Full Moon in Ardra: A Teardrop in the Storm

The Full Moon in Ardra nakshatra is this Tuesday, December 29th at 5:28 pm Hawaii Time. This star falls right in the middle of Gemini, ruled by Mercury, our intellect and communication. Ardra is "the moist one", symbolized by a teardrop. The symbol reflects both the utter grief that can come of this star and the storms that must be survived through it. This is one of the most turbulent places in the sky, showing the advent of most of our pain and suffering here on earth. One tear, or rain drop, turns to many, and eventually we cannot see clearly in the deluge. In the mythology it is the storm of the downfall of the creator, and therefore his creation, Earth and all her inhabitants. His lust for creating beautiful beings sends his daughter running from him and the gods defending her by bringing him down to earth himself, literally shooting him from the sky. With him fell his idyllic dreams of creation, replacing them with the world we live in now; turbulent, creative, painful, disease-ridden, stormy, violent and full of hope. 


From an elemental perspective we can see how it is in this first transformation from earth sign to air sign where we find so much pain, because we are moving from the physical experience of caring for ourselves and the needs of our family,  the “herd” (Taurus) to separating ourselves from our physical body with the mind and ego in Gemini. Once we can ponder the details of life, they become information; malleable and independent from reality. There’s no time on earth we have been more (or perhaps less) aware of the chasm between information/ ideas and actual life than right now. Partially because so much of many people’s “life" is currently happening in this mind realm, and partially because of how the very definition of “truth” or “facts” has become a source of argument and discussion in itself. For those already reeling at me with notions about how what we think can become reality... Yes, I agree. Our individual thoughts and on an even stronger level, collective thoughts, can and do change our reality. All the more reason to be discerning about what you take in and disseminate. 

That being said, the physical body and its activities are separate from the mind and its activities and the very experience of stepping out of our body and lived experience to think about, talk about or attempt to change any reality through thought, is indeed also our downfall. It is relatively easier to think “bad” thoughts than it is to act on them. Over time, however, our actions come from these thoughts, in the form of micro-aggressions. It is precisely in our thoughts that we demonize others and make protagonist ourselves. Our thoughts are where we have delusions of grandeur despite not getting off the couch. Our thoughts are where we dream up fantasies, that we will never realize. Yes, it is also where we DO dream up beautiful tapestries of human experience and act on dreams and ideals. It is both. Our own personal Heaven and Hell. It is where the best and worst of humankind can be found and so it is where we are ironically taken from the realm of the gods to the realm of the humans. 

Here, in this galactic plane, we must reckon with how much of who we are is our thoughts and communication around those thoughts and if we like what we see. Here is where we are not attached to a specific outcome, believing ourselves to be objective, but not fully present with the deep beliefs that we hold that guide what information we attach ourselves to, or feel is “truth”. With the Sun joined Gemini’s ruler Mercury across the way in Sagittarius, perhaps we can shine some light on that. And think about it! Lol This axis has just moved on from being our eclipse axis this past September, meaning quite a bit of karma has passed through this zone already in the last couple years. While we undoubtedly did clear some way  in this area of our lives, we still have much more to look at. Often times Mercury in Sagittarius has us being both philosophical and maybe even a bit of a preacher, but with it combust (close to the Sun) we may also feel unheard. Be gentle with yourself. We have been through a lot, and incidentally, it is the only way you will be gentle with others.


With Mars now past the Gandanta point, our spiritual knot, and squarely in his own sign of Aries, we can see ourselves step up and into the physical fire we need to embrace if we are to surmount life’s challenges and get going on what projects or habits we want to begin for this new calendar year. Never a bad idea to start your New Year's resolutions early as starting them on January 1st has a very low success rate. We don't usually start them on the first day of a waning moon either, but with Mars in the first star of the zodiac, the twin horsemen riding off in a new direction, we can at least set ourselves up for success. We can also see that fire turn to anger if we are not careful, especially if it falls in an unfavorable house for Mars energy, so being actively engaged in something productive is a must.

Happy Full Moon and New Year!   

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