Waning Moon: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Disseminating Moon in Libra
March 1, 2013 5:37 am EST

Last Quarter Moon in Sagittarius
March 4, 2013 4:52 pm EST

As I write this on Wednesday evening, the Libra Moon is just reaching her opposition to Uranus in Aries and a trine with Jupiter in Gemini, and Mae West came to mind ... the balanced, charming, lovely Libra Moon sparking fire with let's-do-it Aries, egged on by expansive Jupiter:

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
––Mae West

And was that how this amazing Full Moon was in your life? Too much of a good thing?

The rising Moon that night was glorious here, then lost in a soft bank of white Neptunian cloud. I'm not sure I can even put into words all I experienced, or that I'd want to if I could.

Let's just say it's still unfolding.

Meanwhile, we're entering the waning phase of the cycle, releasing into the world whatever we learned, completed, shared, or just let go of. The Pisces revels continue throughout this time, and so will the sense of expanding––possibly overwhelming––dreams, visions, mystical experiences, confusion, creativity, unclear communications, deep healing, getting lost and then finding something unexpected.

The Disseminating Moon, which is the half-square between the Sun and Moon, arrives with the month of March. The Moon's in late Libra, the Sun still in mid Pisces.

With the Moon squaring Juno, goddess of equal partners, and the Sun squaring Vesta, goddess of home and hearth, watch for confusion at home––as well as healing opportunities there. Venus has just entered Pisces, joining the party, and so the spiritual as well as the addictive sides of relationships might be highlighted.

At the Last Quarter Moon, the Moon is in upbeat Sagittarius opposing Vesta, with each being squared by the Sun in Pisces. Usually, a Sagittarian Moon is ready to party, but the ongoing Mercury and Saturn retrogrades may impart a more somber, philosophical mood.

The Last Quarter brings a Sun–Saturn trine and a Sun-Pluto sextile, as well as a Chiron-Jupiter square. I expect we'll still be unpacking the Full Moon then, weaving bright dreams into new visions, trying to put pieces back together, or a bit of both.

These are odd days. Two packages were incorrectly delivered to my old address; one I've retrieved, the other seems lost in the ether. I've been doing some deep writing. This morning, I dreamt I was in a car wreck, in a little car crushed by a falling truck, and walked away uninjured.

Then I had a sort of dream vision of a book on a shelf, a slim, large format book in a shiny black dust jacket. Its title was The Inner Dreams of the Body, and I was the author. I'm working on my new website. What will come of these, I can't say. I'm developing my skills at surfing whatever comes up.

It's about keeping moving, not about perfection. After all, Jennifer Lawrence tripped on her way up to accept her Oscar, and she was still amazing. I didn't watch the whole extravaganza ... way too much glamor for me ... but noted that some awards were carried off by visionaries and dreamers.

The idea of "too much of a good thing" is seductive, just like Pisces. Today's Libra Moon is all about moderation, but philosophically, you know, "all things in moderation" is not a moderate statement. Coping with this much Pisces is rather like dancing, I think. The trick is to enjoy the movement, the grace, the excitement without becoming exhausted or overwhelmed. Listen to the music ...
    

Full Moon to Last Quarter: Crying for a Vision

crying for a dream

Full Moon in Leo,
January 26, 2013
Disseminating Moon in Virgo,
January 30, 2013
Last Quarter Moon in Scorpio
& Imbolc, February 3, 2013


The deep intensity of Saturday's Full Moon in Leo crystallized where we stand, each of us, in our ability to passionately and creatively express what's in our hearts.

Some of us realized we've found our place in the light, our way to shine in the world. Some of us discovered we've still got a way to go.

There were interesting synchronicities around energy, burnout, ignition and keys: Two friends traveling to the same workshop left their car lights on and needed jumps to get started again. My garage door opener stopped working, and I forgot my door key, initiating a convoluted late-night series of drives, messages, meetings, and follow-ups. In the end, my own opener started working again, all on its own.

So, what did you learn? Where are you shining brightly? Where are you overloading your circuits? Where do you need a jump or a new battery?

In this first part of the waning phase, we share. Sometimes that means getting clarity within; sometimes it calls for broadcasting; sometimes it's time for outside help.

My theme for this week is "crying for a vision," the Lakota phrase to describe a vision quest. Also translated as "crying for a dream," this is a sacred time when we ask for support to clarify goals, or give thanks for what we've received.

Let's look at the transitions happening now:

[A note about the charts ... since I'll be including more charts in each post, they'll appear smaller. Not everyone will want to see the charts, and you're welcome to pass them by. But if you want to see the patterns I'm describing, click on each chart to open a larger image in a separate window.]

The Sun remains in the middle of Aquarius, the sign of visions. The Moon moves from passionate Leo, through careful Virgo, harmonious Libra, and into shadowy Scorpio. Venus transitions from pragmatic Capricorn into visionary Aquarius. Mars shifts from Aquarius into Pisces. And, glory be! Jupiter is turning direct tomorrow after long months retrograde.

Jupiter is especially powerful as he stations, signalling a shift in energy from inward reflection to outward action. It's time to move from contemplation into consequences. What have we learned? How do we implement that?

Energy overall is shifting into the signs of dreams and visions: Aquarius and Pisces, which makes it important to say, dreams and visions are meant to be acted upon and acted out! Sometimes our modern culture sees dreams as insubstantial and unreal, and visions as pie-in-the-sky fantasies. Yet without a vision, our lives are formless and empty.

If the Full Moon illuminated a wonderful place for you, this waning cycle can be one of articulating your vision fully, getting really clear on what the next steps are, and preparing for them.

If the Full Moon showed you're still out in the dark, then this is a wonderful time to cry for a vision, to ask for guidance and dreams.

When we reach the Last Quarter Moon, we also reach Imbolc, one of the four great Fire festivals of the ancient Celtic world. This festival marks a hinge of the year: In the depths of winter, we feel the shift toward Spring.

The Celts divided the year into dark and light (think yin and yang). At Samhain (Halloween), we enter the dark half of the year––at Beltaine (Mayday) we enter the light half. With this year's Last Quarter Moon at Imbolc, we reach the middle of the dark half, and begin the turn toward the light.

There's still plenty of winter left, and yet we're feeling the first stirrings of new life. One translation of "imbolc" is "in the belly," a reference to the pregnant ewes soon to begin lambing.

Astrologically, Imbolc arrives when the Sun reaches the midpoint of Aquarius. This year, the Imbolc Sun is squaring the Nodes of the Moon as well at the Moon herself. The Nodes are the path we're meant to follow in this lifetime, and anything squaring the Nodes marks a missed step, something we've forgotten.

With the Aquarius Sun squaring the Nodes, we realize––it's the vision thing! Are we clear on where we're going? Can we see the future we desire and work for?

The Full Moon in Leo charged up our batteries and reconnected us with our passions. Now we share our vision with the world... or we cry for a new one, realizing how empty life is without a dream. We all have one, usually more than one––which vision is calling us now? Commit to that one.
    

Disseminating Moon: In Like a Lion!

Takarabune!

Disseminating Moon in Leo
January 1, 2013

Of course, I first typed "2012" in that header, then had to correct for the new year. Here we are, crossing yet another threshold, stepping through another portal, into what promises to be another amazing journey round the Sun.

Calendar time and astrological time don't always mesh gracefully. Yet on January 1, New Year's Day, we step into the Disseminating Moon––the waning phase after the Full Moon when we share out what we've learned, gained, and come to understand.

Since this is the calendar time of new beginnings, resolutions, and good wishes, it's intriguing that the lunar calendar invites us to put into practice all the things we've learned in this lunar cycle, and by extension, the past year.

The Moon's in passionate, creative, playful Leo, which is wonderful because Leo is feisty, fiery and warm, and we're in Capricorn time. The Sun is just slightly past conjunction with deep, deep Pluto, and Juno and Mercury are likewise in Capricorn. Saturn holds steady to his mutual-reception-sextile with Pluto, increasing the rock-hard, iron-fist qualities of cardinal Earth that Capricorn brings.

We're in deep winter here in southern Indiana, with more snow than Chicago or Boston, which, honestly, just isn't right. The weather's got me thinking about Capricorn, and the qualities that sign represents.

Saturn-ruled Capricorn is often described as the quintessential patriarch, the archetypal Father, authoritarian to the max. Capricorn can definitely wear that suit, and it fits well ... but as an Earth sign, Capricorn also carries feminine, or perhaps we might say, yin, energy.

In woman's garb, Capricorn is the Cailleach, the hag of winter who's bones are hard rock, and who can be pitiless in enforcing the laws of nature. This is the Baba Yaga, whose key question when we show up at her door is, "Are you here of your own free will?"

Which isn't a bad question for New Year's. Are we? Are we, wherever we are in our lives, there of our own free will? What does it mean to even ask that question?

The Moon in Leo knows––the Leo Moon, a square-and-a-half from the Cailleach, knows all about free will, and the absolute necessity of personal creative expression.

Within what is frozen, there is a burning ember waiting to ignite. Within the rock, there is gold. At this turning of the year, what commitments will we make to acknowledge the force of the Cailleach, while reaching with courage for the gold that is ours?

Luckily, help is available. Lots of help, always, actually, but I'm thinking of the Takarabune, the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan, whose night this is. Tonight and tomorrow, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, sleep with an image of the ship of these gods under your pillow, and your dreams may show you good fortune to come.

The Leo Moon is squaring the Moon's Nodes, which mark the pathway from the past into the future. A planet squaring the Nodes is said to be a missed step, something we haven't yet done, that may block us from moving forward.

At this Disseminating Moon in Leo, arriving on New Year's Day, we step forward boldly and reach for whatever good luck and good fortune are available to us, carrying these gifts into the coming year with a high heart.
    

Disseminating Moon: Gently

Peasant Woman Cooking by a Fire – Van Gogh

Disseminating Moon in Cancer
December 2, 2012

Today's Disseminating Moon rests in her home sign of Cancer, a wonderful day for hot chocolate, warm fires, good books, and hugs. That's my choice, anyway, because outside it's raw, chilly, grey and rainy––opposites that capture this Moon.

The waxing cycle we just completed (survived?), from the Scorpio New Moon to the Gemini Full Moon, both with eclipses, was something for the record books. Now we're past the Full, the dust is settling, and we're wondering what it was we were trying to do, just before it all got crazy.

At the Disseminating Moon, the Sun and Moon are sesquiquadrate, a square and a half, an edgy angle that has a bit of "WTF?" in it. Today's Disseminating Moon is gentler, with a quirky sense of humor: the Sun's in optimistic Sagittarius, leaving the high-energy trine with Uranus behind, and the Moon (as I mentioned) hiding in her Cancerian castle. They're not quite on the same wavelength, but can still talk.

The Moon today trines the North Node in Scorpio, who is conjunct Mercury in Scorpio, and sextiles the South Node––messages from the past, from home, from our inner knowing help inform our next steps on the life path. Or maybe we get some rest, if only for a day or so!

There's a new Grand Trine in Water today, anchored by that same Moon, including the North Node and Pallas Athena in dreamy Pisces. Again, we see messages that combine head and heart, the logical and the visionary, flowing into our next steps.

This idea of balancing head and heart comes up again, in a yod (finger of fate) which also includes the Moon and the South Node, pointing at Juno in Sagttarius. Yes, we're going forward, yes, we're excited about what's just over the horizon, and sure, we need advice from the past––our past, the deep past, the body. OK, we promise to listen this time.

There is some tension around getting things done vs. stopping to listen: As the Sun and Moon are sesquiquadrate, so Pluto and Mars in just-do-it Capricorn are sesquiquadrate the South Node. There are needs out there in the world that urgently call for action. What are we doing about it?

And yet it all comes back to that Moon in Cancer... sometimes we all need a little down time, a chance to take a breath, check our supplies, review the plan.

Today is that day.
    

Disseminating Moon: Life Lessons

Disseminating Moon in Gemini
November 2, 2012

The Disseminating Moon is the square-and-a-half that follows each Full Moon, asking us what we've learned. At this Disseminating Moon, in bright, connected Gemini, we're children sitting on the shore, trying to put the pieces together.

The Grand Water Trine is with us still, with Saturn in Scorpio tightly trine Ceres in Cancer, trined by Neptune and Chiron in Pisces.

The Moon is 8 degrees away from Ceres, and Uranus less than 2 degrees from squaring Ceres––the fierce mother archetype morphs suddenly into something much larger than we've ever seen.

The oceans command our attention today in direct, unavoidable ways. Weather patterns, storms, wind, rain, rising sea levels. Things that are huge. Things we cannot control. Events that change the world as we know it.

Once, years ago when my daughter was little, she and I were caught in a rip tide off the North Carolina coast. It was a sunny afternoon, we were in sight of the shore, many people were around, and help came. Still it was terrifying––knowing I was in a current stronger than me, and I needed help to free myself and protect my child. I had nightmares about it for years afterwards. I cannot imagine facing a storm of Sandy's magnitude.

So, at one level, this Disseminating Moon brings messages about the power of wind, water and tides, and about the limits of human intervention, and also about our capacity for survival, adaptation, courage, hope, and compassion.

As I write this Thursday morning, 2 million people are still without power on the East Coast, over 100 people have died in the Caribbean and across Eastern North America, and more are missing. Many pieces have yet to be put together, to understand the total impact of this storm, and where we go from here.

Those of us not living in Sandy's path send prayers, good wishes, and support, as we think those "what if" thoughts ... because an event of this power brings up issues for everyone.

This Full Moon in Taurus brought us face to face with the gifts of Earth and also her limits, with the power of emotion and intuition, and also its shadows. Like the goddess Ceres, who we know better as Demeter, the Earth goes so far and no farther.

And yet, the Earth is neither vengeful nor angry. We take our place in the great pattern of life, our actions create changes we cannot see, and other things happen––because of what we did, perhaps, but the equation is not a simple one. We live within complex, interwoven systems in which decisions made by others somehow lead to where we stand among tangled strands we try to unwind.

Mary Oliver's poem Shadows closes with these words:

... Whatever
power of the earth rampages, we turn to it
dazed but anonymous eyes; whatever
the name of the catastrophe, it is never
the opposite of love.

And so we pick up the pieces, weave new patterns, and get on with things. We help those who have suffered loss. We honor those whose courage saved lives and homes. We breathe. We understand that love is something we can bring to the pattern, something that changes things, something of great power. 
     

rainbow over NYC after Sandy

Disseminating Moon: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Autumn twilight

Disseminating Moon in Taurus
October 4, 2012

Today's Disseminating Moon arrives in the midst of change––planets changing signs, turning retrograde, realigning.

After the intense Aries Full Moon, we're adjusting, finding new places in a shifted world.

Venus entered Virgo earlier this week and Jupiter turns retrograde today, events that might not seem related but both indicate energy turning inward, slowing down, becoming more finely tuned.

Jupiter is in the sign of Gemini, and both Virgo and Gemini are ruled by Mercury, so we might find  thought and communication shifting gears this week from full-on, full-tilt high energy to something more careful, analytical and measured.

The Taurus Moon is slow and steady too, which allowed me to enjoy a wonderful massage yesterday and a slow restful day––and wait until this morning to write my blog entry!

The Disseminating Moon is a time of sharing, sending things out into the world, and looking around to see what's different. If this Full Moon felt explosive,with unexpected illuminations, the Disseminating Moon might feel like the movie scene after the cataclysm when everyone cautiously peeks out to see what's left and where it landed.

Venus in Virgo wants to check in and make sure everyone's OK, handing out supplies and sandwiches. Jupiter in Gemini wants to connect, and as he turns retrograde, some of that connecting is thoughtful and inward. What just happened––to me?

Meanwhile, Mercury and Saturn are poised to move into deeply introspective Scorpio. Tomorrow (Friday) they join each other, shift into Scorpio, and trine Neptune in Pisces, offering powerful energies for self exploration, dreams, visions, divination and magic.

When Saturn and Neptune flow energy together, our dreams become reality, and when cosmic Pisces and deep Scorpio are involved, powerful connections are made. With Mercury there too, magic words and thoughts emerge––a time to focus on our biggest visions and be careful what we wish for!

Mercury's trip through Scorpio lasts until October 29, although he'll dip back in during his early-November retrograde. Saturn, though, will remain in Scorpio for the next two and a half years, bringing a longer-term focus to matters of transformation, power, sexuality, death and rebirth and the deep psyche. Saturn pushes us to look at structure, karma and responsibility, so prepare for intensity.

Those of us with natal Saturn in Scorpio will experience a Saturn return during this time––more introspection and focus. 

We're moving into the Scorpio time of year, Autumn in the Northern hemisphere. Surrounded by signs of waning, of loss, of harvest, we naturally attune to similar patterns within. This week cues us in, drawing our attention to the natural cycles of life and death, and inviting us to welcome each turn of the wheel.

Jupiter remains retrograde in Gemini through the end of January 2013. This is Jupiter the philosopher, considering whether the systems of thought, the idea collected together, the ways of communicating we've developed for ourselves are still working.

Do we, at this point in our lives, have a consistent, workable approach to life? What might be missing? What needs rethinking? What needs to be revisited? This will be an excellent Fall and Winter for diving back into important books, exploring the roots of our personal philosophies, and having deep conversations.

If this sounds heavy, it is... no way to avoid it, really, with Saturn moving into Scorpio and jovial Jupiter looking within. Accept the invitation to think deeply, and enjoy a slower pace. The rewards can last a lifetime.
   

Disseminating Moon: Emerging Flame

lighting a new fire

Disseminating Moon in Aries: September 4, 2012

The Blue Moon in Pisces was intense, mystical, and for some, life changing. The sense of cosmic connection, of things sensed dimly through veils or in dreams, still lingers.

At this Disseminating Moon (the square-and-a-half that follows the Full Moon), the wheel turns. After the dissolving-into-all of Pisces, we experience the bright, sharp emergence of the new.

The Moon shifted into Aries, and it was like the first deep breath after being underwater; rebirth. The Moon reached conjunction with Uranus, and something unexpected came into focus. Now we reach the Disseminating Moon and we see more clearly what the Full Moon brought.

Can we take the revelations of the Full Moon into the world? This is the question we're asked.

At this Disseminating Moon, the Moon opposes Saturn in Libra as Venus in Cancer squares them both. The Moon is ready to begin something new, Saturn supports while urging caution, and Venus wants to know that emotional needs are being recognized and met.

Around the wheel, the many planets at 6, 7 and 8 degrees form an intricate pattern that includes action, intensity, transformation, healing, and attention to detail. With Pluto, Uranus, Chiron, Mars and Mercury involved, the questions of what to think, and what to do, in the face of great change, are put before us.

This Moon is eager to act, facing the future without fear, curious about what is to come. This spark lives somewhere in each of us, to be cradled gently until the tinder catches and the new flame is strong.

With this Moon, we can relight hearth fires that have gone out, bringing new light, new warmth, and new life to what has been cold.
    

Disseminating Moon: Creative Fire

Fire in Water

Disseminating Moon in Pisces: August 5, 2012

Sunday, August 5, the Disseminating Moon arrives, the square-and-a-half between Sun and Moon inviting us to share our Full Moon illuminations with the world. And what intriguing patterns this Moon offers!

Just as she leaves spiritual, creative, connected Pisces, the Moon finds her sesquiquadrate with the Leo Sun. At that moment, the Moon makes an out-of-sign Grand Trine with Mercury and the North Node in early Leo and Sagittarius––Fire and Water.

These two elements, Fire and Water, are classically incompatible, but )as I've written before), there's an ancient connection known between the two––the intense and inspired creativity of Fire-in-Water.

This is an intense time, as Mercury slows to station direct, as we are in the midst of celebrating the abundance that is the Lughnasadh harvest, and the beautiful fullness of the Moon rides the night sky.

We're being shown that the fiery passions erupting around us, signified in sky patterns filled with Leo and Aries feeding each other, have tremendous potential for creative action.

It's not all about explosions and arguments. We can instead reach deep within ourselves, into the depths of spirit realms, into spaces we may not be sure how to find or even if they exist, for the spark that ignites us.

It's eerie and scary to reach into the depths to find fire. It's a quest not everyone chooses. For those who do, the boon is a level of poetic inspiration we never dreamt of.

Along with the Grand Trine, this Disseminating Moon chart includes three quintiles, unusual aspects of creative inspiration that reach from Sun to Saturn, Sun to North Node, and Ceres to the Moon. The door is open. It's time to step outside our comfort zone.

We each know what draws us on, even as it frightens us. We know where our creative edge is, where the risky part begins. This Moon invites us to step over and see what happens.
    

Disseminating Moon: In the Whirlwind

seeds to the wind

Disseminating Moon in Pisces: July 7, 2012

The Full Moon has passed and the world is changed. It'll be a while before all the changes shake out and we settle into what they are, but something seismic shifted.

This was the Capricorn Full Moon, ruled by Saturn, Lord  of Matter, and we heard that the god particle (originally meant to be the goddam particle), the boson that brings matter to our universe has been found.

This might not seem relevant to daily life, especially in a summer bringing intense heat, drought, and fires to some, and torrential rain and floods to others. Yet working to understand the fabric of the universe leads us toward understanding life, and our lives. This was illuminated at the Full Moon.

Now the Moon is waning, bits of her full roundness disappearing as she shares herself with the world. What reached fruition at the Full Moon is now disseminated, like a ripe seedhead scattering its fruits to the wind.

At this Disseminating Moon, the Moon is at 0 Pisces, conjunct Neptune and Chiron, and sesquiquadrate (a square and a half) the Sun in the middle of Cancer. Sun and Moon in difficult aspect in Water, with Neptune the illusionist (or visionary) and Chiron the wounded (or healer) right there.

Looking at the challenges cropping up in our personal lives, as well as in the world around us, it would be easy to collapse into feelings of fear, anger, stress and being overwhelmed.

There's plenty of overwhelm around. The Disseminating Moon chart includes two complex T-squares, two Fingers of the World patterns, and two Yods––the skies echoing the feeling that things are coming to a point, cannot continue as they are, and something, somewhere will tip us into something else entirely.

We're surrounded also by energies supporting, urging––ok, sometimes it feels like forcing––our transformation. All of the powerful outer planets are included in the T-squares and Pluto is at the apex of one Yod. There's a cosmic dance happening, and we've got our ticket.

The real question is, can we keep up? Is the pace more than we can stand, the needs greater than we can bear?

In answering those questions, it's worth noting that the "answer" to the Yod pointed at Pluto is the Sun in Cancer, who sits beneath that triangle––the Sun at home, nurturing, feeding, supporting, and maintaining vital traditions. One of the Finger of the World patterns points at the Cancer Sun too, emphasizing that Cancerian homeplace.

It's worth noting that the other Yod points at Mercury in Leo, inviting us to speak from the heart, to explore and share our passions in creative and playful ways. The other Finger of the World points at Saturn, the manifester, ready to work hard to make things happen.

The answers to our challenges are not out of this world. They are within each of us, when we act in alignment with what is best in us, and when we respond to what is best in others and in the world.

Yes, change is here, and change is needed. If the seeds we disseminate are the best we can offer, the growth that comes will answer the needs.
    

Disseminating Moon: Who Will Listen?

good listeners wanted!

Disseminating Moon in Aquarius: June 7, 2012

The Full Moon has passed and the Moon now wanes. At this time, we wants to share with the world, recount our experiences, tell our stories. At the Disseminating Moon, the Moon and Sun challenge each other in a sesquiquadrate, a square and a half, and we wonder if anyone's paying any attention at all.

The Sun is still in talkative Gemini, and the Moon has just moved into community-oriented Aquarius. Venus remains in Gemini, and Mercury has just slipped into visionary Pisces: With this particular Disseminating Moon, the urge to share, show and tell might be especially strong. "Listen," we say, a little louder than we intended, "I've got something to tell you about."

The Full Moon Eclipse, Neptune stationing, and the Venus transit combine to bring forth some fascinating images and experiences. Strong dreams, intuitive 'aha' moments, psychic connections––a leap forward in some way. Now we want to get the word out.

And yet, in the swirl of images and messages, which are true? Which are real? Among the voices interpreting these tumultuous times, to whom do we listen? Is this apocalypse or the edge of paradise? Who's right?

Is Queen Elizabeth II a vision of Venus triumphant, or symbol of traditional authority? In this time of Neptunian-influenced communication, I was more entranced by the students of the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir who, thoroughly drenched in a cold rain, kept singing right to the end.

Disseminating Moon

The Aquarius Moon challenges us to clarify our vision and commit to core values––our own, not anyone else's.

The Moon is at the apex of a Finger of the World as she makes a sesquiquadrate to Mars as well as the Sun, and the Sun and Mars square off. At this time, what we think and say (Sun in Gemini) and how we act (Mars in Virgo) resolve differences by sorting out what we truly believe (Moon in Aquarius).

The Moon is trining the South Node and sextiling the North, flowing energy into forward motion on our life path, which is good, as confusing, nebulous Neptune and revolutionary Uranus both aspect the Nodes. Clear thinking does help.

Venus has completed her transit across the face of the Sun, and remains hidden until June 13, when she is reborn as the Morning Star. As the Moon is New when conjunct the Sun, this is a kind of "New Venus" when we look within.

With Venus in Gemini, we rethink our relationships, creative connections, and values––all the relational areas that Venus rules. What, where, and with whom are our core connections? What gives meaning, color, and joy to our lives? During this time of Venusian darkness, we're invited to muse on these issues.

Gemini is sometimes known for speaking first, thinking afterwards. Something interesting can happen when we talk, though––sometimes as we hear what we say, we realize what we really think and feel. Sometimes, in the act of telling the story, the meaning of the story (or dream, or intuitive experience) suddenly shines through.

If we're telling the same old story, in the same old way, this generally doesn't happen. But when we tell a new story, about something that just happened and still has us in its grip, the telling becomes an event with its own power.

So maybe what's important at this Disseminating Moon is that we tell our newest, craziest stories whether anyone listens or not. And maybe that's because our most important listener is ourselves.
   

Disseminating Moon in Capricorn: Bringing It Home

Disseminating Moon: May 9 through May 12

The Moon moved in sturdy, pragmatic Capricorn overnight. With the Sun remaining in Taurus, and Mercury newly arrived in Taurus as well, Earth energy is strong. After the heady magic of the luminous Full Moon, we might feel a bit of a bump as we land on the ground again––or the sense of solid rock underfoot could be very welcome.

What did you see, learn, uncover at the Full Scorpio Moon? What secrets came to light? What mad journeys through mysterious realms did you take? We're entering the Disseminating Moon phase, and it's time to sort things out.

Sometimes, in this phase, we meet resistance to the Full Moon's enlightenment. The resistance could come from outside, or within, as we adapt and integrate.

Since the Full Moon was filled with magic and mystery, and this Disseminating Moon is nothing if not practical, the first resistance could arrive as the question "Was it real?" When we enter into mystery, or come face to face with Shadow, or a combination of both, there's a temptation in the full light of day to shake it off and get on with things. It's a tricky balance to find, with becoming ungrounded and unstable on one side, and denying the presence of magic altogether.

These days of the Disseminating Moon would be good ones for asking "what if?" What would it mean in my life, if the revelations of the Full Moon were fully real and true? How would I live differently? How would I feel, think and act?

Tomorrow (May 10) the Sun and Moon reach their harmonious trine in Earth, Capricorn and Taurus. Then perhaps we can feel our way into a new sense of balance, acknowledging the gifts of the Full Moon while keeping our feet firmly on the ground.

Meanwhile, today, we can experiment, trying things this way and that, looking for a new way to be in the world.