You Are What You Eat - Full Moon in Cancer

This up-coming Full Moon in Cancer, January 19, sort of crept up on me. Although it is still officially winter, I can feel the energy of Spring. I think it is due to the up-coming ingress of two planets into Aries - Jupiter January 22, Uranus March 12.

Time is moving faster as Jupiter moves into Aries, soon to be followed by Uranus.

Projects that I have had on a back burner for months are suddenly manifesting. My Virgo ascendant keeps saying "not ready! wait! stop!" But my progressed New Moon in Gemini in the 10th house is ready to roll.

First new offering is my Pluto Through the Houses Course. A four week course featuring Pluto as viewed through the Evolutionary Astrology perspective.

Each week we will cover three house/sign archetypes. You have the option of taking the whole course for a discounted price, or just the one/ones that relate to you.

Everyone must take the Introductory class, which covers the basic principles of Evolutionary Astrology and the role Pluto plays in the chart. It will be offered three times so that you have a chance to take it before the Course starts in April.

The dates for the Introductory Class are:

Sunday, February 27, 2-4
Saturday, March 5, 2-4

They will be offered at the Songbird Community Healing Center in Cotati.

The four week Course will be first and third Saturdays of April and first and third Saturdays in May. April 2 and 16, 2-4pm and Saturday May 7 and 21, 2-4pm.
Each class is $25.00 or $90.00 for all four.
The Introductory Class is $15-$25 sliding scale

Register here at the PayPal button in the sidebar or through the Songbird Center website.

Now on to this Full Moon. Cancer, ruled by the Moon often represents the Mother or the Nurturer. That which sustains life so that it can reach maturity (Capricorn).

Stephanie Austin in The Mountain Astrologer says, "The first water sign (Cancer) teaches about feelings, family and food; how emotions function as our spiritual GPS; the importance of where, how, and with whom we live; and what helps us to grow."

It is important that she connects spirituality to emotions. In the West at least, we often connect spirituality with thought and the mind. We believe, often unconsciously, that emotions are connected with the body, which in the Christian tradition, is often considered the source of evil. Actually you cannot separate any of it. It is all a system - the body affects the mind, the mind the emotions, the emotions the body. What came first - the chicken or the egg?

Spiritual technologies that seek to control the mind and thought often leave out the next crucial part. It is not the thoughts themselves that affect us, but their relationship to emotions. If you have a thought and it is neutral...then no effect. But if a thought sparks an emotion (which it often does) then you have a bodily response and that can be detrimental to your health and well-being.

It might sound indulgent to say that being happy is good for you... but it's true! Being happy can be a result of gratitude, it does not mean you just bought a new Lexus!

Happiness is not dependent on your status or accomplishments although Hollywood and Madison Avenue have learned how to manipulate us so well, we now associate happiness with whatever they tell us we should have, be or do. They learned early on how to control us and they do. Most people are totally unaware of this type of programming.

Lately I have been watching T.V. a lot because I have been visiting an elderly relative. I have not had T.V. in my home for nearly 17 years because of where I live. I had heard horror stories about what has been going on there, but I had no idea how bad it had gotten. After a couple nights of watching T.V. I began to have an uncontrollable desire to eat. Being the analytical person I am, I sought an explanation for this insatiable hunger. I realized that it was due to frustration. Watching T.V. made me feel powerless. The one thing I could do, was run to the kitchen during every commercial break and grab something, ANYTHING to eat. I was eating stale crackers!

Why frustrated? One thing was the flashing images... they have speeded everything up. There was no time to process what I was seeing. Just as I would begin to wrap my mind around something, the image changed. I never got to see what the result was or even what happened next. Some shows were extremely bad. The worst I saw was Inside Edition. They spent more time saying what they were going to cover than actually covering it. It was hard to tell what was the content of the show and what was an advertisement. After awhile, it didn't matter. It was all sound and action bites, which left me 'hungry' for the meal....which was in the kitchen.

So we have come full circle to Cancer (which rules the stomach) and food...that which nourishes us.

We have to learn to eat what is good for us, not what is dished out by the media. We need to turn the electronics off. We don't have to take it in. We need to feel the effects of the things we consume...whether it be ideas, food, images, sounds - whatever. Limit or reject that which feels toxic, because it probably is to you. So what if people say "you are too sensitive." How can you be too sensitive? Especially if you have to 'toughen up' to withstand it?

"You are what you eat" was a slogan that came out at the end of the 50s. It was probably part of a T.V. ad (ha!ha!). But it is true. And it refers not only to food but to all forms of energy that enters your body.

It is especially important now that we are going through this huge energetic shift to feel the effects of everything and anything you are exposed to and to limit or stop contact with whatever makes you feel sick.

Learn to take care of yourself. Don't ingest poison in any form.

Between the Eclipses - January 4, 2011

The Solstice Lunar Eclipse in the early hours of December 21, was a very powerful experience for me. I went out to Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast. The ocean was turbulent. The weather alternated between heavy rain/overcast to open sky. I got to see it all.
As I stood looking straight up at the sky, I saw the Mayan Sacred Tree in the sky with the Three Stone Place of Creation. The Moon was right on my natal Uranus, the Sun (under my feet) was conjunct the Galactic Center and my natal Jupiter. I truly felt aligned with the Cosmos. I saw how my life has been guided my the Maya for some 40 years. They first called to me in 1970 when I was an anthropology major.

In February I will give my talk on Ek'Waynal at Songbird Center. Check out their website and calendar for details. Go to my 2012 blog to read more about the Maya and their calendar.

The up-coming Solar Eclipse on January 4 at 13 degrees Capricorn squares Saturn (the ruler of Capricorn) at 16 degrees Libra. This signals a need to establish new goals that include justice and above all, fairness. With so many people suffering economic loss, how can our government continue to favor the rich? I found out that a government agency laid off 80% of its staff, who are now collecting unemployment while no one is in the office to do the work. Does it make sense to pay people not to work when there is so much work to be done? What is the point to that? Most people would prefer working rather than being 'on the dole'. It affects self-esteem and mental health.

I witnessed a total Solar Eclipse while living in New Orleans in the 80s. When the Sun was totally occulted, the atmosphere became magical. The light quality was like just after sunset, but it sparkled with silver spangles and no, I was not "under the influence". It was an experience I have never forgotten.

Solar Eclipses occur in 19 year cycles, so the last one we had a this degree of Capricorn was on January 4, 1992. Think about what you were doing then (who can remember that long ago?), to see what is coming up again for completion or advancement.

This Solar Eclipse is also conjunct Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky. Approximately 14,000 years ago, it was the Northern Pole Star. The Babylonians called Vega the "Messenger of Light". In ancient Egyptian cosmology, Vega was associated with Maat, the goddess of divine wisdom, balance and order. Our words "mother", "matter" and "material" all come from Maat, who resides over Divine Order. After death, Maat used a feather to weight the hearts of deceased souls to determine their readiness to evolve to the next dimension.

Could it be that, just as in ancient Egypt, Maat will be the one who moves us to the next dimension as prophesied by the ancient Maya? Moving us through the wormholes of the two eclipses. If so, then we must 'lighten our hearts' so that they are not heavier than a feather. This means ridding ourselves of resentment, fear, hatred, doubt, grudges etc. Forgiving all that has happened to us and accepting that it all occurred for the progress of our soul.

The Sabian symbol for this eclipse at 14 degrees Capricorn states that "An ancient bas-relief carved in granite remains a witness to a long-forgotten culture; the will to unearth, in our culture as well as in any culture, what has permanent values, and to let go of non-essentials."

I want to leave you with a quote I got off Facebook which is in line with this eclipse: "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come." Joseph Campbell