Thursday, November 30, 2017

The Cosmic Story: Gemini Full Moon 2017

The Cosmic Story: Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon, 2017


Who Owns Your Imagination?






Remember the Scorpio New Moon?

We come to this airy Gemini Super Full Moon from the deep, watery mysteries of the Scorpio New Moon, a New Moon centered in the hidden heart of who we really are. The flowering of those seeds comes to us as questions and answers, as information for us to shift through, as perspectives that need to be reviewed, especially since Gemini’s ruling planet, Mercury, turns retrograde hours before the Full Moon. This Full Moon can be tricky, for we can get caught up in too much irrelevant information and end up stuck in our old perspectives and beliefs, or we can see multiple possibilities and choose our highest potentials. Take the time during Mercury’s retrograde until December 22nd to review the information you have and make those wise choices.

The Scorpio New Moon asked us to stop hiding our power, our passions and our truth. What intentions did you plant at New Moon? Have you discovered how you repress what your heart knows because you didn’t want to hurt someone or are afraid to go against the rules? Scorpio aligns us with those shadowy aspects of our psyche which want to come into the Light. And often, especially for women, those Shadow qualities are very bright and beautiful. Since the Scorpio New Moon resonates energetically with Cancer, have you used these two weeks to indulge in self-care, self-nurturing, and self-awareness? What new story emerges when you do?

Our society has all these rules that constrict behavior – especially for women. Can we share our power, our sexuality, our intelligence without fear that we’ll be rejected, violated or ignored? Or for men, can you be tender and strong, protective and non-possessive? Have you learned what is inappropriate behavior towards women and children? What rules have been broken that shouldn’t be broken? What rules need to go?

As Gemini Brett (Joseph) says, Scorpio is about fixing myself to fix the world. 
 
As a water sign, Scorpio processes our emotional depths to make us stronger, for in really knowing who we are and what our heart wants for us, we access our innate power. Scorpio wants to give us that emotional power, but only if we channel it rather than trying to own it. That power is Scorpio’s gift to us. We just have to learn to use it correctly.

This New Moon began in Scorpio, the fixed water sign where we stop and concentrate on what we’re feeling and dealing with. That’s what makes it ‘fixed’ – it’s concentrated and stubborn. But the rest of the Moon cycle is in mutable signs, due to the shift in the lunar cycle that began on the August 21st solar eclipse. The cycles are flipped, which means that we are given a different way to work on the energies born at each of the New Moons of this cycle.

For this lunar month, our intention to generate emotional growth (Scorpio NM) manifests in the mutable signs. Mutable signs are flexible and adaptable, ready to change shape to fit the demands of the situation. Mutable signs use the fiery energies of Aries and Leo to spread out and discover new energy pathways. This resourceful energy is ready to stretch and grow beyond the obvious. These signs – Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius & Pisces – symbolize the energy of spirit manifesting in multiple forms.
So what happens when Scorpio Water meets Gemini Air? I think Air plays with it. Air creates waves. Air holds up the water when it evaporates and transforms into rain and clouds. Air bubbles up in water. There are lots of permutations depending on conditions and the presence or absence of the other two elements. So watch all the permutations that occur in your thinking around this Full Moon!


The Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon

The Gemini Full Moon occurs on December 3, 2017 at 7:47am PST/ 10:47am EST/ 3:47pm GMT.
Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon 2017


This Gemini Full Moon is conjunct the fixed star, Aldebaran, the Eye of the Bull. Aldebaran is also called the Eye of Illumination, referring to the 3rd Eye and Buddha’s awakening under the Taurus Full Moon. Aldebaran is one of the 4 ancient Royal Stars, along with Regulus, the heart of the Lion that conjoined this summer’s eclipse.  The Sagittarius Sun is on the opposite side of the zodiac on Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. And finally, between Aquarius and Pisces i the 4th Royal Star, Fomalhaut, the Mouth of the Fish. 
We have the blessing of this ancient power of Illumination on the Full Moon as the Moon and Sun align with these powerful fixed stars.. Use it wisely.

Aldebaran in the constellation of the Bull


The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 12* Gemini is: A black girl fights for her independence in a city. Dane Rudhyar indicates that this image is about leaving the past behind so we can entertain new possibilities. The image before this spoke of new lands and opportunities and with this symbolic figure of earthy feminine spirit breaking free, we are indeed finally seeing the rise of the Divine Feminine in collective consciousness. She’s Back! Black Moon Lilith to war against injustice to women. Black Madonna, come to heal. She is the one collecting information: she is the women speaking out about sexual harassment. The rejected feminine knows what needs to be done.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 12* Sagittarius is: A flag turns into an Eagle; the Eagle into a Chanticleer saluting the Dawn. It is time to live out our truth. We can’t live like the flag, an abstract ‘2-dimensional’ symbol, saying we believe something but not living that truth. We have to embody the spirit of the Eagle. We have to become leaders. And then there will indeed be a new dawn and a new day.

The Sabian symbol of Neptune at 12* Pisces is: Candidates are being examined by the Lodge of Initiates. We are being called to a larger cosmic consciousness, a sign of our readiness to participate in the transformation of the world. What will we craft with our imaginations to meet these tests?

This is a Super Moon, which means the Moon is close to the Earth and therefore has a stronger tidal pull on the waters of Earth, both within us and outside us. This is the time to communicate! Gemini Moon gets nurtured by talking and learning and experiencing. Talking about your feelings helps clarify what you’re feeling. Or go within and communicate with yourself. Go out into nature and commune with Mother Earth and Father Sky. Communicate with your whole Mind: your gut, your heart, your rational brain, your imaginal brain, your mystical brain and your reptilian brain.

Then journal about your experience and take it deeper until you pop back out on the other side, to the Sagittarius Sun. What have you discovered that can change your beliefs about yourself and the world? What new story comes to you as you shed your old story? What adventure do you want to undertake? What hero’s journey beckons you to change the world? Or perhaps it’s the Heroine’s Journey, which is focused on the inner journey of self-discovery.

We have been given the tools of Gemini/Sagittarius – the whole brain Mind, the fact-gathering, information junkie mind combined with the intuitive, spiritually aware story Mind. This is all about the stories we tell ourselves about life. Too often we gather facts that support our point of view so we don’t have to change our old story. The truth is, we no longer have that luxury. The world is at a tipping point of change. Which way it goes depends on each of us. The old patriarchal story is no longer viable. Neither male entitlement nor capitalistic greed are sustainable any more.

The world needs a new story. Each of us needs a new story. 

Isn’t it better to create our own stories rather than have another uncomfortable story like patriarchy imposed upon us? When we create our own story, we truly live the American dream of freedom. It’s time for us to be free.

What if we use these cosmic energies to gather the information we need to create that new story of who we are? And who we might become?

Engaging the Imagination

The planetary energy most aligned with this Full Moon is Neptune, the energy of the creative imagination, of the Source and unseen dimensions. But these more subtle realities can give rise to delusions and illusions if we’re not attuned to them. With the square from Neptune we’re challenged to listen to our soul’s point of view, rather than getting lost in an ego day-dream. Because we’ve let Hollywood and the media colonize our imaginations with their advertisements and stories, these are our unconscious defaults. 

T-square: Sun, Moon & Neptune


As children our imaginations run free as we explored our world. Now TV and computer games all too often capture and shape our imaginations, especially since we’re told that imagination is just for children. Neptune energizes us to go deeper to reclaim our imagination. It’s time to stop using our imagination in the service of worldly gain and unsustainable desires and start using it to delve into our souls and recreate our world.

Check in with your Higher Self to make sure the images and stories and ideas are in your best interest. The Collective Unconscious is like an old magical antique shop, with treasures as well as dangers.

But when we work consciously with Neptune and the Creative Imagination, we can weave a story that sings to our hearts. Don’t forget to weave in bravery, because from the ‘lower’ vibration worldview, you’re going to be seen as weird, different, strange because you believe in a different story. So find your tribe who shares your story and loves you for it! If you live out your story well, you will attract other people out of that dark, dead-end story into their own heart-stories. Weave in joy, because new life is always joyful. Weave in creativity and love and wisdom. These are gifts that make life worth living. Weave a story of beauty and power and peace and whatever spicy values and virtues you love best. This new story is still a mystery, and yet it isn’t. It’s already written in your heart and soul.

Let it fill you with the energy and will to follow the dreams that inhabit your story.

Life’s synchronicities are wonderful, aren’t they? I was listening to On Point on NPR this morning and Tom Ashbrook was talking with virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier, who now says “VR could be the evilest invention of all time.” I didn’t get to hear the whole discussion, but I think this speaks to the upcoming Full Moon square Neptune. Virtual reality takes us out of this ‘reality’ and lets us feel as if we’re inhabiting another ‘reality’. Like the Holo-deck on the Star Ship Enterprise, without the physical immersion in it. 


I feel that if we all had ownership of our creative imagination, we would see other dimensions of reality that are suited to our purpose and life. Not some reality that a gamer makes up for us. VR takes us out of reality into a fake reality (fake news) rather than deeper into the mystery and magic of life. And shouldn’t we be questioning the mindset that encourages people (capitalism) to invent things like this when we could be inventing ways to make life here on Earth more joyful, more adventurous, more mystical. Why do we waste our creative imagination on games and delusions when we could use it to create a heaven on Earth? As you can see, I agree with Jaron Lanier.

Spiritual Pregnancy

Another energy at play in this Full Moon is Jupiter in Scorpio trine Neptune in Pisces. The two planets of higher wisdom, spirituality, and story merge in ways that strengthen Neptune’s pull on the Full Moon. Jupiter in Scorpio accelerates exposing sexual predators, tax predators, wealth predators, and death-dealers. Exposing these secrets helps us acknowledge the wrongs that have been ignored for generations. And gives us strength that we can now name it and call it out for what it is. In naming truth to power, women have stepped up once again to re-ignite the revolution. Part of that revolution is for women to create our own wild, passionate, heart-centered stories.

There’s plenty of fiery inspiration around now. With 7 planets, asteroids and the North Node forming a grand fire trine, the energy and inspiration to create a unique story of our purpose and passion. And with the waning but still potent Juno/Pluto in Capricorn square to Uranus/Pallas in Aries also squaring Mars in Libra, the revolutionary energy to do the right thing needs to manifest in our emotional body – Cancer, the missing leg of this Cardinal T-square. We have to change ourselves before we can change the world. And it is images which change us the most, because they evoke emotions and feelings. Thinking doesn’t change us. Feeling does.

Do some inner work as the Winter Solstice approaches (which in fact is what many cultures did during this time as the darkness grew) and wait until Mercury goes direct after the Solstice. Then give birth to this new story of Light. We are all spiritually pregnant right now. Until the Solstice, keep it a secret mystery growing within you like a promise.



Who Owns Your Mind?

Mercury turns retrograde hours before the Full Moon on Sunday, December 3rd at 30* Sagittarius—the culmination of the purpose of Sagittarius – challenging us to find our truth and stick to it. Mercury is heading back to meet the Sun, to get new instructions and will become a Morning Star on January 1, 2018, bringing us a new mindset to face our lives.

 Saturn is conjunct Mercury, stating quite clearly that we have a responsibility to figure out what we believe and then live it! Who owns our mind?  Who owns our heart?  Who owns our soul? Know what you stand for!

We can’t pick on fundamentalist Christians for not living their beliefs if we don’t live ours. We can have different beliefs about life. Different guiding stories. It’s our responsibility to live them. This is the last energetic tweak from last year’s square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces – a cosmic signature that asked us, what is true and what false? The world of the Donald took it and ran with it. But we don’t have to. We get to choose what is true based on this physical reality as well as our inner psychic reality and our spiritual reality. We get to choose. The time is now.


The Sabian symbol of Mercury going retrograde at 30* Sagittarius is: Sitting motionless on his throne, the Gnome King surveys his vast underground palace, piled high with gold and treasure. Steve Eardley says this symbolizes alternative realities which jostle people out of their spiritual sleep, as well as visualizing power and the need to attend to your own growth. I would add that the Gnomes are Earth Spirits who create and guard the hidden treasures of the Earth. So this retrograde is all about recovering some ancient jewels from your inner horde.

Saturn is about to exit Sagittarius after traveling through it since January, 2015. Mercury retrograde conjoins it on December 6th, so pay attention to your dreams, meditations, interactions. You have this great opportunity to work with Saturn and Mercury before Saturn moves into his home sign of Capricorn just before the Winter Solstice on December19th-20th. Write your story down. Make it concrete in as many ways as you can. Saturn will appreciate that.

The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 29* Sagittarius is: A hairy Hun cutting grain with a sickle. The first thing I think of with this symbol is that a very war-like man has turned his sword into a sickle to harvest the grain. We need our warrior spirit to let the old die to make way for the new. We might also need to cut through obstacles to that future story. A major life cycle is at an end. We need to take what nourishment we can from it and then create something new.

We are entering the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. Venus is disappearing from the morning sky, about to go into the rays of the Sun and descend to the Underworld from November 28, 2017 to February 20, 2018 when she’ll re-appear as an Evening Star. She can guide you now in the Dark. Go into the Dark and listen to its Silence. It is the Dark Womb of the new year.

Walk in peace,
Cathy

“We watch a sunlight dust dance,
and we try to be that lively,
but nobody knows what music those particles hear.

Each of us has a secret companion musician to dance to.
Unique rhythmic play, a motion in the street we alone know and hear.” 
Rumi


“THE ONE THING YOU MUST DO

There is one thing in this world you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there's nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life.

It's as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human being come to this world to do particular work. That work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don't do it, it's as though a priceless Indian sword were used to slice rotten meat. It's a golden bowl being used to cook turnips, when one filing from the bowl could buy a hundred suitable pots. It's like a knife of the finest tempering nailed into a wall to hang things on.

You say, "But look, I'm using the dagger. It's not lying idle." Do you hear how ludicrous that sounds? For a penny an iron nail could be bought to serve for that. You say, "But I spend my energies on lofty enterprises. I study jurisprudence and philosophy and logic and astronomy and medicine and the rest." But consider why you do those things. They are all branches of yourself.

Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give yourself to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don't, you will be like the man who takes a precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You'll be wasting valuable keenness and forgetting your dignity and purpose.”
Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi, The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems


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© Copyright 2017 ~CATHY PAGANO  All Rights Reserved
 

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

The Cosmic Story: Scorpio New Moon 2017

The Cosmic Story: Scorpio New Moon 2017
You have to Die to be Reborn Again.
Josh Libatique

When the Sun enters the sign of Scorpio, the light of the Sun in the northern hemisphere is growing dimmer and dimmer. The Dark continues rising until we arrive at Winter Solstice, the time of greatest darkness which gives birth to the new Light.
Scorpio is the time of year when we learn to accept the death of our ego choices as well as the death of the year. (Those of you in the southern hemisphere are celebrating Beltane and the return of Summer. May you find delight and joy this year!)
Death is a natural part of life’s cycle, and yet our patriarchal culture has a very hard time accepting death. Probably because some of our founding myths show us the fathers who refused to die and hand over their power to their children. Look at the Greek gods Chronos/Saturn and Zeus, swallowing their children to hold onto their power. Even the Judeo-Christian god won’t give up his power to his ‘only begotten son, Jesus’ whom he lets die in his place. In many ways, this implies that the children must die so that the father continues to live. Sounds like patriarchy to me.
This weekend I saw two movies which speak to this idea of immortality vs. death. One was Thor Ragnarok (which was actually kind of fun) in which we find Odin about to retire after long ages of ruling Asgard and his first daughter Hela, the Goddess of Death, determined to take over and live forever. In the end, Odin turns over his power to Thor and allows himself to die so Thor can release ancient powers which do bring on Ragnarok, the end of the rule of the Gods. The other movie was Dr. Strange (another interesting story) where The Ancient One’s immortality causes one of her disciples to turn to the Dark for his shot at immortality. I’m guessing the Ancient One was Scathach, the ancient Celtic Warrioress who trained up hero/warriors like Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster. She willingly dies when she finds her true successor in Dr. Strange. Somehow, being immortal leads to the death of worlds, cultures, people—and as we can see, instead of patriarchy letting itself die naturally, it is creating death all around us.
Why would anyone want to live forever? Is there something inherent in patriarchy that doesn’t want to let go? I think patriarchy is afraid to face its’ own death, beyond the need for power and domination, because it doesn’t believe in the immortality of the Soul. It doesn’t believe that we need to die to be reborn again. For patriarchy, rebirth isn’t possible – only endless suffering in the fires of Hell. Isn’t that the promise of our three Religions of the Book – Judaism, Christianity and Islam? That only the perfect ones among us get rewarded in Heaven, while everyone else suffers the torments of the fires of purgatory or hell?
These religions have lost touch with our Great Mother Goddess, Earth, who does assure us of rebirth, along with all life here on Earth. This is a promise to us that if we let go of our fear of death, a greater life is coming – not in Heaven, but in another round here on Earth. And this also applies each year to our smaller ego-deaths. We need to release old emotional patterns that no longer serve us, such as guilt and shame, insecurity and fear. And we can release our goals and hopes each year so they can come back to us in new and more creatively vital ways.  
We human beings have to reclaim our place in the cycle of Life. And that will take the death of our patriarchally-shaped ego, the “I think therefore I am” philosophy which helped to separate us from our place in Mother Earth’s interconnected ecology.
Angle of Death~Evelyn de Morgan

In Ursula Le Guin's wonderful Earthsea Trilogy, she imagines this fear of Death as a Shadow, a shadow that drains all the joy and color out of life. In The Farthest Shore, the Archmage Ged (Sparrowhawk) and the young king, Lebannen (Arren), go on a journey to try to restore the balance of life and death, which has been disrupted by a sorcerer who is so afraid of death that he has opened the gates between life and death and now cannot close them. The young King wonders why men are destroying the trees and the earth, and the Mage explains that they have no guidance, no king to show them how to live in the Balance.
In his youthful innocence, Lebannen wonders how this one fearful man could so easily destroy the Balance of the world as his fear spreads And he asks the Mage, "Where are the servants of this (man) Anti-King?"
In our minds, lad. In our minds. The traitor, the self, the self that cries I WANT TO LIVE, LET THE WORLD ROT SO LONG AS I CAN LIVE! The little traitor soul in us, in the dark, like the spider in the box. He talks to all of us. But only some understand him. The wizards, the singers, the makers. And the heroes, the ones who seek to be themselves. To be oneself is a rare thing, and a great one. To be oneself forever, is that not better still?
Arren looked straight at Sparrowhawk . 'You mean that it is not greater. But tell me why. . . . I have learned to believe in death. But I have not learned to rejoice over it, to welcome my death, or yours. If I love life, shall I not hate the end of it?
. . . 'Life without end,' the mage said. 'Life without death. Immortality. Every soul desires it, and its health is the strength of its desire. But be careful, Arren. You are one who might achieve your desire.'
'And then?'
'And then - this. This blight upon the lands. The arts of man forgotten. The singer tongue less. The eye blind. And then? A false king ruling. Ruling forever. And over the same subjects forever. No births; no new lives. No children. Only what is mortal bears life, Arren. Only in death is there rebirth. The Balance is not a stillness. It is a movement - an eternal becoming.
Are we one of those who would deny death, thereby denying the soul and the possibility of rebirth? Or can we passionately love our lives and give them over to an eternal becoming?
Scorpio New Moon 2017
This week’s Scorpio New Moon occurs on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 3:42am PST /6:42am EST/ 11:42am GMT. 
 
As I talked about in my Full Moon newsletter, Scorpio is the sign where we emotionally engage with other people. Some people we naturally resonated with – as if they’re family and we can be ourselves. With some people, we have to work a little bit harder to feel comfortable. We wear our persona for business associates, neighbors, service people and strangers. Then there are the ones who just aren’t in our tribe at all.
Scorpio deals with all these kinds of emotional entanglements. But most especially with our sexual relationships. Scorpio learns through sexual engagement, wanting the depth, passion, intensity and sensual pleasure that great sex can give us. This is the place of intimacy, where we shed our defenses and leave ourselves vulnerable and open to the Other. Our deepest truths understood; our deepest longings revealed.
Jupiter, Venus and Vesta are in Scorpio now, supporting this New Moon’s energy that wants us to look ourselves in the eye and see our true feelings and longings. They trine Neptune in Pisces, bringing us the faith and imagination to let go of our ego defenses and trust in spirit that all can be well if we stop being afraid of death. If we want an intimate relationship, we have to be brave enough to take down our barriers, let ourselves trust and open to the Unknown, which is the magic of life.

 

We all have both dark and light within us. It’s the dance between them that makes life worth living. Too much light creates deep and dark shadows. This is the case with our western Judeo-Christian-Islamic society—in turning to the lights of Heaven and our rational brain over a love of Earth and our intuitive, feminine nature, we have created more darkness in the world. By giving these immortal ‘corporations who think they’re people’ power, we are giving them permission to create death all around us.
When we embrace our Scorpionic nature, we embrace the cycle of death and rebirth that can bring us fulfillment and wholeness. Plant this seed on New Moon night – that we leave behind our fear of death so that we can meet the coming challenges with hope and light and love, knowing re-birth is waiting for us there.
The symbol for the Sun and Moon at 27* Scorpio is: A warrior plumed, haranguing a multitude of armed soldiers.
This symbol denotes someone who has a forceful and yet pliant mind, a persuasive tongue and a brave spirit. Such an one will lead others by the ability of expression. This leader will undertake high duties and grave responsibilities in life and will largely be moved by a power from within, unrecognized but potent. It is a degree of PERSUASION. (Degrees of the Zodiac Symbolized by Charubel)
Since this image of a warrior-leader is presented to us in the watery, powerful sign of Scorpio, it’s time to persuade ourselves that letting go of our old habits, beliefs and even ideals is needed so that they can come back to us in a new, more relevant form. It’s time to release old stereotypes so that the archetypal energies behind them can manifest in new and more life-giving forms. And these archetypal energies will appear first in the images of our dreams, in the stories that call to us and in the longings of our hearts.
This symbol also speaks to the idea of the power of words to persuade, and is repeated in the Mercury/Saturn conjunction in Sagittarius trine Uranus retrograde in Aries, which urges us to speak our truth with passion and faith in the power of ever-renewed life. When we get over our fear of death, we embrace life more fully. And this is what people need to hear if we’re going to be leaders.
The symbol for Mercury at 18* Sagittarius is: Children playing on the beach, their heads protected by sunbonnets. This symbol denotes an imaginative playfulness, protected from too much left-brain rationality – those sunbonnets are keeping our solar consciousness from overwhelming our imagination. We have fire, enthusiasm, artistry and fun indicated here. So use your Mercury lightly & imaginatively. (An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar)
The symbol for Saturn at 27* Sagittarius is: A sculptor at his work. This is the degree of the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, and so very potent in bringing about change. With Saturn here, we can manifest our special talents, especially artistic and creative ones, which speak to our human need for freedom of spirit and truth. What will we create? (An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar)
The symbol for Uranus at 26* Aries is: A person possessed of more gifts than s/he can hold. This is a symbol of great potential and attainment. It’s about being so centered in your soul that all your gifts and talents are there to choose from. But you have to choose. That’s the hitch. This is the year of choice. Look at your opportunities and choose your heart’s hope. (An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar)
Uranus is quincunx (150* angle) this Scorpio New Moon. Quincunx angles are twitchy – they need to be constantly readjusting to things. With this aspect, we might find ourselves re-adjusted right out of our old behavior patterns in relationships. Being defensive will not work; being dramatic won’t either. Being yourself will, with the caveat that you’ll also have to be open to your partner’s point of view.
There is an undertone to this chart that says – it’s time to live out our ideals.
So, to summarize:
  1. Bring your own unique talents to the table of humanity. (Uranus)
  2. It is up to you to create something – to manifest your dream. (Saturn)
  3. The best way to do it is to be playful and imaginative, using your left-brain rationality to bring your right-brain imagination to life. (Mercury)
The Cosmos blesses us with help: the Mentor asteroid, Chiron, who we call the Wounded Healer, trines this New Moon from Pisces, giving us the compassion we need for ourselves and others. We’re all in this together. And it’s time we start living like we are. It’s time to release our emotional fear of others taking power over us and hurting us. If we’re not afraid, who can really take our power away?
So enjoy the deep, dark chocolately mystery of this Scorpio New Moon!
Walk with Mother Earth’s Spirit,
Cathy
Sabbaths 1985, V -- Wendell Berry

How long does it take to make the woods?
As long as it takes to make the world.
The woods is present as the world is, the presence
of all its past and of all its time to come.
It is always finished, it is always being made, the act
of its making forever greater than the act of its destruction.
It is a part of eternity for its end and beginning
belong to the end and beginning of all things,
the beginning lost in the end, the end in the beginning.

What is the way to the woods, how do you go there?
By climbing up through the six days’ field,
kept in all the body’s years, the body’s
sorrow, weariness, and joy. By passing through
the narrow gate on the far side of that field
where the pasture grass of the body’s life gives way
to the high, original standing of the trees.
By coming into the shadow, the shadow
of the grace of the strait way’s ending,
the shadow of the mercy of light.

Why must the gate be narrow?
Because you cannot pass beyond it burdened.
To come into the woods you must leave behind
the six days’ world, all of it, all of its plans and hopes.
You must come without weapon or tool, alone,
expecting nothing, remembering nothing,
into the ease of sight, the brotherhood of eye and leaf.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(A Timbered Choir) 

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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

The Cosmic Story: Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon 2017

The Cosmic Story: Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon 2017
Samhain’s Blessings: Seeing with the Eyes of the Soul


Samhain blessings to you all. 

Samhain is the Celtic festival that celebrates the beginning of Winter on the Wheel of the Year. It marks the death of the old year and the beginning of the new. In Celtic lands, it was a time when all the harvests were in and livestock was slaughtered for the winter months. It is also a time when the veils between the worlds are thin and the spirits of the dead walk abroad and are honored. In most ancient cultures, people honored their ancestors as well as feared their uneasy ghosts. While we still celebrate Samhain on October 31st – November 1st, astrologically it occurs on the power gate at 15* Scorpio, which occurs on November 6–7 due to precession. 

We celebrate Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) and dress up as those very ancestors and ghosts, taking on another persona for a night, but without knowing and honoring its real purpose. The Catholic Church celebrates All Saints’ Day on November 1st and All Souls’ Day on November 2nd in memory of these ancient celebrations. And of course, the Mexicans celebrate Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, a day to remember and honor those family and friends who have died. 

Samhain BonFire

Perhaps more than ever, Americans need to celebrate these holidays because we need to face the fact of death with a different attitude. Our corporate culture hurries by Halloween and shifts right in Christmas – the renewal and birth of the Light. Don’t want us to dwell too long on death, do they? Our western society so often tries to get us to ignore that death is a part of life – just look at how patriarchal white men can’t deal with the death of their power and the sharing of it with women, other cultures and races. Masculine consciousness is afraid of death – because it thinks it means ‘the end’ rather than seeing it as a stage in the cycle of Life. It wants to hold onto its life, even if it causes death and destruction to everyone else. And that is exactly what patriarchy is doing – causing the death of our planet and of our people, rather than letting go of its power so a new way of living can be born.

This is what our American government and its economic overlords are doing right now. They are struggling to maintain their power, here and around the world. As we come to the end of America’s 1st Pluto cycle in 2021-23, centered on our obsession with wealth and our need to dominate the world, we are experiencing the worst aspects of our culture as those very structures breakdown and decay. This is known as the Sunset Effect: as things start to fundamentally change, there is a backlash and the old tries very hard to maintain itself. (In the Book of Revelations, this is symbolized by the old Dragon who wants to kill the New Life that the Woman Clothed with the Sun gives birth to. Or in Greek Myth, this is Chronos eating his children rather than letting one of them take over. ) But it is doomed to failure. Life will see to that. So while we’re struggling through these last few years against the corporate zombie Apocalypse, know that as you let the old patriarchal rules die within you, the cosmos is also working to make it so in the outer world.

 

Americans have been given a chance to awaken to a new reality – or return to the reality of the myth most of us were brought up with, of America as the land of the free and the home of the brave. With this summer’s total solar eclipse running through, and only through, North America, we have the cosmic go-ahead to embody the feelings and imaginings of the mermaid rising up out of the ocean to take on human form. She embodies all our longings and hopes that a free, peaceful, creative life is possible here on Earth.

With the 2012-15 square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn winding down, it’s now up to each of us to engage in the hero’s journey and overcome the obstacles the old patriarchy is throwing in our way. And we will do it. Have no doubt. But not without going through the hard work of meeting those obstacles head-on. We are not entitled to more of Mother Earth’s resources than others. We have to grow up and learn to share the wealth. We have to realize that we are all in this together. We have to sacrifice our old life-style of conspicuous consumption and entitlement and work to create a more perfect union that asks each of us to be responsible citizens and engage in our communities to make sure we’re all pulling in the same direction – A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

Stop wasting water. Save electricity by shutting off lights and unused electronics. Walk or bike when you can. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Car-pool. Use renewable energy if your electric company allows for it. Stop eating meat altogether – or at least beef, which contributes a lot to greenhouse gases and takes up too much of our farming needs. Go to your town council meetings and know what’s happening in your town or city. Band with others to help create the changes that need to take place if we are to reverse the damages to our environment and heal Mother Earth. She will survive – our children won’t. That’s the best way to be compassionate – to think of others as we enjoy the benefits of our lifestyle. I saw a bumper sticker today. If you want peace in the world, work for justice. We are here this lifetime to bring a new balance into the world, so that the entire human family as well as Mother Earth can prosper.



Scorpio and Samhain

Having the Full Moon so close to Samhain boosts Scorpio’s purpose into high gear. Scorpio is the sign that demands that we learn to shed what’s old and no longer serves our life. Since Scorpio is a water sign, it means we have to shed those emotional wounds that we hug close to the chest – the hurts, betrayals, the jealousy, the fears and anger that derail us from being able to open to others. Just as in winter we gather together to help each other through the dark and cold, so Scorpio needs and wants to engage on a deep level with others about the important things in live. It’s all about shared values that we can grow with together.

So let’s look at how Samhain embodies the essence of Scorpio.
Samhain, the Day of the Dead, the great Goddess Hecate of the Crossroads and dark Hades, Lord of the Greek Underworld. 

Hecate the Crone

          These times and deities are symbolic gateways to the in-between places
  • where veils are thin so many dimensions converge; 
  • where we find ourselves at a crossroads, a marker of choice and decision; 
  • where we step – or are pushed – into a new world and a new role; 
  • where we have the perspective that only death gives us to understand our life’s true story. 
With Samhain falling on this Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon, we have a chance to bring through the veils a part of our soul that can help us on this next stage of our journey. Taurus’ energy builds a container for Scorpio’s emotional depths, enabling us to really look at what’s in there. Our hidden fears and prejudices, our hopes and desires, our hidden wounds as well as our proud victories. And our past lives, with our talents and desires still resonating within us. Scorpio feels it all – the betrayals, the hopes, the intensity, the passion. Our life up until now. Our many lives up until this moment, perhaps? 

Taurus/Scorpio Cauldron
 
What do you have to say about this lifetime? Happy or discontent? Write it out because it’s time now to enter into that ‘in-between place’ where you are dead to your old life but not yet born to your new. You are in the gray zone of understanding, awakening and choice. What will I do in this transformational time to help myself and humanity move peacefully and gracefully into the future? 
 
We are being called to step forward and offer our healing energy, our open minds and our loving hearts to our communities and see where we’re needed. Mother Earth wants us to work with her, to listen to her, to cooperate with her. Our dream group was talking about how we have to stop thinking we have to be ‘perfect’ to use our talents and just DO IT. We will grow in skill and wisdom by doing the work, not waiting to take one more class.

Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon

This Taurus Full Moon occurs on November 3rd at 10:22pm PDT and on November 4th at 1:22am EDT/ 5:22am GMT. 



This Full Moon is a super Moon, meaning that the Moon in its orbit is closest to the Earth, so it will appear bigger on the horizon as well as having a stronger effect on the tides and on us.
 
Scorpio is the sign where we emotionally engage with other people. You know how that goes. Some people you naturally resonated with – as if you’re family and you can be yourself and ‘let it all hang out’. With other friends, you have to work a little bit harder to feel comfortable, and often you can’t share all of yourself with them. Then there are business associates, neighbors, service people and strangers who you wear your persona for and therefore try not to engage emotionally with them. Then there are the ones you know you’re not aligned with, because they are discordant in themselves or with your own energy and values. They annoy you. 

Scorpio deals with all these kinds of emotional entanglements. The more you are both centered in yourself and open to the other person, the more real your encounter can be. If you can get by the unconscious Scorpio part of yourself that constantly needs to defend itself and fly like the Eagle of Scorpio, being emotionally open is like a dance. And that’s the promise of the Phoenix of Scorpio: arising from the ashes of fear, insecurity, entitlement, domination, jealousy, greed and cruelty, Scorpio is certain of his values and emotionally secure enough to dance with your values and emotions. That’s what intimacy is: the dance of our emotional lives, a dance that take courage and strength, love and responsibility, openness and hope. 

Easier said than done. Especially if we’re still awash with our own emotional dramas. But, Scorpio goes deep, wants to explore the mysteries and grapple with the Shadow. If we have a handle on our Shadows – Jupiter is presently in Scorpio for the next year and will certainly expand on any shadowy areas of our emotional lives – we won’t fall into a shadow dance with others, even if they are lost in it. It’s amazing what a conscious standpoint can do for emotional flexibility. 

Spring Maiden

Taurus is the sign that ushers in the Summer on the Wheel of the Year. We celebrate Beltaine across the Wheel from Samhain. So Taurus enlivens all the traits of late Spring/early Summer: fertility, beauty, sensuality, values and inherent talents. May is when the trees and shrubs blossom, when the sunlight grows stronger, when we feel the wild desires of life rise up within us just as the fire of life is rising up through the Earth. Taurus gives form to that fire of Life and those necessities that make for a good life: food, shelter, sex, security, peace and prosperity. Yes, Taurus can be indulgent and sensuous, reveling in the goodness of material life. And that makes it a perfect match for Scorpio’s need to let go of what’s dead, because we have to clean out if we want to savor the good things in life.

So what happens when we’re in the time of death and the Full Moon of Taurus shines down on us? We embrace those primal values of life and hope! As we go into the Dark, we take with us the memory of Life – of the body and of the Earth. That is what we retain when we let the rest go.

Jupiter in Scorpio is intimately connected to this Full Moon, adding his expansive energies to the process of release and accelerating transformation. Jupiter will be in Scorpio for a year, stirring up the depths, expanding our awareness of how our emotional life separates us from or unites us with others.

This Taurus Full Moon is blessed by a sextile (60*) to Neptune in Pisces, which also trines (120*) the Scorpio Sun, adding imagination, opportunities, luck and spiritual insights to the mix. With Scorpio’s deep, penetrating vision, we can let go of the superfluous and give the Goddess her due, while holding on to the eternal. Pluto adds his power to this Full Moon as well, trining the Taurus Moon from Capricorn and sextiling the Sun. These aspects to the Full Moon offer us opportunities to both incorporate new knowledge from our experiences as well as reshaping ourselves and our world through using our intuition and self-expression.

Finally, Ceres, the ancient Mother Goddess, squares (90*) this Full Moon from Leo, forcing us to look at where we ignore our creative voice and abandon ourselves in the face of opposition, rather than descending into the underworld and allowing ourselves to ‘not know’ for awhile. Ceres, like her Greek counterpart Demeter, understands the rage, despair and anger that comes from losing what is most precious to us. Let her help us honor those places in us that mourn for what never was or what can no longer be, and then move on to the wisdom that comes from letting go of those feelings so we can get on with Life.

 
Aphrodite/Venus' Bath

Venus, the ruler of our Taurus Full Moon, is also in the spotlight. Venus in Libra opposes Uranus in Aries around the same degree as the Libra New Moon a few weeks ago. Be open to new and different relationships but even more important, wake up to your own beauty, self-worth and power. Now is not the time to hide your light under a bushel.

One last energetic movement in this Samhain dance. Saturn in Sagittarius near the galactic center exactly squares Chiron in Pisces on November 2nd, helping us face the pain and suffering our collective consciousness of consumerism has inflicted on the world. What will you do about it?

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 12* Taurus is: A woman looking out of a latticed window. The woman is hidden from view but has a view of what’s going on. This seems to be a symbol of both inner and outer vision, perhaps even clairvoyance. Really look at and understand what’s going on in your world and in yourself.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 12* Scorpio is: A latecomer to an embassy ball surveys the scene before making an entrance. Another image of watching, looking, seeing and understanding, this time in a specific, important setting. This Full Moon activates the virtues of prudence (seeing ahead, sagacity), temperance (self-control), and honesty.

The Sabian symbol for Ceres at 13*Leo is: Rugged old sea captain watches a boat approach, its golden hull gleaming in the afternoon sun. This is another symbol that speaks to watching, looking, seeing. This time, the eyes are those of long experience and understanding. The past is valued (golden hull) for the lessons learned, thereby giving us the strength, courage and wisdom to meet the moment.

The Sabian symbol for Neptune at 12* Pisces is: A squirrel hiding from hunters in a hollow tree. This symbolizes our need to retreat in the face of outer threats but once again, having an eye opened to what is coming. 
 
All of these symbols tell us to keep our eyes open – both our outer eyes and our inner, 3rd eye. 
Eyes symbolize the window of the soul, as well as clairvoyance, intelligence, light, vigilance, moral conscience and truth.


The Sabian symbol for Pluto at 18* Capricorn is: Heavily armed destroyer bearing down on an enemy ship. This energy is a force to be reckoned with. Watch what is happening in the news. Pluto’s recking ball is once again on the move.

The Sabian symbol for Venus at 26* Libra is: An Eagle and a large white Dove change into each other. This image speaks to the interchange between Will and Love, between spiritual vision and heart wisdom. 
 
The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 26* Aries is: Standing in the center of the fiery fountain of Life, a man is overwhelmed by hundreds of new inspirations. This is the overwhelming passion for life, the creative genius of potentiality that calls us all now.
 
The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 25* Sagittarius is: Little boy flying through the air on a brightly colored rocking horse. We have a need for play and imagination. With it we can feel the whole world. In this case, imagine the world’s suffering.

The Sabian symbol for Chiron at 25* Pisces is: After drastic reforms, a purified clergy officiates anew. Seeing the state of our world – we are fast approaching the tipping point of climate change – we need to rededicate ourselves to our spiritual purpose and ideals and stand up to the corruption in our society that fosters this disregard for Life.

So there you have it. Lots of imagery to work with as we experience the energies of this strong Full Moon. 
 
Have a blessed Samhain.
Cathy

Sabian symbols from The Revised Sabian Symbols by Steven D. Eardley.

 

Ask Me
Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.

~ William Stafford ~

(The New Yorker, 1975)