Full Moon in Aries - October 2011: Learning from the Slime Molds

This Full Moon lies on the 'relationship' axis - Aries/Libra - first/seventh houses. The first house and Aries, represents our relationship to ourselves ie our self-image whereas the seventh house and Libra represent relationships to others. Much of the discontent that is occurring in the world today is due to issues of self-image and relationship.

How so?

Capitalism and consumerism, which have led to destruction of the planet, flourish when people become convinced that they need something outside themselves to be okay. I want to emphasize SOMETHING. We DO need each other to survive. No question of that. BUT we don't need a new cell phone, car, pair of designer shoes.

By convincing us that we need stuff to be happy and acceptable, the advertising industry, at the service of corporations, has succeeded in making us weak, numb and/or addicted, so that we seek fulfillment by buying whatever they decide we need.

This is not by accident. It was by design. The advertising industry was employed by the government after the Great Depression to bolster consumer confidence, so that rather than holding on to their money, people would begin to spend again. Our economy and that of the world now in a 'global economy' depends on constant growth. Much like cancer, it cannot live unless it continues to expand.

Prior to the Depression, they worked on the hearts and minds of recent immigrants. Rather, they worked on the children of immigrants, encouraging them to buy stuff in order to appear modern and more American. Those teenagers, like those of today, were susceptible too. They were taught to reject their parents, traditions: religious and cultural, and thus become more part of the 'melting pot'. In other words, lose your history and individuality to 'fit-in better'.

This trend led to alienation from the matrix of family, religion, culture, resulting in 'the nuclear family', an isolated, independent entity that does not exist anywhere in the animal kingdom. Oh yes, did we forget that we, too, are animals? We cannot live in isolation. The nuclear family led to increased domestic violence, child-abuse, incest and many of the psychological traumas that we suffer from.

While we are encouraged to think in terms of 'abundance' especially in New Age movements, many of the resources of the Earth, such as water and land, are finite. There is a lot, but it is not infinite. Use it up, poison and pollute it and it is destroyed for centuries, perhaps forever. Constant growth is unnatural. Nature manifests in cycles of birth, growth, death and decay. Each part of the process leads to the next. Even decay feeds the next cycle - the rationale behind composting.

So, back to this Full Moon. Relationship is among the lessons we are here to learn on planet Earth. Libra is usually considered the sign of balance and harmony. What it really means is that these are the lessons to be learned. Balance can only occur between equals.

Our Bill of Rights says: all men are created equal. A condescension really. What it doesn't say is: while you may be created equal, the State, its policies, and the system that results from those policies, will make sure that you are neither born equal nor that you will ever have an equal shot at the brass ring.

While we are taught that this country was founded on religious freedom, make no mistake, this country was actually founded on the ambitions of the growing capitalists who wanted the freedom from the old entrenched social systems of Europe where kings and traditional elites, including those of the Church would not allow merchants turned capitalists to prosper beyond a certain level. Those who created this country wanted to freedom to exploit the resources of the newly discovered lands, without taxation or regulation by kings, etc. They sugar-coated it by including 'religious freedom'. The new religion of the founding fathers was capitalism.

So here we are. Occupy XXXXX! For the first time ever, people are realizing that we are unified on an issue that affects us all...or at least 99% of us. WE are all suffering the effects of the economic meltdown. All except the 1% for whom there is nothing going on. They are not even experiencing a blip. Rather than red states, blue states; radical or conservative; Christian or Pagan...We are seeing that we are ALL losing.

With Saturn conjunct the Sun in Libra right now, we are changing the structure of our consciousness to include the Other, realizing that we are all ONE - even in our diversity.

Even slime molds know this. Composed of individual cells which can exist completely on their own, they unite when necessary for survival. Once they have solved their problems, they revert to their separate existences. They have survived threats that resulted in mass extinctions for most other species. Can slime molds be more intelligent that US the great human race? Let's use this opportunity to go beyond the "distinctions and differences that divide" to unify behind the banner of 'Occupy Wall Street' and any other street that keeps us in fear, separation and despair.

There Are No Coincidences - Full Moon in Aries September 23, 2010

The Full Moon this month is on Sept.23, 6 hours after the Fall Equinox. It is said that times like these energetic gateways are opened. I call them portals.

At zero degrees Aries, it is the beginning point of the zodiac and thus is the start of a new cycle.


Just today, I scheduled my first Astrology class at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. It will take place next (Spring) semester. I have been wanting to leap into teaching astrology and was invited to do so today. This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to it joyfully.

It turns out that the Sun on this Full Moon is only 2 degrees from the Super Galactic Center (SGC) at 2 degrees Libra around which our Milky Way Galaxy turns. Saturday, September 25, I will be teaching a class on the Galactic Center (GC) according to Mayan belief. When I scheduled the class, I did not 'know' we were at that point. So, a class on the GC just a couple of days after passing by the SGC! WOW talk about portals.

Although the Sun crosses the point of the SGC every year, it is extremely rare for this to coincide with a Full Moon and in connection with four outer planets.

Stephanie Austin says, "The SGC functions as a homing beacon, a transmission of stellar intelligence streaming across millions of light years, impelling us to embody the energies encoded in our birth charts."

It takes courage to do that and Aries is all about courage. Consensus reality controls us more that we would like to admit. Even our rebellion against it is conditioned by it. What would we do if we were truly free? If we had unlimited choice?

The work I am doing now, after the recent Evolutionary Astrology conference in Denver, includes identifying those hidden fears and beliefs that keep us from our best manifestation.  Jeffrey Wolf Green says that nearly all of us are born with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to past life trauma or trauma experienced in the womb. The rest experience trauma some time in their early childhood years. This trauma serves both to condition us and to teach us. When acknowledged and processed, it can lead us to our greatest gifts. It is one of the factors that leads to evolution... the soul's purpose on Earth.

Another coincidence is that I am currently working on a chart reading for a person whose natal Sun is conjunct the Super Galactic Center. I likened his situation to that of a butterfly ready to leave the safety of the cocoon he has lived in for most of his life, spread his wings in the Sun and fly free and beautiful.

Stephanie Austin in her article in this month's The Mountain Astrologer (which I read after I received the image), quotes the Sabian symbol for this Full Moon: "In a collection of perfect specimens of many biological forms, a butterfly displays the beauty of its wings, its body impaled by a fine dart; the immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated life reveals." Well, I can do without the impaling part, but the rest is inspiring. In fact, impaling is part of what we need to shed at this time.

My client's birthday is September 26 and his life has been one of dedicated service to family and friends. He strives for beauty and harmony in all areas of his life.

There are so many indicators that this is the time for transformation for all of us. The Grand Cross we are all being affected by includes Jupiter/Uranus/Moon in Pisces/Aries on one corner, Sun/Saturn in Libra opposing, Pluto/North Node/Ceres in Capricorn squaring with South Node in Cancer opposing - 8 oppositions and 15 squares. Only the inner planets are not involved, although Mercury in Virgo trines Pluto and the North Node.

We are coming to the end of the Piscean Age, where we were taught to believe that we must suffer in order to grow, that being spiritually oriented meant we had to be poor and alone. Those days are over.

Saturn in Libra - Buy One Get One.

To celebrate Saturn's change of sign I would like to make the following offer: purchase any one of the astrology reports offered in the sidebar.... go down to find the links, and I will send you a second one of same or lesser value FREE! To honor Saturn in Libra, you might want to get the FRIENDS AND LOVERS, then a second one, like Opportunities, FREE. Take advantage of this offer until the end of November.

Saturn went into Libra today and I can already feel the change. Libra seeks to please and I can feel the cosmos asking me back into more accommodating relationship than we have had for the past 2+ years.

Saturn in Virgo was a task master for me. I already have plenty of Virgo is my chart with Ascendant conjunct Mars in Virgo I am really good at self-criticism. I really did not need the added weight of Saturn. When I am sat upon, I just go limp. It does not motivate me to do more. I don't fight back. Resistance is futile so why bother.

I feel a softening, a letting up of some of the pressure I've been under. I feel like I want to communicate again. For the past few months I have been questioning the meaning of life and my purpose in a very big way. Many deaths, including my 'big girl' Grace (cat). I went deep inside to process. Now, as we move into Fall and Winter, the traditional time for going inside, I want to express what I've found.

It's true that Libra can be critical and judgemental as well, but not right out of the gate. It tends to keep the negative stuff out of sight, like shoving it in a closet. If you want to fight and things get out of hand, believe me, Libra is right there with all the stuff that was in the closet right in your face, but it takes awhile before that happens. Libra can use the big guns, but prefers not to.

For the next couple of years or so, the job (Saturn always shows you the work to be done - in case you don't already know) will be in the realm of relationships. In Libra, this would be partnership, both intimate and business.

Saturn will ask us to define our relationships and to be clear as to who is doing what to whom. No more projection (a favorite past time of Libra). Are we clear about what we want from another person? Are they willing and able to give it to us? If not, how will be deal with that? If we decide to 'stay' anyway, we cannot blame the other person if they made their limitations clear to us. If they are vague or non-committal, are we going to accept that? If so, then, again, we cannot blame them.

Libra, as an air sign, seeks communication. But, let's face it, there are other ways to communicate besides talking. Facial expression, energy level, body language etc. communicate too. Rather than assuming that we understand each other, we might want to step out of our comfort zone and ask for an explanation.

Libra avoids conflict at any cost, but make sure the cost is not too high. Keeping the peace might feel good at one level, but are we going to be satisfied with that in the long run?

Sometimes we find out that all that silence and peace was actually a lack of caring or even an inability to care. It was not that they did not love you, they do not love anyone. Maybe cannot love at all. That is certainly not your fault. Nor was it your fault that you did not see it. There might be no one there behind the smile.

We have a couple of years to work on this. For those of you who have Pluto in Libra, you will have a Saturn/Pluto conjunction some time in this period. That should 'be fun'. Saturn might insist that something be done in the transformation department.

I feel there will be a lot of changes in the relationship department in the next couple of years. For those relationships that survive this transit and for those that are formed during this transit, there will be a lot more clarity and that is definitely a good thing.

Full Moon in Libra - April 9

Clearly, this Full Moon is strongly influenced by the recent retrograde of Pluto on April 4 and the retrograde motion of Venus which started March 15. At this time, Venus retrograde is square Pluto retrograde. I'm kind of glad I am in a relationship with someone who is following his bliss on his boat in Mexico right now. Otherwise, who knows what the fireworks might look like. LOL

On top of that, Saturn is still retrograde in Virgo. What all this means for me is that first we examine our values, then rather than rebuilding the things that are falling apart, we let them fall. We don't rebuild things that didn't work. We take this opportunity to build new structures. We need a whole new way of doing things. The time is perfect to let it go and start a whole new, sustainable, green way of doing things. How much more evidence do we need that the Earth is encouraging us to change our ways? Of course, the institutions that exist (for their own sakes) will do everything they can to justify their existence and keep themselves going. That is the nature and the problem with institutions. They are calcified fossils of ideas which were once new and fresh and alive. They are dead now. Bury them. Jesus said "let the dead bury the dead." Let us take this opportunity to create a new, vital world.

It does not take an astrologer to tell you that we are in challenging times. What astrology can tell you is that there are forces larger than any government, bank, insurance company, or other man-made institution at work now. Astrology provides a way of seeing cycles and patterns that are transpersonal. They affect everyone on this planet albeit in different ways depending on their awareness and connection to spirit. I do believe that one suffers less if they have an active spiritual life. Formal religions don't seem to provide much support these days because they tend to externalize and project, rather than encouraging people to take personal responsibility for their own thoughts and actions.

This Full Moon in Libra ruled by Venus opposes the Sun in Aries ruled by Mars. Traditionally, these are the archetypes of female and male. Thus, spring (in the
northern hemisphere) corresponds to the period when the fecundity of Nature surrounds us Christians celebrate the former ancient pagan rites of fertility through the holiday of Easter, represented by the risen Christ. The miracle of rebirth. The return of the life-giving light of the Sun.

Stephanie Austin in her article in The Mountain Astrologer, suggests we "take a risk" and "do something radically different" wherever 20 degrees Aries falls in your chart and "get by with a little help from your friends" where 20 degrees Libra falls in your chart. She also offers the Sabian symbols for these positions: Sun at 20 degrees Aries - "A young girl feeding birds in winter: overcoming crises through compassion." Moon at 20 degrees Venus - "A rabbi performing his duties; the ability to draw on the power of an ancestral tradition in order to serve and inspire one's fellow men." She asks what you yearn for and what is holding you back?

"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just lack of money or things." (Eric Butterworth)

Full Moon in Aries - Oct. 14

It's Full Moon time again. Now that I am posting about the full and new moon phases - they seem to happen so fast! This time it's a Full Moon in Aries.

Stephanie Austin, in The Mountain Astrologer, says Full Moons are power times. She says we can better see where we are coming from and where we need go.

I don't know about you, but I feel sort of blah. Lots of ideas, but not enough energy to manifest them. I can definitely feel the days shortening and the temperature dropped 30 degrees in one week. Already at night it's 36 degrees!

Austin says that since the Moon is in Aries, ruled by Mars and the Sun is in Libra, ruled by Venus, this Full Moon has Venus energy(compassion and love) facing Mars energy (individuality and courage). She suggests that the more we develop our Aries side, our ability to know who we are and what we want, the better we can do Libra, the art of relating to and learning from someone who is different.

I agree completely. Most people need others in their life to fill their own emptiness or make up for their own lacks. Rather than identifying and exploring their own ideas, they follow others like sheep. Their lives are unsatisfying and empty. Depression and despair follow when and if they finally realize their condition.

Austin suggests we look for where the Sun is in our chart - 22 degrees Libra - this is where you are being called to negotiate and see things from another point of view. The Moon, at 22 degrees Aries, is where you need to clearly express your desires and intentions.

For me, Libra is in the second house - my resources and what I value - and Aries is in the eighth house - investments and other people's resources. Okay, in light of this advice, I am willing to receive copious and unlimited amounts of other people's resources (money) to improve the quality of my life and permanently improve my net worth. How's that?