Human Planet click on this link to watch the video Human Planet

On February 2 the Aquarius New Moon brought the awakening of a self- truth long sleeping in our soul. When the Sun and Moon conjoin in Aquarius we are  bathed in the wisdom of collective ideals, and challenged to think with our heart rather than our head. For many of us the last couple of weeks have triggered doubts about what we are creating and contributing to the collected experience of humanity. On February 18 this New Moon cycle culminated at Full Moon when the Moon in Leo conjoined the Sun in Aquarius. For those of us seeking recognition and approval from others it was a day of reckoning forcing us to shift our perception from seeing our self-value in the eyes of others to seeing our self-value from within.

The recent Full Moon was at the last degree of Aquarius and Leo. Within an hour after the Moon opposed the Sun it left Leo and entered Virgo shifting our attention from inspiration to integration.  The Moon is the translating light of our solar system nourishing the other planetary bodies with the illuminating light of the Sun. The Moon changes sign every two and a half days filtering the light of the Sun every month through the guiding principles of each zodiac sign. Under the influence of Virgo we learn to perfect what we have created before we share what we have with others. Through the guiding light of Virgo we are learning to integrate the body and mind as one, and if we open the aperture of the lens we use to see our self in the world we may witness the union of our body with our mind.

On February 19, less than a day after the Full Moon, the Sun moved from the collect thinking of Aquarius to the collective feeling of Pisces. When we are under the influence of Pisces we long for union with the source of our origin. When the Sun enters Pisces our individuality is set free from feeling tethered to an isolated and separate self. The guiding principals of Pisces merge our separate self with the source of ALL. With the certainty of Pisces we give all that we have created back to the collective waters of life knowing that everything we thought that we were creating for our self  alone we were creating for all others.

When the Sun is in Pisces we are learning that our individual life force shines brightest when it shines on behalf of the collective experience of humanity. Pisces is the aspect in our unconscious knowing that understands that all of life is interconnected, and in the continuous cycle of our soul’s journey toward wholeness Pisces is both the beginning and the ending of our growing.  At birth we step out of the waters of union -  separate, unique, and individual – and at death we surrender the totality of our separateness back into the same waters of union.

The first aspect the Sun made in Pisces was a conjunction with the wounded healer, Chiron, and pricking a wound to the collective feelings of humanity our solar journey this month will focus on a collective healing. Compassion and empathy are the guiding lights of Pisces. When the Sun passes through Pisces our consciousness is infused with compassionate caring for  our self and others. This month we can open our heart to the suffering of others without judgment or condemnation.  Seeing our self in the actions of others is one lesson learned from Pisces, and another is accepting life as it is and seeing the beauty of design in everything alive.  When the Sun is in Pisces we are learning to accept our self as we are and others as they are. Venus and Saturn were in mutual exchange and exactly square when the Sun entered Pisces adding our unwavering commitment to manifest in the world all that we value in our self and in others. There is tension in this aspect reflecting our tendency to reject the values of others. There is also grace in this aspect helping us to honor the union of life in our self and in others.

Taking leave of the crystal waters of Aquarius nourishing our intellectual inquiring Jupiter entered the oceanic waters of Pisces expanding our compassionate awareness of Life. The year that Jupiter sojourns in Pisces is a significant year sensitizing our feelings of interconnectedness with the source of Life.  Any time a planet enters a new sign human consciousness shifts gears re-directing conscious awareness to the archetypal concerns of that sign. In Pisces our conscious awareness dances in the arms of the mystic, the poet, the healer, and the dreamer. When we are under the influence of Pisces our imagination is as deep as the ocean floor and as vast as the universe.  When Jupiter is in Pisces our imagination soars beyond our wildest dreaming, and challenging the comfort- zone of our day to day rational, circumscribed living, we take a magnificent leap into the  great unknown sensing that we are a part of something much greater than ourself.

As if that were not enough, the cosmos has arranged two stellar Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions during 2010 assuring humankind of a discovery of evolutionary proportion.  Jupiter and Uranus conjoin every fourteen years to give birth to unparalleled creativity as Jupiter’s expansion, growth, and magnification  crown the creative breakthroughs, innovations, awakenings, and emancipatory activities of Uranus. This year we can  truly make a quantum leap in human consciousness if we have the courage to dissolve the physical, emotional, and spiritual barriers separating us, one from the other. Events will unfold this year showing us that we are more similar than we  previously thought, and much more dependent upon one another for preserving the precious flowing of our lives.

Blame the title of this post on my recent descending into the undulating lush terrain of the Spanish language where every infinitive verb ends with the gentle messaging of the letter “r”, and so, our preceptor provocateur, a manic Mercury, pricked our curiosity yesterday changing signs for the second time in only 14 days; an exceptionally quick assault even for this planet of deft mercurial speed. Mercury entered the sign Cancer on July 3rd, opposed Pluto on July 4th, sextiled Saturn on July 11th, conjoined the Sun on July 13th, thereby flagging the impending retrograde station on September 6th, and entered  the sign Leo  on July 17th. Not surprising that this cycle of Mercury has left many of us on Earth breathless amidst an outpouring of collective concern seeking to understand the meaning of our deepest roots.

Walter Cronkite, who was voted “Most trusted man in America” during the Vietnam War died at 92 shortly after Mercury entered Leo punctuating this particular Mercury ingress with a somber remembering of a collective past passing. It feels significant to me that Mercury’s ingress into Leo immediately fused with the Leo South Node directing our attention to a collective past exaggerating social insecurities, rugged individualism, and social privilege. Mercury opposing the Aquarius North Node suggests a time for integrating our individual thoughts and feelings with the aspirations of the whole of humanity; remembering that Mercury in Leo can be a dramatic catalyst infusing our perception of reality with inspiration and creative self-expression.

On July 20 Mercury makes a creative aspect to Mars in Gemini insuring a day of passionate communication with others that can set off a spectacular array of fireworks heralding a new birth in our perception of reality. Our curiosity is pulsating with a living vitality as Mercury sojourns through Leo, and disposing Venus and Mars in Gemini Mercury enlivens our self-worth and desire with heartfelt intelligence. When we are under the influence of Leo we are learning something about “self-love”, and in the arms of Mercury  Leo touches the most tender core of our perception of self-love.

The opposing influence of Leo is Aquarius, the egalitarian face of self-love, reflecting our awareness that each individual has something of value to contribute to humanity. If Leo is learning to give love Aquarius is learning to receive love. On July 30 and 31 Mercury  in Leo opposes Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius offers an opportunity for each of us to increase our awareness of  giving and receiving love by expanding our creative vision of humanity. Learning to share our differences with one another may teach us how to receive each others thoughts, feelings, and unique perceptions of reality.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/07/18/perceptor-provocateur/feed/ 4 laurenlesko Perceptor Provocateur http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/16/a-celestial-conundrum/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/16/a-celestial-conundrum/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:03:34 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=6119 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

This week we are under the guiding influence of the waning phase of the Gemini lunation cycle gently turning our conscious  awareness toward introspective self-reflection. Each waning phase of every monthly lunation cycle necessitates a time when we integrate the external activities of the preceding three weeks by ingesting the illumination of the Full Moon in anticipation of sharing our acquired insights with others. This waning Moon  is in Pisces square the Sun in Gemini and if we consider the elemental marriage of water and air we quickly realize the inherent conflict reflected in this waning Moon: how to integrate an open, spacious self with the unfathomable depths of our psyche without drowning the one and disconnecting from the other?

Adding a rich complexity to this celestial conundrum are ruler and co-ruler of Pisces, Jupiter and Neptune conjoined and retrograde in the spacious breath of Aquarius, also shifting our conscious awareness toward self-reflection. If we then consider that Mercury the ruler of Gemini recently entered the sign of its ruler ship we begin seeing the unmistakable imprinting of our boundless self elevated high above the Earth, and from this aerial perspective we can easily deduce that the myriad connections our unique individuality has been making under the tutelage of Gemini may be ready for a deeper experiencing of ourself unbound by the burdens of physical limitation.

Pisces is the visionary aspect in each of us dissolving boundaries, obstacles, and structures separating rather than uniting us with the Oneness of life; while Gemini, the madcap adolescent in each of us, refuses to be boxed inside prescriptive expectations of our past and demanding personal freedom to roam unencumbered is ever ready for an extra-ordinary experiencing of life that wisely adds buoyancy to our experience of ourself. Gemini is often called the “butterfly” of the zodiac flitting, flirting, and philandering from flower to flower with an innate awareness of the preciousness of life and the urgency of experiencing every moment with abandoned judgement.  Perhaps the gift of this waning Moon is the reflection of our unbound self shimmering upon the watery surface of our psyche much like looking at a passing cloud reflected on the surface of a lake helping us to see what lives within.

The lunation cycle that began with the Solar Eclipse in Aquarius,  a New Moon, has reached the waning phase as the Moon in Scorpio prepares the way for a deep emotional healing if we are willing to journey into the murky waters of an overwhelming fear. At the Solar Eclipse we were offered a time to set an intention for the coming six months. The eclipse was in Aquarius suggesting that our intention had something to do with recognizing that our life vitality, our essential self, is reflecting something much larger than our self, which in turn, is propelling us to participate in something greater than our self. As this month’s lunation cycle unfolded we discovered at the waxing phase that we were building self-esteem and self-confidence, and at the Lunar Eclipse, the Full Moon phase, we recognized that embracing self-love was an act of humble reverence honoring Life.

In every waxing phase of the lunation cycle we enter a period of self-reflection examining our actions during the previous three weeks. When we are under the influence of Scorpio we are challenged to look directly into the eyes of our soul in self-honesty and naked truth. This waxing Moon is translating to the Sun the thoughts and feelings of six planetary bodies in Aquarius including Mercury’s recent re-entrance into Aquarius bringing flashes of insight like electrical shock waves rippling through our perception of reality. This is a good time for us to investigate our perception of reality in order to gain fresh insight into those unconscious  motives that have become our conscious realizations. The infusion of this much Aquarian influence in our daily living has baptized our conscious awareness in cosmic clarity giving us a deeper self-understanding which hopefully is leading each of us to a deeper self-appreciation and self-acceptance. The greatest gift of Aquarius is opening our mind and heart to receive the intelligence of the Universe.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/02/17/self-honesty/feed/ 0 laurenlesko Lunar Phases http://laurenlesko.com/2009/02/08/cosmic-purifying/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/02/08/cosmic-purifying/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:37:48 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=2052 ]]> click on the image to read about the art
Every month the Sun, the source of our unique life vitality, and the Moon, the substance of our eternal self, conjoin in the same sign to give birth to a New Moon Cycle signaling something deep within our unconscious is being brought to conscious light. Twice a year, roughly six months apart, the Sun and Moon conjoin along the ecliptic at a point  on or near where the Moon has previously crossed on its journey around the Earth. This cosmic punctuation marks the Nodal Axis of the Moon and it is there that the Moon gracefully moving between the Sun and Earth briefly swallows the light of the Sun precipitating a Solar Eclipse and a dramatic changing in human consciousness.

And so………... it was two weeks ago that we set our intention for the next six months by deciding how we want to contribute our unique individuality to humanity. The influence of Aquarius is helping us understand that change comes from the effort of separate individuals working together on behalf of the greater whole. Today, two weeks after the Solar Eclipse, we glimpse the other face of the ecliptic cycle as we turn our gaze 180 degrees to face the Lunar Eclipse. A Lunar Eclipse is a Full Moon, a Sun and Moon opposition, illuminating a  unique time when the Moon gently moves into the Earth’s shadow and the Earth positioned between the Sun and Moon casts a shadow over the face of the Moon. When this happens we on Earth are made aware that an aspect of our individuality has eclipsed our unconscious and in order to grow in self-awareness we need to become consciously aware of that aspect of our self and whether it is a constructive or destructive force in our life.

The Moon in Leo emphasizes our emotional need for recognition from others reassuring us that who we are and what we are doing is making a valuable contribution to humanity. When we are under the influence of Leo we are hyper- sensitive to what others think about our individual uniqueness, and while we generously give our life vitality for others to enjoy, we tend to suffer self-doubts and insecurities concerning the true value of our self. When we experience a Lunar Eclipse in Leo the time has arrived for us to make an honest self- evaluation of how we express our self, and in turn, what we are contributing to the continuum of human consciousness.

One of the unabashed gifts of Leo is our learning to appreciation our process of  creative self-expression as the spiritual act of watching our self creating our self. It is all too easy to dismiss this process as self indulgent but  in so doing we deny the importance of affirming our unique individuality in tribute to the living intelligence of which we are apart. The Buddha taught that we are creating our self in each moment lived. Once we affirm our creative self-expression we can affirm the creative expression of all others and truly manifest the Aquarius aspect in each of us seeking to honor the diversity and differences of humanity.

This next six months may garner times when our ego flaring like a wild fire insists on unbridled freedom of expression.  At these times it is best not to take our self too seriously, instead, mindfully observe that we have set ablaze our self-doubts and insecurities. It might be helpful to consider this Lunar Eclipse as a tremendous healing for humanity. Chiron, the wounded healer, is in Aquarius and the Lunar Eclipse will make an exact conjunction and opposition with Chiron suggesting that our individual and collective healing has something to do with eliminating self-doubts and insecurities that are the source of defensive and brutish bulling of others. It is time to set aside our childish fears of doubt and inadequacy without sacrificing our child-like joy and pleasure in self-creating. The challenge facing each of us is gaining a true appreciation for the unique gift that we are contributing on behalf of the collective human experience of being alive in the world.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/02/08/cosmic-purifying/feed/ 1 laurenlesko Lunar Eclipse http://laurenlesko.com/2008/12/12/a-grand-square/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/12/12/a-grand-square/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:02:38 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=591 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

The Sagittarius Full Moon is stimulating a restlessness within each of us which may be pricking our dissatisfaction with the way things are. This is especially  true for those of us born with a strong influence of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces at 21 degrees. This is not a negative experience, in fact, this Full Moon is spurring us onward to fulfill our dreams of the future aided with a tempering of our expectations of what that future will be. Gemini and Sagittarius have difficulty concentrating on the mundane concerns of life and yet this is exactly what we are challenged to do. One lesson taught, and hopefully learned, under the influence of this Full Moon is the necessity to create “boundaries”, which means to respect both the sovereignty of ourself and others. Another lesson offered is learning to take responsibility for fulfilling our commitments by keeping our mind focused on the goal and taking one precious step after another. In other words, this is not a fortuitous time for  entertaining distractions.  We need  to be watchful of becoming discouraged if things are not moving as fast as our mental imagining. The trick this week is to give ourself enough mental breath to “realize” what we think and feel, separate and distinct from others, without escaping into imaginary flights of fancy.

The exuberance of the Sun in Sagittarius opposing the Moon in Gemini conjures a wild horse ready to bolt, which is exactly what we may feel like doing because this Sagittarius Full Moon makes a Grand- Square to Saturn in Virgo opposing Uranus in Pisces, and corrals our expansive vision for the future.  Remember this Full Moon is teaching us about boundaries and corralling our vision for the future can actually work in our favor if we accept the celestial challenge and become more methodical in accomplishing our goals. It is also possible that this transit will highlight where in our life we tend to give up too easily fostering frustration, regret, even resentment toward others.

A real treasure of this Full Moon is found in the supportive relationship between Mercury and Jupiter reinforcing that we can accomplishment our goals but it will require self-discipline, an unwavering commitment, and personal sacrifice.  Hours before the Full Moon, Mercury, the ruling planet for Gemini and Virgo, entered Capricorn  straight into the arms of Pluto a clear signal for transforming our perception of social power, authority, and leadership. Jupiter, the ruling planet for Sagittarius and Pisces, is in the sign of Capricorn and having recently made a trine to Saturn is valiantly navigating a stormy sea of uncertainty. Together, Mercury and Jupiter in Capricorn are helping us achieve what we imagine our future to be by keeping our feet firmly planted on Earth.

The first aspect the Moon made in Gemini was to nourish Venus in Aquarius which accentuated the universal theme of “human value”, and insured that we can experience grace and beauty in the arms of this Full Moon if we put our judgement from the past to sleep and awaken our appreciation for each unique expression of life. This Gemini Moon is also nourishing the North Node, Chiron, and Neptune Aquarius, which is helping us heal a deep wounding to humanity by opening our mind and heart to the unimaginable. Aquarius is that aspect in each of us learning to receive from others, and with the help of the Full Moon after-glow our thirst for new experiences and our quest for the unknown can guide our discovery of the full potential of what the human imagination can accomplish accompanied by self-determination.

When the Sun enters Sagittarius our nights are growing longer than our days and our conscious attention in tandem is seeking an expanded meaning of life beyond our daily toil. The wisdom of our ancestors honored the cycles of the seasons choosing to awaken the story-telling of their life experiences during the lengthening nights when human activity is beckoned inside. In the decreasing daylight of the fall season we find our self spending more hours indoors than out appreciating this time for exploring  unfamiliar territory within our self, and expanding our consciousness we set upon an inner journey home to the source of our creation. For the ancient Maya Civilization this home was found at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, the World Tree rooted at the crossing point of the Milky Way along the ecliptic in Sagittarius. In Roman mythology Juno, the wife of Jupiter, is responsible for the birth of the Milky Way Galaxy born from the milk of her breast spilled from the mouth of Hercules. More recently, in the 20th century, the astronomers discovering the Galactic Center, a black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy located along the ecliptic at the same place as the Maya World Tree, believe it to be the source of everything in our galaxy including human consciousness. When we are under the influence of Sagittarius we instinctively understand the evolutionary calling of cosmic consciousness expanding our perception of life beyond the contours of our ordinary experiencing taking us to a place different than our material self.  Taking our cue from the symbol for Sagittarius, half man and half horse shooting an arrow to the heavens, when we are under the influence of Sagittarius we aim our sight for the stars.

The motivating force of Sagittarius is our quest for the quintessential meaning of life requiring the full immersion of our mind and senses in a broad experiencing of life. In Greek and Roman mythology  centaurs were creatures born of raw instinct with an unbridled sensuality often expressed in human form as a fun loving and robust sexuality not mired in the tribal mating rituals of either fidelity or commitment. On the surface of life this behavior appears lacking in respect and sensitivity to the feelings and needs of others, yet, if we reach beyond the surface we encounter the unconscious motivate; sensitivity to a stultifying tribal view of reality that compels us to break through the “chains that bind” into a more universal perspective that is respectful of the source of all life

Chiron, half brother to Jupiter, and progenitor of the race of Centaurs, was a wise teacher and healer of gods and humankind alike who himself suffered an incurable wounding which only his death could absolve. He arranged with the Olympian gods to exchange his immortal life for the release of Prometheus, the giver of fire to humankind, by entering Hades and freeing Prometheus from his chained bondage to a rock. The planetary body discovered in the 1970′s and named after the mythological Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus offering us on Earth a mediator between our bondage to traditional authority  and our ability to unleash our full creative potential. When we are under the influence of Chiron we are made aware of a wounding we inherited from  the collective experiences of humanity which can only be healed by dying to an aspect of our individuality which has inhibited our conscious awareness. The necessity for our healing is made all the more urgent with the insistence of the current Saturn-Uranus opposition.

Yesterday the Sun entered Sagittarius following Mars and followed today by Mercury. This celestial trio is offering a period of cosmic expansion broadening our perception of what our life can be. Mars our impulse to be, the Sun our essential life force, and Mercury our interpreter of reality, are under the influence of an evolutionary growth in consciousness that can shift our focus from what we do, our achievements in life, to who we are, the discovery of the essence of our life. Admittedly, this journey  is an elaborate odyssey taking the entirety of our life before reaching our final destination, but this month we are given extra guidance from a potent cluster of planetary ruler ship with Jupiter and Saturn at the helm.

Sun, Mars, and Mercury in Sagittarius are disposed by Jupiter in Capricorn, the sign of Saturn’s ruler ship, and in trine to Saturn in Virgo, the sign of Mercury’s ruler ship. Uranus in Pisces is under the  shared ruler ship of Jupiter and Neptune, and Neptune is in Aquarius along side Chiron  and the North Node, all disposed by a Saturn and Uranus shared ruler ship. Venus in Capricorn and Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn cement this cosmic union of an extended celestial family which mirrors the potential unity of the extended family of humanity on Earth. This cosmic flurry of activity promises that we can  manifest an inspired vision for the future if we reach beyond the perceptual box of what is and fully participate with all of humanity to create what can be.

This will be made more clear to us later in December when first Mercury, then the Sun, and lastly Mars square the Saturn – Uranus opposition alerting us on earth that certain structures created to serve society are ready to be fully integrated into the service of a greater humanity; the only caution being that we do not encourage those in authority to “throw out the baby with the bath water”. At the same time it is essential that we clearly understand the nature of the social policies presented in service to society and who exactly in society they serve.

At the end of November Venus in Capricorn dances in harmony with a newly directed Uranus in Pisces before joyfully falling into the arms of Jupiter. Tradition holds sway that when the two beneficent planets, Jupiter and Venus, are in joyful harmony that which we call luck springs eternal. Uranus in Pisces, the sign of exaltation for Venus, further suggests a universal awakening in what we value in life. The only advisable warning is to make sure that we do not become complacent observers expecting the change in our future to come from the efforts of others.  Jupiter and Saturn are telling us that our efforts are an essential component for doing the work needed to accomplish the goal.

Pluto, our celestial ambassador having recently conjoined the Milky Way Galaxy adds a sobering mood to this months celestial euphoria when entering Capricorn; insuring that evolutionary transformation is on our horizon but not before we experience a significant death of an aspect of our self which we have held dear to our heart. This is not a time to fearfully cling to our past if we sincerely want a better future for our self, our tribe, our species, our Earth.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/22/shooting-for-stars/feed/ 2 laurenlesko The Birth of the Milky way http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/19/our-youthful-exuberance/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/19/our-youthful-exuberance/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:33:02 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=449 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

The Scorpio lunation cycle that began our investigation into self-honesty is nearing completion reflecting the face of the Leo waning Moon  and the innocent exuberance of our self-expression. Every month, the waning phase of the Moon offers us a time for self-reflecting and integrating the creative energies we have released during the lunar cycle. When the waning Moon is in Leo our self-reflection is accompanied with a certain restless anxiety at having to shine for our self alone. Leo is that aspect in each  of us telling our self how boring it is to be an audience of one, and yet, this is the grace  and beauty offered  Leo; bringing to conscious awareness a blossoming self-assured confidence not dependent upon the approving applause of another. When we are under the influence of a waning Moon we experience the dark face of our unconscious, and in Leo this dark face reveals the past rejections and exclusions we have experienced that are in need of healing in the present.

When under the influence of Leo we feel the vitality of life pulsating through every cell of our being sincerely wanting to share with others the warmth and vibrancy of our solar light, yet, we can behave like an unaware child basking in the radiance of our solar light blind to the effect we have on others and insensitive to their individual needs. The solar radiance of Leo can scorch the sensitive receptivity of the Moon alienating us from our deeper emotional needs. The Leo waning Moon brings the opportunity of contemplating our deeper needs by bringing to the surface our self-doubts and insecurities.  Leo is that aspect in each of us seeking security within our self and the greatest lesson learned from Leo is the self-love expressed in our giving love freely from our heart to our self and unequivocally to everyone else.

The waning Moon always makes a square with the Sun suggesting an internal conflict requiring a creative solution. Before making a square to the Sun the Moon conjoins the South Node in Leo, opposes the North Node, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius, and makes a square to Mercury in Scorpio. The insecurity of Leo expressing our need to impress others is clouding our capacity to see an inner truth about our self. Leo is that aspect in each of us seeking self-respect regardless of what others think or say and the emotional distance and objectivity offered Aquarius can help us become less vulnerable to the approval of the group. This waning Moon seems to be challenging us to embrace our unique individuality without loosing our sensitivity and awareness of the needs of others. The Moon-Neptune opposition suggests that emotional deception is creating the unrealistic expectations we harbor about what others can give to us. This waning Moon is gently reminding us that the illuminating gift of Leo is our capacity to give love to others and the illuminating gift of Aquarius is our capacity to receive love from others; a realization  guaranteed to mark our inner transforming if we resist the temptation to remain complacent with the ways of our past.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/19/our-youthful-exuberance/feed/ 1 laurenlesko Sol http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/05/into-the-wild/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/05/into-the-wild/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:05:52 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=426 ]]>

“only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change and when that happens change depends on the ideas that are lying around at the time….. it is our job to keep the ideas ready until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.” 1982

These are words that  prophetically describe the populist electing of Senator Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States; an idea historically realized in eloquent testimony that when we open our mind and break free from the shackles of outmoded thinking we do make revolutionary changes in consciousness.  The electing of an African American president certainly heralds a revolutionary change in American consciousness which at the moment is basking in the glow of the bright face of Aquarius championing humanitarianism.  However, radical change is not always in the best interest of humanity and the quote above is a good case in point. The quote is by the late Milton Friedman, an American economist and commander of ideas once thought radical: a free market, government deregulation, privatization, which today are the incorporated ideas of America’s financial institutions that have perpetrated the financial crisis currently battering humanitarianism. Ideas are infinite any number of which can take form depending upon the perceiving of reality, which is why it is in our better interests to be aware of what ideas are lying around at the time of a crisis. It is important that we recognize the darker face of Aquarius in our wanting unbridled freedoms and our obstinate intolerance for the ideas and needs of others because these are the ideas at the root of government policies nurturing the profiteering of corporations at the expense of fostering economic growth beneficial for the entire population. The two faces of Aquarius, one light the other dark, are very much in the forefront of the ideas that are lying around at this time, and our understanding of both is well worth pondering during the week of the Aquarius waxing Moon.

The Scorpio new Moon accentuated our survival fears and now the Aquarius waxing Moon requires that we understand the motive behind those fears. When the Moon is in Aquarius, as it is wont to be once a month, fresh breath infuses our emotions allowing us to objectively reflect upon our emotional needs and what we think we need to feel safe and secure in life. The waxing Moon in Aquarius happens but once each year and because it makes a square to the Sun in Scorpio it presents us with a challenge; asking us to think about whether we are clinging to emotions from our past, and if so, if they are suffocating our current opportunity for emotional clarity and rational expression of our feelings. Admittedly, the Moon and Aquarius are awkward bed-fellows; the cool rationalism of Aquarius baffling the subjective emotionalism of the Moon, but if we consider the brighter face of this duo we see reflected our capacity to nurture the emotional needs of our community. Albeit, not without first considering if  our past need for emotional security nourished the self-protectionism and communal isolationism that fostered social segregation.

Aquarius is a complex aspect of ourself; innovative, experimental, freedom loving, yet, often oddly intolerant of the ideas and opinions of others. This conundrum presents a particular challenge for those of us wanting to open our mind, grow in self-awareness, and champion social justice and human dignity. For this to happen we need to die to our past ideas, ideas that have been narrowed in focus, and reaching outside our emotional comfort zone first secure the emotional needs of our community and in so doing guarantee that we secure our own. The first action we need to take, and there is always action with the square aspect, is to look with brutal self-honesty directly into the eyes of our darker face  and transform our fear into reasoned action. The Aquarius waxing Moon -North Node conjunction suggests a momentous social movement requiring individual participation and contribution to improve the quality of life for every member of society and not “just for our own”.

The Scorpio- Aquarius coupling is aiding us in releasing the rhetoric from our past  so that we can be more authentically ourself. The first aspect the Aquarius Moon made, before making the square to the Sun, was a square to Mercury, recently entered Scorpio, alerting us that what needs transforming are our thoughts, and in the case of the waxing Moon, our thoughts about what we need in order to feel emotionally secure. Mercury in Scorpio gives a depth and breadth to our thinking which allows us to penetrate beyond the superficial reflections of the ideas of others in order to better understand from whence they came and for what purpose. Scorpio is fearless in the eye of the storm and the record number of voters who turned out for the US presidential election of 2008 were individuals thinking for themselves and casting their votes, some for the first time in their life, made their voices heard.