Rising Moon Astrology has moved!

Please find me at RisingMoonAstrology.com for posts detailing each New and Full Moon, and information about chart readings. Thank you for all your support over the years! I look forward to seeing you at the new blog.

Mary Pat Lynch
Rising Moon Astrology

New Moon in Taurus: Good Stewardship

In the Garden by Childe Hassam

New Moon in Taurus
Annular Solar Eclipse
April 29, 2014
2:14 am EDT / 7:14 am BST

In the midst of our cosmic transformational program, we're about to experience a New Moon in Taurus with a solar eclipse––which means this is an especially strong New Moon, really powerful in the energy it carries, and with longer echoes forward than usual.

This is a good thing, because we've all been in this process long enough to have some clue (an inkling, at least) of what's emerging for us and what we may want to do about it. At this Taurus New Moon, we'll plant seeds for those new directions, and they'll have extra-potent eclipse fertilizer.

Now, it's true, Taurus can be a bit stodgy, loving the familiar and the comfortable, and letting anything upsetting just go right on by. But THIS Taurus New Moon won't be doing that. No, THIS Taurus New Moon breaks through to everything that is deep in us, what is truly fundamental, where our roots truly are.

This Taurus New Moon includes the utterly alchemical Cardinal Grand Cross of Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer and Mars in Libra AND Pluto is sending energy via a trine to the New Moon itself with an especially strong link to Mercury. This is not couch-potato Taurus, this is get-out-there-and-till-that-ground-deep Taurus.

It's the Taurus that underlies Reject and Protect (are those Taurus words, or what?), an alliance of (yes!) cowboys and Indians to stop the Keystone Pipeline. This grassroots group of ranchers and native communities has been in Washington, D.C. this week, and they chose a Taurean style of action: riding in on horseback and setting up camp. This is stewardship of the land, of culture, and of the future.

This is a powerful time we're in, between the Full Moon and New Moon eclipses. Even if you don't usually check your birth chart, this time you really want to. Where does this New Moon eclipse fall for you? Which of your planets are involved?

One of the great posts I found this week is Molly Hall's discussion of how eclipse aspects to our natal planets can affect us. These two eclipses, lunar and solar, Full and New Moons, touch my birth chart in significant ways. My experience of these transformational times has led to a decision I'll share here, and then talk a bit about the astrology of this for me:

This is the last post I'll write for my blog Rising Moon Astrology. This decision became very clear for me yesterday, during the Balsamic Moon. And while I'm feeling sad and nostalgic in a balsmic-y way about it, I know it's the next step for me.

First, a look at how these eclipses have touched my birth chart. The Full Moon eclipse happened right on top of my Mercury–Neptune conjunction, trined my Pluto–Ascendant conjunction, and squared my Uranus–Neptune conjunction as well as my Chiron (who opposes Uranus–Jupiter while all square Mercury–Neptune).

Yes, it's true, that Full Moon eclipse was on one of the key aspect patterns in my chart that has to do with things like my creative work, my writing, how I think and communicate generally, what my core wound looks like (ouch), what my mission is in the world.

The New Moon eclipse is in my Ninth House of journeys (all kinds) and trines my Moon, is inconjunct my Sun, and trines my North Node–Mars conjunction. That same North Node–Mars conjunction is right under Pluto at the moment, and therefore part of the Grand Cardinal Cross.

Have things been shifting for me? You bet! Does that mean I know exactly what I'm doing now? Heck no! But I do have a wee bit of clarity on what needs to happen next, and that includes not writing the blog for now.

What do I know? ... For those of you interested in working with me, I will still offer readings. I am aware that stopping the blog will probably limit my ability to reach new clients and yet, this is the right thing for me now. I think I will be doing more writing, traveling, and shamanic exploration. I'll be interested to see what emerges ...

I began my journey with astrology back in 2004 when I was invited (told) in a shamanic journey to get to know Mercurius better. Turns out Mercury is absolutely central to my chart, and (as I said) strongly affected by these eclipses. Now it seems I'll be invited into new ways of learning about Mercurius.

A Fond Farewell

This is the 636rd post in this blog, the first of which was a Capricorn Moon on May 4, 2010. I began sharing New Moon updates earlier, in a virtual world, sometime in 2008––the oldest note I have there is for October, 2008. I have learned a tremendous amount from the writing, and even more from every chart I've explored.

There's one more echo here I want to mention. Eclipses come in loooong cycles, nineteen year cycles. I hadn't looked at the eclipse linked to this New Moon eclipse until this morning, and it turns out to be very significant for me.

The last eclipse that occurred close to the Taurus degree of this one happened on April 29, 1995, nineteen years ago.

Which for me is the time when I suddenly developed symptoms that completely changed my life. In a few weeks, that Spring, I went from completely healthy (if overly stressed) to flat on my back in bed, where I stayed for several months.

If you've met me, you know I am much healthier now, yet rheumatoid arthritis continues to be a struggle and a limiter. So now I'm wondering what this new horizon holds for me, and planting seeds for good stewardship of my own self, the life I have yet to live, and the planet I live it on.

So, more personal info than I usually share but then, these aren't usual times we live in, and this isn't my usual post. Thank you to all my readers, to everyone who's sent messages of support and hugs and thanks. I hope what I've shared has been interesting, and maybe helpful, as we all try to be the best caretakers of this one precious life.
    

Waning Moon: What Did You Just Say??

Think before you speak!

Disseminating Moon in Sagittarius
April 18, 2104
5:38 pm EDT / 10:38 pm BST

Exact Pluto–Uranus Square
April 21, 2104
3:21 pm EDT / 8:21 pm BST

Last Quarter Moon in Aquarius
April 22, 2104
3:52 am EDT / 8:52 am BST

Balsamic Moon in Pisces
April 25, 2104
1:37 pm EDT / 6:37 pm BST

New Moon in Taurus
April 29, 2104
2:14 am EDT / 7:14 am BST

Looking at the charts for this waning Moon time, I had to laugh ... I mean, we might as well, right?

The Full Moon eclipse illuminated some important things for us about how we relate to pretty much everything, and now the waning Moon charts offer a series of cautions about what we say (and do) about that.

Remember, we're in the maximum impact period for the Cardinal Grand Cross, with the exact Pluto–Uranus square landing on April 21, so this isn't just about personal communication. We're likely to see some startling examples of public, political and corporate speech too.

Tomorrow's Disseminating Moon kicks things off with the Sagittarius Moon in a powerful trine to Uranus, and the Sun at the possibly explosive end of Aries. With Mercury, Eris, Juno and the South Node also in Aries, there's a whole lotta Fire goin' on.

A Sagittarius Moon is usually upbeat, optimistic, happy-go-lucky, which is nice for a Friday––but a Sag Moon is also often convinced she has THE ANSWER and catching lots of energy from Uranus could make it all too easy to make pronouncements, lay down the law, or have something suddenly pop out of our mouths that might be true but also highly unfortunate.

Venus continues to hang out with Chiron, not too far from Neptune, in Pisces, so holding on to our highest goals and compassionate souls would be an excellent and supported practice.

When the exact Pluto–Uranus square arrives on April 21, the Moon is in Capricorn along with Pluto while the Sun has just entered Taurus. Having the two luminaries (Sun and Moon) in Earth signs could help stabilize things and keep us grounded.

On the other hand, Taurus is notoriously stubborn and Capricorn can be heartlessly pragmatic, so if we've crossed a line in communicating already, it could be hard to step back. Flow with the transformational energies of the Grand Cross if you need to, no matter how hard it is. Remember, with Pluto involved, resistance is futile anyway ...

The Last Quarter Moon arrives April 22, with the Moon now in Aquarius. Squaring a Taurus Sun, we could again find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. We're absolutely sure we're right (Aquarius Moon) so we won't budge (Taurus Sun). With Mercury in Aries, we could find ourselves doing more talking than we should.

At the Balsamic Moon of April 25, the mood shifts. The Pisces Moon joins Venus and Chiron, while Mercury has shifted into calm and quiet Taurus, sitting with the Sun. If we've gone too far, we may now be able to let go of our "rightness," shift back into compassion, and reconnect with a bigger vision.

If we've been on the receiving end of someone else's fiery communication, the Balsamic Moon might allow us to find inner peace and outer harmony. As always, the Balsamic Moon is about releasing the old to prepare for the new. This month, the letting go can reach far and deep as we seek creativity, connection and healing.

The New Moon in Taurus will invite us to slow way down. With a trine from Pluto and a sextile from Jupiter, we'll be planting seeds to nurture our newly transformed and transforming self. There will be more on the New Moon later, but keep in mind our time of change continues.

For the next few weeks––and especially for the next few days––pay attention to thoughts, words and actions. Yes, sometimes hard truths need to be said directly and clearly. If that's coming up in your life, the energies in the sky support you!

At the same time, we all need to take extra care that we're saying what needs to be said for the greater good, not just because we're irritated. Whatever is communicated now will have extra power, and we don't want to spend weeks putting out a fire we never meant to start.

Think first!