunian dreams, our memories and our visions for the year to come.

This New Age of Global Empire exhibits many parallels to the paradoxical time of Christ’s birth, when Rome's Imperial glory, initiatic renewal and immense human and spiritual suffering coincided throughout the world. At that time, Christ brought suffering humanity a tangible direct connection to the Holy Spirit.

 

Today we are each called upon to connect personally with the Holy Spirit through our own personal efforts.

We are each called upon to communicate the Divine Word as it is transmitted through us by that ubiquitous, loving, and divinely wise Spirit – for the healing of all nations and peoples, that we may further the Divine plan to bring about a New Age of peace and cooperation.

We are called upon to live our lives as though the Christ were walking before us, to walk in the footsteps of the Christ.

Let us meditate this Christmas season upon this responsibility, for it is through our own efforts that we will have direct experience of subtle energies and spiritual realities.

In that direct experience we will connect with Christ Consciousness and through that initiation we will discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Isis, Goddess of Magic and Healing, Mother of Horus, God of the Sun, Medieval Book Cover

As we celebrate this year's Solstice and Christmas season, let us all invoke the aid of the Divine Mother and the Cosmic Christ to usher in a New Age of Aquarian community and goodwill towards all sentient beings, a New Age of environmental restoration and a return to spiritual values that will bring about peace on Earth.

There is a simple way to reconnect with the Christ within us, and to true Christmas Spirit.

That is through connecting to the Divine Mother. We can connect with Mary, aka Isis, through a contemplation of the spiritual powers inherent in nature, and through Mary we will connect with the Holy Spirit.

See our article entitled A Christmas Story and Meditation Upon the Divine Mother for invaluable background information and simple instructions. This meditation is best performed the week of the Winter Solstice.

Two days after the Christmas feast, we celebrate the Cancer Full Moon Festival, but that's the story of next month's Cosmic Weather Forecast. 
 Meditation Moment: Red Sea, April 2002, by Aurora Levins Morales

This Passover, who reclines?

Only the dead, their cupped hands filling slowly

with the red wine of war.  We are not free.

 

The blood on the doorposts does not protect anyone.

They say that other country over there

dim blue in the twilight

farther than the orange stars exploding over our roofs

is called peace.

 

The bread of affliction snaps in our hands like bones,

is dust in our mouths. This bitterness brings tears to our eyes.

The figs and apples are sour.  We have many more

than four questions.  We dip and dip,

salt stinging our fingers.  

Unbearable griefs braided into a rope so tight

we can hardly breathe,

Whether we bless or curse,

this is captivity.

We would cross the water if we knew how.

Everyone blames everyone else for barring the way.

 

Listen, they say there is honey swelling in golden combs, over there,

dates as sweet and brown as lovers' cheekbones,

bread as fragrant as rest,

but the turbulent water will not part for us.

We've lost the trick of it.

 

Back then, one man's faith opened the way.

He stepped in, we were released, our enemies drowned.

 

This time we're tied at the ankles.

We cannot cross until we carry each other,

all of us refugees, all of us prophets.

No more taking turns on history's wheel,

trying to collect old debts no-one can pay.

The sea will not open that way. 

 

This time that country

is what we promise each other,

our rage pressed cheek to cheek

until tears flood the space between,

until there are no enemies left,

because this time no one will be left to drown

and all of us must be chosen. 

This time it's all of us or none. 

Red Sea by Aurora Levins Morales is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.