Good Questions: Listening to the First Quarter Moon

deep listening

First Quarter Moon in Virgo
June 16, 2013 1:24 pm ED

Today's First Quarter square between the Sun and Moon brings BIG energy around communicating with precision, analysis, and possibly excruciating detail. The Moon and Jupiter are conjunct, so if you find yourself talking nonstop, take a deep breath and slow down.

If you find yourself listening to someone else talking nonstop, take a deep breath and tune in to what's being communicated on all levels.

Listening on all levels will be key in the next weeks. Today's Virgo Moon could go with some fairly detailed critiques of what's being said––but Virgo is also a grounded, compassionate healer, with the ability to tune in and really, really listen. So, lose the critical voice and go with deep listening.

Early this morning, Chiron the wounded healer stopped in his tracks and then turned backwards. This is a powerful moment for any planet, and brings focused attention to the idea that sometimes we get hurt. Then, we find that when something bumps up against that old hurt, it hurts again, worse. Ouch.

As we mature, gaining insight along the way, we can get some perspective and learn how to understand and integrate those hurt places. Since the broken places are where the light gets in, those same wounds become sources of healing for ourselves and, potentially, others.

In an intriguing synchronicity, the asteroid Lilith stopped less than half an hour before Chiron, and turned backward in a one-degree trine (easy flowing connection) with Chiron.

Chiron's in Pisces, Lilith is in Cancer. And here's Venus in Cancer just one degree away from Lilith. Mercury, who rules both Gemini (where the Sun and Jupiter are) and Virgo (where the Moon is), sits in Cancer just three degrees on the other side of Venus.

What's coming up includes deep emotions, female power in relationship, sexuality and power, delusions, illusions, Shadow, and how we talk about all that. Yep, the easy stuff (not).

This is the crossroads of what we think we think, what we think we're supposed to feel, and what we actually, really feel deep down. Today's energy could bring up how far apart those are in us, or in those around us.

Response choices includes everything from distraction, denial, dismissal, 'correcting' what is said, to taking that deep breath I mentioned and diving into something way more vulnerable and real. And this can happen with those close to us, or in our own internal dialogue.

We're heading into an intensely emotional and personal time, astrologically, as the Sun and Jupiter prepare to shift into Cancer. Our Cancerian sojourn will include a Mercury retrograde in this sign too, beginning right after the Full Moon. With Neptune and Saturn continuing to flow energy together in Pisces and Scorpio, there's a whole lotta Water goin' on.

At this First Quarter Moon, we're invited to step into this realm of deep feeling with our mind in an open, attentive state. There is much to learn here, much to be healed. There are gifts of depth, insight, creativity, spiritual connection, and relationship.

In the midst of ongoing transformation (ok, yes, also turmoil), stepping into the shadowy spaces of emotion is a good thing. When the mind is running the show, we miss a lot. We're more interested in what we have to say than in listening to what anyone else says. We can fail to ask the right questions.

Today's Moon asks, are we asking good questions, of ourselves, of our loved ones, of our world? And (this is the important part) do we listen to the answer with our hearts as well as our heads?