Healing Waters: Moving from the Full Moon to the New

Supermoon over Washington, DC

Disseminating Moon in Aquarius
June 26, 2013 12:12 pm EDT

Last Quarter Moon in Aries
June 30, 2013 12:54 am EDT

Balsamic Moon in Taurus
July 4, 2013 12:01 am EDT

Saturn turns direct
July 8, 2013 1:12 am EDT

New Moon in Cancer
July 8, 2013 3:14 am EDT

The echoes of the Full Super Moon still reverberate, as amazing images of her giant, glowing face over beautiful landscapes show up all over the 'net.

This image of the Full Moon rising behind the Washington Monument points to how important this time of year is for the USA astrologically. Born on July 4, the USA has a Cancer Sun, and political astrologers have had much to say lately about where things are going for the nation.

My focus is on the personal realms, and much is happening here as well. We're now in the waning half of the lunar cycle, a time of looking at what's been brought to light, appreciating our achievements, sharing the results, and letting go of what's finished.

The ongoing Grand Water Trine dominates this waning cycle, with Neptune and Saturn staying tightly coupled, and the third point continually activated by the Sun, Jupiter, Lilith, and the Moon. Deep emotions will continue to come up to be experienced, explored, healed, released.

Throughout the cycle, we're offered support for the emotional work we're invited to do. Specific energies of thinking and action will shift into place, tossing us spars to hold on to, then pulling the lifeboat alongside and helping us climb in.

The New Moon to come is in the heart-centered sign of Cancer, castle of the Moon and home of homes. When we reach it, we'll have the chance to renew our hearts from a place of understanding and insight––if we've accepted the invitations offered along the way.

Tomorrow, June 26, we reach the Disseminating Moon. This is the day Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer, which might leave us feeling mired in messy emotions. And here's the Moon with an invitation to insight: She's in cerebral, objective Aquarius, conjunct fair-minded Juno and flowing energy in trine with Mars and Pallas Athena in Gemini.

With the Moon and Mars, Juno and Athena, in Air signs, we get perspective, movement, ideas. New ways of seeing help sort out murky feelings. Pay attention to heart and mind both; they need each other.

June 30 brings the Last Quarter Moon, and a jolt of energy. This Moon's in fiery Aries, joining revolutionary Uranus. No chance to stay stuck here! What needs to change? Got it? Let's change it!

This Last Quarter Moon squares the Sun (that's what the Last Quarter means) and also squares Pluto the alchemist, who is opposite the Sun. More push to change! Transform!

With the Moon and Sun activating the Pluto–Uranus square, we could see big events happening on the world stage. Yet these are strong personal energies too: We're called to reinvent ourselves, to align with what is.

With the Balsamic Moon on July 4, the push to make significant changes continues.  The Moon is in patient, grounded Taurus. A Taurus Moon can be stubborn, so there might be some feeling of not wanting to let go, of needing to hold on to the past, the way things have been.

Let's look again: this Moon's key aspects are two quintiles, an unusual aspect that brings creativity. Those quintiles reach out on either side to Venus in Leo and Chiron in Pisces. What does this pattern offer us?

The Balsamic Moon is THE time to let go of what's finished for us. With all the deep work we've been doing lately, this could feel hard––even impossible. Yet here is the Moon in Taurus, the sign of self-nurturing, creating a crucible of healing and personal expression with Chiron and Venus.

This pattern calls out for a ritual of release, a personal creative act that acknowledges all we have been through, honors all we have felt, and gently lets go of whatever needs to move away from us. Nothing harsh, something loving.

The New Moon in Cancer will bring many openings, which I'll write of later. What you need to know now is that less than two hours before the New Moon arrives, Saturn will turn direct after what seems like another forever-long retrograde.

Saturn is slowing down now, preparing to stop and turn. This places him in a powerful position, adding to the emotional depth and weight of these next weeks. At the New Moon, the place of beginning, he'll be direct in motion again, ready to create and build.

This is a time to go with the flow, knowing light and fire and air will be there to keep our heads (and hearts) above water. We can explore the depths, find our treasure, and carry it safely home.
    

Getting a Different View: A Tale of Jupiter and Mercury

light in the watery depths

Jupiter enters Cancer
June 25, 2013 9:40 pm EDT

Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer
June 26, 2013 9:08 am EDT

Mercury turns direct in Cancer
July 20, 2013 2:22 pm EDT

Thinking and feeling are sometimes said to be opposites. Emotions make thinking unreliable, murky, confused. And logic is cold, an enemy to the heart.

Is that true? Overwhelming emotion, especially in traumatic circumstances, can interfere with clear thinking and accurate memory. There's evidence, though, that emotion helps both thinking and memory: We don't solve problems we don't care about; we don't remember things of no importance.

More importantly, the combination of feeling and thinking leads us to personal insight. Bringing reflective thought to our emotions, while allowing those emotions space for expression and understanding, takes us to a place of greater understanding of our own character.

Why is this important right now? Because we've entered a time of deep emotion, and we're being offered the thinking chops to make something out of it, that's why.

Here's the astrologically geeky part:

For the last several months, Jupiter's been hanging out in Gemini, where he doesn't much like to be. Jupiter is an accommodating, friendly sort, and brings good luck wherever he goes, but he's a deep thinker, a philosopher who likes to include everything, get the big picture ... and Gemini? Well, Gemini is all about the details where the devil lives, and dancing off after the next bright shiny.

Jupiter's been a good sport, but he's ready to make a shift. Which he will, on Wednesday, when he moves into the sign of Cancer. In this Moon-ruled sign of cardinal Water, Jupiter is exalted.

"Exalted" is astro-speak for very, very happy. Jupiter likes being in Cancer. He has scope there, the deep memory of the ancestors and the body. There is soul in Cancer.

When Jupiter steps into Cancer, he will add his expansive liberality to the Grand Trine in Water currently activated by the Sun himself. We will continue to have a Sun–Jupiter conjunction flowing lots of energy in trine with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces.

Sometimes trines, even Grand Trines, get missed because all that easy flow is just, you know, there. Not this one! Jupiter will make sure of it. He wants to understand this confluence of emotional depth; he wants to make something of it.

Meanwhile, the very next day, Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer. Mercury retro is generally thought of as bad, a time when stuff breaks and delays happen ... yet the real message of a retrograde time is to sllllooooooooowwwww down. During retro times, we go for the "re" words: review, reflect, remember.

Summer can be frenetic. Even when we're on vacation, we can feel impelled to cram as much as possible into every single minute so we don't miss any opportunities for fun.

This is an invitation to press the pause button and look within.

When we tune into our emotions instead of ignoring or repressing them, we find out there's a lot going on. It can feel scary, even overwhelming, to give space to all that stuff we've been stuffing. But not with Jupiter around. He's a very reassuring guy to have around, big enough to take in everything that comes along.

And Jupiter brings another gift: He's got big fire going on, good mojo in these watery times.

Classically speaking, fire and water don't mix. But I'm with the ancient Celts on this one, who saw the combination of fire and water as the ultimate in creative fusion. In Celtic myth, poetic inspiration and magical power are represented by a fiery energy hidden in, contained in water.

In this context, Jupiter offers great art as well as solid philosophy. In Cancer, Jupiter has the power to light the creative fire under us all. There's time to explore this, too: He doesn't reach the peak of his powers in Cancer until September 6, at 15 Cancer, the midpoint, and remains in Cancer until July, 2014.

All artists know that the greatest work reflects deep emotion. Jupiter is poised to usher in an time of emotional exploration that can result in creative flowering. Mercury's retrograde begins the process by turning us inward.

It's time to go with the flow ... allow yourself to be moved, to feel deeply, and to explore the meaning of the feelings that emerge, their substance, their power, and what they want to express. It won't all be pretty, but it will be beautiful.
    

Bright Beacon: A Full SuperMoon in Capricorn

light across the waters

Full Moon in Capricorn
Sunday, June 23, 2013
7:32 am EDT

Feeling a bit damp these days? The Water element reigns: Sun newly in Cancer conjunct larger-than-life Jupiter; Mercury, Venus and Vesta very close together in Cancer; Neptune and Saturn continuing to flow energy to each other from Pisces and Scorpio; Chiron the wounded healer in Pisces; North Node in Scorpio.

We're in a time of deep dreaming and strong feeling. The annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams opens today, and I'm imaging this conference will be an intensely wonderful experience for all there.

The challenge is figuring out what to do with all that emotion. The Water element is life-giving when it's flowing, circulating, bringing in nutrients and carrying away toxins. When Water stops, though, we get stagnation, brooding, stuckness. Let's face it: when water stops moving, we get mold.

Overnight Saturday (tomorrow), the largest, brightest Full Moon of this year arrives. This Moon will be the closest to Earth she'll be all year. Where skies are clear, we might feel we can reach up and touch her luminous face. Don't miss a chance to see her, and dance in her golden glow.

This Full Moon channels Capricorn, the Earth sign that puts its shoulder to the wheel, never gives up, never surrenders. This Moon is widely conjunct Pluto, the alchemist who leaves no stone unturned. This Moon is pragmatic, hard working, and has her eyes on the prize.

This Full Moon sits at the point of a kite formation that draws the Saturn–Neptune trine right into the Full Moon energy. With Jupiter in the final, anaretic degree of Gemini, and asteroid Lilith right between the Sun and Jupiter, this is a powerful combination.

Shining her bright beacon on the intense waters we're swimming in, this Full Moon asks: What are these feelings about? Are we stuck or moving? Where's the goal? How do we get there?

And, of course. where are the life vests and can we all fit into the boat?

We'll all make it to shore as long as we look to the light and follow its path across the water. Lighthouses are built with powerful lenses that serve to focus light so it carries across long distances. This Full Moon, so close to the Earth, has the power to shine through any storm.

Eric Francis has an intriguing take on 29 Gemini, the spot we'll find expansive Jupiter shining from at this Full Moon. He sees that final, intense degree as uniquely suited to giving us the big picture, offering the ability to put things into context and see how they connect.

The thing is, sometimes light shows up things we'd rather not see. This Full Moon could be like that. If there's stuff in our psyches, in our families, in our relationships we've been looking away from, this Moon could illuminate it inescapably. This Moon ain't for sissies.

focus!

The gift this Full Moon offers (and it's a great gift) is that same illumination. Those places we've felt stuck, the personal stuff we've been working on and just can't quite see clearly, the missing piece of the relationship puzzle: all those might be highlighted. Oh! we'll say ... is THAT it? I can work with that. Big shifts possible.

Another big theme for this SuperMoon is ancestry. Cancer is tribe as well as family; Capricorn is tradition as well as authority. The involvement of Neptune, Saturn and Pluto take us into deep territory.

This will be a powerful Moon for connecting to our ancestors, working with them, learning from them. Old issues may come up for healing, and new directions brought to light.

Full Moons can make us all feel a little crazy, and this one could be loonier than most. With all this emotional intensity, we'll want to be prepared. Connect to your tribe. Find a place where you feel emotionally supported, at home, loved. From that place, we can follow the Moon's bright beacon to see what we need to see, learn what we need to learn.

May it be so for you.