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: Aquarius New Moon 2021

 

The Cosmic Story: New Moon in Aquarius, February 11, 2021

 

 

All AIR signs are symbolized by wind and movement. Right now with the cold weather settling over most of the U.S., Aquarius could symbolize the equivalent of the polar vortex, (a persistent, large-scale, upper-level low-pressure area, that rotates counter-clockwise at the North Pole and clockwise at the South Pole, i.e., both polar vortices rotate eastward around the poles).

Aquarius, ruled by the Sky father Uranus, reaches into the cold air of the heavens. Because of its fixed nature, Aquarius can be coldly objective, seeing things from the heights of idealism. Like the cold air circulating through the upper atmosphere, Aquarius looks down on Earth with the clarity of a cold winter’s day.

Aquarius likes to share its cosmic knowledge, making sure that information, resources and energy get distributed and shared where they are needed. Interestingly, Aquarius also rules over the circulatory system in the human body with its opposite sign, Leo, ruling the heart. Together they keep us alive.  So connect with the heart of your creative expression so that you can circulate it into the collective mind.

With six planets in Aquarius during this Aquarius New Moon on February 11^th, we are being swept up in a vortex of energy that can take us into the future. Since Aquarius is a fixed air sign, a vortex or tornado are apt images for the power of Aquarian winds. Those cold winds from the upper world are exactly how Aquarius brings us the visions and potentials that Aquarius thrives on.

 

 

The last time there were these many planets in Aquarius was at the Aquarius New Moon on February 4, 1962, when there were 7 planets in Aquarius plus the South Node. One of my brother-in-laws was born a few days later, and I can tell you he is a powerhouse in the world. Back in 1962, both Jupiter and Saturn were also in Aquarius, although their conjunction occurred in Capricorn in 1961. This was the beginning of a cultural revolution against the main stream narrative. President Kennedy gave the first presidential talk on society and social issues and the 1st man, John Glenn, orbited the Earth, which led to a paradigm shift, as humanity saw the Earth from the new perspective of space. There was a spiritual awakening for most of humanity.

And of course, soon after this was the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1965-66, which was the beginning of the hippie movement and so much more. We experienced these planets squaring each other from 2012-2015 and since then, we have worked hard to bring those ideals into the world. That big conjunction in Aquarius was a seed point of a new era. 

 

 

And this powerful Aquarius New Moon is another beginning. In 1962, Uranus was finishing up its stay in Leo, so it formed an opposition to those planets, showing us that there were new possibilities available to us. This year, Uranus is in Taurus and is squaring those Aquarian planets, challenging them to do something concrete with all those visions and possibilities so we can bring them down to earth.

Aquarius New Moon, February 11, 2021

The Aquarius New Moon occurs on Thursday, February 11 at 10:06 am Alaska time, 11:06am PST/ 2:06pm EST/ 7:06pm GMT.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 24* Aquarius is: A man, having overcome his passions, teaches deep wisdom in terms of his experience. This image speaks to the need to 1) find meaning in our experiences and 2) to pass on that knowledge to younger or more inexperienced people so that they have a better understanding of life and how to work with the issues that arise.

Overcoming passions isn’t always the best way to talk about learning from life experiences though. Our passions are the fuel that keeps us searching for life and meaning. I would rather say that we need to not be ruled by our passions but to work with them to accomplish our goals.

On the other hand, this is a great image of how Aquarius works. If you know any Aquarians, they are often coolly objective and rational with their judgments, even when it hurts. And since Aquarius wants to circulate knowledge, what better way than by example.

Aquarius the Water Bearer

 

The image of Aquarius is the Water Bearer, a person pouring out the waters of life, of the unconscious, of the archetypal patterns.The ancient Babylonians associated this constellation because the 11^th month was the time when the rains came.

Since it is an air sign, there is an objectivity about the watery depths and heights. The archetypal patterns of life help us understand our emotional reactions to life. Aquarius describes our humanitarian impulses, our urge for freedom, our ability to awaken to our soul’s wisdom and our need to rebel against constrictive norms.

I imagine you’re all feeling a big energetic shift by now, since all those planets moved out of responsible, demanding Capricorn into this much lighter Aquarian energy. We’ll be in Aquarian energy for decades. We’re leaving behind the old story so a new story can emerge. Jupiter is in Aquarius for most of 2021, Saturn will stay there until March of 2023 and Pluto will enter Aquarius in 2023 until 2044. So this is our chance to ground this Aquarian energy and make some new beginnings for this new story for humanity and the world that will take us into the future.

But with the overload of 6 planets plus the asteroid Pallas, our minds can go into overdrive. So take time to breathe. The best way I’ve found to handle energy is Qi Gong, which circulates and balances both yin and yang, the energies of heaven, you and Earth. If you’re going to do any meditating on this powerful New Moon, I suggest you find some Qi Gong videos and do some moving meditations before you plant your New Moon seeds. 

Alex Grey ~ Qi Gong Energy Flow

Venus and Jupiter meet up a few hours before this New Moon. These two planets bring good luck and success to your endeavors. The Sabian symbol for Venus and Jupiter at 13* Aquarius is: A barometer. A barometer measures air pressure and any change in pressure allows us to know what’s heading our way. It helps us anticipate what the future might hold, which is a big help at New Moon time. Use this helpful energy to intuit what seeds need to be planted for the best possible outcomes.

Besides a nice sextile between Neptune in Pisces and Mars in Taurus, which opens Mars to creative possibilities in terms of actions, the rest of the chart is comprised of the squares between all those Aquarian planets and Uranus and Mars in Taurus. In anticipation of the first of three squares (on February 17^th) between Saturn and Uranus which will dominate 2021, this New Moon holds the potential for those seeds to crack open and grow as the year unfolds. So choose your intentions wisely.

Unlike last year, which saw three new planetary cycles end and begin, and two big retrogrades of Venus and Mars, this year’s drama is pretty much centered on Saturn’s waning square to Uranus.

Saturn is all about structures and limitations and top-down authority while Uranus is about blowing those structures up, about awakenings and bottom-up revolution. Squares are inner tensions that need to be resolved. A waning square, like the last quarter Moon, demands that we make conscious choices based on our values.

It’s interesting that Saturn, which rules Aquarius along with Uranus, is the more traditional, conservative energy in a progressive sign. While Uranus, the radical visionary, is in the most earthy, traditional sign. What to make of this energetic tension?

Uranus is the force of cosmic law that knows when things have to change – no matter what. In Taurus, it becomes Earth’s creative genius. While Uranus remains in Taurus until 2026, we have to break up what is stale and outworn and open up to the energetic push to listen to Mother Earth’s wisdom teachings.

Uranus will bring us leaps in our understanding of reality. We might engage in telepathy as well as access information from the quantum field. Who knows? Our healing ability might grow as our DNA is awakened. Anything and everything is possible now. So use your creative imagination to create your future, now that we’ve been freed from the patriarchal prison of small possibilities. 

 

The Mind of Nature ~ Alex Grey 

 

The tension between these two forces will center around Saturn-control and Uranus-freedom. Since Uranus always wins in the end, Saturn will have to give up its control and offer its gift of form and structure to the Uranian revolution that needs to happen. We have to focus on Mother Earth’s needs and listen to our indigenous people who know how to live in harmony with Her. We need new forms of energy, of food production, of land management. We need to save our animal relations and help them to thrive once again if we are to survive and thrive. These are the tensions I see that we’ll have to face this year. The corporate structure has to let go of its power and control over the world and start to re-shape itself to meet the Earth’s needs and our needs rather than corporate bottom lines.

With Mars in Taurus, we have to dedicate our passions and energy into being stewards of the Earth.

There will be struggles we still have to face. We can face them with fear or with joy. It is our choice. Since Aquarius is closely related to the quantum field, it is important to really understand that what we put our attention on, manifests. Aquarius is a mental energy field, and matter coalesces around our frequency. At this time, our world is descending into the chaotic field of endings and new beginnings. Things aren’t predictable anymore as all the old systems crumble.

So the most important thing we can do right now is to believe in the unseen.

The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 8* Aquarius is: Beautifully gowned wax figures on display. This relates to the fixed mental archetypal patterns we base our lives on. There are new forms of these ancient archetypes being revealed and still being shaped by our imaginations.

The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 8* Taurus is: A sleigh on land uncovered by snow. This seems to be another symbol of anticipation – we have a vehicle to get us where we need to go in this winter time of the world. Or an image of some vehicle we no longer need because the season has changed. Your choice!

Together, it asks us to shape those mental archetypal patterns for a new reality that hasn’t appeared yet but is on its way. It’s time for us to embody this Aquarian energy in our expectations and our decisions to make it happen.

Mercury retrograde is also conjunct Venus and Jupiter and asks us to think outside the box, to think big and hopeful, and to open to new visions of the possible human. Mercury trines the Gemini NN, opening us to new information so we can make new choices and let go of limiting beliefs (Sagittarius SN).

Mercury turns direct on February 20^th at 12* Aquarius. The Sabian symbol is: Life’s broad stairway, each landing a new grade of life. I think this image speaks for itself. May we rise ever higher as we walk into the future.

Use this amazing energy to co-create the next steps in Earth’s evolution. Remember though, this is very idealistic energy so don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re not going to manifest things right away. Remember that we’re not here to be perfect, but to keep going on our quest.

Chinese fortune cookie: This is a time to think big because we have the energy to grow big.

Warm regards during this cold week,

Cathy

 

 

Follow Your Bliss

The divine manifestation is ubiquitous,
Only our eyes are not open to it.

 

Awe is what moves us forward.

 

Live from your own center.
The divine lives within you.
The separateness apparent in the world is secondary.
Beyond the world of opposites is an unseen,
but experienced, unity and identity in us all.

Today the planet is the only proper “in group.”
Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows,
but we can choose to live in joy.

You must return with the bliss and integrate it.
The return is seeing the radiance is everywhere.
The world is a match for us.
We are a match for the world.
The spirit is the bouquet of nature.

Sanctify the place you are in.

Follow your bliss. . . .

~ Joseph Campbell ~

(Compiled from various writings of Joseph Campbell)

The Cosmic Story: Leo Full Moon and Mercury Rx 2021

 

The Cosmic Story: Leo Full Moon 2021

 

 

Just under a year ago at the last Leo Full Moon on February 9, 2020, we were just hearing about the Covid virus. I had flown out to the West coast to visit family and friends and run a workshop. All without really knowing that this deadly virus was spreading. What a difference a year makes.

Last year, Mother Earth sent to our rooms to contemplate the important things in life. What did we learn about ourselves and our world? How have things changed?

In ancient cultures without our modern conveniences, these winter months were difficult, for everyone went into survival mode as the cold temperatures turned the natural world dormant, making food and fuel scarce. This mid-winter Moon was called the Snow Moon or the Wolf Moon as our brother wolves searched for their own sustenance. Winter was the time to test oneself against scarcity in the cold, dark days and nights.

 

 

But our lock down wasn’t as harsh and unrelenting as Winter in those ancient times. Despite our isolation, we have our modern conveniences. Which makes it sad to see that even in such a wealthy country as the United States, people are going hungry and being left out in the cold. In survival mode. Especially during this world-wide pandemic.

Hopefully, we’ve all come to recognize the importance of family and community. But why isn’t that part of our national agenda? It seems that whenever our government tries to implement social safety nets, environmental protections and equal rights, there are powerful forces that would rather concentrate all the wealth for a very few, rather than for the good of the many. What would Mr. Spock think of that!

It makes me wonder why we let our leaders pour billions of our tax dollars into the military and corporations instead of using those resources for the betterment of the people. Maybe we let them because our collective psyche is constantly filled with images of war, fighting, explosions and death from films and TV. Maybe it’s because our corporations prosper when the imagined danger of war takes precedence over the promise of peace. This is the powerful military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about. This powerful group and their minions in government hold the rest of society hostage here in the US and in most governments around the world.

And it saddens me to see how these power players turn us against each other rather than uniting us to deal with the real problems we face: climate change (we have 9 years to limit global warming to 1.5*C), loss of our wilderness (down to 30% of the Earth), social and economic inequality and equal rights and freedom. So instead of working to heal the Earth for future generations, bringing our infrastructure online with clean energy, creating jobs which pay a living wage, we get into inane ideological arguments that have spilled over into outright rage and rebellion.

We, the People, have to find a better way. Because if we don’t, nothing changes.

When I saw Wonder Woman 1984, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was supposed to be about. And then I realized that it was about how America was turned into a consumer society back in the 80s, when corporations steered our focus onto all our petty desires to the exclusion of the greater good. The corporate message was: if you just buy enough things, you’ll be happy (and they get wealthier).

But we didn’t get happier. Instead, we became a nation of consumers, who are never satisfied, but who feel entitled and exceptional. And instead of planning for a better future, we chose our own immediate gratification over the well-being of our children’s children’s future.

Have we changed since then? Is our society ready to handle the most basic crisis any world can face – the mass extinction of the planet? The question that faces us is, are we willing to sacrifice for the future? Are we grown up enough to stop being seduced by useless pleasures and unnecessary things so we can get on with being stewards of the Earth, as is our true purpose in life.

Those rioters in Washington D.C. were right about the need for a second American Revolution – we’re about to have our nation’s first Pluto return, which means there needs to be a transformation of our national interests and reforms in government.

The American Revolution was fought to break away from a delusional king and corporate control (the East Indian Trading Company’s tea!). The similarities to what is happening now are interesting when you think about how history repeats itself if we don’t pay attention and learn its lessons.

But they were so wrong to think that by listening to a demagogue’s delusions and his demand to stay in power they would achieve that revolution. The way forward has to be a peaceful revolution, one in which we all contribute our talents and values to making our country and our world the paradise we actually have the ability to create.

We have the means. We just need to find the Will.

As Amanda Gorman so eloquently put it:

When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.

~The Hill We Climb

Now we just have to make it so. We can begin to do it with this Leo Full Moon.

 

Leo Full Moon 2021

The Leo Full Moon occurs on January 28, 2021 at 10:16am Alaska time, 11:16am PST/ 2:16 pm EST/ 7:16pm GMT.

 

 

The sign of Aquarius deals with the collective mindset of a society – how we operate as a unit and the values we work together to implement. The sign of Leo is about our individual talents and how we express them. When we have a Full Moon in these signs, we’re asked to consider how our individual creativity can be of service to the whole.

With the Sun conjunct Jupiter at this Full Moon, things can get blown out of proportion. Or we can feel expansive and so lucky we take risks. A positive Jupiter engages our generosity, warmth, wisdom and open-heartedness. Hopefully, with Saturn in the mix, we can tame a bit of that expansive energy, especially since Mars is part of the equation. So people might be argumentative now. Try to listen to people without prejudice and not get into arguments. We can stand back in silence and let the other have time to hear what they’ve just said.

The Sabian symbol for both the Sun and Jupiter at 10* Aquarius is: A man who had for a time become the embodiment of a popular ideal is made to realize that as a person he is not this ideal.

This is a synchronistic symbol for our times here in the U.S. Not only does it capture the reality of a deposed leader, but it also speaks to each of us individually and as a country. Are we really the people, as a country and as individuals, who we think we are? It’s time to some self-reflection and re-evaluation. Jupiter with the Sun can expand our delusions or help us break free of those delusions to see our shadows. And to heal. What will we choose?

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 10* Leo is: Early morning dew sparkles as sunlight floods the field.

Dane Rudhyar says it beautifully. “The cold air of night having precipitated upon the field of man’s consciousness the moisture of his deepest feelings, this widely spread dew is blessed with the light of signification by the rising sun of the new day. Even tears can be transformed into jewels in the light of victory over night and sorrow… The building of a new society, and of one’s renewed personality as well, is just as much a process of artistic creation as the making of a delicate glass vase or a symphony. The keyword is Transfiguration.

This is a call to focus our passions and deepest feelings on creativity and self-awareness. The Leo Moon shows us what stories we’ve been telling ourselves. It asks us to express ourselves through our creations. And it’s about the joy and fun of being a child. We have to recover our child-like wonder to create something.

We’ve all been learning new things during the pandemic lock downs. How has that creativity changed your view of life? How has it changed your life? Leo gives us the confidence, the generosity, the open-heartedness to meet the future with creativity and imagination. Now how can that creativity serve the whole group?

All Full Moons offer us a chance to reflect on the growth of the seed planted at the previous New Moon. This Leo Full Moon is the offshoot of the intense Capricorn New Moon which was conjunct Pluto, a New Moon that called for soul growth and evolution. The seeds we planted can bring about personal and cultural transformation and intense change. It won’t happen this week or even this year, but we are preparing the ground for it.

Now at the Full Moon we can see if we are on the road to accomplishing that seed objective. 

Aquarius Sun

 

The Aquarius Sun speaks to our idealism, our goals for the future, our unique genius and our need for authentic freedom. With Jupiter and Saturn in the mix, we are reminded of the recent Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on December 21, 2020, Winter Solstice, which began a cycle of a new social paradigm that we haven’t seen since before the Renaissance. We are about to embark on a cultural renaissance, but where will it come from? The bottom up, as in the past, or the top down, as government and many tech companies would like to see happen?

Saturn in Aquarius wants to rebuild structures that no longer work for all of us, and it will test those innovations and possibilities that Jupiter in Aquarius will want to press forward with. We have to bring our ideals down to earth in practical ways. By keeping open-minded and being patient, any challenges we meet along the way can be turned into opportunities to release what no longer works for us.

While Aquarius does rule technology, it also signifies working together as a community, like the Knights of the Round Table, for the common good. King Arthur was born on the Winter Solstice, so the Round Table is an apt symbol for this new cycle of conjunctions in AIR signs. Jupiter helps us expand our reach, through technology and through community, while Saturn makes us face our responsibility for being practical about its applications.

The energy of this Leo Full Moon is already intense. As you can see by all the red lines in the Full Moon chart, there is a strong tension between 6 planets. To make it even more intense, all these planets are in fixed signs, meaning that they are all inclined to want their own way. It’s like a bow string pulled to its furthest extent before release. Picture Robin Hood pulling his bow in front of the Sheriff of Nottingham, knowing that if he hits the bullseye, as he knows he can, he’ll be discovered and perhaps captured. Decisions, decisions!

The square to both Uranus and Mars in Taurus adds to the intensity. It can be disruptive or it can help with the process of manifesting those Aquarian ideals. When Uranus is in Taurus, the most earthy of the earth signs, it opens us to Mother Earth’s fertilizing creative genius. We are finally looking to the wisdom of the Earth, to how trees communicate and nurture each other, how mycelium connects everything in a unified net, how the animals we thought were ‘dumb beasts’ have shown us how to cooperate and thrive. There is even a movement for a new business model called the ‘circular economy’ which is inspired by Nature’s capacity to eliminate waste by transforming it into new fodder for ecosystems. 

 

Uranus
 

Uranus, the ancient sky god, awakens us to our place in Mother Earth’s biosphere. The question is, will we join her?

With Mars also squaring this Full Moon, we get the determination and stubbornness that Mars in Taurus always displays. Mars in Taurus gets the work done, no matter the pain and toil. Mars in Taurus will sacrifice immediate gratification for the bigger picture. While Mars and Uranus can make an explosive mix, the Saturn square to Uranus, which will occur all year long, will limit our reactions and hopefully keep us on the straight and narrow. Mars can get angry and combative, but if we use a little self control, we can harness his initiative and enthusiasm to make things happen.

The Sabian symbol for Mars at 11* Taurus is: A woman watering the flowers in her garden. Mars is using his dynamic here in the service of life and growth. He helps fertilize Mother Earth and create beauty. So use this energy well!

So, how to simplify this intense configuration. The Chinese fortune cookie simplification might be: Your unique creativity that can awaken your tribe must be organic and dynamic.

Saturn Square Uranus 2021

The square between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus is the big astrological aspect this year – February 17, June 14 and December 24. It is the waning square of their cycle which began in 1987 – 1989 in late Sagittarius and early Capricorn. Waning squares of a cycle remind us of what we believe and value, and how those values have to be included in anything we do. It is a time to re-evaluate our priorities and life-direction, so we can refine to our soul's purpose.

When these two planets work together, they bring in new ideas, innovations, inventions and discoveries. Uranus is the Divine Mind and Saturn is the Reality principle. Together they work to make those visionary ideas a reality. In this waning square of their last cycle, we will see new breakthroughs in technology, science and politics. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be tension between Uranus, the planet of awakening, revolution and freedom and Saturn, the planet of limitation, responsibility and authority. This is the tension between the old and the new. Will we relapse into an old story or create a new collective story?

This year-long square will bring us the tension that arises between our independence and freedom and our responsibility to the group. Should we wear masks in consideration of others? Or do we have the right to not wear them? The key is to stay flexible and look for opportunities as they present themselves. How can we be responsible and maintain our freedom? By learning to be free within ourselves. Then, being asked to be responsible for others isn’t so hard.

 

There are a few planet which aren’t part of this tense square.

Venus conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn for this Full Moon, joining him like Persephone in the Underworld, bringing in a more balanced feeling to the task of transformation. She tames this deep energy and makes it available to us to use for our own transformations. Venus is the Wisdom we can access when we listen to our bodies, our intuitions and our hearts. It’s time to rebirth our core values about what we really desire and how we want to work for our society. 

 

Mercury Retrograde: January 30 – February 20, 2021

  

The Messenger of the Gods

Then there’s Mercury, pretty much on its own at the end of Aquarius, except for a weak connection to Venus and Pluto. But Mercury doesn’t mind because it’s about to go retrograde on January 30^th at 27* Aquarius. You’ve probably been feeling its influence since around January 15^th, when it entered its shadow (the degrees it will go back to). It will stay retrograde until February 20^th and leave its shadow again on March 13^th – giving us a 2 month exercise in finding common ground with each other.

Mercury will retrograde 3 times this year in AIR signs, so we’ll be asked to look at how we communicate and socialize and share stories. It will meet up with the Sun, Venus and Jupiter on its retrograde journey, so stay aware of what’s going on for you on February 8^th (Sun), 10^th (square to Mars), 12^th (Venus) and 14^th (Jupiter) and March 4^th (Jupiter). Perhaps we’ll learn to communicate our truths in a better way. Isn’t it time to listen to each other once again?

Mercury in Aquarius is very opinionated – he knows what’s best – and yet is also objective. Aquarius is a fixed air sign so Mercury, while brilliant, is also fixed in his opinions and judgments. During the retrograde, we are going to have to re-evaluate, revisit, revise and review what we think we know. It also helps us figure out how we can work together to create a better society, one where each of us is equal and free and yet willing to bond in community.

Since Mercury usually effects our technology, especially in Aquarius, when things go south technologically, we’ll be challenged to be creative about keeping in touch with our tribes. That’s when we need to work on our innernet, our psychic connections and our telepathic abilities! So have fun with it.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for Mercury at 27* Aquarius is: An ancient pottery bowl with fresh violets. Violets are symbols of humility, simplicity and peace. They are also symbolic of twilight, the between times when the veils between worlds are thin. Violets are sacred to the Faerie Queen, so it is a magical flower that enhances our psychic sensitivity – so pay attention to your dreams.

Perhaps this image also asks us to remember traditional skills and values that our fast paced modern lifestyle ignores. Now that we’ve all had to slow down, perhaps we’ll reclaim deeper ways to connect to our world and its beauty, and older skills that we’ve let drop by the wayside.

 

Re-mythologizing the World:

St. Brigit’s Day/Candlemas/Imbolc – February 1 – 4

Perhaps it’s time to ‘re-story’ the world. So much of our American culture is new and cutting edge that we’ve lost touch with the old, ancient meaning of the important things in life.

Like the seasons, for one thing.

Do you know that we are about to enter the second phase of Winter, the time when the light will grow quickly now?

We keep a remnant of the old beliefs about this time of year in our celebration of Groundhog’s Day, when the groundhog peeks out of his hole and determines if Spring is on its way.

What is actually happening is that the Sun, on its journey back North, has reached a point where it can now bring more light to the northern hemisphere.

There were many ancient festivals celebrating this fact.

In ancient Rome, February was the month to clean out your inner and outer living space, letting go of the old year to make space for a new beginning in your life.

In the Celtic Wheel of the Year, this is the celebration of Imbolc, one of the four cross-quarter fire holidays that occur halfway between the solstices and equinoxes at 15* of the fixed, power signs of Aquarius, Taurus, Leo and Scorpio.

Imbolc or St. Brigit’s Day, signals the first signs of Spring and the return of light and life. It is the quickening of the year, the time of pregnancy and expectancy of life which is still hidden but just beginning to be seen. It’s the promise of renewal and the awakening of Earth’s life-force. It is also a time of prophecy and vision – the groundhog looking for his shadow!

 

 Brigit: Goddess of the Fires of Creation

St. Brigit/Bridget/Bride was the ancient Irish Mother Goddess, who was so beloved that the Catholic Church turned her into a saint. She is the Triple Goddess, but at Imbolc she is in her Maiden aspect. She is a Goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft. She is a Goddess of Fire, of the Sun and of the Hearth. She brings fertility to the land and its people and is closely connected to midwives and new-born babies.

Finally the Catholic Church called this festival Candlemas, celebrating the purification of Mary, the Lightbearer. This is the time when the Church blesses all the candles they use during the year in ritual, and they have a ritual where they bless people’s throats to protect them from colds during the late winter months.

So if you want to start to ‘re-story’ your world, take time out to create a ritual to envision what your year will bring to you. Light a candle, take a journey to the goddess’ cauldron of life and let your creative imagination give you the clue to the next stage of your life.

 To learn more about Imbolc and St. Brigit, go to The Bard's Grove!

Enough for now!

Blessings and gratitude for new beginnings,

Cathy

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