Leos, Cancers and Sagittarius: here’s how the 2021 Scorpio full moon is changing you
Have you been having funky dreams and disrupted sleep for the past three nights or so? Well, chances are you might have them for just a couple more days, and you’ll have the moon to blame for it. I know some of you might roll your eyes at that, but I’m here to explain exactly why and how lunar cycles affect your sleeping patterns, and why, more specifically, this week’s full moon in Scorpio had such an impact on you. Oh, and this is not just me rambling on about rumours—I’ll only focus on science-backed facts.
What does the moon do to the human body?
The moon is known to influence natural phenomena like the tides, which in turn have an irreversible impact on how we live our lives on Earth, but it’s also famous for influencing our behaviours. To cut the crap early, there is no evidence to support an excuse of the moon enforcing aggressive or depressed behaviour. However, there does seem to be a direct link between the phases of the moon and changing symptoms of a bipolar disorder, as well as the quality of our sleep.
There have been countless and continuing studies on how the moon affects our sleep, and there is strong evidence that during a full moon in particular, people have lower sleep efficiency, less deep sleep throughout the course of a night as well as a delay in entering rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This kind of sleep is entered within the first 90 minutes of falling asleep, and the cycle repeats several times nightly, amounting to about 20 to 25 per cent of an adult’s sleep cycle and over 50 per cent of an infant’s. REM sleep is mostly when you dream, which plays an important role in learning, memory and mood. Our brains are actually almost as active at this time as when we are awake.
Of course, there are obvious reasons as to why full moons affect our sleeping patterns, especially if you’re not one to sleep with blackout blinds, which will affect your body’s natural circadian rhythm. The light of the moon effectively becomes physiologically activating, thus keeping us awake. However, one study proved that even in windowless dark rooms, a group of participants still experienced changes in not only sleep structure and brain activity during sleep, but changes in melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone) and cortisol levels (which act as nature’s built-in alarm system) as well.
The participants’ sleep was lighter than usual, melatonin levels dropped and as sleep researcher Christian Cajochen concluded to the BBC, “The lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not ‘see’ the moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase.” What’s more, the term ‘lunatic’ is derived from the Latin word meaning ‘moonstruck’.
Other researchers suggest that alongside our internal circadian rhythm, there may also be another clock at play: an evolutionary wired 29.5 day cycle that corresponds to lunar phases. Doctor Stephanie Ashraf, a pulmonary and sleep medicine physician and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, explained in a study that, in accordance with the evidence that the moon affects the quality of our sleep—and therefore our behavioural change the next day, “Sleep is highly affected by what we expect to happen.” Myths and folklore surrounding the phenomenon effectively direct this notion, meaning that people who are open to the idea, or are aware of a full moon’s existence, may be more likely to reap the experiences that come from it.
As well as this, people tend to remember ‘stand out’ moments within an experience, rather than moments that merge into the experience. For example, we may be inclined to look up what the moon was doing on nights that we toss and turn, but on other occasions when we sleep well the lunar cycle may not even cross our mind. That all being said, there is enough evidence to show that the moon, in one way or another, affects the majority of human sleep or dreams. Our bodies are, after all, 60 per cent water (the moon pulls and moves the Earth’s tides as we said), which is enough to dive further into the full moon the world experienced last night, 26 April 2021.
Scorpio full moon or ‘Pink Moon’
Scorpios have a reputation for being somewhat… intense, so a full moon within the sign of a Scorpio is like a super full moon—which is actually precisely what it is called, as well as a ‘Pink Moon’! The opposite star sign is a Taurus, and both are ‘fixed signs’, resulting in an extremely stubborn duo. Last night’s full moon in Scorpio meant that its opposition, Taurus, was in the Sun, as the moon was too—the pressure bringing stubbornness in itself to a head.
Like anything else that boils to a head, an eruption of forces must take place. The opposition of stubbornness? Release. So right now, this full moon in Scorpio while the Sun is in Taurus will lead many of us into the act of purging, erupting and letting go of what was once in order. Some of us will allow ourselves to be much more vulnerable too, especially if we usually aren’t. It may provide us with the emotional fuel to express what has been repressed up until this point, to say what we want to say or do what we want to do. We essentially have the opportunity to shed old ‘skin’ and make room for something new, which is a craving that may have been growing since the past lunar phase.
What the Scorpio full moon means for other star signs
A Scorpio’s personality is portrayed as one of a phoenix, which as myths have it: ‘burn themselves, to rise from the ashes as something new’. In other words, people with this star sign tend to reinvent themselves over and over again throughout their lives, and this super moon will give everyone else a taste of this experience. For a Scorpio, this one full moon in your sign is all-embracing: own your authenticity and use fear like the fuel you know it to be.
If, let’s say, you’re a Cancer who does not particularly like to let other people in when it comes to matters of the heart—you might especially feel the need to get something you wouldn’t usually say off your chest, or say yes to an adventure you may have been too timid to go on previously. Leos, the full moon in Scorpio might be tough because it will be hitting a sensitive part of your being. You like to be in charge, and this time may actually be forcing you to come to terms with truths you didn’t want to believe in until now. Sagittarius signs might feel a little more drained than usual now, with gut feelings tugging at your core—listen inwards, step aside and ground yourself into your intuition.
Speaking for all star signs though, you’ll be conjuring up your inner Scorpio traits whether you feel comfortable with them or not. In other words, it’s time to let your deepest thoughts or feelings breathe out into the vulnerable open air!
If you have had any lingering conflicts or questions that you have been afraid of, this is the time to deal with it. If you have a half-written novel, a secret crush or a dream to nurture a hidden talent, the urge to do anything but act on these things will probably be too strong to ignore. There is more that lies beneath any surface that you deal with—an underside to everything. Control is, essentially, a fixed delusion, one which is rooted in fear of loss. Observe this, and think of what itching curiosity you have been afraid to look into or try out. Chances are it will be worth risking loss for just to have a stone unturned.
