Sagittarius New Moon/Partial Solar Eclipse~ Balancing Spirit

Thanksgiving day is usually filled with family, food, tradition and all the things that come along with them. That can include: traveling, shopping, prepping, driving, cooking, eating, drinking, fussing, fighting, laughing, crying, glutton, excess, pleasure, pain, cleaning and I am sure you can each personally add a few more.

 

All of this is intensified by both the Sagittarius new moon & a partial solar eclipse that occur on Thursday November 24th.

 

I am still trying to find the earth from the emotional, watery depths of the Scorpio cycle, even after the grounding Taurus full moon last week. But earth is not the element inviting us into the next month; it is the beckoning of mutable fire that claims the twenty-eight days ahead.

 

The Sagittarus cycle is normally quite welcome, especially in the holiday season. Sag is the centaur, gypsy, philosopher and story-teller. The energy is gregarious, voracious, social and hard to keep still. It's kinda like being hauled out of a deep, dark well (Scorpio) that you have been sitting in for a month and being plopped in front of a giant bonfire with a cup of tea and a camp full of gypsies, singing, laughing, telling stories. It can be a relief, but also a pretty extreme change of scenery.

 

An eclipse intensifies whatever sign it falls on, and solar eclipses intensify the outer, masculine, active qualities, where lunar amp up the emotional, feminine energies. The eclipse on Thursday is partial solar (not as powerful as total solar) and as the sun and moon will be in Sagittarius, that is a lot of fire energy.

 

I feel like we are going to want to do one of two things during this new moon.

 

The first is to completely rebel against all the truth seeking, cleansing and changing Scorpio was demanding and to just hide our heads in too much food, drink, shopping, socializing and playing. I get that, I am tempted to do the same. I am half way through the cleanse I started with the waning cycle and every ounce of me wants to justify ending early and starting to enjoy the pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, cookies and goodies already springing up everywhere. Sag, after all, is the fun loving story teller that can easily make up a really good reason why you have done enough work and should party party party.

 

OR you may just want to burn out. Scorpio brings up all our deep dark secrets, fears, resentments and with the heightening fire energy, it may feel appropriate to spend Thanksgiving telling your relatives exactly what you think of them or forcing your spouse into discussing every intimate issue you have or any other extreme heated exchange you can come up with. Fire energy is always alchemical, always trans-formative and mutable energy makes it faster, hotter and more changeable. It can be really appealing to want to harness all that hot stuff and just burn those metaphorical bridges, houses and villages to the ground. Because, again, we all are recognizing that we have stuff to work on, things to release, why not just get it over with in a huge blaze of drama and glory?

 

Naturally, neither of those plans is sustainable. Neither support our overall health or the healing of our communities and countries. Following the moon generally means we are invoking more of those intuitive, nurturing, balancing qualities rather than the linear aggressive desires solar energy creates. We start to sense, based on the movements of moon and earth, that everything is cyclical and gradual changes stand the test of the seasons better than immediate destruction and instant gratification.

 

The challenge in this cycle is to build a healthy fire and care for it in a good way. Yes, you deserve rest, joy and a full tummy AND yes, you must continue to let go of the things that no longer serve you and work towards the life you want.

 

Use that visualization this month, if you can. Imagine the fire in your belly, see it being built upon the foundation that supports your dreams, lit by your new intentions and the things that bring you joy and burning through that which you carefully choose to let go of. As you move into celebration, see your fire being tended to by love as well as release. When you feel it getting too high, or dampening, use your breath to come back to center and bring it back to that middle place. The place where it is warm, inviting and likely to last all night.

 

Perhaps you will spend Thanksgiving somewhere an actual fire can be lit, either candles, fire place or outdoors. Take time to look into the flames and again, use your breath, imagination and intention to clear negative energy or honor positive. Remember that Thanksgiving is ultimately about gratitude. Be grateful for the heat, the ability to make and use fire. Be grateful for the moments you can let worries go and be with loved ones and be grateful for the times you can burn away something you don't need anymore.

 

Sagittarius can be a mischievous one, but like most gypsies, if you are straight with her about what you need, she will make sure you get exactly the right medicine, be it food, dance, drink, sleep or a good story.

Sagittarius Full Moon/Total Lunar Eclipse Wed 6/15

Solar Eclipse + Mutable Air + Mutable Fire + Total Eclipse=

 

Marshmallows, anyone?

 

Sagittarius is Mutable fire, the transformation of spirit, symbolized as the mythological centaur, recognized as the gypsy and equated to a wild bonfire around which we tell our tall tales and fantastic stories.

 

I am very interested in the relationship between the elements and the moon, and recently, the earth has been manifesting the lunar cycles as they start... the floods trumpeted the Scorpio full moon, tornadoes blew in Gemini new moon and a volcano ushers in the full moon/total lunar eclipse of Sagittarius. Now, there is no legitimate proof that these things are related, but to ME, they have felt connected. If anyone understands that kind of far-reaching thinking, it would be Sagittarius.

 

The dance here is of the last call variety, right before the club closes. The partners are your mind, which is probably still racing from the Gemini new moon/solar eclipse, and your spirit, which may feel like it has either gotten too big for your body or you can't find it at all. It is a fast dance, not a slow one and neither party can touch, yet they must somehow come together....

 

Argh! It's impossible, it's too hot and sweaty in here, I can't catch my breath, it's too loud and I don't want to dance with you anyway, you smelly horse man! I just want to go home and get away from all these people, all these possibilties and everything that has brought me to this point... just. leave. me. alooooonnneee!!!

 

(Anyone else kind of feel like that? Just me?

Here is the thing, an eclipse HEIGHTENS everything, and the lunar eclipse specifically heightens emotions. This moon/eclipse is in a later degree, which means it is time to let go of the old feelings, hang-ups, resentments, fears, thoughts and pretty much everything else plaguing mind or spirit.)

 

I threw a tantrum on the dance floor and ran dramatically out into the parking lot. The big full moon is staring down at me, illuminating my pain, embarassment and all the other stuff I don't want to look at. I glare back at her as the Centaur saunters up to me. He laughs a full belly laugh and says "That was pretty impressive back there." I ignore him and turn away. Suddenly he scoops me up, and starts galloping off into the night. "Hey!" I cry indignantly, "You are not supposed to touch me!" He chuckles again "I pretty much do whatever I want, sweetheart, I am always changing." His whole body emanates heat and I add to it, fuming silently as he takes me further into the full moon night.

 

We stop suddenly in an alley where some homeless men have created a small fire in a battered grill. "Uh, excuse me?" I start to complain when he cuts me off. "Sorry, boys, can we use your spot for a few?" No one argues with a centaur and the men wander away. "Take me back." I demand. "Give it up." he responds. "Give it up, and give it to the fire. Everything you are so angry about, everything you are afraid of, give it away so I can have my dance with you."

 

I refuse and stare into the fire. Give it up? All of it? Where would I be without my old fears and head games, my control issues and old tapes? "You will be free." he answers softly. I stop resisting and start to empty out my pockets, my purse, my shoes. I offer to the weak fire all that has been living rent free in my head for so long. The fire grows higher, hungrier, accepting every old thought willingly.

Suddenly I feel light, so light, like I had no idea how much these things were weighing me down. I look at him in disbelief. He laughs that horsey laugh and I begin to hear the sound of drums, then a flute. He starts to circle me and now I laugh, because I am ready to dance this dance of mind and spirit. I am ready to move like magnets, without touching physically, but in perfect harmony. The eclipse has begun.

 

I don't actually expect anyone to run off with a centaur Wednesday night (though that would be cool.) I would recommend taking time to let your mind and spirit work things out; perhaps through some silent meditation followed by prayer and a burning ceremony. Burning ceremony is where you write down all the things you are ready to release and then consciously and ceremoniously feed them to the flames. You can also burn old items but please do it safely and consciously. It is nice if you can do all of this under the full moon. I often just light a candle in a bowl, feed my paper to the candle and let it burn out in the bowl.

 

But as usual, even if you just glance at the moon for a moment and light a candle before bed, take some time to honor this lunation, because it does affect all of us. I may be bold in trying to connect lunations with floods and volcanos, but there are powerful changes afoot and the more we are aware of them and the more we honor them, the better able we are going to be at transforming physically and spiritually.

 

In the waning cycle between this full moon/eclipse and the next new moon/eclipse, I would like to recommend two special events: the first is my Summer Solstice Celebration at Yoga Blend, Tuesday June 21st. I always love holding these workshops and have some special things planned for this one in particular due to all the eclipses. The weekend after solstice, Saturday June 25th & 26th, we are so honored to host my teacher and one of the women responsible for bringing female shamanism into our culture, author, teacher, healer and yogini, Vicki Noble, at Yoga Blend! She will be sharing her powerful Dakini practice, which combines Shamanism, Buddhism and Goddess roots in a simple yet profound teaching and ritual. You can come for just Saturday night or Sunday afternoon but I highly recommend both! More info for both events can be found at www.yogablend.com.