The Cosmic Story: Scorpio/Taurus Full Moon 2020

The Cosmic Story: Scorpio/Taurus Full Moon 2020

Emergence: Who will we be?

Ancient Beauty, as it were, shall pour over the land...

Ancient, Aboriginal, Primal Beauty...

Beauty that shall stop the Mind...

Beauty from all Pastime, blended into the NOW...

Beauty of unprecedented splendor shall flow across the land...

Primordial's Beauty has always been with us...

only now are we prepared to see... to BE.

(Galactic Shamanism the Star-Stone Ones by Mary Saint-Marie)

As we enter this season of Beltane, when the energetic veils between dimensions are thin and magic seeps through as the Beauty of Spring's returning life, we will have to embody this primordial Beauty in new and more creative ways. Dancing the Maypole or knocking back margaritas on Cinco de Mayo will probably be off the agenda. If we can't gather in our old cultural settings, we will want to find new ways to celebrate life, recharge our spirits and gather as a community.

Our world has changed in ways we never imagined.

Our world has the opportunity to change for the better.

How we handle this unfolding will determine if we become the change or not. That's what we've been saying to ourselves these past years, isn't it? Be the change you want to see.

Beltane is a cross-quarter fire festival, a celebration named for Belenus the Celtic Sun god. It is a celebration of the growing power of the Sun, bringing life back to us. This is a celebration of the fires of Life, the passions of Life, the embodiment of Life. So let us celebrate Beltane this year by opening ourselves to the Light. 

 

This is the moment, the moment of emergence. Like the Hopi myths of the changing of the ages, we will be emerging out of caves of isolation within our Selves, our homes, our communities and our countries. What will we choose to engage in when we emerge? Will our caterpillars turn to butterflies? Or will we be content to go back to what was before? Although I question if that is even possible.

We have been blessed with this amazing opportunity! The modern world and its machines have stopped! Once we start up again, it really is up to each of us how things turn out. Do we go back to supporting unconscious consumerism to get corporations flourishing again on our work and money? Do we want to create alternative cultures that incorporate a more spiritual, conscious vision? Do we value our time differently so we balance work and play?

How will we fill our lives now that we have our freedom (?) again.

We don't have to have the full picture yet of how and what we can do differently. We just have to start knowing that we want to live this new way of life. And stop the old habits from creeping back in because it's easier.

Hold onto the vision of the possible future. This is when we get to be co-creators.

Taurus shows us where our true wealth lies – in the bounty and fertility of the Earth as well as our inner wealth from all the lifetimes we've lived as well as from this lifetime. We come into life with a wealth of knowledge and talent and possibilities. Look for the house Taurus occupies – that's what gifts you've brought in. 

Pablo Amaringo

 

The Taurus Moon cycle began with Uranus joining the New Moon, awakening us to our new reality and giving us the opportunity to discover how we are going to embody that Aries primal fire. What have we discovered about ourselves that makes us passionately alive? What new ideas have come to us. This Taurus Moon cycle calls us to embody something new – some new behavior, physical action, decisions we've made. We don't have to solve the problem, we have the whole Moon cycle to work on what we need to do to embody this new energy.

In Taurus, our lesson is to learn to embody the Aries' fire. This year's Taurus' lunar cycle can ground in this newfound freedom to move and connect as states and countries start to open up. How we move and connect will determine the new form this fire will take in each of us. In some ways, staying indoors all these months has kept us not only from each other but just as importantly from Nature – from wind and rain, clouds and sunshine, moonlight and frost.

As you Emerge, imagine you are being Reborn into the truest version of yourself.

As you head out into Spring, let you senses awaken again – that's Taurus' specialty. Let yourself see, hear, taste, touch, smell and sense the world as if you are a child. Feel the world, take it into yourself, take joy in it.

Scorpio/Taurus Full Moon

The Taurus – Scorpio polarity is an important one to work with, especially now. It embodies the mysterious and powerful polarity of Life and Death.

Taurus calls us to embody the beauty, pleasure and intimacy that make life worth living, as well as learning to receive love, not just give love. As a Taurus, I can confirm the truth of that. Taurus often feels easier giving than receiving. So when you open your heart chakra, don't forget to open up the receiving side of it – in your back.

Taurus wants to incarnate Spirit in all things, bringing us back to the paradise that Earth was and still is. We have the opportunity to 'get back to the Garden' when we emerge back into the world. It's all about how deeply we see what we're looking at.

Scorpio teaches us the lessons of death and rebirth by taking us down to the depths of ourselves to face our wounds, our fears, our shadows. Once we face them and integrate their lessons, we are reborn into our true Self. Then we can learn to hone our Will so that we know who we are and what we really desire. Because Scorpio wants to feel the intensity of life without being overwhelmed by it.

The energy of Life cannot exist without the energy of Death. They are one and the same energy. So with this Scorpio Full Moon, Life itself demands the release of dead energy within us so that we can plant the new seeds we want to blossom in the coming years.

The Scorpio/Taurus Full Moon occurs on Thursday, May 7^th at 3:45am PDT/ 6:45am EDT/ 11:45am GMT. 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 18* Taurus is: A woman airing an old bag through the open window of her room. This symbol speaks to the need to let go of our old ego attachments: it's the opportunity to let go and purify who we think we are.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 18* Scorpio is: A path through woods brilliant with multicolored leaves. This is the way to face death! To see the glory of a life well lived. We need to trust that all our troubles, our pain, our issues have been there to teach us how to meet this moment and transcend our fears. The future awaits us!

Full Moon energies bring what's been hidden from our ego consciousness to light. As we re-engage in the world, this Scorpio Full Moon might reflect back to us what we really yearn for – those things in life that bring us peace and joy and satisfaction. I hope we remember this as we fully emerge and get back into the swing of summer life.

While this watery Full Moon brings up issues of letting go of what no longer serves life, it also has a powerful hit from Neptune in Pisces, opening us to compassion, not only for all people suffering during this pandemic, but also for ourselves. We came into this lifetime with lessons which were probably meant to help us forge a new vision of life, because we are the most conscious group of human beings this world has seen in millennia. This is the time and the place we need to begin.

Neptune also gives us the tool of the creative imagination to help us through this death and rebirth of our culture. For this is the death of patriarchy if we want it to be. As we release the emotional wounds that keep us repeating our insanity, we need to fill those spaces with possibilities. And that's what Neptune can do for us. Living in our active imaginations can change our habits quicker than anything else.

Since Mercury is conjunct the Taurus Sun, we have the ability to see and communicate what is broken in our society (Mercury trine the Pluto/Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn) as well as what expectations we need to let go of in trying to return to 'normal'. Instead, we can be looking for opportunities to bring something into play that people need. Something many of us have spent our lifetimes discovering and learning.

Now is the time for us to lead the way into a better future.

Venus is the ruler of Taurus while Mars is the ruler of Scorpio. At this Full Moon they are in a great relationship with each other. They're talking, which is an important part of any relationship right now. Venus doesn't want to be tied down since she's slowing down to turn retrograde on May 12-13, especially since she is out of bounds (beyond the cultural norm) and therefore a wild card. Venus is in Gemini, where she wants to keep her options open. Since Mars is in Aquarius, his energy is affecting our collective consciousness – so stand up for our ideals and change how people think about things by our actions. Mars is the protector and defender, the energy that isn't afraid to grapple with an issue to discover it's best resolution.

Aphrodite is the earlier Greek version of Venus and she has much to teach us. Aphrodite wasn't a mother or wife. She was the sexually free woman, but she wasn't promiscuous. She chose her partners and held them to high standards. She wanted the experience of Beauty, Sexuality and Love to combine intimacy with autonomy. Letting ourselves experience Love outside the norm – a great time to go love a tree.

This is the question that Venus retrograde in Gemini will pose us is: If love doesn't embody freedom, is it really love?

Since Venus in Gemini loves a witty, wise conversation, this is a good place to start. If we are rebirthing the world, we need to rebirth the love experience, which starts with communication and understanding.

This Venus retrograde, which will see Venus descending into the western horizon ending her time as an Evening Star, will resonate back to 2004 and 2012, when Venus crossed the face of the Sun. What was happening in your life then? Look to your Gemini house to see.

The great challenge of this chart is the Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus, which will operate the whole of 2021. So we are seeing a bit ahead to what is waiting for us next year. Saturn and Uranus have a 45 year cycle which brings into society new ideas, inventions and life circumstances. Uranus gives us the new creative ideas while Saturn gives us the forms and structures that will manifest those ideas.

It's time to liberate ourselves from old collective mindsets. It's time to bring all that creativity into our bodies and the physical world. This is where we are meant to make a difference. This is where we are meant to be. It's time to start creating a structure or plan (Saturn) to establish the new possibilities the world needs (Uranus).

Uranus was in earthy Virgo during the birth of this Pluto/Uranus cycle. And look at all the creative, outlandish, wild and free things that came out of the 60s. Taurus will offer us another chance to bring that Uranian energy down to earth, so let us be disciplined wild people and cultivate our relationship with Mother Earth while letting the creative force flow through us. 

 

This is the Wesak Full Moon, when the Buddha attained Nirvana – when he saw the truth of the world. It's amazing to realize we've all been on a retreat in our isolation, meditating on life. With this Buddha Moon, it is a time of realization, when even the most unconscious of us had to look at ourselves and our behavior. Who are we now? Who will we be when we go back out – emerge – and what will we see? Will we see with new eyes? What will come of it.? We've all been on retreat for 40 days/40 nights. The question is, what have we discovered?

This winter and early spring, all the planets were moving forward (except for Mercury from February 16 – March 9). Now we're going to see some of the planets start their retrograde motion – meaning we'll be still looking inside ourselves even as we get out of our isolation.

The Lunar Nodes are changing signs on May 5th.  They leave Cancer/Capricorn and start to make their way through Gemini/Sagittarius.  Our new concern is to be open-minded, not bogged down by the truths of the past.

Pluto in Capricorn went regrade on April 25, giving us a chance to examine what power is and what it means to us.

Saturn goes retrograde in Aquarius on May 10-11, giving us a chance to restructure how we want to go forward after this.

Venus in Gemini goes retrograde on May 12-13, giving us a chance to decide what's important to us – what our values are and how we want to live them.

Jupiter in Capricorn goes retrograde on May 14, giving us a chance to expand our understanding of what is happening in our culture and how we fit into a new society.

The asteroid Pallas, the energy of strategic knowledge, goes retrograde on May 17, helping us to formulate our specific strategy for the future.

The asteroid Juno, the energy of relationship, goes direct on May 26-27, so take your relationships to a new level.

May the 4^th be with you!

Cathy

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