Mutable Grand Cross Alert!

May 25 / 26: Mutable GRAND CROSS Alert!
And: VENUS in CANCER squares URANUS in ARIES.
Big party’s on.

The MOON in VI squares SATURN retro in SAG, and the SUN and MARS in GEM, and opposes NEPTUNE and CHIRON in PISCES.
(Also in the picture for the week: Mercury retro conjuncts Mars in GEM (May 27) / Mercury retro square Neptune in PI (May 29) )

No boredom here. Watch for hyper-activity, nervousness, anxiousness, and being pulled into too many directions.
VENUS in CANCER contrasts URANUS in ARIES: Connecting with the Tribe and with the Past AND being Fresh and New and You?!

The shorter lived, seasonal influences of the VIRGO MOON and the GEMINI cluster can be harnessed to be practical, get the job done (last – maybe best – chance for Spring cleaning / cleanse / de-clutter?), and RE-connect with ideas and people for discussion of what’s been on the back burner (always a good Mercury retro application, this time super charged by Mars).
MARS in GEMINI exactly squares NEPTUNE in PISCES tomorrow Mon as well! Wanna TALK it out? Can you BE with it, can you release what’s in your head, ever so urging?
SATURN retro in SAG probably agrees, since it has us acknowledge ‘old stories’ and beliefs, and find our truth and guidance from within.
NEPTUNE and CHIRON in PISCES show us that all is ONE, and that we are all in THIS together, in the field that connects, beyond ‘right or wrong’, and what ‘mind’ is trying to tell us.

TAURUS / GEMINI Cusp NEW MOON

NEW MOON at 27º TAU on May 17 at 9:13 pm PDT / May 18 at 12:13 am EDT:

Earth My Body, Air My Breath…. &

Calm IN the (Mercury pre-retro) Storm

 

This evening at 9:13 pm PDT is the exact minute.

Let’s plant seeds (so Taurean) of intentions (without attachment of course, rather in ‘Beginner’s Mind’ innocence) and new connections (Gemini’s call).

The New Moon is clearly a CUSPY one (once again – notice the sequence since last year?).

Transition energy – esp. with movement friendly mutable Gemini on ‘the other side’.

And themes of ‘Embodied Communication’ – listen to the language of the body!

Cuspy vibes, from fixed, slow Taurean Earth to mutable, flighty Gemini Air….

Calm IN the (Mercury pre-retro) Storm….while SO much is indeed UP in the AIR – or gets us unstuck from attachments and comfort zones.

“Earth my Body & Air my Breath….”

A time to share our love for the Earth, and spread messages, con-spire (breathe together) with others, and on behalf of THIS beautiful planet.

After the ‘Hands Across the Lands & Sands’ gathering (a human shoreline chain standing for a clean energy future https://www.facebook.com/events/549297095211420/ ) yesterday Saturday here at Willows Beach, Victoria, where we sang in the end “Earth my Body, Water my Blood, Air my Breath, and Fire my Spirit” I looked for that song as a video for you. This is what I found – whoa, so powerful and touching. What a voice and spirit! Thank you, Nicole! https://vimeo.com/99806261

The New Moon has a strong draw over to GEM indeed, with stationary Mercury, next to Mars which are already stimulating thoughts, questions, learning, branching out….

The MOON will follow the GEM trend tomorrow May 18 at 2:27 am PDT, before Mercury goes retro at 6:49 pm PDT.

The SUN will enter GEM on Thu May 21.

The GEM energies will run very strongly this next week, from Mon May 18 / Thu May 21 on, with:

Moon: May 18 / 19.

Mercury: since Apr 30, until July 8, in stationary ‘storm’, and going retro tomorrow May 18.

Mars: since May 11, until June 24

Sun: from May 21 – June 21 (Summer Solstice).

These Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Mars energies are already and will definitely even more so energize all of our GEM sides / areas of life related to GEM houses in our charts.

ADJUSTMENT – says also the Sabian Symbol….

27º TAURUS:

 

Guatemala Women (photo credit: Vault)

“AN OLD INDIAN WOMAN SELLING THE ARTIFACTS OF HER TRIBE TO PASSERS-BY.

Keynote: Peaceful adaptation to collective needs.

In contrast to the impetuosity of the Spanish serenade (26 TAU), we now see the quiet and smiling face of an old Indian woman offering for sale the traditional products of her tribal culture. She too is functioning within the culture which has been sustaining her activity through a long life, bringing to her personal peace and inner contentment.

In old age, the power of the collectivity once more asserts itself, overcoming the perhaps wearying effort man makes to assert his uniqueness and individual character.

At this… stage the aging mind of the individual peacefully reintegrates itself into the psychic matrix of his / her group and culture, in serene ADJUSTMENT to the vital needs of the whole of which s/he sees him/herself as a fleeting part.”

Bringing our goods to the market is one of the literal meanings of the TAU – GEM transition.

Adaptation comes in as well, of course.

As well as critical questions / concerns of:

• Are we selling out our values?
• In our modern ‘tribal’ culture the ‘collective needs’ aren’t always healthy (late TAU has a VIR undertone). So we also need to be discerning with the adjustment.
• Again, what does the body’s wisdom say?
• When and how do we need to inform and be informed (GEM), and speak our truth (Saturn retro in SAG)?

MERCURY RETRO Astro~News

Mercury Retro in GEMINI  – What’s UP?

 

Has your mind been little bit ‘all over the map’ recently, fuzzy, funny, synchronistic, poked, provoked, and non-sensical / nonsense-ical (that word popped in for me, and I like it as a re-mind-er not take life so seriously….)?

Are you more aware of your self-talk, these days?

All in perfect alignment with the cosmic dance, and the ‘cosmic smile’. Seems like the universe smiles at us when we recognize a synchronicity!

Don’t get annoyed either, when the ‘cosmic prankster’ just wants you to be FREE, and change your paradigms!

 

Youthful Mercury looking back…(by Royal Sculptor A. Pajou, Louvre Paris)

 

Believe it or not – I’m looking forward to this upcoming Mercury retro phase.

And so do many of my clients and friends whom I’ve been talking with recently.

How come???

It’s in Gemini, and that’s where Mercury is naturally ‘at home’ (in rulership). RE-visiting ideas and thoughts we haven’t followed up on, or RE-visiting people (esp. those folks related to the Gemini house in our chart, e.g. extended family if Gemini is in your 3^rd house, children if it’s in your 5^th, friends if it’s in your 11^th…) to chat and exchange ideas with them – in PERSON (not, as usual, via email, FB, text messaging, phone, etc.), as in the ‘old ways’ is highly recommended (sometimes ‘inevitable’ these days, for whatever RE-ason), and will bring new inspiration.

Asking questions, learning, researching, language and the use of words are related to Mercury in Gemini.

It’s the signature of the Alchemist. Wondering what will be forged in this phase.

 

Mercury Rules Gemini (by Johfra Boschart)

 

Interesting:

The start of Mercury retro on May 18 follows the Taurus New Moon on Sunday May 17 – which will be on the TAU / GEM ‘Embodied Communication’ Point, where we learn to listen to the messages of our physical embodiment – literally to the messages of our body.

What has your body conveyed to you lately?

Take time this ‘stromy’ (= stationary, in ‘u-turn’ from direct to retro) Mercury weekend, and early next week,

– for brain storms,

– for a ‘pause button’ in the ‘automatic pilot’ of daily dealings,

– to check your ‘invent-ory’ (in other words, inventive ideas that you have collected but not done anything about….),

– to ask questions that you haven’t asked before 

– to listen to the wisdom of your body, and

– to RE-alize and RE-member: We are not the mind. The mind is not the issue. Only as it presents itself as a ‘separate entity’ while it’s one with consciousness.

 

 

 

So…. what are the Technicalities, and what’s the Time Line?
Gemini where Mercury already travels in (since April 30, until July 8!) and will go retro from, likes information, learning, communication, and science.

The phase from mid-May until mid-June 2015 is completely under the influence of Mercury retro:

The technical retro phase will be from May 18 – June 11, and the ‘stormy’ / stationary atmosphere’ before and after extends beyond that time:

The pre-retro stationary ‘storm’ started ‘officially’ last Sunday (Mother’s Day), May 10, as Mercury has been slowing down its speed significantly before the retro ‘U-turn’. And after Mercury will be direct again there will be another post-retro ‘storm’ from June 11 – 19.

 

Mercury / Hermes Statue at Butchard Gardens, Victoria … casting its shadow, and pointing to….? (photo by Gail Pettinger)

• What are the symptoms of unconscious / default Mercury retro modes?
• How do you recognize that you are in a mercurial ‘maze’ / ‘labyrinth’?
• What’s the best approach to the energy of this time?

Well, the unconsciousness IS the maze.

When we identify with the mind’s stories and assumptions, AND with our feelings, based on the thoughts that circulate in us (or vice versa, thoughts based on feelings) we are entangled, and far from free.

Thinking itself is not the problem, and we can’t and don’t need to make our mind ‘shut up’. The issue is rather attachment to thinking and to the content of our thoughts. We live in an Information Age, obviously, and each Mercury retro can be approached as a much-needed RE-lief from mental overdrive.

In fact, every Mercury retro phase serves as a REcalibration of the mind, and REconnection of the mind (represented by Mercury) with Spirit and Consciousness (represented by the SUN – Mercury has gone ahead of the SUN and is being ‘lassoed back in’).

Bottom line:

~ Let’s BE MIND-ful, and recognize when we are just mind – full.

~ Let’s REalize again that we are not the mind. It is a function that serves consciousness and spirit (and in fact isn’t even separate from it – the big illusion)

~ Let’s be open minded, and available to see things in a new, fresh light.

 

Mercury will start its retro journey with a connection to the New Moon by then also in Gemini (see chart).

The Moon / Mercury retro conjunction is scheduled for Tue May 19 at 1:06 am PDT.

Moon / Mercury connects intellectual mind with emotional responses. So this could be a strong call to be extra mindful, and to also use ‘common sense’.

 

Let’s see what the Sabian Symbol of the Mercury Turnaround Degree reveals.

Mercury will turn retro at 13° 08′ GEM, and the Moon will be right next to it, at 9° 30′ GEM (see chart)

Since it’s so close to 13° and goes backwards in the Zodiac, I would take the symbol for 13°:

13° GEMINI: 

“A FAMOUS PIANIST GIVING A CONCERT PERFORMANCE.

 

Armenian Pianist Vardan Marmikonyan

Keynote: Individual fulfillment in the performing of a social function to which some prestige is attached.

Having entered upon the path of individualized experience that brings him in touch with broader and higher realms of superpersonal inspiration, the individual person is able to become himself a source of inspiration, an agent for humanity and the formative powers guiding human evolution. His role is to mobilize emotions, to present to others an image of what for most people is beyond their mediocre and lukewarm responses to the challenge of becoming ‘more-than-man’ – to experience more intensely and to see farther. This is the role of the true and ideal ‘virtuoso’ (vir meaning strength, manliness, thus ‘virtue’), and in a far reaching sense, of the Avatar whose example fascinates human beings, leading them to leave behind their past and to venture forth into new realms of experience.

At this third stage we see the meanings of the two preceding symbols, synthesized. One moved into new realms and successfully challenges the fears, the insecurity and the lack of self-confidence of the past in oneself – all negative attitudes  which, while conditioned by the social environment, have become engraved upon the unconscious. Having achieved this liberation, one can bring to the environment the power generated by self-discipline, skill and self-confidence. One has become an at least potential SOURCE OF INSPIRATION.”

 

What I’m taking from this symbol, as a pointer for the stationary-retro Mercury / Moon, is that the individual, esp. when s/he has opened up to and integrated higher inspiration and consciousness s/he is called from within to offer the fruits of this tree to those around him / her who are in resonance to hear and connect with what s/he offers.

 

And also, not fall into old ego traps to get scattered and distracted, and other shadow elements of Gemini, like over-reasoning, questioning and doubting. REmember, when Mercury goes retro, we enter the ‘Epimethean phase’ = we can start to REcognize the old stories.

:: Perhaps a time to inquire into our innate unique gifts (the ‘virtuoso’)?

:: How can we recognize and cultivate them, without getting attached and letting ‘mind’ be the ‘agent’?

:: How can we let inspiration transpire from that inner place?

Lots of interesting questions…., and I’m sure Mercury retro will bring up more.

 

The Mercury Retro chart shows Mercury retro, the Moon and Mars in early Gemini opposing Saturn retro in SAG:

:: Passionate inquiry, and applying energy to ask new questions (Mars / Moon / Mercury retro in GEM) can bring IN-spiration and INNER guidance (Saturn retro in SAG).

:: Practically speaking: Balancing ‘information’ / communication / device time and inspiration / outdoors / space time.

You might have felt the polarity of Mars in Gemini and Saturn retro in Sag this week (was exact yesterday Thu May 14) as a pull between energy going into ‘the Ten Thousand Things’) and the need for inner focus on what really matters.

Mercury retro helps us with turning the information monkey / junky inwards, let go of unnecessary distractions, and take a RE-treat from letting mind run the show.

 

What’s with that triple square of Mercury pre-retro, retro, and post-retro in Gemini with Neptune in Pisces (May 9, 29, and June 23)? 

:: Shadow / low / stress vibration of Mercury / Neptune: mental maze, confusion, too many questions, information overwhelm / addiction (could have shown up / become more obvious and clear under pre-retro Mercury.

:: Mercury and Neptune both in their ‘own’ signs show us the contrast between human reason / left brain supremacy, and primordial ‘chaos’ that can’t be ‘explained’.

:: Mercury and Neptune charging each other up (in productive square ‘dance’): Inquiry shows that Duality points back to Unity.

Voila, here is the Gemini / Mercury image again:

 

I found an interesting TED Talk with Rupert Sheldrake (who became famous with his Morphic Resonance research); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zamrs3nE9ys where he critiques the limiting materialistic scientific worldview, questions the dogmatic scientific assumptions, and concisely makes a case for the end of the anthropomorphic mechanistic worldview on a broad scale:

“The Universe is Conscious”

Pretty virtuous, I’d say.

 

* REsource, RE: Mind, and Consciousness of Spirit

Here is a timeless, ‘old’ but gold Adyashanti video about the basic teachings. Excellent.

Check it out: http://www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma/index.php?file=video

 

* Brief Itinerary for the  Mercury retro Phase in GEMINI

 

 

Since  May 4: Mercury is already in the pre-retro ‘shadow zone’.

Could you see some foreshadowing effects – intuitively?

 

May 10: Mercury entered the stationary ‘storm’.

Stormy, ingenuous, or crazy maze?

 

May 18: Mercury (conj. the Moon) will go retro. 

Accessing IN-spiration.

 

May 30: Inferior Conjunction of Mercury with the Sun.

Ahhh, the ‘Point of Enlightening Insight’! A ‘new Mercury’ is being born. Let your mind grow wings and be truly free!
As the Sun (Spirit, Consciousness) leads again, while mind is the instrument and assistant.

RE-minding us of who we truly are (which is not the mind).

Thank you very much! The whole point of the Mercury retro adjustment phase…

 

June 11: Mercury will go direct again.

We learned a big deal – to be revealed until then. Let it sit for a while.

Post-retro ‘storm’ is another adjustment time. Be mindful and easy on yourself and others.

 

June 19: Mercury will leave the post-retro ‘storm’.

Mercury slowly catching momentum, regenerated. ‘Mind’ has a different quality than before the M-r phase.

Entering Summer RE-generated already 

 

June 27: Mercury will leave the post-retro ‘shadow zone’.

We’ve come a long way, and perceive the world (inner game and perception of the outer) truly differently now.

 

 

For good measure, and on a lighter and also more practical note, it’s time for another updated

* MERCURY RETRO SURVIVING & THRIVING KIT!

What on Earth and in the heavens is going on?

Yes, it’s the era of massive global awakening and transformational shifts, mirrored by our transpersonal ‘friends’ Uranus in mid Aries and Pluto in mid Capricorn, now integrating their sharp ‘square dance’ with each other (2012 – 2015).

But what’s with all the technology, media, and communication glitches that have sneaked in again lately?

Bingo! Another Mercury retro is in the making.

As those of you know who have been reading my Mercury retro support notes (or even advocacy) 3 times a year over the last years,

M-r isn’t necessarily ‘BAD’ news.

In a nutshell, with M-r, the Messenger Archetype – our MIND – is being adjusted, while temporarily operating differently than ‘usually’, to tune into and be REcalibrated to a ‘New Mercury’ (hey, what’s that???).

 

Mercury doing its retro somersaults again…

Mercury / Hermes doing its retro somersaults again, with winged helmet, sandals, and Caduceus / serpent staff of the healer (“Like heals Like”)

 

So, all groovy?

Well, trickster times ARE upon us, and a few practical hints can’t hurt… 😉

Like myself, you might have already noticed glitches over the last while that required adjusting and clarifying communication, REsending emails, and making sure you and your partner are talking about the same thing.

The all-time relevant bumper sticker message becomes very timely again: “Don’t believe everything you think!”

Under one of the last M-r phases, I saw a REfreshing Facebook message from a friend pointing out how REdundant and time consuming the prevalent habit of texting is.

What a perfect example! Pick up the PHONE, or meet Face-to-Face! Mercury retro REminds us to adjust communication to a more effective way again – sorta old fashioned groovy phoning and meeting for coffee… take time, and get to know the person better whom you ‘thought’ / assumed you communicated with. Get away from the technology mediated connection, and see ‘your people’ in front of you, for that  one-on-one intimacy that an email / message just wouldn’t do. You may save yourself a big ‘detour’ if you meet them face-to-face.

The changing mode of communication could have also brought a REnewed openness for breakthroughs and paradigm shifting AHA effects. Now under the beginning M-r mode we more easily bypass the rational censor, trust intuition, truly address what needs to be talked about (rather than niceties and ‘pseudo talk’), are able to intuitively pick up now what wasn’t communicated before, and where loose ends were left open. Ahhh, all that Gemini rationalization head space is fine and dandy, but you wanna meet your friends again in real life and connect from the heart, won’t you?

Even though you might make plans, and expect things to go a certain way circumstances might have a ‘mind of their own’. When you’re are asked to change the original ‘plan A’ things might get a little ‘mixed up’, but that can be a good thing, since it REquires and teaches us flexibility. Often, we are afraid we might inconvenience others with changing plans, but a different plan might work best and be most effective for everybody anyway.

 

“How can I be connected with the Quantum Field?” you may ask….
You ARE IN the Quantum Field.
That’s like a dolphin asking, ‘How can I be connected with the ocean?”

Dolphin Friends, going with the Flow –
Mercury in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces

 

Funny, how a change in one piece of the puzzle (Gemini) can create a domino effect (Pisces), which shows our intrinsic connectivity in a web of energy and information. Practically speaking, if one person whom you had made plans with and whom you have ‘counted in’ for a particular endeavour, needs to cancel (perhaps because their pet is sick) it can create a whole chain of consequences, RE-quiring RE-coordination for you and everybody else involved… could be for the better. Drop your ideas and expectations, and go with the flow.

Here are my seasoned and seasonal 14 Mercury retro tips, valid for the whole phase of retro (exact May 18 – June 11), and extending into post-retro stationary ‘storm’ (until June 19), and post-retro shadow time (until June 27):

 

1) Be easy on yourself while getting into the groove of things.

It usually takes a week or so to adjust to the different mode. Hopefully, you have taken the pre-retro shadow phase as an adjustment, and aren’t being ‘hit’ by the wild ‘storm’, since May 10.

 

2) Be mindful.

There is a tendency for the mind to be distracted (esp. with Gemini) and all over the place (esp. with the square to Neptune in Pisces), to loose and misplace things and thoughts that later have to be REtrieved again. Avoid getting scattered and disorganized, but also let go of your attachments and take it easy on your need to be in control. Practice being present with any person you communicate with, and any situation and function ‘at hand’. Don’t lose sight of what’s significant and a priority, in the face of the apparently urgent ‘little’ things which can easily be an accumulation of distractions. Watch how you might actually indulge in distractions – to avoid…? what?

 

3) Retro is an inwards / backwards oriented energy.

A good way of aligning with that quality is meditation and mindfulness. It’s also an excellent chance (if not necessity) to deal with ‘old unfinished business’and with ‘loose ends’, to clear communication themes from the past, often carried over from a previous M-r time (last one was in Jan / Feb, REmember?).

 

4) RE- everything! 
Every M-r phase is a great time to attune and invite basically everything that starts with ‘RE-‘, like: RE-visit and RE-address, RE-align, REad, RE-treat, RE-pair, RE-boot, RE-group, RE-consider, RE-arrange, RE-place, you name it… makes sense, eh?

Another REason for pointing out all these RE-activities: During Mercury retro (which also has a karmic undertone), we less likely get away with being sloppy, and with procrastinating or neglecting REsidual communication issues with people from the past. They come up / it comes up like a mirror in – basically any communication (under Mercury in Gemini).

 

5) Talk about what REally matters.

Ask questions (rather than making assumptions or ‘decreeing’). Inquire and observe like a scientist. And check out how what people say very often comes from a need to be heard in their story and wound, even if that might be overcompensated by the ego. Meet them from the heart and from conscious spirit.

 

6) A direct, authentic and lively dialogue can open up opportunities to co-create, and support one another in an alienating information society, and touch on other more important subjects that e-correspon-dance just wouldn’t allow for.

When a conversation takes a different direction than the ‘planned’ and anticipated purpose it can lead to an even more important outcome. Trust the process.

 

7) Choose the clearest and most direct mode of communication available.

Phone or skype rather than emailing/messaging, meet them in person rather than phone, to make sure an actual dialogue happens. Look them in the eyes and feel out their presence, rather than just engaging in a factual monologue, via email / messaging, with the assumption you know what they think, or that they know what you think AND feel. Do they? Do you, really?

Consider communicating in several ways and via different media, to make sure the message comes across – a bigger chance to reach them. But also, keep in mind and heart that because people’s minds can be all over the place now, communication might be scattered and incomplete, or prone to assumptions: “I thought you got my email!!!”. Or it might actually be a monologue when you write to someone: Are you just thinking out loud as you ‘communicate’, or are you actually suggesting something to them?

Which brings us to…

 

8) Be mindful how you communicate with others. Watch your words and your language.

Put yourself in their position, take ownership and responsibility for your mental and emotional processes, rather than pouting, blaming and judging (possibly based on lack of communication). Be curious. Ask questions. Be mindful of the words and language you use. The Libra North Node suggests: Put yourself in their shoes. How might they understand what you just said? It’s not about pleasing, rather a reminder of social skills that makes human interaction better.

 

9) Be clear and precise with commitments, if you HAVE TO (do you really?) sign an agreement now that can’t wait.

The Zodiac field of Gemini, where Mercury goes retro, is all about diversity, communication, learning. Is what you are about to agree upon the only option? Is it possible that you learn more by doing research and speaking to people that could inform your decision, over the next month?
Check whether you have understood and been understood correctly, and REpeat / REphrase back to the other person. Avoid signing an agreement before you have all the necessary information (often only after Mercury retro is over!). That applies especially to the area in your life that relates to the house where early / mid Gemini is in your chart (e.g. 7th house: relationships, 4th house: home / family).

 

10) Under M-r, the odds for fabulous unexpected synchronicities are 99%:

As we act more intuitively and are REleased from the ordinary conditioned mind we let synchronistic guidance come in, and allow the spontaneous intervention of the universe to show us our interconnectedness. With the Gemini energy, we can become the learner and approach life with ‘ ZEN Mind – Beginner’s Mind’.

 

11) M-r is a good time to RE-connect with people you have lost sight of.

With the Geminiflavour, people might come back into your life whom you have had a learning connection with but for some REason have lost touch with. It’s also a good time to REvisit REsidual communication that’s not complete, or wasn’t possible for a while. I bet there will be a lot to learn, on different levels. Chances are good that you REconnect with people from the domain of the house where Gemini is located in your chart (e.g. 7th house: significant others, 9th house: foreign countries, studies…)

 

12) When ‘glitches’ occur, be fluid and flexible like quicksilver (Mercury’s metal).

Think “shift happens”, don’t judge or blame yourself or others for not being ‘perfect’ and making ‘mistakes’, and turn the paradigm around: What could be the opportunity and funny side in this mishap? REframe your way of thinking about things. And entertain the possibility that subconsciously, you might have arranged a wild alternative to the original ‘plan A’ which – who knows? – might lead to something new and better and more fun and playful than what the ‘normal’, ‘usual’, ‘regular’, and most ‘efficient’ (controlling) mind set could have come up with? 

 

13) Enjoy those unintentional puns, slips, and new connections in the mind.

This Mercury retro phase in Gemini is a lot about words and language. Fun to play, and see the effect of language.

Be creative and brainstorm – esp. together with your Mercury retro friends.

 

14) If you would like to know

1. a) whether you are a member of the RETRO CLUB (born under Mercury retro, as yours truly)
2. b) in which part of life the retro trickster would likely play tricks on / with you
3. c) how to benefit from and work WITH the energy,

feel welcome to get in touch with your astrologer.

 

 
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ASTROLOGICAL WESAK MOON 2015

‘Buddha’s Full Moon’ on May 3, 2015:

LET BUDDHA NATURE MANIFEST!

Early Morning Prayer – Lotus with Orb – Photography by Helga Hendricks

 

The Buddhist community celebrates every year the Full Moon in May as the Wesak Moon: The Buddha’s birthday, attaining of enlightenment, and leaving of the earthly incarnation. Excellent article: http://www.crystalinks.com/wesak.html

The Wesak Moon in most years (if it happens before May 20) highlights the Taurus – Scorpio polarity astrologically whose themes are aligned with the core of the Buddhist teachings (‘Four Noble Truths’):

The basic suffering or even just basic dissatisfaction (‘dukkha’) in the human condition are due to attachment and its frustration (not getting what one wants, and not being able to get rid of the unwanted).

This is also a basic Taurus / Scorpio theme:

Taurus (ruled by Venus) represents desire, pleasure, comfort, joy, erotic attraction and assimilation through the senses (with the shadow of attachment to the material and worldly plane and to physical satisfaction, hording, stuckness, greed, stinginess).

Scorpio (ruled by Pluto) on the opposite side of Taurus takes us to emotionally intense and uncomfortable places where the ‘muck’ and hidden, often covered or repressed material sits. This very ‘human humus’ and shadow can’t be just ‘gotten rid of’ or ‘hidden away. However its purpose is to be spiritually processed so that it becomes a ‘fertilizer’ for renewal – the Alchemy of life.

Scorpio has been quite the ‘boot camp’ for humanity also, under Saturn in Scorpio (since Oct 2012, until Dec 2014, and a ‘residual processing phase’ from June 14 – Sept 17, 2015 is coming up). The Saturn influence – soon back into Scorpio – is an incentive to get to the bottom of things and purge, and also a karmic harvest: find completion and closure.

The peaceful Buddha ‘beyond satisfaction’ sits on a beautiful Lotus flower (SUN in TAU) that has its roots in the ‘deep, dark and dirty’ pond (MOON in SCO), which can be also seen as a Tantric symbol of Yin/Yang union.

The paragraphs below *** expand on the Wesak Moon theme…

 

The Yin-Yang is a perfect symbol for a balancing the Yin and Yang / Lunar and Solar influences in us under each Full Moon, but esp. under this very astrologically potent (SCO – TAU) and spirited Wesak Moon.

The Wesak Full Moon is a magnificent divine and meditative moment when transformation (SCO) can be anchored (TAU), and attachment to longing or to pain incl. feeding those ‘hungry ghosts’ (TAU) that show up in obvious or subtle personal and collective / cultural addictions and compulsions (more consumption, information, work, entertainment is never enough…) can be put into the bonfire of the soul (SCO) for the Alchemy to do its job.

Here is the Full Moon chart:

Let’s see what the chart reveals:

The exact Fixed T-square of Sun (next to Mars) in TAU, Moon in SCO, and Jupiter in LEO shows us where pressures building up, in the domains of

• Desire to have, own, build security (TAU)
• Desire to create, be seen and loved (LEO)
• Desire to go into deep, intimate, transformational places (SCO).

…which makes centering very challenging, yet rewarding (if not mandatory).

Can you feel the tugs, and yet the need to stay centered?

Jupiter in mid LEO (13º34’) as the apex of the Wesak Full Moon T-square (see chart) offers an outlet for the tension.

What an amazing Sabian Symbol for

14º Leo:

“A HUMAN SOUL SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUTWARD MANIFESTATION.

Keynote: The yearning for self-actualization.

Behind the many rhythms and drives of individual existence, beyond the child, the adult, and the old person, stands the soul seeking always to manifest itself through the personality. This is the transpersonal urge of the spirit, expressing itself in many ways during the whole life span. But most avenues are blocked, and the soul waits until it can wait no longer. Then comes the dramatic release, which may mean a joyous carnival or madness.

This… stage… brings a transcendental clue to the technique of living: Let the soul speak out! Allow the power of the true tone of your being to manifest itself smoothly, easily, unobstructed – or expect a variety of consequences. LET the soul manifest!”

What a powerful statement, as an outlet for the Wesak Moon tension!!!

Also in the signature of the Wesak Moon ‘matrix’:

MERCURY now in GEMINI is a flighty and ‘centrifugal’ draw to the ‘sirens’ of inner and outer voices and quest(ion)s, tons of information, options, and choices that overstimulate our mind, vitally enhanced by the omnipresent communication cloud. So much to ‘check out’ and to sample.

Guess what? Mercury will also go retrograde in Gemini soon (May 18 – June 11), and its pre-retro shadow phase starts – on May 4!
More about the Mercury retro itinerary in the Wesak Moon AstroNews.

MERCURY will square NEPTUNE in PI 3 times, on May 9, 29 (in retro) and June 23. Let’s be extra mindful of how our energy gets drained when we let this flighty yet highly addictive ‘cloud’ have its way with us. It might take us nowhere except to superficial cruising. However letting the ‘monkey mind’ surrender (I picture a monkey with a white flag, for fun…) re-connects us to Oneness and in ‘the field’ that allows spirit to guide us (rather than ‘squirreling’ around).

As always, the Mercury retro phase is about ‘RE-adjusting’ Mind to its function of serving Consciousness (as represented by the SUN), not the other way round.

 

CHIRON / NEPTUNE in PI remind us that allowing and being with what IS in Oneness Consciousness offers healing and is a profound timeless teaching.

Buddha Nature is everywhere, just as nature by nature is always in interconnected union, yet it can’t be held or grasped…(even photographs are merely frozen moments in the flow of life…).

Let Buddha Nature Manifest!

 

Here is a beautiful chant and imagery for the universality of life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2rZNsqS-aw&feature=related

 

*** More astrological info about the SCO – TAU Wesak Moon, and its distribution:

From fixed T-square to mutable T-square

Scorpio is for the Moon the most ‘challenging’ sign (while the Moon is considered ‘exalted’ in Taurus, it is considered ‘in fall’ in Scorpio):

The Moon represents our emotions, our instinctual mind (in a broad sense of body-mind, feeling-mind), and the needs and habits developed from that place, which by nature long for nurturance and sustenance.

Taurus is the sign that provides such sustaining delivery and assimilation – it’s all about feeding and reliable presence… whereas Scorpio rules necessary detoxifying elimination, partly through painful processes, which is not what our Lunar (representing also the inner child) side is most comfortable with, to put it mildly.

Under a Scorpio Moon (whether we are born with it, have it by progression for 2½ years every 29 years, or whether the Moon in Scorpio for 2½ days per month affects us), we are instinctively sensitized towards the need to purge and to ‘get rid of’ what is toxic and outlived, of what controls us, and doesn’t allow us to be free in a deeper sense. The process calls us to go into the ‘mouth of the monster’ and through its bowels even, while our head and ego might severely protest and resist. A Scorpio Moon experience can lead us to the deepest abyss of our inner worlds, yet is an opportunity to take us through it, and be regenerated and transformed through the process.

The Scorpio / Taurus Wesak Moon each year is a fully solar illumined (therefore the most potent) Scorpio Moon, which brings revelation about our deepest notions for transformation.

Consciousness (represented by the Sun) has to be intent to patiently stay and ‘sit with’ (Taurus quality) what comes up from the depth, for the processing. In that sense, the polarity axis of Taurus and Scorpio can be bridged in complementary, cooperative, and productive ways.

The central spiritual (esp. Buddhist) themes of attachment & transformation are being highlighted in the ‘Bull’s Eye’ and the ‘Scorpion’s Stinger’:

The fixed earth sign Taurus (ruled by Venus) celebrates the physical senses, comfort and pleasure, and what creates security and grows over time, like a garden or a solid investment. Taurean energy takes roots, builds, cultivates, and conserves, like a gardener, farmer, and good custodian of the Earth. Taurus likes to attract what’s pleasant, to experience it via the senses, to eat, assimilate and accumulate, and to claim ownership and territory. Taurus slows down, after the fast and furious Aries energy, and favors predictability and patience; therefore habits and routines are likely being formed. Its orientation is very life affirming, yet can lead to stuckness, attachment to the known and comfortable, hence has a challenge with change and letting go.

The fixed deep water sign Scorpio (ruled by Pluto) in contrast to the ‘above ground’ Taurean world, penetrates the underground / underworld / underbelly, which can be a painful process (Taurus – Scorpio also represent the pleasure – pain, and life – death axis), yet sharply points out where deep ‘down under’ transformational ‘digestion’ and purging release of something that is actually already dead needs to happen, so that it can become a fertilizer for new life.

Just as in late Oct – late Nov the leaves rot and go under the earth, the Scorpionic energy takes us to emotionally deeply affecting processes that have nowhere to go but down and through, so that the alchemical work can be performed.

In Buddhist tradition, the image of the Buddha floating on a (Taurean) lotus flower that blossoms so purely and beautifully while being rooted in the (Scorpionic) mud swamp, represents the enlightened quality of having gone through and continuing going through deep processes. The embodiment of the enlightened consciousness continues and sustains.

The Sun – Moon Full Moon tension in Scorpio / Taurus sheds light from an astrological perspective on the Wesak theme every year. It offers a strong reception, safeguarding, and distribution of spiritual energy on the Earth plane from many dimensions and traditions.

Another excellent article (referring to Alice Bailey’s Theosophical teaching) can be found here http://www.wesak.us/articles.php

 

Buddhist Stupa under the Full Moon (author of photo unknown)

 

The Wesak Moon offers a very potent time for receptivity, assimilation, and attunement to the cosmic energies, meditation and openness to transformational change. Its effects extend over several months, some people say until the next Wesak Moon, a year later.

The spiritually auspicious Wesak Full Moon in its charged Scorpio / Taurus energy has been building up well before and is still available well after the exact alignment, as it requires and also helps us to ground ourselves, even in the apparent predicament and abyss of it all. So let’s be present with what IS, even with overpowering inner and ‘external’ demons, while sustaining a vision for humanity, together with others (the universal Sangha = spiritual community)!

The Wesak Full Moon 2015 highlights 13º22’ Scorpio and Taurus (see chart).

The Sabian Symbol for 14º Scorpio (for the Moon) says,

“TELEPHONE LINEMEN AT WORK INSTALLING NEW CONNECTIONS.

Keynote: The need to establish new channels of communication.

The growth of community feeling among separated human beings requires the development of constantly more complex means of interchanging feelings and ideas. Wherever this symbol is found, the indication is that such channels of communication are essential for the success of any interpersonal relationship. They are not only to be built, but to be used significantly and wisely.

This… symbol brings to our attention the essential value of communicating with our fellow-men and even our close associates – with whom such a communication may not always be easy. There can be no communion without communication at some level, including the level of biological attunement.
Keyword: The WILL to ASSOCIATION or COMPREHENSION.”

This points us to use the Scorpionic transformation for new ways of hearing, listening, comprehending, responding, commun(icat)ing…

Sounds like Mercury in Gemini opposing Saturn in SAG retro on May 3 – and Mercury retrograde foreshadowing to me… 

Here is a corresponding quote by J. Krishnamurti that just ‘popped up’ this evening in a small booklet from the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada:

“We can understand our problems only if we have the capacity to listen, to pay full attention, and such attention is not possible if we are seeking an end, an answer. There is attention only when the mind is really quiet, and then it is able to receive, to comprehend; but a mind that is occupied with its own answers that is caught up in the search for a result is never quiet, and such a mind is incapable of full attention. So I think it is important to listen with full attention, not just to what is being said, but to everything in life, for only then is the mind free to discover that is true and find out if there is something beyond its inventions.”

The Gemini (Mercury) – Sag (Saturn) opposition is also very apropos what follows the exact Wesak Moon:

In esoteric traditions (see http://www.wesak.us/articles.php), the day of the Wesak Festival is considered the “day of safeguarding”, followed by 2 succeeding “days of distribution”.

In short, on the Wesak Moon day (of safeguarding), the spiritual community is called to regard themselves as recipients and custodians of as much of that inflowing spiritual force as they can possibly hold. This corresponds with the quality and capacity of fixed signs, and is a perfect expression for the Scorpio / Taurus Full Moon, this year active from Saturday May 2 at 6:47 pm PDT until Tue May 5 at 4:13 am PDT, peaking at the exact Full Moon, at 8:42 pm PDT on Sun May 3 (see chart).

In the days of distribution following the festival, it is suggested to turn the attention away from one’s inner subjective planes, in order to pass on the spiritual energy that has been received, ‘to whom it may concern’.

This corresponds with the mutable, distributing and ‘broadcasting’ Sagittarius Moon that follows the Scorpio Moon ‘container’ (active from Tue May 5 at 4:13 am PDT to Thu May 7 at 11:16 am PDT).

The days of distribution will be this year quite charged as well:

The SAG Moon will be on May 5 conjunct Saturn, opposite Mercury in Gemini, and square Neptune in Pisces – a mutable T-square (following the fixed T-square!)!

Outlet for this Gemini / Sag tension that can be quite ‘centrifugal’ (Sag can have an agenda, and knows what’s the way to go, Gemini questions and wonders…) is Neptune in Pisces:

Surrendering to Oneness in the quantum field, letting BE, letting GO, being okay with what-IS, being available without getting ‘hooked’, relaxing our attachments, and letting the universe unfold.

© 2015 Melanie Lichtinger