Now Is The Time To Reflect

This Thursday, December 4, is the Gemini Moon in Sagittarius – a full moon.  If you know me, you know that I love full moons – well, the clear sky ones, mostly – but I must confess, I also love the cloudy ones. 

Look at this photo I took for November’s full moon.

Isn’t that stunning? It is calming.  It is mysterious.  It feels like you could stick your hand inside it and push away all of that cottony padding and then be blinded by a special kind of light – a light that heals, tells you about yourself and allows you to move forward in a better state of mind.  And, grrrrrrrrrrr, it is frustrating that the clouds just couldn’t pry themselves apart so that I could just see that big full moon in all of its glory. 

That picture is very 2025, isn’t it?   The beauty of potential is all there, but it is obscured.  Is that fair?  Wouldn’t you say this year has been obscured, especially for our beautiful nation?  “Oh, but if only we could have . . . “  “Ugh, why can’t they just . . . “  “Oh, my God . . . how hard is it to. . . ?”  It has been a roller coaster of emotions for those of us who love, practice and want to protect democracy.   How lunar!  After all, the moon is associated with water.  And water is associated with emotions.  And 2025 has been very emotional. Need an example moon + emotions?   How about this image of a Rider Waite Smith tarot card?

See the crustacean coming out of the water?   What about the dog and the wolf howling at the moon?  And the mysterious path ahead that goes between the two towers that is just begging you to walk it?   The symbolism is all very emotional.  Let’s get a bit Delphic in thought, for a moment.   This is for you, about you and what you carry inside of you.

As the Full Moon rises in Gemini three nights from now, its light shines through the expansive lens of Sagittarius. This lunar moment invites each of us into a sacred dialogue with ourselves — a chance to witness the story of this current year we have lived, and the person we have become through it.

Gemini brings clarity to the mind and honesty to our inner voice. Sagittarius offers the wisdom of perspective, urging us to lift our gaze from the immediacy of our emotions and see the larger arc of our journey. Together, they create a potent energy for reflection, integration, and conscious redirection.

During this lunation, you may feel called – and I am heartily encouraging you – to ask yourself the following questions in the context of yourself, your relationships with family and friends and your relationship to democracy, along with the level of participation you have applied to each.  (Note:  we are intentionally leaving a career out of this.  It already sucks up enough of your time.  Admit it.  You already know it.)

Revisit your decisions — not with judgment, but with curiosity

1. What choices did I make this year that felt aligned in the moment, and what do they reveal about who I was then?   

2. If I look at my decisions as teachers rather than mistakes or triumphs, what lessons do they offer me now?

3. Which decisions still hold emotional weight, and what happens when I allow myself to observe them without labeling them as “right” or “wrong”?

Acknowledge your emotions — especially the ones you avoided or outgrew

1. Which emotions did I find hardest to face this year, and what might they have been trying to tell me?

2. Where in my body do I still carry the echoes of unprocessed feelings, and what do those sensations reveal?

3. What emotions have softened, shifted, or dissolved — and how has that transformation changed my inner landscape?

Recognize what this year has taught you — the victories, the mistakes, and the subtle shifts that changed everything

1. What unexpected moments shaped me the most, even if they didn’t feel significant at the time?

2. Where did I rise this year, and where did I learn through challenge or discomfort?

3. What inner strengths or truths emerged that I didn’t fully recognize before?

Choose what you carry forward — and what you lovingly release

1. What patterns, beliefs, or habits no longer support the person I’m becoming?

2. What qualities, practices, or connections nourish me deeply and deserve to accompany me into the next cycle?

3. If I imagine stepping into the coming year with clarity and openness, what must I set down first to walk with greater ease?

   
   

Finally, I would add that it is important to recognize and acknowledge whether you have been an active or passive participant in the above.   Are you doing?  Or are you just letting things happen around you?   You, your family & friends,  and democracy all need to be present, active and engaged.  Yes, they all require a precious commodity:  time – the one thing that you started running out of the very moment that you were born.  

Allow the Moon’s brilliance to illuminate both your shadows and your strengths. Let it reveal the meaning behind the experiences that shaped you. What once felt chaotic may now reveal itself as guidance. What once felt heavy may show you the lesson it carried.

This Full Moon is not demanding action — only awareness. And from awareness, your next step becomes clear.

Take the time to do this.   If you do, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised with the outcome, just like I was surprised when I caught the Aurora Borealis a couple of weeks ago, during that highly magnetic solar flare.

May you see yourself with compassion.

May you honor your growth.

May you step into the coming cycle lighter, wiser, and more aligned with your truth.

Let’s all step into 2026 knowing our own selves better, integrating what we have learned about ourselves and our relationships to what matters to us, and redirecting ourselves to make 2026 our best year ever for everyone and everything that we cherish.

By Democracy Is Us Council Member Joe Castagliola