Waning Moon in Cancer: Comfort and Contempt

The Old Rectory, Westport, Ireland

Yesterday's Last Quarter Moon rode high in sunny skies all day for me, as I explored Achill Island in County Mayo. I couldn't help be aware of the turning corner, as we move closer to the New Moon in Libra.

Plenty of intense transits in the sky these days, and lots going on. Friends are reporting challenges, dark nights, fog and mist. Meanwhile, I am held in a halycon time of extra warmth, an unusual weather pattern for Ireland, days of sun, warm breezes, and white clouds, even as the bracken turns to cinnamon.

So I've been thinking about this idea that challenging transits come along to shake things up and force us out of our comfort zone. The Moon in Cancer, where she is today and was for yesterday's Last Quarter, loves her comforts and detests change. East or west, home's best, for her.

And that word "comfort" means strength, solace. Why on earth would we deliberately court weakness? Why upset ourselves?

Why, indeed?

I think it has to do with the old adage, familiarity breeds contempt. Now, that's not always true. Yet we do tend to take things for granted when they are familiar, comfortable.

If I have never before driven a car on the left side of the road, a car with the steering wheel and controls on the right, never used a GPS, never driven on narrow roads bordered by stone walls and 12-foot hedges––well, I can't just drive on autopilot to get from point A to point B, can I?

I guarantee, I cannot. I must, must pay attention to what's going on around me. At first, that attention is shot through with intense anxiety. Eventually, I find I can do it––and yet the sense of the new and unusual is still there. The world doesn't look the same. My relationship to it changes.

The word "shake" comes from the Old English, and meant then what it means now: rapid movement, agitation. But it also has roots in another word that means flight, flee, and depart. When we depart from familiar routines, our perceptions are shaken up. We see things differently.

I still think there's something wrong with the idea of getting 'outside our comfort zone' (and the Cancerian Moon would agree). The current fascination with adrenaline, for example: Danger as enlightenment ... a snare and a delusion, in my view. Just another way the sellers of "high" keep us hooked to consumption.

Instead, I'd like to advocate for a broadening of attention, a way to widening our field of vision and softening our gaze. "Attend" harks back, ultimately, to the word tendere, which means stretch ... to pay attention is to stretch toward something, to lean into it.

Yes, we're in a crucible of transformation. Yes, it is sometimes exquistely uncomfortable, even painful. Yes, the only way out is through.

And, and ...

farmhouse door, Co Mayo, Ireland

The world is filled with beauty and tenderness. Ordinary things––birds in a hedge, hot tea in a mug, turning a key in a lock––can open us to deep perceptions as surely as bungee jumping.

We're in the last quarter of the lunar cycle, when we choose what to let go of, and how to let it go. When we become acutely aware,  on this day when the Cancerian Moon conjunct Jupiter and trines Venus in Scorpio, of how much we love our familiar lives and how that's exactly the point.

So, plan for the extraordinary and do it ... take the trip you dreamed of, write the book, have the conversation ... and also know that if your life right now has no openings for anything other than the usual and familiar, you have everything you need to transform into the most beautiful phoenix anyway.

Love the familiar, look at it from a different angle, and all we need is there.
    

Exploring Venus: From the Full Moon to the New

The Birth of Venus - Odilon Redon

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

Disseminating Moon in Taurus
September 22, 2013 11:08 pm EDT
September 23, 2013 4:08 am GMD

Last Quarter Moon in Cancer
September 26, 2013 11:55 pm EDT
September 27, 2013 4:55 am GMD

Balsamic Moon in Leo
October 1, 2013
1:46 am EDT / 6:46 am GMD

New Moon in Libra
September 30, 2013 8:34 pm EDT
October 1, 2013 1:34 am GMT

We're in the waning half of the Moon's cycle––appropriate, since we've also turned the corner into Autumn. The Fall Equinox has arrived, the waning part of the year.

We've moving toward the New Moon in Libra, one of the two signs ruled by Venus, who is sending us signals all during these next weeks that this is her time. Between now and the New Moon, we'll be drawn again and again into Venusian territory, invited to explore what Venus means to us.

So, what does Venus mean?

She is far, far more than the sex-obsessed aphrodite-ish figure modern media offers. Venus rules relating. Her arena includes all of our one-on-one relationships: family, friends, and business associates as well as romantic and intimate ones. Even enemies are included, as long as the relationship is one-on-one.

Venus rules how we relate to color, form, texture, sound ... our esthetic sense, what we find pleasing and beautiful.

She rules how we relate to the world at large, in terms of our values ... what we feel is fair, just and balanced.

Venus is also one of the "good luck" planets and so, related to our finances, our prosperity.

Any or all of these areas of life could be up for review now, with "up for review" including possibilities like deep realizations, healing of old unworkable patterns, and up-ending what's currently happening to facilitate realizations and healing.

At the Full Moon, Venus had recently moved into deep, intense, Shadow-y Scorpio. She was conjunct Saturn and the North Node, a trio that asked pointed questions like: Are my current relationships serving my life path? Have I been walking my talk? Am I doing what I came here to do, what I am meant to do?

Chiron flowed energy with these three at the Full Moon, offering healing energy and possibly bringing old wounds to the surface as part of the review process.

Just before dawn today, the Disseminating Moon arrived. That Taurus Moon opposed Venus, bringing up emotional issues, and pushing us to consider the surface of things and what is below the surface.

Do not discount the surface ... Venus rules Taurus, and holds the manifest world––what we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch––in great esteem. We need both inner and outer, manifest and hidden, light and shadow. Venus still trines Chiron, healing and wounding also ongoing.

And, Venus moves into a square with Mars, in passionate and expressive Leo.

The Venus–Mars square will be exact at the Last Quarter Moon, when the Cancer Moon also squares the Libra Sun. Finding the balance between masculine and feminine, yang and yin, spirit and soul, mind and body––all these polarities will feel edgy at this Moon.

With Neptune trining the Last Quarter Moon, intuition will need to be balanced with delusion, spirituality with deception. Whatever else happens, dreaming will be strong. Look to dreams for clues about where your psyche wants you to focus.

The Balsamic Moon will join Mars in Leo, squaring Venus, and trining Eris the goddess of discord. Meanwhile, the Sun moves into opposition with Uranus in Aries.

When we reach the Balsamic Moon, we're asked to let go of whatever no longer serves us, as we enter the dark time before the New Moon. Balsamic Moons generally tend to be nostalgic, quiet, a bit melancholy ...

Well, not this one! This Leo Balsamic Moon will be lighting a bonfire. Not content to drop old stuff into the compost bin, this Moon wants the phoenix to go up in flames.

So when you feel pulled into Shadow these next weeks, when you're asked to dredge up stuff you'd rather not deal with, when things get down and dirty––go with it. These are the days of miracles and wonders, when deep work can get done quickly (not painlessly, quickly).

Look at your birth chart. Where is your Venus by sign and house? This will tell you something about how Venus expresses herself in you. How is your Venus affected by current transits? This will tell you where in your life this current Venus time will show up most clearly.

At the Venus-ruled New Moon, we'll have the chance for a deep rebirth. We're in the harvest time, so dig your hands in, see what needs to come up, sort out what to keep from what to pitch, and get the bonfires ready!
    

Full Moon in Pisces: Holding Sacred Space

Spirit of the Night by J.A. Grimshaw

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

Autumn Equinox
Sun at 0 Libra, Moon in Taurus
September 21, 2013
4:44 pm EDT / 9:44 pm GMD

The official date of the Full Harvest Moon is September 19, but the Moon will look most lusciously full on the night of September 18. With a bit of luck, I will experience this Full Moon on Glastonbury Tor.

We're due for a bit of magic. The intensity of events in public and private spheres has been reflected in a series of oppositions and squares among personal and outer planets. A lot's been happening. A breather would be nice.

While Full Moons are not noted for being calm, this year's Harvest Moon brings a chance for respite. Some of the challenging aspect patterns remain; all troubles are not likely to dissolve. And yet, for once in many months, this particular Full Moon stands alone––Sun and Moon in opposition, without serious entanglements.

There are some edgy patterns, notably a series of sesquiquadrates (squares and a half) that place the Moon at the apex of a Finger of the World, and the Sun and Moon somewhat at odds with the Moon's Nodes.

But compared to many recent Full Moons in which the Sun and Moon were woven into complex cats' cradles of many planets, the Sun and Moon are on their own, talking only to each other. It feels to me like they want it that way, as if they're pushing all the other planets, all the cares of the world, off for a brief time.

This is, after all, the Pisces Full Moon, the Moon for dreams and dreamers. The Sun's reaching the end of Virgo, and maybe after weeks of watching every detail, will kick back a bit and let the Moon lead the way.

A Full Pisces Moon is a time for magic and visions, poetry and music. Despite the Virgo Sun, this will not be the time for logic, or hard and fast decisions––keep in mind that Pisces Moons can also be deceptive and are excellent at creating lovely illusions.

This Full Moon cannot make all our challenges disappear. Saturn and Venus are still close together at the North Node, keeping the pressure on to stay on our path. Mars and Uranus are still sharing energy, keeping the heat on for revolutionary change and also flame-ups and flame-outs.

And Chiron still flows energy to the group around the North Node, reminding us that sometimes change hurts, and still, growth is worthwhile. Alchemical Pluto agrees, sextiling both Chiron and the North Node group.

So it's not as if the whole sky has gone quiet, not at all. Still … the Full Moon will rise, inviting all of us to envision our best possible future, write lyrical poetry, play soulful music. For one night at least, give yourself up to the dream.

The Equinox arrives just a few days later, which is why this is the Harvest Moon––the Full Moon that falls closest to this hinge of the year.

Astrologically, the Equinox arrives when the Sun enters Libra, the cardinal Air sign that marks the beginning of Autumn (in the Northern Hemisphere). Libra, ruled by Venus, loves balance and harmony … can we continue the sense of respite a bit longer?

Maybe, maybe not … the Moon has moved to conjunct the South Node, opposing the Scorpio group of Saturn, North Node and Venus. This could be a reminder to get back on track.

Whatever comes after, though, I am holding out for a bit of time-outside-time. If we can't find refuge in dreamworlds at a Pisces Full Moon, when can we? And those worlds of dreams and visions––those are the places of creativity and hope. Good things.