Astrology for Earth Renewal

February 1 to 6, 2012

Venus and Mars Opposition

Tonight’s Venus and Mars opposition, which we can observe ceremonially for the next few days, is an opportunity to pay attention to the aspects of our lives, and inner being, that feel as though they are split apart, and in pain because of this split.

My biggest split right now is the pain I feel between my desire to do, accomplish, and make things happen, and my desire to simply be, slow down, and allow gravity to have its way with me. This could be described as my own personal Feminine and Masculine dynamic.

The great gift of opposites is that their differences are easy to see. Of course, also that there is an alchemical attraction between them, that causes them to be drawn to one another (yes, opposites attract).

It is in my feminine longing to slow down that my masculine aspect sees the opportunity for me to act in ways that are more effective and grounded. It is through my masculine desire to do, pursue ambitions, and produce, that my receptive feminine feels she will be able to birth the awareness that was born when I descended into the depths of being-ness.

I am imagining an ever greater skillfulness and mastery between this masculine doing and feminine being within me. A kind of healing needs to happen in order for this to occur. I experience the healing as a kind of awakening reverence within the God for the Goddess, and within the Goddess for the God.

Within me, when my doing self begins to experience deep love and devotion, and appreciation for my being self, and my being self begins to acknowledge and feel as precious my doing self, I will be finally experiencing the most profound dimension of the Sacred Marriage. May my own growth and transformation be for the benefit of all those undergoing their own initiations.

Imbolc

Thursday is a cross quarter point of Imbolc, the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox. This is a day for ceremony to welcome the coming of spring, and for many who observe the Celtic traditions, a time to pay tribute to the Goddess Brigit.

Like most Goddesses, she has changed through time. We know her now as indistinguishable from Saint Brigid, who keeps the sacred fires burning. Yet in her pre-Christian form, she had many other qualities and attributes. She was seen as a great protector, healing, nurturing and fierce.

She also had a great deal to do with the 5th Chakra, or voice, of the Sacred Feminine. She was known as a sage, or wise woman, and also as the Goddess of Poets. She was believed to have invented the “night whistle” to communicate in the dark. In some literature she was credited as the originator of the practice of “keening:” the very powerful vocal lamentation expressed by mourners in response to the death of a loved one.

In Scottish and Irish tradition it was not uncommon for someone to be hired to “keen” for a deceased person. The Keener would wail and cream, rocking, clapping, invoking others in a chorus, as well as calling out the genealogical line of the deceased, praising the deceased, and vocalizing the tragic fate of those left behind. The Catholic church outlawed this practice for several centuries, so it has largely been extinguished in its original form.

We need not choose between these two Goddesses–they, like us, have evolved to suit their times. It is beautiful to celebrate St. Brigid by burning a candle that represents our love of the Sacred Feminine. We can send out prayers for the girls and women of this world, that they be protected and cherished.

We can practice using our own voices through conversation, poetry, or song, to speak the truth that the feminine aspect of ourselves knows most deeply–the language of love for the Earth, for the creatures, for beings with finite and precious lives. We can honor our emotional lives and pay attention to what they tell us.

And as we experience the first waves of the Neptune in Pisces immersion that is nearly upon us, we may experience moments of great grief for ourselves, for humanity, for people, creatures or our Earth in pain and suffering.

And when we do, we can call on Brigid to help us to grieve, and to mourn in a way that helps us to move the pain and suffering from our bodies, and in a way that honors the birth pain we all experience at this time.

Neptune Ingress into Pisces

2012 is a very watery year indeed, and Neptune’s entrance into Pisces this Friday, where it will remain for 13 to 14 years, is one of the first examples of that. It is the year of the Water Dragon, and the full activation of the Scorpio Sacred Feminine. By the fall, Saturn and the North Node will also be in Scorpio.

Pisces and Scorpio are both about learning to navigate the emotional realm, but in quite different ways. Scorpio teaches us to claim our emotions in all their intensity as a catalyst for deep personal transformation. Pisces gives us access to our “higher” feeling function of Transpersonal Love.

This is a very personally felt aspect for me, because Neptune is presently squaring my Venus by about 1 degree. The easy part of this is that I have easy access to my dreams, vision, and intuition. The more challenging side is that I must successfully navigate middle world reality–pay bills, build a nonprofit, nurture relationships.

Neptune in Pisces operates through the principle of dissolution. Who we believe ourselves to be; our roles, identities, etc. feel intangible. We feel lost, and confused. Remember, this is a transit that impacts all of us. Humanity itself is experiencing an identity crisis. The intent of this cycle is not merely to torture us.

It is to assist us in surrendering the false aspects of our identity, to let go of the goals and missions that do not suit our higher selves. As my teacher says, it is GOOD to feel lost during a Neptune cycle. This is exactly where we are supposed to be! The phrase “let go, and let God” applies here.

We actually accomplish more when we take time out for prayer, meditation, time in nature, and otherwise cultivating our relationship with our personal heart, and the heart of God/Goddess. We simply can’t get by with pushing our way through life, stubbornly moving in the direction that our fear-based old identities are so attached to.

It just doesn’t work. So for myself, and you, my readers, I wish a more graceful letting go, a more consciously chosen re-alignment with Divine Will. To the degree that we recalibrate, ever so slightly each day in that direction, we will see our lives move with more joy, more ecstasy, and greater sense of our radiant inner peace.

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January 24 to 31, 2012

Earth from the Perspective of Spirit–Aquarius New Moon

Yesterday (Monday) morning the New Moon was exact in the earliest degrees of Aquarius. Tonight (Tuesday) is a powerful time for ceremony as we see the first visible crescent Moon in the evening sky. We can tune into its effects throughout the week, with Neptune still also in the late degrees of Aquarius, and the Sun also in this sign.

This could be considered the “Vision Quest New Moon” where we can, in a very present, vivid way, go into profound meditative states very quickly, and receive the visions and insights that can guide us through the coming year. Also, yesterday (Monday) evening, we felt the dynamic energy of Mars, the Sacred Masculine, stationing retrograde. We continue to feel the intensified presence of the transforming Masculine through the week.

We can imagine ourselves looking down at the Earth from the perspective of Spirit, witnessing its beauty, seeing it as the vibrant, shimmering miracle that it is. Almost 40 years ago, 12 days before my birth, humanity first witnessed the first full photos of our Earth from space–the “Big Blue Marble.”

In this moment our human consciousness, focused for several thousand years on the evolution of a masculine modern culture that would transcend the Earth’s boundaries; looked back. We beheld the Earth in all her splendor, from a distance. We saw her for the first time in her wholeness, and in her holiness. That image, and the reverence it invoked, seeped into our collective awareness and has been transforming it ever since.

In our meditations and reflections tonight and in the days to come, we can look at the Earth from the perspective of Spirit, and imagine the healing of our waters, our air, our soils, living creatures and ecosystems, and human communities. As we focus on 2012 as an initiatory threshold for humanity and our Earth, we can invoke the Aquarian capacity for detached love and a higher perspective, as we collectively imagine and call in the New Story.

Year of the Water Dragon

Yet another “sign” that 2012 is an extraordinary year, the Water Dragon symbolizes extremes, of luck, big gains or losses in the areas of wealth or business, a “go big or go home” kind of energy. To me it holds the same energies as the Jupiter in Taurus transit, Uranus Pluto square, merged with the watery Neptune in Pisces, Scorpio Venus cycle completion, and Scorpio Saturn/North Node transitions later in the year.

All of the exuberance and excitement I’ve seen expressed around this “luckiest” of Chinese Astrological symbols reveals that as we move through our fear of change and transition, we are opening to a growing excitement and exhilaration as we feel the fresh waters of a new tide wash away the debris of the old world while carrying forward our new dreams, new visions, new beginnings.

Last night my partner imagined that we are all building a “new framework for abundance,” that will serve everyone. Imagine that there is enough, plenty, for every human being. Imagine that this new framework supports healthy Earth’s ecosystems, and the most vulnerable human communities and individuals. Now imagine how it looks and feels for you, yourself, to experience abundance in ways that serve the whole, as well as your highest joy and pleasure.

The Scorpio Goddess Empowers Her Heart

Early Thursday morning, Venus and the crescent Moon are conjunct. We can see them near one another in the west, in the evening sky both Wednesday and Thursday evenings. This is the moment in the Sumerian tale where the Goddess Inanna reclaims her breastplate, or becomes fully empowered in her personal heart. Venus is currently in a Scorpio cycle, representing the Scorpio Sacred Feminine.

The Scorpio Goddess is now coming into full embodiment on the world stage. I see this in all the women now plunging into their soul work and creative passions with new courage and determination. I see it in the men who are awakening to their own inner Scorpio Feminine–the aspect of themselves that will no longer settle for dry dusty routines, roles, and security–but instead move boldly toward the inner and outer transformations that will empower their inner fire, vitality, and desire for life.

Venus is in the sign of Pisces now, and was conjunct both Neptune and Chiron over the past weeks. Scorpio teaches us to pursue our own individual desire, clearly seeing and releasing what no longer serves. The Neptune/Pisces/Chiron influence, as well as the 4th Gate Heart activation, helps us to source our fully-focused energy from a place of love, compassion, and tenderness for individuals whose lives we touch, as well as the our Earth and human family as a whole.

We have gone through an initiatory journey over the past year, and now it is time for us to claim the power of our open, courageous hearts. The pain and dismemberment that we have felt as our inner and outer world experiences her birth contractions is what enables us to open to a sense of love and gratitude for our Earth, for life itself, for our loved ones, and for humanity. Our open hearts will be the birth canal through which our New Earth will be born.

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January 9, 2012

Full Moon in Cancer

The Full Moon in Cancer was exact a little after midnight (MST) early this morning. Through the morning hours it passed through the poles of duality represented by Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in the Twins constellation.

So much of the Night Sky Story at this time speaks to the Birth process. Cancer is the sign most concerned with gestation and birth. On Solstice our Sun was “reborn” at Galactic Center, where souls are believed to exit, as well as new souls are believed to come forward. Mercury has crossed Galactic Center as well, and is still within about a degree.

Tonight is a wonderful time for Full Moon ceremony, celebrating what has been birthed in our lives from the time of the last New Moon in Capricorn (Christmas Eve, December 24) until now. It is also a time to look back and see clearly what blocks and old baggage are most obviously ready to be discarded at this time.

This release allows us to build even stronger foundations over the next two weeks leading up to the Aquarius New Moon on Monday, January 23rd. We can even visualize physically “giving away” all that no longer serves into the center of our galaxy, for “recycling, or composting” into the New that wants to be born.

Mercury activates Pluto Uranus Square

This Full Moon was preceded by Mercury squaring Uranus yesterday (Sunday) late afternoon. Early Friday (January 13) morning, Mercury is conjunct Pluto. Over the course of 2012 Pluto and Uranus will be exactly square in June and September, the first of 7 squares that will occur from now through 2015.

2011 Global Uprisings

This Mercury transit to Uranus and Pluto follows the Sun conjunction to Pluto and square to Uranus over the holidays. We are receiving “waves” of information about what this transit feels like, looks like, tastes like. Mercury acts as the messenger, transmitting a deeper comprehension of Great Mystery for us.

We began to feel and see the impacts of the Pluto Uranus Square in early 2011, building throughout the year and expressed through popular uprisings across the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe, the US, and many other areas across the globe.

The Second Movement after the ’60′s and ’70′s

The 60′s and early 70′s were the high points of the Pluto Uranus conjunction that planted the seeds now erupting with this current Pluto Uranus square. This is the second movement, where the driving issues and questions that emerged into our collective consciousness during the 60′s and 70′s have come to a crisis point.

The environmental movement and first recognition of global warming, civil rights, women’s equality, the antiwar and antinuclear movements, indigenous people’s rights, environmental and economic justice, sexual liberation, economic crises sparked by our fossil fuels addiction. These were the issues emerging on the world stage at that time.

Lessening of T-Square Structure

Now we see that the issues underlying these movements have reached a critical stage; signaling the unraveling of the modern institutions and paradigms that have contributed to our current eco-cide. Over the past couple of years, the approach of the Pluto Uranus square has been part of a T-Square, with Jupiter conjunct Uranus, and Saturn creating holding the 3rd space.

This T-square is still in effect, with Saturn still moving through the sign of Libra until the fall. However, as Saturn moves further from the early to mid-degrees of Libra, its impact is felt less and less. Saturn has been acting to hold back the transformative, liberating energies of Pluto square Uranus, permitting us a bit more time to “get our house in order” before we see the old paradigms and societal institutions truly break apart.

It also represents the lessening ability of those “in power” to hold back the tide of economic chaos, and popular uprisings. We are truly on the verge of a breakthrough, and we all feel it. For this reason, this is the time to get grounded and to build our internal foundation of spiritual practice, as well as practical affairs in order including creating structures of support to have our basic needs met, while contributing to the well being of your neighbors as well as the waters, soil, and air in our immediate environment

Venus and the Neptune/Chiron Download

Friday at about 8:00 am, Venus is conjunct Neptune in the late degrees of Aquarius. At almost 11:00 pm, she moves into the sign of Pisces. Early Sunday morning (Jan 15), Venus is conjunct Chiron in the sign of Pisces. The Goddess in Scorpio (Venus in her Scorpio cycle) has been claiming her personal power, and will, since passing through the 3rd Gate (activating the 3rd Chakra) on December 26th.

She is approaching the 4th Gate, where she reclaims the Power of the Heart, at the 4th Chakra. In preparation for this passage, it makes sense that she is receiving the most profound transmissions of Neptune/Pisces and Chironic energy. We are all feeling the rising presence of the Scorpio Sacred Feminine into our middle world reality. She is present in the disruptive cycles of cleansing and upheaval, holding the Pluto side of the Uranus/Pluto Transit.

Her intent is to bring Spirit (consciousness) INTO the realm of earthly experience, in order to transform it. She is the midwife of the Death Rebirth process we now find ourselves in. She is the Female Shaman, orchestrating this initiation for the Earth herself, and all life upon it including humanity as the self-conscious dimension of Gaia.

She is currently downloading the greatest compassion, empathy, and capacity as a healer, as she absorbs the healing and light-filled energy of the Neptune/Pisces/Chiron archetypes. This is a powerful time to look within and access the greatest transpersonal love, compassion, and acceptance of humanity and our Earth, precisely where we find ourselves.

If we are to engage with our current initiation and emerge on the other side, it helps to cultivate humility, a deeper love and compassion for humanity, and a deeper sense of trust in the unfolding evolution of our species and our universe.

This does not diminish our impulse to “Occupy” and transform every aspect of middle world reality. It simply centers us in our personal and collective hearts, as we move forward into the future with courage, love, and strength, willingly playing our part in the birthing of a new human culture in balance with the Earth, and honoring of the future generations.

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December 27 to January 7

Scorpio Goddess Empowerment Gate

Last night (Monday) if you were looking up at the sky you will have seen the brilliant crescent Moon, and Venus sparking nearby, in a horizontal line about 7 degrees away from each other. Their exact conjunction was at 12:33 am MST this morning. Tonight they will still be visibly close; still a visual treat.

This Venus Moon conjunction is where the Sumerian Goddess Inanna (Venus) passes through the 3rd gate on her ascent from the Underworld. Here she reclaims the golden ring around her wrist, or her hip girdle, representing a reclaiming of her personal power at the 3rd Chakra.

The 3rd Chakra is the one most connected to Aries and Leo, two signs that are extremely intuitive and action-oriented, and which strongly embody “I Am” presence.

Imagine a full empowerment of the Sacred Feminine, the dimension of Life most concerned with bringing “Spirit into Matter.” Imagine how this element, in the Scorpio expression, begins to “take up space,” and be more fully experienced here on Earth.

She is the one who assists us in engaging with our lives in an organic, (she might say orgasmic) manner, fully immersed in the flow of life force energy that runs through the veins of the Earth, into our bodies, empowering us with a sense of aliveness, tuning us in to the shamanic dimension of life; its sacred vitality.

What does this empowerment of the Sacred Scorpio Feminine look like and feel like “out there” in middle world reality? What does it look like and feel like “in here” within our consciousness, our bodies, our lives, our primary relationships, our connection to community, our connection to the surrounding Earth?

Mercury Exits Retrograde Shadow near the Great Attractor

This morning (Tuesday), Mercury, having stationed direct last week, is conjunct the Great Attractor and the North Node at 14 Sagittarius at 6:30 am this morning for the 3rd time over the past month, due to its back-and-forth retrograde journey. It will move outside of its retrograde shadow on Friday, December 30. The cycle began November 23rd.

From now through Friday we are receiving the final “download” from the current Mercury Retrograde cycle. Each Mercury retrograde cycle represents a period where we are receiving information of some kind, often beyond the level of our conscious awareness, as Mercury retrograde shifts us into right brain/intuitive receptivity.

This cycle, occurring over the same period as the Regulus shift into Virgo, the Total Lunar Eclipse, Winter Equinox, and the conjunction to the Great Attractor by Mercury, Venus, the Sun, and especially the North Node (humanity’s destiny point), has been providing us with the initiatory insights, awareness, and comprehension to assist us in moving through the acceleration of the portal that is 2012, within a larger window of transition to a New Earth.

Collective Mind Opens to Ultimate Truth

We are beginning to see more clearly all the ways that our society is shifting and changing, and how people’s minds are being opened to Truth (Sagittarius), in all its aspects. More and more of us are awakening to the truth of existence; we are becoming more adept at seeing the holy fabric that binds our Earth together.

We are beginning to see the sacred in the mundane, realizing that Spirit flows through every dimension of our Earth experience–not above or beyond it.

For the next few days, we do well to invite into our dream space, and into our waking awareness, new visions and insights about how we, as individuals, are contributing to the emergence of a new human organism, in alignment with the cycles of the living Earth.

Pay attention to stories in the news that hint at our new collective direction, and conversations that point to a new awareness growing within people in every walk of life.

When we focus our attention on what energizes us, and what is really “working” and flowing in our lives, relationships, and the world surrounding, we become “co-madres” (mothers) and co-padres (fathers) of the new reality, nourishing and supporting the evolution of our human family toward a more awakened, collaborative, creative, and Earth-honoring culture.

Sun conjunct Pluto–Surrender to Transformation

Tomorrow (Wednesday), just before midnight, the Sun is conjunct Pluto in Capricorn. The Sun, representing Great Mystery, is now illuminating, and bringing into our conscious awareness those areas where human society’s “bones,” or foundations (Capricorn), are undergoing complete metamorphosis. This has been an ongoing process since Pluto moved into Capricorn in December, 2007.

We are awakening to the depth and intensity of these changes with help from Uranus in Aries, square Pluto in Capricorn
(there are two exact alignments this year). The Uranus Pluto square is currently amplified by the Sun’s square to Uranus last Friday, followed by tomorrow’s Pluto Sun conjunction.

When both Pluto and Uranus are involved, we are reminded that this is a time to practice surrender and “going with the flow.” It helps to remember that certain evolutionary and regenerative processes occur without our active participation, and that sometimes our most important job is to “get out of the way” and stop trying to control things we cannot control.

Taking Responsibility for Our Own Domain

Yet it is also vital to recognize that the areas now under revision by Pluto and Uranus are “householder” or middle world signs–Aries and Capricorn. So the changes we are experiencing impact us at the most practical, “real” levels. Jupiter in Taurus, Saturn in Libra, and the North Node in Sagittarius all hint at the areas where we can productively take the reins in our lives.

Saturn in Libra (conjunct Spica): bring full integrity into our relationships, personal and communal. Continue practicing the fine balance of honoring self with other, and exploring the magic of conscious co-creation.

Jupiter in Taurus: Slow down, learn to be in your body, allow yourself to experience and receive the physical, sensory pleasures of being alive, embodied, on this Earth. Give gratitude for this exquisite gift. Take life one step at a time, applying your full attention to every task, without over concern for the distant future.

North Node in Sagittarius: Practice having faith in humanity’s ability to meet the challenges of our times, by waking up to the Ultimate Truth of Earth reality. Believe in our collective capacity to welcome the feminine back into balance with the masculine; to re-awaken our cellular memory to the Holiness of our Universe, and our divine place within it.

Full Speed Ahead–Acting from our Intuition

Saturday features a First Quarter Aries Moon. This is a good time to remember that, in times of great transition, it is vital to actively cultivate listen to, and act in alignment with our intuition. Healthy Aries is a master of this. We learn how to assess a situation at lightning speed and take accurate, focused action toward our mission and goals.

Aries helps us simplify our lives so as to increase our effectiveness; and free up more time for free-spirited enjoyment of the adventure. It helps us get unstuck from patterns of overthinking and overanalyzing, so as to live life at full vibrancy, taking risks, but often coming out ahead, because of the zestful energy we continue to generate through right action.

Just prior to the First Quarter Moon Mercury (Sagittarius) and Mars (Virgo) are square. This is Mercury’s first aspect since leaving its retrograde shadow on Friday, and triggers a “full speed ahead” movement. We’ve been gifted with tremendous insight and awareness over this past month, through the duration of the

Mercury retrograde cycle. Now it is time to move fully into the flow of our lives, acting from our intuitive centers, where all this new information has been seeded.

Sirius Blessings

Near midnight on January 31st, if we go outside and look to the heavens we will see Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, shining almost directly overhead. This happens every year near the Winter Solstice/New Year. It is a beautiful ceremonial moment to give gratitude to the Star Beings, who have been recognized across cultures and time as our ancestors and allies, which transmit energy, wisdom, and loving support to humanity on our journey to wholeness.

January 1 to 7th

This is an unusually “quiet” week, astrologically, with all the energies from last week still resonating. Take advantage of this spaciousness to move forward in your life with ease and full presence.

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December 21, 2011

Through the Weekend: Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice was exact this evening (Wednesday) at 9:30 pm, at the moment the Sun entered the sign of Capricorn. The Solstice Sun is near conjunction with Uranus, exact tomorrow (Thursday) at 2:14 pm. This Sun/Uranus meet-up is like a second download, after the Sun/Uranus conjunction last spring equinox, at 0 Aries.

Adding to this combination of Capricorn (Saturn) and Uranus (Aquarius) is Venus, which was square Saturn on Sunday and moved into the sign of Aquarius yesterday. Saturn and Capricorn represent the “bones,” or structure of our human culture at any given point in history. Aquarius/Uranus can awaken us to electrifying new possibilities for the “resetting” of the bones/humanity’s operating manual.

So over these next few days, tune in and ask to receive innovative, inspired guidance on how to better manage your personal time, energy, and physical space. Ask for expanded belief of what it is possible for you to create and manifest.

We are all too often unaware of how our limited beliefs and perceptions keep us trapped in lives that do not serve our full humanity and joy. This weekend is an excellent time to ask for guidance in designing a life that truly serves our joy and allows us to make our full contribution in the world.

It is good to be willing to be surprised, as what we believe we want often falls short of the extraordinary gifts the Universe can set up for us, if we are not too busy blocking the flow.

Thursday: Ursid Meteor Showers

Tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday nights are the best for viewing the Ursid meteor shower, which is expected to feature 10 per hour at peak times. Because of our pre-New Moon dark skies, the chance of catching sight of a few shooting stars is pretty darn good!

Saturday: New Moon in Capricorn

The New Moon in Capricorn is exact at 10:06 am, on Saturday December 24. By evening the Moon will be conjunct Pluto at 7 Capricorn. So we have the Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon, and Pluto involved. Now we are getting a big dose of depth and intensity, so that we can bring greater vibrancy and life force into our transforming “middle world reality.”

This weekend we are truly navigating the Celestial, the Middle World, and the Underworld all at the same time. The Sun Uranus square and Venus in Aquarius both put us in touch with the celestial dimension, to trigger our awakening to higher states of consciousness, and an expanded perception of what is possible for us to create. Tap into this as you set your intentions.

The Capricorn Sun, strengthened by the Venus in Capricorn square to Saturn on Sunday, means that the heightened potential of Uranus/Aquarius can be channeled into the recalibration of our middle world reality. The addition of Pluto to the mix adds the element of depth and organic regeneration; helping us to tap into the wisdom of the Dark Goddess that we need at this time in order to actualize a new cultural paradigm from the ground up.

Sunday: Jupiter Direct Station at 0 Taurus

Add to all of this Jupiter stationing direct at 0 Taurus at 2:09 pm on Sunday, and we experience a potent window of creation. We can extract ourselves from busyness and take time to focus our awareness and attention on Source.

Then we can easily receive the practical, expansive, and mind-blowing visions and energetic blueprints which can lead us into a New Year, ready and able to play our part in the restructuring of humanity’s operating manual (beginning with our own lives).

Over the next 6 months, Jupiter will move through all the degrees of Taurus and into Gemini. So humanity has until June to get into the Taurus dharma flow of savoring and fully receiving the deliciousness of the Earth experience.

What would happen if we in the wealthiest, most culpable nations approached the burning issues of climate change, dwindling resources and exploitation of our most vulnerable human and ecological communities with this answer, for ourselves: slow the hell down.

Work less, and spend your time doing what you enjoy. Grow a garden, love on your kids. Spend a long, relaxed day with your beloved, taking long walks in nature, lounging around. Connect with neighbors to exchange goods and services.

We consume the most mindlessly when have trapped ourselves into patterns that deny us the simple luxuries of time for dreaming, nurturance to relationships, and cultivation of our creativity and passions. If it is only possible to slow down the tiniest bit, then do that. The smallest changes can shift our lives in meaningful ways.

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The Gemini Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 6:36 am MST, the Full Moon in Gemini is exact, and the Total Lunar Eclipse is well underway. The eclipse begins at about 4:45 am MST, with totality beginning at 7:05 am (right at sunrise here in ABQ), completing at 7:33 am. In North America, the full eclipse will only be observable in N. Canada and Alaska. The full eclipse should be visible as well in Asia, Australia, and Eastern Europe.

It is possible that viewers from as far E in N. America as Ontario, through the Ohio River Valley, and down to the Gulf (as well as everyone from the W of that) will be able to experience an unusual phenomenon: selenelion-where we can see the Sun and the eclipsed Moon at the same time. This is possible because of atmospheric refraction. Full article describing this here: http://tinyurl.com/7fngsov

Ancient Perspectives on Eclipses

It has been widely reported that many ancient (and quite a few modern) cultures saw eclipses as harbingers of natural disasters, and other challenging events. However, eclipses received a more positive reception by the Tahitians who saw eclipses as lovemaking between the Sun and Moon, and many Arctic people whose stories described the Sun and Moon leaving their stations in the sky so that they could check on the affairs of the Earth, as a kind of benevolent caretaking.

How Do We Engage with the Eclipse Now?

For modern people, eclipses have become that rare event that gets us out of our houses and gazing up into the celestial sphere in wonder, stirring and reknitting our ancient relationship to the night sky. My teachers point out that a lunar eclipse recapitulates the entire month for the Moon from fullness to crescent and back again. For this reason, it can be understood as an intense compression of time that we can tune into, in order to gain profound insights.

I believe that the Universe responds to our enthusiastic appreciation of its wonders. It is especially powerful to be outside observing the Full Moon (and whatever dimension of the eclipse is visible from your area). However, the multitude of people across the globe aware of the eclipse shows cyber communications’ capacity to sometimes help us collectively engage with ancient, magical realities-whether we are all able to observe it literally for ourselves.

Current Eclipse Circumstances–Tuning into the Highest Truth

This Lunar Eclipse and the time compression it represents, occurs with the North Node still aligned with the Great Attractor, and the Sun also within just 4 degrees. It also occurs just hours after Uranus has stationed retrograde, and at the tail end of the Mercury Retrograde cycle. The North Node represents humanity’s progressive destiny, the Sun represents Great Mystery, or Divine Revelation, and Mercury Retrograde taps us into our right brain intuitive knowing.

With Uranus and Sagittarius such prominent energies, we have access to Higher Truth and Vision. With Mercury Retrograde and Gemini activated, our minds can help to us access hidden knowledge that our more rational, logical brains cannot fathom. At the most basic level, this weekend can feel very expansive, liberating, and otherworldly.

Recalibration of Humanity’s Spirit and Mind

Yet it is much bigger than this. Over the next few days, I believe that we can all receive a download of vital information and understanding that can help lead us through the year to come, with greater clarity and intuitive accuracy. Humanity is in need of a complete recalibration of our collective Spirit and Mind (Sag and Gemini) in order to successfully move forward into the New Earth we are all longing for. This weekend, in my view, is a trigger point, for that recalibration.

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November 23 to 30

Mercury Retrograde with Neptune and Chiron

Mercury turns retrograde tonight (Wednesday) at 11:19 pm MST. It will remain so until its direct station on December 13. Mercury retrograde is a time to slow down and give yourself some space for soul and spirit connection-or nourishing bonds with those closest to your heart. If you have been running ragged this fall like so many of us, this weekend is a very good time to restore yourself and remember what the interior of your soul feels like. Rest. Replenish yourself.

Two other factors add to the “time out of time” effect of this retrograde cycle: Neptune’s square to the Sun, which was exact Sunday, and is still resonating with us; and the Super New Moon (Solar Eclipse) exact at 10:10 MST tomorrow (Thursday), on Thanksgiving Day. Chiron squared the Sun today (Wednesday), so in the midst of this dreamscape, we might encounter rawness, or vulnerability-yet we might also feel our inner healer awakened and deepened by this encounter.

If we allow ourselves to surrender to the dreamy and visionary energy leading us through to the end of the month, permitting ourselves down time to recharge; we will find that we have access to tremendous creative capacity, and spirit nourishment beyond measure.

Super New Moon in Sagittarius and Partial Solar Eclipse

Today and through the weekend it’s all about Sagittarius. The Sun, Moon, and Earth are all aligned with one another at the beginning degrees of this sign. Venus, Mercury, and the North Node are all also in Sagittarius. When we are working with this sign, we are tapping into Higher Truth, and Higher Vision. As we set our intentions this month, we do well to imagine how our own dreams and visions ripple outward into the larger world, impacting much more than our immediate circle of influence.

The North Node, Great Attractor, and Dharma

Sagittarius has always been the one to hold a magnetic vision for the future. It is interesting to note that through the month of November the North Node has been aligned with a point in space–near 14 Sagittarius-known as “the Great Attractor.”

This is a cluster of galaxies with the massive Shapley Super Cluster behind it, which appears to be steadily pulling our Milky Way Galaxy toward it. Both Venus and Mercury passed this point last week as well, and the Sun and Moon will follow over the next two weeks. Mercury will cross this point 3 times over the course of its retrograde transit throughout December.

The North Node is the “head of the dragon”–representing the highest destiny point for humanity. Like Sagittarius, the North Node has to do with our dharma: both individually, and collectively. We must ask ourselves, what in my life has the deepest meaning, what is the leading spiritual quest that guides my life? Can we allow ourselves the time and ceremonial contexts that open us to our highest visions?

When we are devoted to our spiritual destiny we keep our highest visions in front of us, pursuing them with enthusiasm. We recognize that we may or may not reach this vision, but still we pursue it, and the pursuit itself enlarges, and enriches our spirits. Consider the Great Attractor as a magnetic force, pulling us toward our destiny, toward our future selves, and the future world we envision.

Saturn’s Dance with Spica

From last Monday through to the end of the month, Saturn is within a degree of Spica, the brightest star in the Virgin Constellation. From now through next fall, Saturn will be within 6 degrees of this star. Saturn is the planet that represents the “bones,” rules or “operating manual” for humanity at any given point in history.

If we consider Spica’s ongoing influence on Saturn as we move through the acceleration portal of 2012, and observe Regulus’s movement into Virgo, it seems clear that at this Turning of the Ages, the Sacred Feminine is deeply involved. The entire structure of human society and middle world reality is currently receiving a massive download of intelligence and insight from the Gaia herself, who can assist us in re-orienting our priorities to support a future for human beings on this planet.

Venus at the 2nd Gate

Early Saturday morning Venus moves into the sign of Capricorn, thus crossing Galactic Center. She squares Uranus soon after. At 8:27 pm she is conjunct the new crescent Moon. As if this were not enough, she is nearing aphelion-her furthest point from the Sun, exact on Monday. She will actually be “out of bounds”–meaning that her orbit falls outside of the Sun’s own movements, North or South of the ecliptic.

This Moon/Venus conjunction can be considered the 2nd gate the Goddess Inanna passes as she ascends from the Underworld, within the Sumerian tale that was patterned after the Venus cycle. This is the place in the story where Inanna reclaims her her lapis lazuli measuring rod and line, which can be understood as the reclaiming of her royal power at the 2nd Chakra.

What does it mean that she is passing through Galactic Center, squares Uranus, and is nearing an “out of bounds” point at the same time that she claims her most primal, creative power as the female Shaman, Sorceress, Tantrika, Kali Durga–all expressions of the Scorpio Sacred Feminine?

Uranus is associated with “unexpected events of extreme novelty.” Its intent is to act as a lightning rod, waking us up, liberating us, aligning us with our highest vibration. Perhaps we can imagine that this new version of the Sacred Feminine in Scorpio is undergoing a radical evolutionary shift; as she reclaims her life force energy and power, she does so in service to a liberated, expansive, awakened humanity.

Of course she is also approaching Pluto and is exactly conjunct within a week, so she is triggering (or adding her wisdom as the feminine element) into the Pluto Uranus square whose impact is seen clearly through the growing movements of people across the globe who are exposing and resisting the old, devastating institutions of power, control, and hegemony that benefit a few at the expense of the many.

Regulus Moves into Virgo

Last Friday, November 18, the Last Quarter Moon was nearly exact Regulus, bringing forward the final release of Leo Mastery for this Royal Star as it approached its movement into the sign of Virgo, which occurs this coming Monday, November 28.

Ask yourself what was coming up for you through the month of August, when Mercury spent 3 weeks weaving back and forth on the Leo/Virgo threshold. Now is the culmination point of movement and release from the issues and patterns that arose at that time.

It also happens to be a tremendous “cross check” (and one of many) that suggests we are living at a very significant Turning of an Age. As the star known as the “Heart of the Lion” in the Leo constellation moves into a new sign for the first time in 2000 years–specifically to 0 Virgo, we can tune into the ways that we can be of greater service for Gaia, the Earth.

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November 10, 2011

The exact Full Moon is today (Thursday) at about 1:00 pm MST, so tonight is the brightest to observe it. Today through Saturday is a potent ceremonial window, thanks to surrounding astrological aspects, as well as 11-11-11 tomorrow.

Today and tomorrow thousands of people across the globe are taking “time out of time” to meditate, pray, celebrate, and hold sacred space in solitude as well as in the support of circles large and small. We are all experiencing a tremendous acceleration of time, and the intensity of energy we are learning to absorb and work with can feel extreme.

Astrologer Carl Calleman and others have viewed October 28 as the true “end” of the Mayan Calendar, as this date signaled the end of the “9th Wave.” If we consider this frame, as well as the upcoming shift of Royal Star Regulus from 29 Leo to 0 Virgo on November 28, we can approach these next few days, and in fact the remainder of the month, as a portal of entry into the “Beginning Times.”

Good Morning New World! We are beginning to claim our individual and collective power as never before. And it is time! So let us consider this “portal” we are passing through over the next few days, with more to come next week, about the remainder of the month.

Full Moon in Taurus

First let’s consider the Full Moon itself. This is a moment where the Sun shines brightly onto the face of the “opposing” Moon, illuminating it, and revealing fully the mysteries of its other half. We could also imagine that they are both gazing into each other’s “faces” directly.

We get to experience the fundamental nature (and beauty) of our Earth experience-the “resonant polarity” of opposites which generates life force energy, and continually gives birth to something new… i.e. is constantly evolving, expanding and contracting, creating.

So let’s ask ourselves-what, on this Full Moon, are the two primary, contrasting energies we are currently working with that we might have interpreted as a “problem” but in fact represents our richest, most exciting opportunity to create something new?

We can consider this on a deeply personal, individual level, and it is also powerful at this time to consider the contrast represented by the Old World we are rapidly exiting and the New World we are waking up to-and the opportunity this creates. At this moment we can use this energy to activate this new “third thing”-for the micro and the macro.

With the Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Taurus, still close to Jupiter in the night sky (they were at their closest in the night sky last night (Wednesday), this is all about waking up our kundalini, or life force energy, so that we can fully activate this new possibility in an organic, enlivened way.

With the emphasis on Taurus (expanded by Jupiter), it is good to kinesthetically sense into what this moment is about, rather than going into too many cerebral stories about it.

Breaking Open–Chiron Stations Direct

Yesterday Neptune stationed direct at 29 Aquarius and today Chiron stations direct at 0 Pisces. These direct stations will impact us for several days. Neptune and Chiron have been in an intimate dance for the past 3 years, and this moment represents the final strong connection between them.

We can feel them both, intensely. A direct station is a moment where planets can be felt more powerfully, it is like a window or portal; it is the Still Point where we can cross a threshold into another dimension.

For the past few days I have been feeling an underlying grief, sadness, and “off” feeling that has kept me awake at night, interrupted during the day by moments of joy, clarity, and pure magic. This morning when I woke early again, it flashed into my mind-Chiron stations direct today.

When we encounter Chiron’s energy, we are encountering the Sacred Wound. With Chiron in Pisces, we can feel vulnerable, raw, and exposed. We are having our own personal experience, yet we are also tuned into the collective.

Chiron can make us acutely aware of the places where our hearts, and our highest visions, have been broken. We may experience the distance between our idealism and the current reality, and it can be deeply painful. Yet when we tune into the deeper teaching, the medicine of Chiron, we learn to accept, or surrender to, exactly where we are at.

We experience compassion for ourselves as individuals, as imperfect human beings, and from there we can extend our compassion outwards, as a powerful softening of our hearts, a gentling of our stance toward the world that surrounds us.

Universal Mind Meets Universal Heart-Neptune Direct Station

Neptune’s direct station is a big deal because it represents a powerful ending hit of Neptune Aquarian energy before the planet moves into Pisces for good this January, after being in the sign of Aquarius since 1998. Under the influence of this transit, we have been experiencing the awakening of “group consciousness” or Universal Mind meets Universal Heart.

The immediate, personal experience of this Neptune station is that it may make us feel dreamy, and cause us to lose our focus and direction. Know that this too shall pass, but also know that if you can create a bit of space for it, this is a very good time to nourish your spiritual body, and ground at the soul level.

Activating the Shift–Mars Conjunct Regulus

Also this evening we have Mars exactly conjunct Regulus at 29’59 Leo powerfully activating a final transmission of the Leo mastery we have been cultivating over the past 2000 years. A leading paradigm for modern humanity over this period of time has been to focus on the individual, and the masculine, and toward self-actualization.

Even our great Monotheistic religions have had this focus. When we believe there is one God who loves us best and is above the Creation, we can feel justified in pursuing our own self-interest over that of other people, as well as extracting a sense of the Sacred from the Earth herself.

The emerging belief system that has arisen out of these religions resonate with ideas like “I create my own reality,” I can attract what I want by shifting my consciousness.” These are ideas that have not, historically, been accessible to the masses-but only to the spiritual masters.

With Regulus soon moving into the sign of Virgo, and thus into the terrain of Gaia and the Sacred Feminine, we see an enormous shift from this perspective into an alignment of our priorities toward the good of the Sacred Earth.

Tonight Mars activates for us a profound understanding of the gift of our learning path through Leo, so that as we approach the shift of Regulus to Virgo on November 28, we can bring with us an integrated understanding of our innate divinity, and capacity for empowered co-creation, so that we can heal the fractured Earth systems; utilizing our Leo awareness in service to Gaia.

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October 26, 2011

Today (Wednesday) at about 1:00 pm MST is the New Moon in Scorpio, followed by a Venus Mars square. The ceremonial window for a New Moon is 3 days, so it is beneficial to take time from now through tomorrow evening to get still and grounded and allow ourselves to regenerate from the inside out. With Scorpio involved, we can set New Moon intentions based on the ideas that cause our energy to rise, and help us feel more alive.

When Scorpio is involved it can also be good to become aware of the fears/shadow stuff that may be running our lives from the background. When we bring them into the light and into our conscious awareness, they can become allies, and no longer exert control over us. In other words, we take our own power back. Scorpio is, ultimately, all about empowerment, and this is part of how it works.

For example, I had a dream several months ago where I could see clearly the recurring dismissive, and negative thoughts a part of me held toward my mystical, magical side, as well as the work I had been doing with the Sacred Feminine. It was as though these thoughts had been behind my head where I could not see them. In my dream, they were in front of my eyes, and I was shocked to discover how powerful they were, and how effectively they were shutting me down, behind the scenes.

Once these thoughts were in full view, a balancing voice woke up in me, vigorously defending and honoring the vital work I was doing, and reminding me of how it mattered-to others as well as to me personally, enriching my life with a sense of wonder and gratitude for existence. Recently a friend has introduced me to the work of Sidra and Hal Stone, the originators of a therapeutic methodology called “Voice Dialogue.” They provide wonderful tools and insight into the exact kind of process I encountered in my dream.

Venus Mars Square

Following the New Moon today, Venus in Scorpio and Mars in Leo square each other. Their last major aspect together was in June, when they were conjunct-just before Venus moved into the Underworld, and just after Mars had emerged from the Underworld. Now Venus has newly emerged, and Mars is nearing the end of its cycle in Leo. Both planets are in “self-interest” signs, meaning that they are coming from a place of strong personal will, desire, and fully activated life force energy.

Both planets also happen to be moving through the signs that they began their individual cycles in-Venus began her Scorpio cycle November of last year, while Mars began its Leo cycle in December of 2009. So this is their first true encounter as the empowered Scorpio Sacred Feminine and empowered Leo Sacred Masculine.

A square is a dynamic aspect that can certainly feel abrupt and shocking, but can also lead to powerful breakthroughs. On a very immediate personal level, we might experience some tension or flare up of energy between ourselves and partners or close friends of the opposite gender, or even between the feminine and masculine aspects of ourselves. We may also feel a release of energy that frees us up, because we have new, empowered access to two dynamic aspects of ourselves.

In any sense, I think it is fair to say that this masculine/feminine encounter is one between equals. Imagine how our worlds-personal and collective-might look and feel different if men and women learned how to fully show up, and be empowered together? What if it were no longer about one needing to suppress or limit the other, in order to flourish?

To me it seems as though a very powerful, energizing creative force would be unleashed, where we learn to wake up and claim our identity as co-creators and Shamans, capable, together, of healing the Earth and human communities. Unafraid to release our attachments to limitations. Unafraid to die to our old selves. Unafraid to be connected to, and energized by the power of the Earth herself. Unafraid to create from that place.

She Who Dwells in All Things

Thursday (tomorrow) night features an extraordinary alignment between Venus, the new crescent Moon, and Mercury, visible with a low horizon, just after sunset. The Venus/Mercury conjunction is linked to the “Shekinah”–the Sacred Feminine hidden within Judeo Christian texts. Literally Shekinah is a grammatically feminine Hebrew word meaning–the dwelling or settling presence, of God.

This is the second Venus Moon conjunction (and the first that is fully visible) since Venus rose from the Underworld in late September and began her journey of reclaiming her full strength and power as the Scorpio Goddess.

This can be understood as the first gate, or chakra, where the Goddess reclaims the robe that she removed prior to her entrance into the Underworld, and her initiatory death. She is reclaiming her “skin,” which enables her to move through the world with protection and strength. I am reminded as I write this of a story Clarissa Pinkola Estes captured beautifully in Women Who Run with the Wolves called Sealskin, Soulskin.

This story is about a Selkie woman: half seal, half human. She removes her sealskin one night and is captured by a fisherman, who steals her sealskin. She comes to love her captor and has a child with him, but mourns for her sealskin, which holds her wild animal self, her animal soul.

Could it be that the Goddess is also reclaiming her wild skin, which enables her to be fully in her aliveness even as she emerges fully into the daylight of our current Middle World reality?

In any case, the Sacred Feminine is gathering her strength so she can accomplish what she is here for-to reinvigorate our modern reality with her felt presence. She is helping us re-inhabit our bodies as sacred vessels, and to reconnect with the Earth Soul.

Jupiter Opposition and Mercury square Mars

On Friday, retrograde Jupiter opposes the Sun. It is at its brightest and at its closest point to the Earth this year, just slightly less so than last year, when it was at its closest/brightest within its 11 .5 year cycle. Interestingly, Jupiter is also in the self-interest sign of Taurus. It is holding the other pole of the Scorpio/Taurus Shamanic/Tantrik dynamic-where Scorpio is about activating the Kundalini rise of energy, and pursuing what it wants, Taurus is fully in its “being” energy, naturally attracting and receiving what it desires and needs.

I cannot overstate the power of the field of energy we are in the midst of here, particularly on Thursday night, or even Friday-incredible times to set our New Moon intentions by the light of the crescent Moon in the East and Jupiter in the West. Mars in Leo also assists us in embodying our full potential as Creators. What do we wish to energize in our lives and in the world? What do we still need to release?

Venus square Neptune and Saturn Conjunct Spica

On Monday, Halloween, Venus is square Neptune. The Goddess is provided with a dose of insight from the Celestial realm, where Grace lives. She (and we) receives a vision for how it is that the lost connection between Heaven and Earth can be restored.

Also today, Saturn is near conjunction with Spica, visible in the early morning sky. From this fall through next fall, Saturn remains within about 6 degrees of this royal star, with is the brightest in the Virgin Constellation. Saturn has to do with the operating manual for humanity, our rules, norms, institutions; our orientation in relation to Universal reality.

Spica has, for millennia, represented women’s mysteries. She is also connected with Gaia, the living Earth. So we can imagine this as a re-orientation of humanities’ consciousness toward Earth wisdom, yet another reminder that this Turning of the Ages has everything to do with the re-emergence of the Sacred Feminine, and a profound restructuring of humanities priorities.

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