INTO PRESENCE

The silent words rising from the depth became heavy luminescent stones paving a new path a steep climb zig zagging into snow covered mountains with distant peaks like ancient castles waiting to be conquered standing high noble and fortified by time, amidst hypnotizing ravines luring the traveler who carries hidden fire omen-reading naked with patient deliberation stepping forward into the shadow led by the undulating current electric snake grounded in steady enigmatic rhythms the creation of the way offering labour at the clycop’s altar honest in silence resolute arrow pointing at the dragon’s tail costly desires drown in the abyss of time in exchange for familiar siren calls the compass spinning widely to magnetic pull of the pressurized diamonds at the outer limits of the inward vision the darkening of reality obscuring the way time relentlessly sharpening the sword.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 2nd, 2019

The week begins with the Moon VOC in Aquarius all day until she enters Pisces early Tuesday morning (2:12am EST). Jupiter enters Capricorn on Monday (13:20 EST) for the next year (until December 19, 2020) and signals a period of shaping and consolidating the grand visions and goals that were birthed in the last year while Jupiter traveled through Sagittarius, and raised all sorts of big ideas. Jupiter’s ingress into an Earth sign is a significant shift that calls our attention to the deliberate and slow progress that is made when we apply effort and discipline to our goals. Our efforts and energies should turn towards projects that can yield long lasting results and solidity as oppose to ephemeral and passing gratifications.

Monday evening Venus conjunct the South Node in Capricorn (19:00 EST) and we might find value in familiar connections and relationships which have endured the test of time. Venus conjunct the South Node could also see us reflecting on past relationships or literally bring old lovers back into the picture.

The Moon enters Pisces Tuesday morning at 2:12 am EST moving towards her First Quarter. The Moon then moves toward a supportive sextile with Uranus in Taurus, and we might be able to extract some innovative solutions or exciting ideas from our dreams.

A sextile betweenVenus/Mars become exact at 10:47am EST on Tuesday colouring our relationships with a tinge of seduction. Venus in Capricorn sextile Mars in Scorpio can harmonize desires and affections. Once again our energies are best directed towards genuine connections with people who have been here for us in the past. There could be less interest on superficial encounters at this time but overall, Venus sextile Mars is a good aspect for socializing. Pleasant and meaningful interactions have the potential of continuing late into the evening on Tuesday when the Moon in Pisces trines the North Node in Cancer (19:41 EST), Mars in Scorpio (21:51 EST) and sextile Venus in Capricorn (22:27 EST).

Very early Wednesday morning we have the First Quarter Moon at 11º49′ Pisces when it applies to square the Sun in Sagittarius. The Sun in Sagittarius AND the Moon in Pisces will both be ruled by Jupiter in Capricorn. We should get some insights surrounding the themes we have to work with this next year while Jupiter travels in Capricorn. However there could also be some confusing factors with Neptune so closely involved with this First Quarter Moon. We might need clarity but we could be missing some part of the picture. The Ideal and the Real could collide creating uncertainty as to what is true, and what is mere fantasy. We could be glamorizing a situation or a person that is not all that its cracked up to be and we might have to contend with deception or dishonest behaviour. This First Quarter Moon will affect people with planets in the middle Decans of the Mutable signs most significantly.

The Moon enters Aries on Thursday afternoon at 14:46 EST and is ruled by Mars currently in Scorpio. Energy and will power should be available Thursday, Friday, and early on Saturday morning if you need to get stuff done. A good time for physical activities and projects that requires sharp focus. Saturday, the Moon is VOC in Aries all day and the Sun applies to square Neptune in the afternoon. The momentum of the last few days might get somewhat diffused on Saturday and we might be looking to escape into fantasy while simultaneously be called into presence. Whatever we are wrestling with during the First Quarter Moon on Wednesday could continue to be a theme this weekend. However, with the Moon entering Taurus on Sunday morning we have an opportunity to ground ourselves into presence for real this time.

“Do actions agree with words? There’s your measure of reliability.
Never confine yourself to the words.”
–Frank Herbert,  Dune

 

Drawing: Reiko Murakami

Pictures: Naked City Spleen — Miru Kim

 

ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS

How to Triumph Like a Girl

Ada Limón – 1976-

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.

 

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The week begins with a dark Moon in Scorpio which brings us to the end of the lunar month. Venus leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricorn on Monday evening (19:28 EST) to join Saturn and Pluto and prepare for the big year end party.

On Tuesday morning, the New Moon in Sagittarius (exact at 10:06 EST) signals a new lunar cycle, but in many ways this particular lunar cycle concludes Jupiter’s yearlong transit in Sagittarius. Wherever Sagittarius sits in your chart has seen many ups and downs in the last year. More extensively, new opportunities, different avenues, and modes of expanding your reach has coloured that particular area of your life. The need to make space for new and broader opportunities that wants to flow into your life has seen you juggle many plates. Now that we are arriving at the end of Jupiter’s transit in Sagittarius, his teachings can finally be integrated.

The New Moon in Sagittarius on Tuesday is all about the beginning of something totally out of the ordinary for you. However, that new thing, that new idea, this new mode of operation, this new perspective has been gestating for a long time. It has been a journey, an exploration of beliefs, old crumbling ideas about life, about love, about money, about work, about the way things were suppose to be.

Now that all these various spacious and new perspectives are flowing in, and that your experience and wisdom has given you something to sink your teeth in, its time to adjust your sail. Uncharted territories are calling, and even though you have no idea what to expect, you have faith and you are ready for it. It will most definitely be a long journey, with many obstacles, and no obvious landmarks except the vision of the promise land in your mind’s eye, but at this point there is no turning back. You must trust and keep believing that once you know, you just know.

We will need all the enthusiasm of this New Moon in Sagittarius to keep us going in the next several weeks when everything enters Capricorn and makes us doubt our Faith and our Fate. Our grand schemes and visions will surely be confronted by reality and its structures. Therefore, it’s a good idea to fuel your engine on the momentum available right now. Neptune turns direct Wednesday morning just as Mercury in Scorpio applies to trine Neptune one last time; the dream is real, you have seen it. You want to believe.

Mercury trine Neptune will be exact early Friday morning and its an excellent opportunity to shape your future into a hologram, and place it in a pearl.

Early Thursday morning, the Moon meets Jupiter in Sagittarius for one last vision transmission before she enters Capricorn (7:33am EST) and travels here until Saturday when she enters Aquarius at 15:14 EST.

The Moon and Venus in Capricorn meet up on Thursday in a loose conjunction with the South Node while trining Uranus in Taurus. This is funky. We appreciate quality, and seek what has endured the test of time, but one chess piece has to be moved towards the future. Some new elements will need to be integrated, there are no other choices. It’s like taking an old piece of furniture with many coats on paint, and stripping it back down to the wood to make it new again.

Friday evening, the Moon in Capricorn conjoins Saturn while trining Mercury and we might need to have a difficult conversation or deal with a heavy situation. Saturday has a Saturnian influence and will see us attending the many details of our existence with sober pragmatism and the desire to get on with business. The Moon entering Aquarius Saturday afternoon will apply to square Uranus in Taurus. After attending to some boring details, we might feel like taking a breather or ignoring the phone for a minute. The need for space will colour Saturday evening, while Sunday morning’s square between the Moon in Aquarius and Mars in Scorpio promises some restless tensions.

“Well did the traveler know those garden lands that lie betwixt the wood of the Cerenerian Sea, and blithely did he follow the singing river Oukranos that marked his course. The sun rose higher over gentle slopes of grove and lawn, and heightened the colors of the thousand flowers that starred each knoll and dangle. A blessed haze lies upon all this region, wherein is held a little more of the sunlight than other places hold, and a little more of the summer’s humming music of birds and bees; so that men walk through it as through a faery place, and feel greater joy and wonder than they ever afterward remember.”
― H.P. Lovecraft

COSTUME CHANGE

The actors having reached the end of their dialogue quickly retire backstage to transform into the next versions of themselves. Old skins fall off on the floor like worn out hides while technicians fuss around in haste trying to line up everyone with their new costumes. You can hear the artists reciting secrets under their breaths like barely audible prayers to the Gods of Drama. All those lines memorized by heart will soon offer the audience a lively performance. Under the dim light of giant flickering chandeliers, you can also hear the murmurs of impatient spirits waiting to be conjured into the next act. Crimson electricity permeates the air in anticipation of the battle and gore that will unfold very soon on the stage. Behind the heavy curtains, the actors possessed by their roles revise and visualize the rhythms of the play.

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 18

Once again, change is in the air this week with a lot of defining moments, mainly Mars entering Scorpio, Mercury stationing direct in Scorpio, the Sun’s ingress into Sagittarius, and an exciting Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius on Sunday. All this is happening while the Moon reaches her last quarter square in Leo on Tuesday creating some inner tension, and a time for consolidating what has been scattered.

Monday begins with the Moon in Leo, and we are off to a good start with one of the calmer days this week. Tuesday Mars enters Scorpio in the early hours as the Moon reaches her last quarter when she squares the Sun in Scorpio at 16:11 EST. Mars traveling in its home sign and ruling over the Sun and Mercury should give a push to all that has been brewing in the last several weeks and increase the tempo in our lives. Things will start to move faster, and what has felt blocked or muffled will start to get clarified.

The Moon enters Virgo Tuesday evening, and will travel here until late Thursday night when she enters Libra. Mercury stations direct in Scorpio Wednesday at 14:09EST after being retrograde since October 31st. Mercury rules the Moon in Virgo and will be stationing direct on his day of the week, which means that all of Mercury’s significations will get magnified mid-week. We can expect to have to contend with unforeseen circumstances and new information coming to light. Things that have been brewing will start to find momentum towards some sort of resolution in the weeks to come. However, with Mars moving towards an opposition with Uranus this upcoming weekend, it might require the popping of an abscess or a period of initial chaos.

The Moon enters Libra late Thursday night/early Friday depending on where you live, and we should start to feel the Venus/Jupiter conjunction building up, which will be exact on Sunday November 24th. This is an exciting conjunction that will be visible in the Southwest skies one hour after sunset. This conjunction happens simultaneously as Mars and the Moon in Scorpio oppose Uranus in Taurus. The weekend promises excitement and unpredictability so just roll with it. We might have very little tolerance for demands being made on us at this time, and there could be an urge to break free of limiting circumstances/people, and confining situations. With the Sun entering Sagittarius on Friday morning we now turn our attention on potentiality, movement, and discovery.

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
― William Faulkner

 

 

ILLUMINATIONS

 

There is a light in the corner of your eye where your blind spot use to be and you can’t really see where the illumination is coming from or its shape but you can feel that it’s changing the landscape and a lot of things that use to take a lot of space have turned to ashes and their meaning is now part of the blackness of the void inside your pupil giving you clear sight. Time has become a strange pond on which you float face down while fishing for clues in the depths of the hypnotizing indigo nights and tentacular oracles reaches up and you can somehow breath underwater and dialogue with the creature who resides here opalescent pearls for eyes shining brightly from its hiding spot. Visions are shaping themselves into rocks in the palm of your hands which you leave behind as an offering to your future self who has walk this path since eternity and is watching from a different vantage point.

 

MERCURY CAZIMI PURGE

We have about 9 days left of this Mercury retrograde in Scorpio. Monday begins with Mercury conjunct the Sun which is always an important part of the Mercury retrograde cycle. This conjunction/cazimi/transit,  is happening in one of the most fixated part of the zodiac pulverizing long held ”materials” connected to the Scorpio house in your birth chart. Whatever emotional raking Mercury has been doing, it’s taking place at the depth of your being and most likely connected to things that are deeply ingrained, solidified, calcified. Whatever Mercury has been stirring up for you in the past few weeks, whatever has been on your mind, whatever type of process or shedding has been taking place, you will now be able to start  integrating these realizations more clearly.  It doesn’t mean however that we are completely out of the swamps, but your bullshit radar is tuned on high, and you can see right through artificial niceties in others and detrimental patterns in yourself. This Mercury retrograde in Scorpio is zooming in on weaknesses contained in our thought patterns that throws us out for a loop or doesn’t serve us well. Other people who are not willing to go there with us might be left behind as we renew ourselves in these authentic waters. It’s an excellent season to work with your fears, the ones that seem to lurk just behind your conscious awareness, and have an honest conversation with them while purging what keeps you in a sort of detrimental auto-pilot dialogue with your ghosts.

FULL MOON IN TAURUS: FULL STEAM

The Full Moon in Taurus rises Tuesday morning (8:36am EST) and like a giant sigh of relief, soothes our body into maximum relaxation, amidst the deep and sensitive churning of Scorpio season. With the even bigger tidal shifts happening thanks to Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, this Full Moon acts like a calming balm and roots us down into the essential. A good day for body work, healthy sustaining food, hiking in nature, and for simplifying what has become overly complicated.

Venus in Sagittarius rules this Full Moon and is applying to a square with Neptune in Pisces (exact Thursday, Nov 14) while Mars in Libra sextile Jupiter in Sagittarius at the time of the Full Moon giving off a lot of romantic and philosophical steam. We could find ourselves getting eager about an idea, a vision, a creative project, and there could be an excitable and enthusiastic momentum colouring our interactions. This optimistic outlook could in turn bring new opportunities since there is a tendency with these aspects to have faith and to trust that everything will work out. We might be tempted to take bigger risks than usual and this has the potential to pay off.

The Moon enters Gemini early Wednesday morning (5:15am EST) shining her light on the current Mercury retrograde as the day begins with Mercury forming a sextile to Saturn. This supportive aspect can help us separate the wheat from the chaff and delineate our ideas and goals in practical ways. We start to see the tangible shapes of recent revelations and visions and how they can serve our material reality. Wednesday evening, Mercury trine Neptune in Pisces plunging us again into a tide of inner sensations. We could feel overwhelmed by indescribable moods and imagery. Enjoy this aspect for what it is, and go see a movie, create, listen to music, write poetry, lose your footing without getting anxious about it. Get out of your own way and let the sensations take over without trying to analyze them.

Thursday has a similar vibe as Venus in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces and the Moon in Gemini oppose Venus and Jupiter in Sagittarius; big picture ideas about life and how we want it to be, versus detailed and realistic analysis of the practicalities that makes our existence possible collide, but there is space for both modalities. It could feel like things are not moving fast enough or moving too fast, and there is an underlying agitation about all the details of our existence, trying to form them into a consistent whole to match our vision while being overwhelmed by the impossibility of the task.

The Moon enters her home sign of Cancer Friday morning (11:16am EST) and will be here all weekend but void for most of the day on Sunday until she enters Leo (16:56 EST). Its a good weekend for integrating things as oppose to taking in new information, sitting with your emotional body (whatever that means) and assimilating all the juicy nutrients from the freshly raked soil. It’s a somewhat ”watery” weekend so bring a rain coat and your compassionate ear to meet the brokenness of the world.

 

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
-Søren Kierkegaard

 

 

 

 

SOLVE ET COAGULA

Threads from the past are weaving themselves into the current fabric. Pulling out new strings to make space for old ones, adding to a tapestry that keeps revealing archaic shapes and ancient stories. The tension created by this weaving/unweaving weakens unsustainable narratives contained in the darkened fabric. Invisible hands dictate unknown yet eternal connections while the replicas get discarded. Holes and unfinished sections disclose clashing patterns with faded colours and missing links. After an honest review of primordial memories, a space will be created for unborn depictions to arise. For now a dim light illuminates distorted shadows, ghostly threads and changing colours in a labyrhthn of knots. Misleading synchronicities and insubstantial lies confuse the seeking eyes in search of the golden threads. Fears threatens the patterning, and discrimination must be taken in this part of the creative process; Looking backward to understand the original composition being birthed out of the void while keeping enough tension for the weaving ahead. An empty mind trusting the sensations moves with the flow.

CONTAINMENT
The week begins with some contradictions as the First Quarter Moon takes place in the sign of Aquarius early Monday morning. The Sun in Scorpio highlights the deeply felt undercurrents and powers that regulate much of our lives and connections, while the Moon in Aquarius is busy separating herself from the heard, feeling rather alienated by all the intensity. There will be plenty of momentum and objectivity available on Monday and Tuesday to allow us to get back on track with some of our goals, while still being fuelled by our deeply felt insights.

Mars in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn to begin the week (exact Tuesday 5:21am EST), and this will require conscious handling for best results. Until now, Mars in Libra has been calling for diplomacy and balance within our relationships. However, there is a need to release some tension that has been building up while powerful libidinal dynamics and regenerative currents have been kept under pressure. Great aspect for heavy work or situations that requires focus and exertion, but not so great for getting caught up in power struggles and ultimatums with others. Domineering or uncompromising attitude will bring more trouble than its worth. Best to find pro-active, physical and creative outlets to release tension this week.

DREAMING THE DREAM
The Moon enters Pisces Tuesday evening (18:08 EST) doubling on the ”Watery” and impressionistic undercurrents, bringing poetic colours to the middle of the week. Saturn is also applying to sextile Neptune in Pisces (exact on Friday 21:46EST) for one last time this year.

Like the hands of Fate at work, reality is manifesting just as we imagine it. Saturn sextile Neptune is a highly visionary aspect that helps birthing new shapes and ideas that have been gestating for a long time. You could start seeing the results of all the hard work you have put into your thought processes, and how this affects your reality. Wednesday and Thursday contains a good dose of faithful optimism that supports new levels of understandings but also, totally new realities. Conscious acknowledgements of how your visionary impulses is shaping your world could bring renewed trust in your creative flow. Good mental posturing is essential at this time if we are to enjoy these ephemeral insights that bring life changing results. Keep your fingers on the pulse and stay blessed.

FEELING RED
The Moon enters Aries Friday morning (6:49am EST) and will be here all weekend until Sunday evening when she enters Taurus (exact at 18:17 EST).

The weekend contains a mixed bag of optimistic impulses and confronting limitations. Desires could feel thwarted by circumstances without easy outlet. Mars in Libra ruling the Moon in Aries sees us vacillating between compromise and assertion, frustration and catharsis. Mercury retrograde sextile Pluto on Saturday night could bring old information and stories to light that changes an equation. We could feel impatient to ”get to the point” but this is simply not an option right now. Conversations will continue to feel deeply personal and revelatory with Mercury still moving backward in the Scorpionic swamps, but it could be hard to differentiate the many layers presenting themselves to you at this time. Intuition and mind could be working at cross purpose, and its best to be an observer without judgment at this time. You could still be missing some important pieces of the whole picture, and only patience and time will provide the clues.

 

Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood.

Friedrich Nietzsche

 

 

 

TURNING BLUE

Why are you lying
I’m not lying

☿

TRUSTING THE PROCESS 

Underneath the superficial and glamourized reflections, a deep rumble threatens to break the status quo. Electrifying currents stirs the instinct awake and long buried sparks rise into presence. Revealing a soft interior, your heart open as a rebellion, displaying wounds like war paint, you step into the circle. The light fades from the landscape and you are left with the luminescence rising from this new found flesh. Glow in the dark powders fall like ashes around your body who is invisible yet eternally birthing. True power lies here; in this circle of cycles and the ability to surrender to it. Every moment dying – every moment renewed. The experience is total. Are you covered in deadly poisons or beautiful jewels, precious stones or cursed objects? Difficult to tell them apart in this liminal space. While night spreads her wings across the land, you stalk your own shadows in search of Fire.

Uranus oppose the New Moon in Scorpio to begin the week, and offers momentum to enter this New Lunar cycle with a renewed vision. Some answers might come from understanding our past and our lineage, but this is also call into presence and embodiment. Uranus is the spell breaker, the liberator. Uranus opposing the New Moon is a wake up call to exorcise old fixated patterns, finding more spaciousness, freedom, and creativity in the process.

”It’s an invitation to us in reality to lean into sensation not as a doorway to the catastrophic, but as our soul anchor to the present moment, to the here and now, what we’re feeling as leaning into the body, starting somatic therapy, feeling those pangs of hunger, lust, and panic as indications that nature and culture are both trying to reclaim their right to sing their songs to us and through us. It’s no so much a choice between sameness and switch, as it is about flexibility and response, and seeds of beauty and exquisite delight are created in the most disorienting places.”  – Nate Speare from @mythopoetic_astrology

 

MERCURY Rx IN SCORPIO: THE CONTROL ROOM

On Thursday October 31st, Mercury stations retrograde in Scorpio (11:33am EDT)  after a conjunction with Venus foreshadowing (amongst other things) a revision of our desire nature, our attraction, our relationship to relationships, beauty and pleasure. However this won’t be the only themes under revisions during Mercruy’s retrograde time. Look to the house where Scorpio sits in your chart for a more precise idea of where this house cleaning is taking place.

Something that emerged prematurely will need more maceration time than expected. In the excitement of a new idea or discovery you might of forgotten some important details. Like the birth of a premature child, a period of incubation is necessary. Before seeing the world in all its confronting glory, this child, this idea, this vision, this connection, must build enough resiliency to withstand the tests of reality. Old stubborned skeletons will first need to be dislodged to make space for a new protege. Intuition must be sharpened without overthinking the process. Old habits die hard as they say.

VENUS IN SAGITTARIUS

On her favourite day, Venus enters Sagittarius (Friday 16:25 EDT).

On the archer’s territory, Venus sheds her deep velvety magnetizing gowns for something much more light-hearted. The appeal here is for the bright bond fires of potentiality and the joys found in spaciousness. An image or a map that had recently been polished to the point of reflecting a path is getting oxidized by the ambient desert winds. Amnesia sets in as we enter a vast foreign landscape and our gaze shifts on the distant horizon and all the promises that it holds. Venus will be in Sagittarius until November 25th.

 

LUNAR RYTHMS

The week begins with the New Moon in Scorpio. On Tuesday morning, the Moon in Scorpio  exchanges secrets with Mercury and Venus before entering Sagittarius at 17:55 EDT Tuesday evening. The Moon moves through Sagittarius on Wednesday and will square Neptune in Pisces while Mercury and Venus perfect their conjunction. Thursday, the Moon in Sagittarius meets up with Jupiter an hour before Mercury turns retrograde. Wednesday and Thursday holds much excitement and it could feel like you are on the verge of some sort of breakthrough. Mid-week is great for renewed faith and optimism directed towards your current projects. There is a lot of momentum and excitement coming up this week even though Mercury is slowing down and stationing retrograde. Prepare to be bombarded with opportunities to extend your reach much further than originally anticipated. It’s a good time to say yes to what is happening to you, while keeping in mind that Mercury retrograde for the next few weeks will demand a careful analysis of what is being initiate at this time. The Moon will be void for most of the day Thursday (from 10:29am to 22:39) creating the perfect liminality for Halloween’s shenanigans. Plans made during the day on Thursday might not hold ground. Best to go with the flow and see where the day takes you.

The Moon enters Capricorn late on Halloween night (22:39 EDT) until early Sunday morning when she moves into Aquarius.(6:19am EDT) The weekend is somewhat of a return to work and the grind after the excitement of the week. The Mars-Saturn square is fading but still within degrees, creating a controlled and pressurized atmosphere. This aspect can have us feel confined to a very limiting set of circumstances and a sober approached is needed to tackle next weekend’s tasks.

“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde
(Born with Mercury in Scorpio)

 

Taming a Beast

 

Civilization is not by means an easy thing to attain to.
There are only two ways by which man can reach it.
One is by being cultured, the other by being corrupt.
Oscar Wilde

⚖︎

POWERS AND POLITICS

The instinct knows what the mind can’t explain. It doesn’t matter how many books you read, you won’t find the answer to that riddle. Your body is hungry and you eat. It gets complicated because we rationalize things that can’t be rationalized and then we find systems for these rational ideas. ”You need 5 portions of vegetable a day” We like to do that a lot. It makes us feel structured and functional even though your body already knows what it needs on a fundamental level without over thinking it.

It gets even more complicated when we start creating rules and regulations, and contracts, and agreements, and codes of behaviours but we have no choice if we are to function in society together. We sort of find the middle ground so that everyone gets their fair share of pie, we really like the idea of fairness and equality. It works for the most part until it doesn’t. Things get unbalanced and corruption sets in. Power is very alluring, and the world is not a fair place. Our instinct is more like dog politics than the high democratic principles we aspire to when you take water, food, and shelter out of the equation. Put people in survival mode and see what happens to the established rules and regulations.

SUN IN SCORPIO

This week, the Sun moves through the very last degrees of Libra and enters the sign of Scorpio on Wednesday around 13:20 EDT. Mars, planet ruling over Scorpio is halfway through the sign of Libra and this is what we have to contend with for the next month.

This part of the book is a tricky bit of business. In Libra we aspire to high principles of fairness and harmony especially in the realm of relationships. We willingly compromise so that we can stand on the middle ground between what we want and what the people we care about need from us. Relating to others is an art form that requires smooth charms and tactful concessions. Maintaining alliances means having the willingness to surrender some of our personal desires for the sake of our bonds. This situation is never a given of course, and things must constantly be recalibrated in order to keep the balance intact. With the Sun entering Scorpio this week, we will start to see how our personal desires and instinct push to override our contracts and alliances. What happens when the mental tries to rationalize the visceral and create a civilized structure fo it? This will be an ongoing theme with Mars in Libra ruling the Sun and Mercury in Scorpio for the next several weeks.

LUNAR RYTHMS

We begin the week with the Last Quarter Moon (exact at 8:39am) on Monday in the sign of Cancer. What was initiated during the New Moon in Libra on September 28 is now reaching its point of integration. This week, we can sit with the revelations and discoveries of the last few weeks. Collaborations and connections that were established or the ones that were lost or severed during Libra season is fertilizing fresh perspectives. With Saturn in Capricorn being such a big player right now we have been negotiating our boundaries and a lot of the excess is being trimmed off. We are getting to the essential quicker because we have a new awareness of time and what we want to do with it.

The Moon enters the sign of Leo Monday at 12:30 EDT, and will travel here until Wednesday when it enters Virgo at 15:31 EDT. The Moon is in Virgo for the rest of the week, and enters Libra Friday evening at 16:21 EDT. The weekend will see the Moon at her darkest light in the sign of Libra before renewing herself late on Sunday night 23:38 EDT in the sign of Scorpio.

SCORPIO NEW MOON

The New Moon in Scorpio late Sunday night/early Monday morning (Oct.27-28) initiates a fresh lunar cycle. The New Moon takes place at 4 degrees of Scorpio exactly opposite Uranus in Taurus. Mars the ruler of this New Moon will be in Libra exactly square to Saturn in Capricorn. There are two very distinct threads going on right now. One has to do with the dismantling of old corrupted structures and our ability to address these, and deal with them. The square between Mars and Saturn shows that it might not necessarily be easy, and will require disciplined actions and sustained efforts on our part. We could feel blocked by circumstances, stuck between a rock and a hard place, with a tremendous urge to break free from a difficult circumstance, situation, habit, or person. Something that has power over you could feel stifling. We must move through these times very strategically as each actions and thought is shaping the future. Stay clear on what feels right for you at this time.

The other thread is connected to the birth of a different and powerful awareness that relates to our material world/realities and the breaking of very stubborned crystallized patterns. This arising perception allows for tuning into a sense of knowing that could feel new for you or that could be deepening. Priorities are reorganizing themselves as we plug into this current. New modalities and ways of being in the world will be birthed from these insights, but for now we must sit with the visions and trust our gut feeling. The materialistic world and established corporate structures lose their grip on us as we deepen our intuition and get clear on the essential. The hunger for meaningful connections and experiences will no be satiated by superficial success.

The Moon in Scorpio is not a comforting or nurturing one, but instead it’s our cue/challenge to work with our fears and vulnerabilities, and let them inform us forward. Trusting could be the central issue. We could be wrestling with a need for security that keeps us locked in unhealthy patterns. We are moving forward and things change and die, and we must learn to move with this flow, and surrender, and let go, and shed old skins if we are to renew ourselves. Security and safety at its core is not an external condition.

This week, our desire for authentic experiences and deep soulful connections with life could collide against protocols. Our powerful urge for renewal will not necessarily find an easy outlet. Don’t battle your intuition, speak to it, work with it. Intuition is at an all time high. Mars squaring the Nodes to begin the week calls for efficient actions that supports your progress. Deal with the minor irritants/people/workload efficiently so that you have time left to tune in to the synchronistic undercurrents informing your life.

“Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.”
― Jim Carroll

CATCH AND RELEASE

We clasp the hands of those that go before us,

And the hands of those who come after us.

We enter the little circle of each other’s arms

And the larger circle of lovers,

Whose hands are joined in a dance

And the larger circle of all creatures

Passing in and out of life

Who move also in a dance

To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it

Except in fragments.

The Larger Circle, Wendell Berry

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We begin the week on the other side of a potent Full Moon that took place on Sunday evening in the sign of Aries. The Sun is now in the last decan of Libra and we are moving deeper into the obscurity of the Fall season. With the obscurity also comes a special kind of interiority and the ability to shine a light in dark. What was hidden is revealed not through the five senses but through the ability we have of reading between the lines.

The Sun is separating from a square with Pluto and Mercury in Scorpio is slowing down while walking in its shadows, preparing to move retrograde at the end of the month. Revelations could feel potent at this time, like you are on the threshold of a new understanding. The skies are regenerative, and your experience will be reflected by your ability to look into the under layers that regulates your life, and being honest about your findings.

This relational time of the year highlights our connections and alliances. With Venus in Scorpio ruling the Sun in Libra, we might be inclined to go for authentic connections with little time left for superficial exchanges. Exchanging becomes the means of understanding ourselves and our motivations, and this could feel both painful and cathartic depending on our ability to step into intimacy with others. Conversations with others could feel open, honest, and edgy while an underlying tension promises to throw everything off balance at any moment. A delicate little dance we dance while moving between seasons, balancing the old and the new, holding and releasing, revealing and concealing just enough to be seen, but not enough to be hurt. A finger on the trigger while the other hand waves a white flag, juggling the vulgar and the ethereal, looking for peace and change simultaneously. There is a certain obsessive edge to our mental pursuits right now and the ability to look at a situation and its complexities from many different angles.

LUNAR RYTHMS

Monday, the Moon enters Taurus at 12:24pm triggering the recent opposition of Venus in Scorpio with Uranus in Taurus; catch and release is your best approach right now. Live and let live will save you a lot of trouble. The Moon in Taurus ruled by Venus in Scorpio is sensual yet the nerves are frazzled. The Moon enters Gemini on Wednesday night at 10:31pm and will be traveling here until early Saturday morning. The Moon in Gemini ruled by Mercury in Scorpio could bring out more information into the light, obsession and gossip, but her opposition with Jupiter in Sagittarius on Friday, could be asking us to separate the wheat from the chaff and reset our stance before we get too deep into a situation. The Moon enters Cancer early Saturday morning at 6:44am.  The weekend under the auspice of Watery aspects could see us move between sensations and intuitions without a definite hold. We might gravitate towards familiarity in order to find our footing while also extending a hand towards the future. Fears and vulnerabilities can be utilized as a creative stepping stone but you must be willing to step into the dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Recalibration of our Scales

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If you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.
If you want to take something,
you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception
of the way things are.

The soft overcomes the hard.
The slow overcomes the fast.
Let your workings remain a mystery.
Just show people the results

Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu – chapter 36

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LUNAR RYTHMS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 7

The Moon is waxing towards full and the scales are oscillating between light and darkness. This week brings us halfway through Libra season as we move towards the Full Moon in Aries next Sunday. The week begins with the Moon in Aquarius until Wednesday afternoon allowing for a brief period of stabilization and equalization. Wednesday afternoon the Moon enters the Water sign of Pisces (13:35 NDT) plunging us far down into the mysterious realms of our senses and imagination. Mid-week contains a strange mixture of bewilderment and inspiration and it’s an excellent opportunity for unbounded creative projects. Saturday morning, the Moon enters the Fire sign of Aries at 2:15am NDT as we move towards the Full Moon exact on Sunday evening (18:37NDT). The Full Moon shines her light on our contrasts, contracts and alliances, what sustains and strains us, and the recalibration needed within and without.

You’ve so distracted me,
your absence fans my love.
Don’t ask how.
Then you come near
“Do not…” I say, and
“Do not…,” you answer.
Don’t ask why
this delights me.
-Rumi

VENUS IN SCORPIO

Venus enters Scorpio on Tuesday at 13:06pm EDT and will travel here until the end of October. Venus in Scorpio will relatively change the tone of this Libra season which until now had been ruled by a much gentler Venus in her home sign of Libra. With Venus entering Scorpio, we begin our exploration into the underbelly of our desire nature, confronted with the unholy sight of our attractions and obsessions and what remains un-satiated. Mars ruling over this Venus, has just entered its place of detriment in Libra, and will stay in Libra until mid-November. It could be difficult to find lasting satisfaction right now, and it will be easier to purge than to take in even though we might be magnetized by intense situations, people or experiences.

Venus in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus on Saturday evening, breaking some taboos and freeing up the space needed within our relationships, while the Sun in Libra is being supported by Jupiter in Sagittarius;

The opportunity to redefine our alliances is here but it will take some shaking up and truth serum. Finding the equilibrium between our desire nature and what must be done to keep the peace, we are prompt towards honesty but it could create more problems than solutions. Decisions could feel difficult right now and the correct way to proceed elusive. Still, progress is being made. Pluto recently direct will exasperates or revitalize depending on how close you sit with power.

 

FULL MOON IN ARIES

The Full Moon in Aries rises on Sunday evening at 18:37NDT illuminated by the Sun in Libra. Mars in Libra rules over the Moon in Aries while Venus in Scorpio rules the Sun in Libra and both are indisposed and in aversion (they do not see each other). Jupiter in Sagittarius will trine the Moon and sextile the Sun at this time.

The push and pull of instinct versus reason, containment and release, darkness and light culminates with the Full Moon. There are two very distinct sound tracks playing at the moment and no easy ways to harmonize them, unless we are to simply move beyond them. Look to where Jupiter in Sagittarius is transiting in your chart for where to invest your energies pro-actively and make progress right now.

The Full Moon in Aries shines a dramatic light on our emotional and relational landscape and the imbalances found here, what lies between the raw and unbounded aspects of our vitality which crave direct experience with life, versus the polite and stable facades of the established order which allows us to function in the world.  Passion and prescribed codes of behaviour do not make good bed fellows and we could feel torn between revealing and concealing, between creation and destruction, between our impertinent impulses and the inherent balance born out of experience.

 

 

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 30th: Mystery Reflected

1924 Georgia O’Keeffe, Dark Abstraction

 

“At no other time then autumn does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Cézanne

 

The week begins with the Moon in Scorpio until Wednesday morning when she enters Sagittarius at 7:44am EDT. The Moon is in Sagittarius Wednesday and Thursday and will enter Capricorn Friday afternoon at 13:43. Moon is in Capricorn all weekend until Sunday night when she enters Aquarius Sunday night at 23:41. The New Moon in Libra on Saturday brought forth a new understanding in regards to ourselves and what we are capable of doing when we are supported and lifted by others. This week we take this renewed confidence born out of our connections and move forward with our own agendas.

There is an underlying relentless momentum which allows for the pushing and shaping of our desires and the manifestations of what laid hidden until now. We move forward to the steady rhythm of our heart as if the very next chapter of our existence depended on it. Eyes piercing the horizon for clues that will confirm our choices, Fall season forces us to sink deeper into the mystery. We have to let ourselves be possessed by shadows. The creative gold that arises from our exchanges gives us the strength to show up in the world.

Mid-week, Pluto turns direct after being retrograde since the end of April. A lot of the process we have been undergoing this past Summer has been about identifying where we invest our power and our time, and where we are losing it. Anything unsustainable, especially in regards to your own energy input is being clarified.  On Thursday, a few hours after Pluto turns direct, Mercury enters Scorpio. There could be an underlying obsessive thread running through the week. No stones are left unturned and this could be especially obvious when interacting with others.

The Sun and Venus are still in Libra and our connections with other people reflect parts of us that seemed inaccessible on our own. The solidity we need for our ideas and projects is renewed once we receive positive feedback. There could be a dependency on other people right now that seems out of balance and the willingness to sacrifice some of your own integrity or needs for the sake of keeping the peace.

Mars enters Libra at 12:22 am EDT Friday and the Moon enters Capricorn Friday afternoon signalling the first quarter Moon. The Moon in Capricorn squares the Sun in Libra, and we are confronted with the tangible realities of our emerging desires. Situations that have been initiated since the arrival of Fall are now being tested against structures that are already well established. Relationship tangles could be magnified as we come to a crossroad and weigh our collaborative efforts against our personal plans. Compromise and concessions might be necessary and the weekend has a sobering and realistic tone as the last rays of light give themselves to the arising darkness.

Some bargaining is necessary in order to balance our personal agenda with the needs and requirements of our alliances. We exchange and trade, we take some and leave some while flipping a coin to choose what seems like equal options. What we take with us and what we leave behind won’t matter in the end, but right now we are held captive by our need for others and the contracts that comes with them.

‘Autumn’ by Rainer Maria Rilke

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

as if orchards were dying high in space.

Each leaf falls as if it were motioning “no.”

And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.

We’re all falling. This hand here is falling.

And look at the other one. It’s in them all.

And yet there is Someone, whose hands

infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.