Goals & Daily Life

“I see that I’ve become a really bad correspondent. It’s not that I don’t think of you.
You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the “warehouse of good intentions”:
“Can’t do it now.” “Then put it on hold.” This is one’s strategy for coping with old age,
and with death–because one can’t die with so many obligations in storage.
Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.”
― Saul Bellow

 

The week begins with the Sun in Virgo and the Moon void of course in Libra until it enters Scorpio late Monday evening. Monday is a (parenthesis) before the week officially begins and an opportunity to sharpen our tools for the work that lays ahead of us. A necessary period of inner refinement, adjusting our compass and vision as we find ourselves oscillating between our instinctual-desire-nature and our rational-pragmatic-intellect.

Constructive actions in tandem with inspired insights permeates this week. There is a lot of juicy momentum and it could even feel as if things are moving waaaay too fast for you to catch a break. Productivity is high on the list right now, and as a result procrastination hangs like a shadow over our game plan.

The soul craves synthesis while the mind dissects every aspects of existence.

The Moon will travel in Scorpio until late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning when it enters Sagittarius. The Moon in Sagittarius all day Thursday (Jupiter’s day) applies to a conjunction with Jupiter. The First Quarter Moon happens at 13º Sagittarius this month when it squares the Sun at 13º Virgo.

The First Quarter Moon is a time of action or crisis when the plans that were laid at the New Moon in Virgo on the 30th of August are being challenged or are starting to gain traction. This First Quarter Moon brings attention to our big idea or vision and the execution of this particular vision or idea. We have to trust that we will get there but we also have to put in the efforts required to get there.

Perspective gets lost when we spend too much time on the details (Virgo). However it can also be hard to execute a big idea if we don’t delineate a practical way to get there (Sagittarius). You could feel overwhelmed by the amount of preparation necessary for the execution of your idea/goal, losing perspective on where you were going it in the first place. Or it could be that you are so taken by your big project that you totally brush over the details and neglect some important steps in the process.

The Moon in Sagittarius will be next to Jupiter at the time of the First Quarter Moon on Friday September 7th – giving us a huge boost of confidence and faith that ”everything will turn alright”. We KNOW what we have to do, but it doesn’t mean we have the discipline to do it. It’s one thing to know, it’s another thing entirely to repeat the process day after day to install a new routine, a new program that will lead us to a new helpful habit. There is a conflict between knowing and executing, between an idea and the implementation of that idea into a tangible process. Time and patience is required as nothing is born overnight and it’s a good idea to keep that in mind as you navigate Virgo season and find yourself going over everything that remains to be done. Be patient and be happy for the process, because every step of the process is what eventually leads you to the desired result.

The Moon enters Capricorn Saturday morning, and here we are again, back at the working bench, at the drawing table with our plans and our to-do lists, and the burden of all that remains to be done. Time is slipping away so fast, and there are still too many details to deal with. We are not quite as healthy, productive, efficient, and successful as we could be, and it could all be too obvious next weekend. The Moon travels in Capricorn next Saturday and Sunday, convincing us that there are vegetables to harvest and preserve, fire wood to split, renovations to do, and all kinds of work left to be done. Not the most relaxing weekend but a productive one I hope.

Most planets traveling in the Earth element (Taurus – Virgo – Capricorn)  means it’s a great time to get stuff done, but terrible for anxiety around status, work, income, discipline, and habits. Don’t compare yourself too much. You are exactly where you are suppose to be; trust your process.

“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”
― Neil Gaiman

WEEK OF AUGUST 26, 2019

JON KOKO – KARESANSUI

 

Out of perfection nothing can be made.
Every process involves breaking something up.
Joseph Campbell

And just like that, Virgo season is here, and this is definitely one of the most grounding time of the year when we can see the results and the reasons of the past. Not only do we have a stellium in Virgo (stellium: 4 or more planets in the same sign), the New Moon on Friday August 30th is positively supported by Uranus in Taurus. It is a time of traction and implementation for what is being birthed in your life. The new structures that are emerging on the horizon are starting to make sense and you can begin to see the tangible manifestations of your long held visions, the birth of a new awareness, a new reality.

The wish you whispered half consciously under your breath while sleeping is surrounding you. The faint light that guided you through the storm is now your illumination. There is a clarity about the events in your life and a reason for everything. Nothing is perfect but you might be able to accept that all the imperfect decisions has led you exactly where you are.

Witness your powers of manifestation for better or for worst.

Pixelated wood sculptures by Hsu Tung Han

Until the new moon in Virgo on Friday, we stand in the liminal darkness of the waning Moon, the dark of the Moon. Slowdown your pace, reflect, contemplate, clean, cleanse, purge, stretch, create space for the wisdom to enter, collect the strength from the Earth, lay low.

Monday: Moon in Cancer
Tuesday: Moon in Cancer – Moon enters Leo at 21:23 NDT
Wednesday: Moon in Leo
Thursday: Moon in Leo – Moon enters Virgo at 21:27 NDT
Friday: New Moon in Virgo 8:07am NDT
Saturday: Moon in Virgo – Moon enters Libra at 20:37 NDT
Sunday: Moon in Libra

The New Moon in Virgo takes place on Friday August 30th at 8:07am NDT/6:37am EDT. The New Moon signals the beginning of the work, a time of creation and implementation, of ”to-do” lists, of tangibility and manifestation, a time of taking advantage of the resources available to you, utilizing your space and body properly and efficiently. All the small actions that leads to the whole, it’s happening now. Your breath, the way you chew your food, your digestion, your posture. The superfluous will seem extra superfluous while you find a purpose for everything. Each little things in their place, there is a place for everything, and no space wasted.

The New Moon is linked to the revolutionary ways in which you approach the ordinary. Set your intentions, but don’t set them to high as to be discouraged. Plant your intentions in the realm of the possible, the tangible, the practical, something that will yield a satisfactory result down the road, every step counts, every action has meaning.

Wood sculpture by Yoshitoshi Kanemaki

“Your thoughts, become your words;
your words, become actions;
your actions, become habits;
your habits, become your character;
your character,  becomes your destiny.”

WEEK OF AUGUST 19, 2019

He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan,
carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life.
Victor Hugo

The week begins with the Moon in Aires. The Moon enters Taurus Wednesday at 00:38 EDT and will travel though Taurus until Friday morning when the Moon enters Gemini at 10:34am. The last quarter Moon happens at 0º Gemini, officially initiating the mutable Earth season with the Sun having just entered Virgo. The Moon travels through Gemini until late Sunday afternoon when it enters Cancer at 17:05 EDT.

This week, with 3 planets moving from Leo to Virgo we are getting a good glimpse of what the next month has in store for us. Mars left the sign of Leo for Virgo early Sunday morning and Venus follows suit on August 21st, leaving the brazen fires of Leo for the humbling pastures of Virgo. On August 23rd, the Sun leaves its domicile of Leo to enter Virgo, officiating the Mutable Earth season. However, with Mercury (ruling planet of Virgo) still in Leo, we are holding onto the golden rays and royal ways, and not entirely dedicated to the practical applications of our vision until Mercury enters Virgo on August 29th.

Mars →Virgo: August 18 – 1:17am EDT
Venus →Virgo: August 21 – 5:06am EDT
Sun →Virgo: August 23 – 6:01am EDT

THE PROCESS
With the Sun’s ingress into the Earth sign of Virgo, we begin the process of sorting out what needs tending. Virgo season brings our attention and focus on the many task that lays ahead of us, illuminating what needs to be organized, smoothed, resolved and eliminated for us to find proper footing. With the heavy influence of the Earth element in the next few weeks, our attention will be on the practical and tangible ways in which we can establish order in our daily lives and in our bodies. Simplifying, streamlining, and putting back the tools in their proper place, becoming aware of all the little ways in which we are not yet fully efficient, proficient and perfect. Anxiety is a shadow that looms large over Virgoan-type people, for there is always ways in which one can improve themselves, and this process is never done. Quality resides in the critical eye for better or for worst. Perfection is not a burden for the artisan, but a guiding principle informing his repetitive actions which over time becomes the perfect object. Practice makes perfect as they say.

THE MATERIAL
This year, we have a tight alignment of planets in the sign of Virgo which does not happen every year. This should greatly intensify the influence of the sign on our daily lives. Virgo is one of the three Earth signs considered in astrology to be primarily focused on the tangible and the practical necessities of material reality, the other two being Taurus and Capricorn.

Since we already have Uranus transiting in Taurus and Saturn/Pluto/South Node in Capricorn, the ingress of Mars, Venus and the Sun into the sign of Virgo this week will saturate the skies with planets in Earth signs. During the next few weeks, our attention will turn towards our material reality and how to improve it. We could find ourselves busy creating order out of the chaotic and disparate parts of our lives in order to improve it and be more productive. Productivity will be high on the priority list and you could find yourself overwhelmed with the work load while juggling all of your responsibilities. Procrastination will create more anxiety and I have seen many Virgo-type characters driving themselves mad with anxiety and stress while procrastinating. Don’t shy away from the work you have to do as this will surely release some of the inner tension.

This week, the transition of three planets from Leo to Virgo will be quite obvious as we find ourselves moving from the Fixed Fire season to the Mutable Earth season. In the Northern Hemisphere, Virgo season announces the end of Summer and the transition towards Fall. The preparation required for the return of the cold and the waning of the light prompts us to organize ourselves, and it is a time of movement and busy-ness. The structures in our lives will be vitalized and it’s a great time to organize your space and make it more functional. In the next couple of weeks, the emphasis is on our physical reality and tending to the smaller details of our existence like our body and our environment. However, the possibility of scattering ourselves through too many projects/avenues or being overly critical and preoccupied with perfection is a tendency to watch for during the next few weeks. It’s a good idea to temper the critical voice within you, and use this time to get ahead.

The Zodiac 1925 Ernest Procter 1886-1935

“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character… Would you slow down? Or speed up?”
–Chuck Palahniuk

Get lost and find your flow. Week of March 4, 2019

This week, we have Mercury stationing retrograde on Tuesday at  1:17pm EST. Mercury is retrograde for most of the month of March and even though there is no need to freak out about Mercury retrograde periods (since it happens 3 times a year), this one will be particularly ”foggy” as it is happening in Pisces (the sign of Mercury’s detriment) and Neptune will be quite active all month. Chances of missing important details increases and so are the chances of getting distracted. This month will be excellent for creative flow without too many rigid structures.

Wednesday, Uranus officially enters the sign of Taurus signalling a new era of technology, innovations, and breaking away from the status quo. Think back on how far you have come since 2011 to now (the time it took Uranus to travel through the sign of Aries) and how in may ways, you are starting a new chapter that is taking you further and further away from the person you were 8 years ago. Uranus ingress into an Earth sign can also bring some surprises this week; expect the unexpected.

Wednesday afternoon, a New Moon in Pisces will conjunct Neptune. This week is filled with impression and hunches as we get lured by half conscious visions of our hopes for the future. A New Moon signals the beginning of the Lunar Month. The seeds and intentions planted at this time will become visible around the Full Moon in Libra on the 21st of March. What is being fertilized/conceptualized at this time for you? Look at the House where Pisces sits in your birth chart for clues of where confusion and inspiration are likely to show their faces for you.

Thursday, the Sun conjunct Neptune; the fog machine is turn on high as we slip between fantasy, irrational fears, and wishful thinking. Neptune dissolves the shapes and boundaries of hard materialism. Is it all there is to reality? Or is something bigger at work here? Neptune gives a desire for transcendence; it makes us want to believe that there is more than meet the eyes. Neptune is the muse or the ghost. Neptune at its worst can turn the anxiety on high as we feel riddled with ungraspable fears, something just beyond our conscious awareness. Pisces season can also be a time of empathy, compassion, confusion or sadness as we can feel more vividly the pain of the world. A good season for generosity and compassion.

On a mundane level, ”fake news” will surely be a big thing this month so be careful about the information you ingest and be discerning! When possible, it’s a good time to tune out and practice meditation, mindfulness or simply go out in nature to bring you back to centre.

Have and excellent week and enjoy those Piscean Waters! 

NEW MOON IN VIRGO: ENDINGS & HEALINGS

New Moon in Virgo: 1:30am EDT (3am NDT) September 20, 2017.

Mercury, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

☿

The New Moon in Virgo comes to us on the threshold of the Fall Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. The beginning of this lunar cycle finds us in the liminal space between the brightness of summer and its imminent decay.

Two days after the New Moon on September 22nd, at 16:02 EDT, the Sun enters the sign of Libra and signals the beginning of Autumn.

ENDINGS & HEALINGS

The New Moon is often associated with the beginning of a monthly cycle and renewed vigor for the month ahead. Since this New Moon takes place in the last degrees of Virgo just 2 days before the Fall Equinox, she carries with her an air of finality and closure as oppose to new beginnings.

It is within the current endings that we will find the new beginnings taking shape. Something is being composted into a nourishing and fertilizing soil. However, we must appreciate this process fully and bid farewell to past fantasies and bewildering ideas that keeps us looking backward. To cross this seasonal threshold, something must be surrendered or given as a token gesture to those ideals and fantasies. It is in this paradoxical abandon that we shall receive the necessary healing for the next part of the journey and the accomplishment of our future goals.

OPEN WOUNDS

Under this New Moon in Virgo our wounds will take an incandescent glow calling to our attention what can’t be ignored any longer. The surfacing of these wounds could make us feel vulnerable but it will allow us to apply the necessary medicine. The pain which usually lies dormant under the surface of our skin will rise up and give us a clear indication of what must be healed. The remedies could be a bewildering blend of intuitive visions and practical applications. The most difficult task will be to rid ourselves of the intangible poisons and parasites.

Mercury, ruler of Virgo, presides over this New Moon and will be in exact opposition to Neptune at the time of the New Moon. Mercury began its retrograde motion on August 12 – in this exact part of the zodiac and opposing Neptune.

The train we have been riding since last month had Neptune coloured windows. When Neptune is involved, facts and fiction blend together creating a confusing cocktail of wishful thinking and unrealistic expectations. Under Neptune, we are intoxicated by an ideal and susceptible to delusion. At its best, Neptune gives a romantic tone to the object of desire, making us see what we want a see. Hopefully, the Sun in Virgo has helped us discriminate between what is achievable and what was mere fantasies. Regardless, in the days to come, we should slowly start to gain clarity on our current situation and any confusing scenarios we have been engaging with since the beginning of August will be seen for what they are. The New Moon in Virgo is also in exact opposition to Chiron; once the rose-coloured glasses come off, the truth could be hard to digest and the pain quick to locate. Be easy on yourself.

HONESTY & PRAGMATISM

Finally, remember that not everything can be solved at once. Patience and humility will be required for your perceived mistakes and failings; nothing is perfect in this world. Special attention must be paid to anything that requires fixing; whether physiological, spiritual or mechanical. Some of the keys you hold in your hands will heal what ails you and some of those keys will open dead-end doors. Pay attention to the repeating clues given to you as you cross the threshold between Summer and Fall.

 

Paintings by Zdzisław Beksiński and Magritte

 

I believe in Nature

I believe in the reality of Nature

Not the mechanical reality
of the nine-to-fivers
With their flawed calendars
and false clocks
searching for eternal youth

Not the one that destroys
the true rhythms of Nature
and feed on the worship
of sickness and plastic

I believe in the reality of Nature
Where all things have their place
Perfectly in sync with each other;
every moments are filled with Gods
feasting on each other

From the time I opened my eyes
To the time of my last breath
I kneel down at the altar of Nature
and worship the only true rhythms
that regulates her perfection

A point of saturation

Venus/South Node in Pisces at the moment. Have some compassion for yourself. It can feel like a strange mixture of love and disgust all at once. Some ugliness will surface and that’s fine. It’s a bit confusing and it might seem like the light is there but somehow just out of reach. Tolerance and patience for whatever state of mind you find yourself in will help. No need to jump to conclusion about your shortcomings or some other imagined faults. It might hurt a little but there is no need to nail yourself to the cross. You’re going to be ok.

 

Healing

The forest comforts me
I fall back on her branches
and she envelops me
when everything else fails
she is there solid and rooted
impassive although
infinite in her love
hiding in her boughs
with the tailed ones
the mother of all mothers
heals me

Moon in Pisces

Like the waves of the ocean, our moods are susceptible to the changing of tides. The social medias are becoming a sort of collective brain we tap into, to get the general ”socio-cultural weather”. This of course, is a very subjective experience depending on what type of news you read.

The friends you associate with on facebook, twitter, instagram and the pages you follow will generally dictate your news feed. Our experience of social media is curated to our own like and dislike.

We can apply the same ideas, to our perception of reality.  To a certain extent, we can only know what we know and experience life through the lens of our own standpoint. We live in a metaphorical ”fish bowl” believing it is the sea. We might intuit that there is more than meets the eye, but we can never be certain.

Albert Henry Collings (1858-1947) – The Fish Bowl

What keeps us believing that there is more?  What do we tap into when we connect to our higher ideals of compassion and trust? What is this all-encompassing feeling of faith?Where does our spiritual awareness comes from and how can it be such a strong guiding light while being so elusive? To know or understand something because of what you feel or sense rather than because of evidence.

The instability of the world tends to bring us back to faith very quickly. Shifting our perception from outer to inner, connecting to this mysterious and ever flowing river. We often do this through prayers and meditation but it can also be done very easily through music, art, poetry our whichever feeds your soul. We are all made of the same stuff but we vibrate to different tunes.

The Moon will be in Pisces for the next 2 days.  Tonight, she will square Saturn and meet Neptune, triggering the upcoming square. In astrology, the all-encompassing feeling of faith and the elusive but healing spiritual waters are the domain of Neptune. Neptune sometimes gets a bad rap since the planet is also connected with escapism, delusions and fantasy. It can go both ways.  In fact it can go in all the ways you can and cannot imagine.

How to
It is best to surrender to the Moon in Pisces, knowing that the overwhelming rainbows of feelings are only passing sensations/images. Use this window as an exercise in surrendering. Feed your soul the proper food. Music, poetry, dance, prayer, love, magic or whatever floats your boat. Know that the impressions you are getting at the moment might not be totally aligned with reality. This can be a creative aspect as long as you are aware that you might not be seeing the whole picture. There could be a big piece of the puzzle missing.

The upcoming Saturn/Neptune square cautions us against the total denial of reality. You will need to throw your anchor down somewhere. The urge to escape, love everyone, sacrifice yourself for peace, become an enlightened creature and heal the world, must be tempered with a good dose of pragmatism.  Watch the sensations that arises in the next few days while the Moon is in Pisces, take notes.

Those emotions/sensations/intuitions/illuminations/denials, will most likely need calibration against the hard concrete walls of Saturn soon enough.

 

A house without owners: A 12th House Poem

I live in the 12th house
Where the echoes are as vivid as dreams
Echoes of victory
reminding me
that nothing is forever but the dream.

Fool yourself once, fool yourself twice
It doesn’t matter.
The last step before relinquishing the body
is not for the faint of hearts.
You do not wonder here
You surrender.
All the bad decision summoned as an offering
An offering to the bad spirits who resides here.
Beyond the frontiers of the mundane,
beyond the frontiers of the known.
Contemplating nothingness

Decadence of the unconscious
and all that it entails.

Echoes of victory
are but a dream to remind you
that nothing is forever but the dream.
Power is useless in the 12th house
The light is dim, there is no path.
We go within and we go without.
Listening to the echoes, fooled once, fooled twice
It doesn’t matter.

In a house without owners
dining on solitude and wine.
Away from prying eyes
Praying
Drinking
Praying
Undoing