How the Full Moon Can Affect Your Nighttime Dreams, According to an Astrologer

I t's a common superstition that the full moon can cause howling chaos at night — emotions running high, people acting out of character, hair suddenly growing werewolf-like patterns … it's all very mystical. But these vignettes aren't necessarily limited to our waking hours; full moon dreams are a thing, and they can help shine a light on inner conflict.

According to Stephanie Gailing, an astrologer, wellness consultant, and author of The Complete Book of Dreams , the reason we may experience clearer dreams during full moon cycles is because of the strong energy this lunar phase packs. For example, in moon mapping, a full moon has abundant energy to help manifest your goals and bring them into reality. Full moons also happen when the moon is in two opposite signs (for example, a full moon in Virgo happens during Pisces season, the sign polar to it on the zodiac wheel), requiring stronger energy.

“We're faced with two seemingly opposing forces that we are called to acknowledge, which may yield to us finding ourselves in or with conflict,” says Gailing. “Yet the pull is to find resolution and synthesize seeming dualities. After all, signs opposite each other are sides of the same coin. This is the healing that can arise with the full moon, and yet this can be quite a stirring and triggering time . ” The reason, then, that you might feel energetic intensity around a full moon cycle could be because you're dealing with a clash of the cosmic titans. And that extends to how the full moon impacts you sleep, by making dreams very “activated,” so to speak.

“Whatever it is that's on our mind may seep then into our dreams , serving as a canvas for acknowledging these thoughts and feelings. “-astrologer Stephanie Gailing

” Whatever it is that's on our mind may seep then into our dreams, serving as a canvas for acknowledging these thoughts and feelings, “says Gailing.” conscious waking mind may not be able to access. “

So, if you're looking to work with your dreams and have no idea where to start, beginning with these vivid, more memorable full moon dreams might help. Below, Gailing offers tips for how to let full moon drea ms illuminate and resolve inner conflict.

How to use your full moon dreams for self-discovery

One straightforward practice you can try for harnessing the power of your full moon dreams is dream incubation. This practice allows you to hone in on specific issues you're trying to work through, imbedding them in your brain and allowing your dreams to give you the answer.

To try it, before you go to sleep, ask your dream to provide you with answers to a question that's important to you. Simply repeat a question to yourself with commitment and intentionality, and — fingers crossed — the answer will appear in your dream. For example, “Dream, please provide me with awareness that will help me resolve the conflict I'm having with X, Y, or Z.”

Or, get even more granular by correlating the sign of the moon to where it appears in your chart. “Let's say you know that the full moon this month connects to your Mars sign,” Gailing says. “You could then pose a question like 'Dream, please provide me with awareness that will help me to gain illumination related to the way I activate my will — or some other Mars realm.'”

Another way to maximize the power of full moon dreams is for conflict resolution, particularly given the dueling energies that strengthen the full moon. So, consider what inner struggles you're wrestling with right now. What might your full moon dreams say about those struggles?

“Look at whether there were opposing or contradictory elements that appeared in your dream; if so, see what they revealed to you, “Gailing says. “Notice whether there was resolution or the ability to make space for things that seemed on the surface, to not belong together. If so, see how you can take that insight into your waking life.”

Another advanced astrological approach to maximizing the powers of your full moon dreams is to look into where any particular full moon falls in your chart, including houses, and if it engages with any other planet. “This is the realm of life that is being illuminated, and you look at your dream through that lens,” says Gailing.

So though it may cause a certain amount of discord when we're awake, the full moon is rich with possibility when it comes to unpacking our inner self. And you don't want to sleep on that kind of magic.

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