The Waxing Moon: Moving through Anger into Clarity

Crescent Moon over Glastonbury

Crescent Moon in Scorpio
September 9, 2013
12:44 am EDT / 5:44 am GMD

First Quarter Moon in Sagittarius
September 12, 2013
1:08 pm EDT / 6:08 pm GMD

Gibbous Moon in Aquarius
September 15, 2013 10:00 pm EDT
September 16, 2013 3:00 am GMD

Full Moon in Pisces
September 19, 2013
7:13 am EDT / 12:13 pm GMD

A glowing sliver of a Crescent Moon rose this evening over Glastonbury as the sun set through banks of deep indigo clouds, dusting the undersides with scarlet and rose. Yes, thanks, it was a lovely evening.

And also a reminder I'm late introducing the waxing Moon cycle. I've been away from strong enough wifi, having wonderful experiences, so I hope you'll excuse me.

At the Crescent Moon, we begin to see the first tendrils emerging from the seeds we planted at the New Moon. This particular Crescent may bring us insights into what's really going on with those seeds, or maybe, what we really meant when we set those intentions:

The Moon entered Scorpio this morning as she entered her Crescent phase, moving to conjunct Saturn. As I write this on Monday evening, September 9, she's already passed Saturn and is with the North Node. This brought our feelings in touch with what is hidden––which can be scary but is always meaningful.

If something came up for you today that you shied away from, didn't want to look at, just couldn't go there, that's OK. But consider taking another look; it could prove useful.

Venus is reaching the end of her home sign, Libra, now too and making ready her entrance into shadowy Scorpio. Our attention is turning to Shadow, to darkness, to things that go bump in the night. This is a good time to remember Leonard Cohen's lyric:

There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.

Part of the crack we're likely to see during this waxing cycle has to do with anger, and action, and how those two are linked, for good or ill.

Right now, Mars and Saturn are squaring each other, with Mars in passionate Leo and Saturn in Scorpio, for whom Mars is the ancient ruler. Where's the line between taking a stand for what's right and drawing a line in the sand? Hard to tell sometimes, isn't it?

Right now, Pluto is inconjunct Mars, an awkward angle that suggests precipitate action will not be the best choice. So, if someone or something is making you really, really angry, look beneath to see if you can understand the trigger instead of shooting something off––even if it's just your mouth.

The transformational healing energy we've been experiencing is still available, with Pluto and Chiron, the alchemist and the wounded healer, both important players in the patterns we see. Things can change if we pay attention.

Well, truthfully, things are going to change. We have a better chance of influencing those changes in a good way if we pay attention. Our choice.

The First Quarter Moon of September 12 is in Sagittarius, which usually means fellowship, optimism, and liberality. I hope we see some!

At that time, though, Venus will have entered shadowy Scorpio, Mars will be squaring the Nodes of the Moon, and Mercury will be shifting into position to activate the Pluto–Uranus square.

The Sagittarian Moon may help us keep hold of some lightheartedness as we continue to explore what triggers us, and look for ways to heal old anger patterns.

Please note, I am not saying we should never feel angry or that anger is bad––not at all. Anger is a wonderful emotion that tells us when a boundary has been crossed, very useful information. The problem is, we often leap to the conclusion that all the bad behavior is out there in those other people and our job is to set them straight, and reality is often more complicated. This cycle, we have a chance to see that.

The Gibbous Moon of September 15/ 16 continues the focus on when and how we take a stand. The Moon is in Aquarius, which is humanitarian and community-focused but can also be dogmatic.

The Moon squares the Nodes of the Moon, testing our commitment to walking our talk. Meanwhile, Mars is flowing energy with Uranus, in a trine that will make it very easy to suddenly feel we know exactly what needs to be done, right now, no holds barred.

Tricky territory we're in. Wasn't that last New Moon in Virgo all about details, and being careful and organized? Seems like things are going off the rails a bit.

Maybe.

And maybe the issues around anger, and taking stands, drawing lines, when to act, when to wait, who to blame and how to move beyond that––maybe all of those issues are the very things we need to understand and resolve so we can move ahead with whatever Virgoan project we set in motion.

The Full Moon to come will be in Pisces, the mystic, the visionary, and the foggy deceiver. So spending time these next few weeks getting clarity on things that push us out of our comfort zone could be exactly what we need.

The next weeks are likely to make us uncomfortable at times. This is a good thing. Work with it. Go deeper into it, not in a wallowing kind of way, but in a 'hmmm … what's going on with this?' kind of way. It will be worth it.