The Cosmic Story: Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon 2018

Gemini Full Moon 2018

The Truth Will Set You Free

When we walked through the Wheel's Gate of Samhain/ All Hallow's Eve a few weeks ago, we entered into the death season of the year here in the northern hemisphere. The days are getting shorter, the Dark is rising and we are finishing up old business as the holidays approach. This is the time to shed old skins and let go of the old year in a 6-week long process until Winter Solstice. This year it feels as if the veils between the world are especially thin, perhaps because our collective psyche is lost in the chaotic clash of old vs. new. We are in the tidal flow of the changing of the ages -- the tug and pull of conflicting currents. With this inter-penetration of dimensions, reality can and will begin to vibrate at a different frequency.

Believe it! Change is happening.

As we emerge out of Scorpio's deep well of emotional memories, we can release them to burn up in the Phoenix's flames. As Scorpio's emotionally instinctive Snake transforms into the Eagle's insight, there is a sudden burst of awareness as the Phoenix rises from the ashes of these transformations. 

 

The fire sign Sagittarius follows the watery sign of Scorpio. Out of the dark depths comes enlightenment. We'll especially feel this change now that Jupiter has left Scorpio and entered Sagittarius. Jupiter in Scorpio expanded our vision so we could see our shadows -- both personally and collectively. In Sagittarius, he can help us find our truth now that we've released the old wounds that taught us our life lessons. What we do with the meaning of those lessons will be shaped by Jupiter's cosmic truths.

Jupiter brought up quite a lot of shadow material for individuals as well as the culture while he traveled through Scorpio. The first weeks after Jupiter entered Scorpio saw the Harvey Weinstein accusations and the birth of the MeToo# movement. He left Scorpio with more women winning seats in the American Congress than ever before. Women used this past year to stand up for what they believed in. And others followed.

When the Scorpio New Moon occurs at the power gate of Scorpio, it usually brings results. It is the true Samhain/ Day of the Dead (15* Scorpio), leaving us more open to the unseen real, those powers and energies which are unseen by us but which influence our world so deeply. Patriarchy has deliberately denigrated and persecuted people who are open to these unseen energies, but more people than ever are learning to listen to these messages for their personal life.

It is interesting that the US holds its elections every year around the power gate of 15* Scorpio -- the energetic gateway to death and rebirth. According to Thomas Jefferson, America needs to have a revolution/evolution every 20 years or so. This year's Scorpio New Moon gave us a message about our collective life here in the US with this past election: we can make change happen on a societal level if we take back the system.

People are fighting to count every vote, minorities are being elected and the energy of hatred has received a tsunami of blue love. In this giant blue wave of new energy, those of you who are caught up in the rhetoric of fear will discover this wave will bring you peace and opportunity. We can take care of each other and our world before we take care of the profits of corporate monopolies. We can care about the future enough to change our lifestyle as we change our economy, and gear it toward a sustainable future for all of us, not just a privileged few. We can change the course we're on.

To set the seal of new 'possibilities' opening up, the day after this intense New Moon, Jupiter left Scorpio with a job well done and went home to his own sign of Sagittarius. Now that Jupiter has left the intense waters of Scorpio behind, he can bring his enthusiasm and expansion to his own concerns -- the workings of cosmic law. Now that he's given us the opportunity to face our shadows, we need to stand and judge ourselves according to cosmic law, to determine what we need to do with these deep shadows in our collective American psyche. As well as how to shine our light and help.

I believe this is where the return of the divine Feminine will help us. As women step into our power as we step out of patriarchy's rules, we will discover our gift for Wisdom and living according to cosmic law. And Jupiter in Sagittarius will stand us in good stead this coming year as we all clean up the mess of things like 'fake news', a synchronistic occurrence perhaps triggered by the 'truth vs illusion' Saturn/ Neptune square of 2016. When Jupiter squares Neptune in Pisces in 2019, perhaps we'll discover our spiritual truths will win out any time against 'fake news'.

Jupiter in Sagittarius can bring us expanded vision, not only for our own lives but also for the collective. We can imagine a different future if we open up the doors of our perception. Use this Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon to begin the process.

Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon

This Full Moon occurs on the day after the Sun enters Sagittarius on November 22, 2018 at 9:39 pm PST and in the early hours of November 23, 2018 at 12:39am EDT and 5:39am GMT.

This Gemini Full Moon's energy belongs to Jupiter, so it can feel very expansive and energizing. Both Gemini and Sagittarius have fun energy -- energies that are curious and expansive, social and physical, mental and philosophical. So we Americans can look forward to an interesting Thanksgiving weekend -- perhaps we'll start to heal some of our differences over this national day of gratitude and actually have real conversations about the state of our world.

This Full Moon brings together the Sun and Jupiter in Sagittarius, the Moon in Gemini and Mars in Pisces. Jupiter/Sun in Sagittarius can get self-righteous if he doesn't watch out, but otherwise, he can be an inspiration to others. The Gemini Moon just laps it all up, reflecting back both the good and bad ideas floating around without judgment.

Mars in Pisces wants us to be spiritual warriors and challenges us to look at things with an encompassing and compassionate vision that includes what is normally left out of the discussions -- those rejected, needful things we've pushed into the collective unconscious. Like homelessness, poverty, war. Like a woman's worth and a child's needs or the care of our elders. It urges us to listen to our Native people and Mother Earth. It asks us to be kind to ourselves and hopeful for others.

Mercury is the planet said to 'rule' this Gemini Full Moon, although Jupiter certainly carries more weight with Mercury residing in his home sign. This Mercury retrograde (November 16 -- December 6) is in Sagittarius, conjunct Jupiter and the Sun, opposite the Gemini Moon and square both Mars and Neptune in Pisces. So be conscious of what you say, mean what you say, and say it with kindness and intelligence. Neptune can make your mind fuzzy or it can fill it with true images, which you need to interpret correctly. It's really a great time to fine tune your listening skills. And it can be a time to really imagine what you want this next part of your life to look like.

Put this all together and this Full Moon can set the stamp on a new vision of life to set our course by. Personally, it can be a time when the bigger picture clicks in and you understand yourself in a whole new way. Collectively, it can be a time of vision and hope that we can turn around old policies and beliefs that no longer serve our collective needs.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 1* Sagittarius is: Joyous reunion of army veterans around a campfire. Knowing your tribe and standing by a commitment to serve a larger vision.

The Sabian symbol for Jupiter at 4* Sagittarius is: Watched by happy parents, a child takes its first steps. Having an emotionally supportive environment in which to try new things.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 1* Gemini is: Glass-bottomed boat drifts over undersea wonders. Opening up to the images of the Collective Unconscious and being open to different perspectives.

The Sabian symbol for Mercury retrograde at 11* Sagittarius is: An ever-burning lamp throws light upon an archaic idol. Perhaps a warning to watch for old patterns of belief that hold us in the past.

Other Influences

So what did you learn from this Venus retrograde?  She forms part of the background to these new perceptions.   We're still involved, although in different signs then at the New Moon, with the grand cross between Venus in Libra opposite Uranus retrograde in Aries squared by the North & South Lunar Nodes now in Cancer and Capricorn. The energy now is cardinal (Aries/Libra, Cancer/Capricorn) rather than fixed (Taurus/Scorpio, Leo/Aquarius). So it wants to initiate things. It offers us a look at life from a different perspective (Cancer/Capricorn). Now it's about what nurtures our souls, and not about the economy. Now it's about loving freely (Venus) while being unique and independent (Uranus).

Put it together this way: we need a vision of life that honors our unique individuality and values cooperation and peace, because these values give us security and help us to build civilizations rather than destroy them. In a relationship, it means stop trying to own the other. They are free and unique souls who have their own path to walk. Possessiveness is very patriarchal you know!

In terms of a new vision for society, patriarchy is destroying nations and societies all over the world, hypnotizing them with the delusion of riches and abundance that capitalism offers, while offering them weapons of destruction for their enemies and environmental disasters leading to climate change. But it is a dead and deadening system when it isn't anchored to the important things in life like family, love, health, creative work, community and 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'.

Let's get away from Capricorn's need to dominate and own everything on the monopoly board (South Node in Capricorn) and look to what really matters to our souls (North Node in Cancer). What kind of life do you really want to live? That's the big question. Are we really living an authentic life or are we still chained to patriarchy's unpalatable vision of haves and have-nots? Are we going to be members of our community, country and the world or are we just consumers? We all are here on Earth to have a fulfilled and creative life. The more of us who opt in for that vision, the more it will become a reality that others can step into as well.

Venus in Libra once more squares Pluto in Capricorn just as she opposes Uranus, bringing back the intense square vibe set up in 2012-2015 between Uranus and Pluto. Venus brought back this vibe all through the year as she transited through her Evening Star phase as well as stationing direct as a Morning Star in Libra, once more in relationship to these change agents. Venus and her cycle which creates a 5-pointed star, a pentacle, in the sky over 8 years, is playing a bigger role in our consciousness now than ever before.

This says to me that a great part of our evolutionary process now concerns the renewal of the divine Feminine. It is the revelation foretold of 'a woman, clothed with the Sun, standing on the Moon, crowned with Stars, giving birth to the new age'. It is up to women to be our unique and original selves -- different from men but also complementing their energies. This way is more balanced then having women owe our allegiance to the masculine in all things, giving the masculine energies more weight than they need or we want.

This image of the new feminine is a woman, not a goddess, although she is certainly an archetypal symbol of who women can become. A conscious woman who is balanced between the feminine/yin energies and the masculine/yang energies of life. I've written about this new feminine energy in my book, Wisdom's Daughters: How Women Can Change the World. We're seeing it happen before our eyes now.

With Venus moving forward once again and becoming a Morning Star, she is ready to bring new values into the world. Venus stationed at 26* Libra: An Eagle and a white Dove change swiftly into each other. This images speaks to the need for cooperation between mind/will/spirit and heart/imagination/love. It is the unity of Self which the Woman clothed with the Sun teaches us.

Walk with the Light,

Cathy

Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.

What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.

Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.

Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming
a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

(In Praise of Mortality, translated and edited by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

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The Cosmic Story: The Scorpio New Moon, November 7, 2018

Scorpio New Moon, November 7, 2018

Transformation or Death

After the intense Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon on October 24^th, we get to settle into the watery depths to renew ourselves. When we dive deep into Scorpio's dark waters, we're sustain by the water grand trine between this Scorpio New Moon, Neptune in Pisces and the North Node in Cancer.

The Moon's nodes shifted from Leo/Aquarius to Cancer/Capricorn just hours before this New Moon. Since Cancer's ruling planet is the Moon, this first New Moon of this nodal cycle needs to be approached with respect and a ritual. Respect because it occurs on Scorpio's power gate and ushers in this new nodal axis; a ritual because it is a good way to channel these energies. 

Lunar Nodes

 

Since May 2017, the lunar nodes have been in Leo/Aquarius, helping us to engage more in life, laughter and creativity (Leo north node) and not be so dis-engaged, rebellious and judgmental (Aquarius south node). Now with the lunar nodes move into the Cancer/Capricorn axis on November 7, 2018, we'll learn how to put aside the more negative Capricorn south node qualities of domination, self-denial, over-responsibility, hopelessness and repressed emotions for the Cancer north node gifts of emotional security, self-care, intuitive knowing and creative nurturing of life.

It's time to stop looking to the great Father (Capricorn) for answers and instead turn to the Great Mother (Cancer) for the support, encouragement and comfort that she provides. It's time to start caring about our people rather than our corporations; about our air, water and earth rather than our profits. It's about putting people at the center of our concerns rather than the economy. The economy should serve the people, not enslave them. Once we get rid of the patriarchal corporate mentality running our world, we can put the economy where it belongs -- as just one facet of life amongst many -- such as education, family, community, health, the environment, the arts, and justice and peace.

The grand fixed cross between the nodes and Venus opposite Uranus has now moved into the cardinal signs: the nodes in Cancer/Capricorn and Uranus opposite Venus in Aries/Libra. This cardinal grand cross has the same goals -- to promote equality, individuality with nurturing rather than fear and shame. In cardinal mode, we just might get it done.

Our society needs to live differently. Think differently. Act differently. So go vote if you're a US citizen and let's get started. Look what's happened in Brazil.

This Scorpio New Moon is connected to the other two water signs, Pisces and Cancer. With the North Node in Cancer now, the motivation is Life. With the New Moon energized by Jupiter at the last degree of Scorpio, we will have the ability to dive deep and expand who we are. Then we have Neptune in Pisces, enhancing our imaginations so we creatively and lovingly deal with our Shadows and our fellow citizens. Use art and beautiful words and music to change hearts.

Water is Life. In so many creation myths, life arises out of the waters. And we're made up of 70+% water. Water is the source of healing, of purification, of emotional intelligence, of dreams and the imagination. Water is a place of transition between dimensions, since water can change its form from liquid to solid to gas. And most of all, water is refreshing and fun.

We say the water signs are psychic and empathic because water flows between people and carries messages to us. We become one in a mystic union. Take the Cancer North Node as your true North, let your dive into Scorpio's waters break through your own limitations and allow the healing love of Neptune in Pisces flow to others.

Try to open up your intuitive receptors this New Moon, especially during your New Moon ritual (see below), and don't forget to include water. A goddess to invoke during this New Moon one who is a deep well. Perhaps Psyche or Persephone.

Scorpio New Moon

The Scorpio New Moon occurs on Wednesday November 7 at 8:02am PST/ 11:02 am EST/ 5:02pm GMT.

Since this New Moon occurs on a power gate (15* of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) I'm going to use both 15* and 16* Scorpio Sabian symbols to describe the energies.

The two Sabian symbols for the Sun and Moon at 15*11 are: (15*) Children play around 5 mounds of sand. This symbol speaks to the early steps in the development of higher Mind, attuned to the highest level of evolution. This symbol relates to the idea that humanity's destiny is to develop into a five-fold being, a "Pentagram/Pentacle" -- the very energetic shape that Venus' 8 years cycle draws across the heavens. The number 5 symbolizes the most creative and penetrating aspect of the Mind/Soul. We are to incorporate the 4 elements as well as the 5th element -- the Quintessence. Then we become fully human. This is our future. Our destiny.

The Sabian symbol for 16* Scorpio is: A girl's face breaking into a smile. Such a small thing, and yet, the happiness expressed in that smile can light up the world. And light you up too! Perhaps this joy is the result of that Higher Mind we're here to incarnate. 

 

The New Moon is supported by Neptune in Pisces, perhaps shaping our imaginations in new and fantastic ways that help up reach that new level of insight and understanding. The Cancer North Node grounds us in our past history as well as our future society. Will we choose to live the myth of a free and equal world?

Jupiter is at the very last degree of Scorpio and will move into Sagittarius on November 8^th. At the New Moon it connects with Chiron in the late degrees of Pisces, energizing the healing of any remaining wounds. Healing, mothering energy will do the trick. Open to it. Jupiter also inconjuncts Uranus in the last degrees of Aries, tugging on the last few threads of our new story, our new identity, adding all it's learned as it faced death and rebirth in Scorpio as it heads into its own home sign of Sagittarius.

Finally, Mars in Aquarius squares Jupiter, exciting our energies to move forward with new ideas and new collectives. Mars in Aquarius is in a helpful trine to Venus retrograde and Ceres in late Libra, supporting Libran Venus' values of fairness, justice and equality. This bodes well for the US elections.

Venus makes a hard connection with Pluto and Vesta in Capricorn, making sure her values and ideas have practical outlets and outcomes. Renewed and reborn after her opposition to Uranus, and rising as a Warrior Goddess Morning Star, I can't wait to see what all the new women elected to power do.

Mercury in Sagittarius squares off with Neptune, testing to see how well we can express truth in a world that seems delusional. We can call out falsehood and unconsciousness without condemnation or judgment. Otherwise we just perpetuate the splits that keep us from focusing on the real issue: the world needs healing.

Scorpio New Moon Ritual ideas.

This Scorpio New Moon invites us to dive deeply into our power, our life essence, our heart's hope. During your ritual, take time to do a journey into these watery depths. If you're courageous enough and trusting enough, push through your fears and drop down, down, down to the bottom of your power and break through to another level. Break through to the archetypal power within you. Let it re-birth you to a greater existence, to an essential re-connection to the god/dess force within you. You might discover your gift for fire, or ice and wind, or watery healing, or bright clear energy, or the earthy, organic unfolding into manifestation.

Let's gather our gifts and let their power work through us -- not to overwhelm the ego and puff it up, but to humble the ego into realizing it is the servant of Spirit. And Spirit is calling to us. To test us. To unite us. To heal our world.

Drop deep into your Scorpio well of power. Sense the old wounds. Do not doubt that all our wounds together helped create this chaotic rising up of 'evil' in the world. Hopefully, what we cleanse within ourselves will cleanse some of the darkness outside. Choose to look at the darkness within as well as without. It's both you and not-you. Think Luke and Darth Vadar. It's as real a battle as fighting Sauron and Mordor.

Why? Because our world is at risk. This is a crossroads: do we choose life or death? We can stand up to the Machine. We just have to believe it. And we do that when we face our Shadows.

This is what we face: the pain, the suffering, the terror, the fears, the cruelties, the ignorance, the selfishness, the greed and domination that have been festering within humanity for thousands of years. We need to burn brightly now and allow our light to release those dark feelings within us. Once they come out of hiding, we can begin to heal them. Own them. Transform them. That is what will transform our world. I imagine that we've all had these hurtful feelings and experiences. Because we're human. But we don't have to give them any energy or any power over us. Our ancestors knew this. This is the moment to know it. And choose it.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

~Native American Teaching Story~

Now as the divine Feminine gives birth to a new era of cooperation and peace and creativity, we have to face our Shadows, embrace them in humility, and find out why? Why are we like this? Once we know why, we can heal it. So begin with yourself and go down deep into the wellspring of this Scorpio power gate and return with your treasure.

It's up to us to train those gifts we bring back - whether of healing or teaching, creating art, community or projects, or new inventions and discoveries. We have a chance to create a better world. Will we take it? If so, please practice and grow into your gifts. For the time is here when we are urgently called to heal our world.

You don't have to jump in before you're ready, though. We have until Saturn completes his stay in his home sign of Capricorn in 2020 to discover how we can help with our gifts. Saturn is laying the foundations for a new cycle during his time in Capricorn, and in 2021 comes together with Jupiter to start a new cycle of social transformation, in the sign of Aquarius -- the group Mind.

We need a different Mind to face the tasks ahead. That higher Mind with higher goals and beliefs. Or perhaps we just need to live those values and beliefs we profess we already have. In any case, we need new ideas, new values, new hope to change the course patriarchy and capitalism have set for us.

It's soon time for all of us to make our myth of democracy a reality. It's soon time for the people to control our governments. It's soon time for wise women (and all right brain/heart connected people) to envision and birth a new society. While women birth new visions for living we need men to help us raise it up. For you are the protectors and guides, the focus and will to make it so! For the Goddess/Mother gives birth to new life while, and as so many young men are showing us, it also takes a good father to raise a conscious human being. Or a conscious society. We have all the knowledge and resources to create a 'heaven on earth'. We just need the compassion and the will to do it.

Walk in Spirit as the Dark Rises,

Cathy

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Morning Star Venus, November 1, 2018

Morning Star Venus, 2018

If you haven't noticed, this Venus retrograde has been intense. Looking at the news, it's hard to imagine that America is a land of peace and prosperity, rather than a land of hatred and poverty. Looking around the world, right-wing fascism is on the rise. And even our electronics are starting up.

The world is in chaos, because we need to change. And quickly.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio and Libra can bring about that change if we're open to it. The planets Venus, Mars, Pluto and Saturn are all moving at the same latitude, called declination in astronomy and astrology. That makes them work together. The divine Feminine and Masculine, the energy of transformation and of foundation can help build a new world.

That is, if people wake up and stand up for their beliefs.

As Venus ends her Evening Star cycle, she has great wisdom to bestow. Listen for the wisdom you’ve gained this past cycle that began with Venus retrograde in Aries in 2017 as a Morning Star and her union with the Sun in Capricorn in 2018 when she became an Evening Star. The value of the Aries Venus cycle is to find your own identity, to follow your own path and purpose. When Venus became in Evening Star in Capricorn, she gave us steadiness and practicality, the ability to navigate through these troubling times without losing ourselves.

Now as Venus retrogrades in Scorpio and Libra, we have to be that new identity and let others see our truth. We have to surrender and let go of our old story; we have to shed our old skin. And then we have to open ourselves to others, and our people will gather. Love attracts and what is Venus other than the Great Attractor. Venus is the arbiter of what values are important to our life, our growth, our soul and our spirit. She sets up an experience we have to surrender to. And her gift to us is Love.

 

Before she rises as a Morning Star, Venus retrograde at 0*15' Scorpio opposes Uranus retrograde at 0*15' Taurus on October 31, 2018 at 1:45am PDT/4:45am EDT/9:45am GMT.    Happy Halloween!   Venus, the goddess of Love and Wisdom is reborn again from the potency of Uranus, the Sky god. This is a new birth for the divine feminine. What new wisdom will she bestow upon us? On November 6^th , election day for the U.S., at the balsamic phase of the Moon, the Moon and Venus rise in the sky together before the Sun.

When the Goddesses unite, change happens.

Venus teaches us to surrender to life, because she attracts life from the soul level, no matter what we consciously think. She is deep wisdom, our soul’s connection to the truth of life. Have enough of us reconnected with our depths to bring about outer change? Time will tell.

Venus in Scorpio is all about valuing our soul life, the things that matter to our hearts. We can’t be whole if we don’t include our soul’s life in the equation. That’s what Carl Jung meant when he said our neurosis is our soul’s suffering. We've been watching our cultural neurosis tear the world apart. Can we heal it before it's too late?

If society is a reflection of who we are as a people, then the truth is we are severely out of balance. Instead of pulling together to meet the challenges of our times we are pulling apart because our old paradigm is crumbling under our feet. This has happened before, you know. Many times in many places. Like the heroines and heroes of old, we find ourselves faced with a choice. Do we stand up and become an active part of our collective story? Or do we hide away, concerned only for our own welfare?

No matter how or what we do, we are all called to service and to love. We’re being asked by the Universe to stand up and become adults. We can change our world and begin her healing. We just have to stand up to the old dragons of fear and denial.

In these chaotic times, our values and priorities are changing regarding sex, money, power and death - Scorpio's domain. Especially regarding women and the feminine. How do we women regain our own way of doing in the world, rather than doing things in the approved masculine way? How do we get society to recognize that our emotional intelligence and our intuition is just as real as our rationality and facts?

We do it by standing up for our truth. Now is the time. And Morning Star Venus will help us, because she is the Warrior Queen of Heaven.

Venus retrograde is moving away from the Sun and she will rise before the Sun on November 1st. This is called her heliacal rising - the first time she appears in the morning sky ahead of the Sun. Always a propitious moment. 

 

Venus rises before the Sun in the sign of Libra, the Balance. We've been cut off from our center for a long time. Now is our chance to rebalance and find it again. Our identity is shifting from our collective identity to our soul’s identity, values and purpose. Our work is to be authentic.  In this chart, the Leo Moon opposes Mars in Aquarius. It's time to look within to see what needs to be renewed. To channel all things through beauty and artistic endeavors. To live from Love.

Scorpio enhances our psychic and telepathic abilities. These abilities help Venus do what she's good at, for she is a unifying force. She uses our electro-magnetic fields to bring us back to our hearts desire. In Libra, we look for equality and justice, to protect each other and to protect the Earth. With Chiron at 29* Pisces quincunx Venus 29* Libra, we'll need to stretch if we want to unite and yet have our boundaries.

In the end, we have to bring a real sense of who we are to each of our encounters. We can no longer hide our light. We need to 'be here now' as Baba Ram Dass once said. We have to learn to listen at the deepest levels and be a channel of peace and harmony with all our relations.

As our wise Libran bard John Lennon sang, "All you need is Love'.

The Cosmic Story: Taurus Full Moon 2018

The Cosmic Story: Taurus Full Moon 2018

The Pearl of Great Price

This Scorpio/Taurus Full Moon is all about the transformation of the Feminine. Both signs are considered feminine and receptive, and as they align with Venus retrograde at the end of her Wisdom aspect as the Evening Star, we get to evolve our understanding of the divine feminine energies. While Taurus, the Moon and Venus are all related to love, fertility, sexuality and connection – the essence of life – they are reflecting the Scorpio death energy. The divine feminine is grounded in the cycle of life – death – rebirth and so at this point in the year, we must learn to die to be reborn again.

Venus retrograde has to surrender all her ties as she does down into the underworld. Because she is moving from an Evening Star to a Morning Star, she holds Wisdom, the ancient knowing of combining masculine and feminine, heaven and earth. Yin and Yang. The art of completion. She reconciles opposites and creates harmony. She heals all misunderstandings, can transcend duality and brings about wholeness. 

Inanna & Ereshkigel 

But there’s always more to learn. And so she descends into the Underworld, shedding her layers like Inanna sheds her symbols of power as she descends to her sister Erishkegal. And there she dies to be born again.

The new energy she’ll bring back with her as she rises as a Morning Star will drive her concerns for true equality and freedom – for she ends her retrograde in the sign of Libra, the Scales. After the American Senate blatantly ignored a plea to look at the worst of white, male entitlement, I doubt women will be content to let things lie. This next phase of Venus’ journey will surely see more women working for equality and freedom than ever before.

This Full Moon reminds me of a square dance. Have you even gone square-dancing? (If you haven’t, you should try it – it’s fun!) In complicated patterns, 4 sets of partners face each other in a square and dance and change partners as the pattern shifts. 

Square Dancing 

That’s what the Grand Fixed Cross between Sun and Venus retrograde in Scorpio opposite Moon and Uranus Rx in Taurus squaring the Nodes in Aquarius and Leo feels like. With Venus ruling the Moon, the Sun ruling the North Node, Uranus ruling the South Node and the Moon exalted in Taurus, it’s hard to know where one energy leaves off and another begins. Oh, and let’s not forget the Caller – Saturn in Capricorn – who sets up the patterns and calls the changes. Saturn sextiles and trines this Full Moon.

The astrologer Alice Bailey said that Scorpio is the sign of major tests and spiritual initiations. The lower Scorpio who lives on an unconscious level is tested through sex, power, comfort and money. Her emotional battles are usually unconscious so she strikes out at others, being devious and manipulating by suggestion and innuendo. The Eagle of Scorpio is a bit more conscious, struggling with and tempted by her lower emotions – jealousy, anger, rage, obsession – but thinks about how she will react. Her major test seems to be power – over others or in business.

The third form of Scorpio is the Phoenix, who is consumed by the fires of transformation and is reborn within them. The Phoenix Scorpio works on transformation – surrendering all desires to pass through the cleansing fires to arise with new desires and new insights. The Phoenix contemplates the life-death-rebirth cycle of life, letting go of the need for retribution so she can release the emotional poisons stored up in the unconscious, poisons such as resentment, hostility, the fear of betrayal and the urge for revenge. Only then can she achieve the illumination she seeks.

In Scorpio, we master and transform inner habits and outer ego desire as we are tested about our heart’s desires. What do we really need to feel emotionally secure? The only way to to find the answer is to be open to grace and trust, which are gifts of Taurus. 

The Grail of the Moon

 

The Moon, the Mother of form and attachment, is exalted in Taurus, the sign of the body’s sensual pleasures as well as its alignment with the proper form of organic growth. Taurus is slow and steady because she knows how the form needs to grow and mature. The Phoenix Scorpio might want to exterminate all her shadow behaviors in one fell swoop, but like the legendary Hydra, as soon as we cut off one habit, 10 more form. Transformation takes time. Taurus can teach Scorpio the patience it needs to transform her shadow into gold. The secret is to surrender to the process. Evolution doesn’t happen overnight, although Scorpio would make it so.

This Taurus Moon is conjunct Uranus, not an easy placement for a Taurus Moon, who likes things just the way they are, thank you very much! With Uranus about to leave Taurus for a few more months of playing with our Aries’ identity, it’s going to crack open those old Taurus behavior patterns so our new Aries’ identity can shape new habits and new rules of engagement with others and with the Earth.

Did you know that Taurus is a very spiritual sign? We don’t give the Bull enough credit, thinking it’s only interested in the material world. But Taurus is the sign where the Spirit Incarnates in Matter. Taurus Moon can be very psychic. Back in Egypt, the Apis Bull of Taurus was associated with the gift of prophecy. Taurus Moon can be deeply devoted to Spirit, and is very often not only spiritually receptive but also artistically talented. Since Taurus rules our talents and what we value, as we refine our desire nature and leave behind outworn needs, we can put the tremendous energy behind this Taurus Moon into our self-worth rather than our monetary worth.

So with Uranus joining this Taurus Full Moon, watch for ways to break old patterns. You’ll be surprised to find that freedom is your new form of security.

At the same time, Uranus opposes Venus retrograde. In the Greek creation myth, Aphrodite arose from the ocean where the phallus of the sky god Ouranos fell. From the starry heavens, love arose in our collective unconscious. During this complex Full Moon and Venus retrograde, I believe we’ll see a real resurgence of Love. Not a love directed at a man or a woman, but love focused on the world. A greater love that will sacrifice old desires for future needs.

There is a beautiful gem that is associated with both the Moon and Venus/Aphrodite. It is the pearl. The pearl symbolizes the feminine power of the Moon, brought down to a size where it can become adornment for Venus. It represents the precious essence of the Moon's powers and properties. The pearl was thought to be the result of lightning penetrating the oyster. Therefore, it was regarded as the union of fire and water. 

 

Uranus - intuition-lighting-fire + sea-unconscious-movement-water = Aphrodite-pearl.

The 'flaming pearl', the union of fire and water, is the pearl of perfection in the East. As the Third Eye of Shiva and the Buddha, it represents the crystallization of light, and spiritual enlightenment and consciousness. The truth of the pearl is that it is the irritation of the sand that makes the oyster secrete a liquid that forms the pearl. The luminous beauty of the pearl is created through suffering (which is passion!). Our lunar nature is created by the daily struggles that force us to new levels of consciousness. 

Venus is at the very end of her cycle and will conjunct the Sun on Friday, October 26th.  This begins her new cycle at 4* Scorpio.  She'll stay hidden in the Sun's glow until she rises as the Morning Star of November 1st.  If you go out before dawn, you might see her glow before sunrise.   

This intense Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon squares the Lunar Nodes in Leo and Aquarius. We are nearing the end of this set of nodes, which goes from May 10, 2017 to November 7, 2018. The North Node in Leo/South Node in Aquarius offers us a chance to step into the spotlight with our creative self-expression (Leo) for the benefit of the group (Aquarius).

This is that square dance I was talking about. The four power signs concentrate energy, so sometimes we find it hard to move around the circle. You’re going to have to give up/sacrifice/ release old habits to move through these new patterns gracefully and successfully. We can’t dance the patterns alone, but we have to make sure we’re centered in ourselves so we can align with others.

Saturn is like the caller in a square dance, the one who names what steps to take and how to take them. So listen to Saturn in Capricorn’s demands to take responsibility for your own creations.

The Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon occurs on Wednesday October 24^th at 9:45 am PDT/ 12:45 pm EDT/ 7:45pm GMT. 

 

Along with the energies of the Grand Fix Cross, Mars in Aquarius, the old ruler of Scorpio, squares Mercury in Scorpio. Watch out about making rash decisions now. You might find yourself rushing into things before you have all the information you need., like a white knight riding to the rescue. But with Mercury in Scorpio, take time to dig out the truth. Watch out for Shadow issues.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 2* Scorpio is: From a broken bottle, traces of perfume still emanate. Perhaps this perfume is the essence of what you need to bring into the future as you discard the past.

The Sabian symbol for Venus retrograde at 5* Scorpio is: A massive rocky shore unchanged by centuries of storms. Fundamental principles never change.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 2* Taurus is: An electrical storm brilliantly illuminates the skies. Here’s that Uranian flash of lightning. A transformative vision.

The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 1* Taurus is: A clear mountain stream flows through a rocky defile. The power of life itself, sustaining and refreshing us.

The Sabian symbol for the North Node at 2* Leo is: The School closed by an epidemic, children play together. One avenue closes while another opens.

The Sabian symbol for the South Node at 2* Aquarius: Unexpected thunderstorm brings relief to parched fields. Liberation from adverse conditions. Perhaps a cosmic visitation?

This dance is playing with cosmic energies. So enter the dance. Especially if you have planets at 0* – 5* of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 5* Capricorn: A Native American camp. A fierce war-dance begins. Watch and listen for this caller – he’s the Lord of the Dance. Be fierce but make sure your war dance is for the good of the tribe. Let it be centered in Love, a love that is willing to do what needs to be done. 

May Hecate Light Your Way in the Dark

On October 31^st and November 1^st, we celebrate Samhain, the Day of the Dead. Remember that as the veils between the worlds thin, it is easier to release what is dead, especially if we honor it. Whatever has come before has brought you to where you are now. There are no failures, only experiences. Find the meaning of those experiences and let the rest go peacefully to its grave.

           Samhain Blessings,

Cathy

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Blessed Be! oh Guardians

Blessed Be! loved ones and friends

Another year's upon us

As the wheel has turned again

We invite the ancestors one by one

To join us at our meal

We raise our cups in honor

And share memories with zeal

We share a harvest's bounty

And know deep in our hearts

The past must be cleansed away

For the future to start

The veil is at it's thinnest

We walk between the worlds

Diviners bring their instruments

And mysteries become unfurled

And now the witching hour is upon us once again

We share a blessed circle with our loved ones and our friends

Blessed Be to Guardians, To deities and more still

Blessed Be To You,

Let The Harvest Your Heart Fill

So Mote It Be!

- Rev. Brightrose Aradia