|
Today the Moon in Libra makes a trine to Mars in Aquarius. Solidarity and justice are brought into generative relation to the drive to assert new ways of living in the world as a collective. Libra describes different perspectives and experiences brought together in ways that are balanced and just, and Mars—applying to Uranus in Taurus—propels us toward bold, revolutionary ways of being in struggle together. Mercury in Pisces makes sextiles to Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn, inviting us to communicate what we need to sustain our long-term growth and to seek out the messages that reconnect us to the depths of our own power. Finally, the Moon moves into opposition to the Sun in Aries, culminating in the Full Moon of this lunation cycle. In Libra, this Full Moon draws us toward connection and interdependency that honors the power of our differences. Audre Lorde writes, “Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening. Only within that interdependency of different strength, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate, as well as the courage and sustenance to act where there are no charters … Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.” Beneath the light of the Full Moon, how can you reach into the differences between us as a source of connection and not separation, a site of creativity where we each bring our strengths and remain responsible to supporting one another in new and unforeseen ways? 
0 Comments
This is a relentless day for the Moon in Virgo as it moves through oppositions to Neptune and Mercury in Pisces, and trines to Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn, before ingressing into Libra. Now is the time for giving physical form to the dreams and fantasies about which we have been speaking. What small, practical steps can you take today in order to begin to live into the life that you imagine? This may be a slow, durational process, but if you are deliberate today in how you are laying foundations for what is yet to come, you become a source of power for your future self who can reach down deep and draw on the resources you are putting into place right now. As the Moon moves into Libra, ruled by Venus in Gemini, we may become more aware of the necessary way in which we must rely on one another. Libra and Gemini are both relational signs, reminding us that interdependence is more resilient than attempting to be self-sufficient. adrienne maree brown writes, “The idea of interdependence is that we can meet each other’s needs in a variety of ways, that we can truly lean on others and they can truly lean on us. It means we have to decentralize our idea of where solutions and decisions happen, where ideas come from.” The Moon then moves through a trine to Saturn in Aquarius then a trine to Venus in Gemini. Saturn reminds us to slow down, practice patience, and commit to long-term processes. Venus draws us toward union, into loving exchanges in which we can ask for what we need in mutually supportive ways.  Today the Moon in Virgo makes a trine to Uranus in Taurus. We are all facing radical change, disruptions, and upheavals in the material practices, habits, and organization of our daily lives. How we handle and make use of available resources in order to take care of ourselves and one another is undergoing a major revolution. As we move through the conditions of this pandemic, yes, it is hard. Yes, we are facing new challenges every day. And we are also being given the opportunity to develop new, more ethical distributions of resources and processes of collective care that have the capacity to not only sustain us through global and local encounters with COVID-19, but also to reshape how we live in the world in the months and years to come. Remember what adrienne maree brown writes in Emergent Strategy: “what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.” As you move through your day today, what can you put into practice at the small scale in response to this immense disruption that has the potential to set the patterns for whole systems in the days ahead?  Today Venus in Gemini makes a trine to Saturn in Aquarius, inviting us to develop the structures we need in order to support us in practicing open, honest communication. Saturn is dignified in its domicile of Aquarius, providing a steady foundation on which to examine and shape the boundaries we need in order to love well. The Moon ingresses into Virgo with reception from Mercury in Pisces. With the Moon in Virgo, we may be drawn toward optimizing the management of our material resources and the efficiency of our daily lives—which could be helpful under the conditions of quarantine and pandemic. But with the Moon’s ruler in Pisces, remember to prioritize allowing yourself to feel the immensity of this situation and craft practices for processing our personal and collective emotional lives as well. The Moon in Virgo makes a square to Venus in Gemini, and we may find ourselves pushing through conflict and compromise between how we are organizing our lives and how we are communicating with those we love. Finally, Jupiter makes the first of three conjunctions to Pluto this year. Following the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in January which asked us to face the operations of power that we are rejecting, to which we are saying NO, the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction asks us what forms of power do we want to affirm? To what sources of power do we want to say YES? I recall Audre Lorde writing, “In order to perpetuate itself, every oppression must corrupt or distort those various sources of power within the culture of the oppressed that can provide energy for change. For women, this has meant a suppression of the erotic as a considered source of power and information within our lives.” Inasmuch as intuitions and structure of power are failing us repeatedly throughout this pandemic, Lorde’s writing reminds us that there are sources of power that have been corrupted and distorted in order to maintain oppressive social systems. This first conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto asks us to begin to investigate what sources of power have been repressed within our bodies, lives, and cultures, and how might we begin to affirm and expand our access to such powers?  Today Venus ingresses into Gemini, where it will remain until August 7. In Gemini, Venus brings attention to how we are communicating in our relationships, how we are creating opportunities for an open and honest exchange of ideas, and how we are cultivating curiosity about the thoughts and perspectives of our partners, friends, and loved ones. Alain Badiou writes of love, “What kind of world does one see when one experiences it from the point of view of two and not one? What is the world when it is experienced, developed and lived from the point of view of difference and not identity? That is what I believe love to be … is a construction, a life that is being made, no longer from the perspective of One but from the perspective of Two.” As Venus spends the next four months in Gemini, we might ask what it means to construct and live a life from the perspective of more-than-one. The Moon in Leo makes a trine to its ruler, the Sun in Aries. This trine inspires courageous action and bold revelation, making visible what has been hidden, lighting ablaze what has been in the shadows. Where might you need to generate more illumination in your life right now? Tonight, Mercury makes a conjunction with Neptune, inviting us to give voice to our dreams, to speak with figments and fantasies, to converse with those who dwell beyond our ordinary realities. It could be a time for automatic writing, for reading poetry, and listening for messages from beyond the veil of rationale thought.  Today the Moon in Cancer moves through oppositions to Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn. How can you balance your immediate, instinctual needs right now with also investing in long-term growth that is unfolding in ways we cannot yet predict? How do you center and trust the wisdom of your own body when confronting authority that potentially represents the interests of powerful institutions rather than your own well-being? The Moon then makes a sextile to Venus in Taurus, inviting us to reach out to those we love, to share our needs with one another and to show up in the ways we can to meet one another’s needs. The Moon then ingresses into Leo, and we may feel emboldened to live courageously at our own edges. But within the first several degrees of Leo, the Moon opposes both Saturn and Mars in Aquarius. If you encounter resistance or conflict when showing up more fully as your authentic self, get curious about the source of that resistance or conflict. Is it coming from rigid external systems or is this the deep discomfort of internal patterns being asked to operate in a new way? As the Moon makes a square to Uranus in Taurus, we may feel shoved into new processes and practices that break from our established patterns. As Brené Brown offered on a recent episode of Unlocking Us, “Normalizing discomfort—learning how to stay standing in the midst of feeling unsure and uncertain—that’s the foundation of courage. Imagine what it would be like to know that you can get through something that’s vulnerable and uncomfortable, that you have what it takes to survive the cringey, award moments … knowing that we have the strength to survive those moments and come out on the other side, with new information, new ideas, new habits, new skills—that’s how we get braver with our lives and with our hearts.” If you are moving through new experiences that are challenging your vulnerability and your courage, remember that this is temporary and it is how you get braver with you heart and your life.  Today the Moon in Cancer moves through a square to the Sun in Aries, entering the waxing quarter phase. Both dignified—the Sun in its exaltation and the Moon in its domicile—this aspect challenges us to pursue bold and courageous caretaking. In Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines, Cynthia Dewi Oka writes, “The home is not a private resource that we draw from to do the real revolutionary work ‘out there.’ It is the front of human sustenance that is constitutive of hetero-patriarchal, white supremacist capitalism and its limits … At this historical moment, we need to become skilled at mothering. There will be no liberation without us knowing how to depend on each other, how to be encumbered with and responsible for each other.” As many of us continue to learn how to do revolutionary work from our homes, how can we practice care and interdependency in ways that challenge the oppressive systems that operate all around and throughout us? The Moon then makes trines to Mercury and Neptune in Pisces. Now may be the time to ask for things we need that we haven’t known how to ask for before, and to dream of new experiences of home-making and caretaking, mothering ourselves and one another. When the home becomes the site from which we do so much of our work in the world, how might we re-imagine what a home can be and how we want to create it?  Today the Moon ingresses into Cancer, its domicile where it has access to the resources it needs to support us in cultivating experiences of safety, security, nurturance, and care. Then Mars makes a conjunction to Saturn in Aquarius. In Hellenistic terms, both of these planets deny or negate, and together, they can describe a driving, persistent refusal. In more modern terms, Mars describes action, advancing, and fighting for that which we desire. Saturn describes diligence, duration, limitation, and constriction. It could be that today holds particular blockages to what you are trying to accomplish or refusals for the actions you are trying to take. It could also be a time for focusing your willpower and drilling down, channeling your energy and momentum into whatever small or limited space you are given in order to insist on change. The Moon in Cancer then makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. Uranus can be destabilizing, but the sextile is a helpful aspect. It may be that under our current conditions, you will be challenged to create practices of cultivating care and safety in new ways. If your usual sources of comfort are not immediately available or your access to security feels compromised, how might this situation provide the push to innovate new pathways into experiences of security and comfort?  Today the Moon in Gemini makes a square to Neptune in Pisces. With Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, already in Pisces, this describes magical thinking or communication feeling more inscrutable. The implications of our curiosities may seem unfathomable, and the direction of imagination may be more available than reason—which could be challenging if there are ideas that need to be conveyed with clarity today. Then Mars ingresses into Aquarius, which puts Mars no longer in the sign of its exaltation and once again co-present with Saturn. With both malefics moving through Aquarius—a sign that describes the systems and societies we can imagine coming into being as the old world orders pass away—the next six weeks no doubt hold challenges for building and sustaining connections and collectivity. Mars is the planet of action but also severing and separating. As we move through unprecedented periods of physical isolation and varying degrees of separation from one another, it becomes even more important that we be willing to invent, innovate, and practice new structures with which to support our basic needs for connection.  After so many aspects yesterday, today the Moon in Gemini makes a sextile to the Sun in Aries then a square to Mercury—its ruler—in Pisces. The Moon is in its waxing crescent phase, increasing in light, as it receives the light of the exalted Sun. The Sun in Aries is heroic, a sign of greatness, describing the kinds of esteem and respect often conferred on renowned individuals. In Gemini, the Moon puts such heroic luminosity into dialogue, into social connections, and with Mercury in Pisces, invites us to reflect the light of grand individualism back through stories of collective brilliance. As Angela Davis writes, “Since the rise of global capitalism and related ideologies associated with neoliberalism, it has become especially important to identify the dangers of individualism. Progressive struggles—whether they are focused on racism, repression, poverty, or other issues—are doomed to fail if they do not also attempt to develop a consciousness of the insidious promotion of capitalist individualism.” As we watch the light of the crescent Moon waxing in the sky above us, as we reach out to one another through social media and digital dialogues, may we challenge ourselves and one another to tell stories of greatness that are distributed, communal, and emergent from across and between—in ways that are insistently irreducible to solitary persons and individual figures. We may not yet know how to tell such stories; we may struggle to put these realities into words. But as Donna Haraway offers, “It matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with.” How we tell these stories today creates worlds in which we live tomorrow.  Today is full of aspects in the sky. In the dark hours before dawn, we move through one of the most auspicious aspects of the year: Venus in its domicile in Taurus perfects a trine to Jupiter in Capricorn. Although Jupiter is in its fall, the trine brings the two benefics together, then the Moon—exalted in Taurus—moves through a trine to Jupiter and a conjunction with Venus. Love, the abundance of more-than-enough, and the body are all sharing the qualities of receptive earth. Then the Moon moves through trines to Pluto and Mars in Capricorn, asking how we can be well in the midst of the destruction or abuse that we are facing. Joanna Macy writes, “The one question threading through my life here on this beautiful Earth is about how to be fully present to my world—present enough to rejoice and be useful—while we as a species are progressively destroying it … For when you see the world as lover, every being can become—if you have a clever, appreciative eye—an expression of that ongoing, erotic impulse. It takes form right now in each one of us and in everyone and everything we encounter…” How might we move with this Earth differently—particularly when we are the cause of so much earthly destruction—if we approach it as lover, if we are present to the world, ourselves, everyone and everything we encounter as an expression of an ongoing erotic impulse? As Venus makes a trine to Pluto, how can you access the deep resources for power within that erotic pulse? The Moon ingresses into Gemini and directly into a trine to Saturn in Aquarius. With Mercury—the ruler of Gemini—in Pisces, thinking and communication may be challenged. Saturn reminds us to move slowly, deliberately, creating the structures that are necessary to support effective social connection.  Today the Moon in Taurus makes a sextile to Mercury in Pisces. Then right at midnight eastern time, the Moon makes a sextile to Neptune in Pisces. In M Archive: After the End of the World, Alexis Pauline Gumbs writes, “this is what it takes to cool the planet. hold the world together. protect the mysteries (despite the surface violence. and the pollution you try to bury in your heart). this is what it takes. the strength of no separation. the bravery of flow. the audacity of never saying this is me, this is not you. this is mine, this is not yours. this is now, this was not ever before. if you listen, each drop is saying always always. which is homonym with right now right now. listen to the ocean let go and become one. let go and remain depth. let go and just be everywhere. salt particles aligned with the stars in the sky.” As the Moon moves through these sextiles to Mercury and Neptune, how do we speak in the voice of no separation, the bravery of flow? Listen to the oceans within your body as you read these translations of the sky. What can the waters of your own body teach you of ours and always and right now and be everywhere? The messages of water are speaking from within your body to remind you that even in the midst of so much isolation and distance, you were never separate. We were always everywhere.  Today the Moon in Aries squares its ruler Mars in Capricorn. This is a challenging aspect for the Moon in the final degrees of Aries as Mars overcomes with the force of severing and separating. Starting the day with a description of potential bodily harm is cause for caution and care. Then the Moon ingresses into Taurus, the sign of its exaltation, where it is co-present with its ruler Venus. In Taurus, the Moon draws us back down to stable ground, where we can feel held and supported in tending to our physical needs, whether recovery, repair, or pleasure. The Moon moves almost immediately through a square to Saturn, a firm insistence to slow down, address our fears, make a plan, and move deliberately toward that which can support us. But even the best laid plans can go awry: as the Moon separates from Saturn, it applies to a conjunction to Uranus, destabilizing and disrupting the careful plans we had put into place. This conjunction can describe spikes in anxiety in the face of uncertainty, but know that this will pass, and the Moon has a lot of support in its exaltation with reception from Venus. It is likely that all you need in order to be well is actually already available to you. If you find yourself encountering fears or anxieties, return back to this reassurance that you have so much more of what you need right now than whatever your fears are telling you. Drop your attention in deep. Feel the stable earth of your bones supporting you from beneath your flesh. Lay your body on the ground and feel the whole earth rising up to meet you.  Following yesterday’s New Moon, today the Moon makes no aspects for most of the day. Tonight, the Moon makes a square to Jupiter and then Pluto in Capricorn. The square from Jupiter is a condition of bonification in Hellenistic astrology, offering the support that is available from fallen Jupiter. Aries has a tendency to burn hot and fast and then exhaust the available fuel needed to sustain follow-through and completion. Jupiter in Capricorn reminds us to temper our impulses with both attention to our long-term goals and gratitude for the resources that we can access. The Moon square Pluto may bring up compulsive or obsessive behavior, potentially driven by feelings we have buried or repressed, such as shame, guilt, jealously, fear, or despair. There can be a destructive or self-destructive quality to this aspect. But Pluto is also the keeper of the underworld, processes of death and regeneration. How might you use this time when we are still in the dark of the Moon to let go of those feelings that drive your behavior in ways that are not in alignment with who you want to be? What would it require to compassionately but emphatically put those feelings to rest, to offer them to the ground, where they can be transformed and made useful again?  Today is the New Moon in Aries just around dawn eastern time. Ruled by Mars which is currently exalted in Capricorn—and with the Sun also exalted in Aries—this New Moon carries particular power to achieve recognition and glory. When a planet is in the sign of its exaltation, it is said to be elevated to great heights, a place of honor or great respect, high status or authority. With both the Sun and its ruler Mars currently exalted, this New Moon is an opportunity to plant the seeds of our own authority, to divine the pathways to positions of honor and respect. Aries is often associated with individual freedom and agency, and there can be a highly individualistic quality to the language of exaltation as well. It is vital that we remember that all freedom is socially conditioned and that to be elevated and respected, indeed, to exercise authority, is always relational within a collective context. Both the New Moon and the Sun’s ingress into Aries just days ago—the Vernal Equinox—mark times of new beginning. How might we tell the stories of new beginnings and plant the seeds of exaltation and authority in ways that do not forge the heroes of individualism or the fiery honors of one set apart from all others? How might we channel the energy of these new beginnings into telling heroic tales of collective sovereignty, the ways we lift up the lowest among us and become elevated together, distributing authority and stoking fires capable of sustaining long-term co-existence and living well? If the pathways to positions of true respect and honor must always bring us back to mutuality—honoring and respecting one another—how might we use this lunation cycle to forge such pathways toward one another and forward together?  Today Mars makes a conjunction to Pluto in Capricorn. Mars can describe action and assertiveness, but it is also traditionally a malefic planet exalted in Capricorn. Joining up with Pluto—which can describe misuses and abuses of power, as well as that which is buried beneath the surface—this aspect cautions us to be prepared to respond when power is leveraged against those who are most vulnerable. The Moon in Pisces makes a sextile to Jupiter in Capricorn then a sextile to Mars and Pluto. Jupiter is the ruler of Pisces, and though it is in its fall in Capricorn, this could be a moment of offering needed resources for supporting and caring for our physical and emotional well-being. With so many resources in high demand, this is a time to ask ourselves and one another: what actually is enough in order for each of us to be well? As the Moon moves through the sextiles to Mars and Pluto, we may find that the harm or abuse that we have survived in the past has prepared us to know how to respond to the blatant misuse of power and resources that we are witnessing. The Moon then ingresses into Aries, giving us the fire and initiative to take action on what we know needs to be done, but be careful of acting impulsively when what is needed is strategy and long-term thinking. As the Moon moves through a sextile to Saturn in Aquarius, we may be asked to slow down, channel our momentum into the formulation a plan, and consider how our actions today are preparations for what we will be able to accomplish in the days ahead.  Today Mercury in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. This is the third sextile between these planets during this retrograde cycle. This final aspect may complete a story or process that has unfolded from February 5 to February 29 to today. Mercury is the planet of communication, language, the translating or interpreting our thoughts or understanding into a form that can be shared with others, and Uranus describes the unexpected, the disruptive, and the revolutionary. What messages or news has been coming into your life that is encouraging a radical new direction, and how might those messages be completed or clarified today? The Moon in Pisces makes a sextile to Venus in Taurus and a conjunction to Neptune in Pisces just before Venus perfects its sextile to Neptune. This aspect describes a dreamy, transcendent approach to love and pleasure. This is a time for fantasy that opens up new dimensions of your embodiment of your desires and pleasures. As many of us are isolated or spending time with very little physical contact right now, this aspect could be a perfect time to block out several hours to indulge and luxuriate in your own fantasies and pleasures. As JD Davids writes on @thecrankyqueer, “So, whether you’re already your own best partner… or if we’re needing to reduce our contact with other humans and their delightful blends of microbes… and/or whether we may find ourselves in the position of loving the ones we are with, here is what I wish for you: May you have the space for a little or more than a little time alone (even if that means shower time or a discreet walk, if not a private bedroom) to really learn — and do — what you like best.” How can you use today to practice or discover all the ways you might pleasure yourself, with your imagination and fantasies as your guide?  Today the Moon ingresses into Pisces and makes a conjunction to Mercury then a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. Pisces beckons us into the tides of empathy and compassion, and in these challenging times, these are resources that we need in abundance. Mercury may be struggling to find words for emotional experiences that feel ineffable, so be patient with yourself and those around you. If you or someone else cannot yet find the words, we might ask: what are you feeling in your body? The sextile to Uranus can describe a physical or emotional breakthrough, unearthing feelings that may have felt stuck or restricted in some way. The final minutes of Saturday night mark one of the most significant astrological events of the year: Saturn’s initial ingress into Aquarius. Saturn has been in Capricorn since December 2017, and this is our first taste of Saturn in its second domicile. It will remain in Aquarius until July 1, retrograde back into Capricorn, then return to Aquarius on December 17 where it will remain for the next several years. With Saturn in Aquarius, I’m thinking about fugitivity, in the sense of commitment or devotion to a world that is yet to come. Whereas Saturn in Capricorn has been focused on structures, institutions, and legacies of the past, examining or even dismantling what has been, Saturn in Aquarius is still focused on structure and systems and in some sense control, but now strategizing and developing new systems, inventing new structures that are capable of supporting and enduring worlds that we are only beginning to bring into being. Being in its fixed sign, there is a focus and slow-moving but relentless determination to Saturn in Aquarius. There’s commitment to what the world could become, and as we are watching old, established systems and structures suspended, collapsing, or disintegrating, this commitment to a new world order prompts us to consider: to what new worlds will you be devoted?  Today the Moon in Aquarius makes a square to Venus in Taurus. In Hellenistic astrology, this is a condition of bonification, with Venus dignified in its domicile of Taurus hurling rays of support, satisfaction, and pleasure back to the Moon in Aquarius—our body within the collective. We are living in troubling times, and for many, experiences of fear, caution, heightened regulation, and concern for the collective is holding our full attention. Venus reminds us that in order to be well as we move through troubled times, we must remain invested in practices of pleasure and feeling good. adrienne maree brown writes in Pleasure Activism, “I have seen, over and over, the connection between tuning into what brings aliveness into our systems and being able to access personal, relational and communal power. Conversely, I have seen how denying our full, complex selves—denying our aliveness and our needs as living, sensual beings—increases the chance that we will be at odds with ourselves, our loved ones, our coworkers, and our neighbors on this planet … How would we organize and move our communities if we shifted to focus on what we long for and love rather than what we are negatively reacting to?” What can you do to feel good in your body today—which does not change your circumstances, but does change how you feel inside them? What can you do to support the pleasure of others today? Mars makes a conjunction to Jupiter in Capricorn. Mars is exalted here while Jupiter is weakened in its fall. Together, Mars brings drive and determination to materialize our beliefs and the abundance of which we are capable, and Jupiter reminds us that our actions and activisms today are part of bigger, slower processes, calling us into the magic of hope and faith to sustain our movements.  Today the Moon in Aquarius makes a square to Uranus in Taurus. Aquarius is often associated with collective systems, the greater good, futures yet to comes, and the inventive ideas we will need to create and sustain the worlds we are making. Uranus is the planet of revolution and upheaval, disruption and the rejection of established conventions. We are currently living through a moment of massive upheaval throughout our global systems, shaking the collective, and demanding that we radically reorient ourselves to the near and distant future. In these times of crisis, ground yourself in your body and ground your body on the earth. In the midst of so much that is changing, trace the core structures that remain unchanged, that can support us in this transition from one reality to others. The Sun in Pisces makes a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn, offering resources for longevity and sustainability to the ways in which we are shining brightly through practices of empathy and compassion. As we concern ourselves with the experiences and well-being of others, we not only become more fully ourselves: we also access that which we can offer that is life-affirming to those around us. Saturn reminds us that this is not just for today or tomorrow. What kind of world might emerge if we were to commit to sustaining these practices of mutual aid, centering the lives of those who are most at risk, and providing relief to those who have been impacted most directly? The Sun then ingresses into Aries, marking the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. The Sun is exalted in Aries, as it passes through this moment when the hours of night and day are equal and presses forward toward the summer solstice and the longer day of the year. This is a time of warming up and bringing new life into fresh flourishing. Even as we move through difficult days, notice how these days are getting longer and brighter. Notice the fresh green buds sprouting at the tips of branches and the delicate blossoms coming up through the mud. Whatever we are experiencing at the scale of our own lives, we are also a part of larger cycles of growth and regeneration.  |
AuthorMichael J. Morris is a witch, an artist, a writer, and a teacher. Categories
All
Archives
March 2020
|
RSS Feed
Copyright © 2019