Balsamic Moon: Luere Means "to Wash"

doing the washing

Balsamic Moon
March 8, 2013
2:57 am EST

The Balsamic Moon, the final half-square between the Sun and Moon before they meet, ushers in the last, focused time for releasing what we're done with. If we're not quite done, but know we should be, it's time to let go anyway.

The Latin word luere, meaning to wash, connects us to where we are: dissolve, ablution, dilute, alluvium, deluge ... all these Neptunian words tell us it's time for a change.

The goal is to clear the foundations for a new, strong, creative, valued structure to rise up. At this Moon, we see Saturn in Scorpio (deep structure, facing the Shadow) flowing energy in trine with Mercury (thought, communication, reflection) and Venus (creativity, values, relationships) in Pisces, the universal solvent.

At the same time, Jupiter squares Chiron––whatever the issue is, we can't miss it, and the support for healing is right there. Vesta, goddess of home and hearth, squares the Sun and Venus, so perhaps issues of home and family are at stake. Alongside Vesta is Lilith, also square the Sun, bringing the voice of the fierce feminine.

Letting go of stuff is hard. We don't like it. With all the Pisces energy around and Mercury retrograde, it's a bit tricky to know exactly what we need to let go of, and why.

This Balsamic Moon is in Aquarius, which offers a cool head, perspective, and an extra dose of intuitive power.

Oracles are very powerful now, all kinds of oracles. Here's a Tarot spread my friend Arwen created that suits this Balsamic Moon time perfectly. Finding this excellent quote:

When the wind of change is blowing, some people build walls, the others windmills. 
~Chinese Proverb

She designed a three-card spread in which the middle card is the Wind of Change coming into our lives, the card to the left is the Wall and the card to the right is the Windmill.

In other words, what needs to change? How are we holding ourselves back? And where is the opportunity to move?

So of course I tried it, using Joanna Powell Colbert's beautiful Gaian Tarot.

Well ... the Winds of Change card was ... The Tree, Joanna's version of the Hanged Man. Could there be a more perfect evocation of this Piscean ocean energy we're in? I swear, this is the card that came, I did not stack the deck!

The Wall in my readings was, interestingly, Justice. Of course Justice is a good thing, and a very positive card in many spreads and locations, but it wasn't difficult for me to see that holding on to a need for things to be fair can be a problem. Some issues for the past can never be resolved (another luere word). Sometimes we––ok, I––need to let go of that burning desire for justice.

The opportunity card? It was the Wheel, the card that says, what goes around, comes around ... the card of change with a capital "C" except it's not change we're in control of, it's change we accept and ride with.

This reading had personal meaning for me, and also felt like something many could relate to: We're in a time of flux and might feel stuck, or at least not fully in control of what's happening. We want things to be fair! We want justice to be done and will hold our position forever until that happens! Except of course that leaves us stuck in the past ... so, it's time to let go, let the wheel of time roll on, and see what comes in the next turning.

I'm getting out the wash basin and my sweetest smelling soap––maybe that will make all this dissolving just a bit easier.