November’s Full Moon has the misfortune of also being a total lunar eclipse, which will be visible across North and South America, Asia and Australia.
As a Taurus rising, I’m very salty about the fact that this year’s Full Moon in my rising sign is eclipsed – and only six degrees from my Ascendant. Boo.
For some background on why I hate eclipses, what you can do about them, and what to expect from 2022’s eclipses, here are some previous articles I’ve written:
- Eclipses and Saros Cycles in Astronomy and Astrology
- The Eclipses of 2022: Astrology, Geography and Geopolitics
- Astrological Remediation: Solar and Lunar Eclipse Mitigation
- Death of the King: How the 2022 Eclipses Hit the Astrology Charts of Russia, Ukraine, Zelensky and the British Royal Family
- Talking Eclipses and 2023 Astrology on Nightbird Radio
Here’s the chart for this Taurus Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse:
If this was not an eclipse, I would actually be kind of excited by a Full Moon conjunct Uranus and in a tight opposition to Mercury. That sounds fantastic for some kind of radical, groundbreaking or otherwise new and exciting type of writing project, or some other Mercurial project. Venus is close by too, which adds a nice sensuousness – maybe something involving food, wine or the arts. My inner wine writer is already thinking of all sorts of stuff I could use this for…except this is an eclipse, so the normal rules don’t apply.
Instead, I see this playing out more as a sort of woozy craving for indulging in things that are not so good for us, courtesy of that dizzy Jupiter-Neptune in Pisces conjunction which is trine a fallen Venus who is also combust, along with Mercury. This is a Rahu eclipse, so the head of the dragon drives us to consume while never feeling satiated.
The Uranus-Moon infusion speaks to a need for freedom, feeling like you just have to break out and escape, or just otherwise shake things up. The Moon is exalted in Taurus so this would normally be a very powerful time for lunar things, but the eclipse severely diminishes the Moon’s power. The tendency is for things to go poorly.
We can’t forget Mars in Gemini, who has recently turned retrograde. Mars and Mercury are in mutual reception, so even though Mars is averse the eclipse, he’s still exerting a strong influence over it. This contributes a bubbling sense of over-excitement or over-heated thoughts and words, and very uneven energy levels – bouncing from mania to lethargy and back again.
Saturn is in a T-square with the lunation, and is the only sobering force attempting to maintain order and keep things on an even keel. Saturn has a lot of power to do this, given he’s still in his own sign. Plus, he has an ability to act directly on the lunation as opposed to Mars, who can only act through his influence over Mercury.
So, if you’re finding both your mind and your emotions totally frayed around this time, try to lean into Saturn’s stern, orderly discipline as a means of grounding yourself. Remember that all things pass, and that whatever you’re worked up about now probably won’t seem like such a big deal in another week, month, year, decade.
Try to stick to a schedule and do all the Saturnian things to keep your life ordered. I always recommend doing a thorough house cleaning around eclipse time, and leaning into mundane activities like household chores might be a good way to give your brain a break from the hyper stimulation of the world.
Cut back on your media consumption as well, especially social media – which is something I recommend for the whole Mars retrograde period. It’s way too easy to get worked up over any and every little thing (which is exactly what the algorithms on those platforms want you to do, so you stay online doomscrolling for hours). And everything is going to feel like a trigger around this Full Moon.
Stay in, get your house in order, prioritize your To Do list – and be ruthless, ask yourself what truly needs to be done and what you’re doing that just creates more work and stress for yourself – and then tackle each item one at a time. Remember to add rest into your priorities too, and take it seriously! The skies are set up to make you feel like you have to go hard all day and night, and then collapse when you’re exhausted.
On a geopolitical level, the US midterms happen right on the day of this Full Moon/lunar eclipse. So, the angry messages and explosive outbursts are going to be coming hard and fast. Following news in real time is a great way to get worked up into a frenzy. Maybe take the day off, especially if you’re feeling very emotional.
If any good comes of this lunation, maybe it will be some crazy Uranian technological breakthrough? Maybe involving a radical new food technology, since it’s in Taurus. Then again, this is an eclipse so it will probably go badly – maybe those cute food serving robots will go on a bloodthirsty rampage.
Whatever happens, I hope everyone takes good care of themselves! And I promise I won’t write any more about eclipses for a while now.