The Cosmic Story: Autumn Equinox 2023

 

 

The Wheel of the Year: Mabon

Autumn Equinox 2023

Harvesting the Lessons of Love

The Wheel of the Year keeps turning. Here in the North we are entering the season of Autumn, when we have to let go, while in the South, you are entering the season of Spring, a time to grow.

 

Autumn Equinox is a celebration of the Harvest. What foods can we harvest to sustain us through the winter months? It is considered the second harvest of fruits and vegetables. The first is the wheat harvest at Lammas (August 1), the third harvest is at Samhain (November 1) and is the seeds and nuts harvest.

Psychologically, Autumn Equinox/Mabon is a reset – a time to balance the energies of the summer with the energies of Winter. Life to Death. It’s a time to center and ground ourselves. We are moving into the dark time of the year, a time to go within and nurture our inner lives. (I’ll be starting an online dream group for the Fall and Winter to help you understand what your soul has to say about your life.)

Autumn Equinox is also opposite the Spring Equinox, so it’s like Full Moon energy. We get to see the outcome of Spring’s energies. What have we harvested and learned since the Spring Equinox, which marks the astrological new year. How will that harvest nurture us over the winter? How can we take our harvest and plant it in our soul’s soil for next year?

With Mercury’s recent retrograde, I think it’s important to go back to the beginning – the Spring Equinox chart – to see if we’ve fulfilled its requirements. And so we can see what kind of growth we’ve worked on.

Spring Equinox 2023

At Spring Equinox, all the planets were in direct motion and, except for Pluto in Capricorn, occupied the early Spring signs from Pisces to Gemini. It was a chart of growth and new life. Saturn had just entered Pisces a few weeks before and Pluto entered Aquarius a few days after the Equinox. These were major energy shifts. You can see these energies at work in the world with the union strikes, the climate strikes and weather destruction, as well as in the last dying gasps of old patriarchal mindsets that are desperate to ‘go back’ to the old days of their power.

Saturn in Pisces asks us to dissolve our old boundaries, rules and expectations and give form to a new spiritual structure in our lives, one that embodies the needs of the Collective Unconscious – the World Soul which holds the pain, longing and hopes of humanity. Saturn has been retrograding back through early Pisces since mid-June, bringing rain, floods and emotional challenges to step up our efforts to combat climate change, as well as to release old emotional trauma (Scorpio South Node) so we can get on with life.

Saturn turns back to direct motion on November 4^th at 0* 30’ Pisces, back to the beginning to make sure we open our hearts and minds to the suffering of the world, offering us a chance to solidify that more spiritual foundation for moving forward. We are facing the death of our old world’s structures and we need to meet it with spiritual hope and insight, as well as love and compassion, so we can birth a better world.

Pluto went into Aquarius for about two months, offering us a view of the future – including raising moral issues around AI – before settling back into Capricorn and returning to America’s Pluto return degree to make sure we see the corruption of our political and corporate system (the military/industrial complex), which has created the climate crisis as well as a moral one, through lack of compassion and overt greed. This energy of societal evolution is confronting us with the need to decide: are we going to create that more perfect union that our founders envisioned, or will we devolve into petty tyranny and authoritarianism (which means patriarchy entrenching itself for another go around.)

Pluto turns direct on October 10^th – 11^th, and will return to Aquarius for most of 2024 on January 21^st – expect for a brief (3 month) retrograde back into Capricorn right before and during the American presidential election! Will we finally act as citizens who care about the world and freedom, or will we sit back and watch the ‘fathers’ continue their death games? The heavens are demanding that we take responsibility for our world.

At Spring Equinox, the Sun rose above the horizon and entered the tropical sign of Aries. The new Light born at Winter Solstice is finally growing strong enough to overcome winter’s darkness. A new beginning. A Re-birth. All religions celebrate this seasonal change. In fact, all religions seem to be based on the seasonal flow of the year. The Aries Sun is the primal fire of life and light itself, descending into 3D reality. Wherever Aries lies in your chart is where you feel most alive.

The Moon on Spring Equinox was in Pisces, which made it a balsamic Moon – the last phase before New Moon. Under the balsamic Moon phase, we have to finish up old business. I call it graduating from graduate school – we know what we need to do and now is the time to do it. It’s an energy of completion, of sensing your destiny, of feeling secure in what you know. It’s time to finish up old business.

Many of the planets were paired. The Moon was conjunct Neptune in Pisces, opening our hearts to compassion, to imagination, to faith, and squaring Mars in Gemini, opening us to other ways of learning. The Sun was conjunct Mercury and opposite Ceres, opening our minds to new insights, especially about food, nurturing and care of others. Chiron, Jupiter and Vesta combined to help us heal our insecurities about who we are. Venus was conjunct the Taurus North Node and Juno, inviting us into her Garden of Delight. Venus plays a big role in this year’s harvest.

(You can read my Spring Equinox newsletter for more information.)

So with those potentials, what was your harvest like this year? What issues were you hoping to clear up?

Politically, we are seeing that actions have consequences and repercussions, although with the childish goings on in the American Congress if seems some people didn’t get the memo. We are seeing people stand up to power to demand change (climate actions around the world, the union strikes, making the wealthy pay their fair share, the challenges to the abortion decision, etc). The old structures will inevitably fall, but how much will they bring down with them in their refusal to cooperate?

As I’ve said so many times, patriarchal thinking is afraid of death and so refuses re-birth. This is because it really doesn’t believe in the possibilities of new life after death. And so it continues to create death all over the world so it doesn’t have to die. And while Russia is responsible for starting the war in Ukraine and for the many horrors of the war, America and its allies are certainly just as game to continue the war instead of finding a peaceful resolution to it (while the military industrial complex is getting billions of our tax dollars to keep supplying the weapons).

As John Lennon said: Imagine. Give Peace a Chance.

On a more personal note, what has the light half of the year brought to your attention? With Venus retrograding in Leo all summer, and beginning a new Morning Star phase of her cycle, what wisdom have you learned to bring into this new cycle? As Venus left the Evening sky, she asked us to contemplate what Beauty, Love, Truth, Art, Peace and Wholeness bring to our relationships with each other and with the Earth as we move forward. (My new book, Aphrodite: Our Inner Venus speaks to these issues.)

Virgo New Moon, Aries Full Moon 2023

The Autumn Equinox season actually begins with the Virgo New Moon on Sept. 14-15 although the Sun doesn’t arrive at 0* Libra until September 23^rd. This Virgo New Moon will give birth to the Aries Full Moon on Sept 29. With this shift in the lunar cycle, one sign gives birth to the next Full Moon opposition, teaching us to move through different energies to weave together new insights.

The Sabian symbol of the New Moon at 22* Virgo is: A royal coat of arms enriched with precious stones. Dane Rudhyar says that this symbol indicates our spiritual ancestry – our soul’s history and gifts. Our ‘royal’ nature as embodied Spirits. When we embrace our spiritual essence, we take up this royal coat and take responsibility for our world. What gifts did you come into the world with? How are you sharing them?

The Virgo New Moon was trine Uranus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn – forming an earth grand trine – and opposite Neptune in Pisces. So what do you dream of creating? The earth grand trine gives us the possibility to manifest those dreams in 3D reality, as long as it’s a solid, practical, Virgo plan.

What part of the better world do you want to bring into being? Mercury got the message as it turned direct the day after the New Moon. The Virgin of Virgo has a sheaf of wheat in her arms – or perhaps a baby. The Mother and the Harvest. What have you harvested this year? Did you listen to your heart along with Venus as she retrograded in the sign of the heart – Leo? Venus, just out of her retrograde, is conjunct Juno/Hera, the goddess of partnership. What do you love and who can you partner with to achieve it?

This past season of Summer Solstice’s growth and Lammas’ first harvest was overseen by Venus’ retrograde in Leo and by the changing of the Lunar nodes from Taurus/Scorpio to Aries/Libra. Hopefully we’ve learned the Taurus/Scorpio lessons of letting go of old resentments and emotional trauma so we can ground in a new way to Be in the world, and then have the courage (Aries/Libra) to stand up for our values. With Taurus North Node’s ruler, Venus, retrograding and starting a new Morning Star phase, hopefully we’ve healed the past and can look forward to a more centered groundedness, opening to the wisdom of our bodies and our hearts. For too long, patriarchy discredited and demeaned the feminine gifts of intuition, imagination and emotional intelligence. Hopefully, with Venus starting her new Morning Star phase in Leo, we’ll take back those powers and gifts and weld them wisely and well.

With Venus beginning her new Morning Star phase in Leo, she will be a warrioress of the heart. Will you listen to your heart? Eris, the goddess of discord – going against the heart – is conjunct the Aries North Node of destiny. Will we finally have the courage to be ourselves instead of letting others define us (Libra South Node)? To listen to our heart and soul? To work for what we love? To become the embodied soul that we are? We are heading into the age of Aquarius. Have we learned the Piscean lesson of Love? We’ll need it to balance the fixed AIR, idealistic, technological energies of Aquarius.

There’s an unusual, extended month-long Venus-Jupiter square in the signs of Leo and Taurus. Venus just came out of her retrograde at 13* Leo on September 3^rd and Jupiter just turned retrograde at 16* Taurus on September 4^th. So they are moving slowly and moving toward each other in terms of degrees. If you have planets at 13-16 degrees of the fixed signs you will be most effected by these energies. These two planets of blessings are within 3 degrees of each other from August 18^th until September 20^th, being exactly square on September 16^th.

A 90* square aspect between planets brings tension and a challenge that fosters growth. What have we learned about our values, our self-worth, and our relationships to people, money, and aesthetics? While the fixed energies of Taurus and Leo can stay stuck, this long square can keep us working at it because what we learn will be worth it. Venus wants us to embody joy and connection in our lives – she helps us live in that magical world of ‘falling in love’ even when we’re not in love with a specific person. She invites us to fall in love with ourselves, with others, with nature. To learn to live in that state of grace. Take this season to live how you envision that sense of love.

 

The Aries Full Moon occurs on September 29^th.  This is the Harvest Moon, the closest Full Moon to the Autumn Equinox.  

 

With the Aries/Libra opposition, we encounter our relationship behaviors. While Libra helps us be more diplomatic, accommodating, gracious and balanced in dealing with others, Aries is more assertive, self-concerned and courageous about taking a stand. At this Full Moon, our sense of identity needs to be balanced by concern for the other. Our independence must also be concerned with our inter-dependence. The truth is we need our community to thrive and our relationships to help us reflect on ourselves. No man is an island. Our emotions and ideas need to be shared in an open and balanced way.

Pluto is still squaring the Nodes, with Mars in Libra conjunct the South Node, alerting us to stand in our power or else someone else will. Mercury in Virgo is opposite Neptune in Pisces, asking us to use our imaginations instead of falling into delusions. Venus and Mars are working together to help us bring the truth of our hearts into all our relationships.

Autumn Equinox, September 23, 2023

The Autumn Equinox occurs on September 22^nd - 23^rd, at 9:49 pm HST, 10:49pm ASK, and 11:49pm PDT on the 22^nd, and on the 23^rd at 12:49am MT, 1:49am CDT, 2:29am EDT and 5:29am GMT.

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 0* 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. This refers to the archetypal forms, the seeds that we preserve from the fall harvest. The butterfly is a beautiful symbol for the soul. The dart is seen as ‘the dart of wisdom’ but it can also be seen as a ‘sacrifice’ of form to make it sacred. This is the purpose of Virgo’s energy – although I would rather say to make whole rather than to make perfect. Virgo’s goal is to integrate body, mind and spirit to bring into the collective realm (Libra). 

 

 

The Libra Sun moves below the Equator, taking us into the dark time of year. It is a sign of balance and harmony, a Venus-ruled sign that teaches us the courtesy of relationship, the beauty of the Arts, the balancing dance between Self and Other. It is conjunct the asteroid Pallas, the strategist. What are your strategies for this coming fall and winter? Who will you connect with? What will you learn? How will you meet the dark time of year?

The Equinox Moon is in Capricorn, in the first quarter phase, when we have to overcome obstacles. Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, which wants to share the bounty of harvest with the collective. This season’s Capricorn Moon forms a grand trine with Mercury in Virgo, just beginning to pick up speed after its retrograde and Jupiter/Uranus in Taurus, expanding our horizons in surprising ways. Once again, this is a combination of energies that might bring in some interesting, original and quirky experiences and ideas.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 7* Capricorn is: A veiled prophet speaks, seized by the power of a god/dess. What revelation of divine will have you received in your meditations? How can you be a mouthpiece for revelation?

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With this image in mind, I’ll share my experience of the Goddess’ revelation while I was connecting to Hurricane Lee. If you feel so called, and have your own crystal cave, please join in. But make sure your body can handle the energies.

 

 

I received a meditation that directed me to channel the crystalline energies of Mother Earth up to the Sun and then bring those solar-filled crystal energies back down into the Earth in a sacred marriage of Heaven and Earth. For many years during my meditations, I go to a crystal cave. An oval cave, like the one Merlin disappeared into. The crystals let me channel their energies when I need them. It is a place of Beauty and of Light in the darkness of the underworld.

Did you know that crystals have one of the most stable forms on Earth as well as a steady vibration – never changing, unlike humans – and so they help give form and structure not only to minerals but also to bones, shells, soils – everything. This reality also makes them an apt symbol for the Archetypal Wisdom of the Collective Unconscious. Archetypes are basic structures. And so are crystals.

This meditation asked me to channel the crystalline structures of Mother Earth so they can directly receive the cleansing energies of current solar flares and then bring those new energies back down into the Earth to help stabilize it. It seems to be a way of cleansing and re-empowering the crystals which in turn can help stabilize and mediate the changes going on in Mother Earth. Perhaps if we ground in these new solar flairs (my friend Claudia tells me it’s plasma, the electrical component of our bodies) to the crystalline structures of earth, like cleansing our personal crystals, we can hold open the doors between the worlds during this equinox season to help them connect and re-charge.

Once again, anyone doing this meditation needs to take a few minutes to clear out your own body’s energy, so you are a channel for the energy. The energy of the crystals and the Sun will also clean things out but you don’t want to be overwhelmed by it. Don’t overdo.

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Back to the Equinox chart. Venus is moving forward in Leo, past her square with Jupiter in Taurus and approaching the square to Uranus, and conjunct Juno, the energy of partnership. What creative project are you willing to spend your time on this fall and winter? Who will you partner with? I’m going to take some voice lessons and relearn how to play the piano. Good Taurus/Leo projects.

Mars is in Libra, opposite Chiron, the Mentor as well as the Wounded Healer. Whatever side of Chiron’s energy you’re working with, Mars will take that and share it with others. If you know who you are and what you want, Chiron will mentor you to step out of your comfort zone. If you still carry an insecurity about who you are and what you want to do, Mars in Libra will gently open you to who you are when you interact with others. See your beauty and grace in the face of others and learn your worth.

The North Node in Aries is conjunct Eris, the warrioress of the Heart (along with Morning Star Venus in Leo) and square Pluto in Capricorn. We’re still dealing with power. If we go against our hearts, will we fall into the trap of thinking we are powerful, or will we learn the lesson of being a channel for power to flow through when needed.

So did you bring forth the harvest of the Spring Equinox? Can you move forward now, released from the past, especially the emotional past, so that you can open yourself to new insights, new dreams, new life? Many of my dream clients are experiencing deeper meditations and insights, stronger telepathy, more psychic ‘hits’ because their channels are clear. These gifts of feminine spirit are waiting in all of us to manifest. We just have to trust our ‘alternative’ sources of awareness. Clearing up past doubts and insecurities help us do that.

There’s going to be a Solar Eclipse on South Node in Libra on October 14^th and a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus/Scorpio on October 28^th. I think this is enough for now. I’ll write about the eclipses in the second part of this newsletter next week.

Onward we go round the spiral

Touching Darkness, touching Light

Twice each year we rest in balance

Make choices on this night.

Make choices on this night.

Happy Equinox!

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: Cancer New Moon, Venus Retrograde, Lammas

 

The Cosmic Story: Venus retrograde in Leo: 

Time to upgrade our Hearts.

Transformative Cancer New Moon

 

The rest of this summer, including the August 1^st cross-quarter holiday of Lammas, the first harvest, is under the influence of Venus’ retrograde in Leo. Venus is sinking lower in the evening sky as she finishes up her 9 ½ month journey as an Evening Star and will turn retrograde on July 22^nd at 29* Leo. Because of her retrograde, Venus will stay in Leo for 4 months, from June 6^th to October 8^th. Venus will join the Sun at 20+* Leo, when it starts a new Venus Star Point to begin its Morning Star journey.

Every 8 years, Venus’ orbit creates a 5-point star, a pentagram. For the coming years, the 5 points of this star will occur in Gemini, Capricorn, Leo, Aries and Scorpio (soon to move back into Libra). So Venus is tying together the energies of learning and communicating, of responsibility to the community, of our creative express, of our courage to be ourselves and of our psychological transformation. All qualities we need to upgrade for the personal and collective issues we face.

When a planet extends its stay in a sign due to its retrograde, we are energized to deal with the issues it raises. Venus helps us focus on our values, our relationships and listening to our body’s wisdom. On a more mundane level, our money issues want to be resolved. Our financial system is broken – Wall Street is basically gambling. Corporations are recording unprecedented profits and still getting government handouts. The wealthy pay less taxes than regular workers. Not the best security for anyone except the power brokers.

If you’re interested in learning more about Venus’ gifts to us, my book Aphrodite, Our Inner Venus will be out this August. It explores Aphrodite/Venus’ myths and dives deeply into the psychological aspects of her gifts of Beauty, Love, Sexuality, Relationships and Wholeness. This most important energy is the Initiator of Soul. 

 

 

 

This week the Lunar Nodes (signs where eclipses occur which point to our collective destiny) are changing from Taurus/Scorpio to Aries/Libra. For the past 19 months, we have moved from Scorpio South Node, letting go of our emotional trauma to North Node Taurus’ wealth of body wisdom, as well as listening to Earth’s evolutionary genius. Now we’re moving into 19 months of becoming more self-reliant (Aries North Node) and away from relationship co-dependency (Libra South Node).

That means that while Venus has been the ruling planet of the Taurus North Node for the past 19 months, Mars, the ruler of Scorpio, took a back seat. Now those roles will be reversed. The Mars-ruled Aries North Node will be taking the lead now, while Libra’s South Node ruler, Venus, steps back. During this retrograde, Venus does step back and reviews and revises her Leo attitude. What does that mean for us?

Venus retrograde is a time to re-evaluate how we’re living up to our values and our partnerships. Since Venus/Aphrodite deals with beauty, we’re being asked to consider if we need to meet some collective standard or if we’ll learn to see our own unique beauty. Since she deals with sexuality, we are asked if our sexual relationships are about power and manipulation or about the sacred quality of this most intimate experience. We’ll be asked to examine how we express our love to self and others. Love is not for the weak-heated. Love takes work! 

 

 

Leo is a fixed fire sign, giving us a big bonfire of warmth, generosity and fun. But it can also make us proud, overbearing and self-centered. Leo is the sign of the Sun, of the Heart and of the Child. With all that concentrated fire, we need to express ourselves in some creative way. How will Venus retrograde in Leo spark your creativity? Look to your Leo house to see where you’re being asked to re-wire your connections.

There’s some entitlement that goes along with Leo’s energies. It is, after all, the sign of the King and the Queen. Americans, especially some of the younger generations, have an entitlement issue. Our expectations often go beyond our means. But it’s also the baby boomers, with Pluto in Leo (1938 - 1958), who have raised those expectations. Nobody seems willing to sacrifice (to make sacred) for the greater good anymore.

With Venus retrograde in Leo, Venus will be transiting the baby boomers’ Pluto. Where do we need to evolve our creative expression for the good of all? It’s time for we baby boomers to grow up and become Elders. Where do we need to sacrifice for our children and our children’s children for the next 7 generations? The Uranus in Leo generation (1955 – 1962) will hopefully come up with some out-of-the-box ideas about how we can change things. Hopefully, our artists/musicians/storytellers will remember their archetypal purpose and take the lead to help that change come about.

Venus turns retrograde on the feast day of Mary Magdalene, the Sophia to Jesus’ Christ. Will we listen to our Sophia Wisdom? Will we remember that we are the Christ Spirit having a human experience? 

 

 

Venus turns retrograde conjunct the fixed royal star Regulus, in the heart of the Lion. This is a call for feminine leadership as the Goddess returns to birth a new Age. The Sabian symbol for Venus retrograde at 29* Leo is: A mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form. The mermaid is one of Venus/Aphrodite’s manifestation. The mermaid symbolizes an intense feeling intuition that is still partially unconscious – it has no legs to stand on yet. This symbol indicates that those intuitions need to take form in 3D reality. Artists recognize this state of being, when their creative ideas need to take a form or else they disappear back into the collective unconscious to be picked up by someone else. What is the new feeling/intuition that wants to be birthed by you?

The Sun and Venus meet up on August 13^th at 20*Leo. The Sabian symbol is: American Indians perform a majestic ritual to the Sun. Like the Native Sun Dance, it is time for us to call on sustainable life-energies, sacrificing our ego desires for the greater good. This is the energy that will arise during Venus’ Morning Star phase. Will we create and sacrifice and help our tribe prosper?

Venus turns to direct motion on September 3^rd at 13* Leo. The Sabian symbol is: Old Sea-Captain rests in a neat little cottage by the sea. This is a reward for learning to move from outer experiences to inner soul realms. Venus is directing us inward, to grow our souls. That’s the only way we will truly learn to love ourselves so we can love our neighbors.

With the Lunar Nodes shifting signs in mid-July before Venus turns retrograde, we need to ask if we’ve learned our lessons. As we exit Venus-ruled North Node Taurus, have we done all we can to honor the Earth and our physical well-being? With record breaking temperatures recorded these past few weeks, will we step up and demand climate action from our leaders? Mother Earth is weeping rivers of tears, enduring hot-flashes and burning with rage at what we’ve done to her beautiful gift of life.

With our new Mars ruled North Node destiny, will we have the courage to stand up for our values and for our children? If not now, when? North Node Aries can help us find our sense of identity and sense of purpose. Look for where Aries lies in your chart. This is the original spark of creation that wants to take form in your life. Now is the time to embrace who you are, warts and all. With the South Node in Libra, we have to stop being wishy-washy, stop giving our power away to others, and stop wanting to keep things on the surface. These next 19 months will help us define ourselves and our relationships. If we can’t be truthful to those people we are closest to, what does that say about us? Aries NN will give you the courage to face the truth and stand up for it.

In this time of intensifying climate change and war-mongering, we all feel the underlying collective fear and anxiety. This is the challenge of the end of an Age. Can we let go of our consumerism and learn to live with less, sacrificing what’s unnecessary so we all create a better world? We can if we concentrate on who and what we love.

Cancer New Moon

The Cancer New Moon occurs on Monday July 17 at 11:31am PDT/ 2:31pm EDT/ 7:31pm GMT.

 

 

This intense New Moon only connects to all the outer planets, which means that it brings up more than personal issues. The outer planets – Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Eris – are transpersonal, meaning they effect all of us as a collective. The Sun and Moon in easy aspects to Uranus and Neptune indicate that we need to wake up to our dreams.

Monday’s Cancer New Moon is opposed by Pluto retrograde in Capricorn squaring the Aries/Libra nodes, with Eris, the warrior goddess, conjunct the North Node. Can we turn our collective attention to our home world and its healing, or will we continue to allow the elite their ‘winner take all’ attitude? The lines are very clear now in America – the wealthy and corporate interests own our leaders and are stopping the changes we need to make. They are using inconsequential ‘moral’ issues to keep people divided when we all agree that climate change and equality and freedom must be addressed. This opposition is squared by the nodes, indicating we have to re-examine how we see ourselves as part of a partnership with the rest of society. Are we a separate unit or are we all are connected?

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” as Spock said.

Interestingly, the personal planets are all aspected by the social planets, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as Uranus. Mercury in Leo squares Jupiter in Taurus, opening our minds to new solutions to Earth’s problems. Mars in Virgo is opposed to Saturn retrograde in Pisces, asking us to be of service to humanity and to Earth. Focus on the important stuff and don’t get distracted. Venus slowing down in Leo squares Uranus in Taurus, waking up our feminine leadership qualities that will be under consideration during Venus’ retrograde period.

Venus in Leo wants us look at ‘what we value’. Her wisdom says that Love is the important thing. Love for our family, for the Earth, for each other.

All we need is Love.

Blessing of the Lammas harvest for us all,

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: The Wheel of the Year: Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice -- Season of Abundance

 

Summer Solstice 2023

Once again, the Wheel of the Year turns. We are leaving the Spring Equinox/Beltane season behind and coming to a big turning point of Light – Summer Solstice/Lammas. Summer Solstice marks the highest point the Sun reaches in its northern journey. Summer Solstice occurs on June 21^st this year at 10:57 am EDT, when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer. The Sun will seem to ‘stand still’ and stop there for three days (Jung 21 - 23) before it seemingly moves again. That movement will be the first step of its journey South again. Now the North will slowly lose the light, while it will grow in the southern hemisphere where they are experiencing Winter Solstice.

We in the North are at the end of the Yang part of the year – the time and the energy of birth, action and growth. Now we’ll be entering the Yin part of the year at Summer Solstice/Lammas – a time of gathering in, of the harvest, of fulfillment and finally of death.

But for the next three months, before the light fades in Autumn, we are invited into the Garden of Delight – High Summer in the North. In summer, Nature is fully blooming, the heat is hopefully enjoyable, or at least tolerable, and food and gatherings are more abundant. There’s a freedom to summer, the need to be out and about. This is the season of the marriage of Heaven and Earth, when the Earth becomes once again the Garden it was meant to be.

This season starts with Cardinal Water, concentrates in Fix Fire and manifests in Mutable Earth. Cancer asks: What do you need to stay true to your soul’s life? Leo asks: Are you living it deeply, passionately, creatively? Virgo asks: Are you reflecting on what you’ve done and made some plans so your harvest will manifest?

We’re constantly creating new threads in the weaving of our lives. What have you birthed this year? Which threads are you pulling on? 

 

 

I’ve gone back to re-edit and publish a book on Aphrodite/Venus. Because of the renewed interest in the cycles of the planet Venus, I want to share a more in-depth mythological/psychological study of the archetypal energy of connection and attraction. We experience the movement of this planet by observing it in the heavens and feeling it in our body and imagination. To know the ancient stories and symbolic meanings that embody the energies of this planet can only enhance our experience of it.

Doing this re-edit has also made me consider that some of my other writings might need a re-working. Since it’s work I’ve already done in one form or another, I won’t be starting at the beginning. That will leave me plenty of time for loving my new granddaughter!

Summer Solstice: June 21, 2023

The Sun enters the tropical sign of Cancer and begins the season of Summer Solstice on June 21, 2023 at 7:58am PDT/10:58am EDT/3:58pm GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Summer Solstice Sun at 1* Cancer is: On a ship, the sailors lower an old flag and raise a new one. On psychological level, this symbol describes what Dane Rudhyar says is a re-orientation. Of course on a physical level, it describes the shift in the Sun’s path. But on a societal level, it speaks to a needed change, one where we live in harmony with nature and each other-- which is what we modern people do in the summer. But now, it means more than that. There are dire warnings about the changes Mother Earth is going through – warmer oceans, melting ice caps, higher CO₂ levels, stronger storms, polluted waters. We need a new society that understands the realities of modern life – the good and the bad – and is determined to use our resources to heal Earth’s environmental damage as humans once again learn to live in harmony with Her. A society that values Life over Death.

The Cancer Sun’s aspect to Venus in Leo is a 45* semi-square. This aspect shows us where we’re stuck and asks us to stop stubbornly holding onto old desires so we can change our habits, not only for ourselves but for everyone. Most of those desires are for things that our media has convinced us we need to buy to make ourselves happy. In reality, with Venus ending her Evening Star phase, we need to discover new, lasting desires that have nothing to do with buying things to make ourselves feel good. This wisdom aspect of Venus’ journey wants us to listen to our hearts to discover what we value. That is what will make us whole. That is what will make us feel good.

The Solstice Sun forms an inconjunct to Pluto retrograde 29*+ Capricorn, which can help with those necessary personal and societal changes that will truly nurture us. Or it can make us obsess over the need to control things out of fear. Once again, the choice is ours to either accept necessary changes or fight them. Real security (a Cancer need) can only come from within.

If ever there there was a time for a new vision for our future, it’s now. The old order is falling apart. It can’t be sustained. Pluto is backing into Capricorn to revisit America’s Pluto degree and complete the demolition of our cultural institutions that begin in 2009. Pluto will be in Capricorn from June 11^th, 2023 until it goes back into Aquarius on January 21^st, 2024, the day after the Sun enters Aquarius. Next year we’ll be entering Aquarius season with the power of Pluto to begin a new evolution.

But until then, we’re still dealing with the power struggle between the old world run by the wealthy elite and the new world of greater equality and freedom. At the moment, instead of dealing with the major crisis of our time – climate change – the old order has reverted to war and domination to try to retain power. Using old behaviors that are set on destruction rather than life. When will we learn that it’s up to us to get our governments to listen to us, rather than to the military-industrial complex?

This year the old structures are lashing out as they begin to crumble. With Pluto’s entry into Aquarius for the past two months, we witnessed the first stages of the fight between discrimination and equality, a very Aquarian project. Look at all the laws being passed by Republicans to deny equal voting rights and abortions, negating LGBTIQ rights as well as environmental laws, and making Christianity-based decisions about our collective life. Now that Pluto has gone back into Capricorn for the next six months, stand back and watch the old regime crumble from within. We are seeing the Christian evangelists vision of The End Times: their need to make society into a good, moral Christian world so Jesus can return to renew it.

Pluto’s retrograde back into Capricorn will test the integrity of our democratic system, especially through Trump’s trial. It will radicalize some of his followers, but if we truly do live under The Rule of Law that we’re all bound to obey, then this test will be the finishing touch of America’s Pluto return. Will our foundation hold steady and true? If so, we will renew our laws to make them more equitable and just, not only to all people but also to the Earth and her resources. What must we shed from the past and our mistakes – our attachment to wealth entitlement/royalty from the defeated British – and what must we save – our belief in living in a world where we have to take responsibility for ourselves and each other. Living as a citizen of a democracy.

Hopefully, we’ll pass the test.

And that will open us up to new ideas, new behaviors, new understandings of what faces us, and calls on us to make a choice about our future. Will we demand action on the important issues? Or will we let manufactured and harmful opposing moral beliefs divert us? 

Venus, Mars & the Moon 

This Cancer Sun is ruled by the Moon, which is a Leo Moon squaring Jupiter conjunct the North Node in Taurus. Jupiter by itself can make any Moon need expand and get excessive. But together, Jupiter and the North Node are aligned with our earthy, sensual nature and can give our Leo Moon, which wants what she wants, an energetic charge to make those changes or relapse back into old habits. As you can see, this a moment of change for all of us. While we relax into summer and all the delights it brings us, we are also charged to change those behaviors that don’t align with our beliefs. It’s time to live up to our ideals.

The Leo Moon is also inconjunct Saturn retrograde in Pisces. Saturn turned retrograde on June 17^th at 8* Pisces, and it turns direct at 1* Pisces on November 4^th. The Sabian symbol for 8* Pisces is: A girl blowing a bugle. Dane Rudhyar says this is “a call to participation in the service of humanity, as an evolutionary crisis approaches”.

Saturn in Pisces places the center of gravity – our collective root chakra – in the realm of the collective unconscious. Jupiter sextiles Saturn, meaning they work together to provide opportunities for us to work things out. If Saturn is the root chakra, Jupiter is a crown chakra portal, for it expands our consciousness to other realms. When they work together, they open us more easily to these other dimensions. Neptune is also in Pisces, bringing us the gift of illumination ("to throw into light, make bright, light up;") or of illusion ("act of deception; deceptive appearance, apparition; delusion of the mind,").

There are multiple dimensions of reality. It’s the one we settle on that’s going to decide if we choose delusion or a new reality. There is an evolutionary crisis facing us. How will we face it?

We might see more religious/political fanaticism in the world; we can also see more true spiritual insight open people’s eyes to our world’s needs. While the clash between the old and the new is playing out around the world, the United States is ground zero in many ways – perhaps because we are experiencing our Pluto return.

This aspect between the Moon and Saturn retrograde asks us to accept responsibility for our lives and to develop some emotional maturity. It’s time to grow up! Saturn in Pisces is taking us on a deep dive into the collective unconscious, opening our reality to the deep wounds in our collective psyche. Isn’t it time to heal our collective trauma and get on with creating a more healthy, united world? Instead of wallowing in our old trauma, we can embrace the lessons we’ve learned and move on to our grown-up responsibilities to our community and the world.

At Summer Solstice, both Mars and Venus are in Leo being squared by Uranus in Taurus, challenging us to let go of our pride and self-centeredness and wake up to a bigger point of view – the Earth’s point of view and her creative genius. Leo’s energy is a conduit between heaven and earth – our personal creative genius. The Pluto in Leo generation is especially called upon to grow up and show some wisdom. We have to respond to the world around us. We can keep buying things we don’t need to feed our weak sense of self or we can begin to create out of our higher Self.

With the Moon, Venus, Mars, Pallas and Black Moon Lilith in Leo, we have access to a very creative force this summer, especially since Venus goes retrograde in Leo on July 22^nd.

The signs are all here. We have to step forward and engage in the world if we want to create a better world. We can stop supporting the corporations who continue to pollute our world. We can stop supporting politicians who are much more concerned with corporate profits than with feeding the hungry and helping children and elders.

Of course, it’s time to take action as citizens, instead of wasting our energy on being the consumers they’re turned us into. Don’t forget that after 9/11, George Bush told us that our response needed to be – to buy more things! To become even more entrenched in a consumer society. Instead of asking us to become engaged citizens.

If we really want a different society, we can only make it happen by engaging in those issues that are important to us. We the people vastly outnumber the wealthy elite, who aren’t so different from the British monarchy that the American Revolution fought against. We are living in revolutionary times, but unlike those people who stormed the Capital on January6^th in a push for more patriarchal domination, we have to create a peaceful transition to a new world. This is where women can lead the way.

The good news is that after the wrecking ball comes renovation. It’s a good time to begin envisioning who we want to be as a person and as a nation in the future. With the Solstice’s Leo Moon just barely visible in the evening sky, along with Venus and Mars, let your visions be creative, loving, life-giving and beautiful. Why not?

Cosmic wisdom says we needed chaos to destroy the old regime of patriarchal power – which is still here and thriving. But as these old structures fall from grace, we’re going to re-define and refine the foundations of what the Founding Fathers left us.

One thing needs to change. We need our Founding Mothers as well – that Cancer mothering and nurturing energy that promotes life. Ben Franklin should have enshrined a Council of Grandmothers in the Constitution, just as the Iroquois Confederacy had in place. He embraced everything else about the confederacy of Indian nations, except the Council of Grandmothers, who made the important decisions for the tribes. We need some wise women for the job – maybe instead of the Supreme Court.

Venus in Leo: June 6^th to October 8^th

The Summer Solstice season will be infused with big magic from Venus’ long stay and retrograde in Leo, which is the big news of this season of the Wheel.

Venus is going to be in Leo from June 6^th to October 8^th, rather than her usual 3-4 weeks, while she retrogrades through Leo and goes from being an Evening Star to a Morning Star. On the way, Venus kisses/conjuncts the Sun on August 13^th while retrograde at 20*28’ Leo. She then starts a new Venus Star Point as her Evening Star phase ends and she soon appears as a Morning Star. 

 

With Leo’s energies filtered through Venus’ power of connection and attraction, we will have many opportunities to do what we love, create beauty and harmony, shine out our own beauty, connect with our tribe and create something amazing. The work for this summer can be to find contentment and joy, and express gratitude – and to play! Venus in Leo is dramatic and playful, generous and expressive. If you channel her energy into your relationships, your surroundings, your self-worth and your artistry, you will find that contentment and joy. For Aphrodite/Venus entices us to live life fully. And that’s the energy of Summer Solstice season. The Marriage of Heaven and Earth. The season of Love and Light and Abundance.

The second half of Summer Solstice season is the cross-quarter holiday of Lammas, the first harvest. I’ll save more information about Venus’ retrograde and the start of her new Venus Morning Star Point on August 13^th until that newsletter at the end of July.

Isis and Osiris: The Divine Couple

Since Summer Solstice is considered the Sacred Marriage of Heaven and Earth, I thought about which Goddess energy was a good mentor for this season. Obviously, a goddess who has a divine partner. And so let’s look at Isis, Mother Goddess, Lady of Magic and Divine Partner.

 

Isis and Osiris

In Egypt, Isis was called Au Set. She is identified with the star Sirius, whose rising before dawn in mid-June heralded the rising of the Nile, the source of Egyptian life.

The story of Isis and Osiris begins for us (although you can go back further to the beginning of creation) with the sun god Ra, who got so inflated with his power that he refused to let any more gods be born of his mother Nut, the Sky Goddess. Separated from her husband, Geb, the Earth, she was in labor for millennia with five children, until the moon god Thoth, whom Nut created with Ra, gambled with his brother Ra and won from him five days, in which the five gods in Nut’s womb would be born. (See The Passion of Isis and Osiris by Jean Houston)

 

Sky Goddess Nut

Osiris was first-born, then came Horus and Seth, and finally Isis and Nephthys. While Isis and Osiris were married, both lovers and partners, Seth and Nephthys, while also married, were often at odds, since Seth was jealous and so angry. Horus flew in his hawk form from one end of the Earth to the other, observing the beauty and laws of the Earth.

Isis and her husband Osiris were given the land of Kemet or Egypt to rule. They taught the people to till the soil and plant seeds and to harvest the grains, and taught them to gather together animals into herds to be domesticated. Isis taught the women to weave baskets of reeds to gather in the harvest, to grind flour and bake bread. She also taught them to harvest cotton, to spin and to weave cloth and to plait hair. She taught them how to press flowers for fragrant oils, to crush malachite into a fine green powder to go with the kohl that made their eyes beautiful. Isis made the sistrum and rattled gourds to set women’s feet dancing, their bodies swaying and their hearts beating; she taught them chants and prayers to offer to the gods.

Isis gave women the knowledge of counting to understand the cycle of the Moon as well as their own menstrual cycle. She also taught them the names of the stars. She gave people medicines for healing most ailments, the herbs for and knowledge of childbirth, and the making of protective amulets.

Osiris, meanwhile, showed people how to harness the cows to pull the plows that created furrows for the seeds. He showed them how to stomp grapes into wine and how to brew barley into beer. At night, he taught the people the music of his Mother, Nut, the Sky, with reed pipes and drums and the lyre.

Together, Isis and Osiris taught their people the gifts of civilization. They often traveled up and down the Nile, bringing the gift of abundance to their people and teaching them the holy, peaceful ways of community and the divine. They gave them the gifts of Ma’at, the gift of truth and justice. They were the Divine King and Queen of Heaven and Earth.

 

Susan Seddon Boulet ~ Isis and Osiris
 

While their love story has many twists and turns, for Osiris is murdered by his brother Seth and becomes Lord of the Underworld, Isis remains on Earth, to guide us in the magic of being a woman. She is the Goddess of Life, and through her union with Osiris, the Queen of the Dead. She is a mistress of Magic, especially the magic of the Word. Which makes it more disgusting that we called a group of terrorist men Isis, stealing her powers by invalidating her name. A typical patriarch ploy.

Here are a few of her titles, which tell us about her powers. She is called:

Mistress of the Cosmos, Ruler of the House of Life, Almighty Lady of Wisdom, Establisher of Justice, Champion of Righteous Law, Giver of the Gift of Abundance, Inventor of Agriculture, Inventor of the Loom, Source of Healing Herbs, Owner of the Throne, Magistra of Fate, Restorer of Life.

With so many gifts to share with us, Isis is a wonderful mentor to guide us this Summer Solstice Season. Jean Houston’s The Passion of Isis and Osiris, Merlin Stone’s Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, and Normandi Ellis’ books on the Egyptian gods will give you more information to play with.

Enough for now. Despite the issues facing us, we have our Earth Mother’s support to live fully this summer. The more we see Her beauty and feel her delight in life, the easier it will be for us to sacrifice (to make sacred) our unhealthy, unsustainable lifestyle. Once we commit to a simpler life, we’ll find joy and contentment.

May you have a blessed Summer Solstice season.

Cathy

What We Want

What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names--
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don't remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.

~ Linda Pastan ~

(Carnival Evening)