December 14, 2020: NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE in SAGITTARIUS
The NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE at 23 degrees SAGITTARIUS takes place Monday, December 14, 2020 at 8:16am PST. This eclipse occurs near the South Node of the Moon, which is representative of “karmic past” energy, showing up as shadow expressions of whatever sign it is in.
The sign is Sagittarius, which in its shadows perpetuates an addiction to certainty, clinging to beliefs, refusing to question or examine outside of that belief system or set way of doing things, especially if that way of doing things honors the “god” one (individual/society) worships.
Sagittarius is the sign associated with religion and is driven to make a “god,” a religion, out of something, which in itself is not a shadow. It only becomes shadow if it takes on a fundamentalist, “my way or the highway” mentality. And/or when the worship of said “god” causes harm.
In a capitalist society where money is “god” and material success and the growth industrial complex reign supreme, we worship by accumulating more, more, more. By extracting more, more, more.
The nature of Sagittarius is to say, “Yes!” which again, in itself is not a shadow. The shadow emerges when it becomes greed, entitlement, chronic over-extension. (Lack of boundaries: “yes, yes, yes, more, more more.”) Not being able to recognize when enough is enough.
And, the cost with such a worship is always the exploitation of Life…some in human form and some in more-than-human form.
During this New Moon time (intensified by the Total Solar Eclipse), it bodes fruitful to reflect deeply upon ways we recognize this Sagittarian shadow in our own personal lives and in the systems in which we are steeped and the ways in which we are complicit.
An eclipse covers the light for a period of time. We are invited to dive deep into the darkness and reflect at a level perhaps yet untouched by our conscious psyches. Engaging with new perspectives is one way to deepen our level of reflection.
November 30, 2020: FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE in GEMINI
GEMINI-SAGITTARIUS ECLIPSE SEASON began earlier this year with one Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 15 degrees Sagittarius on June 5, 2020 in the midst of the Cancer-Capricorn series of eclipses coming to a close. A Full Moon Lunar Eclipse signals a time of culmination, release, deep realizations and a heightening of potential oppositions/crisis (individually and collectively).
*Note: To gain insight about the individual/personal activation and potential of a past or future eclipse, you can look at your birth chart to locate the house in which the degree/sign of the eclipse occurs, as well as any planets close to the same degree by aspect. If you would like assistance with this, I do offer customized mini-readings that are 30 mins in length where we can delve into any aspect(s)/theme(s) you wish to explore. You can find that option here.
The next 2 eclipses in this Gemini-Sagittarius cycle are coming up very soon:
TONIGHT, another Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (this time at 8 degrees Gemini) occurs at 1:29am PST (Monday, November 30th) and a New Moon Solar Eclipse on Monday, December 14th at 8:16am PST at 23 degrees Sagittarius.
The Gemini-Sagittarius eclipse series is still pretty early in its cycle and will continue to unfold throughout 2021:
May 26, 2021 at 5 degrees Sagittarius
June 10, 2021 at 19 degrees Gemini
December 4, 2021 at 12 degrees Sagittarius
So what is the Gemini-Sagittarius axis all about?
Gemini and Sagittarius make up a whole. They are polar opposites on the wheel of the zodiac and therefore operate like Yin and Yang, complementing each other and knowing that each is needed for a full expression of wholeness and completeness.
GEMINI is of the AIR element. Gemini needs movement and is guided by an endless curiosity and capacity to perceive nuance. Healthy Gemini values questions more than answers. Always asking, researching, exploring new material. Gemini needs the stimulation of new perspectives, information and experience in order to thrive. Stagnancy is the enemy. A willingness and actual delight in having one’s mind changed by new information is high, glorious Gemini.
SAGITTARIUS is of the FIRE element. Sag needs a dynamic, ever-expanding existence filled with variety, adventure and meaningful questing that it may live rooted in its visionary, big picture, possibility-oriented spirit. There is a deep drive within Sag to live from a worldview/set of truths that one can really believe in. Philosophy and religion are at the heart of Sagittarius. Finding a way to bring it all and US ALL together (inclusivity) in ever-evolving, uplifting ways is Sag’s high potential path.
I want to mention here that eclipses occur when Full and New Moons happen close to a LUNAR NODE. The Lunar Nodes = the South Node of the Moon and the North Node of the Moon. In Evolutionary Astrology, the SOUTH NODE of the Moon represents the Karmic or Ancestral Past, particularly wounding and imbalance from the past that is showing up in this life, ripe for resolution and healing.
The NORTH NODE of the Moon is the key to that resolution and healing. The sign and house of the North Node (which will always be directly opposite the South Node’s sign and house) give us the recipe required to loosen and resolve the “Karmic Knot” and move more and more into evolutionary territory that the soul longs for.
This current eclipse cycle we are in through the end of 2021 has the South Node in Sagittarius and the North Node in Gemini.
So, it bodes well for us to be keenly aware of the ways Sagittarian energy can potentially go out of balance, into the shadows, and create dysfunction and harm.
SOME SAGITTARIAN SHADOWS to be cognizant of and actively work to understand and resolve at this time, both within ourselves and within the collective:
–Clinging to beliefs
–Lack of questioning
–Addiction to certainty
–Dogmatism / Fundamentalism
–Entitlement / Arrogance
–Chronic Over-extension / Lack of Boundaries
HIGH POTENTIAL GEMINI as the key to resolving Sagittarian shadows:
–Questioning all deeply held beliefs (especially if they cause exclusion or division)
–Unbridled curiosity
–Seeking out unfamiliar, new-to-you perspectives, information and experience
–Willingness (humility) to grow, to have our minds/behavior changed with the absorption of new perspectives, information and experience
–Using the “Perceiver of Nuance” function inherent within Gemini to notice and track our own body sensations so we can recognize when we are beginning to experience over-extension/lack of boundaries (exhaustion, depletion, frayed nerves…) and course-correct!
Through the deep individual and collective work during this Gemini-Sagittarian eclipse cycle (June 2020-Dec 2021) we have the evolutionary opportunity to move into each our own more inclusive worldviews and ways of being in community which honor difference and newness as generative, creative, life-giving and (r)evolutionary.
November 3, 2020: BIG PICTURE Astro Update on 2020 US Presidential Election Day
October 31, 2020: FULL BLUE MOON CONJUNCT URANUS EXACT
Saturday, October 31st at 7:49am PDT – FULL BLUE MOON IN TAURUS (Conjunct Uranus EXACT at 8 degrees Taurus):
URANUS has been such a major player in 2020 with its energy touching so many of the New/Full Moons…and now again. This planet of REVOLUTION and INNOVATION is demanding a grand DISRUPTION of the status quo, as the status quo is destructive, exploitative and unjust on so many levels (racist, white supremacist, capitalist, hetero-normative, patriarchal…).
And, as adrienne maree brown writes in truth-telling, Scorpionic fashion, “Remember supremacy is a projection rooted in a hatred of self. Remember racism is a form of insecurity.”
Uranus shakes us, rattles our souls, “Wake up! There is a better way! Let’s come together in all of our vibrancy and difference and get wildly creative.”
Bottom line = Uranus activates the potential for breakthroughs in consciousness which can lead to individual and societal trajectory-altering awareness and change.
adrienne maree brown’s words below resonate so poignantly with the energy of this Uranian Full Moon and all the innovative work that lies before us in creating a future that is better, not just for some, but for ALL.
From her piece, Additional Recommendations for Us Right Now from a Future:
“Task: Be revolutionary.
Need: The changes we are responsible for shaping are profound. When we can see the end of our species on the horizon, we must operate at a scale that extends our life beyond the horizon.
Mantra: We root the work we do and the ways we do it in love, in being an extension of love in the world.
Context: Even if we don’t have a clear sense of the exact solutions to fix the future, we should have a clear sense of how we want to feel in ourselves, in our relationships with each other, in community, and in relationship to the planet. Those feelings aren’t for the far-off future, they are guidance to what we must be seeding and practicing now, right now.
Practice: If we believe that we are miraculous, we must treat ourselves and each other that way.
Practice: If we believe in community, then we must get curious about the ways we need to grow and communicate in order to truly be a part of community. Not just one community, but the multitude of communities we intersect with.”
This post is part of one of my newsletters. If you’d like to view the newsletter, please click here.
October 16, 2020: LIBRAN NEW MOON
NEW MOON at 23 degrees LIBRA at 12:31pm PDT today, October 16, 2020 – This Libra New Moon is opposed by Action-Oriented Warrior MARS (in retrograde/reflection and regroup period until Nov 13) and Godexx of Discord ERIS, both in courage-building ARIES + squared by Opportunity for Resiliency JUPITER, Maturation-Time SATURN and Guardian of the Underworld/Initiator into Utter Transformation PLUTO – all three planets in CAPRICORN.
This is an intense, power-packed New Moon…a continuation of the energies of 2020! LIBRAN energy has an innate sensitivity to and desire for fairness, equity, balance, justice and peace. And, Libra knows this work cannot be done alone, it must be done in relationship, in community. Retrograde Mars opposing this Moon sparks energy for deeper reflection and regrouping so that effective action may be taken in the direction of these high Libran potentials. I came across this new song by Ani DiFranco. So spot on for this New Moon!
September 1, 2020: PISCEAN FULL MOON
July 29, 2020: AQUARIAN FULL MOON square URANUS (Exact August 3, 2020)
The FULL MOON in AQUARIUS arrives on Monday, August 3, 2020, exact at 8:59am Pacific Time at 11 degrees Aquarius.
Aquarius is ruled by the planet URANUS, which has the energy of earthquakes and lightning bolts!
Disruption. Honest Confrontation. Protest. Resistance. Revolution. Rebellion. Radical Change.
Astronomically, Uranus is the only planet to spin on its side! So, if you imagine how a planet’s equator would normally be running horizontally, Uranus has dramatically tilted so its equator is nearly vertical! Shaking the planetary norm up to the core!
At the time of the upcoming Full Moon, Uranus in the sky will be making a dynamic 90-degree angle (a square aspect) to the Leo Sun and Aquarian Moon. Needless to say, this Full Moon is powerfully intensified and electrically charged by its own ruling planet!
Aquarian/Uranian energy functions in its high potential to critically examine and question dominant culture (status quo) and the ways we have been socialized/conditioned/influenced to think, feel and behave by and within this culture.
Definition: Dominant culture in a society is the group who wields more power than other groups.
In the United States, the dominant culture is synonymous with oppressive white supremacy culture, which is the cultural conditioning that white bodies and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs and actions of white bodies are superior to all other bodies and superior to the ideas, thoughts, beliefs and actions of all other bodies (Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)).
To more deeply unpack “culture,” check out the excerpt below (from Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)):
What is culture?
“Culture refers to the knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
Culture is the knowledge shared by a group of people.
Culture is communication, communication is culture.
A culture is a way of life of a group of people–the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.”
URANUS/AQUARIUS shakes us by the shoulders and exclaims:
WAKE UP!!
EXAMINE YOUR CULTURAL CONDITIONING – THE WATER YOU ARE SWIMMING IN!
QUESTION EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY AUTHORITY.
THINK CRITICALLY.
LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED.
This Full Moon supports us in activating and emboldening the Aquarian/Uranian energy naturally within each of us that we may become ever more vigilant, committed DISRUPTORS of dominant cultural conditioning (systems of oppression).
May shock waves ripple out into whatever unconsciousness or denial exists (internally and externally) so that critical awareness of the ways we have been duped by dominant culture, worked like puppets on a string to embody and perpetuate white-body supremacy, is exposed and obvious as if the Full Moon were shining right down upon it.
As part of the Aquarian/Uranian interrogation of dominant cultural conditioning, I recommend checking out the Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture (by Tema Okun). The introduction to the characteristics is as follows:
“Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking. They are damaging to both people of color and to white people.”
July 20, 2020: CANCER NEW MOON opposite SATURN
July 4, 2020: CAPRICORN FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE
In the birth chart of the USA, based on the date of July 4, 1776, the Sun is at 13 degrees Cancer. (see 1st chart below)
The FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE happening tonight (see 2nd chart below), July 4, 2020, is exact at 13 degrees CAPRICORN, directly opposing the Sun (core identity/values) of the USA (upon which the USA was founded and operates).
Core values of capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism, imperialism and patriarchy are at the heart of the birth and growth of the USA. This country was founded upon the genocide of Indigenous people and the abduction and enslavement of African people. This truth is a glaring wound in this country’s founding and history. An abhorrent abuse of power from the very beginning and still so flagrantly operating in systems today – education, health care, criminal justice, ownership of property, policy/law-making, media, military, etc… (systems and structures in society are the domain of Capricorn.)
I was taught at every turn to believe that the USA was founded upon “freedom and equality for all,” but this is pure fallacy. “We the People,” speaks only of white people – all others considered less than…and Black people actually written into law as less than human (The 3/5 Compromise), a value that thrives on systemically and viscerally in this nation present day.
The sign of Libra is about JUSTICE and EQUALITY and the process of working together (rather than rugged individualism or me-first thinking/action). The USA has Saturn at 14 degrees of Libra in its birth chart. Saturn is Capricorn’s planetary ruler. Today’s 13 degree Full Moon in Capricorn is stimulating the USA’s Saturn almost exact by square (agitating, creating tension). In Evolutionary Astrology, the Moon represents the Heart…the capacity for empathy and depth of humanity – stimulating the need for JUSTICE, for EQUALITY.
Lastly, this Full Moon Eclipse in Capricorn is the last of the Capricorn/Cancer eclipses that have been happening since July 2018. The stakes are high. It is a fierce, highly charged time of reckoning with the core values of this country and the systems which revere and uphold those values. A High Capricorn Heart (Moon) is grounded at its deepest root in integrity and a sense of profound responsibility to the greater community, to the whole of humanity. Will the majority of hearts get there? We must come together and make it so.
June 30, 2020: Warrior Mars in Aries for 6 Months!
With this influx of raw, fiery MARS/ARIES energy over the next 6 months, speaking as one who was born into and steeped in the “Minnesota Nice” flavor of white-body supremacy, what a ripe time to burn through layers of that conditioning, such as the propensity towards “niceness,” politeness, passivity, dissociation and silence…in the face of injustice.
“Your niceness is inadequate.” –Resmaa Menakem (from his On Being interview)
MARS/ARIES energy is visceral and fierce. It invites a greater physical, embodied capacity to stand the heat. To grow one’s amplitude to hold greater discomfort, to move towards that intensity in order to disrupt fear-based, contracted, harming patterns.
MARS represents the function within each of us that longs to be courageous, to be brave. And, one of the most direct ways to build bravery is by truly facing what we fear. As a close friend of mine and Grandmother Against Kroll** puts it, “Do it afraid!”
Do it anyway!
**Grandmothers Against Kroll is a small group of Elder protesters calling for the resignation of Minneapolis Police Union head, Bob Kroll. They meet once a week at the fifth precinct with their signs and voices, engaging police officers in discussion as they come and go. YES!!! Mars in Aries.
The below excerpt is from the book “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo:
May we recognize our agency and use it with intention. Asserting ourselves with ever more forthrightness, clarity and passion. Rising up in empowered voice and action.
AND, part of that warrior wisdom is understanding, particularly as white bodies, what adrienne maree brown talks about in her blog post “a word for white people, in two parts”:
“redistribute resources. not as charity, which is just another way to assuage the conscience of privilege. redistribute money, leadership positions, decision-making power, land, time in meetings, visionary space, relationships with philanthropy, speaking opportunities, press attention, health care benefits – if you can measure it, you can redistribute the resource.”
Those of us in white bodies, MARS in ARIES is a sharp call to come to awareness of our white-bodied advantage, privilege, position and power and use it in all the ways we possibly can in service to justice and the fight for human equality, which includes sharing/redistributing our power and wealth of resources. And, not just for right now, while Mars is moving through Aries, but in a sustained way for the rest of our lives, with our eyes, hearts and integrity centered upon systemic, structural change.
May 20, 2020: GEMINI GEMINI GEMINI
T H E S U N moved into the mental, changeable air sign of G E M I N I today. The transiting North Node (evolutionary potential for the collective) just shifted into Gemini earlier this month and will be in Gemini until Jan 2022. Mercury and Venus are both in Gemini right now (Venus will be there until August). And, this Friday’s N E W M O O N is exact at 10:38am Pacific at 2 degrees Gemini.
A BOUNTY OF GEMINI STIMULATION!
High potential Gemini energy is all about the capacity to have a wide, open, curious mind. Non-defensive, desirous of new information, eager to engage in robust exchanges of thoughts and ideas, hungry to be stretched through learning.
An excerpt from Ashley Fairbanks’ recent post on Facebook: “We have to remember that white supremacy purposefully doesn’t teach us about each other’s history and cultures in order to keep us divided.”
May we welcome these Gemini winds of change and actively seek out information, real lived stories, experiences, perspectives that are not familiar to us. May we move beyond our comfort zones, again and again and again. And, may we be willing to be changed by what we learn.
To read Ashley Fairbanks’ full post.
May 5, 2020: LUNAR NODES CHANGE SIGN
L U N A R N O D E S now in S A G I T T A R I U S + G E M I N I
The collective karmic/evolutionary axis, represented by the Lunar Nodes, shifts today from the signs of Capricorn/Cancer to Sagittarius/Gemini. The Lunar Nodes shift signs every 18 months.
The South Node of the Moon (Sagittarius) represents the shadows or distortions of Sagittarian energy that we must confront and consciously work to resolve. The North Node of the Moon (Gemini) represents the energies and experiences that will naturally bring healing and resolution to the shadows of the South Node.
Sagittarius, at its worst, is the HUNGRY GHOST…representing over-consumption and endless expansion….GREED and self-interest. More, more, more for me. Bigger is better. Making it so there is NOT enough for all.
In the Sagittarian shadow exists the frequency of separation, of othering – me/you, us/them – a divisiveness, which can become like a fundamentalist religion (Sagittarius rules the realm of religion and in its shadow lies all forms of dogma, fundamentalism and cults).
This morning, I listened to an episode on the podcast, Cape Up, with Jonathan Capehart, where he interviews Jonathan Metzl, author of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland. Metzl discusses how some white people would rather literally die of not having access to medical care than vote for health care policies that would support themselves along with people of color and immigrants. This is an aspect of Sagittarian energy in its ugliest shadow – making a religion out of division…us/them…and being willing to die for those beliefs.
This shifting of the Lunar Nodes is asking us to come face to face with any and all rigidity in our belief systems, both individually and collectively. We must confront ways in which we create an “other” and live out a “divide and dominate” mentality, which is built into white identity in the U.S. We see it in the structure of society, policies, laws, media, health care…it is everywhere.
With the South Node in Sagittarius, we must look at our consumption and our addiction to more, our belief in more. How much is enough? What about sufficiency (having an adequate amount of something)?
With the North Node now in Gemini, the HEALING MEDICINE is clear:
We must open our doors of perception and let fresh winds blow through. Curiosity wants to grow in size. Gemini invites us to open our eyes and ears to read, listen, learn from other points of view…to take in new information outside of our comfort zones and begin to engage with and discuss this newness with others…opening to the unfamiliar, to discovery, to having our minds changed in an instant moving us in a direction of more openness, inclusivity and valuing of difference.
Rather than previously held beliefs and expectations being the foundation of our choice-making and day to day experience, high potential Gemini invites our raw, direct, present moment experience to be at the forefront, allowing the freshness and felt-sense of NOW to inform the unfolding of our lives.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. –Rumi
Here’s the link to the podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/…/cape-up-with-jonathan…/e/66913663
April 22, 2020: NEW MOON in TAURUS + EARTH DAY
E A R T H D A Y + the N E W M O O N in the primal Earth sign of T A U R U S – exact tonight at 7:35pm PST. This New Moon is at 3 degrees Taurus, which is conjunct the “Great Awakener, Innovator, Harbinger of Change” planet U R A N U S (6 degrees Taurus) and square the “Wise, Far-Seeing Elder” S A T U R N (1 degree Aquarius).
At a high potential level, Uranus wants to shake things up, upset the apple cart, shock the system, so that higher awareness, radical change, innovation and evolution can happen. In its high potential, Saturn wants to create solid foundations, structures and systems, rooted in reality, integrity and Far-Seeing Elder wisdom that are sustainable over time. And, Taurus is all about the wellbeing of Earth and all creatures who inhabit this planet. Taurus (Nature) connects us to the ancient, ancestral, animal, plant, fungi wisdom we know in our bones. This New Moon is a rich and fruitful time to connect at this level.
Can you sense how these energies are poised to work together during this tremendously unprecedented time we are in currently? Can you sense the growth potential? What deep down embodied messages are you receiving right now? Uranus tends to bring flashes of insight.
In what ways are you communing with Earth and creatures, including your own creature body?
May we be devotees to Taurus/Earth wisdom not just during Taurus season or a New Moon, but always. May we honor Earth’s capacity to shock us into higher awareness and evolution (may it be so) and bring us nose to nose with reality (Saturn) that we may activate our capacity to innovate (Uranus) and create systems of sustainability and respect for all creatures of this Earth (Saturn).
April 20, 2020: BALSAMIC MOON PHASE
We are now in the B A L S A M I C M O O N P H A S E, also called the W A N I N G C R E S C E N T M O O N P H A S E, which happens every month for about 3.5 days just before the New Moon.
This last phase of the Moon cycle is a time that deeply supports tuning into our natural impulses especially around surrender and letting go. For example, when exhausted, rather than pushing through and forcing yourself forward, perhaps taking a moment to pause, whether that be a few deeper breaths in stillness…or a nap.
Allowing for more rest and sleep during this Balsamic Moon time is deeply supported. As is time to connect inwardly, to reflect, ruminate, receive, meditate, pray…connecting with Source as Source is for you (for me, I connect with Source through communion with Nature as well as the wisdom of my own body/soul – as I, too, am Nature).
Sometimes it’s only in very tiny ways that we can allow for this during the Balsamic Moon Phase. However we can, to whatever degree, is beneficial at the soul level and in preparation for the new monthly cycle which begins at each New Moon.
Our next NEW MOON is in TAURUS (@3 degrees) and is exact on EARTH DAY, Weds, April 22, at 7:25pm Pacific Time. How perfect!!
More on that soon.
March 9, 2020: FULL MOON in VIRGO + MERCURY DIRECT
F U L L M O O N in V I R G O exact at 10:47am PDT on Monday (19 degrees Virgo). Earthy, grounded, discerning energy within ourselves is now more readily available to tap into. And, this Moon is opposite N E P T U N E at 18 degrees P I S C E S. Neptune’s high-vibe, ethereal, elevated frequencies are available to attune to simultaneously.
I’m sharing this 528 Hz recording I’ve had playing softly over the last several days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiT3lCydEFQ
From mindvibrations.com: “The 528 Hz frequency is the most significant of the ancient Solfeggio Frequencies. Known as the “love” frequency, it has a deep-rooted relationship with nature, and is present in everything from Chlorophyll to human DNA…”
At a time when collective anxiety is particularly amped up, I find the most skillful thing I can do is ground into the self-regulating practices/tools I have learned over my adult life
(V I R G O), those which align my nervous system/frequency with steady in breath and out breath, soft belly, relaxed jaw, neck, shoulders, tailbone…softer gaze and wider peripheral vision.
I find this particular Hz really invites this kind of settling in my system. When it’s playing, I feel like it is creating a larger container for me to soften and expand into (N E P T U N E in P I S C E S), rather than me, myself, being the whole container.
Lastly, M E R C U R Y goes D I R E C T ! ! ! ! (Cheering!!!!) At 8:48pm PDT on Monday. 
I’m definitely ready for direct motion once again!
February 16, 2020: MARS enters CAPRICORN + MERCURY RETROGRADE
Mars moved into the sign of Capricorn at 3:33AM PST and Mercury went retrograde this afternoon at 4:54PM PST. These two shifts present an opportune time to activate our will to action (Mars) and dig into what has been on the back burner, especially creative projects (Pisces).
I have a big creative project that has been awaiting me, yet over the last few weeks I have not felt able to settle into it. I decided not to fight it and just wait until Mars moved into grounded, focused Capricorn. 🙂 With this shift in energies, I feel much much closer to diving in. AND, there’s a persistent knowing in the back of my mind that before I do so, I need a bit more mind space cleared in a very tangible, concrete, practical way = All of the birth charts I have done over the last 5 years need to be put into alphabetical order! Woah. This has definitely been on the back burner.
Well, Capricorn energy helps us do what feels like a mountain!⛰
So, this morning, I am sitting down in the middle of it all and organizing stacks and stacks of birth charts from A to Z. The spaciousness this organization is already creating in my mind is exactly the ticket before delving into the creative Piscean world that holds the next dimension of my Great Work (Capricorn).
Mercury is retrograde until March 9.
Mars is in Capricorn until March 30.
Time to tend to what has been waiting! xoxo
___________________________________
(A few hours later…)
Whew! After I completed the cleansing and equalizing work of organizing this morning, there was then the mental/creation energy to make this video! And, this video now opens the door to dive into the bigger project of creating an online course focused on the major initiatory astrological transits that we all experience during the life cycle (Saturn Returns, Pluto Square, Uranian Opposition, etc).
Here is a short video on the Pluto Square transit that happens between the ages of 36-39. We could think of the Pluto Square as the rite of passage that leads us into midlife. It holds extraordinary healing, empowering potential if we are willing to face the painful places within and do our deep inner work.
February 14, 2020: As VENUS in ARIES unfolds...under an AQUARIAN SUN...in a deeply CAPRICORNIAN time.
I cannot stop listening to Dr. Kim TallBear’s mind. Professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Born in what is now called Minnesota.
Since transiting VENUS (planet of relationship, intimacy, connection, creativity) entered into fiery ARIES (life force energy, primal desire, knowing our own wants/needs, being assertive, taking action, forging a trail, being courageous and confronting), one week ago to be exact – I have listened to hours and hours of Dr. TallBear’s lectures and discussions online, with titles such as “Settler Sexuality,” “Reviving Kinship and Sexual Abundance” and “Decolonial Sex and Relations for a More Sustainable World.” I have also been immersed in her blog, “The Critical Polyamorist.”
This week of marination in Dr. TallBear’s work is feeling like Aquarian/Uranian lightning bolts of awareness and realization…very deep conditioned consciousness being agitated…disrupted…like the root of something very old and rigid and never mine…perhaps never intrinsically anyone’s…being shaken loose, shaken up and MAY IT BE ROOTED OUT for clearer seeing, being and action.
To quote Dr. TallBear on this old, rigid root:
“Settler sexuality—which gives us this hetero- and increasingly homonormative compulsory monogamy society and relationship escalator intimately tied to settler-colonial ownership of property and Indigenous dispossession––IS a structure.”
This deeply Capricornian time we are in (specifically Pluto/Saturn in Capricorn) is so much about oppressive power structures being revealed for what they are, the truth of their origins and intentions coming out and ultimately working toward Plutonian death/rebirth transformation into life-giving systems and ways of relating.
If any of this sparks anything in you, I recommend checking out Dr. TallBear’s blog and/or one of her her talks and diving in!
February 7, 2020: VENUS enters ARIES
February 7, 2020 –
With Venus just having moved into the sign of Aries today (until March 4, 2020)…and the Moon in Leo almost full…what a ripe and rich time to explore authentic desire and expression. And, with the Sun moving through Aquarius, let us examine our conditioning and the structures/belief systems in place that may limit or inhibit our authentic desire, embodiment and expression.
I have been on cloud 9 listening to the Multiamory podcast today, episode #181 on “Settler Sexuality,” an interview with Dr. Kim TallBear, Professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.
January 10, 2020: FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE in CANCER + URANUS GOES DIRECT
December 25, 2019 – January 10, 2020: ECLIPSE PORTAL
From December 25, 2019 – January 10, 2020, we are in between eclipses. We are in an eclipse tunnel or portal further activating the Capricorn energies (along with the other cardinal signs: Cancer, Libra and Aries).
Eclipse portals are often experienced as times of increased intensity. Life happenings may seem to speed up or happen faster than usual. Time may seem to bend. Shadow material, repressed energy, memories may rise up from the depths of consciousness to be integrated during this time. We may be able to accomplish feats that had previously felt overwhelming.
It’s important to get plenty of rest and reflection time during an eclipse portal. So much is happening beneath the level of consciousness.
The solar eclipse (New Moon) on December 25th was at 4 degrees Capricorn. The lunar eclipse (Full Moon) on January 10th is at 20 degrees Cancer.
If you’d like to read more about the astrological energy of 2020, please see my January 2020 Newsletter.
January 2020 Newsletter: CAPRICORN MANDATE
An abundance of planets are currently in the earth sign of Capricorn – Jupiter, Mercury, Sun, Ceres, Saturn, Pluto (and the South Node of the Moon) – ushering us out of one decade and into a new one. This energy is highly encouraging of us to commit with discipline and focus to the investment of our time and effort only into projects, paths and visions that are firmly rooted in our INTEGRITY.
That which is not must be released, or we will begin to feel like we are trying to fill a bucket, full of holes, with water as the water is flowing out faster than we can pour it in. Without integrity, our energy leaks out and drains and eventually depletes.
If you’d like to read more about the astrological energy of 2020, including the ECLIPSE PORTAL we are currently in (Dec 25-Jan 10) and much more, please see my January 2020 Newsletter.
December 25, 2019: NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE IN CAPRICORN
🌑NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE in CAPRICORN✨
Exact @ 9:13pm Pacific Time – Dec 25, 2019
This New Moon Solar Eclipse (4 degrees Capricorn) is fused with the optimistic, resilient, visionary energy of Jupiter (5 degrees Capricorn) and in harmonious trine aspect with Uranus (2 degrees Taurus), Deity of Earthquakes and Lightning ⚡️ Bolts, whose flashes of breakthrough insight and energy help us awaken (as if out of a stupor) to see more clearly, to question and disrupt problematic patterns of conditioning (cultural, societal, familial, religious, etc).
Perhaps to suddenly become aware of conditioning or imprinting we are living in and living out that we hadn’t ever fully recognized before.
With the Capricorn/Cancer axis being stimulated, this investigative process may bring some of us all the way back to the beginning, including infancy or possibly even our time in the womb.
At a very personal level, at this time, I am examining with more honesty, perseverance and tenderness than ever before how I was conditioned very early on to depress my life force energy, my 🔥, strong emotions, sensitivity and empathy…to suppress my true instincts, needs and knowing…to attune to others needs instead.
With hindsight being 20/20, it’s clear that the Plutonian, “deepen your shadow work, your honesty with self and others,” death/rebirth energy so strongly present in the last eclipse portal, July 2-16, 2019, opened a deep, dark doorway into a layer of my life experience which I hadn’t fully revisited up to this point.
Embarking into this Underworld has me diving back into therapy! (gratefully so) I’ve enlisted the support of a Somatic Experiencing therapist who integrates Cranialsacral touch work. This feels like a deeply nurturing and potent combination to integrate and heal nonverbal in-utero and early life experiences.
With arms open wide in gratitude for the support of Jupiter’s presence in Capricorn in this current eclipse portal, stimulating enthusiasm, resiliency, commitment to growth and an expanding sense of possibility in a very grounded, lasting way, as we move forward into a new decade. ❤️🔥🌟🌑☀️⚡️✨New Moon blessings to All!
December 21, 2019: WINTER SOLSTICE
✨Winter Solstice✨The Sun enters into Capricorn at 8:19pm Pacific Time✨December 21, 2019✨We are of this earth…life and death are old friends✨
December 11, 2019: GEMINI FULL MOON
The Sun in Sagittarius and the soon to be FULL MOON in Gemini (exact on 12/11 at 9:12pm PT) invite walks down new trails with new horizons for the eyes to see sparking new understandings and realizations.
Venus and Saturn are also fused together at 18 degrees Capricorn at this time with Pluto very nearby. This conjunction gives weight and intensity to this Sag/Gemini expansiveness. There’s a pull into our depths right now with potential for more honest, revealing inner-exploration and conversation with serious reality checking within ourselves in relation to our relationships.
The following question wants to accompany us on our walks down new trails: How am I showing up in my relationships? ✨How we show up wants to deepen and expand.
December 2, 2019: JUPITER enters CAPRICORN
JUPITER ENTERS CAPRICORN
Some significant astrological events are unfolding that I want to share with you, starting with today – Jupiter entered Capricorn this morning at 10:19am PT. It’s quite an energy shift when a planet changes sign, especially a slower moving planet. Jupiter takes 12 years to make its full orbit around the Sun, so it changes sign about every year, give or take.
The last time Jupiter was in Capricorn was Dec 2007-January 2009. Thinking back to that time period, what was unfolding in your life? Where were you? What were you up to?
If you have your birth chart handy and are familiar with it, it can be insightful to see where the sign of Capricorn lies in your chart. This is the area Jupiter was stimulating back then and is stimulating now through December 2020.
SATURN & PLUTO CONJUNCT IN CAPRICORN
Not to mention the fact that both Saturn (Ruler of Linear Time, Convention, Structures and the Maturation Process, the Taskmaster, Authority Figure, Wise Elder) and Pluto (Ruler of Death/Rebirth Processes…Cycles of Creation/Destruction/
JUPITER & PLUTO CONJUNCT IN CAPRICORN
Annnnd, Jupiter (the Great Amplifier, Visionary, Seeker of Infinite Possibilities, Ruler of Resiliency, Expansion and Faith) and Pluto will come together in Capricorn three times in 2020 on April 4, June 30 and November 12.
Whew! It is always powerful, catalytic energy when Pluto is involved, which in Evolutionary Astrology translates as rich growth potential to open ourselves to individually and collectively. We certainly have before us ripe opportunities for significant change on both sides of the coin in 2020 – deconstructing/dying and new creation/birth.
MORE ON JUPITER MOVING INTO CAPRICORN
Like that giant, rooted tree pictured above, the sign of Capricorn is of the Earth element and is ruled by the planet Saturn. It wants to make things tangible and real through focused intention, discipline, hard work and integrity. Capricorn is associated with mastery, with excellence, wanting to dedicate itself to something of substance, built upon a foundation that will flourish over time.
When Jupiter, the Boundless Visionary, enters Capricorn, it’s time to come down to earth with our big dreams and ideas. Capricorn ushers in a practical, grounding energy which impacts Jupiter’s default leaning towards limitless expansion, risk-taking and sometimes the preference to stay in the visioning stages.
Capricorn looks Jupiter in the eyes and says, “Jupiter, it’s time to choose one of your aspirations and make it real. There are only so many hours in the day, and who knows how many moments to a life, SO with all of your broad-reaching sense of possibility, it’s time to focus in and:
1. Define a goal that is grounded in greater purpose and integrity.
2. Commit to it with wholehearted discipline.
3. Climb that mountain to the top – or it may be a journey to the depths – no matter what, one step at a time with optimism in your heart like the sun shining through the branches of that giant, rooted tree.”
And, if that weren’t enough astrological info in one email, I must add just one more thing because it feels important.
ECLIPSE SEASON:
We have an upcoming eclipse on December 25, 2019 in guess which sign?!
Yup, you’ve got it, Capricorn!
This current 2-year Cancer/Capricorn eclipse cycle we are in began in July 2018, bringing Cancerian/Capricornian themes to the forefront. Cancer and Capricorn are opposite signs in the zodiac, therefore they make a whole, like yin and yang.
Just a wee bit about the energies of this duo:
Cancer is ruled by the Moon and in its high ground is concerned with matters of heart, home, sense of place, family (both given and chosen), nourishment needs and how to nurture growth and healing within and with others. Cancer is also a highly imaginative, creative energy.
Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, is, in its high ground, concerned with matters of responsibility and commitment, both of which benefit greatly if aligned with integrity. Capricorn needs purpose; purpose larger than one’s own self. Capricorn rules the realm of Great Work – the gifts we bring forth and offer to others.
These Cancer/Capricorn themes (and more) are activated to varying degrees in all of our lives through the last Capricorn eclipse on July 4, 2020 at 13 degrees Capricorn, which will bring this current 2-year eclipse cycle to completion.
September 28, 2019 NEW MOON IN LIBRA
The New Moon in LIBRA is exact at 11:26am Pacific, today, Saturday, Sept 28 (at 5 degrees Libra). Chiron is in opposition to this New Moon at 3 degrees Aries.
This relational, justice-oriented, Chironic moon cycle is an opportunity to see the past more clearly and consciously address old, repetitive, destructive patterns of relating with other human beings that have been passed down through the generations.
Libra, in its high potential expression, deeply cares about equality and the correction of injustice. There is a new audio program that I am currently listening to again and again, “The 1619 Project:”
The 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.
You can start listening here.
July 16, 2019: PERSONAL NOTES FROM THE ECLIPSE TUNNEL
Greetings at this FULL MOON Lunar Eclipse!
We have been in this current eclipse tunnel (portal) since the July 2nd New Moon Solar Eclipse. That is the day Dan and I arrived to our new home base in Montara, California (tiny, coastal town 30 mins south of San Francisco). Today, at 2:38pm Pacific time (4:38 Central) the astronomical moment of the 24 degrees Capricorn Lunar Eclipse is exact. However, the astrological potential of this event will continue to unfold in our lives over the next 6 months until the next eclipse duo happening Dec 25, 2019 at 4 degrees Capricorn and Jan 10, 2020 at 20 degrees Cancer. The Dec 2019/Jan 2020 eclipses continue to unfold Cancer/Capricorn themes, but aligned with expansive Jupiter, the Greater Benefic, which has a verrrry different energy than the current eclipse portal we’ve been in, which has been powerfully Saturnian and Plutonian in nature.
Saturn and Pluto together are karmic, deep, penetrating, unrelenting, serious and potentially very uncomfortable. And, their work within us and around us is in the service of instilling greater integrity, greater sense of responsibility for our lives/our choices/our earth/our communities, radical truthfulness (even if it is unnerving), awareness of the destructive tendencies within ourselves and certain structures of society and ultimately, Pluto/Saturn call for the next developmental leap in how we embody our power (empowerment vs. disempowerment/victim-
Now, to get personal:
Being a Cancer Sun/Aries Moon, and therefore Pluto and Saturn interacting very personally with my sense of self/identity/values (Sun) and my deepest heart/emotions/inner life (Moon), I have felt this eclipse portal in a profoundly intense and at times breathtaking way. For the first time in my life, I experienced a panic attack about a week ago. Amidst the incredible natural beauty of the California coast, which I thought would solve all of my deepest, existential woes, 🙂 I found myself filled with anxiety, doubt, fear and completely hyperventilating, sure I’d made a gross mistake in uprooting my life in MN and making this move.
Saturn and Pluto were in my face, up my nose and with a great sternness communicated to me:
“You chose to uproot and make this big move. Yes, you. You’ve pined for California for years. You wanted to be back here more than anything. Now, it is time for you to fully understand this longing and this choice, even if parts of the truth humble you to your knees (the parts that were most likely driving from the deep Plutonian sub/unconscious realm). Are you willing to have a DEEPER look at that? (If not, good luck.) It is time for you to come to terms with the first half of your life and become intimately aware of who you are now, at mid-life, 42…and what you most deeply value.
One of my dear astro soul sisters gifted me a horse rib bone the morning of my departure from Minneapolis. And, when she placed it in my hands, she said, “because you’ve still got some shadow work to do.”
Ummm, yes.
Thank you for seeing me.
And, thank you Pluto/Saturn Eclipse Tunnel, I am now looking inward in a much more penetrating, relentless, honest way. Working on getting all my cards on the table.
Lastly, a moment for Jupiter, who awaits us in the next eclipse cycle.
In the frenzy of my panic, Dan was there (we were in the car, parked by one of our favorite ocean-gazing spots).
Dan has Jupiter conjunct his Gemini Sun. You could think of this fusion as the Expansive Optimist and Resilient Visionary as central to his core being (Sun). In those panicked moments, his voice and breath-bringing perspective joined with the intensity of Pluto/Saturn and asked:
“Could it be that a deeper personal empowerment wants to happen through this big move? Could it be that you are fearing your own expansion? What if you’re in a birth canal right now? How much do you want this Life? Can you summon up trust and faith in yourself, in the cycles of Life, in that which is yet to be born?”
The questions continue to unfold from inside and out…answers emerging in their own time from the depths. Carving out space for silence, reflection, rest and nourishment is proving deeply beneficial to the intensity of these days. I’ve been marinating in this 432 Hz recording, “Birth” by Alexandros Sidiropoulos. It deeply emits oceanic source, nourishment, soothing of frayed nerves, Cancerian North Node frequencies.
In the week since the panic struck, these Leonard Cohen lines have been visiting me often:
“Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in…”
Sometimes another human being is absolutely needed to help us reconnect, regulate and re-ground in bigger perspective. Mother Nature is a powerful healer, regenerator, life-giver and sustainer…I stand in awe and feel Her as Source for me in many ways…but human beings are LOVE. And, LOVE is why we’re here, right?
“Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love”
May we be this for each other.
I welcome your personal notes on this eclipse time, if you wish to share.
We are all in this together.
With love, warmth and tenderness under the partial Full Moon light,
Jessa