The Cosmic Story: Autumn Equinox 2022

 

The seasons are changing. The Wheel is turning.

Summer is slipping into Fall. The days are still warm and sunny but the evenings are turning cool. There’s dew on everything in the morning.

This summer had a different rhythm for me. I spent a month in moving mode, had visits from all four of my children, and actually went to the beach more in a little over a month than I’d been in the past 2 decades.

I now live between the River and the Ocean. I’m becoming a Water Baby again.

 

On all different level, I am in my water phase. Besides being enveloped in the arms of water, I am learning once again to ‘go with the flow’ of life. I am also in my Elder years, which are associated with the West and with the great elemental Water.

Water has many qualities that serve us in times of trouble. Change, flexibility, persistence, resilience, and swiftness. It can bring us luck, surprises and travel. Water is to Mother Earth as Blood is to our bodies. Both are in constant motion.

With each year, it’s easier to live a more authentic version of myself. Since COVID, it has been a relief to step out of the flow of cultural expectations, and just ground into watching the waters of life ebb and flow, choosing when to dip my toe in and when to keep my feet on firm ground.

This elder standpoint is available to everyone at this time of year. For the Wheel of the Year keeps turning and we are entering the autumn time (at least in the northern hemisphere/ those of you down South are emerging into the light and renewal). Like the last quarter Moon of the lunar cycle, Autumn is the season to gather in the harvest, that aspect of ourselves that has matured, and then let the rest drop to the ground. We let the plants decompose back into new soil and we gather the seeds to sow next year. 

 

 

This autumn time comes at the completion of this year’s purpose and energy. It is the harvest time, both literally and symbolically.  It is not only the foods we need that are being harvested, but also the psychological, spiritual, emotional and material energies we’ve worked with since last Winter Solstice 2021.

The big energies of that time were Venus going retrograde as she ended her Evening Star phase in Aries, soon to begin her Morning Star phase in Capricorn on January 8, 2022. These energies suggest that we explore wisely what our next step will be – the Evening Star phase brings out the wisdom of a sign and Aries’ wisdom is to let Spirit take the lead and allow your desire to direct your intentions. This Capricorn Morning Star phase, which seems to have been about taking responsibility for what you love and desire, will end when Venus starts her (first in over 200 year) Libra Evening Star phase on October 22, 2022.

This new phase occurs when Venus meets the Sun on its far side, hidden from Earth’s view. It is a sacred marriage that gives rise to a new type of feminine wisdom, one that builds on what we’ve learned before.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Venus conjunction at 29* Libra is: Humanity’s vast and enduring effort to reach for knowledge transferable from generation to generation. This is lived knowledge of life, not a textbook example. It’s important to listen to the knowledge that’s been passed down, the common sense knowledge of life rather than what we can pick up on YouTube or TikTok. It is a call for our conscious participation in this cosmic evolution.

Who better than to lead us on this new phase of life’s journey than Venus /Aphrodite, Queen of Heaven and Earth. May the Goddess of Peace, Beauty and Love shine her Wisdom on and within us.

 

Aphrodite Urania -- Queen of Heaven

The other big energy around Winter Solstice 2021 was the last full Saturn/Uranus square at 12* Aquarius/Taurus. What did you choose? The Old or the New? Can you read the energies of these times we’re living in? Uranus in Taurus can open us to Earth’s evolutionary genius. Will we collaborate with Mother Earth, re-igniting our connection to her bio-sphere, or will we continue to live as if there are no consequences? 

 

Now is the time to look at those consequences. The rise in electricity rates, as well as oil and gas, is the price we have to pay if we want to transform our society and how we use energy. We have to learn to cut back on our own, and higher costs are part of how we’ll do it.

It’s a time to ‘sacrifice’ some of our old ways if we really want to create a better world in this time of environmental crisis. Sacrifice means ‘to make sacred’. Will we choose to let go of inessentials while the world is transforming, giving our actions meaning? There are great and good things about ‘the old’ that we can keep, such as the adages, every little bit helps. And‘don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’.  Keep what is precious and true.  Let go of the rest.  And be open to what comes.  That's the gift of Water -- to go with the flow.  Surrender to life and see what comes.

How has your life changed and your garden grown this year? Have you shed an old skin and found more freedom? Or have you retreated in fear of what is becoming?

Autumn Equinox/ Mabon: September 22, 2022

The two Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn, are times of Balance, the balance of light and dark. In Spring, the balance tips over into the light and outer life. In Autumn, the balance tips into the dark and going within. But on those two days, light and dark are equal. It is the time to ground yourself in that balance. Although many people are railing against that binary system, it is an integral part of the cosmos and of our world. Just because ‘we’ don’t like seeing the world as binary, doesn’t mean that the cosmos has to agree with us!

So Light and Dark. Day and Night. Masculine and Feminine. Yang and Yin. On the Equinoxes, these forces are brought into balance.

Onward we go round the Spiral

Touching darkness, touching light.

Twice each year we rest in balance,

Make choices on this night.

The Autumn/Spring Equinox occurs on Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 6:04pm PDT/ 9:04pmnjmmh EDT and on September 23, 2022 at 2:04am GMT.

 

 

The chart for Autumn Equinox occurs at the Leo Moon balsamic phase of the lunar cycle that began with the Virgo New Moon. With the upcoming Sun/Mercury conjunction just hours after the Equinox, we are midway through this Mercury retrograde cycle. Since both Virgo and Gemini are ‘Mercury ruled’, this was a month to clean up and clear up the Mind.

That Virgo New Moon made an intense square to Mars in Gemini, which might have made things more confusing, opening us to too many options. It was time to make some choices. Then the Virgo/Pisces Full Moon was conjunct Neptune, either deluding us further or opening us to our creative imagination to deepen our inner focus on what we truly desired.

The Autumn Equinox and upcoming Libra New Moon on September 25^th, are a time of letting go – the harvest is in, whether we realize it or not. Look at what you have around you. That’s what you get to play with this autumn.

 

 

The Autumn Equinox begins the sign of Libra, just as its opposite gateway, Spring Equinox begins with Aries. Just as Aries begins a drive toward our individual visions, Libra turns our focus to our collective responsibilities. While Virgo is the energy of integration of personality, Libra is the energy of taking that personality and bringing it into relationship with others. How will the balance hold?

The Equinox Sun is conjunct Mercury retrograde, initiating a new cycle of their dance. How are we communicating? The better we ‘know ourselves’/Virgo, the better we are at speaking our truth in a kind and courteous manner. And more importantly, we are centered enough so we can listen to what the other has to say.

The Sabian symbol for the Equinox Sun and Mercury is interesting and telling.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Mercury retrograde at 1* Libra is: In a collection of perfect specimens of many biological forms, a butterfly displays the beauty of its wings, its body impaled by a fine dart.

The objective viewpoint of this image brings to mind the archetypal realm, since all the specimens are ‘perfect’. We see the ‘seed’ forms of life. And the butterfly is the symbol of the soul and its transformation through time. This is the time when we see the Sacred in what we’ve harvested. With the Mind aligned with our conscious purpose (the Sun), I know we can bring in a rich harvest.

The Sun and Mercury are opposite Jupiter retrograde in Aries, giving us the courage and optimism to meet what comes, calling on our soul’s vision.

The Sabian symbol for Jupiter retrograde at 5* Aries is: A triangle with wings. This is symbolic of our desire to reach higher levels of consciousness, to see a new dimension of reality. So the vision is strong.

There are two strong T-squares at this Equinox.

The first, fixed, T-square is the approaching (but never touching) Uranus/NN in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius both aspecting the Leo Moon. With Uranus and Saturn both retrograde, an inner re-structuring of our beliefs and behaviors, as well as our physicality, is possible. The balsamic Leo Moon is open to the wisdom we’ve learned so far, and it can lend us the self-confidence we need to break down and break through any inner blocks.

The second T-square is in mutable signs, suggesting we can make use of these energies in the outer world. With Venus in Virgo opposing Neptune retrograde in Pisces, we might feel the need to be of service to the world. Like the Vestal Virgins of Rome, or the 9 Priestesses guarding Brigid’s sacred fires in Ireland, we might be called to guard and defend what makes life worthwhile, rather than wallow in a deluded sense of evil permeating the world. Yes, there is darkness in the world, but the Light always wins out in the end.

This Venus-Neptune opposition is squared by Mars in Gemini. We can let Mars get us into arguments over ideas, or Mars can help us navigate the issues that are dear to our hearts. There was a Mars/Venus square last week that challenged us to decide what we’re doing. We might have to wait until after Mercury goes direct on October 2 to finally see those decisions through.

Retrograde Neptune sextiling Pluto in Capricorn make a quick YOD with the Leo Moon on Equinox. With the Moon at the tip of the YOD, we might catch a glimpse of what Spirit is calling us to do, there and gone before we get the whole picture, but if we stay open to our dreams and imaginings, perhaps the vision will settle into our bones.

Wheel of the Year: Mabon

 

 

 

The Wheel of the Year is comprised of the two Solstices and two Equinoxes, as well as the four cross-quarter holidays that fall between the Equinoxes and Solstices. 

The Autumn Equinox is called Harvest Home, Mabon or the Feast of the Ingathering by modern Pagans, and it is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the Gods during the coming winter months. It is the second of three harvests, the first wheat harvest at Lammas (August 1), this second fruit harvest and the third harvest of nuts and berries at Samhain(November 1).

At Autumn Equinox we have to let go of the Light and allow the Dark in again. Now is the time to begin to turn inward and once again dream.  It is our dreams now that will bear fruit next year.  If you want your soul's take on what dreams will fulfill you, start to pay attention to your dreams. 

May your harvest be plentiful – and shared!

Blessed Be,

Cathy

The Wild Geese

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(Collected Poems 1957-1982)

The Cosmic Story: Virgo New Moon 2022

 

Letting Go of the Past to Embrace the Future

The last weeks of August are always bittersweet.

Summer is coming to an end, school is about to begin and the days are getting shorter and cooler. But Summer lingers – the Sun is still hot and burning, the nights still need fans. Today when I went to the beach it was almost empty of people compared to how it’s been this past month. But the water and sky and wind were still playing in the heat. The water was nicely cool and its clear green waves rolled lazily into shore.

A perfect August day. A day to enjoy Nature’s beauty and benevolence. Especially the sweet breezes that cool the Sun’s heat. A day to savor life. 

 

 

Now the Sun has moved into one of the seasons of change, as all mutable signs end the four seasons. The Sun’s month in Leo is now past, with the Sun slipping further south into the sign of Virgo last Monday. We have another month until the Sun sits on the equator before slipping into the southern hemisphere, bringing them Spring and Summer, leaving us here in the northern hemisphere Fall and Winter.

When the Sun resides in the sign of the Virgin, we’re energized to look at what we’ve accomplished this past year and what we still have to do in the growing dark of the year.

Like the winnowing that goes on at harvest time, Virgo asks us to discern what we have really given birth to this year. Because Virgo is not just the Virgin—She is the Virgin Mother with her Child. The seed that was conceived at Winter Solstice, when the Divine Virgin/Mother gave birth to the Light and to Her Divine Child, is now ready to be harvested and taken into the world as nourishment for ourselves and others. 

 

 

Leo asked us to use our creativity to ground in our vision. In Virgo, our task is to hone what the soul gave birth to this year. That’s why Virgo celebrates both Mother Matrix/Soul and Child/Life.

What we harvest is particular to ourselves. We each have our own journey and our own quest. The quest is always the same and the journey never ends, but our stories are our own. So each harvest will be different.

My harvest this year is a house that will be a home. In my spiritual youth, I thought this wasn’t a worthy enough goal. Oh, I made a good home for my kids – but the house and home never satisfied me. There was always something beyond. But chasing that beyond never fully engaged my heart and soul.

So one day, I just decided to stop. To let it all go. I finally let go of my need to achieve, to do, to act and settled back to just Be. I re-learned how to go with the flow of my childhood and let myself see what showed up. In the quiet of BEING, I realized I also needed to know what I wanted, what my heart’s hope was. What did I desire most?

When I finally recognized what I longed for and asked for it, it came to me so easily, it was a blessing.

It took me a while to finally get that I had to be whole-hearted, all of me had to want it, which is a quality that Virgo also exemplifies – integrating what the body needs, the heart hopes for and the mind finally acknowledges.

We have to be totally honest with ourselves to be whole-hearted. This task is reflected in the Gene Key for the New Moon at 5* Virgo. The 59^th Gene Key is about our innate dishonesty – embedded in our DNA. It is what attracts us to others, while at the same time making us fear and distrust them. So it seems we’re hardwired to be afraid to reveal ourselves to others – and to ourselves!

But there’s a deep planetary transformation going on that requires us to overcome our old operating systems and learn to be honest with ourselves and with each other. Once we release the programmed fears, we engage in a higher consciousness and can develop intimacy with ourselves and with each other.

(This is why so many of my clients are doing Shadow-work now. Our Shadows are behaviors that we all develop as children to hide our truest Selves from rules and judgments that try to shape us to society’s plans. Once you work with your Shadow, you release the authentic parts of yourself to grow and thrive. And once you’re living authentically, blessings flow.)

The Goddess energy for Virgo is the Great Mother with her Divine Child. We can look to the Egyptian Goddess Isis and her son Horus as our Virgo guide.

 

 

Isis was one of four children born to the sky goddess Nut and her husband Geb, the Earth. She married her brother Osiris, who became King. Together they taught humanity all the arts of civilization. But Osiris’ brother Set was jealous of him and killed him, scattering parts of his body all over Egypt. Isis and her sister Nephthys found those parts and Isis, through her magic, restored Osiris to life long enough to be impregnated. She gave birth to Horus and Osiris became the King of the Dead.

Horus fought Set for the kingship and eventually won it. And thereafter, Horus was believed to incarnate in each Pharaoh, while the deceased Pharaoh became Osiris.

Isis and Horus represent the source of rulership for the Egyptians. For us, this Mother and Divine Child can become a source of our own sovereignty, our own self-rulership. They symbolize not only what we harvest in our lives, but also good rulership of who we are and what we have.

For this New Moon, you can invoke the Great Mother Isis and her Son Horus as both the source of your Being and the Doing that comes from our authentic Selves.

The Virgo New Moon 2022

The Virgo New Moon occurs on Saturday, August 27^th at 1:17am PDT/ 4:17am EDT/ 9:17 am GMT.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 5* Virgo is: A person becoming aware of nature spirits and normally unseen spiritual agencies. This image is a call to use our creative imagination to give us insight into the spiritual powers that are available to us in these changing times. We are entering a new age where we will value the unseen realities not as moral forces which condemn us, but rather as spiritual energies available to us to use to make a better world.

This New Moon makes one major aspect – a very tight square to Mars in Gemini. Mars entered Gemini on August 20^th, where it will remain for over 6 months as it retrogrades on October 30^th at 26* Gemini until January 12, 2023 at 9* Gemini, and finally enter Cancer on March 25, 2023. So we have a long time to work with this energy. It’s time to use our Minds as they were meant to be used – as a support and aid to what our Hearts know and desire.

The Sabian symbol for Mars at 5* Gemini is: A revolutionary magazine asking for action. This image speaks to our need to re-create something – our lives, our beliefs, our perspectives, our society, our government. But it is not a call for violence! We need a peaceful revolution going forward. (The right -wing has made use of these revolutionary times – the US Pluto return – to manipulate people and try to turn the clock back and repress us. Steve Bannon has studied the ‘occult’ and knows all about the astrological energies of our times.)

Mars is the planet of action, of assertion, of anger – of doing. It is the sacred masculine energy within all of us. While patriarchy has honed it into a killing, dominating energy, it is essentially the energy of movement and action. When we allow Mars to embody the Green Man energy of life, it turns against its patriarchal modeling and protects and defends the rising Feminine energy of life. That is its true function.

With Mars in Gemini, the sign of the Mind, we can become scattered with all the things we want to do and learn – our over-use of technology has scattered our minds. That is why meditation is so important right now if we want to ‘own’ our own minds. This tight square to the New Moon challenges us relate to and integrate those higher spiritual energies into our harvest. Like Horus, Mars here can help us organize and focus our new gifts for the greater good by disciplining our minds. Or if our Mars is still entrenched in the old Mars model, we will cause disruption with our communications and aggressive opinions.

The other big aspect of this New Moon chart is a fixed T-square between Venus in Leo, Uranus retrograde & the North Node in Taurus and Saturn retrograde in Aquarius. Venus is being resonated by the lingering Uranus/Saturn square of 2021 – will we energize a hopeful future or will we succumb to the ancient fears in our DNA and continue to foster hate and fear with others.

Venus here is challenged to get creative and find ways to leave behind what no longer serves life while integrating us into Mother Earth’s biosphere.

After the big Uranus/North Node/Mars conjunction in Taurus around July 31 – August 1, Uranus turned retrograde on August 24^th at 19* Taurus. The Sabian symbol for 19* Taurus is: A new continent rising out of the ocean.

We are in for major changes for sure. It’s sad that our leaders are not asking us to change our behaviors to make life more sustainable. We did it for war – WWII – and we can do it for life. Uranus retrograde can help us find our inner freedom from old behaviors (shadow work) and from old societal beliefs. 

 

 

Mercury, the planet that ‘rules’ Virgo and Gemini, just moved into the sign of Libra, the scales of justice, on August 25^th. It will turn retrograde on September 9^th at 9* Libra.

The Sabian symbol for Mercury retrograde at 9* Libra is: Three ‘old Masters’ hanging on the wall of a special room in an art gallery. This image speaks to the ‘need to return to ‘source’ during a confused search for new value in a chaotic society.’(Dane Rudhyar) It calls us to meditate on the values we hold dear and to re-establish our lives based on them. While we need to leave the past behind us, it is important to save and bring forward those values that are most truly the source of life – Power, Love/Wisdom and Intelligence-in-action.

Mercury in Libra opposite Jupiter retrograde in Aries can open us to new ideas about how we can relate to each other – if we can face our inherited fears, learn from them and then let them go.

It’s time to wake up and change our habits. It’s time to take responsibility for our behavior. What do we value? Are we living by our values or do we only pay lip-service to them?

At this harvest time, count your blessings and work to be worthy of them.

Blessings on your harvest!

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: Aquarius-Leo Full Moon, 2022: Make Heart Choices for the Future

 

The Cosmic Story: Aquarius/Leo Full Moon 2022

Make Heart Choices For the Future

The Goddess and the Zodiac

After moving into my new home between the River and the Ocean – a great Cancer experience – the fierce heat and overwhelming humidity of Leo in late July and early August immediately makes me think of the goddess Sekhmet. While her heat is often the dry heat of a desert, her Lioness aspect certainly resonates with the sign of Leo, the Lion/ess and the fierce Sun of August. 

 

 

With the Aquarius/Leo Full Moon coming up on August 11^th, I’ve been thinking about the goddesses who might represent these energies. With Sekhmet empowering Leo, I think we can look to the Egyptian sky-goddess Nut to stand in for Aquarius, whose ruler Uranus/Ouranos is a sky god.  

Sekhmet is one of the oldest goddess in the Egyptian pantheon and was revered as The Great Mother, Sekhmet-Bast, the Protectress of the divine order, and therefore of the other gods. She fiercely protects those she loves and her destructive aspect is dedicated to morally righteous ends, much like the Greek Eris. She embodies both creation and necessary destruction. She is also the goddess of Kundalini energy, both its sexual aspect as well as its spiritual aspects. As an all-encompassing Goddess, her attributes involve most aspects of collective life.

As an initiated priestess of Sekhmet, I experienced the power of Sekhmet’s desert energy in both its healing and destructive aspects. She is not an easy goddess to work with, because she demands truth and accountability. We have to respect her fierceness as well as her healing. More than anything else, I experience her as the Divine Mother who wants to show me my strength.

Sekhmet was the Lady of 4000 names, although 3000 were known only to initiates and the priesthood. All of those names have been lost, except for a hundred that survived in ancient manuscripts. 

 

 

These are a few of her Names:

Sekhmet, Great One of Magic

Mother of the Gods

One who was before the Gods were

Lady of the Place of the Beginning of Time

Flaming One

Protectress of the Gods

Lady of the House of Books

Awakener

Lady of Enchantments

Opener of Ways

Lady of Transformations

Great One of Healing

Beloved Sekhmet¹

Sekhmet could well be one of the goddesses from the Age of Leo (10,800 – 8,400 BC) who was remembered and embraced by the ancient Egyptians, along with her Sphinx (perhaps it once had a lioness’ head – thank you Divine Harmony for that information). The Sphinx is certainly older that we once believed – it seems to have survived one of the many great floods which occurred between 20,000 - 7,000 years ago.

 

Nut
 

The Egyptian goddess who represents Aquarius is the sky goddess Nut. The Celestial Mother, “the beautiful turquoise day-lit sky and the mysterious lapis lazuli of night. The stars were all the souls that dwelt within her, those waiting to be born and also the souls of the dead taken back into her body. The night sky was all the possibilities of earthly manifestation, all that was seen and all that remains to be seen.”² Nut’s sky body gives birth to the Sun/Ra in the East and consumes him in the West, where he journey’s through the dark night sky of the body of the goddess to be reborn again each day.

Like the sign of Aquarius, Nut symbolizes all the cosmic possibilities of life, the potentials that the creative imagination can work with and ultimately manifest in union with her divine partner Geb, the Earth. Aquarius symbolizes that larger vision, a vision that can see both past, present and future.

 

 

These two goddesses face each other at the Aquarius/Leo Full Moon. Both are eternal, although one symbolizes the vast eternity of space while the other symbolizes the fiery passion of life which incarnates the cosmos. This is the creative call of the universe to all of us. What is our unique self-expression? What creative act are we born to accomplish? How can we add our creative vision to the collective Mind?

If you would like to work with the Goddess and the Zodiac, let me know. I’m planning a series for the New and Full Moons starting with Libra’s New Moon on September 25^th.

Aquarius-Leo Full Moon

The Aquarius Full Moon occurs on Thursday August 11, 2022 at 6:36pm PDT/ 9:36pm EDT and on Friday August 12 at 2:36am GMT.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 20* Leo is: Zuni Indians perform a ritual to the Sun. Ritual brings us into alignment with the natural world and its sacred energies. This image reminds us to give thanks to the life-giving and death-dealing power of the Sun, the source of light and life.³

The Gene Key for 20* Leo is the 4^th – A Universal Panacea. It speaks to the Shadow of distorted logic, which can lead to intolerance. The gift of this degree is understanding, a process that includes all of our being, not just our left-brain logic. When we experience true understanding, we can play with the patterns of existence and create new ideas or systems. The blessing of this degree is forgiveness, which moves us beyond understanding to see the Truth.⁴

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 20* Aquarius is: A large, white dove bearing a message. This is Aphrodite/Venus' dove of love and peace.  This image is also a ‘mission accomplished’ symbol. We’ve been through a real initiation these past few years, and now we can reap the rewards of our spiritual awakenings.³  

The Gene Key for 20* Aquarius is the 49^th – Changing the World from the Inside. Its Shadow is reaction, when our emotions control our behaviors. The gift is revolution, when we suddenly become aware of these stagnant emotional energies and step away from them. We change our behaviors and experience the blessing of this Key – Rebirth!⁴

This Aquarius Supermoon (the Moon is close to the Earth) connects us to the sacred powers of the Earth and Sky and reminds us that our Leo ‘royal’ nature is here to contribute to the well-being of the community of Mother Earth’s children. Just as the King and Queen mediated between Heaven and Earth, so are each of us called to do that. In Leo, we can own our royal nature and be a bridge to larger consciousness. 

 

 

This Full Moon is conjunct Saturn retrograde in Aquarius, hitting us with the reality of climate change, rising authoritarianism, as well as broken systems of government, work, finances and corporate power. We finally see the underlying patriarchal need for domination and control of our world. What will be our response as free citizens? Because we are all free to make choices that can change our world. Please vote – communities are shaped by the people who participate.

Saturn is the Lord of Time, and so he symbolizes our present reality. While his energy is limiting and can often be frustrating, in reality, we all need limits. Just as young children need limits in which to grow into themselves, we adults need to recognize our limits and deepen into them. This Full Moon aligns with Saturn, so our emotional, reflective, Moon-nature has to look reality in the face. The shadow qualities of Saturn are repression and criticism – we see this shadow playing out in our political system here in the United States. The positive side of Saturn is taking responsibility for our thoughts, words and deeds. We each generate an energy field, and it is up to us to maintain ours at its most harmonious level. 

This Full Moon is being challenged by the lunar nodes in Taurus and Scorpio, with Uranus and Mars conjunct the North Node in Taurus. It re-constellates the 2021 Saturn-Uranus square, which is still affecting us through this year. This waning square between the two ‘rulers’ of Aquarius calls us to see what is still valuable in our society at the same time as it releases what is no longer viable for our collective growth. This square energizes the struggle between the old vs the new we see taking place in the US and around the world. Will we be pulled back into old patriarchal beliefs of power-over, male domination and white supremacy or will we start to become a world of equality, truth and freedom?

We are at a cross-roads. With 5 planets and the lunar nodes involved in a grand fixed cross, we are challenged to heal old ancestral wounds and to clean up our mess. The choice is ours.

With Uranus, the planet of wide vision, individual awakening and true humanitarianism aligned with the Taurus North Node, freedom and new vision will win out in the end – as the future always does. But what future will we align ourselves with? Will we meet the challenges that face us?  Taurus is all about embodiment.   Will we create a society where women’s bodies are no longer controlled by male/religious domination so women have self-ownership over our bodies. Where government serves the will of the people, instead of the people serving the will of the wealthy. Where all people are equal and expected to actively participate in creating our society. Where courtesy and kindness are expected behaviors, and creativity and vision are embraced. Where we finally put a stop to needless wars and continuing antagonism between different cultures. Where money and greed are a thing of the past.

The Sabian symbol for the degree of the Uranus/Mars/NN conjunction at 19* Taurus is: A new continent rising out of the ocean. Since my Venus is on this degree, I’ve been watching for this new potential to arise not only in my own life, but in our collective lives. My new home is my personal new continent, which I will be exploring. I believe that the new US law regarding climate change (Taurus is the most earthy of Earth signs) will rise this continent up for the collective. 

 

 

The Gene Key for this degree is number 2 – Returning to the One. In the I Ching, this the called The Receptive – the Divine Feminine. It is another call to return to the Divine Feminine, the foundation of life and consciousness. The Shadow of this Key is called dislocation, the feeling of being lost or cut off from life. Without a firm rooting in the Feminine, we are cut off from both Mother Nature and our own natures. The gift of this Key is orientation, which speaks of feeling connected with our own truth. The blessing of this Key is unity, which is basically enlightenment or awakening. It is being in touch with your soul as well as the World Soul – the Goddess.   

 

We need to reclaim our place in Mother Earth's biosphere.  We need to assume our responsibility as Stewards of the Earth.

  

With Venus just arrived into Leo trining Jupiter retrograde in Aries, we have plenty of fire and passion to create a better reality, a better world for ourselves, our community and our children’s future. Don’t be afraid to roar if the situation calls for it. But use discernment please!

Pluto retrograde in Capricorn forms a positive trine to Mars in Taurus and a helpful sextile to Neptune retrograde in Pisces, awakening the positive, protective Masculine as the Green Man, consort of the Goddess.

Mercury in Virgo forms a wide square with Pallas Athena, helping us formulate strategies for moving forward with our new vision.

 

 Lammas Mask

This week we celebrated the cross-quarter day of Lammas (15* Leo on 8/8), the first harvest, and the Lion’s Gate of 8/8 (Divine Harmony did an interesting talk on this Lion’s Gate – it’s related to the heliacal rising of the star Sirius over Giza in Egypt which used to announce the flooding of the Nile River before they damned it.) These days are ways we align with not only our earthly home but also our cosmic home. A fitting celebration for Leo!

May you be blessed with a fruitful harvest, and be grateful for it.

Cathy

Let’s Remake the World

Let's remake the world with words.
Not frivolously, nor
To hide from what we fear,
But with a purpose.

Let's,
As Wordsworth said, remove
"The dust of custom" so things
Shine again, each object arrayed
In its robe of original light.

And then we'll see the world
As if for the first time.
As once we gazed at the beloved
Who was gazing at us.

~ Gregory Orr ~

(Concerning The Book That Is the Body Of The Beloved)

^1. The Goddess Sekhmet: The Way of the 5 Bodies by Robert Masters

^2. Imagining the World into Existence by Normandi Ellis

^3. An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar

⁴ The Gene Keys by Richard Rudd