Wednesday, June 19, 2019

The Cosmic Story: The Wheel of the Year: Summer Solstice: June 21, 2019

The Cosmic Story: The Wheel of the Year:
Summer Solstice: June 21, 2019
The Blossoming of the Light


Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

We’re moving into a new season. A new energy. Full of light and warmth. We’re out of school, taking vacations, picnicking outside. The Sun is high overhead and vital! Everything is growing. Nature is blossoming.

This week, the Summer Solstice marks the high point of light in the northern hemisphere, the longest day, the shortest night.

While in the southern hemisphere, you celebrate the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day. (I’m sorry I’ll be concentrating on the North. But the energies are the same. It’s just that they are being seeded in the South now at the New Moon phase of the year’s cycle/Winter Solstice – you are the next stage of development of this moment.)

At the same time, we can’t forget that the dark is rising. We might not acknowledge it, but the body knows. Summer is the time to sink into your body as you laze on the beach or on your doorstep. Your body enjoys the warmth and the light but it also unconsciously knows these days will soon be gone. So it wants to enjoy it now! 

 

For the energy has shifted into the Yin part of the year, into withdrawal and ultimately darkness. For the dark is slowly rising even as we celebrate the Sun’s power.

Light and Dark. Two sides of a never-ending cycle of change. The Sun stands still (Solstice) for 3 days twice each year, as the Sun travels to its furthest points both North and South of the Equator.

Two sides of life. Both necessary. The Celts name them twins – the Oak King and the Holly King, one to rule the warmth and light, one to rule the cold and dark. They battle for the hand of the Goddess but let’s imagine that they switch off gracefully and peacefully. It is during these 3 days at the Solstices that they switch authority over the Sun as it continues its travels through the year.

Melissa Benson


All things that live decay and die. Life and death are woven together. Letting go of old habits, or old cultural beliefs and systems, are part of the natural process. As a culture, we need to leave patriarchy behind so there is new life and new growth available to us. This is one of the lessons of Summer/Winter Solstice. Eternal renewal.

Most ancient cultures were aligned with the Earth and the heavens, and so they celebrated the turning points of Light and Darkness, growth and death. While our modern society has forgotten the meaning and rituals of these turning points, it is surprising how we unconsciously still celebrate them. Before the Summer Solstice when we celebrate the gifts of Father Sky, we celebrate Father’s Day. And what is America’s 4th of July except a celebration of summer and the triumph of Life! It’s time to celebrate them with deeper meaning and insight into our lives. We need their sacred information so we can learn to live attuned once more to the Earth.

With a full summer of light and warmth ahead of us, most of us don’t think about the fact that after Summer Solstice, the light begins to fade and the darkness grows. With our modern conveniences and our disconnection from the Earth, we no longer live within the Great Mother’s rhythms and cycles.

But when we do, we experience the Summer Solstice as the height of a symphony of sounds and sights, tastes and touches and smells that will slowly fade away with the year. It is the season to experience the possibilities of heaven on Earth: that we can most surely nurture and create life to sustain us in the darker times. 

Sacred Marriage
 
At Summer Solstice, we experience the orgasmic ecstasy of life as Heaven and Earth engage in the Sacred Marriage. We get to experience the fullness and beauty of life. And also now, the over-heated threat of climate change. Gratitude and hope need to be coupled with determination and action.

Like a Full Moon, Summer Solstice gives form and intention to the seed planted at Winter Solstice – the Seed of Light and Life returning. What did we need to shed? What do we need to manifest? What have you made of your life so far this year? 
 
Summer Solstice, June 21, 2019

Summer Solstice occurs on the day the Sun enters the sign of Cancer. This year it occurs on Friday, June 21st at 8:54am PDT/ 11:54am EDT/ 4:54pm GMT.

 

This is the season to honor our family and to feel the roots of our existence and the deep foundations of our soul. Cancer asks us to meditate on what it means for our souls to be at home here on the Earth plane as well as in our body, which is the temple of the soul.

Cancer, ruled by the Moon, also awakens memory, so we can begin to understand what has gone before, so we can heal the hurts and wounds of the past. Cancer wants our emotional body to be whole and healthy. We need our lessons if our soul is to grow, but once we’ve learned them, we need to let go of that life, of that old story. If you’ve learned your lesson, then become whoever you’re mention to BE! How have your past lives, your ancestors and your present life circumstances shaped you? What are the lessons? Have you learned them? If so, move on!



This Solstice season, with the lunar nodes creating eclipses in Cancer and Capricorn, we have an opportunity to release old karma and to understand the lessons involved. Now it’s time to leave the past behind and write that new story. Create your life – live a creative life!

So let’s look at where this cycle began – back in December of 2018.

At Winter Solstice last December, the Sun entered Capricorn, already made powerful and heavy by the presence of Saturn, Pluto and the Lunar South Node there. The necessity of societal change put pressure on the new Light to take us deeper and wider than we’ve ever gone before. The world literally rests in our hands and now we see what’s at stake if we don’t act.

Society is just a construct, like a corporation thinking it has person hood. Every society has its own rules and beliefs. Ours is called patriarchy, but other societies has had different rules and beliefs. We can change constructs. We don’t have to live in a society that values greed, materialism and power over Spirit, people and the Earth. It’s our choice. What we can’t change is the fact that we’re destroying our own world and killing our children’s future. Unless we take it upon ourselves to change and bring change to the world.

The other energy pattern in the Winter Solstice chart was a T-Square between the Gemini Moon, Mercury and Jupiter conjunct in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces. Jupiter and Neptune opened us to new spiritual possibilities and a larger, deeper imagination, while Mercury and the Gemini Moon contained the capacities to see the truth and to communicate what these new perspectives might entail. What was your true Solstice wish? What did you find yourself desiring?

Venus was busy with Ceres in Scorpio resurrecting a deep nurturing spirit in us while Mars in Pisces was grappling with his wounded warrior spirit. They asked us, What is important enough to us to stand up for, to fight for, to work for?

The next shift came at Spring Equinox, when the 0* Aries Sun was conjunct Chiron, the Wounded Healer and Mentor of Heroes. We were called to see our wounds to understand who we are. Hopefully, we began to listen even more intently to our imagination and intuitions (Mercury conjunct Neptune in Pisces) while we worked with its Virgo Moon to understand how to manifest what we are called to do (grand trine with Mars in Taurus, Moon in Virgo and SN, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn). If we let go of our old story, our old karma, could we find ways to manifest the New Story, for ourselves and our culture?

Venus in Aquarius challenged Mars in Taurus to stand up for everyone, everywhere. We can see it happening in the world. People are standing up. Children are standing up. So the new Winter Solstice seeds took root. We have to boldly stand up for our beliefs if we want to change things. And we have to do it together.

Now, at Summer Solstice with the Sun at 0* Cancer, we are getting ready to incarnate our soul’s essence in a whole new way. We must name our desires and hopes and stand up for what’s important in life.

Neptune stations retrograde an hour before the Solstice, so its power is especially potent. As Neptune turns within, our focus will be on the inner world of our soul, the world of the creative imagination. What do you really want to imagine into being?

Neptune in Pisces has been a major player this year, working with Pluto, Saturn and the South Node in Capricorn to help us dissolve old karma by offering us a more spiritual, meaningful paradigm to live by. Neptune awakens us to the timeless place of beginnings and asks us to operate in Kairos time (timeless) as well as Chronos time (3D time). Bring the spiritual vision into our everyday life.

Neptune has also been squaring Jupiter retrograde all year, dissolving what is false in us and in the world. Neptune’s spiritual imagination is inspiring Mars and Mercury conjunct in Cancer now, so we feel and know (Mercury) what we need to do to nurture life, while Mars, the spiritual warrior, is ready to stand up for it.

There’s a feminine grand air trine illuminating this Summer Solstice. The Aquarius Moon aligns with Venus in Gemini and Pallas in Libra. The issues of freedom, equality, inner knowing and balance will offer us a chance to communicate our ideals. Venus asks that we use self-awareness to communicate our beliefs with charm and wit and kindness, and with wisdom. Use your imagination to figure out how to approach issues in ways that speak to the heart. It never hurts to engage with kindness and an open ear.

Venus in Gemini is opposite Jupiter retrograde in Sagittarius and they both square Neptune in Pisces. What truths need to be communicated? Truth isn’t simple. “Truth is deadly. Truth is freedom. Truth can break and mend and bind.” (Sarah Maas, Court of Mist and Fury).

Mercury in Cancer is intuitive and understands that the family, the tribe, is there to be supported and to support us. With Mars and the Lunar North Node there as well, we are ready to act on our beliefs because we see the breakdown of our culture and our institutions (Pluto, Saturn and the Lunar South Node in Capricorn) and we know that it is time to protect and defend life. Everything else is irrelevant.

Our world is ripe for change. Will we be the change agents it needs?

This summer, engage the Spirit of the times. Yes, summer is the time of light and warmth, fun and love. But it is also a time to act to overcome the obstacles of the fear of change that makes us want to pull back and stay safe in the comfort of ignoring the pain and suffering in our world.

We need to upgrade our consciousness, to open to the blessings that came to us at June 17th’s Sagittarius Full Moon which occurred on the Galactic Center, the Womb of our galaxy. Open up to revelation! A new belief system will give us new insights and possibilities. With Vesta the priestess conjunct Uranus in Taurus, our rituals will be potent. Rituals help us to hold onto and ground in meaning.

Count our blessings, which are so abundant. I feel like I live in paradise compared to the rest of the world. Which is true for most of us reading this. Spirit wants us to accept the challenge of our times. We can share our abundance – of life, of hope, of change – with the world.

What are we here for if not to create a better life? A more creative life. More alive to possibilities. We can do simple things like walking instead of using our cars. We can shut off our TVs and talk to our neighbors and see what our town needs that we can offer. We can do something big or something small, but we all need to take some action around the issues that we are passionate about.

Our world is dying. If we don’t want to literally kill people or exacerbate climate change, then we have to choose to sacrifice (to make sacred) ourselves. Let go of old habits that no longer serve your beliefs. Let go of old addictions that keep you stuck. Let the old world, the old story, die within you, so a new world, a new society, a new story can be born.

Now is the time to open up our vision and communicate it to our communities. The masses (Aquarius Moon) are ready to hear the right stories. Like Scheherazade, we have to take the risk and enchant people with the beauty, power and truth of our vision of a free, healthy and creative future. The Arts are especially important now. Just as they were in the 60s/70s. Art is an easy way to get to the heart of the matter. We can turn the fear of the future into a positive image of the future for ourselves and for others who do not have hope.

Where do we look for the parts of the new Story? Begin by asking, what does our world need? What does our immediate environment need from us? How can I contribute? What gifts can I offer? Go out and speak with the trees, the water, the winds, the Earth. Listen. They will speak to our hearts. We just need to use our imaginations to discover how we can help.

The Cancer/Capricorn Eclipses

Cancer and Capricorn are the signs most related to family and country. Cancer is the expert on family and nurturing. Capricorn is the expert manager of the community. We have to let go of the old way of managing things – and start to manage our lives around the good of our people. A shift must occur from the head to the heart – and then the head can help the heart instead of ignoring it.

With the Lunar Nodes going through these signs, we are being asked to reconsider if our society really supports our lives. So far, we’re seeing that it doesn’t. How can it, when we put the economy (which really serves the 1%ers more than it serves the rest of us) before the welfare, health and happiness of we the people?

Both the Cancer Solar Eclipse on July 2nd and the Capricorn Lunar Eclipse on July 16th confront us with these questions. And Mercury’s retrograde from July 7th – July 31st in Cancer will help us dive deeply into the emotional foundations of life to help us discover what is really important for our own happiness. Once we understand what that is, it’s our responsibility to see that we attain it. And along the way, we might help others attain their desires. 

Cancer Solar Eclipse, July 2, 2019
 

The Cancer total Solar Eclipse will be visible in eastern Oceania and most of South America. The Sun and Moon at 11* Cancer faces Saturn, South Node and Pluto in Capricorn. Our collective soul needs an upgrade. It’s time to plant a seed of emotional intelligence so we can recognize what is life-giving or life-destroying. The eclipse trines Neptune in Pisces, adding the spiritual imagination to the mix. Our spiritual beliefs can power our resourcefulness. Uranus helps us stay awake and aware and rebellious enough to push back against the old ways.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 11* Cancer is: A clown caricatures merrily all kinds of human traits. This ability to see and understand human nature is important. Make fun of yourself and your habits before you make fun of others. But also see through the illusion to the truth. What is just being human and what is cruelty and evil? We need to learn to discern!

Capricorn Lunar Eclipse, July 16, 2019


The Capricorn partial Lunar Eclipse occurs on July 16th. It will be visible in most of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and eastern South America. It will involve the usual suspects in Capricorn (Pluto, Saturn, SN) along with the Moon. They will stand opposite Venus, the NN and the Sun in Cancer and both square Pallas in Libra. We have to find new ways to work with each other, ways that are nurturing to all of us. We are all in this together! That makes it our job to do the work of reconciliation. Offer to read the Mueller report at your local library. Let people know the truth of what’s going on.

The other aspects occurring during this lunar eclipse is a square between Uranus in Taurus to Mars and Mercury in Leo, opening our minds to alternative sources of energy and technology. And we’re still in the energy of Neptune square Jupiter, pushing us to really walk our talk – beliefs must lead to action.

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 25* Cancer is: Leader of men wrapped in an invisible mantle of power. This symbol indicates that when we are courageous enough to take a stand and lead, our soul’s power is there to protect us as well as to attract others with our light. Play to your strengths!

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon as 25* Capricorn is: Little boys frolic on soft rugs in an oriental carpet shop. (Shades of my trip to Istanbul!) This symbol indicates that our imagination must be grounded in reality to do what we need to do. Little boys rock at playing and imagining. They lose it as they grow up though. The magic carpets of Scheherazade’s stories bring a spiritual dimension to our 3D reality. Magic can happen. Stop being such grown-ups and start to believe! That will make you the leader we need.

The rest of the summer/winter transits:

1. Mercury goes retrograde from July 7th – July 31st from 5* Leo to 24* Cancer. As mentioned in earlier newsletters, all of the Mercury retrogrades this year are in the 3 water signs. The first was in Pisces in March, where we had to contemplate our oneness. This one in Cancer asks us what our personal stake is in life. The last Mercury retrograde this year will be in Scorpio, where we’ll have to consider how much more we grow when we interact with other people in our lives.

2. Venus moves into Cancer on July 3rd and into Leo on July 27th, into Virgo on August 17th and into Libra just before the Equinox on September 13th. She’s moving quickly now and will disappear behind the Sun from the morning sky from July 8th – September 20th when she’ll appear as the Evening Star.

3. Mars leaves Cancer and enters Leo on July 1st, enters Virgo on August 17th, squaring Jupiter in Sagittarius on September 12th and Neptune on September 13 – 14, reigniting our passion for being a spiritual warrior.

4. Pay attention on August 11th. Jupiter retrograde turns direct at 15* Sagittarius (divination), Mercury re-enters Leo (creative mind) and Uranus turns retrograde at 7* Taurus (a new revelation) . It should be an interesting day for all.
5. Saturn retrograde turns direct on September 18th at 14* Capricorn (enduring values).



This is the time when Light blossoms along with the flowers and fruits. This Summer Solstice season asks us: What can we do to nurture ourselves, our communities, our clans, our people? If each town and village pledged to heal their immediate environment, it would begin. We can’t depend on corporations or governments which are failing to do the right thing. It has to come from the people. And that is what is happening again.

The children are rising. The workers are rising. The repressed are arising. Women are arising. The Earth is arising. We will be reborn.

May the peace and the love of the Goddess and the God be ever with you. Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again!
Cathy


What Is There Beyond Knowing?

What is there beyond knowing that keeps
calling to me? I can't

turn in any direction
but it's there. I don't mean

the leaves' grip and shine or even the thrush's
silk song, but the far-off

fires, for example,
of the stars, heaven's slowly turning

theater of light, or the wind
playful with its breath;

or time that's always rushing forward,
or standing still

in the same -- what shall I say --
moment.

What I know
I could put into a pack

as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it
on one shoulder,

important and honorable, but so small!
While everything else continues, unexplained

and unexplainable. How wonderful it is
to follow a thought quietly

to its logical end.
I have done this a few times.

But mostly I just stand in the dark field,
in the middle of the world, breathing

in and out. Life so far doesn't have any other name
but breath and light, wind and rain.

If there's a temple, I haven't found it yet.
I simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass
and the weeds.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(New and Selected Poems Volume Two)


Thursday, April 18, 2019

The Cosmic Story: Beltane and the Libra/Aries Blue Full Moon, April 19, 2019

The Cosmic Story: Beltane and the Libra/Aries Blue Full Moon


Our Pandora Beltane Tree


This is going to serve as my Beltane newsletter as well as a short summary of the energies at play this upcoming second Libra Full Moon. Beltane, the fourth gateway of the Wheel of the Year and the beginning of summer for the Celts, is the time when the veils between the worlds grow thin and the Faeries come out to dance under the moonlight, bringing their magic and mystery back to our mundane world.

Beltane is the climax of the Spring Equinox energy. Although we celebrate Beltane nominally on May 1st, it really occurs when the Sun is at 15* Taurus, the power gate degree of the fixed signs, which this year is on May 5th.   So happy Beltane and Cinco de Mayo.

Since my birthday is during Beltane, I can admit that this is my favorite Wheel of the Year gateway celebration. It’s near Earth Day, when we have a collective opportunity to honor Mother Earth for the blessings, the beauty and the blossoms of May. And don’t forget the Faeries! They’re the spirits of the Earth, who come forth from the hidden realms to bless us each year with growth and sustenance.

To really get in touch with this hidden realm of spirit, we need to use our creative imagination. Since the Enlightenment, patriarchy has tricked us into believing that imagination needs to be left in childhood. When we all found out it just isn’t possible to live fully without using our imaginations, we let our mass media colonize our collective imaginations through advertisements, movies, sports, video games and TV. 

Linda Olson
 
Lucky for us, both Venus and Mercury have just connected with Neptune in Pisces in the past few weeks. (Mercury on April 2, Venus on April 10.) While Neptune can open us to deception and illusion if we are un-grounded, it really is the archetype of the Creative Imagination. And with both Venus and Mercury connecting us to our hearts and our minds, we can begin to work with this imagination, especially as both planets move into the more dynamic sign of Aries (Mercury on April 17, Venus on April 20)

We need to have a revolution of the imagination, where we take back our unique imaginative capacity and use it to interact with Mother Nature and with our souls. I’m not saying that the right stories aren’t important for us – they shape the energies of life. But when we are confined to only the stories of our mass media, which are often violent, we lose out on an important facet of life.

The fact is that we can use our imaginations to connect to and communicate with the other species in our own world as well as spirits from other dimensions. To imagine our souls into our lives, we need to interact with the archetypal energies that shape life. We do not have to live on Pandora to live in a magical, mystical world. We have that world right here. Right now. Within us. And around us.

Let’s dedicate this year’s Beltane blessings to our collective good – we are learning hard lessons in community as the weather continues to overwhelm large parts of the globe. We need to create strong communities to deal with the issues we face. This would be a good project to put the creative imagination into practice. Bring calm weather to your community in whatever ways you can, using your creative imagination to speak with the nature spirits and see what they need. Or take the temper of the town you live in and see where you can contribute something. With the lunar nodes in Cancer and Capricorn, we are called to be Caretakers: of the Earth and of each other.

With everything going on in our world, from the mysterious synchronicity of fires breaking out at Notre Dame in Paris, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, to extreme weather devastating much of the world, it seems a good time to step back and get a bigger perspective on life now that Jupiter is retrograde (April 10th). For every instance of political uproar around the world, there are people doing interesting, innovative and important things to take the world into the future. Why not be one of those future-oriented people? 

Notre Dame, Paris
 
This 2nd Libra/Aries Blue Moon is asking us to balance our perspective as well as our relationships. Seeing the problem is only half the process. We have to be open to finding solutions. This is where the creative imagination comes into play. We literally can play around with ideas. Who’s to say you might not be the one to come up with a truly innovative solution to our collective problems?

We’ve arrived at the literal crossroads where we have a decision to make: do we hang on the past and try to keep the old boat afloat, or do we step into the future and re-design the boat. The future is depending on our response.

I just listened to a group of master astrologers talk about the upcoming astrological cycles ending/beginning next year and we are in for more intense times, depending on your perspective and standpoint. If you’re future oriented, you’re in for a wild ride of inspiration and hope. If you fearfully hang onto the past, you’ll get tossed and tumbled.

The only way forward is . . . forward. We’re taking evolution to a whole new level.

So how do we go forward amidst the chaos and uncertainty of our times? Take your cue from Mother Earth and the heavens. The Cosmic Story has been reflecting/shaping our world since its beginning. It’s time to look within and get to know ourselves, to look at our values and to take a stand on them. To do this well, we have to unplug ourselves from our mass media and listen to the Earth’s voice with our imagination, and then work to create a new world that reflects those values.

The Libra/Aries Blue Moon


The second Libra Full Moon occurs on Friday April 19, 2019 at 4:12am PDT/ 7:12am EDT and 12:12pm GMT. This day is celebrated by Christians as Good Friday, with the Jewish Passover on Saturday and Easter on Sunday. And on Monday, April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day. This is a powerful weekend, so spend time meditating on what you want to birth this year.



This second Libra/Aries Full Moon is a Blue Moon, switching the lunar cycle back to its normal New Moon/Full Moon flow. And it’s the second chance we have to get our relationships on track. It occurs at the last degrees of Aries and Libra, fulfilling the purpose of those signs just as it also releases what we’ve learned from those signs.

Aries and Libra form the relationship axis of the zodiac, the dynamic energy of Self vs. Other. Who am I? And who are You? If we don’t know ourselves, we unconsciously see ourselves through other people’s perception of us, which can set up a power struggle. If we do know ourselves, we’re more available to accept other people and their differences.

This Full Moon brings back the revolutionary/evolutionary energies of the 2012-2015 Pluto/Uranus square. The Aries Sun is conjunct Uranus in Taurus with the Libra Moon opposing it. The Aries Sun is quite independent on its own, but with Uranus there tends to be a further pull toward independence. If we’ve done our Aries work in the past years as Uranus transited Aries, we are grounded in our archetypal purpose, our bigger self identity. When we know ourselves, we can enter into a real relationship with others, because we have something true to share. So the Libra Moon will reflect that for us in our relationships.



We have to remember that Libra is not about giving ourselves and our options over to another. Libra demands that we have our own standpoint (Aries) so we can balance the scales (Libra) when we interact with others. The gift of Libra is the ability to hold the tension of opposites until a third option arises. Libra knows how to compromise.

So in all your relationships – with a lover, a family member, a friend or a stranger – this Full Moon asks you to relate from your deepest truth. But please learn to do it in a graceful, courteous and kind way (Libra). Let Uranus bring you surprise awakenings about your relationships. Perhaps you have to open up to new forms of relationship, bringing in new ideas and/or new people. The old patriarchal form of relationship has a lot of ownership/possessive energy attached to it. We can never own or possess another person, and if this energy is getting in the way of being intimate and truthful, it won’t work any longer.

The reason for that is this Full Moon is also squared by Pluto, Saturn, and South Node in Capricorn. With both Pluto and Saturn slowing down to turn retrograde in the next week – Pluto on April 24th and Saturn on April 29th – their energies are stronger than usual. This dynamic combination is releasing old karma, asking us to let go of old forms and rules that no longer apply to us as conscious, adult human beings.

What is emerging is a new consciousness about relationships, where we begin to understand that ‘going it alone’ is harder than joining with others who can help and support us on our journey. As a relationship coach, I see the biggest and most basic need is for better communication between partners. The ability to speak our truth as well as the ability to actively listen. The poet Rainier Marie Rilke says Love is work, and we have to work on our relationships if we want them to be deep, intimate and fulfilling. A great relationship brings out the excellence in each partner.

This is also about being able to speak and listen to people who don’t hold to our political ideals. We have to listen to each other – and when we do, we’ll probably find that we agree on most things, perhaps just not on how to and who can carry those ideals forward. Most disagreements come from unconscious fears and when we know who we are, our fears do not rule us.

Do you not know the Mystery saying that all the gods are one god, and all the goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator? Do you not know that at the dawn of manifestation the gods wove the web of creation between the poles of the pairs of opposites, active and passive, dynamic and receptive, positive and negative, and that all things are these two things in different ways and upon different levels. . .?”
The ancients . . . said the soul is bi-sexual and that as one or the other aspect manifested in the world of form (as a woman or a man), the alternative aspect was latent in the world of spirit . . . – the side that is forth-flowing by its own dynamism, and the side that lies latent, awaiting inspiration, and that come not forth unless it is evoked. And this is the greater side of each one of us: and in a man it is his spiritual nature, and in a woman it is her dynamic will.” Dion Fortune The Sea Priestess

Regardless of our gender identification (rebelling against our patriarchal conditioning) we are composed of these two types of energies. And the rulers of Aries and Libra symbolizes these two cosmic currents: Mars and Venus. Mars is desire, the fire in the belly. Venus is connection, the hope in the heart. We need to connect with our desires in ways that grow life instead of planting death.

Venus is at the last degrees of Pisces, opening us to compassion, imagination and wholeness. Mars is in Gemini, focusing his will on what interests him. Water and air can stir up storms or bring calm breezes and beautiful days. It’s up to us to create the weather in our relationships.

So if you’re wondering how our April Fool is doing on his journey, he’s about to meet The Lovers, the two who become one, for his first initiation under this magical, mystical Blue Moon. He needs to learn the balance between these two forces (dynamism and latency) within himself and with others. If he can find his inner balance and stay open to the world, perhaps he’ll meet the Other who can help him on his journey.

Crowley's The Lovers


As a relationship coach, I’ve discovered that the one thing everyone in the world wants is to be in a good relationship – where it’s with our family, our friends or one specific person. And ironically, it’s the one thing we don’t teach our people. While we’re all ‘engaging’ in relationships, none of us know what the rules are or how to do it naturally.

And to make matters more confusing, we are living at the end of a very restrictive patriarchal version of relationships, changing and growing as we stumble against each other. For many of us, there’s more pain than gain in being in a relationship.

No man is an island. It all begins with our relationships. This isn’t just a man-woman issue – it’s a mother/child issue, a co-worker issue, a friendship issue, a trans issue. How do we maintain balance in all our relationships? And that includes Mother Nature and her other children.

So this is where our Fool finds himself. He’s been given the assignment: set off on your journey and find what makes your heart sing, what makes you feel accepted down to your very bones, what will keep you strong and balanced. Some of us will find this initiation with an actual person, while others will be meeting their Inner Other for the first time.

To imagine a better possible future takes self-awareness. Let’s try something old and new. Let’s learn how to communicate the truth in a kind and courteous manner. Let’s have compassion for each other. That will begin the process. Nobody gave us a guidebook on how to live free. We’re here to learn how to make love, not war. That’s a big shift in collective consciousness, since our species has been at war for at least 5,000 years under patriarchy.

Let’s become the grandparents of the future and exemplify how to be truth speakers and collaborative visionaries. Our people and our world need us.

May the blessings of this bountiful and beautiful season bring joy to your hearts. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again!

Cathy

PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE!  THANK YOU!

copyright 2019 ~ Cathy Pagano












Thursday, April 4, 2019

The Cosmic Story: Aries New Moon 2019

The Cosmic Story: Aries New Moon, April 5, 2019

The Fool’s Journey: Just Begin


Take the whole kit
with the caboodle
Experience life
don't deplore it
Shake hands with time
don't kill it
Open a lookout
Dance on a brink
Run with your wildfire
You are closer to glory
leaping an abyss
than upholstering a rut

~ James Broughton ~
(Little Sermons of the Big Joy)





April. Such a trickster month. The Sun shines higher and warmer. The air is either bright with light or stormy. In New England, the inside of houses are colder because of warmer moisture. If you go outside to bask in the warmth of (finally) 60* weather, you get smacked in the face with a winter wind. Cold and hot. Dry and moist. Anything is possible or probable.

April, come she will / When streams are ripe and swelled with rain.
April Simon and Garfunkle

In April as in Aries, streams are juicy with the run-off energy of winter snow and ice, waters free at last from winter’s chill. Do you know where your emotional currents are heading? Maybe. Maybe not.

Isn’t that what new life is all about? Vulnerability and possibility. 


 
Aries. Such a strong sign. The fire couldn’t be brighter or more intense. Like a runaway forest fire in California. The will and desire to BE overwhelms everything else. Where do we put all that energy? It’s the fires of creation, coming to the inner theater in you.

Just sit back and enjoy the movie. See it. Own it. It’s your story. You don’t have to have a full blown plan. You don’t need to have anything up and running. You just need to take that first step. First baby step! Aries will want to run with things, but it’s better to go slow and build to last. That’s the instructions from Saturn’s square to the New Moon. Slow down and go deep (that’s Pluto take on things).

You have to imagine your new story into being. For now. The action called for now is to gather information and make plans. Your Aries action is in the realm of ideas – since Mars, as the ruler of Aries, is moving through Gemini, an air sign. Fire and Air mix easily. Let Mars gather information. Use it to feed your imagination for possible answers to your questions. 

 

Everything starts in the Imagination.

Three planets are swimming together and generating energy that can help with this. Venus, Neptune and Mercury direct are gathering together (in the middle degrees) in Pisces. Mercury joined Neptune for the 3rd time on April 2nd. Venus joins Neptune on April 10th. Both Venus and Mercury help us connect with others as well as connecting us to our inner guides. This is a great time for bringing out the artist within you. Try your hand at writing and painting, dance and play music. Tune in.

This trio of energies is woven together in a harmony of compassion, deep insight and Imagination – the imagination of positive possibilities. Don’t waste your Imagination on worries. Worry is the negative use of the Imagination. Use your imagination to create – that’s what it’s for.

This Aries New Moon is potent for many reasons. It’s bursting with new life. The new life of Spring. Aries is the exuberant Ram who butts head with life and most often wins. But because of a square from the South Node, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, this Aries New Moon energy offers each of us a choice. Aries is big on Free Will. Build a new structure (Pluto/Saturn in Capricorn) that supports you future life, or butt heads with the old habits, patterns and outer authorities who ‘stand in your way’. Old karma needs to be released. Set down the burden.

This combination of energies calls us to release the karmic past, to restructure our lives so we can begin our new story. There’s a death involved – the death of the patriarchy within each of us which distorts our soul’s truth. It’s a great time in the days before this New Moon to set our ghosts and shadows to rest and trust that we are indeed ready to live our soul’s assignment. 

 

What we might have to leave behind is a belief or an attitude we’ve carried all our life and through many lifetimes. These are the limiting beliefs that stop us from evolving. Maybe these beliefs helped us in the past. But do we still need them? We have to ask ourselves, what do I believe in now? What’s my guiding vision? Do I have faith in myself? Do I trust my own instincts enough to follow my bliss?

In my case, I tend to live out a 12th harmonic, karmic theme of the Suffering Servant, here to help save the world. This is my past life mission. Now I am a Taurus, with Venus and Mars in Taurus. This is not the signature of a suffering servant! Lately, I keep getting the message: let it go. No more suffering. Have some fun. Enjoy life. You’ve done well so far! I think that’s the key ingredient – we have to feel that we’ve done our job so far. So we can let it go and find another fit that takes us to a whole new level of engagement.

This hope in the future is sent to us by way of a trine to the New Moon from Jupiter in Sagittarius, both planet and sign the archetypal energies of cosmic order and truth, journeying and teaching. What a great gift to own as we begin our journey! Every new beginning needs hope and the imagination of possibilities. And Jupiter will be extra potent, since Jupiter is slowing down to turn retrograde on April 10th just shy of the Galactic Center.

The Universe supports us in our evolution. Take advantage of her gifts! Ride the cosmic energies. It will take the courage of Aries to do it. To begin again. Without the baggage.

It is The Fool’s journey. 

 

If you know the Tarot, you know the image. The Fool is totally free. A young person stands on a cliff, head raised to a vision seen in the sky, ready to move forward despite the cliff edge. The Fool takes a step away from the ordinary world and plunges into the Unknown. That’s such an Aries move. Aries are the explorers, scouts and pioneers of the zodiac.

You are closer to glory leaping an abyss than upholstering a rut.

With the New Moon in Aries, we all intuitively know how to take that step into the Unknown. We’ve all been Aries in one life or another. We all have Aries in our charts. That Aries house is where our adventure begins.

So are you ready to play the Fool? Are you ready to trust yourself and go on the journey your soul stamped on your heart before you were born? If you have the courage to keep going, the journey can bring you joy, wisdom and liberation. Who wouldn’t want to journey if these are the gifts we discover along the way?

One of the gifts of the Fool’s journey is speaking the Truth. In this way, the Fool is also the Trickster, the shapeshifter who mimics our shadows and tricks us into consciousness.

The Fool, you see, is the Wise Child. The Innocent who sees the world in truth, like a lover, like a saint.

The Fool travels with his animal guide, sometimes a dog or cat, the instinctual wisdom of the body. We need to be embodied if we’re going to travel. Especially now. In some decks, the Fool is a mis-shapened dwarf, an image of scorn. Interestingly, the King’s Fool was the only one who could speak truth to power. Sometimes you have to be outside of things to see clearly.

The Fool always carries his bag of tricks over his shoulder. His baggage is the essence of experiences from his old life. Action, eagerness and instincts are available when needed. That’s the task. To know when to take action.

So who’s a Fool? Anyone ready to start the journey? It’s up to you to stay or go.

Aries New Moon, April 5, 2019

The Aries New Moon occurs on Friday, April 5 at 1:50am PDT/ 4:50am EDT/ 9:50am GMT.



The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 16* Aries is: Brightly clad brownies, dancing in warm dying light. Brownies are household spirits said to come out at night while the owners of the house are asleep to perform various chores and farming tasks. They are helping, sometimes mischievous, spirits who make your life easier. To see them brightly clad and dancing lets us see them for who they really are – nature spirits who need to be asked for help. These might be dream messengers as well as external spirit helpers.

So ask for help from unseen forces. The help will be there if you respect it – people always left milk by the hearth for the brownies as payment for their help.

This New Moon in Aries is setting us up for the second Aries/Libra Full Moon on April 19th. This is the Blue Moon, that comes once in a blue moon to switch up the Moon cycle. We can take this time to explore new ways of relating to ourselves, to each other and to Mother Earth. But first we need to have a sure sense of who we are and be brave enough to stand up for ourselves so we meet the Other in truth and with purpose.



This year, Earth Day (April 22nd) follows both Passover (April 20th) and Easter (April 21st). These two religious celebrations speak to us of freedom – not just the freedom of the body, but the freedom of the soul. Let’s take that freedom and do something with it for Earth Day.

This Earth Day, let’s stand up for Mother Earth. Leave work, band together and show the world that our lovely Earth needs protection.

That’s Aries most important work – to protect and defend life.

Aries is bursting with life energy. Get out and do something physical – start working the dirt in your garden, go walking and hiking, start dancing, go play!

Walk in the Light!
Cathy



For Freedom

As a bird soars high
In the free holding of the wind,
Clear of the certainty of ground,
Opening the imagination of wings
Into the grace of emptiness
To fulfill new voyagings,
May your life awaken
To the call of its freedom.

As the ocean absolves itself
Of the expectation of land,
Approaching only
In the form of waves
That fill and pleat and fall
With such gradual elegance
As to make of the limit
A sonorous threshold
Whose music echoes back among
The give and strain of memory,
Thus may your heart know the patience
That can draw infinity from limitation.

As the embrace of the earth
Welcomes all we call death,
Taking deep into itself
The right solitude of a seed,
Allowing it time
To shed the grip of former form
And give way to a deeper generosity
That will one day send it forth,
A tree into springtime,
May all that holds you
Fall from its hungry ledge
Into the fecund surge of your heart.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)


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Copyright 2019 ~ Cathy Pagano's The Cosmic Story