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Today the Moon in Cancer makes a trine to Mercury moving retrograde through Scorpio. Mercury is reviewing what might be hidden from view, remembering feelings we maybe cannot yet recall. The Moon in Cancer is calling us back to our own origin stories, the ways in which we have and have not known love. We may find ourselves doing the important work of feeling backwards to the places we believe we were loved, only to find that we understand them differently now. As bell hooks writes, “Initially, I did not want to accept a definition of love that would also compel me to face the possibility that I had not known love in the relationships that were most primary to me … if one’s goal is self-recovery, to be well in one’s soul, honestly and realistically confronting lovelessness is part of the healing process … I had to first learn anew the meaning of love and from there learn how to be loving.” How are you being invited to reflect on the deep feelings beneath your memories of love and care? Are you willing to feel differently, to see and understand love and care differently, if doing so is a necessary part of your healing? The Moon then makes a trine to Neptune, and we may feel swept up in our ideals and fantasies of what care and nurturing could be. As the Moon then opposes Saturn, these processes of review and idealization may bring us into confrontation with authority. Fear and resistance are not unexpected as we clarify what it is that actually offers us safety and security, especially if it means acknowledging the ways in which we have not been given what we need by authority figures who were responsible for our care. But the Moon is in its domicile, strong and connected to its resources. As we do the work of healing from what we were never given, we will find that all that we need in order to sooth and support our systems is already available to us in our own bodies. Ask yourself what it is that you need, then take the steps to provide for yourself—whether or not anyone ever showed you how. 
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The Moon spends the first half of the day completing its time in Gemini before ingressing into its domicile Cancer. In the last degrees of Gemini, the Moon opposes Jupiter in Sagittarius then makes a trine to Mars in Libra. We may feel pulled between the capaciousness of our hopes and faith in what is possible and the practical thinking that is needed to give those expansive possibilities a tangible reality. As adrienne maree brown writes in Emergent Strategy, “How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. The patterns of the universe repeat at scale … what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.” As you confront your hopes and beliefs for what is possible, remember that you make such things possible by practicing them in small, embodied ways. And we don’t have to do it alone. Mars is completing its time in Libra, where it has been learning and teaching the lessons of collaboration and coalition, taking actions together that we cannot take on our own. As you consider the small-scale practices for bringing the world in which you want to live into being, remember to seek out allies and co-conspirators with whom you might do this work. As the Moon enters its home sign of Cancer, we are brought back to what nurtures and nourishes us. However, the Moon moves almost immediately into a sextile to Uranus which could shake up our experiences or expectations of care. The ways in which we have been accustomed to giving and receiving care may require adjustment. As Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha writes in Care Work, “What does it mean to shift our ideas of access and care (whether it’s disability, childcare, economic access, or many more) from an individual chore, an unfortunate cost of having an unfortunate body, to a collective responsibility that’s maybe even deeply joyful?” These are question we may be asking about what it means to give and receive what we need, to ask for and offer help, and to revolutionize our understanding of care.  Today we move through a tight T-square as the Moon in Gemini opposes Venus in Sagittarius then makes a square to Neptune in Pisces, followed by Venus squaring Neptune. Our ideals for love are being called into question by what we can know. The Moon opposing Venus asks: how are you bringing your liberated visions of love into daily practice? Can you balance critical thinking and affection? That which we love cannot be beyond examination or critique; in fact, the ability to critically consider that which we love may be evidence of how much we value it. If our love cannot be subjected to careful and thoughtful examination, we may be more invested in our own ideals than that or those we love. The Moon square Neptune challenges us to discriminate between illusion and knowledge that can be intersubjectively shared and affirmed. This aspect reminds me of Donna Haraway’s description of “situated knowledges” and “feminist objectivity.” She writes, “Feminists don’t need a doctrine of objectivity that promises transcendence, a story that loses track of its mediations just where someone might be held responsible for something … Feminist objectivity is about limited location and situated knowledge, not about transcendence and splitting of subject and object.” In other words, objective knowledge is not defined by transcendence or universality; feminist objectivity is committed to the partial and the particular, the locatable, the embodied, and the situated. As Neptune squares the Moon, we may feel the allure of the transcendent or the universal, but truly objective knowledge happens in the details, at the scale of what can be known from our limited, embodied positions. Finally, Venus in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces. Both Sagittarius and Pisces are mutable signs ruled by Jupiter. It can be difficult to maintain our boundaries or our footing in the here-and-now in these signs. This T-square is reminding us that however expansive our ideals for love might feel, they must remain accountable to the details of how such love is practiced and acted out. As Judith Butler writes, “Love always returns us to what we do and do not know. We have no other choice than to become shaken by doubt, and to persist with what we can know when we can know it.”  Following the indulgent Full Moon in Taurus yesterday, the Moon ingresses into Gemini, and we are drawn back into the realms of ideas, thought processes, and making connections. However, Mercury—the ruler of Gemini—is retrograde in Scorpio and in aversion to the Moon. It may feel as if we are too swept up in feelings that are not yet intelligible to think clearly or efficiently. Be patient with yourself and others. Speak carefully and listen with care. Mercury makes a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn, the second of three such aspects—the first was on October 14 and the third will be November 30. As Mercury moves through this retrograde cycle, these aspects to Saturn are asking us to review our emotional boundaries as well as the places where we have felt like our voices were limited. Creating and maintaining healthy boundaries requires coming to voice, speaking and articulating what is and is not okay—which may feel unfamiliar or in a process of transition. The Sun in Scorpio makes a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, offering new understanding or perspective on how power is operating in our bodies and our world. Things that have been hidden have been coming into view for a while. The Sun in Scorpio is reminding us that it isn’t an accident that you feel how you feel; it isn’t merely personal that there are feelings that have been hidden or repressed. Those experiences are always part of larger, social repressions, and as we uncover these hidden places in our own lives, that shifts how power operates throughout the collective as well. Finally, Mercury makes a trine to Neptune in Pisces, also the third of these aspects—the first was on October 15 and the third will be November 28 after both Neptune and Mercury station direct. This trine is an invitation to listen for messages that seem to come from beyond the veil. Allow yourself to drift and dream into non-ordinary states; meditate, daydream, fantasize, journey with the ancestors, and listen for insights that you may not yet understand but will become clearer in the days ahead.  Today is the Full Moon in Taurus, but before the Moon reaches is climax, it makes a trine to Saturn in Capricorn and opposes Mercury in Scorpio. How might we develop disciplines for supporting ourselves in feeling good, for cultivating more sustainable pleasure in the present and in the long-term? Whatever this Mercury retrograde has been reviewing or uncovering, today we might experience a moment of confrontation, coming to face what needs to be said, and perhaps drawing deep on our courage to ask for the things that we want and need. The Moon then reaches its climax opposite the Sun in Scorpio. This full moon feels luxurious and abundant. The Moon is exalted in Taurus, and with Venus—the ruler of Taurus—in Sagittarius co-present with Jupiter, we are being told in multiple ways: there is more than enough. As I said on the November forecast episode of Queer Skies, this Full Moon is a time for excellent, nourishing food, getting in touch with sensuous pleasures, having sex with yourself or other people, having orgasms or luxuriating in states of arousal, and maybe also trying something new—finding new pleasures. Maybe indulge in paying for some new feminist or queer porn from ethical sites like PinkLabel.tv (because ethical porn starts when we pay people for their embodied sexual labor). This lunation also makes me think of what adrienne maree brown writes in Pleasure Activism, that “pleasure is a measure of freedom.” Access to pleasure is disproportionately distributed to different folks because of systems of oppression, ancestral trauma, and the traumas of living in an imperialist, colonialist, white supremacist, capitalist, hetero-patriarchy that is built on us believing that we are not enough, that we don’t have enough. So, this Full Moon is a good reminder to center pleasure in our own lives, because doing so is an act of resistance, a way of claiming our freedom. It’s also a reminder to center the pleasure of those who are most marginalized: in all this abundance, how can you make pleasure and feeling good more available to folks who live at the intersection of multiple systemic oppressions? What can you do to make space or be in service to the pleasure of others? The Moon then makes a trine to Pluto in Capricorn, reminding us that pleasure and feeling good are necessary for personal and political transformation. Feeling good must be part of any revolution to create a world in which all of us have access to feeling good. Your pleasure and making pleasure available to those who are most marginalized are revolutionary acts. Finally, Mars in Libra makes a sextile to Jupiter in Sagittarius. This is the final aspect in this Mars/Jupiter cycle that began almost two years ago—January 6, 2018—and one of the last aspects to Jupiter during its time in Sagittarius. If you’ve spent the last year dreaming big, this aspect gives us the push to act. As adrienne maree brown said this weekend at the ASA Conference, “The future is always being practiced now.” What is the world in which you want to live, and how to you put it into practice today?  The Moon continues its journey through Taurus, reminding us to reconnect to our support systems and the physical practices that nourish pleasure and rest. From my view, this lunation cycle has been inviting us to move from shame to pleasure, from the deep feelings that have been hidden toward the indulgent embodiment of feeling good. What has been coming up for you around these themes over the last two weeks? Are there desires that you’re still hiding or avoiding? Are there ways of feeling good that you don’t yet feel you can ask for or claim as your own? Today is an important moment in Mercury’s retrograde cycle. Mercury makes a conjunction with the Sun, what traditional astrologers called cazimi or in the heart of the Sun. This is an opportunity for clarity in the midst of whatever this retrograde has been reviewing and uncovering. Pay attention to the new information that shows up, the messages you receive, the fresh insights or perspectives that come into focus. Mercury won’t station direct until November 20 and won’t clear the shadow of the retrograde until December. All has not yet been revealed, but today’s cazimi may bring some crucial details into focus or show where important pieces are falling into place.  Today the Moon in Aries makes a square to Pluto in Capricorn. Sometimes when we make a move to do exactly what we think we want to do, we feel a pull deep in our bodies, some part of us that resists the action that we’re moving to take. That hesitation or inhibition is asking or demanding that we confront something that we would maybe prefer to ignore. If your whole self does not feel in alignment with the action that you’re taking, slow down—or pause. Feel down into the roots of whatever is holding back and listen to the lessons that are coming from that pull. As the Moon then makes a trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius, we can feel the space open up to breathe more fully and easily, to expand, and to explore. Hold onto this openness, the resources of abundance that are already available to you within your own system, because the Moon then opposes Mars in Libra—making an opposition to its ruler. Mars in Libra is in the sign of its antithesis—the term Chris Brennan has suggested as another translation of detriment or exile. The independent warrior Mars has been reconnecting to the ways in which collaboration, coalition, and connectivity are necessary in order to do the work of justice. The fiery Moon in Aries emphasizes the spark of our own impulses and desires, the instinct to charge ahead and pursue what we want. This opposition to its ruler Mars challenges us to bring these lessons of connection and collaboration into how we are pursuing our desires today—maybe to invite others to join us in pursuing our desires. What is it that you want, and what becomes possible if your share those desires with someone else? Finally, the Moon ingresses into Taurus, the sign of its exaltation, in which it will reach its climax on the Full Moon on Tuesday. The Moon finishes the day making a conjunction to Uranus, which could charge or activate our systems in ways we may not fully understand. Give yourself extra time to soothe and ground as you move toward sleep.  The Moon in Aries makes a trine to Venus in Sagittarius. Who can you partner with in order to support and sustain the action that you are motivated to take? Aries is the sign of cardinal fire—initiative, impulsive, the urge to do first and ask questions later. Trine Venus—and with Mars, the ruler of Aries, in Libra—we’re being reminded that we never take action alone. All of our agency, all of our actions, are made possible by a world of others with whom we are taking action. Acknowledge those connections and relationships and find how acting together is sustainable in ways that we can never sustain when we think we are on our own. The Moon then makes a square to Saturn in Capricorn. This is a time for facing our fears, for challenging the limiting beliefs that we inherit from the systems and institutions that have structured our lives for a long time. Where can you challenge the adherence to scarcity? Where can you charge against the parameters that tell you there is not enough—or you are not enough? Mercury retrograde in Scorpio makes a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn. In order to begin to find ways to translate and communicate from the dark places of our inner worlds, we need to be able to ask the probing questions—of ourselves and of others. Are there questions that you’ve been afraid to ask, knowledge that you’ve been reluctant to know? Whatever this Mercury retrograde is reviewing for you, Pluto reminds us that transformation requires us to seek out what’s been buried, ask the difficult questions, and then listen intently to the response. This is not the time for superficiality; this is time to do the careful, patient work of formulating and asking questions that may feel challenging, and softening into answers as they come.  As the Moon ingresses into Aries, we may feel the combustible spark of initiative—to take action, to charge ahead, to follow the impulse of desire to see where it can take us. The Sun in Scorpio makes a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn, asking us to find the right container or structure into which to channel our brilliance, especially the parts of ourselves that we may be discovering or acknowledging for the first time. There is untapped potential for aliveness when we dive deep into the wellspring of our own capacities to feel. As we bring awareness and consciousness to our own interior places from which we maybe have been disconnected—parts of ourselves that have been cut off by trauma, by shame, by systems that have taught us that it is not acceptable to feel what we feel—we begin to find how much more brightly we can shine, how much clearer we can be about our place in the world. What are the structures that you need to put in place in order to support these parts of yourself that you may be meeting finally or anew? The Sun then makes a trine to Neptune in Pisces. Like light refracted and reflected off of the moving surface of water, your vision of yourself may feel fragmented and dispersed. It may not yet be clear how it all comes together, but what is clear is that different parts of who you are and what you are putting out into the world will land and be reflected back to you from many different places and directions—if you allow yourself to show up more fully, put yourself out there, and see how the world shimmers because of your light. Finally, Saturn in Capricorn makes a sextile to Neptune in Pisces. In the tides of our dreams and fantasies of worlds to come, in the waves of visions from our ancestors, the existing structures of our world are being changed. Some will erode, washed away in the currents of possibility to which we are surrendering. Those foundations that have the capacity to support us in worlds to come will endure.  Today is full of aspects for the Moon in Pisces: starting with a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn, we are reminded to check in with our boundaries. What is and is not okay for you in order to be in your integrity, and have you communicated those boundaries compassionately but clearly? In Pisces, it’s easy to dissolve into one another, to drift in the wisdom that we are all One; yet even as we feel deeply into our interconnectedness, we also need to hold our differences within our unity—including our different needs. This will become even more important as the Moon makes a conjunction to Neptune, which could easily erode the parameters we’ve put in place to hold who we are and who we want to be. The Moon moving between aspects to Saturn and Neptune is a bit of a preview of Saturn square Neptune tomorrow. The Moon then makes a sextile to Pluto, which intensifies the feelings of the day. Emotions may already be feeling oceanic, and this aspect to Pluto could feel a bit like drowning. Give yourself time and space to decompress, but don’t avoid the big feelings; they’re here to teach you something you need to learn. Coming into a trine to Mercury in Scorpio, the Moon picks up on the process of reflection and review through which Mercury is moving retrograde—a reminder to slow down and take account rather than rushing ahead to act on all the emotions that have been stirred up. Finally, the Moon makes a square to Jupiter in Sagittarius—its ruler. We’re being asked to grow, perhaps in ways that push us beyond our comfort zones, but we have a lot of support in the process. What are the resources you need in order to feel shored up as you become more of yourself than you have yet known? If you look around and inside yourself, you will likely find that all that you need is already available to you.  The Moon in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, sending tremors beneath the waters of our connections to that which is larger than ourselves. The Moon in Pisces is already carried on the tides of empathy and compassion; sextile Uranus, we may find ourselves shaken by situations or events that seem unrelated to us on the surface, but the very fact that we are affected is a reminder that our interrelatedness runs deep and wide. The Moon then makes a square to Venus in Sagittarius and a trine to the Sun in Scorpio. Venus’ journey through Sagittarius invites adventure and seeking out new experiences into our relationships and our understandings of love. We may be finding ourselves opening to new possibilities or encountering love that is beyond what we have imagined. This square from Venus might present a challenge bell hooks once described, when life brings us someone who does not meet our ideals but is nevertheless loving: “Will I choose to love, or will I stay attached to my ideal, in some way, that keeps that love from me?” With this square, we may be faced with this choice—to stay attached to our ideals or to open to a love that we could not have imagined or predicted. As the Moon makes a trine to the Sun, we are reminded to move with that which affirms life. In the midst of the depths of whatever you are feeling for yourself and others, what is life-giving? In what direction do you feel the warmth of that which connects you to your own well-being? Move in that direction.  Today the Moon in Aquarius makes a sextile to Jupiter in Sagittarius, offering a supportive warmth and optimism to a morning that might otherwise feel cold or distant. Aquarius can draw us toward the cerebral and the abstract, committing our attention to inventing strategies for organizing worlds to come. While this can be really effective for planning ahead and thinking through the big picture, it can also leave us feeling remote or even alienated from our current context. Jupiter in Sagittarius reconnects us to the fiery heart of what we believe in: what does it mean to be free, and how can we experience freedom not only in worlds to come, but in the realm of what’s possible right now? Mars in Libra makes a square to Pluto in Capricorn, continuing a story that has been unfolding for over a year. Mars was last conjunct Pluto on April 26, 2018, then opposed Pluto back around June 20, 2019. This is the waning square of their cycle together, which indicates the challenges of integration. We may be feeling a collision between the actions we feel driven to take on behalf of our communities and the deep structural change that is necessary in order to shift the material conditions of our lives. The Moon in Aquarius makes a square to Mercury in Scorpio, and we may find ourselves at a loss for words, struggling to articulate what we’re thinking or feeling. Then the Moon ingresses into Pisces, calling us back to what we can feel, the compassion for others and ourselves that can carry us to places we may not be able to reach intellectually.  Today the Moon in Aquarius makes a square to the Sun in Scorpio, entering the waxing quarter phase of this lunation cycle, the midpoint between the New Moon in Scorpio and the Full Moon in Taurus. The waxing quarter can be a time of crisis, encountering challenges that pressure us to commit to the path that is coming into view. In this lunation cycle from Scorpio to Taurus, this path will likely describe our individual and collective journeys from shame to pleasure, from the deep feelings that we keep hidden from view into the glorious affirmation of our own bodies, their capacities to feel good, and the richness of our desires that lead us to an abundance of pleasure. In Aquarius, we may find that we are overthinking, over-analyzing, or over-intellectualizing in ways that perhaps pull us farther from our embodied experiences. Take a deep breath. Follow that breath back into your body, and feel for the ways is which your body is signaling directions for how to move forward. The Moon ends the day in a trine to Mars in Libra. Aquarius and Libra are both air signs, concerned with connection, ideation, conversation, and the realm of thoughts. Sometimes gaining greater perspective on where we are in our processes comes from connecting with others, finding ways to channel our shared experiences into joint action. It could be useful to talk through what you’re experiencing with a friend or loved one; it could also be useful to check in on them, ask them what they’re processing right now, and find how holding their story gives a different context or frame for making sense of your own.  The Moon starts the day in Capricorn making a sextile to Mercury moving retrograde through Scorpio. Mercury is looking for answers, and the Moon—in its antithesis in Capricorn—may feel laden with the weight of the distant past. What are the histories we have taken for granted? How can we locate them in our bodies? If we look to our pasts, what are the questions we need to ask in order to excavate the ways our deep feeling structures have been shaped by material practices that extend across generations? It’s not an accident that you feel this way. Your ability or inability to find words to express what you feel most deeply has been shaped by centuries and centuries of social structures, including colonization, empire, patriarchy, and white supremacy. It is necessary for us to feel and articulate all that what has been called civilization would make insensate. The Moon then ingresses into Aquarius, giving us the distance and breathing room to make sense of what we’re experiencing within a larger context. The Moon makes a sextile to Venus in Sagittarius, reminding us that we are not alone in this. Part of opening up to a wider perspective is recognizing our place within the larger world. Instead of looking around to prove to yourself that you are alone, what if you looked outward to see all the ways in which you are already connected? The Moon in Aquarius then makes a square to Uranus in Taurus. This is the waning square of this Luna/Uranus cycle, meaning that the disruptions being described here are more likely to be the ways in which your implementation of new relationships to your own materiality—including your body—demands that other processes of which you are a part must now change as well.  
The latest episode of Queer Skies—a queer astrology podcast—is out! I join Daniel Bernal and Drew Levanti for a forecast of the November astrology. Recording these conversations that bridge astrology and queer lives has been a highlight of my autumn. Whether you're an astrology enthusiast or would just like to hear queer folks talking about the sky, I hope you give it a listen.
You can find the latest episode (and the previous episode where we dig into astrology, queer theory, feminist philosophy, and embodiment) on Apple & Google Podcasts and YouTube. https://divine-orbit.com/podcast/astrology-of-november-2019-with-michael-j-morris-queer-skies-ep-5/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/astrology-november-2019-michael-j-morris-queer-skies/id1474572934?i=1000455736790 This is not an easy day for the Moon, and we may feel challenges and discomfort moving through our systems throughout the day. If you can, leave plenty of time to breathe and slow down, to be still and recover. As the Moon makes a conjunction to Saturn in Capricorn, we may not be able to distinguish ourselves from our fears of scarcity or not being enough. This lunation cycle is asking us to confront our shame and move towards abundant pleasure, but in the process, old messages about laziness, inadequacy, and failure may arise. Making a sextile to Neptune in Pisces, the Moon reminds us to soften, to remember that we are part of something larger and already more than we can perceive. The Moon is then overcome by a superior square from Mars in Libra. Working with others may be a struggle. Conflict and the potential for hurt feelings are in the air, so be prepared to do the work of repair. Finally, the Moon makes a conjunction to Pluto, intensifying the already difficult feelings of the day. Pluto teaches us about the nonnegotiable transformation that comes from moving through the underworld—of our own repression and unconscious as well as the repression and unconscious of the world in which we are living. At the conjunction, we might not yet be clear on what we have refused to acknowledge that is now demanding attention. Remember, we often repress as an act of survival. We feel we cannot bear to witness or hold some part of ourselves or our experience, so we bury it. Today it is enough to simply sit with the knowledge that there is more that is waiting to be uncovered. Take some time to be with yourself, breathe deeply, and feel into that acknowledgement: there is more to me than I have accepted or acknowledged.  The Moon in Capricorn forming a trine to Uranus in Taurus asks us to consider the long-term implications for the ways we might break from established patterns and structures today. Each time we choose to show up more fully as ourselves—especially those parts of ourselves that exceed existing social categories and norms—we send shockwaves throughout the foundations of society’s most enduring institutions. We may not always see the outcomes of daring to deviate from how we have been told the world must be, but each time we move away from reproducing a world in which all people are not yet free, each time we risk the rush of exhilarating discomfort that comes when we allow more of ourselves to exist, whole new possible worlds come into being as well. As the Moon makes a sextile to the Sun in Scorpio, we may encounter affirmation for the ways we are willing to show up and be seen. Finally, Venus ingresses into Sagittarius, inaugurating several weeks of bliss as the benefics Venus and Jupiter cohabitate in Sagittarius. Venus will move into Capricorn on November 25, and a month from now, Jupiter will enter Capricorn as well. So, whatever place Sagittarius occupies in your chart, savor the richness and abundance of the next several weeks and take this opportunity to invest deeply in being in service to that which you love.  The day begins with the Moon in Sagittarius forming a sextile to Mars in Libra. After yesterday’s Moon square Neptune, this sextile to Mars re-focuses us on our ambitions, our desires, and our drive to strive and achieve. As the Moon makes a conjunction to Jupiter in Sagittarius, open to the feeling of abundance and expansion in your own body. What if you are already more than enough? What if you already contain all that you need in order to be free? Your body is your wise teacher, and this is a moment for offering gratitude for everything that your body is teaching you. Mercury stations retrograde today around 27º Scorpio, beginning a journey of retracing its path until stationing direct on November 20. Remember, Mercury retrograde is not a time for panic and it is not a curse from the heavens. Rather, it is an invitation for reflection and review, for slowing down and reconsidering, re-reading what we have written, looking back at the things we think we understand in order to find other ways to tell those stories. In Scorpio, this process brings us back through our emotional depths, our dark and hidden places, the parts of ourselves that have been traversed by both Mercury and Venus for the last several weeks. There are things we still do not know how to say. There are ways of narrating our own stories that have not yet accounted for the parts of ourselves that we have been convinced make us unlovable. This retrograde is a journey of vulnerability and intimacy—finding how to invite others into experiences of ourselves that we do not know how to share. Be patient. Listen closely. Allow yourself to not know. As the Moon ingresses into Capricorn, we may be drawn to work that contributes to our long-term plans or building foundations to support us in the days ahead.   Tomorrow is also Samhain, the witches’ new year. This is the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. It is the final harvest, the end of a cycle of life and growth and gathering the fruits of our labor. Now we move deeper into the autumn months, the longer nights, and the colder weather. Every ending is also a beginning, and as the wheel of the year turns and this cycle is complete, we enter the dormant period that is also the start of a cycle of new life to come. Samhain is also a time for honoring our ancestors, for communing with the dead. It is said to be the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. It is a time for celebration and also introspection. Today or tomorrow, you might create an altar to your ancestors—those who make your life possible whether related by blood or other forms of kinship—and offer gratitude for the lives they lived. For me, this includes my father, my grandparents, and my family line as well as the transcestors, the mighty and beloved queer dead who are not my kin by blood but by possibility. The lives they lived make my life possible. You might take time to be quiet and still, and listen to what your ancestors are saying. To say that the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest also suggests that this is a time for visioning toward worlds to come. What will justice in worlds to come require? What resources do ancestors past, present, and future offer to creating justice for all, for life on this planet other than ourselves? If we allow today to mark both endings and beginnings, what can you let go of or surrender that is no longer serving you, and how can you orient yourself toward being in service to that which you love in the year ahead?
Today Venus makes a conjunction to Mercury in Scorpio just before Mercury stations retrograde tomorrow. Venus is coming to the end of its time in Scorpio, but we may not yet have words for all that we have been uncovering about ourselves and our relationships to love, desire, and pleasure. Even as we begin to integrate different approaches to what it means to love and be loved, we are just beginning to find how to translate these experiences and perspectives to others in our lives. This conjunction is part of Mercury’s assignment for this retrograde: Mercury is preparing for several weeks of reviewing, reflecting, and remembering its way through the part of our charts occupied by Scorpio. Venus conjunct Mercury today reminds us to also ask ourselves how this process of review and reflection relates to our experiences of our own lovability and how we express love for others. This is emphasized further by Mars—the ruler of Scorpio—in Libra, the sign of Venus. The Moon in Sagittarius makes a square to Neptune in Pisces, and we may lose track of the focus of our journey. Why you are moving in the direction in which you are moving may feel diffuse or disoriented. In these moments of disorientation, notice what else comes into view. Neptune can derail our pursuit of linear progress, but in so doing, we may also encounter unexpected inspiration or invitations into different states of reality.  |
AuthorMichael J. Morris is a witch, an artist, a writer, and a teacher. Categories
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