The Cosmic Story: Virgo Full Moon 2021

The Cosmic Story: Virgo Full Moon 2021

Virgo Moon over Pisces Ocean

This weekend’s Virgo Full Moon is the last Full Moon of the astrological year that began last March 19 - 20, 2020. It is the Full Moon that forgives us all our mistakes, all the pain and darkness in us, all our self-loathing. Because Virgo sees the lessons learned and can integrate them into a new wholeness. Virgo can knit all those parts into a new pattern. The darkness isn’t bad – it’s just dark. Once you acknowledge it and work with it,you can see the old pattern and let it go.

This Full Moon grew out of the amazing Aquarius New Moon of February 11^th. Our Aquarian journey is getting underway with the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction at 1* Aquarius last Winter Solstice and now this big 6 planet Aquarius New Moon. But before we get swept into its tidal currents, this Full Moon wants us to realize something. We need to forgive ourselves. We need to forgive life for being hard. We need to accept that we have been through an intense initiation. And that we’ve all passed.

 

 

Virgo is the Divine Mother and Child, Isis and Horus, Mary and Jesus, Demeter and Persephone. Virgo is the creator and her creation. The ancient statues of Mother and Child symbolize the realization Her potential. The Mother herself isn’t whole until she holds her Child, the creative potential manifested in the world.

When we meet the Virgo Mother, she does not berate us for our faults – despite rumors of her perfectionism. The Mother accepts and loves us, not matter what. We are the Pisces child who has stumbled through life without an instruction book, relearning old lessons, recognizing old patterns and healing them. Virgo Mom has the courage to send forth her child to grow in the NOW and become what Spirit intended.

Virgo isn’t about purity or perfection. Virgo’s virginity is about wholeness. It’s about embracing our own darkness as part of that wholeness. Pisces isn’t about losing ourselves in the material world or denying its reality through addictions. It’s about surrendering to the Source of Life. Allowing ourselves to accept what life brings us, acknowledging the lessons it brings, and facing them with ingenuity and creativity.

As the last Virgo – Pisces Full Moon of the 2020 cycle, the Goddess offers us the chance to integrate what we learned in this past year of chaos and change. Our souls are calling. Mother Earth’s World Soul is calling. Can we blossom into her true Spiritual child? Can we surrender to this moment and listen to her Wisdom? Can we become our own unique Self?

Virgo – Pisces Full Moon 2021

This Virgo Full Moon occurs on Friday, February 26^th at 11:17pm in Alaska, and on Saturday, February 27^th at 12:17am PST/ 3:17am EST/ 8:17am GMT.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 9* Pisces is: A girl blowing a bugle. This is our wake-up call. Dane Rudhyar says it is “ A call to participation in the service of the race, as an evolutionary crisis approaches.” The divine Feminine issues a summons to us to awaken and be reborn. We have things to do, changes to make.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 9* Virgo is: A five year old child takes a first dancing lesson. Once again, a child shall lead the way. 5 is called the number of humanity, the number of freedom, of courage and of our experiences. At 5 years of age, we begin to understand the world. In the old days, we could say that this child is being taught the ‘rules of the dance’. But today, with the Piscean Sun calling us to awaken, might it be better to say that the dance is dancing the child into place?

 

The Sabian symbol for Venus at 3* Pisces is: Petrified tree trunks lie broken on desert sands. What a great symbol for this time – the past is dead! Patriarchy is broken in the desert of its own destructive tendencies. Venus here will see the message and want to rebuild with beauty, love and wisdom.

The Pisces Sun and Venus are conjunct one of the four Royal Stars of Persia (from over 5000 years ago), called the Guardians of Heaven – the star Fomalhaut, a reddish fixed star, the largest star in constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. The name Fomalhaut derives from Arabic fum al-ḥawt, meaning “mouth of the [Southern] Fish”. In those ancient times, it was called the Watcher of the South when it marked the Winter Solstice.

 

According to Ptolemy, it is of the nature of Venus and Mercury (idealistic, psychic, handsome, neat, lovable, refined, genteel, intelligent). It is said to be very fortunate and powerful for the most part. It is currently at 3*53’ Pisces conjunct Venus and just 4* from this Full Moon Sun.

That gentle, fortunate energy is definitely part of this Full Moon. As a Winter Solstice star of hope, it is a reminder for us to keep faith with life and hold onto hope for a better future. Change is hard for everyone, but this is a necessary change that humanity is undergoing. We are really blessed that Mother Earth stopped everything for this past year so we as a whole world can re-assess where we are going.

As the end note of 2020, this Virgo-Pisces Full Moon brings us a gentle reminder to accept what happened and redeem it by integrating its lessons. The waters of the Pisces Collective Unconscious have been shaken and stirred. Neptune in Pisces is adding a gateway to the Creative Imagination if we can find it. As we leave the Age of Pisces and enter the headwaters of the Age of Aquarius, our work is to accept who we are, forgive ourselves and others for what’s gone before, and acknowledge that our spirits know how to handle living in the material world.

This grounding and centering Full Moon is opposite the Pisces Sun, which is conjunct Venus in Pisces, opening us to our dreams, our artistry and our compassion. The Virgo Moon is illuminated by this gentle, dreamy light, weaving together the lessons learned now that we can look back over the whole year and see, behind the fear of death, the great goodness it holds.

We are no longer locked into patriarchy’s paradigm. We have learned that in isolation we acknowledge our need for each other. We have faced death in many forms – our people dying, our work shut down, our lives stopped. We’ve been forced to look within ourselves and we’ve survived it.

This Full Moon offers us a chance to reweave the story of our life into that new story I’ve been talking about for years now! 

 

 

Virgo is the Virgin who belongs to herself. She is whole – body, mind and spirit – because she has given birth to that part of herself that needed to come into being. That’s why this Full Moon is so important this year. We have really come through the labor of giving birth to our original, spiritual Self – last year was like transition, the part of labor that just keeps coming without much of a chance to catch your breath.

Now is the time to enjoy your new ‘baby’ and give it love and get to know it. Channel your inner mother and take care of the new life you have birthed. The world needs each one of us to help heal it.

We are helped this Full Moon by a beautiful trine to the Moon and sextile to the Sun from Uranus in Taurus, feeding us Mother Earth’s creative genius. Be original. Be unique. Do not hide your light under a bushel anymore.

The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 8* Taurus is: A sleigh speeds over the ground as yet uncovered by snow. This image asks us to imagine what we need to progress as we attempt to find the right vehicle to take us into the future. It requires our unique genius.

Uranus is the planet of electricity. And in Taurus it is helping shift the electromagnetic field of Mother Earth – as well as our own energy field. So with this Virgo Full Moon, check in with yourself and feel the energetic shift within yourself – feel how the old patterns no longer control you. Our energy patterns are being renewed and upgraded. Remember, we are ‘filled with light’ since all energy is a frequency of light. Remember to vibrate at your highest level and be the Light in the world.

On February 17, Saturn in Aquarius squared Uranus in Taurus for the first of three times this year – the other squares are on June 14^th and December 25^th. They create a tension between technology and the Earth’s genius, between how we’ve operated in the past and where we can head in the future. We will have to figure out how to integrate the past and the future. How we get there is created by the push/pull between Saturn and Uranus. It’s the friction that creates the fires of inspiration.

Saturn in Aquarius hits this Full Moon in a wonky way. It might make us insecure about things or stop us from developing our new ideas. Don’t let it! Use the energy to help organize your ideas and structure things to help you grow into your new Self. My 12^th house Taurus Sun, locked away in the ocean of undoing, has a hard time building any structures and it can get disoriented and totally forget those Qi Gong exercises I want to do each morning. Saturn can come down hard on me and fill me with shame, or I can get it to help me organize my days so I don’t ‘forget’! Relate to the planets and get them to help you rather than hinder you.

The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 9* Aquarius is: A mountain climber follows the flight of an eagle through binoculars. Saturn in Aquarius is about our mental constructs, and after the 1^st Saturn/Uranus square last week, some of those constructs have been blown up. This gives us a chance to find a new perspective about what’s going on in the collective mind. People want change – they can feel it in the air. Just knowing that we can find that perspective if we need it is helpful. In the end, whatever we are here to do is for our collective benefit. Use the energy to help you define who and what you are. The collective needs that independence of thought and action.

Now that Mercury is going direct, all the planets (except for the asteroid Vesta in Virgo) are in direct motion until the end of April! Things will be moving ahead now so don’t get swept away by the energy. Harness it and use it for whatever you’re cooking up.

Mars in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn trine each other to help us move things along in a concrete way. Pluto has almost finished its demolition of patriarchy, so let the old be swept away and start to build in the new.

 

 

Have you noticed how the Light is growing! We are heading toward Spring here in the North.

Late winter blessings!

Cathy

The great affair, the love affair with life,
is to live as variously as possible,
to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred,
climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day.

Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding,
and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours,
life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length.

It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery,
but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.

~ Diane Ackerman ~

("found poetry" from A Natural History of the Senses)

 

The Cosmic Story: Gemini/Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse 2020

Learn to Think for Yourself

Be Suspicious of Convention

Take charge of your own thinking.

Rouse yourself from the daze of unexamined habit…

Conventional thinking – its means and ends – is essentially uncreative and uninteresting. Its job is to preserve the status quo for overly self-defended individuals and institutions.

Trust nothing and nobody but yourself.

Be ceaselessly watchful over your beliefs and impulses.

~Epictetus: The Art of Living~

We’re into eclipse season again. Eclipses occur when the planes of the Sun, Moon and Earth align and we can visually see how the three interact. With a lunar eclipse on a Full Moon, the Earth comes between the Sun and Moon and casts her shadow on the Moon. This lunar eclipse is a partial eclipse, so it will not cover the entire face of the Moon.

Lunar Eclipse

Astrology assigns meaning to the difference eclipses depending on the signs they occupy. With the lunar nodes in Gemini and Sagittarius, the cosmos shines its light on our thinking and our beliefs. After the past 4 years, we’ve been twisted back and forth between truth and lies. Fake news on both sides of the spectrum has put the ball solidly into our own court. We are the deciders. The cosmos pushes us to look at ourselves and our beliefs and decide who we are, what we believe and what we stand for.

Neptune squares these lunar nodes, and since it just turned to direct motion hours before the eclipse, it is a very potent part of what we’re learning. With Neptune changing to direct motion, Uranus is the only retrograde planet in our skies right now. An inner revolution is still at work on us. 

 

Neptune/NASA

Neptune is the planetary energy of dreams, imagination, myths and visions, a misty, illusionary energy that transports us to other dimensions and states of being. While it can inspire us to mystical visions and wonderful works of art, it can also delude us with addictions and fake news if we have no guiding vision of life. On this lower level of Neptune, we get foggy and uncertain about what we’re seeing and believing. It’s easy to be manipulated, especially if it touches off an old belief system. When we connect to Neptune’s higher vision, we’re put in touch with the spiritual basis of life. We connect consciously to the creative imagination, where all manifestation begins.

As Caroline Casey so artfully states, Neptune lays the tracks for Saturn’s reality train. Neptune can delude us into thinking that things are not as they seem.

           Neptune can also set us yearning for what our souls desire most, inspiring our vision. When Neptune is in its own sign of Pisces (Jung’s collective unconscious) it is our shared, collective yearnings that want to be incorporated into our personal reality. These yearning come up against old Sagittarian beliefs. Can we let go of those beliefs and open ourselves to new possibilities?

With Neptune in Pisces turning direct on November 28^th and squaring the lunar nodes, we’ve had time during its retrograde to look at some overblown fantasies that were believed to be the Truth. When in fact these fantasies/ conspiracy theories/illusions often arise from the tension between fear and hope.

The way to discern our truth is to ground ourselves in our own inner guidance system. With Neptune going direct now, it’s up to us to use our imaginations in more creative ways and think for ourselves. As Epictetus said, be wary of conventional, unconscious thinking.

 

Road to Emmaus~Robert Zund

The Sabian symbol for Neptune stationing direct at 19* Pisces is: Teacher and student commune in strength in a long walk. This is an image of that grounding we need. We often have spiritual teachers who shape our beliefs. If they are worthy mentors, they help us to discover our own path and seek our own truths.

Beliefs run deep within our psyches, impressed on us when we’re still children and have no sense that we can decide what to believe in or not. These unconscious beliefs shape our thoughts, our expectations and even our desires.

As we enter the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere, we have the opportunity to clean out old beliefs and habits that no longer serve us. As we wait for Winter Solstice and the return of the Light, we can let those things die so we have room for something new to fill us.

And since this Winter Solstice is a big turning point in our collective destiny, it is especially important to spend time in self-examination. Because on December 21, 2020, the social planets Jupiter and Saturn will join together, as they do every 20 years, in the Air elements for the first time since 1220 CE (except for once in 1980 when they came together in Libra-- look at all the new relationship options that sprang from that!)

We are ending a 200 year Earth cycle between Jupiter and Saturn – the last happened in Taurus in 2000. As we end this cycle, we need to see what gifts and lessons they brought us both personally and collectively. What have we all learned in this last year of the Earth cycle when we’ve had to let go of our consumerism and our work as we face both death through the Covid virus and the death of our cultural institutions? How have we changed in these past 20 years?

These two planets that shape our social outlook have come together in Earth signs for the past 200 years (except 1980), focusing our collective attention on material wealth and purpose. Every 200 years or so, the elements of this conjunction change to shift our collective focus. Last time they came together in Air was roughly from 1220-1420 CE – the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. It looks like we’re about to enter a new age of information exchange, intellectual curiosity and communication. Hopefully, a new Renaissance. 

Renaissance Art 

And since Jupiter and Saturn will conjunct (you can see this happening in the night sky) in the sign of Aquarius, we can perhaps say this is the beginning of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Especially since Pluto will be finishing up with transforming the sign of Capricorn in the next two years and will enter Aquarius in 2023-2024. That’s when our Aquarian energy gets re-birthed. 

The Sabian symbol for the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter at 1* Aquarius is: A cubical white temple in the desert. This is a symbol of the seed groups that have a new vision for civilization, a new reality and vision based on spiritual and natural law. This is a symbolic Yes to humanity as we rediscover our place in Earth’s biosphere and assume our role as Stewards of the Earth.

Gemini-Sagittarius partial Lunar Eclipse

This Full Moon lunar eclipse occurs on Monday November 30^th at 12:30 am Alaska time, 1:30 am PST/ 4:30am EST and 9:30am GMT.

 

 Gemini Lunar Eclipse 2020

With this eclipse in Sagittarius and Gemini, curiosity and seeking knowledge are up for us. What is worth believing in? What information fits our soul’s story? Each of us has a different story to live and a different part to play as we begin to re-imagine our world. But old ideas and beliefs won’t encompass this new story. The information we seek to inform us about what’s happening in the world will determine whether we escape the old, worn-out belief systems that shaped our world-view or we open up to new possibilities that might not seem possible yet.

Mercury in Scorpio rules the Gemini Moon and is sextiling both Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, and Saturn in Capricorn. We can use Mercury’s deep insight into death and life to see what needs to change in society. Saturn and Jupiter are at the end of Capricorn, adding to the heaviness we might be feeling as they transit the last degrees of Capricorn. We might get caught up in the heaviness of the government’s power plays. Or we might find our own authority in the world.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 9* Sagittarius is: A mother is leading her children up a broad stairway. This is an image of the Morning Star of Wisdom, the Great Mother leading her children into the light. It is an image of an open and unobstructed path to higher consciousness, teaching us to trust our instinctive pursuit of love and the beautiful goals in life.

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 9* Gemini is: Medieval archer, with pointed beard and feathered hat, takes aim with a bow. This image reminds me of Robin Hood when he goes to the archery contest where the Sheriff of Nottingham hopes to capture him. Robin is a trickster, one who can change the course of energy. Robin has to stay alert, use his keenly trained perceptions to win the contest and escape capture. When we aim an arrow, we send our minds over space and time to pin down something we want. This begs the question, What do we really desire? What are we taking aim at?

On both sides of this eclipse, we’re asked to become aware (full Moon) of those beliefs that keep us chained to the denial of our talents, self-worth and needs. Or, those shadow qualities that keep us unconscious of what we really desire. With this global lock down shutting off our usually sources of entertainment and distractions, we can take the time to look into our hearts and discover what we really want out of life. Do we really want more stuff that soon loses its importance, or do we want community and connectedness?

A regular Full Moon challenges us to develop awareness of the life issues the two complementary signs signify, to break free of any unconscious compulsions we have, and to objectively work with its energy. A lunar eclipse is a high-powered Full Moon that offers us a chance to see and finish off dealing with that particular issue. This lunar eclipse offers us the chance to let go of limiting beliefs and open up to new knowledge and ideas that can help us form new beliefs about our self and life. Beliefs that will shape our new story.

Any planets aspecting the eclipse will indicate how we can develop that awareness. As you can see from the chart, there is another opposition that also aspects the Full Moon and which forms a rectangle made up of butterfly wings. The two wings in blue indicate what we call inconjuncts, 150* aspects which are quirky and often hard to see. 

 

“The rectangular shape was used in temple chambers of initiation. These buildings were built to symbolize the process of transition from one stage of personal-spiritual unfoldment to the next — the fulfillment of a great goal. Seen in the vertical plane, a rectangle becomes a door, something to pass through, to enter a new realm. This figure joining two oppositions by semi-sextiles and inconjuncts indicates that the oppositions can be integrated through everyday work and all our personal relationships, geared toward better ways to serve other people’s needs.” (Dane Rudhyar)

 

So this eclipse offers us the idea of a great initiation into higher states of consciousness, through the integration of masculine knowledge and feminine wisdom.

The other opposition at this lunar eclipse is that between Uranus retrograde in Taurus and Venus in Scorpio. In the creation myth, Uranus is the Father of Aphrodite/Venus, who is birthed by his phallus/generative energy within the womb of Mother Ocean. It feels like this opposition pushes us to awaken our feminine power, grounded in both our physical and emotional bodies, allowing the original Uranian Mind of Nature to reconnect us to Mother Nature’s biosphere.

The two blue-winged inconjuncts are between Uranus_Rx and the Sagittarius Sun, and Venus and the Gemini Moon. Uranus inconjunct the Sun pushes us to open up to new beliefs concerning the spiritual dimensions of our physical world – acknowledging that the world and our bodies are not evil and corrupt, but as Matthew Fox states, our original blessings. The Earth and our bodies are divine creations and we have to honor them. Venus inconjunct the Moon pushes us to explore and learn about the things that call to us from our depths, to understand their power and purpose and to share them with the world.

Therefore, opening to new beliefs and acknowledging the purpose and power of our desires can aid us in shedding those intellectual shadows and unconscious beliefs that keep us locked in an old story of scarcity and unworthiness.

The next stage of our evolution is upon us. The new story for humanity is waiting for us to step into it as responsible and conscious co-creators of life. 

 

How this Eclipse season is affecting the United States chart

  US 4th of July Chart, 1776

 

This lunar eclipse falls across the ascendant/descendant of the 4^th of July US Sibly chart at 12* Sagittarius—Gemini. It could signify a shift in our national identity, which is already underway from the Trump presidency. Our allies will wonder who we are as we go forward into the next four years.

With the US having its Pluto return in the next two years, we are undergoing a transformation – hopefully a spiritual transformation rooted in returning to our core values. Since we’re in the energies of the American Revolution now, people will continue to take to the streets, especially with Mars and Eris in Aries squaring both Pluto in Capricorn and America’s Mercury in Cancer. If we can communicate with truth and honor about our basic needs, perhaps we can make it a peaceful revolution.

There’s another potent T-Square between transiting Neptune in Pisces opposite the US Neptune in Virgo square the US Mars in Gemini. We have to learn to discern what is truth and what are lies. If America’s original dream was to have a free and open society, transiting Neptune is asking us who and what we’ve left out of that equation. Mars in Gemini says we have the knowledge and know-how to ‘make it so’.

This eclipse occurs on the US Uranus at 9* Gemini, activating our native intelligence and brilliance. We can solve our problems if we put our collective Will behind it. If the media would put its focus and story-telling ability to work showcasing the possibilities before us rather than the issues that drag us down, we could awaken a collective spiritual awareness about the issues that face us and the world.

This is America’s time to transform itself into a truer, more democratic version of itself. It’s time to live out the ideals that shaped our mythology.

With Gratitude,

Cathy

Entrance  /  (After Rilke)

Whoever you are: step out of doors tonight,

Out of the

room that lets you feel secure.

Infinity is open to your sight.

Whoever

you are.

With eyes that have forgotten how to see

From viewing things

already too well-known,

Lift up into the dark a huge, black tree

And put

it in the heavens: tall, alone.

And you have made the world and all you

see.

It ripens like the words still in your mouth.

And when at last you

comprehend its truth,

Then close your eyes and gently set it free.

~ Dana Gioia ~

(Interrogations at Noon)

The Cosmic Story: Scorpio New Moon 2020 & Mars Stationing Direct

 

The Cosmic Story: Scorpio New Moon 2020

A New Beginning

 

 

This weekend’s Scorpio New Moon is definitely one of the most intense New Moons of the year. Secretive, seductive Scorpio isn’t interested in surface interactions. It wants to get to the juicy aspects of relationships, the ones that we keep hidden even from ourselves, the ones that we’re afraid won’t be accepted.

Whether it’s our Shadow qualities or just too much trauma, Scorpio’s New Moon is our opportunity to dive deep and bring those vampires into the light at the next Full Moon, which is a lunar eclipse in Gemini/Sagittarius. What part of yourself has been hiding in the shadows? Maybe it’s something we all need right now. But unless you bring it up and out, we’ll never know.

Scorpio is the fixed water sign of the zodiac. Fixed water can get stagnant if we stay on the surface, but if it spirals deeper into our psyches, it can bring about emotional transformation. And that’s the name of the game for Scorpio – the transformation of stuck or blocked feelings that generate emotions that keep us separate from the Other. That keep us separated from ourselves.

 

If Cancer is the sign of our original emotional body, then Scorpio is our emotional body under the stress of having to relate to others. This is where we pick up our trauma and when we hide behind our Shadows. But we can clean up the waters within us so that our truth shines out. It’s time to heal those wounds so we can get on to our new life. That’s the work for us this month as we head into eclipse season. With the lunar nodes in Gemini/Sagittarius, our cosmic assignment is to root out old belief systems that no longer serve us or the world, and learn to think in new ways so we can discover something worthwhile to believe in again.

And some of the old beliefs we culturally need to clean up our act about are our attitudes toward sex and sexuality, toward vulnerability and intimacy. That’s why pedophilia seems to be so rampant among men. They prey on the young and vulnerable through their dysfunctional beliefs about sex and their fear of women. Hopefully, American men are about to get an upgrade on their sexuality – see below.

While it’s intense to face the truth about ourselves, our relationships and our world, once we do, we bring light into the situation and it really becomes easier for everyone. And with the situation in the world now, being truth-speakers and truth-seekers is more important than ever. Just ask your Sagittarius friends! With the eclipses coming up next month in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius, we will be confronting those truths about our beliefs to see if they’re still valid or delusional. We might have to learn something new. Why not start early?

Scorpio New Moon

The Scorpio New Moon occurs on Saturday November 14^th at 8:08pm Alaska time/ 9:08pm PST and on Sunday November 15^th at 12:08am EST and 5:08am GMT.

 

 Scorpio New Moon 2020

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 23* 18’ is: After having heard an inspired individual deliver his ‘sermon on the mount’, crowds are returning home.

 

This image speaks to the need to go home and live out those values which we aspire (to breathe upon) to. This is a symbol that speaks to our need for real transformation – of our minds, our hearts, our bodies and our spirits. It also speaks a lot to the situation we’re in the middle of here in the United States. While many are inspired by Joe Biden’s pledge to work to heal our nation, others are inspired by Donald Trump to see conspiracies, cheating and hatred. Which values will we chose to live by?

Half of the American population voted for the future, for kindness and compassion, for grown-up responsibility toward each other, the world and Mother Earth.

The other half seems to have voted for their own self-interest, for delusional conspiracy theories and for a morally corrupt and now treasonous leader. I don’t know about you, but this makes me sad and disappointed that so many good people don’t really know what their beliefs are or how to live out their values. That’s the work we face with the eclipses occurring in Gemini/Sagittarius.

Because if healing the environment by stopping corporations from polluting it further, if stopping the separation of children from their parents, if truth and responsibility are not at the top of everyone’s list of important things we have to handle as a world and as a society, what will our children’s children think about us and the world we’re leaving them? If we don’t start acting like our lives depended on it, they will condemn us for our selfishness and cowardly fears.

Waters of Life

This Scorpio New Moon occurs in the last decan of Scorpio – the last 10 degrees – which are dedicated to Cancer, the Great Mother. It generates the energy of transformation and a new birth, a conscious return to our original state of being. When we release the past, it transforms us but it also brings us back to our own unique selves.

The New Moon is exactly trine Jupiter in Capricorn, who asks us to open our hearts to our deepest desires and blessings so that he can fulfill them, and to Pluto, the new ruler of Scorpio, so that he can help us face our deaths as we prepare for new life.

This Scorpio New Moon is a time to plant seeds for the future out of the death of the year – and what a lot of death there has been. It is inspired by the Capricorn planets – Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn – who brought an end to our old capitalistic society and are now introducing us to a new era, a new society. It nurtures us to open to the imagination and spiritual vision of Neptune in Pisces, which shows us who and what we’ve been ignoring – the elderly, the children, community, compassion, freedom and equality, and the possibility of a new relationship with Mother Earth.

And it is aware that Uranus in Taurus will help us create that new world. With Mercury in Scorpio opposite Uranus_Rx in Taurus, we’re called to be open to new developments in the world, new technologies, new ideologies about how to live on our most precious Earth.

Mars, the traditional ruler of Scorpio, just stationed and turned back to direct motion on Friday the 13^th of November. The archetypal masculine planet is reborn on the Goddess’ day – Friday/Freya’s Day/ sacred to Venus/ Aphrodite – and number 13, since there are 13 lunar cycles in a year. May the Goddess bless her sons and inspire them to become the men they are meant to be. 

(Perhaps you’ll want to tune into my Face Book Live/ Zoom show – The Cosmic Campfire – for some storytelling about Mars and the Masculine Spirit. More information below)

 

Nature Spirits dancing

 

The Sabian symbol for Mars direct at 15* 14’ Aries is: Nature spirits are seen at work in the light of sunset. This image speaks to our ability, especially now after the shock of Covid and living in isolation for over 6 months, to see and feel how we are part of Earth’s biosphere. There are invisible energies working around us, on us and for us. We just have to be open to perceiving them and receiving their blessings. This brave new world we’re heading toward is our re-connection to Mother Earth’s biosphere. We have to take back our role as stewards of the Earth once again.

Before I discuss what this could mean regarding Mars, let’s look at how Mars is connecting with both the Capricorn Amigos and with Venus in Libra.

As it has for the past 4 months as Mars traveled through Aries, it has been squaring the transformational Capricorn planets. Our Mars yang energy is being challenged to accept the changes that our society needs to undergo if we’re to survive and thrive in the coming years. It seems like America is split down the middle on that one.

When we don’t ‘follow the energy’ we get clogged up and constipated with anger, fear, resentment and violence. So for those of us who are ready to follow the new energy, we know that we have to leave behind our old expectations of what ‘life should be like’ and begin to live a life that is connected to the Earth and sustainable living. We can begin to give up those ‘toys’ that the military-industrial complex has mesmerized us with. And get back in our bodies and back into Nature and community.

 

Venus & Mars

Mars in Aries is also opposing Venus in Libra. Remember – oppositions are complementary, which means they want to work together. We have to trust our instincts as well as our hearts, our minds as well as our morals. Desire, which Mars rules, is directed at Venus, who attracts that desire. We have been trained since birth and back through our ancestral lineage to ignore our instincts and our hearts, especially around attraction and sex. That’s what we’re leaving behind as we divest ourselves of patriarchal rules and beliefs and renew our social contract (the Capricorn Amigos) with new beliefs around the relationship between the masculine and the feminine and men and women.

Venus isn’t ashamed of her sensuality and her desirability, her wildness and openness, her charm and wisdom. As a matter of fact, she wants us to learn to respect our desires. But she also wants Mars and men to respect our sexual connection, making it sacred rather than profane. If we do this one thing, making our sexuality sacred again, everything can and will change. Venus in Libra asks Mars in Aries to stop and consider the Other before taking action. Venus says, ‘let’s play nice with each other’ and she’ll do it in an artful way. Women can learn a lot from Venus/Aphrodite.

 

 Aphrodite/Venus

Venus in Libra is also opposite Eris in Aries. There will be discord until we find our heart’s desire again. Once we do, we will stand up to anyone and anything that denies us that. Eris is a warrioress after all!

Now let’s look at Mars in new ways. As Mars finishes his game-changing retrograde through Aries while squaring culturally renewing Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn, he has to decide whose authority and rules he’s going to follow. The old or the new. The patriarchy’s or his own authority. Will he honor and respect women and feminine consciousness? Will we choose the New King or try to prop up the old king?

Mars in Aries

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. In the northern hemisphere, it signals the beginning of Spring, when the light conceived at Winter Solstice gets born into the world. So Aries is all about new beginnings, new life, new inspirations. It’s about new forms of growth, of action, of intention.

 

Sunrise

Some positive Aries traits are: adventurous, spontaneous, pioneering, courageous, enthusiastic (inspired or possessed by a god), assertive, confident, forthright; its goal is achievement and leadership.

Some unconscious Aries behaviors are: impulsive, impatient, foolhardy, quick-tempered, selfish, argumentative, quarrelsome, competitive, egotistical, contentious, aggressive, ruthless. This is toxic masculinity and it’s showing its ugly face again. Its goal is to dominate.

(There is a series on Netflix called Cobra Kai based on the Karate Kid. The two opponents are older now, and set in their ways. But the show is about redemption and the transformation of the old dominator model of masculinity to a more conscious and protector model of masculinity. It takes a while for the transformation to begin, but hey, we are talking about men! :)

The planet Mars is named after the Roman god of war. Throughout the ancient world, the Red Planet was seen as a planet of war, oppression, plague, and conflict. And so we’ve assigned those characteristics to Mars in astrology. 

 

 

But everything is being renewed now, especially the archetypal images. Mars is the Yang energy of nature. It is the principle of energetic force and action, the impulse and capacity to assert, to act and to move forcefully, to have an impact, to press forward and against (to grapple with things), to act with sharpness and ardor. Our Mars energy can be experienced as aggression, anger, conflict, violence and competition. But we need Mars for courage and to be vital and vigorous.

In Jungian psychology, Mars is that part of the masculine which initiates, desires (Eros) and feels passionate about life. While Mars is most often embodied as the Warrior or Athlete, he is also the Lover as well as the King, and even the Magician if he’s intellectually inclined. In ancient cultures, there was little or no distinction between many of these archetypal patterns. The King especially has to embody the masculine essence of the times.

 

 

Now, with this retrograde, in this cosmic change year, we need to re-new the archetype and re-birth and reclaim our Mars energy. While this is especially true for men, we women also have a masculine side which needs renewal, for we are all Father’s Daughters, daughters of patriarchy, and we are called upon to leave the Father’s House and reclaim our original powers.

In the book by Jungian therapist Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover we see the four basic archetypes of masculine purpose and powers.  

 

 

Aragon

 

 

The King embodies the spiritual fire of life, both generous and generative (I see Jupiter here as well). The King brings order to the world and has to be seasoned and complex, wise and self-less. For he is the mediator between Heaven and Earth, who is willing to die for his people. The ultimate leader and protector.

 

Navarre

The Warrior embodies the strength of the earth, acting decisively and with courage to protect the people. He develops his skills, power, accuracy and self-control over his mind and attitudes as well as his body. He focuses his aggressive nature, develops clarity of thought, acts decisively and faces death without fear. He has self-discipline and takes responsibility for his actions.

Gandolf

The Magician embodies Air and has power over the Mind and Intentions, focusing his energies on gaining secret knowledge and wisdom as well as over technological/scientific knowledge. He trains his Mind to contain the Cosmos.

Mistress of Spices

The Lover embodies his heart and Water, the imagination that gives rise to art and mysticism. The lover relates to and connects with others. He is compassionate, empathetic, romantic, enthusiastic. He is alive to life and wants to see meaning in it. But he’s also willing to sacrifice his ego needs for his love.

These are four basic archetypal patterns of the Masculine Spirit. They can each manifest in many ways and hopefully we’ll see them springing up all over the world in ever greater numbers. Where they will be met and matched by the embodiment of Feminine Spirit – women who have freed themselves from the Father’s House. Women who run with the Wolves!

If you’d like to hear more about the archetypal masculine, join me on Friday evening after Mars turns direct at 9pm EST/ 6pm PST for my Cosmic Campfire, where I’ll share information and stories about Mars and Men.

You can find me on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/CathyPaganosWisdomSalon/)

or

Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81621923578 Show up a few minutes early so I can let you in.

To explore a bit deeper about the regeneration of the Masculine and men, I looked at America’s progressed birth chart. (I’m using the July 4, 1776 chart that Caroline Casey thinks we should work with, one that sets the time at 2:25pm.) A progressed chart is a chart that moves the planets ahead a year for every day.

 

Moon conjunct Pluto in Capricorn

The first thing that jumps out from this chart is that the progressed Moon, which represents ‘we the people’ is at 29* Capricorn conjunction Pluto. The end of Capricorn finds us at the end of empire – we are no longer a shining example for the world. We have let ourselves be brought low and now we’re experiencing a death. A death of our ideals as Americans but also a death of the corporate culture of capitalism. But rebirth follows soon after.

Perhaps as soon at this Winter Solstice, when Jupiter and Saturn join up at 1* Aquarius for the first time in Air signs (except for once in the 80s) since around 1200 CE. These two cultural planets sent the boundaries and interests for our collective culture and they are moving from earth and materialism to air and social connectivity and ideals. These next 20 years are going to be exciting as we discover technologies and different ways to live in the world.

Why this is interesting is that by Winter Solstice, December 21, 2020, America’s progressed Moon will also be at 1* Aquarius. So it looks like we’re going to get on board the Aquarian train to the future.

 

America's Progressed Moon in Aquarius

 

Also in the progressed chart, there is an exact opposition between Mars in Libra and Chiron in Aries. This seems to indicate that the American masculine psyche is in need of healing and renewal. When Europeans came to the Americas, they came as conquerors and that dominator mode of being has been stuck there ever since. But now we all have an opportunity to heal the masculine aspects of our culture and allow a great blossoming that our present Mars in Aries can bring us as it transits America’s progressed Chiron and opposes America’s progressed Mars.

All of that astrological jargon is just saying – Let’s choose the New King!

That’s good for now. Please join me on Friday night at 9pm EST/ 6pm PST if you want to learn more about Mars and the New Masculine energies being birthed now.

Goddess Blessings on all of us.

Cathy

 

 

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

Please Like and Share!