3/1/2014 Pisces New Moon INTEGRATION

Is anyone else feeling fragmented? I am sure some of it is the fact that for 7+ months, I have not slept for longer than 3 hours in a row, and rather than there being a definitive end to one day and a beginning to the next, I have been flowing through hour by hour, breath by breath. And, of course, we all just had 3 weeks of Mercury Retrograde in airy Aquarius, which turned my brain upside down.

Regardless, fragmented was the word that came to my mind when I tried to still myself enough to write this email. I think we all experience fragmentation in some way or another. Whether it manifests as a disconnect between body and mind, or mind and emotions or emotions and spirit or any variation therein, most of us tend to feel like we are two (or more) people, living multiple lives, playing many roles. It can be exhilarating and exhausting to realize we use our energy so broadly, but at some point, we realize we lack the "bandwidth" (my new favorite expression) to sustain our intention.

Now is a good time to become aware of this fragmentation. Mercury goes direct the day before this new moon. Soon enough, we will be at Spring equinox and Aries will be demanding action and the time will be ripe for manifesting the dreams of winter. But for the next 28 days, we need to learn to balance collective consciousness (Aquarius) with personal power (Aries) through the mutable waters of Pisces.

Pisces is the last of the Zodiac signs and is considered the oldest. She is said to contain a little bit of every sign and that she can empathize with every other element because her energy is that of rain, or a waterfall or the fast flowing river. She moves through and with all the other elements and in fact is created by the relationship between them. Fragmentation cannot exist with Pisces because she is everything. There is no separation.

One of my teachers, Lynn Andrews, says, "The first lesson of power is that we are alone." We learn this as the wheel begins with Aries, independence, personal strength, setting individual goals. "The last lesson of power is that we are all one." Through the year's twists and turns, through the experiencing of each cycle and sign, we all come to this place, the realm of Pisces, where it no longer seems so important to stand alone or be the "one." We are tired, weary and have been from the roots of earth to the cosmos of space and just want time to heal and rest before it all starts again.

This is not the cycle for big decisions, changes or excessive business. This is the cycle for writing down dreams, gazing at the clouds and the stars, meditating on waves or dancing in the rain. Let yourself be complete. Even though we all have work we want to do, can we sense that it is already within us? And that the outer journey is just the chance to re-member that fullness? Additionally, we cannot truly absorb or embody our new endeavors if we don't first finish downloading all the work already done. We have all come a long way and transformed so much in so many ways. Stop, and let it sink in. Stop, and welcome the integration.

Integration can occur in many ways: You may sense it through the body, so take time to do yoga, dance, get a massage or take a spa trip to support the process. Sometimes we get sick just so the body can rest and absorb all the information! Often we feel it through dreams, which Pisces rules, so this is a good month to start a dream journal. Or it can come through emotions so welcome tears when they arise, even if it is unexpected. Pisces can be quite mysterious and works through intuition, so really honor your gut this month, particularly around self-care.

As with every cycle, if we can really invite the sign into our lives, if we surrender to the current flow, we feel the support. Suddenly, even fragmented sleep is enough to get us through the day or a lingering cough/cold magically disappears, or the missing piece in a current struggle becomes as obvious as the light of day. I know we have big goals and that the desire to "spring" forward is strong. But Pisces is here, at this time, for our highest good. The universe put her between Aquarius and Aries for a reason, and that reason is integration. Just as the water will slowly change everything she touches, there is nothing that Pisces cannot absorb into herself. The hurts, challenges, questions, defeats will all melt into the center, along with joys, truths, loves and victories. We are alone and we are all one. There is a season for owning each of these statements, and now is the time to surrender to oneness. Don't think about, just allow it. Pisces will do the rest.

May Pisces bless you, cleanse you and heal you. May she journey with you in dreams and tears and support you in integrating all aspects of yourself, that we may greet the spring wholly refreshed, renewed and ready for the next steps.

dada Sax pcy,fldx
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Pisces New Moon 2/21

Pisces New Moon~ Dreaming Waters

On February 3rd, just one day after Imbolc, 4 days before the Leo Full Moon and a mere two weeks before this new moon, Neptune, the planet of mysticism, returned to it's home sign of Pisces. Neptune has not spent time in the Piscean depths since 1861 (except for a short time last year as it prepared to leave Aquarius) and will rest in it's natural element until 2025. During it's last 13 year reign, we saw a multitude of artistic, spiritual and cultural transformations, from the birth of the impressionist movement, to the abolishment of slavery, the creation of anesthetics, declaration of women's rights and the invention of the blue jeans.

Much of the Mayan prophecy 2012 chatter has been based in specific, powerful planetary alignments. One is the Venus/Sun transit on June 6th, another is the Pluto/Uranus square and this shift of Neptune into Pisces is also considered a catalyst in creating the new era.

I think the timing of this transition, coming in so close to the Pisces lunar cycle, is a beautiful and blessed opportunity to give us a taste of what the next 13+ years might hold.

The Pisces cycle is the month between winter and spring, where the mutable water element both dissolves the icy snows and nurtures the first seeds to blooming. Mutable energy is transformative and water connects us to our emotions and unconscious minds. I think of Pisces as the changing waters from the sky~ ranging from light rain to hail and everything in between. It can be gentle and healing or cold and damaging.

The best way to explore Pisces/Neptune is through dreams, intuition, meditation and working with water. You may have already noticed your sleep shifting in the last couple of weeks; or perhaps your dreams got really good or really bad. Building up what the shamans call a "dreambody" and spending more healing time with water are tasks that will not just support an interesting month, but tools that can assist you (and others) in moving towards a higher realm of consciousness/awareness/growth that will support our planet's much needed shift.

I have mentioned before that the outer planets are pretty impersonal. Neptune in Pisces will manifest whatever spiritual/emotional changes are needed to continue evolution in our solar system, regardless of our willingness; but we do have a choice about how we experience it and how it effects us. We can harness this lunation and become co-workers in the process. We don't need to drown or get lost in Pisces' adapting waters, we can accept the umbrella offered and decide to dance and sing in the rain.

The umbrella offered, in my opinion, is from our constant ally, the moon. Our grandmother is giving us 28 potent days before Spring Equinox to really drop into our emotional and dream bodies, to cleanse, shift our consciousness, open our creativity and set the intentions needed to ride the coming waves. This is the month to designate a dream journal to your bedside table and commit to writing in it every day, not just dreams, but any message or intuition that comes up through your day/night.

Dream work comes easy for some, and way hard for others. I have always struggled with dream work. Part of my Shamanic apprenticeship involved extensive strengthening in the dream body, and I must confess mine never could carry much weight. It has been one of the bigger challenges I face in mystical work and I have nothing but awe and reverence for the powerful dreamers in the world. Luckily, Neptune in Pisces should automatically enhance everyone's dreaming abilities, so this is a good time for those of us who have a hard time to put in some focus.

In addition to writing down your dreams/intuitions every morning this month, whether or not you recall them, increasing meditation will also open up the unconscious and form a better container to hold messages/visions/dreams. Sitting by water would be a great way for new and old meditation practitioners to set their intent, and using actual water elements tune us more deeply into Pisces' frequency. You can also get some music with sounds of waves/rains/rivers to listen to as you just sit quietly and breathe. Physically working with water is also recommended. I am ever the fan of hot baths, and cold dips in oceans and streams.

The waters of our planet play a pivotal role in the survival of the human species, start to explore ways to conserve, protect and restore our water sources. Buy a new eco friendly shower head, put filters on sinks rather than buying water, say thank you in your shower, donate money to groups that preserve waters and only wash full loads of dishes/laundry with organic soaps.

Maintain a mind that is conscious of how precious this element is as you ask it to bless, cleanse and heal you. Form a relationship with the waters around you, a relationship based in gratitude, and the waters will also respect you and deepen your intuitive process.

One other helping hand that is reaching out to support our experiences are healing herbs. For thousands of years, mystics have ingested, burned, bathed in and slept with sacred herbs to enhance the benefits of water, meditation and dreaming. Consider accepting the guidance of some Mugwort, Wormwood, Chamomile, Valerian Root, Rosemary or even Lavendar in your Pisces journey. I do not ingest many herbs and I don't recommend anyone trying without guidance, but I do love to put them under my pillow while I sleep or steep in my bath before meditation or bed.

Bring the same intelligence and reverence to the herbs as you do your water and dream work, and you will find yourself becoming a more sensitive, creative, intuitive and connected being in an era where that consciousness is desperately needed.

Pisces and Neptune have 13 years to bring about amazing changes, and we have the next 28 days to align ourselves with this transformation and pick up tools that will allow us to be more awake and active in the mutable weeks and months that follow. I hope you will decide to spend some time in Pisces company and begin to understand what a difference each of our own dreams can make when we bring them into consciousness.