We have now completed the first spiral of Cycles of Healing (32 articles), laying the groundwork for linking the new moon with the Great Year Ages and all that involves. This second spiral will look at the new and full moon charts. If you are new to Western Sidereal Astrology, please read this article. I am using charts drawn up for Washington, D.C. and use sidereal whole sign houses. If you want to know how to use Cycles of Healing with each new moon for deep healing, read this article.
The forecast, as always, will affect individuals with natal planets or points in aspect to the planets and points covered below. To determine if these aspects will affect you personally, check your sidereal natal chart (the common tropical chart degrees will be way off and therefore useless – not apples to apples). To calculate your sidereal degrees, subtract 24° from your tropical degrees; this will be close, not exact, but good enough for our purposes. Sidereal astrology is where the planets actually are if you take the time to look up at the night sky.
Today is astronomical Beltane, with the sun midway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. A seemingly fiery month ahead with Jupiter, the north node and the Ascendant of this new moon chart in first house Leo; Mercury, Moon, Sun and Venus in 9th house Aries.
Sun/Moon at 22° Aries in the 9th house, exact at 3:30pm. Though this chart may initially look like a gung-ho, up-and-at-’em signal, we have five planets retrograde and that changes the available energy quite a bit. Past and future collide at a new moon and we have the opportunity for great changes in the little choices we make now. Our desire nature is up for inspection and we have a chance for course correction particularly because of all the retrograde energies. For specific information on the Age of Aries and suggestions on how to work with the energies this month, please read this article.
Mercury retrograde at 27° Aries 9th house. The highest planet in the chart, this Mercury retrograde insists on the imperative to revisit, reassess, and revise our philosophical and adventurous life, what we believe, and how it supports where we are headed. Intellectual and creative mental pursuits can be enhanced through reading during this retrograde time. Why not start reading the 100 favorite books of David Bowie for eclectic inspiration? We reflect on how we can appropriately communicate who we are now. Conjunct the new moon, this inner communion with the past helps us to be authentic and release what is no longer viable. It is wise to act through Self-knowledge rather than by default, or knee-jerk reactions to life. What are we called to reassess in our life and how can we implement it? Mercury stations direct on the 22nd of May.
Venus at 14° 9th house Aries opposes Juno at 11° Libra 3rd house. This is a time of wanting our freedom, not wanting to be tied down. We want to spontaneously explore, and feel – but we need to be responsible simultaneously. Beauty and art may be important for some; travel and exploration for others. Why not travel to a world-class art museum or exhibit for aesthetic and creative inspiration? Communication with romantic interests/spouses may be challenging. Keep moving toward inner freedom and self-sovereign exploration. Knowing what are our non-negotiable values in life is of paramount importance.
Mars retrograde at 12° 4th house Scorpio. What is the deep truth of our desire for a foundation in our lives? What are we willing to release to attain this? How does the re-evaluation of the action-oriented spirit in us show us our true direction? We do not need to look like anyone else in this world. Be real. Mars is not the warrior. Mars is desire. If aggressiveness is what we desire, we will get it in spades. If competition is what we expect, this world will surely supply it. What do we fear, what are our attachments and how can we move through this negative habit pattern to come to connect with our deeper Selves. This is what retrograde Mars encourages us to reflect upon. If we face what we discover, then when Mars goes direct, we become a better version of who we were meant to be through self acceptance and life will open up accordingly.
Jupiter retrograde at 19° first house Leo trines Pluto, with the north node and Ascendant exactly conjunct at 28°. This augers well for a transformation of our life trajectory. Take care to think before acting and put ourselves first (in the sense that we remain authentic). Are we treading on toes? Jupiter’s buoyancy may need to be toned down depending on how this is manifesting in our lives. Keep a healthy reality check-list and expand toward where we are drawn with patience (Saturn squares Jupiter). Keeping in mind the general energy of this 5-planet retrograde time, we don’t force circumstances to our timetable or fill our calendar with busy-ness. Personal change is an inner process first, then it spills over into our outer lives after integration. We are reflecting on how to express ourselves and our creativity, and also how we might include more playfulness into our lives. When Jupiter stations direct May 9th, we can expect our lighthearted discoveries to become more concrete. Look for opportunities.
Saturn retrograde at 21° Scorpio 4th house. Saturn gives us plenty of opportunity to inculcate patience and time to look at the matters of our foundation in the world. Do we actually have a foundation that is supportive of who we are becoming? Are we our foundation, or has someone else been given that role? Saturn retrograde will give us plenty of time to re-evaluate our circumstances and plenty of time to implement necessary changes. Don’t force anything. What we want one day may be anathema to us the next. Saturn opposes the chart’s mid-heaven and we may feel isolated and lonely and stay by ourselves. Or we may feel we can’t stand to be alone. Seek balance and do nothing out of neediness or habitual responses. Make informed choices. If this comes up for us, we go inside to feel the experience in all its discomfort. What can we learn from this? The discomforts in life present us choices. Will we go for a quick fix or a solid long-term one?
Saturn/Jupiter/Neptune (at 17º Aquarius) T-square – there can be serious issues around ideals vs. reality and how we navigate in the world. The use of mind altering substances may attract us and feel like a viable escape or exploration mechanism, but specially during this time, not such a good idea. We need to keep our wits about us and experience what is going on. Compounding these energies, we may be mentally restless and have difficulty accepting life as it is. If these things come up for us, we do well to remember it is an astrological aspect and will shift in time. It is here to give us an opportunity to look at deep issues within and to deal with them appropriately. The challenge with this T-square is to accept we don’t know what the future holds and to trust our process as it unfolds. Personal truth and flexibility will be a key strategy to cultivate and use as foundational grounding during this aspect.
Uranus at 28° Pisces in the 8th is exactly conjunct dwarf planet Eris, the Goddess of Discord, through May and June with repercussions (and retrogrades) over a longer period of time. This last occurred in 1927 (see below for key events of that year suggesting the areas where current potential may be enacted). This is the Big News for 2016-17. This conjunction will provide a super Uranian energy that will ultimately shift the focus from the collective (Pisces) to the individual (Aries) as Uranus moves into Aries next year. Uranus will retrograde almost on the cusp this summer, moving definitively into Aries April 2017. We will likely see a new definition emerge of both the collective and the individual to enact necessary changes in groups such as governments, corporations, and institutions of all kinds. This will be ongoing as Uranus moves slowly and change will no doubt come in sudden, alarming world events during Uranus’ transition through Aries that ends in April 2025. We will likely see the initiative of individuals become more powerful than they have been, and it is hoped this change will reflect the needs of Gaia and those who dwell upon her rather than rampant greed as is currently the case. Is is more than likely events will cause our collective reality to shift dramatically and perhaps appear negative at first, before evolving into a more positive scenario.
The Story of Goddess Eris
Eris was the daughter of Goddess Nyx, the Dark Night. In the Greek myth, the future parents of Achilles invited all the Olympians to their wedding, but not Eris, as she was the Goddess of Strife. To get her own back, Eris dropped a beautiful golden apple into the wedding party with the words, For the Fairest, inscribed upon it. This created quite a stir. Who was the fairest? They all began to argue. Zeus appointed Paris of Troy to make the choice. Aphrodite secretly promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta, if he chose her. Paris did choose Aphrodite, and his subsequent abduction of Helen started the Trojan War.
This story has similar elements to the Garden of Eden expulsion after Eve ate the Apple of the Tree of Knowledge, and of the much later Pandora’s Box story. It is a patriarchal tale of blaming woman for the horror caused by patriarchal greed, arrogance and desire. The archetype Eris causes us to choose, She does not make our choices or create discord. It is our choice that causes suffering when we choose in ignorance, selfishly. We will be getting opportunities to make important choices with this Uranus/Eris aspect. May we have illumined sight to choose wisely.
World Events of 1927
- The world population was 2 billion (it is presently set at 7.5 billion)
- The German economy collapses. This destabilization aided Hitler’s rise to power.
- After the acquittal of fascists for the murder of a worker and an 8-year-old boy, workers riot in Vienna then call for a general strike in efforts to prevent civil war. Riot police killed over 100 workers.
- Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party and Stalin is now in control. This leads to more violence and tyranny.
- Charles Lindbergh makes his famous non-stop solo trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris.
- The first all-electronic television is demonstrated by P. Farnsworth.
- The CBS Corporation is formed and goes on the air with 47 radio stations.
- Fritz Lang’s Metropolis premieres as does the first talking motion picture, The Jazz Singer.
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is established.
- Isadora Duncan, pioneer dancer, is strangled to death as her scarf gets caught in the wheels of a sports car in which she is a passenger.
- Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is introduced.
- The Big Bang Theory (of how the Universe was created) is proposed.
- Cristero War in Mexico; Military rebellion in Portugal; riots and unrest in China; US at war in Nicaragua
- Earthquakes of 7.0 – 7.7 magnitude in China, Japan, Jordan, Alaska, Chile, USSR, Indonesia and Argentina. There are many smaller ones.
Pluto retrograde at 23° Sagittarius 5th house. We are being given the chance to re-evaluate how we have fun, and how we might be able to lighten up and not take life so seriously. This month we find our greatest transformative opportunities come through creative endeavors where we get lost in the project, thoroughly enjoying ourselves by forgetting the outside world for a time. These experiences can teach us helpful strategies to implement in the future when we integrate what we’ve learned. Our inner philosophy, interests, and inspirations may shift during this retrograde period. Be open to the potential revitalizing action of Pluto that is fully supported by Jupiter in first house Leo.
Void Houses:
2nd house Virgo – travelling and learning could be compelling. Take care not to overstretch financially, and then enjoy foreign lands first hand or via armchair exploration through books. Whatever you are drawn to may be helpful at a later date. Just enjoy without expectation and fully immerse in the unfamiliar. We do ourselves a great service if we don’t second-guess ourselves. Support of the refugees fleeing from injustice around the world would be an appropriate way to flow with this energy.
6th house Capricorn – A repetition of the previous full moon chart – what lessons are we still struggling with? We may feel more secure operating from home base, so try to be home a little more if possible. This can support clearing and releasing potentials too. Companion animals can be supportive of our secure and happy feelings around the home environment. But if we are feeling poorly, we may prefer to suffer in silence. Use discrimination and consult the appropriate health care practitioner if needed!
11th house Gemini – We could feel the need to connect with like-minded individuals and may even create (or join) an opportunity, or group, in which to share ideas with others with whom we resonate. If this energy is active in our life, we can go ahead with confidence. The operative word is ‘sharing’.
12th house Cancer – the fine balance between devotion and fanaticism may be activated within us or from the outside in our lives. Always balance ‘righteous’ feelings with rational checks to determine if we are forcing our beliefs onto others or feel confident enough within ourselves not to need to convert anyone. If this energy comes from outside, knowing ourselves well enough not to get entangled is key.
In summary, we do well to be still enough to listen to our Indwelling Friend, heed our intuition, and feel into what new seeds have been planted at this New Moon. Engaging with what interests us, without thought of the fruits of these labors, allows us to cultivate trust, faith and a personal relationship with ourSelves that will take us a long, long way in an authentic life that is very worthwhile.
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- Full Moon in Sidereal Aquarius August 18, 2016 - August 18, 2016
- Lammas New Moon in Sidereal Cancer August 2, 2016 - August 2, 2016
- Full Moon in Sidereal Capricorn July 19, 2016 - July 19, 2016
