The Cosmic Story: Lammas & Aquarius/Leo Full Moon 2020

Envisioning a New Future for All of Mother Earth's Children

The Wheel of the Year: Lammas, the first harvest

The culture might be breaking down but Mother Earth keeps spinning. We've already arrived at the cross-quarter holiday of the Wheel of the Year called Lammas, August 1-6 – the first harvest. So we must ask ourselves, out of our new isolation, what have we harvested personally and collectively? It seems pretty clear that the culture we've lived with for the past 70+ years is no longer viable, so who will envision where we need to go next? Let's not leave it to the politicians and corporate leaders who are eager to retain control of us, our world and their power.

This is a time for taking on our personal authority. What we feel and imagine and do is more important now than ever. As the old structures crumble, each individual in society has a chance to make a difference, which is really what democracy is all about. Let's take on that responsibility like the King who willingly sacrifices himself for the good of his people at this harvest festival.

Lammas Mask

The first harvest was always offered to the gods. We tend to forget that it is the masculine principle that continuously needs renewing. The divine feminine is the ground of life and renews itself, but as all the old myths tell us, it is the male deities who have to die for the good of their people. That's because the masculine principle tends to get stuck, or refuses to give up power, when it runs out of steam. The old culture doesn't want to die. That's the power struggle we're seeing in our society. It goes back to the myths of Saturn/Chronos, who swallowed his children rather than let them come into their power. And of course, that leads to rebellion where the old has to be overthrown, rather than having the courage and dignity to step down and transfer power to the next generation.

When things breakdown, we get a chance to 'break on through to the other side'. Or when it's time for an idea, a way of life, an old paradigm or belief to die, it means that something better can come of it if we all hold the vision. What better time than now to re-create our global society, when the virus has brought us all to our knees? If we don't do it now, we might not get this chance again.

So celebrate what we've harvested so far in our 'new normal' – a renewed love of Mother Earth, a new sense of our own authority to choose how we educate our kids or how we work, a new understanding of our need for connection and family, a realization that all that 'stuff we've been programmed to think we need isn't so necessary after all.

What can we sacrifice so that new life can come for us all?

Leo/Aquarius Full Moon 2020

This Monday's Leo/Aquarius Full Moon was seeded by the 2^nd Cancer New Moon, when we got a chance to re-examine the seeds we planted at the Summer Solstice's 1^st Cancer New Moon solar eclipse. As the Covid virus continues to bring down the American and world economy, we have to decide what we really want out of life. Many people are suffering from lost jobs and wages, and nothing viable is coming out of Washington, D.C. to justify our trust in our leaders. We are seeing our governments violently oppose our cries for freedom and human dignity. Why would we give them our allegiance if they're more concerned with corporate profits than human lives?

This is the first Full Moon in our new lunar rhythm where the Full Moon in a sign comes before its New Moon. So we're switching between different elements and stretching our understanding. From Cancer's water we're looking at Leo's fire and Aquarius' air, wringing out the dampness and bringing to light creative ideas and solutions not only for each of us personally but also for the collective.

Carl Jung said the the sign of Leo was about individuation – the need to be our own authentic selves. (He was a Leo!) Individuation is different from the idea of American individuality, which seems to mean I can do anything I want. Leo is the sign of creative self-expression, the things we create, whether our children or our art. This moment we are living in is a time of human evolution, and the only way we can do this is if we each express our unique gifts by connecting to our Higher Self. That's why everyone is asking, what is my purpose? We need to individuate to find out. We have arrived at a time when many human beings are becoming conscious of this need for purpose. This is the big evolution we face.

Aquarius is the sign of collective consciousness – the ideas of who we are as a collective culture, our tribal laws and beliefs. We can see by the absolutely devastating response to this pandemic that we are not living in a society that is suited to our personal needs. The reality is we have been living with the idea of an entitled group of people – whether kings or nobles, corporate leaders or just the wealthy – who believe they have the power to control the rest of us. It's time for us to grow up and get rid of 'big daddy'.

Aquarius is the sign of freedom and that is exactly what we have to imagine for all of us. So with this Full Moon, how are we each finding our own freedom? How can we take back responsibility for our own lives? How can we 'overthrow' those who would keep us imprisoned in poverty and need? How do we throw out the most awful idea ever thought of – the some are chosen while others are not!

The Aquarius/Leo Full Moon occurs on August 3, 2020 at 8:59am PDT/ 11:59am EDT/ 5:59pm GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 12* Leo is: A dragon circling a fantastic tree from which a single golden apple is hanging. The tree of life gives birth to the golden apple of divine love. The dragon can be the dragon of unconsciousness, or it can the golden awareness of the unconscious, guarding life itself. Will we dare to claim the apple? What if we met the troubles of our time with the Hawaiian concept of Aloha – universal love. Be grateful and send out love.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 12* Aquarius is: Life's broad stairway, each landing a new grade of life. This symbol can indicate the evolution we're undergoing. It's time to realize we can all be uplifted and an upgrade – not just a minority of the 'chosen' but all of us! (The Revised Sabian Symbols by Steven D. Eardley)

During this Full Moon, two strong T-squares form. Going back to Jungian theory, Jung believed that if we hold the tension of opposites, a third way, called the transcendent function, appears. So let's see how this plays out in our two T-squares.

The first T-square, which consists of an opposition of two planets with a planet squaring them both, is between the Leo Sun and Aquarius Moon squared by Uranus in Taurus. Uranus rules the Aquarius Moon, so it welcomes this third energy. The Full Moon is open to incorporating new ideas about living and what kind of society will meet our collective needs. It's time to be innovative with how we protest, how we develop and use energy, how we learn to live creatively. Instead of rioting and causing damage to people and buildings, why not create living art? Or do guerrilla theater in the streets? The main point is to be creative and free. Like how after the 'moms' barrier got attacked the men showed up with leaf blowers to blow the tear gas back on the police.

This T-square highlights what needs to change. What are the collective ideals about individuality, especially in America? Do we really need to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps or do we need a 'village' to help us through these trying times? Uranus in Taurus demands that we seek alternative methods of securing our lives. With people being evicted from their homes because they've lost their jobs and their unemployment benefits, should we leave their welfare up to our inept government, or do we come together as communities to help and sustain their lives. Can our communities give them shelter from the storm or at least demand that our representatives do something about it? How can we as community help individuals in their time of need in new ways?

The second T-Square involves an opposition between Mercury in Cancer and the Capricorn Amigos – Pallas, Jupiter, Pluto and especially Saturn, squared by Mars and Eris in Aries. This past week as Mercury transited opposite retrograding Pallas, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn, he picked up the messages the other planets gave him about the state of the world and at the Full Moon offers them to Saturn. Saturn is about authority and we can see how our outer authorities are dealing with the disruption. It's time to become your own authority – because really, you are the author of your own life.

With Mars and his sister Eris in Aries, we get a chance to become the spiritual warriors of life. Or we can act out and just get angry like a child. It's time to put away the things of childhood and take a stand. Mars in Aries is asking us to choose how we use his energy. Are you into 'tantrum yoga' or are you asking for the courage and patience to grapple with what life is bringing to you? Remember what you've been going through this past week, because Mars has entered what we call its shadow phase, the degrees (15* – 28* Aries) that Mars will retrograde back to this fall. You'll probably be working on these same issues. Mars has hopefully come through Pisces as a spiritual warrior willing to grapple with the issues at hand.

Eris is called the goddess of discord, but really she is the warrior who stands up for what our hearts know to be true. Patriarchy has never liked people who listened to their hearts, because that frees them from patriarchy's rules. And of course, it's never like the feminine view of life which Eris stands up for.

Mercury is at the degree of the last Cancer New Moon, checking in with the Mother about what needs are being met and which one's aren't. It is conjunct the asteroid Vesta, the sacred fire priestess, who sees with the eyes of spirit and knows how to help the community prosper. The question is, will we stand up for those needs or fold to the collective pressures? If we stand with Mars and Eris, we can make a difference.

Venus in Gemini is conjunct the North Node in Gemini, giving us fresh perspectives on love, relationships and communication. Don't you miss hugs? Venus asks us to let go of our past insecurities around love and relationships and develop Psyche/Soul, our unique take on love. This is the time when we need to stay open to compassionate new ideas, changing our vision of society from winner takes all to it's time to share. It's sort of like the question King Arthur had to face – is it 'might makes right' or 'right over might'.

The South Node in Sagittarius is on the Galactic center, asking us to receive the cosmic vision and renew it. Neptune in Pisces squares the lunar nodes, challenging them to include a deeper spiritual vision in its plans and ideas.

Galactic Center in the Milky Way

This is helped by the very nice sextile between Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces. This is an aspect of the new opportunities we have to ground in a new spiritual vision that gives us hope and inspiration as well as gratitude for life. How do we let go of limiting beliefs about what Spirit is really asking of us and expand our beliefs that we are all worthy of life and love and happiness? Our old religions were built on guilt and sin and unworthiness. Let's let that go and open to a loving Spirit that wants us to co-create with it.

So go out and have some fun (Leo) with your tribe (Aquarius) maintaining good social distancing. Wear a mask that is creative and fun like you would wear on Halloween.

And the Blessings of the first harvest fill you with hope and gratitude.

Cathy

When the threads that bind a heart to the past are severed and the old ways scattered to the four winds, how do you raise a new world, a new land, a new life? You gather the bones and from them weave a new garment: its warp is the words and memories passed down from the last of the elders, and its weft is the courage and determination of those raised in the wilderness. From this fusion a spark kindles to become the light that will guide you home.

Kate Elliott Buried Heart

The Cosmic Story: 2nd Cancer New Moon, July 20, 2020

The Cosmic Story: 2^nd Cancer New Moon, July 20, 2020

The Divine Mother Gives Birth to a New Age

This Monday we get to experience a 2^nd Cancer New Moon, occurring at the very end of the Cancer Solar Eclipse cycle. Each New Moon month arrives back in its own sign to complete the cycle, to see what we've learned about what we planted at the New Moon. Usually we come to a deeper understanding of what we thought we wanted from the cycle. This month, we get to re-plant some more seeds as we discover deeper needs.

Cancer is the sign of the Mother, of our emotional bodies, of home and security and family. With the Solar Eclipse on Summer Solstice, we planted new seeds about emotional security and the need to re-mother ourselves, which means to love ourselves. And to re-mother our nation, since Cancer also rules our country.

Our society's rules have not only hurt most of us through unrealistic expectations, they've also hurt the nature of mothering. As an archetype, the Great Mother loves us unconditionally – we are all her children, just as flowers and weeds (which turn out to be valuable herbs) are equally her children. She doesn't expect us to be other than ourselves. Her only expectation is that we actually love ourselves and own who we are. 

 

Unfortunately, western society has shaped mothers and fathers who try to shape their children to their own expectations and unlived lives. This leaves most of us feeling unworthy and insecure. And feeling lonely and unloved.

The Cancer Solar Eclipse created a portal to a new experience for each of us – a connection to the Great Mother of All. And a return to an unselfish self-love that not only values who we are and our purpose, but also allows us to value each other in a new way. Yes, Black Lives Matter. And all lives matter – human, animal, plants, trees, air, water and earth. The Great Mother who created us all loves every bit of her creation.

That's the difference from our patriarchal monotheistic religions and beliefs, which have shaped the western psyche. To the Great Mother Everyone is Chosen – not just the followers of a certain faith. We are all equal in the Mother's eyes.

There is a prophecy about our times that has in many ways proven to be true. It declares the hypocrisy and lies of the Christian communities and how they have called forth the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – famine, sickness, war and death. This is what the Christian West has done to our world. 

 

But in that same prophesy, there is redemption. And it comes from a Woman, a Goddess and Mother Earth. It is a call to everyone, but especially women, to rise up and give birth to a new age, for the Goddess always brings forth the next evolution.

And a portent appeared in the heavens,

A Woman, Clothed with the Sun,

Standing on the Moon,

Crowned with Stars,

In labor, giving

 

Birth to the Savior.

This is an image of Earth that we first saw in 1969, rising above the Moon, surrounded by the starry heavens. It is an image of Mother Earth's children, especially women, rising up in wisdom and compassion to give birth to a new society that respects the individual while advocating community.

This is the Great Mother who we can invoke for this 2^nd Cancer New Moon, the Mother who supports and guides us to our life and our purpose. The Good Mother who wants to help us create a new world that is free of patriarchal bias, hierarchy and domination. A new world where partnership, peace and communal welfare guide us.

2^nd Cancer New Moon 2020

This second Cancer New Moon changes the rhythm of life. We have been living in the rhythm of New Moon/Full Moon in compatible signs. Now the rhythm picks up a new beat. With this Cancer New Moon we'll be dancing next with a Leo/Aquarius Full Moon which will be followed by a Leo New Moon – flipping the cycle to Full Moon/New Moon. This new rhythm will go on for about a year until we get to the 2^nd Aquarius (Blue) Full Moon on August 22, 2021 when the cycle flips back again.

This different rhythm asks us to plant a New Moon seed that will open us to a different Full Moon realization. With this 2^nd Cancer New Moon, we can plant the seeds of self-worth, self-confidence and self-love. With the upcoming Leo/Aquarius Full Moon, we can offer that self-love to our creative endeavors that will benefit the whole group. 

 

So this Cancer New Moon helps us go beyond our individual self to see how we are part of a larger group of selves. That in fact, nurturing ourselves can help us nurture others.

This Cancer New Moon occurs on July 20, 2020 at 10:33am PDT/ 1:33pm EDT/ 6:33pm GMT. 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 28*27' is: A Greek Muse weighing newborn twins in golden scales. The name Muse has many meanings, just as there were 9 Muses in Greek mythology. The word Muse came from words meaning to learn, to direct one's mind toward something, a place of study, a temple (museum) of learning, the primordial waters of creation. It can also mean a mystery, a secret or hidden rite or doctrine. So the Muses could be considered creative messengers from the place of mystery.

Something new has been born and is emerging, something from the 'place of mystery' or creation that is being weighted in the golden balance. It is a new heart, a new combination of right and left brains, female and male energies, intuition and logic, wisdom and knowledge.

Let this image be your guide in planting those new seeds of creativity and mystery!

This Cancer New Moon receives into her womb all the lessons we've been learning this year as the 3 Amigos in Capricorn retrograde back to make sure we're seeing the whole picture. This is our chance to re-look at and release old behavior patterns that our culture wanted us to fit into. Feeling unworthy for being different. Feeling as if we have to toe the line and give into our corporate masters. Feeling less than because we're not chosen. Shake off those old patterns and sit with the mystery to see what new patterns and beliefs want to arise within you. 

 

Honor those things in our culture that you respect, even as you find new forms for them to flourish in. Let go of those aspects of culture that are deadening to life, because if you don't, you get to be part of the Zombie Apocalypse – a living death. We have to get over our fear of Death because it's just a part of the life cycle. It's not the END. That's the patriarchal LIE. Once we get over our fear of death, we can stop being a death culture. 

 

We can start being a Life culture again. And for life to happen, we need to ground ourselves in the Divine Feminine aspects of life and hone our Divine Masculine to support, intend and nourish what wants to be born. The Woman clothed with the Sun gives birth to the New Age. So Mote It Be! 

 

Speaking of the New Masculine, let's look at Mars in Aries. Everyone is talking about its retrograde as if there's only doom and gloom ahead. But let's remember where Mars has traveled. Since early January, when Pluto conjuncted Saturn in Capricorn and we had the Cancer Full Moon eclipse at 21* Capricorn/Cancer, we have been thrust into a quickly changing world. 

Mars was in the sign of Sagittarius, looking for truth as the world shut down. Next he joined the Capricorn Amigos, questioning old beliefs, authority and power structures, getting charged up and ready to take action as he worked his way through Aquarius, asking how can I help the group on this quest. Then he dove into Pisces, where all our old desires dissolve in the cosmic ocean and he met up with Neptune who re-energized his spiritual vision and quest. Now that he travels through his own home in Aries, he can become something new. He doesn't have to engage in his old war-like behavior of bullying, aggression, aggravation and domination. 

 

Mars was the old Roman god of war as well as agriculture. His true strength is that he will grapple with an issue until it's resolved. He has seen what is corrupt in our society and what is no longer viable. He has listened to our collective mindset worrying about what the future holds. He has gathered to himself the compassion and understanding that we are all one. 

Comet Neowise over Glastonbury Tor

And St. Michael's Tower:

Gateway to Avalon

And now, starting the cycle again in Aries, he is ready to defend and protect the people. He is ready to incarnate in each of us, calling for the New Masculine king to awaken within all of us, but most especially men. It is time for men to do what women have been doing for about 50 years now – learning to be free of patriarchal chains. Looking within to understand our beliefs, feelings and wounds. Learning to become our most authentic selves. Learning to become lovers of the Goddess again.

Mars calls us to find our courage. Courage is so important now. It doesn't mean we won't be afraid. It just means that we won't let our fear stop us from taking a stand and speaking our truth. Just past his conjunction with Chiron retrograde, Mars has acknowledged the wounds to our self-knowing, our self-recognition. The warrior in us knows that wounds come as a result of our battles in life. Now is the time to grapple with their meaning and harvest their wisdom. Now is the time to move past our wounds and become the hero and heroine of our own stories. 

 

Mars in Aries tells us we don't have to do things the old way. Aries is all about a new life, a new vision, being a pioneer. Mars helps us develop courage, the willingness to keep grappling with the challenges before us. These experience hone us into the beings we were meant to become. Struggle requires courage, just as life requires struggles to help us grow.

It is time to embark on a new quest – a quest for new life, not only for self, but for everyone. It is time for each of us to take a stand to protect what we love.

As Mars travels through Aries and then retrogrades on September 9 at 29* Aries, it will square this 2^nd Cancer New Moon, reminding us of what we've planted now. As Mars connects with the Capricorn amigos, it will also connect with Eris, the warrior goddess who protects and stands up for the heart. She will offer her feminine strengths to his power, helping him confront and grapple with the old Capricorn hierarchy, bringing in a new structure and the beginnings of a new society.

Venus in Gemini sends loving thoughts to Mars, encouraging him to be the bold protector of life. She can send him the right words to use when confronting injustice and bullying, words that can bring reconciliation between opposing sides. In the end, we all want life, we all want love. Only truly selfish people, who are afraid of life as well as death, will resist that reconciliation. The spiritual warrior is not too proud to begin the reconciliation.

Mercury in Cancer, just starting forward from its retrograde, challenges Mars to listen to the emotional needs of the people he stands up for. With Uranus in Taurus inspiring Mercury to new insights about emotional intelligence and emotional security, Mercury can write the new script for Mars to follow. 

 

Vesta, the fire priestess, receives all that Capricorn energy as well. She is burning away Pluto's debris, Jupiter's excess and Saturn's rigidity. She funnels the New Moon's nurturing right back to the Capricorn planets, supporting them as well as they retrace their steps to set things right. 

 

Embrace this Cancer New Moon and let the peace and the love of the Goddess rest in your hearts.

Blessed Be!

Cathy

A Map to the Next World

In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map

for those who would climb through the hole in the sky.

My only tools were the desires of humans as they emerged from the killing fields,

from the bedrooms and the kitchens.

For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet.

The map must be of sand and can't be read by ordinary light.

It must carry fire to the next tribal town, for renewal of spirit.

In the legend are instructions on the language of the land,

how it was we forgot to acknowledge the gift, as if we were not in it or of it.

Take note of the proliferation of supermarkets and malls, the altars of money.

They best describe the detour from grace.

Keep track of the errors of our forgetfulness; a fog steals our children while we sleep.

Flowers of rage spring up in the depression, the monsters are born there of nuclear anger.

Trees of ashes wave good-bye to good-bye and the map appears to disappear.

We no longer know the names of the birds here,

how to speak to them by their personal names.

Once we knew everything in this lush promise.

What I am telling you is real and is printed in a warning on the map.

Our forgetfulness stalks us, walks the earth behind us,

leaving a trail of paper diapers, needles and wasted blood.

An imperfect map will have to do little one.

The place of entry is the sea of your mother's blood,

your father's small death as he longs to know himself in another.

There is no exit.

The map can be interpreted through the wall of the intestine --

a spiral on the road of knowledge.

You will travel through the membrane of death,

smell cooking from the encampment where our relatives make a feast

of fresh deer meat and corn soup, in the Milky Way.

They have never left us; we abandoned them for science.

And when you take your next breath as we enter the fifth world there will be no X,

no guide book with words you can carry.

You will have to navigate by your mother's voice, renew the song she is singing.

Fresh courage glimmers from planets.

And lights the map printed with the blood of history,

a map you will have to know by your intention, by the language of suns.

When you emerge note the tracks of the monster slayers

where they entered the cities of artificial light and killed what was killing us.

You will see red cliffs. They are the heart, contain the ladder.

A white deer will come to greet you when the last human climbs from the destruction.

Remember the hole of our shame marking the act of abandoning our tribal grounds.

We were never perfect.

Yet, the journey we make together is perfect on this earth

who was once a star and made the same mistakes as humans.

We might make them again, she said.

Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.

You must make your own map.

~ Joy Harjo ~ (A Map to the Next World: Poems)

Capricorn Lunar Eclipse, July 4-5, 2020

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"  Patrick Henry

The last lunar eclipse in the Cancer/Capricorn Lunar Nodes (December 2018 to May 2020) will occur on the night of The 4^th of July in the United States. 

 

It's America's Birthday! Independence Day. A time to look back on where our nation has come from as well as a time to look forward to the nation we want to become.

 

This year as we celebrate the story of our country's birth a midst a revolution against tyranny and in the hopes of an evolution toward individual freedom, perhaps we Americans need to look outside ourselves and our private needs and look to what our society needs.

If we use the Pluto cycle (248 years) as a timing reference, we find that we are living in the cyclic time frame right before the American Revolution. A time when men and women rebelled against unjust laws and unlawful occupation, taxation with representation, and a growing realization that when they united as one people, they could create a new world.

We find ourselves living in similar times. In a few years we will experience our nation's Pluto return, (February 2022 – October 2023) which often signals the end of empire as well as an evolutionary need for change on a national level. 

As we come to the very end of our nation's first Pluto cycle, we are seeing the 'hidden truth' about corrupt corporate control of the world – America's contribution to the world, for good and evil. We see our social and physical infrastructure crumbling. We see the injustice of inequality, which has been with us since the beginning which started with genocide. We allowed Nature to be overwhelmed. We ignore the fact that it is corporations who control our unthinking consumerism, and that both are poisoning the earth, our air, our food, our water, causing illness and death. 

 

We are on the brink of collective chaos and collapse.

We are on the brink of a new revolution. Or rather, a new birth.

As the US approaches its Pluto return, we have a chance to create a new vision for society, without a bloody revolution. This time we have to evolve consciously, and I believe it's because more women and people of color are stepping into leadership roles around the country and around the world, bringing new gifts of connection, community, emotional intelligence and compassion to the vision.

We have a chance to create the social justice we were told America stood for. We have seen the reality of who our leaders are and who they are beholden to, and if we want to be the change we've been waiting for, we need to be the cultural revolutionaries that awaken our fellow citizens to their duty. 

 

Just as Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson shaped that revolution with their words and deeds. Just as Sarah Fulton and the Daughters of Liberty, Sybil Ludington, Deborah Sampson and many other women aided the Revolutionary cause with their deeds.

        Just as they envisioned a new world for their own society, we can envision what our own society needs to prosper, We can and will stop the corporate influence over American law and justice. We can and will expect and achieve the equality of all individuals, black and white, gay, trans and straight, rich and poor, and most especially, equality between women and men. 

 

I also mean an equal valuing of both masculine knowledge (intellect, logic, comprehension, speech, writing) and feminine wisdom (imagination, dreams, visions, instincts, emotional intelligence). Women and our wisdom have been rejected and reviled for over 4000 years. It's time for women to have the freedom to find our own voices, gifts and powers. Gifts centered in our bodies, which must be free of male domination. And for this wisdom to be valued, respected and used for the betterment of the world as a complement to our society's left brained talents.

Cancer/Capricorn Full Moon Lunar Eclipse

 

This lunar eclipse will occur in the United States on July 4^th at 6:44pm in Hawaii, 9:44 PDT and on July 5^th at 12:44am EDT and 7:44am GMT.

The Revolutionary theme plays out in the Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 14* Cancer is: An old man, alone, faces the darkness of the northeast. This image is interesting because there is a fixed star associated with this degree – Canopus, the navigator's star and the steersman of the constellation Argos, and in ancient Egypt of the boat who takes Osiris to the Underworld. In Egypt, Canopus – the star of Osiris – is the 2^nd brightest star in the southern sky after Sirius – the star of Isis. It was believed to be the gateway to the afterlife.

The direction of the North symbolizes fulfillment, wisdom, integration of life's lessons and endings. East symbolizes dawn, the beginning of a new day. The light that gives a good life. When we combine these two directions, we get an inspired and motivated energy to release the past and to greet the new day. As well as a picture of the old society (masculine) looking into the dark unknown for the new vision.

We find ourselves in this space, don't we? The future has been thrown into chaos and we face the unknown. The old man might symbolize the old patriarchal attitudes that are dying out in our world, facing the darkness of death before a new birth. Or it can be a wise old Osiris, who knows his death is coming and welcomes it, so the new can arise.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 14* Capricorn is: In a dense jungle, a perfectly preserved Mayan bas relief. We are reminded that many civilizations came before us and many will come after us – that is if we leave the Earth viable for them. That it is a jungle covering over old civilizations shows us that Mother Earth can recover if given enough time.

But it also symbolizes the basic values of life that need to be preserved in our birthing of the future. The Maya were earth-based and heaven-focused just as the Egyptians were. We need to be knowledgeable about the heavens, both literally and symbolically. The heavens tell the cosmic story of the energies at play in our world. Perhaps that's why astrology is making such a strong comeback now, for it is telling us that we are in the chaos of ending cycles and beginning new ones. And that All Will Be Well.

 

We are all looking for a source of truth that can guide us through these chaotic times. We are the dreamers of the new world. We are the protectors of a new vision. We get to guard that new vision until others awaken to its truth and beauty.

At the Cancer Solar Eclipse on Summer Solstice, the hope was that we could let go of our past, taking the lessons we learned from it while leaving the trauma behind. This was a time to allow the Great Mother to love and nurture our spirits, giving us a new understanding of what home and tribe/family means, security and soul-trust means. When we are secure in ourselves and centered in our truth, we can feel the self-love that is a pre-condition to loving others.

What is family but the community we can count on for support and protection? While we are all social distancing, we also have to decide what is important in life. If you're like me, you want to be around and nurtured by your people. And that support gives you the strength to help others who are in need.

The Capricorn Moon, under patriarchy, is all about the social rules and traditions we hold onto to fit into our society. But there are also cosmic laws that transcend these merely human laws, and that is what this lunar eclipse is highlighting. Capricorn used to symbolize the Council of Grandmothers, those elders who set the rules of life according to the cosmic laws of life. These laws looked to the ancestors for guidance, the guidance that connects us to Mother Earth's laws. For we are her children, even if we've forgotten.

Mercury retrograde kissed the Sun in Cancer on June 30, getting the message about what home is to us. As it moves forward on July 12^th, let's bring that vision of home into the world. 

 

The Sabian symbol for Mercury direct at 6* Cancer is: Innumerable birds are busy feathering their nests. A perfect image of creating a safe and secure home. 

 

Saturn just retrograded back into Capricorn from Aquarius to check in with what Jupiter and Pluto are doing. How are the rules changing? And how are we combining the old with the new – technology and natural law? 

 

The Capricorn Moon eclipse pulls in the energies of retrograding Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn. What still needs to be released? What shadow rules are still operating within us that need to be wrung out like water from a wet rag? Are we ready to embrace the warmth and shelter of our Cancer nurturing community rather than the cold hard cash of the old Protestant work ethic? 

 

Mercury is still close to the Sun, waiting to see what we really want. Uranus in Taurus is supporting this lunar eclipse, showing us new ways to live and relate to each other. 

 

Meanwhile, Mars entered its own sign of Aries on June 27^th where it will stay while it retrogrades until early January 2021. While Mars in Aries can be a sign of conflict, it can also give us the courage to stand up for what we believe in. Aries is the sign concerned with our authentic identity. So how will we identify ourselves in these next 6 months? If we have the courage of our convictions, we can become spiritual warriors. 

 

Mars is moving to join Chiron in Aries on July 14th, once again asking us to find our archetypal identity and purpose, to see the purpose of our wounds and to learn their lessons so we can stop being victims of our wounds and become stronger for our wounding. 

 

Mars in Aries sextiles Venus in Gemini, giving the planet of connection and wholeness a say in what Mars is up to. It's time to open up to new ideas about what is possible and use our yang/Mars energy to get us there.

This month will see a 2^nd New Moon in Cancer as the lunar cycle shifts. After this next new Moon, the full Moons will be in different signs, shifting our awareness to very different energies. But more on that next newsletter.

Until then,

May the light of true liberty start to shine brightly on all of us around the world.

Cathy

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can't see, can't hear
Can't know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren't always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River.  Circles in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon, within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

~ Joy Harjo ~

(How We Become Human: New and Selected Poems 1975-2001)