Last Quarter Moon: Test of Allegiance

a question of loyalty

Last quarter Moon in Taurus: August 9, 2012

The Last Quarter Moon, the waning square between the Moon and the Sun, arrives tomorrow––although I can see her in the sky now, pale as a cloud against the blue.

This is the turning of the Moon into the dark. After the brilliance of the Full Moon in Aquarius, the intense energies of the Disseminating Moon and the festival of Lughnasadh, the energy shifts to something quieter. Not necessarily less intense, but more inwardly focused.

Which is funny, in a way, because Mercury is finally stationing direct, releasing us from the fiery self-scrutiny we've been held in these last weeks... or maybe not quite yet.

Let's see where we are.

At this Last Quarter, the Sun and Moon will square each other at 17 degrees of Taurus (Moon) and Leo (Sun). Fixed Earth, Fixed Fire––cue Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "I Won't Back Down"

Loyalty, fidelity, allegiance... these are virtues, right? These are good things, signs of strength. Aren't they?

In these times of political upheaval and polarization around hot-button issues, when does loyalty to the best in a nation, a party or a cause shade into jingoism, blind faith or fanaticism? The glib answer is, when we personally don't agree with the position being held, but the question is a real one.

At this Last Quarter, Mars and Saturn are conjunct in Libra, embodying the principle of right action. We want to act according to our best values, with integrity. We might also feel prepared to accept an external discipline that looks good, feels right.

Venus in Cancer is trining Neptune in Pisces, calling to deep emotions binding us to family, tribe, nation: My country right or wrong. Defend to the death.

Neptune and Venus together in Water can bring us into a felt connection with everything that is, transcending the boundaries that divide us––or trigger a need to belong to something larger than ourselves, and an accompanying need to pledge fealty to whatever that something is.

At this Last Quarter Moon, we're pushed (the square) to look at what we having pledged allegiance to. The Leo Sun likes to take a stand, passionately proclaiming beliefs to the world. The Taurus Moon hates to move; once committed, this Moon will stay the course.

But what if our old alliances no longer fit?

The Leo Sun is also the great heart, the courageous heart. This Sun wants to be aligned with the best and truest self, and has the strength to look unflinching at what is.

The Taurus Moon is ultimately loyal to truth, and wants a chance for truth and beauty to unfold into the world. The Taurus Moon will change when it becomes clear that change is needed.

We move toward the New Moon in Leo, the renewal of the heart. This Last Quarter Moon is a test, the moment we're asked––when we ask ourselves––what we truly believe in. As we move into the dark phase of the waning Moon, we'll perhaps cut away old allegiances. This can be done with honesty and integrity, but sometimes must be done. It begins with asking the question.
  

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.
    

Lughnasadh: Bring It On Home

checking the harvest

Lughnasadh (Lammas):
Traditional–August 1
Lunar–Full Moon in Aquarius, August 1-2
Solar–August 6

Lughnasadh is the festival of first fruits, when we see how good the harvest will be. It's a time of festivals that celebrate abundance, of games and races, of contracts and marriages, of music and dances.

We're in the season of Lughnasadh now, with the traditional August 1 date of Lughnsadh behind us, as well as the glorious Aquarian Full Moon of last night, and the astrological Lughnsadh a few days ahead, when the Sun reaches 15 degrees of Leo, the midpoint.

This year's Lughnasadh chart points to a time of abundant energy moving into manifest form. The energy jumps off the chart: The Sun at 15 Leo in close trine with an Aries Moon, and a wider trine to Uranus. Mercury, still retrograde in Leo, closely trines the North Node in Sagittarius. The Moon is waning now, just after Full––this is the time we receive, and see the fruits of our labors.

Jupiter at 11 Gemini and Ceres the Grain Mother at 16 Gemini, sextiling both the Sun and Moon and trining Mars at 19 Libra point to a superabundance of whatever we're harvesting. All that firepower is a tremendous resource that wants to go somewhere––the question is, where?

You know, the whole free will thing really messes up our ability to predict what people will do with the energy in their charts. We choose, every day, to flow with the energies around us or resist them, and likewise choose the means and the ends.

The energy in this chart is all about free will, desire, libido, the heart. It's about choice.

The Pluto–Uranus square is still there, pushing, prodding, poking, not letting us alone. Chiron is semisextile Uranus and sextile Pluto, reminding us that no choice is also a choice, and that hurting and healing are choices, too.

Choices are not necessarily easy. Crops have had a tough summer around the world, experiencing drought in some areas and drowning rains in others. For farmers, this time of first fruits will be challenging.

There are choices to be made.

Following on the illuminations of mind and heart offered by the Full Moon in Aquarius, the Lughnasadh sky shows us the sky's the limit. All bets are off, anything can happen, and we can participate.

These are the dog days of summer, the hottest, edgiest times. Leo Sun–Aries Moon with Uranus nearby could bring explosive anger. We could say, "Bring it, show me what you got." Explosions can really shift things around, but leave a lot of destruction behind. Cleaning up the mess takes way longer than pressing the button.

In ancient Egypt, the dog days were the days when the Dog Star, Sirius, rose with the Sun. This star added to the Sun's heat, raising temperatures, and also signaled the time of the annual Nile floods, which assured the ongoing abundance of croplands along the river.

And this is Lughnasadh, the time of harvest and celebration. This year, we celebrate choice. There are always options. Jupiter, Ceres, and Venus all in Gemini offer an abundance of perspectives, lenses, windows, portals, connections, and ideas.

You don't like what you have? Toss everything into the air, and instead of letting it crash to the ground, juggle. Try a bit of sleight of hand. Shift your perceptions just a little, and see a whole new world come into focus.

Feel the fire of life, know you have amazing amounts of energy at your fingertips, celebrate your choices.