New Moon Journal

Virgo Full Moon-the practical mystic

Last night we interviewed our second realtor in the Designed to Sell campaign to sell the house. Who gets the listing is all about relationship. Who liked our dog...who sees the warmth and charm of the home and the neighborhood. If the broker can’t make the emotional connection and relate how do they communicate that warmth to a buyer, down market or not?

With my background I connect naturally to the soul of a home, the soul of the person. While there hasn’t been much time for astrology or SoulCollage cards since everything home wise was in a state of transformation these last 45 days (or chaos depending on your perspective), the house feels like one gigantic SoulCollage card...and every room tells a story. Overall the place and space is energetically lighter, prettier- sound and solid- ready to show. And just like the people in the HGTV program Dear Husband and I are saying why didn’t we do this work sooner, it’s so nice we could stay.

Home and soul is all about balancing the Practical Mystic within; understanding your connection to place and space-earth and spirit. Earth is home. At this full moon look around your home-do you need to act as if you are moving...what would you do? Virgo is the sign of editing and sorting through the clutter to get to the heart of the matter. Pisces in your chart reflects your relationship to Spirit; we are embodied Spirits walking on earth. Heaven and earth can be one and the same expression, it's deep connection to everything we have  naturally as a child. Your Soul Call is to take the revolutionary ideas birthed in Aquarius, and create a new vision with the help of Pisces. Virgo helps us edit and sort it all out- to ground the energies- make our ideas real.

Today we have a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Virgo at 10:30 pm. This eclipse energy will be working and learning us collectively for many months. Full moons are a time of release, you get to see the results of your thinking and dreaming- those intentions made at the New Moon on February 6th as well as the New Moon in Virgo six month’s earlier.

In earthy Virgo we want things done ’just right’, it’s the sign of perfection. Martha Stewart and her relationship to home always comes to mind when I think of Virgo (that’s the logo from a Martha Stewart stock certificate- so very astrological).

But Virgo also demands that we have two feet firmly planted on the ground while being connected to our inner spirit (Pisces and the Muse) and a higher power. This is the first full moon in Virgo with Saturn present, and it may be triggering things within related to 28-29 years ago. I invite you to do some inward reflection- to connect with the practical mystic within. At this Full Moon you are called to come back into your body (home) in practical ways.

A full moon/lunar eclipse energy will be with us for six months. Mercury’s just come out of retrograde. Mercury rules Virgo and at the time of this full moon Saturn is also joining with the Moon in opposition to the Sun in Pisces. All of this energy is applying itself to my Mercury in Pisces at the doorway of the 4th house. The fourth house rules the mother, the home, the ancestors. Roots. Mercury rules the mind and how one thinks, communicates.

It’s the dark moon time before my birthday. Did you know the month before your birthday brings up your birthing energy...energy much like a new moon. One’s shadow is up and about; energetically this time of year can feel heavy and dark. It’s a time before your birth when you floated peacefully in your mother’s womb (spirit not yet human), when space was getting rather crowded. You were getting ready to make your move out into the world moving from spirit into matter (earth). Last year I went down the rabbit hole around this time and didn’t pop up until May. Interesting. Then this morning I read a description about the energies of transiting Uranus conjuncting my Pisces Sun in the 4th house:

"You are undergoing a dramatic change during which you may feel the urge to break out and embrace new and exciting pursuits. Life may start to feel like a roller coaster ride as new and exciting opportunities enter your life. Life will be exciting if you go with the flow. However, if you suppress your urge for change feelings of restlessness and rebelliousness will unexpectedly erupt prompting sudden and erratic lunges for freedom."

And that statement sums up where I am at. So what’s your story at this Full Moon in Virgo?

The New Possible of Aquarius

There’s banging at my office door together with a steady whine from the machine stripping our Mexican tile floors. Dear Husband and I are living in one room; the dog is boarded in the kennel. Just this morning Salvation Army arrived to take our appliances while I was still trying to empty out the food. We are in the home stretch of our home staging journey; there is light at the end of this tunnel. In the past three weeks I have used physical, mental and emotional muscles of my former interior designer self. It was fun, I know I can still do it, but I am very tired from the process.

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. - Paoblo Picasso

While we are in a state of chaos, the vision, the plan of action is coming together. Saturn retrograding in Virgo is demanding time to focus on the small details. To have faith, trust and patience that it is all coming together- even when the painter takes our $750 deposit and goes off to the Hard Rock Casino (yes, he did…but he told his truth and in the end did an excellent job).

All of this Aquarius energy is nestled into my 4th house of home, roots, family. Transiting Saturn in retrograde opposes my natal Mercury in Pisces, while squaring my natal Saturn in the first house. Oppositions bring a release, squares offer up a challenge to the status quo. Each and every piece that I touched or moved while decluttering and staging the house has offered up a challenge- keep, toss, or donate? Am I through with this? How am I still attached to the story of this item? Does this have heart and meaning for me? Now or in the past? What do I need to let go of in order to move forward?

And I am proud to share this Thursday will be the BIGGEST bulk garbage pick up in the Lessirard history...

Mars (action, the ability to lead) sits in Gemini, squaring my Sun in Pisces, trining my Neptune (faith, hope and trust). Mars retrograde is over and he now moves back again through Gemini and Cancer. He comes out of the shadow April 6th, so until then it’s a time of recapitulation - a do-over of the past three months, to see and move in a different direction. Energy of action and change that wasn’t available to us in the early fall.

Wednesday, February 6th at 10:44 pm we greet the New Moon Solar Eclipse at 18° Aquarius. There’s much on the net about this new moon/solar eclipse energy in Aquarius for there’s a stellium of planets lined up (Sun, Moon, Neptune, Chiron and Mercury) in Aquarius. Out in front leading the pack is Uranus in Pisces in the 5th house of creative solutions. Dance to the beat of your own drum.

Wake up, take a risk. Now is the time. It’s one of those moments. Did you catch Maria Shriver’s speech?

Uranus rules the sign Aquarius. Bringing up the rear of this long tail of planetary energies is Pluto in Capricorn waiting to see if you have the guts and courage to dismantle the known structure, to move forward with a new vision- for self, your family, in service. Aquarius Represents:

• Inventive Solutions- Understanding how things work.
• Seeing the Future- New trends and unconventional approaches.
• Humanitarian Attitudes- Operating from a larger world view.
• Revelation- Unexpected surprises or results.
• Humor- Objectivity, Tools of Divination
• Friends- Reciprocity, the giving and receiving, networking
• Excessive Attachment- Fear of involvement, inflexible opinions, cold aloofness
• more about Aquarius soulcollage here

Where is Aquarius in your chart? What house does it sit on?

That is the area that has been transformed these past 12 years (the last time we had the Year of the Rat). Aquarius and Leo work to balance each other. Leo is about heart and passion. Aquarius is a fixed air sign representative of the rebel or the individualist.

This is a person (YOU) who knows how to move off from the point and create the new path- the rugged individualist who is ready to shatter the old forms; one who is willing to create and birth the new. This new moon in Aquarius asks you to pay attention to the old ways and methods that are asking to fall away so that the new points may manifest in your life. Leo (Fire) and Aquarius (Air) work as a team. The sign Leo ruled by the Sun represents passion, creativity to manifest what has heart and meaning within you. These creative juices flow from inspiration- that spark or point of light within you. These inspiring points of light are working us as we enter the doorway of this Aquarius new moon. Aquarius is the sign of spiritual rebirth representing Humanity.

Uranus is an electrical force (the blue behind the point), representing freedom from the known. Uranus (Intuition) rules Aquarius (Air) and is the higher octave of Mercury (Mind).

Intuition, Air, Mind, spark of light. Mercury represents communication, logic and function of the rational mind. The way you think has radically changed over the past 12 years- hasn’t it? A person working with awakened Mercury is able to communicate from their heart with love and compassion. One teacher of mine called it a “thinking heart and a feeling mind.” Intellect (rather than ego) meets with Intuition and through right use of mind we are able to think in categories- the matrix of organizing and editing our thoughts into creative inspirational visions. This is the energy availed to us through this months Aquarius doorway.

Embody the New Possibility

Saturn in Virgo: Practical earthy Saturn is now in earthy Virgo for the first time since 1978.

"Earth is a balance of yin and yang, the feminine and masculine together. Its motion is inward and centering, and its energy is stabilizing and conserving. It is associated with the color yellow and the planet Saturn, and it lies at the center of the compass in the Chinese cosmos. It is associated with the turn of each of the four seasons and with damp. It is believed to govern the spleen, stomach, mouth and muscles. Its negative emotion is anxiety and its positive emotion is empathy. Its Primal Spirit is represented by the Yellow Phoenix.

In Chinese thought Earth is associated with the qualities of patience, thoughtfulness, practicality, hard work and stability. The earth element is also nurturing and seeks to draw all things together within the Essential Self, in order to bring harmony, rootedness and stability. Other attributes of the earth element include ambition, stubbornness, responsibility and long-term planning. In pathology, the earth can represent selfishness and self-centeredness. In the controlling cycle earth controls the water and is controlled by wood; while in the conducive cycle earth is produced by fire, and in turn produces metal." Wikipedia

This New Moon celebrates the Chinese New Year of the Earth Rat. Earth (Saturn) and Electricity (Uranus). “Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily.” Year of the Rat

Uranus is connected to intuition. In our bodies intuition sits in the 3rd (power) and 6th (intuition) chakras working in harmony and balance. Uranus wakes us up suddenly- like a lightening bolt, it transforms. Uranus is traveling through watery Pisces- the home of the Muse, the Dreamer within who created magic in this reality. A true transfigured Magician is able to enter the collective unconsciousness within her Greater Self, create a matrix from the points of light and birth new forms that serve humanity.

Are you ready? Where does Aquarius fall in your birth chart? Where is Uranus in Pisces transiting?

This month you are called to cross the threshold. Hey you have been standing at this doorway for a while, it’s time to move!Transfigure. Gather your points of light to you for change; in support of self and the community your serve. Humanitarian pursuits. Networking from a global and universal perspective.

Be open to the outcome. . . be the change you want to see. Shift.

24 hours before the New Moon start to plan out what you want to set into motion for the Aquarius energy within you. From your chart, look at what house is affected. What are you thinking about? What do you want to create?

24 hours after the new moon release those good intentions. Write them down and burn them over a fire (Air of Aquarius). Bury them (earth of Saturn). Dance them (fire of Mars). Release and trust that your prayers have been heard, that those intentions have the strength and will to manifest. Namaste.

Full Moon in Leo-Designed to Sell

This is short and sweet because there’s not much time for writing or soulcollaging at the present moment... you see I am getting our home Designed to Sell. The sooner I move, the sooner I can get back to doing what I love. Part of my studio and all of my healing room needed to be erased from the house. We converted an office back into a guest bedroom, and my healing room back into an office. Dear Husband loves his new space.

In the last four weeks I donated used goods (four truckloads to Salvation Army), sorted every closet and packed over a 100 boxes and moved furniture into the POD. After 15 years of life in this wonderful home, going through the memories of space and place is just intense, but depersonalizing our home is part of the letting go and moving on process.

Full Moons bring a release and at this Full Moon, like the HGTV show, I feel proud to share my task is 90% complete. Get ready for the big reveal in two weeks at the New Moon, Solar Eclipse in Leo. Leo sits at the doorway of my 10th house- career, public self; Aquarius sits at my 4th house doorway- home, roots and family, the timing of it all is just right. And bottom line, it’s all about trust.

Being occupied on home matters, I forgot about Mercury’s retrograde period; going backward to move forward in the sign of Aquarius, the Visionary. To complete interior projects prior to Mercury’s retrograde in Aquarius(1/28/08) means multiple installers arrive this week- bathroom tile painted, new granite counters, floor finishes, crown molding, painting and new appliances. Organized chaos. Dog tethered to my side, phone ringing, people knocking, selecting colors, problem solving, scheduling and coordination are all things my interior design self thrives on as we enter the final phase of a process that began 18 months ago for our family at the New Moon in Leo.

At a Full Moon there is a release. You may find yourself dealing with issues or intentions (conscious or unconscious) created at the new moon (January 8th) and six months prior (New Moon in Leo August 12). What did you intend or set into motion at the New Moon in Leo six months ago? You are seeing the results of that thinking and actions now at this full moon.

For more about this Leo Full Moon visit these sites:
Lynda Hill’s Blog
Astrological Musings by Lynn Hayes

Capricorn-the Choir of Many

At the Aries new moon in April of 2007 you planted something; it’s a nine month birthing process. The results are in at this New Moon in Capricorn, what you set your intention too nine months ago is now here. If you planted weeds in the spring, then you are dealing with the weeds in your life’s work. How are you doing? What did you set into motion at the Aries New Moon and what are you now ready to birth?

The New Moon in Capricorn
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 6:37 am est.
18° Capricorn

Law of Action- the path before us

We meet the 10th House, Capricorn and Saturn, The Builder. Earth.
Cancer is the gate in, Capricorn the gate out into the world.

What do I want to say about these times. In my journey and meditations this year’s theme is Light; embodying Spirit and bringing forth our Light at each new moon. The Power of your Presence is called forth in your family and the community your serve. The keyword at this lunation: Transcendence.

In everyday language, "transcendence" means "going beyond" and "self-transcendence" means going beyond a prior form or state of oneself. Mystical experience is thought of as a particularly advanced state of self-transcendence, in which the sense of a separate self is abandoned. "Self transcendence" is believed to be psycho-metrically measurable, and (at least partially) inherited.- Wikipedia

The Law of Attraction is all well and good, but if you don’t act then you’ll still be sitting here another year later wondering what’s wrong. The key at each lunation is to transcend the apparent limitations and express myself more fully, not behind the scenes but out in the public eye, in my community, in the corporate world. Duality, black and white thinking has no place to sit in the Essential Self. One knows she is part of a divine tribe called Humanity and from this place you accept your divinity; then there is peace from within, the gate is open, there is no need for defense. There is harmony. There is balance.

Capricorn represents your tribe and the social responsibility you bring to the table as a human being. Capricorn represents the archetypal force in the 10th house of work and career birthed from your creative passionate spirit. Your divinity. Anything else are empty promises. Capricorn represents your skeletal structure- the bones of who you are. In shamanic terms- your ancestors (Cancer) and You. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. In alchemy Saturn is the metal lead before it is transformed and transmuted into gold, bringing deeper meaning to the phrase “Get the lead out.”

The artistic muse doesn’t discriminate. Creativity has nothing to do with income level.-Mary Engelbreit

Saturn and the Capricorn energy calls each of us to show up and be the adult, be responsible. Create and Act. Capricorn’s energy takes us out into the world through our career, our work; we see the results of the creative muse birthed from the 5th house (the Leo New Moon), manifesting in the 10th house where Capricorn sits. In Capricorn you want to be seen; it’s the wise one within- you know what you know and now you are called out into the world to stand in that knowing.

Pluto is about to change signs and move into Capricorn, staying for the next 16 years. Expect a dismemberment. That makes this New Moon in Capricorn a bit different this year. A new guest is about to arrive and everyone’s been put on notice.

Where Pluto sits in your chart you are called to carry your generations power. The theme here is E Pluribus Unum-"Out of Many, One". The One Heart of each generation brings their collective power to bear on the Earth:

• Pluto in Leo (1937-1958)
• Pluto in Virgo (1956-1972) (Saturn in Virgo there now, helping your Pluto in Virgo along).
• Pluto in Libra (1971-1984)
• Pluto in Scorpio (1983-1995)
• Pluto in Sag (1995-2008) and now
• Pluto in Capricorn (1762-1778, 2008-2024).

Pluto brings forth the power to transform and transmute. The last time Pluto was in Capricorn? The American Revolution, we collectively manifested the United States of America in 1776.

Yes, there is a rendering energy to Pluto that some people just want to hide under the sheets until he goes away. Sixteen years is a long time to hide and that’s not going to work. Capricorn represents the structure, the bones, the foundation; it’s an earth action energy. Two feet planted firmly on the ground, 1st chakra standing up energy or kneeling in prayer. Saturn in Capricorn represents our tribal conditioning, how we shed the past to move into the future. Can you get the picture?

The shadow - this shedding energy brings up unconscious fears- fear’s of the past, fears of our parents, fears of society...no wonder things are feeling a bit intense. The first response to this energy is to contract, hunker down- try and keep things the same, but it won’t work. Pluto’s here. Think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail- "Run away, run away."

Now Pluto comes along and says there are changes that need to be made. Your foundation (government, social security, corporations) isn’t looking so good, and well we have to take things apart to make the changes. Pluto is a transpersonal energy that dismantles the old to make way for the new. If the Capricorn energy is all about building a strong foundation, then you have had a lifetime to get ready for this new energy. Expect a shift. Are you ready?

A moment of discontent:

Collectively we view things with such a limited narrow focus. What about me? Why is this happening? The bottom line? We are creating change for future generations- as astrologer Carolyn Casey shares "laying the foundation tracks for the reality train to follow". Al Gore and his body of work- Inconvenient Truth- is the manifestation of seeds thoughts he sowed in college, and through his public service he is now taking action. Not react, but act. Law of ACTION. Each of us is called to act in some way.

Yes there is rumbling within the collective human psyche about the changes that are taking place. But Pluto entering Capricorn has been a long time in coming; you’ve been getting ready (body, mind and spirit) for a very long time. It’s a choice you made to be born at this exact moment in time, to be present at the birth of this energy, so why hide from it? Embrace it, ask Pluto in for some coffee.

The only way is through it- can’t jump it nor pretend it isn’t here. As an empath I am sure you are already feeling it. Now how to manage it, play with it?

At this new moon I suggest we all act like George Costanza in Seinfeld- do the opposite; rather than contracting, expand. Love the apparent chaos within and without. Merge with the energy. Become light filled. Give Pluto’s energy a voice and a presence in your creative work this month. Dialog with it. Play with it. Meet it. Don’t know how to fill yourself up with light? Click here for instructions.

Yes you are going to feel things, but this is the moment we have been waiting for, it’s what you decided to take on when you met with your angels right before birth. "Send me in I want to do my part!" This is the time for you and I to shine brightly, stand up and be seen.

I send bright blessings at this New Moon.

Shamanic journey for this New Moon in Capricorn- Create your sacred space. Set the intention. Go to your Helping Ally, ask to be dismembered. Then go to Light. I use the image of the Starship Enterprise going into warp drive. Feel your light body. Really embrace the feeling, the knowing of it, come out of the journey and walk outside in that Light body. Experience nature and your surroundings in that light filled state. How long can you hold the space. Practice this on a daily basis. Tune yourself to a higher frequency. To learn about Shamanic Journeying- read Shamanic Journeying by Sandra Ingerman.

If you have a question or want to share your experience use the new form I created Ask Michele.

Let's Paste Capricorn-one astrologer’s guide to the New Year

Start the new year by using the moon’s cycle to live your best dream. This New Moon TeleClass grounds in the skills you need to move through a lunation in creative ways using the SoulCollage® process. I’ll talk about the astrology of the moment and what it means for you; how you can use the collage process to support your souls journey into the new year.

This is astrology for non-astrologers- the basics of understanding how the Moon’s monthly journey affects your life through story and art using the SoulCollage® process.

Let’s paste the New Year!
Let’s paste! Capricorn
TeleClass with audio
Sunday, January 6, 2008
7:00 PM EST (New York)
Cost $15.00"

Pluto’s entering Capricorn, Saturn’s in Virgo, there’s a new moon in Capricorn on January 8th, 2008.

• What does this mean for you?
• What do you want to create this year?
• How are you going to do it?

Before Sunday’s TeleClass go through some magazines and gather 2-3 images that capture the look and feel of the New Year for you. More information about SoulCollage® can be found here. A pdf link with further instructions will be sent out to class members on Friday.

This is the second in a series of monthly New Moon TeleClasses I am offering in 2008, I hope you can join us.

The entire spectrum of life is essentially an archetypal playground. Everything in the universe is symbolic. The planets are named for their symbolic power, not their location in the solar system. Myths, folklore, and teachings from all spiritual traditions and all great literature credit the profound significance of the symbolic truths that are carried within and through the themes and characters of those planetary stories. -Carolyn Myss, Ph.D.

Note: The teleconference number is a toll call. I recommend using USA Datanet for "talk as long as you like for $1.99." This Meet-up is being held via your phone through a teleconference...you’ll be able to attend from the comfort of your home. If you have never participated in a teleconference, it’s very easy...you just dial in at the appointed time and listen.