May 23 Full Moon in Sag, “There is a Balm in Gilead…”
“The Spitfire Grill,” (1996)
May 23’s Full Moon in Sagittarius reminds me of one of my favorite movies, “The Spitfire Grill” (1996). The main character is a young woman dealing with the grief and remorse she feels around the death of her unborn child. She comes upon a young man who is suffering and takes tender steps to help him recover. At one point in the movie, she sings a traditional African-American spiritual, “There is a Balm in Gilead.” Watching her sing, you get the sense that she sings it not just for the young man but for herself and the infant she lost. The lyrics speak of the need to turn to something deep within the Soul at moments of crisis and grief and to be healed by the vast love of the universe:
There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul
Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And deep, I feel the pain.
In prayers, the holy spirit
Revives my soul again
The two most positive planets, Jupiter and Venus, are exactly conjunct and rule this Full Moon, giving it a loving, receptive, uplifting energy—a balm for the soul—much needed after April’s difficult lunations.
Last month’s eclipse included a heavy, dark connection between the two most challenging planets, Mars and Saturn, in the sign of Pisces, triggering existential wounds for some people. That eclipse was followed by an emotional full moon in Scorpio, which brought grief and sadness to those who suffered losses in the wake of the eclipse.
The Full Moon offers the promise of healing the wounds that may have been triggered by last month’s Mars-Saturn conjunction in Pisces. Pisces, the last of the water signs, is deeply spiritual, carrying the energy of Oneness with the universe and compassion for all living beings stemming from a nondualistic grasp of reality: “I am That;” that is, “the universe and I are One.”
During the period when serious, responsible, realistic Saturn is in Pisces (roughly 2023-2026), we are called to grapple with issues around crises of faith; when Saturn is in Pisces, it can be difficult to grasp the unseen truths of the universe and to trust that larger forces are at work in our lives. Last month’s eclipse brought these crises of faith into stark relief, bringing difficult events that may have further wounded our sense of faith in and connection to Being.
This moon cycle's optimistic, intuitive nature helps counter Saturn's heaviness in Pisces. It happens in the first 10 degrees of Sagittarius, a fire sign ruled by Jupiter. This decan is associated with the beginning of a quest, like the quest for the Holy Grail. There is a swift, optimistic energy to it, reflected in the Tarot card associated with it, the 8 of Wands. In that card, we see eight wands flying in the air, ready to land on solid ground with water flowing in the background; our intuition is open and ready to be guided by our emotions on its quest to understand what life has put before us.
8 of Wands, Rider-Waite Tarot
Moreover, Jupiter, the god of expansion, optimism, and abundance, rules the Full Moon (and Pisces, where Saturn sits). He is in a beautiful position in the Full Moon Chart, conjunct Venus, the goddess of beauty, love, and receptivity. This aspect blends the energy of abundance and optimism with love and receptivity, offering a healing balm to Saturn’s spiritual wounds. What is more, Venus is in her home sign, Taurus, giving her extra power to help Jupiter expand and soften Saturn in Pisces’ inner skeptic.
May 23, 2024, Full Moon in Sagittarius Chart
Meditating in the days before and after the Full Moon may help us connect more deeply with the expansive, loving energy of Jupiter conjunct Venus. It may help us experience the reality that we are part of something much larger than our own embodied existence and free us from the pain of feeling alone in moments of grief.
At the same time, the chart shows that the story of loss and recovery is not over. Mars, the god of war and the active/yang energy of desire, is moving toward a conjunction with Chiron, the wounded healer. Both planets are in Aries, a sign that calls us to identify and assert our own needs over and against the needs of others. This connection between Mars and Chiron suggests that in the coming month, we will continue to explore questions about how we come to know and assert our own needs in the world.
The energy of May 23’s Full Moon will affect each person differently. If you’d like to know more about how it may affect you personally, there’s a link below to book a reading.