Aries New Moon Sun 4/3

Playing with fire... if you are not careful, you can get burned.

After a full cycle of Pisces merging, blending, flowing, empathizing, imagining, dreaming... I kinda feel like I need to be wrung out. Lots of rain, tears, hot baths, and losing myself in books this month and old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it was needed. But it is time for some fire.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and in some ways, she is the culmination of all the energies from the year. Aries, on the other hand, is the youngest sign and is ready to go on her own. Cardinal (initiates) fire (transformation) guided by Mars, the God of war. This is a cycle for the inner warrioress to take action. All those dreams you were fishing around with last month, it is almost time to actually place the bait, take aim and get what you want, hook, line and sinker.

Spring is officially here and every other being in this hemisphere knows it is GO time.

Well, except for, as I mentioned in the full moon note, we are also now in Mercury retrograde (March 30th-April 23rd) which can put a little damper on some of those new ideas. It might also increase tempers and tensions as Mars does not like to be put in a holding pattern. I have an Aries moon and let me tell you, I want what I want NOW. It is almost painful for me to wait for something and I feel certain I have to do something immediately to seize my prize or I will lose it forever. But my sun is in Gemini, ruled by Mercury and there is a way to get these kids to play together nicely.

Awareness is always the first step and simply noticing that Aries fiery desire and Mercury retrograde's re-quest to re-lax and re-vise will slow things down.

The key this cycle is to find balance: between the watery results of the Pisces cycle and the demanding fire of Aries. Between the strong, powerful need to make change now and the re-minder to wait a little bit longer...

Aries is notorious for just waging battle, being young, strong and well, a ram. It will serve each of us, and what is sure to be an intense rest of the year (based on the energy of the last few months), if we can fan the flames a bit.

Sustainability is an important lesson our culture is having to learn right now and in some ways, Aries could represent our society: wants what it wants and wants it NOW. Perhaps having Mercury retrograde during the Spring Aries cycle will be exactly what we all need to be sure what we want is really what we want and that the timing is ideal.

How can you distract your warrioress from going right into to war? Can you enroll her in bootcamp for Spring training? Take a class for the job you want rather than going right for it? Start working with a mentor, sponsor, teacher to really create some concrete plans? 

It is important we utilize this time to light a fire under our bums, but experience has shown if you try too hard to take action and start new things during Mercury retrograde, things can be a little more challenging, deals have a way of falling through and emotions can be fickle... keep the focus on yourself and let the action be about getting you in the best shape (physically, mentally, emotionally & physically) to go after your dreams.

Seek the heat this month, but do it like an athlete preparing for the match of her life! Decide what you want, select it from the Piscean sea, shake it out, hang it over the fire to dry then focus on it with all of your being, run around it from every angle with the excitement of the youthful ram, light a candle in it's honor and meditate on it, train yourself, challenge yourself and then, when the time is right, you will go for it and you will get it.

I feel really confident that if we can use Aries energy in this way, not only will the victory be sweeter and the bliss deeper, but it will serve you longer, better and possibly even contribute to a world that really needs warrioresses like us; warrioresses who are not just thinking about ourselves or the win, but that honor the cycles, the signs and are willing to take their time and to be really sure of what they want and what they are willing to do to get it. 

Take some time to honor that new fire, and also the request of Mercury; and if you can't wait to take action, it is all good. Life is a schoolhouse and the cycles are our teachers, everything happens as it needs to and sometimes, we need those bumps and challenges. Honor your inner warrioress's wisdom and trust the flame will guide the way. 

Namaste~

Bekah

Virgo Full Moon/supermoon/spring equinox

The full Moon in Virgo brings with it a supermoon (closest moon to the earth in 18 years), the Spring Equinox & Mercury Retrograde ghost period: that is a lot of heightened energy and power for an already emotional lunation. We have two options: to find the inner critic or the inner healer.

 

Last Monday night, the night with all the crazy wind, I was driving home a white owl flew slowly past my car. I saw it completely and was amazed, I have never seen an owl like that.. when I looked up "white owl" in animal symbolism, I found 2 very opposing views. The first said it was a Goddess totem, representing wisdom and healing. The 2nd said it was a death totem. 

 

Virgo is smart, very methodical, organized, questioning and perfection seeking. She wants to make it all right and fix everything. This sign is also one of a natural healer, an empath, a medicine person who knows just the right combination of herbs, foods, plants and exersizes to bring anyone back to wholeness.

 

A Supermoon (Lunar perigree) means the moon is physically closer to us then normal. The full moon is already the highest emotional night of the cycle, but with the moon closer, there is a much stronger pull on tides and feelings. The full moon always opposes the sun sign (Pisces) and so the dance between these energies is being magnified. Pisces is mutable water and Virgo is mutable earth so the movement is quick, fluid, adaptable, the balance sought is between consciousness and form and with the addition of the nearer lunar proximity, actually would resemble tidal waves and earthquakes, on a literal and metaphorical level.

 

The day after the full moon is Spring Equinox, one of two days where night and day are equal as earth sits balanced on her axis, but symbolizes the shift to the lighter, warmer time of year afterward, as our hemisphere now tilts closer to the sun. It is always a celebratory time and quite profound for cleansing rituals, preparing seeds to plant and honoring the end of darkness and beginning of light.

 

Mercury, planet of communication, (also happens to rule Virgo) is preparing to move backwards, the "dreaded" mercury retrograde cycle. The intense period is actually March 30th till April 23rd but right around the full moon it starts it's "ghost" period, where it appears to be stopping and getting ready to go the other way. This is a cycle that is intended for anything starting with "re": re-new, re-view, re-lease, re-store, etc and generally considered to be a less ideal time to start anything new. It's initial slowing down is in Virgo, which also increases the necessity to slow down because it is amplifying the desire to make change and this is a cycle better used for doing inner work than making outer adjustments.

 

SO~ there are all these signs, planets, feelings and stuff swirling and shifting and we have two choices on this full moon: give in to the inner critic, the one who saw death in the white owl and decides to focus on all the things that are wrong, the problems, fears, feelings and decided NOW is the time to fix it, which will probably lead to more frustartion, anger and fear... OR, invite the inner healer to the full moon party: the one that recognizes and honors the need for healing, love and self-care so that when the time is right for action, she will be fully present and capable of making sustainable change. 

What can you do to welcome the inner healer and what can you do to release the inner critic? Take a look at your exercise and eating habits. This is a great cycle to start preparing the garden, weeding out the old, cleaning out pantries, fridges, medicine cabinets. Connect to water and earth, do a detox or cleanse. Maybe get a massage, see an ayurvedist, nutritionist, acupuncturist or other teacher you have been wanting to seek out. Perhaps have your astrology chart read. Go to more Yoga classes, take more hikes and maybe even get to the woods or beach. 

Our next new moon gathering will be Sunday April 3rd.

Also, I am doing a Spring Equinox Celebration at Yoga Blend this Friday 3/18 8:30-10:30pm to honor both the full moon and seasonal shift. It is one of my favorite practices and I am so looking forward to being sacred space with all of these overwhelming shifts.www.yogablend.com

Remember this is a time for inner work, so be gentle with those around you who may not do what you think they should be doing. Keep the focus on yourself and let this full moon highlight those places that need a little more love. The greatest gift we can give a world so desperate for healing is our own wholeness, only then are we truly able to be of service. That is my wish to the full moon, to help me remember my wholeness, clear out my own blockages so that I may serve in whatever way is needed. To me, that is the purest teaching of Virgo. 

Listen to those wild winds, look to the full moon and open your heart and mind so that you can honestly hear the response to your own wishes and be guided through the rest of this magical and magnetic cycle. 

Namaste~

Bekah 

Pisces New Moon Friday 3/4

The weather today is perfect for Pisces... light rain and wind.. the dance of mutable water... the dissolution of consciousness, the transformation of flow. Pisces asks us to soak life in, to be permeable as a sponge and just as unattached. Fill up, take it in and then let it go again. After a month of revolutionary Aquarius changes, let's invoke the healing, dreaming, languid realm of Pisces. 

 

Happy new moon week!

 

I used to rebel against Pisces energy. I did not like the empathic nature of the fish, nor the dream-like sensitivity that seemed both fully present yet on a different realm of consciousness.

 

I learned, though, that I rebelled because it takes strength to stand in a Pisces flow, it requires the most open heart/open mind/open spirit to transform (mutable) flow/psyche (water) I mean, what a contradiction! How do I transform flow? Well, I don't, actually, no one does.

 

Pisces is conduit material. I like the sponge metaphor because it emphasizes the nature of this sign. The sponge fills completely in the flow, but it eventually always drains it out. It is hard to keep a sponge filled with something. and if you are a uh.. person who likes control.. like me.. you struggle with things that release so easily.

 

Pisces is another sign that the moon naturally resonates with, as she also teaches the sponge behavior: she fills every month and she empties every month. She does not stay the same for longer than a couple days. That can be scary in our world where fear is the root of almost everything, fear of losing what we have or not getting what we want.

 

Pisces doesn't have that problem. She completely absorbs & experiences whatever is around her and then lets it go so she can fill up again. The symbol for Pisces is the fish.. what is more in the flow than a fish? Have you ever watched a fish? I suggest finding one this month (maybe a good cycle for a trip to the aquarium?) and waching it for a while. It is quite informative.

 

On this new moon, the best day for setting goals and intentions, can we take a break from the "gung-ho/be the change" Aquarius attitude and allow this to be a month for soaking? Soaking in early spring rains and sunshine, basking in the filling and emptying of the Pisces moon cycle, watering that fertile space within where our intentions for 2011 have been planted. Welcome dreaminess, cat naps, sleeping in, hot baths, cool showers, empathy, feeling your feelings (and letting them flow) 

 

Pay close attention to dreams and emotions because you will experience heightened awareness and sensitivity both during sleep and waking times. This is always a great cycle to start a dream journal, even if it is only a word or two that can be recalled. Dream journal practice deepens the connection to our unconscious mind and intuition and those are both great allies to have as the year waxes and time starts to move faster.

  

Please take time for yourself to tune into the Pisces New Moon. Find a fish, record a dream, walk in the rain, meditate on ways you can transform the flow of your life by learning how to fill up, empty out and fill up again.