The Cosmic Story: Taurus New Moon 2020

The Cosmic Story: Taurus New Moon 2020

“ Creating the Future from Aries Primal Fire”

EarthRise ~ The Woman Clothed with the Sun

Happy Earth Day! Mother Earth is much happier now that we've just stopped. The air pollution is down and wildlife is taking advantage of our human isolation. On this 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day (isn't it sad that we even need to have Earth Day rather than it being Earth Day everyday), let's all remember that the Earth is the only home we have. Is economic wealth worth losing that home?

I love that Earth Day takes place during Taurus, the first, fixed earth sign of the zodiac. And this year we are blessed. Wednesday's Taurus New Moon will be very different from other Taurus New Moons because it will be joined by Uranus, the planet of Awakening and Innovation. Usually the energy of the Taurus New Moon is sensual, calm and practical. But not this time. Watch for a surprise.

With Uranus' lightning bolt energizing this New Moon seed, we'll be stepping into the future in some way. Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune will also be challenging this New Moon to open us up to new ideas and visions, even if we all just want to find some peace and quiet in the beauty of Spring. We're challenged to let go of the old story and plant the seed of the new story.

Of course, the background to all this innovation is the pandemic the world is dealing with. And that goes back astrologically to the big Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto conjunction in Capricorn that we've been dealing with since January 12, 2020.

Astrology is so amazing because it gives us a cosmic perspective on what may happen in our world. Knowing that something big was going to happen this year, while not knowing exactly what form it would take, helped us prepare ourselves for the shock, and is helping us see the deeper meaning in what we're experiencing.

This potent conjunction symbolically informed us that the very structures of our society – our governments, our finances, our corporations, our institutions – were going to crumble under some form of stress. That those institutions which were no longer viable were not going to be able to handle the situation. And so it has proven to be. 

 

I keep thinking of a 60s musical – Stop the World, I Want to Get Off. That is what's happening right now. Oil prices have hit rock bottom. The institutions we've come to depend on are overwhelmed. Our world has stopped working. And that might be the best thing we could hope for. Because we are heading into an unknown future which needs us to reinvent almost all aspects of our common life.

Those corporations which we've fed by our consumerism have outsourced the ability to take care of our basic needs. Our food, our medicines, our resources are not easily available when they have to come from the other side of a shutdown world. We are discovering that we need a new system. And one that helps 'the people' and not corporate interests, like world leaders did in the 2009 financial crisis.

And whether we want to admit it or not, our 'death' mentality – our constant wars, our environmental degradation, the violence in our media, our wealth inequality which gives rise to our homeless populations, our starving people, our refugees – is coming back to haunt us. This pandemic has sent us to our rooms to make us face death.

The old patriarchal rules that shaped our behavior since childhood are also dissolving within each of us. We're being left alone to face our Shadows and re-discover our Inner Light. If we can work through those Shadows – are we good enough, pretty enough, wealthy enough, clever enough, determined enough – we can uncover the original light that came into the world at our birth. We can go back to that original blessing and build the future world on that.

That is the promise of this unique Taurus New Moon (Uranus hasn't been in Taurus since 1935-1942, during the New Deal). Perhaps this will be the opportunity we need to get the Green New Deal up and running. How can any of us want to go back to 'normal' after we've seen and experienced clear skies, clear water, quiet nature? As one young girl told her mom, 'We can't go back to normal. That would mean we haven't learned our lesson from this.” Out of the mouths of babes...

The Taurus New Moon occurs on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 – Earth Day – at 7:26pm PDT/ 10:26pm EDT and on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 3:26am GMT.

Taurus New Moon April 22, 2020

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 4* Taurus is: The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Just the message we need to help us envision the future rather than retreat to the past. Rainbows have always been symbolic of a bridge between Heaven and Earth, a promise of peace after the storm. When we see things from a higher, larger perspective, anything becomes possible. With this symbolic pot of gold, we can build a better future. Isn't that what we all long for? To create a better future for ourselves and the world? 

Amanda Curtis -- Long Island 

This year is the time to start. We each have the power within us to leave the old 'death' society we've been born into and together create a new, better version of the world. One where we work with and honor Mother Nature. Where no one is left behind. Where individuals, not corporations, decide what is best for life. Where creativity and kindness, community and partnership are the foundation stones of a new society that will stretch 2000 years into the future.

We are those foundation stones.

The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 7* Taurus is: The woman of Sumaria at the ancestral well. This symbol comes from a beautiful story about the Christ. Early in his ministry, Jesus comes upon a woman at a well from a tribe despised by the Jews. She is also unmarried, probably considered a prostitute and therefore an outcast in some ways. She would certainly be considered 'unworthy' by the leaders of both her tribe and the Jews. And yet because of her kindness in offering water to Jesus when he was thirsty, he reveals to her, for the first time to anyone, that he is the Messiah. Jesus came to replace an old tribal, patriarchal order with a new order based on Love. 

 

This Uranus calls to the Exiles and to those people and values our collective society has rejected and reviled. And it is especially the rejected and reviled feminine spirit within each of us that can receive this new spiritual, evolutionary and society-transforming vision of the future. The creative future descends first to that which has become chaos. And old order is never open to a new Revelation until it has accepted disorder in the name of that Power which subsumes all forms of order, i.e. Love. (An Astrological Mandala: Dane Rudhyar.)

Interesting that the Greek myth of the creation says that 'first there is chaos and then arose broad-bossomed Earth'. And when Uranus became all too much for our Momma Earth, she got Saturn to cut off his phallus, which birthed Aprhodite – Love and Wisdom of the Earth. The archetypal energy that rules this New Moon and Uranus.

Taurus is a fixed earth sign, the builder and container of the primal fire of Aries. Taurus asks: How does that fire want to manifest? We astrologers say that our soul's creative impulse starts in the house that Aries occupies in our natal chart. You might want to think about that. Where is that fire in you, and how does it want to manifest? 

 

Taurus embodies our values and self-worth, as well as the talents we have. They are the building blocks of what we manifest. Taurus values love and sensuality, peace and security, simplicity and even frugality when balanced. Most Taurus' are humble and modest and kind and compassionate. The interpretation of a materialistic Taurus who overdoes things is the most negative reading of Taurus, seeing greed and possessiveness as its hallmark as exemplified by the story of Midas and his Golden Touch.

But it is Taurus who sees the promise of the Garden of Eden – the simple, blissful life when we were connected to Mother Nature and all beings were at peace. The vision of spirit come to Earth. Where we appreciate beauty and serenity, comfort and connection. Taurus is ruled by Venus/Aphrodite after all. Love is always at the Center for Taurus. That's the true nature of Taurus. That's the image we can hold in our hearts as we imagine our Future this month. 

 

Venus is the archetypal power that energizes Taurus. Venus is now in Gemini, the sign of the mind and consciousness and is about to go retrograde in Gemini on May 12^th – 13^th at 22* Gemini back to 6* Gemini on June 24^th – 25^th. Gemini is the sign of curiosity and the search for knowledge. So Venus is going back to find some bit of knowledge that she left behind.

The Sabian symbol for Venus at 22* Gemini is: Dancing couples at a harvest festival. This image of couples dancing in a new yet old rhythm speaks to the need for us to unite our masculine and feminine energies as well as partnering up with men and women who can help us keep up the rhythm. A harvest festival means that we have grown something that can sustain us through the coming cycle. The dance encourages the need to embody our emotions and then use our mind to 'make it so'. 

 

Venus is an Evening Star now but will be moving between the Earth and the Sun when she retrogrades. Venus will disappear from the evening sky on May 28^th and become a Morning Star on June 11^th.

The Sabian symbol for Venus turning direct at 6* Gemini is: Night workmen drill amidst noise and confusion. This is what we are facing. We need to look it in the eye and name it for what it is. The noise and confusion of our modern life isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it? We need to think about what we really want and need, what we really love. That knowing will decide how to act to change the world.

So with the Taurus New Moon/ Uranus and Venus in Gemini, we are invited to imagine what the most beautiful, most ingenious, most interesting future for ourselves and the world might be. This is our playtime this year – things won't be really changing until next year. There will be lots of revising and reconsideration this year, so don't get stuck on one option or one point of view. This is the year to explore possibilities.

Venus and Mars are both in air signs, so they are open to conversing about these new possibilities. The issue is that the old ways are dying and these are the masculine yang aspects of our society. We have to let the the yang die so the yin, feminine energy can re-birth the world for us, as the divine Feminine always does. Mars is the dying and rising God, just as Venus is the Eternal Mother and Goddess of Life. So Venus and Mars are trying to work it all out. Mars in Aquarius helps us find our ideals and open to cosmic vision about what the masculine yang energy needs to do and become.

Venus and Mars

The other player in this situation is Mercury, which went regrade in Pisces for almost two months before heading into Aries on April 10^th. Perhaps you've noticed that people have been expressing their opinions rather loudly (the strikes and also online) since then. Mercury, the messenger god and ruler of Gemini – and Venus and therefore an influence on the Taurus New Moon – loves a good fight when in Aries, either physically or verbally. Mercury in Aries is a brilliant planner, and is at its most positive when we use mental energy to start making plans for the future now. Don't waste time arguing with people – everybody thinks they're right. That's Mercury in Aries for you.

As astrologer Anne Ortelee so brilliantly reminds us, Mercury is giving us the message to pay attention to what's going on now as it comes up to its square to Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn. Because it will show us what we'll be dealing with in the second half of the year.

We're in for a rocky ride come this summer when Mars travels through Aries and retrogrades there, remaining in Aries for 6 months instead of 6 weeks. From the last days of June until January 2021, Mars will challenge us and the world as it keeps squaring Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn at the same time that it joins Eris, the Goddess of Discord in Aries. The second half of the year will be our test. Will we descend into fighting or will we take a stand for a new world, a better world?

It's also time to gather seeds and plant gardens, a great Taurus activity, because our food chain has been disrupted and there probably will be food shortages this summer. Just saying... Be cunning now and watch what's going on in the news, not in fear but to gather information (Venus in Gemini). We need to know what's going on so we're prepared for what's coming next.

Ask yourself, what is the creative solution that will help me grow? Remember, simplify and prepare for the future.

May you walk in the Light with gratitude and delight.

Cathy

“Finisterre” by David Whyte

The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,
into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you
as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way
to your future now but the way your shadow could take,
walking before you across water, going where shadows go,
no way to make sense of a world that wouldn’t let you pass
except to call an end to the way you had come,
to take out each frayed letter you had brought
and light their illumined corners; and to read
them as they drifted on the western light;
to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;
to promise what you needed to promise all along,
and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here
right at the water’s edge, not because you had given up
but because now, you would find a different way to tread,
and because, through it all, part of you would still walk on,
no matter how, over the waves.

Please Like and Share.  Thank you!  Stay well and safe.

 

The Cosmic Story: Libra/Aries Full Moon, April 7, 2020

Here is my Libra Full Moon video: 

Thank you!

 






 

3 Cats Astrology: first Video from March 20th, Spring Equinox

Hi Everyone,

Here's the first video from 3 Cats Astrology.  A playful look at some of the astrology of now.

It looks like I can't upload Face Book Live videos -- if anyone knows how, please advise.

Have a great day.
Mama Cat

The Cosmic Story: Spring Equinox 2020

The Cosmic Story: Spring Equinox 2020

It's time to choose the uncertain future over the unsustainable past.

The symbolic interpretation of the Pandemic

Well, we've all been sent to our rooms without any supper, haven't we?

No NBA or March Madness, no professional sports, no museums or large gatherings, no Broadway shows or Vegas conventions. We all have to go home and 'self-distance' from each other.

If we could only shut off the Internet and phone services as well, we might get to contemplate our 'sins' in the quiet. And believe it or not, they are many! Just ask Mother Earth.

Just like Max and the Wild Things, we are sent to our rooms for our inability to be responsible for our actions, perhaps feeling we're victims of an unjust fate.

But perhaps like Max, once we're alone in our room, our imaginations might open up to us and help us reflect on how we got here.

Since we're all in this together, we all helped create this mess together. It's a good time to look at all your own 'wild things' staring you down and decide how you want the rest of your life to play out. How do you want to meet this moment?

People are falling into fear and then panic due to the media hype. Fear wrecks havoc on our immune system. 

Greek God Pan 

The word panic is derived from the great god, Pan – the god of Nature. Panic occurs when our very nature rises up in protest to what we are doing. While it might seem like Nature herself has turned on us, the truth is Nature hasn't turned on us. She is just trying to heal her own human-made wounds.

As we all sit in our homes, afraid to go out or to run out of toilet paper, what better way to spend our alone time then to try to understand just what we're really feeling. Just what are we afraid of?

The obvious answer is that we're afraid of death.

So, we are facing our fear of death. I always think of Carlo Castaneda's don Juan saying,

“Death is the only wise adviser that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch.”

I am an advocate of taking death as my adviser. And this virus is giving us a chance to do just that.

If we widen the lens of our perspective, we can see that this pandemic might be connected to the ecological damage we have done to our planet. Mother Earth has sent us devastating hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes and floods to let us know that the environment is being destabilized. Since we're not taking climate change seriously, we will find ourselves more and more at the mercy of our environment.

So this is a great time-out for us, to consider what our life-style has done not only to Mother Earth, but to all her children. Our wars, our splintered beliefs, our greed, our narcissism are waiting for us to really see what modern life has become.

Mother Earth can self-regulate, but first she has to heal what is wounded. A Virus like this one is a way She self-corrects. No, it is not God's punishment for being gay or wanting an abortion. It is the Goddess' energetic re-balancing of what humans have done to the environment. This is brought on by our own inability to self-regulate – our actions, our desires, our intentions, our commerce.

The world has finally stopped spinning so fast and everything is on hold. This is a game changer. After this, we all have to decide what we want life to be like after COVID-19. Do we go back to the same-old, same-old or do we change the way we've been living and invest the Fed's $1.5 trillion dollars in renewables, infrastructure, the green new deal, new work accommodations, better education to the future.

If we can imagine it, we can change our world after this crisis passes.

This is definitely mirrored in the heavens. As above, so below. As within, so without. We are all one, held in Mother Earth's embrace. Hopefully, this crisis will help us remember that we are supposed to be the stewards of the Earth. That means creating a sustainable way of life. Which means we have to stop rampant consumerism, wars and corporate control of life.

Life isn't the economy. The economy is just one of many facets of life. We've let the economy consume all the other aspects of what it means to live a creative, caring life. The symbol of our economy is the stock market, which in reality is just gambling on which commodity will get you the most money. Perhaps it's a good thing that the market is crashing, because it no longer serves life.

Astrology of the Breakdown

Astrology can point out many factors that led to this crisis. The lineup of planets in Capricorn, the sign regulating our collective structures – government, finance, defense, healthcare, education – gives us insight into this collective breakdown.

Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, during the last financial crisis. Pluto wants to purify the system, to bring up what's no longer viable so it can be composted into new soil. Instead of fixing our economy, we threw money at it. Just as the Fed is doing now.

So Pluto has kept up its relentless examination of all the things no longer working in our society, trying to purge everything that is toxic. Hopefully, this time-out will give Americans time to realize just how toxic our way of life is and how corporations have seduced us into thinking we need all the junk they manufacture. When in fact, we don't.

This is very much about corporate power. Please remember: America was pretty much founded by the East Indian Trading Company – a corporation. What do you think the Boston Tea Party was all about? 'Taxation without representation is tyranny!' They were paying taxes to the Company with England's blessing. Isn't that what the American people are doing – paying taxes while the wealthy and corporations don't? We've been a corporate state from the beginning, founded at the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. So we shouldn't be surprised that our corporations are running things. It's just time to put an end to it.

America is having her Pluto return in the next few years in the sign of Capricorn, another sign that we're a corporate state. We are experiencing the very end of a 246 year cycle which often heralds the 'end of empire'. So we are living in a similar energy to the time before the American Revolution. Perhaps we need to connect with those ancestors who rebelled against that tyranny and ask them for advice on how to meet this moment. We can do a shamanic journey, active imagination or meditation on it, since we'll all be home for the foreseeable future.

Saturn is the reality principle, the energy of structure and form, and of taking responsibility for our actions. Cause and effect. Saturn forces us to face our fear and frustration, fight or flight reactions and manage them. Saturn has been in Capricorn since 2018, trying to hold up a crumbling system until this January 12^th, and pushing us to grow up and take responsibility for our actions.

On January 12, 2020 these two planets met for the first time in Capricorn since 1517, the year Martin Luther changed the course of western Europe. It seems we are going through a similar and more important change. We are seeing the death and rebirth (Pluto) of our society with new structures (Saturn) emerging. This time, these two planets are signaling the end of patriarchy and hopefully, runaway capitalism.

Jupiter and Mars are both approaching Pluto over the next few weeks, so we're probably not out of the woods yet. Jupiter expands things and Mars gets the action moving. This is a good time to be energized by old myths and new stories, and new hope instead of the story of fear and panic that the media is dishing out. While you're home, read or watch movies like 'The Lord of the Rings' and be energized by the heroic efforts to bring down evil.

It was during the December-January eclipse season that we became aware of the coronavirus. The Lunar Nodes are in Cancer/Capricorn. The Capricorn South Node, which has connected with Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter and now Mars, has been forcing us to face our karmic debts to society, to remember them and release them. Many people have been clearing out ancestral wounds, working to step away from 'the father's house' and learning to live according to the dictates of our souls (the North Node in Cancer.)

We began to learn more about the virus as Mercury retrograded in Pisces, the sign of the collective unconscious. There are no borders there. Suddenly, our perceptions of things changed. We're finally seeing the big picture – Mercury turned direct in the last degrees of Aquarius, the collective consciousness. And last week's medical Virgo Full Moon rose opposite the Pisces Sun conjunct Neptune, the planet of infectious disease and pandemics, opening us up to the reality of the crisis.

Will we chose Love or Fear? The heavens are voting for Love and so are many of us.

The energy of Love will help us meet the crisis with strength and courage. We will go through hard times, but if we persevere, we can also change the dynamic of how the world operates.

What's important is how we each show up to help create a new story for ourselves and our world.

This virus is giving us an opportunity to master ourselves and our gifts and use them. It affects the lungs, where we take in the Breath of Life. Inspiration comes from the Latin inspirare "blow into, breathe upon," figuratively "inspire, excite, inflame," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + spirare "to breathe". Perhaps we need to look at what we really believe about life – do we believe that there is a spiritual power greater than our human ego? It might be a lack of resilience and spirit that makes the difference between life or death.

So breathe deeply, take air into your lungs and keep them flexible. As we work to fill ourselves with breath and the Light, we can be a Light to the world. It's our choice.

So we find ourselves a week away from Spring Equinox 2020, settling into our homes to live out the last week of winter in self-imposed isolation. I urge you to use your imaginations and open yourself to possibilities, rather than close yourself off through fear.

This is a Blessing from Mother Earth and Spirit.

Spring Equinox 2020

Our Brave New World is approaching.

This will be a very interesting Spring Equinox ingress chart, since we've never experienced such a breakdown in global society before. I especially love that the Italians are singing out their windows with their neighbors. Perhaps we need to follow their lead and connect with our neighbors in new and artful ways.

The Spring Equinox is considered the beginning of the astrological year. This year I'm going to use the Washington D.C. Chart rather than a generic 0* Aries rising chart so I can comment on how Americans can use this time to our advantage.

Spring Equinox occurs on March 19, 2020 at 8:50pm PDT/ 11:50pm EDT/ 3:50am GMT. 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 1* Aries is: A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her. Something new is arising out of the sea of the collective unconscious. It is feminine because all new things arise out of the Divine Feminine. It is a new feeling, a new consciousness, a new instinct for life. The seal is a symbol of creativity, active imagination and lucid dreaming. This is because we need to engage our imagination when we are at the beginning of something new.

The Aries Sun is conjunct Chiron, the wise mentor and wounded healer, and it squares the Cancer/Capricorn Nodes, indicating that if we look to the future, this can be a time to heal old wounds and come into our power. If we continue to hold onto the old, we'll run into more wounding and trouble, fear and confusion.

The Aries Sun and Chiron land in the 6th house of everyday living, health and service. How can we heal our bodies from the toxins our industrial society has infected with air, the water and our food with? Can we learn to use our time during the day creatively? How can our talents serve our communities? These are questions Americans need to answer if we want to change our lives and our world.

With the Aries New Moon following on March 24 conjunct Chiron, the more you give into unconscious fears and panic, the more you'll restrict yourself and lose an opportunity for new growth. Chiron initiates us into our heroic self. This might be the time when we are called to help our family, our neighbors and the world.

Aries is all about new beginnings, just as Spring is the season of the rebirth of Nature. (Down in the southern hemisphere, you are arriving at Autumn Equinox, a time to look at your harvest.)

Aries are bold explores, looking for new frontiers to conquer. Ruled by Mars, it is very action oriented. For this Aries ingress, Mars is in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter, providing us with confidence and strength and the ability to deal with whatever comes our way if we use these energies correctly. Otherwise, it can make us more aggressive (Jupiter expands things).

When a planet(s) is squaring the Nodes, we have to work on the issue that planet brings up before we can get to the North Node destiny. With the Capricorn/Cancer axis, we can leave behind our patriarchal engendered fears (Capricorn) if we see ourselves as capable of staying centered in our soul-needs in the midst of chaos (Cancer).

So with this 'time-out', let go of the shoulds and oughts of patriarchy and listen to what you truly love and need. What will make you flourish now? And how can you help people around you flourish?

Go out into Nature. Mother Earth is our teacher – She can show us what we need to do. As we look for purpose, where better than in Nature. We are here to understand how to live differently, to live sustainably and in harmony with Nature and her needs. To return to our purpose of being Mother Earth's stewards. We need to reclaim our place in Nature's biosphere.

We can combine modern western consciousness with a simpler lifestyle, not centered around work and production (they have robots for this) but around creativity and imagination to make the world better and people more conscious. We can re-create a good healthy world.

With Sun in Aries, the impulse is to go out and explore. If you've been obsessing about what to do, go into Nature and ask her. See what She says to your life and condition. Believe it.

This Equinox chart has a balsamic phase Moon in Aquarius. That means this is karmic. We have to finish up old business.

The Moon symbolizes our Body Soul, our unconscious needs and desires. In this Equinox chart, it's in the 4^th house of home and family and soul. Since we're all exiled to our rooms/homes for now, we are being given an opportunity to tune into the larger picture. Where do we fit into the cosmic order?

Aquarius energy is about developing a more detached and cosmic view of life. There are higher truths to life than scrambling for a paycheck. We need to step away from the lower desires of our physical selves, which has been manipulated into consumerism, and turn towards a higher cosmic consciousness that endorses the belief that we are all free and equal and that we are in charge of our evolutionary paths. If this pandemic can teach us that we are one world, one people, perhaps we'll no longer allow our governments to spend our hard earned cash on war, greed, domination and authoritarianism. This is the sign of the Revolutionary, the Eccentric, the Genius. So this is a good year to discover those qualities within ourselves. 

 

Venus in Taurus squares this Moon, challenging us to use our senses, go out into Nature and ground in the cosmic truths the Moon is examining. We don't need more things. We need to awaken our bodies to the reality of the world; not only to the toxicity our society has poisoned it with but also to how beautiful and nurturing to our souls it is.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 14* Aquarius is: A train entering a tunnel. While there's the obvious sexual symbolism of penetration, it also suggests a secret passage to another realm. Or an underground bridge that will take us through something, like the tunnels underwater like in Boston or New York or through mountains like in Switzerland. This symbol implies the ability to short-cut the process of natural evolution by the exercise of will, mental skill and physical self-discipline. It shortens the length of time needed to progress by cutting through obstacles in our way.

That certainly feels like what this pandemic is doing. It is short circuiting our social structures so we might have the ability to move ahead into a different future.

Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn and the Guardian at the Gate who initiates us into our life lessons, is at the last degree of Capricorn. That means it's at a culmination point. Can we do the best job of what life is testing us with? Can we consciously evolve so we actually face the reality of Climate Change and change the way we live?

The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 30* Capricorn is: A secret meeting of the people responsible for executive decisions in world affairs. We can look at this and think that it refers to a wealthy 'cabal' who seem to be running the show. Or even the old occult idea of the 'White Lodge'. But in this time when we are called to step forward and be responsible for our lives, this is a call to each of us to step up!

With Mars and Jupiter meeting up hours after the Equinox, the energies will be bigger than usual, since Jupiter expands things it touches. In Capricorn, this energy is like the CEO who knows how it to use the tools are her disposal well. Mars grapples with life, not shying away from what needs to be done. Jupiter gives him the best tools to work with, whether the best sword or the best plans. (Where is Elizabeth Warren and her plans when we need her!)

The Sabian symbol for both Mars and Jupiter at 23* Capricorn is: A soldier receiving two awards for bravery in combat. This symbol implies that whatever we do for ourselves and society will have double the effect on our lives. So be brave and face this alone time with creativity and imagination, love and hope, kindness and compassion.

Since Mars is the co-ruler of this Scorpio Ascendant along with Pluto, and they are about to meet up on March 22-23, we can see that whatever is happening is going to get bigger before it gets better. 

The chart's Scorpio ascendant tells us that we have to explore the mysteries of life and death now. It's exactly what we need for our planet and our world.

Both Mercury and Neptune in Pisces occupy the 5^th house in the Equinox chart. So go play, with or without children, be imaginative, create something and go with the flow!

Check out the link of how Italians are singing in the streets!

Italians singing to each other

So here are some things to do while we stay home.

1. Stop being afraid or worried. They're wasted e-motions (energy in motion) – wasted energy. Focus on what you're discovering about yourself and the world and use your energy to explore new possibilities.
2. Stay in touch with family and friends, help out neighbors and see what your community needs in the way of volunteers.
3. Go out into Nature and ask Her how you're doing as well as what to do. And enjoy the beauty of Spring's awakening.
4. Listen to music that inspired you in your youth – Or whatever inspires you to be your truest self. I think the music from the 60s-70s talk to us about how we need to change. Like George Harrison's Give Me Love or Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth (there's something happening here. It just ain't exactly clear...I think it's time we stop Children, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down?) Or Cat Steven's Peace Train. Find your own playlist that inspires you to be your best self.
5. Watch movies and shows that inspire you like The Lord of the Rings or Avatar. I love 'This Is Us' – one of the most psychologically astute studies of parenting and children. And there's a great father figure in it – much better than 'Father Knows Best'!
6. Enjoy your solitude and learn something new – there are a lot of online classes, some for free!
7. Do some art. Dance. Learn to play an instrument. Sing!
8. Tell your self a new story.
9. Read the mythic stories of heroes and heroines.
10. Write what you're doing and share on social media. Pass around your ideas.

We can make something good of this 'self-distancing'. Let's come out of this 'crisis' better than we were.

Walk in the Light and Delight in the Springtime energy,

Cathy

A Swiss friend sent me this to share.

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

-from Richard Hendrick (Brother Richard) in Ireland
March 13th 2020

The Cosmic Story: Mercury retrograde in Pisces, 2020.

A Deep Dive Into Many Dimensions

This week's Mercury retrograde in Pisces deals with accessing and healing ancestral wounds and focusing our will to release old karma to free us up to live a new story for ourselves and the world. Although Mercury doesn't meet up with Neptune (April 3) until after the retrograde is over (March 9), Neptune's influence is strong, as strong as the wild currents that move and shift in the ocean. 

 Mercury in Pisces assumes his most sacred role of Psychopomp/ Guide to Souls and in Pisces, Neptune can open the portals between dimensions and times. 

 

Mercury is the Messenger God, the god of travelers, thieves, traders and communications. He's all about how we use our voice, how we express ourselves, how we think about things. As Hermes Trigmegistus, thrice-greatest Hermes, he rules the alchemical transformation process. And when it's important, Hermes/ Mercury is the Guide of Souls, the Psychopomp who leads us through many dimensions.

 

Hermes Supporting the Tree of Universal Life

When Mercury is retrograde, it gives us a chance to go back and recover things we missed in our rush forward in life. So slow down your mind and let it watch as the images of the collective unconscious arise within you. 

 

So use these three weeks of Mercury retrograde to do some inner traveling and find the truth of who you are and what you need to do in this most beautiful, dangerous time.

Pisces is the sign of the oceanic collective unconscious, the great repository of our collective memories, hopes and dreams. Our whole ancestral lineage as well as our soul lineage is contained there for us to access. It is the realm of the archetypes, especially the place we can access our Higher Self, since it is our unique connection to Source. 

 

We have the opportunity to use these three weeks to access our connection with Source, with our guides, with past lives as well as with our DNA ancestors. (I'll suggest a few ways to do this later on.)

Pisces rules the Arts, the creative imagination, agape love, compassion, sacrifice and mysticism, as well as addiction and delusion. If we use our Pisces energy well, instead of being upset over delusions running amok in the world, be creative and come up with some solutions to what is going on in the world! Don't be afraid of the word 'sacrifice' -- it means to 'make sacred'.  We have forgotten that sometimes we have to sacrifice something in our lives for the new life to appear.    Just be a light to the world.

 

During the next three weeks, be creative! Play with your imagination and see what you discover.  We need to be playful to discover new visions.

With the recent Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, we are at the very beginning of a new form of society. I believe this conjunction signals the end of patriarchy and the beginning of a partnership society, where not only men and women are equal but also where the masculine and feminine qualities of life work together. That means listening to our intuition and feelings and using our logical minds to make decisions based on them. 

 

We are facing an unknown future. We can't go back to our old ways of living – it's not sustainable. And patriarchy so needs to die! We need a new imagination of what life can be like for all the peoples of the Earth connected with the Earth herself. We are the grandparents of the future. So, don't freak out because the future is in our hands.

The Eye of the Collective Unconscious

The next three weeks are a great time to meditate, dream and journey into this mystical dimension to access our connection to our Higher Self and face what needs to be healed and left behind.

 

With Mars just entering Capricorn, we'll have the executive energy to get things done. We'll get down to work as he joins the South Node (Feb. 25), Jupiter (March 20), Pluto (March 22) and Saturn (March 31 at 1* Aquarius) cleaning out the old so the new energies can blossom in the Spring. When Mercury turns retrograde, Mars in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus help each other manifest a new Taurus reality, and they both sextile this Mercury retrograde, opening up our minds to new possibilities and therefore new connections in the outer world. 

Mercury turns retrograde on February 16, 2020 at 4:54pm PST/ 7:54pm EST/ and on February 17 at 12:54am GMT.

 Mercury retrograde chart

 

The Sabian Symbol for Mercury going retrograde at 13* Pisces is: An ancient sword, used in many battles, displayed in a museum. The sword of the King, the sword of truth, justice and mercy. A fitting symbol for Will Power. It is our will power that chooses and determines how we live our lives. It is the energy of Source working through each of us. It is how we develop character and live our values. It gives us the courage to stand up to oppression and lies, hypocrisy and cruelty. And it gives us the courage to face and embrace our own Shadows.

Anduril -- Sword of the West

Mercury retrograde squares the Moon at 12* Sagittarius: A flag turns into an eagle;the eagle into a chanticleer saluting the dawn. This symbol asks us to go beyond identifying ourselves with one nation. It is a call to a higher truth – that we are all in this together. The eagle is another symbol of the spiritual will and the power to rise our consciousness to its highest potential. And the chanticleer announces a new day, a new Dawn for us. We each have to bring about that new birth within ourselves so we can birth a new order in the outer world. (and here is the energy for our travels – Moon in Sagittarius wants to travel far and wide to learn the Truth.)

It's time to face the Truth. Don't let yourself be deluded by fake news, whether in the outer world or from within. Our ego can refuse to see the truth or twist the truth to suit its needs. We see this projection everyday in the news. This is the time to let your Soul guide you.

“True solutions . . . can only be found in the dimensions of timelessness where the core meanings of life originate. Accessing the timeless realm is a journey into the great mystery,where veiled Truths are revealed through surrender of our ego. The lesson is to transcend time and space and see beyond the various attachments of our egocentric identity.

… Truth appears when we are in a neutral state, when we see what is and relinquish our wishful thinking. Happiness lies in accepting life as it is, the parts we like and those we don't.

… The choice isn't whether to choose Truth or not, but whether to accept it when it reveals itself.” (Maurice Fernandez, Neptune, pp. 375-76)

We live in an immense universe which, while orderly and perfectly balanced, is mostly an unknown to us. Our ego just can't see beyond our human perspective. Unless we go within and use our native ability to connect with Mother Earth and her other children as well as spirits from other dimensions and realities. You could call these spirits ascended Masters or archetypes or Master Guides. 

 

If we call on the highest good, we can find our place in the Universe. We can live consciously in that immensity. If we can harmonize with what is, we can find the joy in Life that seems to be missing from our lives.

Back in the early 80s during my last year at the C. G. Jung Institut-Zurich, I had a series of tidal wave dreams. Tidal wave dreams have played out in the psyches of many people, from Tolkien to me. A lot of my clients have had tidal wave dreams. If the ocean symbolizes the matrix of life, the source of our collective being, than tidal waves symbolize a great up-swelling of the collective unconscious. Often these waves can sweep us away.

 My tidal wave dreams were a bit different than those I heard from my clients. In mine, I am often standing on a boardwalk or on the sandy beach and I see giant tidal waves rising up out in the ocean. People are swimming in them, and the waves just hang there. Nobody panics. Nobody gets swept away. There is curiosity but no fear. I had dreams like this often, changing a bit but never bringing devastation or destruction to me.

After I left the Jung Institut-Zurich and started studying astrology, I realized that while I was having those dreams, Neptune was on the Galactic Center and on my priestess, Vesta (24-26* Sagittarius). After three years of Jungian dream analysis, I was an open vessel for the life of my unconscious. Jupiter was in Scorpio opposite my Taurus planets, helping me dig deep into my unconscious in therapy, while Saturn and Pluto were conjoined in Libra, seeding my liberation from the old paradigm of patriarchal marriage and relationships. Uranus was in early Sagittarius opposite my Mercury, my chart ruler, opening me up to new ideas. And with all my personal planets in the 12^th house, I became a transmitter for the messages Neptune was transmitting from the Galactic Center. 

 

I dreamed of tidal waves. I dreamed of a great up-welling of all those things we have rejected and made outcast from collective consciousness. And our ego consciousness. The Divine Feminine, social equality, young children and elders, financial security, kindness, community, respect and responsibility, freedom and spiritual awareness. I came to understand that those tidal waves symbolize the great uprising of the collective unconscious – not to sweep us away but to carry us into the future. 

 

And the future is now!

Right now, people are feeling overwhelmed, as if a tidal wave has hit them. Health concerns, the death of loved ones, loss of a job, divorce, the state of the world. I just want to let you know that you can handle this. These tasks are your initiation, an experience that your soul has chosen to learn from. 

 

After the January 12, 2020 conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, the collective energy is available to rebuild our lives and our society. We just have to take responsibility for it. What is our highest good and our highest desire? Magic happens – but it also takes a lot of hard work.

What kind of world do we want to live in? 

 

Everyone wants to know, “What's my purpose?” thinking that it must be some job and activity. But the secret is, our real purpose is to learn how to live Life in the best possible way that we can. To reconnect to Nature and to realize our connection with everyone in the world. To listen to our hearts and to do what is right, despite what the old dying patriarchy would have us do. To be happy with the life we have, with both the good times and the hard times. They are all our lessons and we can't escape them. Our purpose is to meet them as initiations into higher consciousness, to discover their meaning for us and to integrate that knowledge into wisdom.

Mercury is retrograde from February 16^th until March 9th-10^th, turning direct hours after the Virgo Full Moon. It travels back from 13* Pisces to 29* Aquarius. See where Mercury is traveling in your chart to understand the lessons it wants to teach.

Here are a few ideas for working with Mercury in Pisces.

1. Pay attention to your dreams for these three weeks. Keep a dream journal next to your bed and ask for information about what you need to access or release.
2. Do Shamanic journeys to work with an ancestor or spirit guide, by yourself or with a guide.
3. Meditate on what you've learned and see where it goes
4. Create some art to express what you're feeling.

All shamanic journeys are sourced in the imagination and in your intention.

Gratitude recognizes truth, transmits love and enhances energy. Seeing tells the truth, generates love and liberates energy. Blessing acknowledges the truth, radiates love and releases phenomenal energy.     (Hank Wesselman)

Journey back to the American Revolution

Here is a specific journey for those political activists who are working so hard not to freak out about what's going on. Just a reminder, astrologically, America is at the end of her empire. In just 2 years we're having our Pluto return, so of course we're seeing the bottom of the barrel of our democracy (for people living in other countries, America needs to re-do her revolution for everyone, since we have been the model for most modern democracies). 

 

Well, the first corporations helped settle and take over America. Our Pluto in Capricorn is all about the power of corporations, since it was a corporation – the East Indian Company – which was the cause of the Taxation of the colonies which sparked the American revolution. Remember – taxation without representation is tyranny! It's happening again today with the government tax giveaway to the wealthy and to corporations. 

 

If you feel it's time to take back the reins of democracy like our fore-bearers, take a journey to a colonial time just before the American revolution. Here are some pictures of my New England village that was founded in 1640 and was around during those turbulent times as well.  (I made some videos but I can't download them onto my computer.)

1755  A.D.

1768 A.D.

Imagine walking into one of the houses and find an ancestor who participated in the Revolution. See what you can learn and perhaps what you can do about our times.

 

Water Journey with Mercury

Imagine walking to a point of land overlooking the ocean and dive in. Let Mercury as psychopomp, in whatever guise he comes, lead you down into the depths of the ocean. See what he has to show you. He might lead you to an ancestor or to a past life. Or a portal to another dimension might open for you. Follow him and see what's there.

Journey for your soul's adventure.  

Walk in the Light!

Cathy