New Moon in Leo | July 23rd - start something new, be careful what you wish for ... part II

star wars tcg luke skywalker by anthony foti

In astrology-speak the Moon is essentially regressive in nature. It is always pulling us back to the past, to the mother-child bond, to our basic security needs, to our core. 

The stuff the Moon rules does not really change much over the course of our lifetime. The sign our Moon is in, the house our Moon is in, the sign on the cusp of our 4th house, planets in our 4th house, the degree of our IC - the very bottom of our chart, if our chart were a clock face it would be at 6:00 - Cancer's placement in our chart - all tell the story of our very essence. What we need to feel nurtured at 2 won't be that different from what we need to feel nurtured at 82.

The Sun is different. The Sun is progressive in nature. It changes. It is active and productive and unfolds over the course of our lifetime. It gives us - our "hero story".

You have probably at some time read something about the work of Joseph Campbell (maybe most famous these days with inspiring George Lucas's Star Wars hero journey) and something he calls the "mono-myth" - which is basically the "hero story" that is told in every culture's mythology. This is our solar story. It's the story of the Sun in our natal chart.

Now in every story the hero isn't born a hero. Even if he is born a prince, he has to earn the right to be a hero.

This earning comes in the form of tests and quests.

If we think about pretty much every movie we have ever seen - there is a hero who starts out looking much like you and me (well maybe not so much like you and me if we are not a white man or boy, but you get the idea - so excited to see the promos for a Wrinkle in Time!), there is a journey, there are some dangers and conflicts so we can muck things up a bit, there is adventure, there are tears and fears, there is joy, finally there is a reward and then the hero returns home (to his family, to his home, to his God), maybe to a hero's welcome.

Sometimes the hero will shirk his duties the first time he is called into service - this often happens and it is often then that he meets some kind of mentor or guide. And of course it is even possible to refuse the call of our Sun totally, in which case it comes back around in a different form, with harder tests and more dragons. Trying to escape the destiny of our Sun during important chart movements and we will likely pay dearly on another level for our refusal to become ourselves.

Sometimes the burden is passed on to our children. And we all carry some unfinished solar business from our ancestors.

Now, our Sun (think movie hero/heroine) starts out with everything it needs to fulfill its journey. It has all the right planets in all the right places for what it needs to do (strengths, weaknesses, upcoming transits representing challenges and opportunities). It has the Moon, which although it can give voice to that part of ourselves that can feel wronged and sorry for itself when we dragged away from our comforts, but can also be depended upon, in times of crisis, because it shows us how to look after ourselves. We have many helpers in our chart that are the energies we carry within us to attract what we need - just what/who/where we need at just the right time.

Now maybe the most important thing to remember about the hero's journey is that although it looks like we are doing what we are doing for ourselves - because the journey is really about becoming who we really are - we are doing this 'becoming' for the collective. The actual thing we are doing though must be pressed into us by some inner necessity - if we do it so other people will be happy, or so other people will love us or because we don't want to rock other people's boats by properly manning our own - we wind up in a whole lot of trouble because we won't be true to ourselves, which is, in a nutshell, what our journey is all about.

Test failed. Quest mucked up. It's tricky and a paradox.

There is a reason the Sun rules the 5th house of our chart - creativity, children, fun, enjoyment, romance - the things that give life meaning! So, the sign our Sun is in, the house our Sun is in, the sign on the cusp of our 5th house, planets in our 5th house, planets talking to the Sun, Leo's placement in our chart - all tell the unfolding story of the hero/heroine within us. The role we are called upon to play.

And just like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz who had a life before and after her journey through Oz that likely involved milking the cows and walking Toto - we have other aspects of our life, too. Life is not all witches and wizards and yellow brick roads.

But we enact the hero's journey (our Sun story) in many different chapters of our life story - some of them so short they come to completion in a week, some maybe even a day. And as soon as we have made any step forward in consciousness and self-unfolding, another call comes in and we are off again. 

The Sun is progressive - it is never finished with us (until we draw our final breath and it is).

So what does all this have to do with next week's New Moon in Leo, well we'll talk about that in part III.  xo all enjoy the day!

New Moon in Leo | July 23rd - start something new, be careful what you wish for ... part l

dragon daughter by Makusheva

I'm writing this one a little early so heads up.

If you have anything fresh and new in any kind of preliminary "launch" mode

(particularly if related to your Leo natal house theme or the universal Leo themes of creativity, fun, games, romance, children, sport, hobbies, pleasure - that just about covers everything good anyway, right!)

you might want to get a jump on things and get it out there during the waxing (growing) cycle of this fiery New Moon. This would mean sometime between July 23rd and August 7th.

And by "launch" I am not talking about the space shuttle here or a dotcom start-up. ANYTHING you are looking to get started or do in a new way will get a boost from this energy.

This New Moon is at zero degrees Leo and will be the first of two New Moons in Leo this year - the second will be the "Great American" Solar Eclipse of August 21st at 28 degrees Leo. So one New Moon will take us into Leo - and we have the North Node (our collective way forward) in Leo! - and an even bigger one will take us out.

Events intensify as we move forward from this New Moon. 

Zero is the first degree in astrology and connects to the Magician card in the Tarot. This is excellent manifesting energy since anything is possible here so we should be setting our intentions with this in mind. Take this stuff seriously or skip it altogether this month. I'm not kidding. We need to be careful what we are wishing/intending now because we are much more likely to get it.

This New Moon will be conjunct Mars giving it even greater power.

Mars is all instinct, fiery passion and initiative. Mars is that first powerful kick off at the starting line. We don't have to know exactly where we are going with this, we just have to START. So take some action toward what you want during the waxing days of this New Moon. We'll talk about this more as we move through the week. There is also a Venus/Saturn opposition at the time of this New Moon which is not normally such a great aspect, but I think it will help narrow our choices down for us toward what is most stable and this will be a good thing in the long run.

Leo is ruled by the Sun and with the Sun ruling this New Moon - and the North Node of our collective way forward now in Leo also - this is all about following our HEART. Whatever new thing/situation/person/belief/action we choose to work with needs to be something we are excited about, it needs to stir us. It needs to not have any self-sacrifice or victim mentality connected to it. It needs to come with a certain ease. This doesn't mean there won't be work involved, but it can't be only work involved.

With the North Node in Leo now if we really don't want to do something and we do it anyway, it isn't going to work. What we want, what is calling to our heart, is the only thing that will work now. Choices get easier.

So this New Moon is about our Leo natal house and about our Sun (the Sun rules Leo and is the ruler of this New Moon). Where is 0 degrees Leo in your natal chart? Go to astro.com, free horoscopes, natal chart - find it.

This will be a fiery new beginning. xo all

Up next tomorrow - part ll our Sun signs and the road ahead

Mercury Sextile Jupiter | positive thinking, making plans, releasing our words into the world

the prize of trust by shiny-shadows-art

Mercury (ideas, communication, words) sextiles (opportunity) Jupiter (expansion) at 14 degrees Leo (Mercury) and Libra (Jupiter).

The right words, said at the right time, can move mountains now.

This is good energy for planning our future - whether that means our next vacation or next big venture. Words are not just words - they connect us energetically with what we are seeking.

Don't be afraid to say out loud what you want. Put it in writing.

There is, of course, a fly in the ointment - we could imagine heaven as simply a space without flies!

At the same time both these planets are creating opportunities with each other's energies, both planets are inconjunct dreamy, drifting Neptune (strong but retrograde in Pisces).

Inconjuncts require adjustments and integration. It is pretty much summed up in the expression "between a rock and a hard place". So whatever opportunity the Mercury/Jupiter sextile is stirring up, it is not without complications. The key to working with inconjuncts (especially this one involving Neptune) is to use our INTUITION.

The three planets involved in today's aspect are forming a Yod (finger of God) - pointing at Neptune. In astrological speak - this is like the voice of God speaking to/through us. We have to trust our intuition (gut instinct, hunch) and integrate it into our life. This doesn't have to be some big ginormous thing but there is no standing on the sidelines here waiting for someone else to do it/say it for us.

With Jupiter, things can seem better or bigger or more important than they actually are and the inconjunct to Neptune shows the possibility of the whole thing drifting off-course.

It also shows the possibility of the sky's the limit possibilities here, too.

What does our gut say (and I hope we haven't been clouding it up with white flour and sugar!)? What does our heart want? Get quiet. Meditate. Pray for answers. Portals are open. Positive thinking - yes, positive meaning "certain" - goes a long way now. Stop imagining all the ways we are going to fail and start imagining things succeeding beyond our wildest dreams.

Today's energy can be used to make plans for the future, socialize, make new contacts and say the words we need to say trusting they will be heard by the people who need to hear them.

Make the words compassionate (be kind) and boundless (try to avoid setting too many rules and restrictions now) and the words will surely find their mark. Join with other people (Libra) now in an effort to make an impact beyond our own lives and we will surely make a big impact on our own life, too.

Trust, will play a HUGE part in this because it could appear that 1. we can't find the right words when we need them 2. no one is listening anyway 3. the more we focus, the more we drift off course 4. our memory fizzles 5. what we are saying/hearing isn't logical - we could have to move intuitively through any or all of this crap. 

If we've learned nothing else these past couple years we've learned that what is real is what we/others think is real. So what do we want to think?

I gave a presentation on Tuesday and after finishing I thought I kind of blew it. All I could think about was the stuff I had forgotten to say and the way I had let the questions kind of drift off course. And, I talked too fast. Being polished and professional matters to me (blog readers might be left scratching their heads at this one, but it is very true). I thought it important (and still do) to present kind of "spacey" information with my feet firmly planted on solid Earth.

I have realized over the past couple days though that people connected with what I was saying in different ways and that things had gone much better than I thought they did. It was actually the times I went a little rogue - due to memory lapses and not a plan to "just wing it" - that people connected more with what I was saying. They have asked me back to teach a series (and to speak a little slower). I'll post links when I have them.

Here's the way this Yod could impact us through our Pisces house - if you know what house 14 degrees Pisces falls in your natal chart - use the house allocations with the info below for best accuracy, otherwise check Sun and Ascendant signs:

ARIES (Pisces 12th house) - Yod energies point to something behind the scenes or a "secret" desire/want. Confusion could result between you and another person if your/their glasses are too rose tinted. Adjustments will be required.

TAURUS (Pisces 11th house) - Yod energies point to your friends and groups including online groups. Confusion could be the result of a disconnect between your big ideas and what other people are hearing you say. Your information could have to be adjusted in some way to allow everyone to 'buy in'.

GEMINI (Pisces 10th house) - Yod energies point to you career, responsibility, father and authority - it will be easy to lose sight of what you are really trying to do now. Confusion could result if someone says something that gets your hopes up, but actual results will vary. Stay grounded. Know your dreams will get you where you need to be but things might not come exactly as planned. The key to success here is staying focused on what you really want and need from the situation. 

CANCER (Pisces 9th house) Yod energies point to travel, education, politics, publishing, media, weddings, legal issues or what is foreign. There are adjustments required with what you want to happen here or what you are trying to do. Be especially cautious in commerce where things could be inflated - keep an eye on your benjamins. Instead of plunging forward, take a deep breath and think about what your real goals are here and if what you are hearing really makes sense. 

LEO (Pisces 8th house) Yod energies point to other people's resources - partner's income, debts, loans, taxes - death, birth, sex, fertility. Confusion could result if you want all the cards on the table now, but someone else is still holding their cards close to the vest. Maybe they (or you) want to pour pink paint on a problem and pretend it doesn't exist. Instead of plunging forward now with a loud voice, really hear what the other person is saying to you (or not saying) or what the situation has opened up. What is your intuition telling you is really going on?

VIRGO (Pisces 7th house) Yod energies point to partners and equal relationships. Confusion could result if you are projecting what you want to see on someone else (rather than what they are really offering) or they could be doing the same with you. Trust your gut about what is not being said now. The real issue is probably the thing no one is talking about. A portal is open for unconditional acceptance/love/appreciation now between equal partners if you are BOTH willing to be honest about what you really need from each other and what you are willing/able to contribute.  

LIBRA (Pisces 6th house) Yod energies point to your day to day activities, work, health, co-workers, pets. Confusion could result if your big ideas are not totally workable on an everyday basis. This doesn't mean you toss your big, bodacious ideas out the window, just that you have to make some adjustments to make it all work - it will be the adjustments themselves that create the opportunity here. Time is your friend. Work the problem. Let the things you can't work fall into/or out of place.

SCORPIO (Pisces 5th house) Yod energies point to a creative or romantic opportunity or an opportunity involving children. Something good is budding here, but confusion could result from things looking better than they actually are. Be sure you are not just hearing what you want to hear. It will be hard to tell solid fact from fantasy now, so double check what you are being told. You will know instinctively if something doesn't feel right. Don't disregard the feeling. Trust your gut.

SAGITTARIUS (Pisces 4th house) Yod energies point to home, family, mother, security, home business and ancestry. Your expansive plans in these areas might require an adjustment due to some kind of energy drain which could manifest as both a physical thing within your structure - infestation, leaks, structural damage, necessary things breaking down or not working properly and issues within what your structure holds - family or security problems that you or someone else has not been wanting to deal with or issues that have been buried. This issue and what is really at the base of it - ancestral story, family problem, real structure not attended to - needs to be integrated somehow. Work the problem. Fix the leak. Trust your instincts.

CAPRICORN (Pisces 3rd house) Yod energies point to your communication house - issues could also involve transportation, siblings or your local neighborhood. You will need to balance the actual facts you are dealing with and your own big dreams for the future. Words matter now. Choose them carefully. Be honest.

AQUARIUS (Pisces 2nd house) Yod energies point to your money or your personal values. There is the opportunity now to increase your earnings or your self-esteem. Some adjustment will be necessary though. The opportunity could come through someone foreign or involve media, publishing, travel, higher education, weddings, politics or legal issues. Keep your feet on the ground though, every rainbow doesn't lead to a pot of gold.

PISCES (Pisces 1st house) Yod energies point to your own dreams. Everything I wrote above about the disconnect between what you are saying (or want to say) and what others are hearing applies to you. The results will depend on your ability to integrate intuition and logic now. At the end of the day, everything will not be able to be worked out - some things will just need to be allowed to move in the direction they want to go ... trust the flow. You're a Pisces and we are dealing with your ruling planet Neptune - you've got this thing.

xo all

Sun Opposite Pluto | outnumbered

outnumbered by dresew

We have the Sun (18 degrees Cancer) opposing Pluto (18 degrees Capricorn) today. This was exact last night.

This is ego vs power. Self destructive habits and self-sabotaging tendencies are activated. Egos get bruised. Physical things can break down.

It's a challenging aspect but can also offer us a burst of creative energy to accomplish what we need to do now.

To work this energy in a positive way we need to balance our creative energy (Sun) with collective resources (Pluto) - money, power, influence. Are we making enough money? Are we charging enough? Where is our power? Where is our influence? What are we really afraid of?

This can show us where/how we need more control in our own lives.

Today's opposition could mean an actual opposition to our plans. This could come in the form of other people's expectations of us or someone in power vetoing what we want to do.

The answers don't necessarily show up now, but the problems become more visible. Power games and power plays are likely. Deal with this stuff diplomatically. Channel that inner Libra.

Often (maybe always and certainly for stuff that shows up now with Pluto involved) the stuff out there is really the stuff in here needing to get out.

If we are viewing some person or situation as the BIG problem in our lives, like everything would be good if we got rid of them or that let's remember how this world actually works - this outer stuff is really disowned parts of ourselves. The outer stuff is always inner stuff. This stuff we don't want to look at within ourselves (like how we got ourselves into our current situation) is unconscious and perverts how we see each other and how we see what is really happening. And it doesn't mean the other person or situation is right/good/not a pain the ass just because we can see the ways we have helped create it.

But allowing ourselves to take responsibility in this way (not to beat ourselves up!) - even just a tiny little bit - allows us to know the fact of the situation which is that  

we have more control here than we think we do.

For now, though, we might have to sit a bit with the ways we don't .....

xo all

The Moon is in Aquarius this morning and trining (brakes off) Venus making this a good time for business because the public (Aquarius) will want (Venus) something. Good for harmony with women, too. By afternoon the same Aquarius Moon is opposing Mercury - so some potential for erratic communication or a public/group spat or challenging info. A good day to be out and about and sociable though.