A Lunar Eclipse punctuates a shift in our conscious by marking the completion, sometimes the passing, of something we have created in our life. When a Lunar Eclipse is in Sagittarius and Gemini we are challenged to look closely at our reality and follow our heart in search of the meaning of our existence. A series of eclipses in Sagittarius and Gemini will continue unfolding throughout 2012 illuminating the ebb and flow of our existence. Those experiences that touch us most deeply will force us to look at what we believe and how our beliefs create what we experience. The cosmos is encouraging us to let go of our attachment to the beliefs of others and rather than mindlessly follow the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others, discover what is true for ourself.  The spirit of Sagittarius inspires us to reach beyond what we know in search of something never before experienced, and the spirit of Gemini infuses our life force with boundless curiosity and a youthful wonderment ready to embrace everything that life has to offer. Our consciousness is awakening as never before imagined encouraging us to free ourself of the limitations imposed by our past and open our heart to the infinite possibilities awaiting us in the unknown.

I was unable to find the name of the author of the quote or the artist of the sculpture.

” All of  life springs from the primeval waters that flow from the tree of life and gather at its base, waters which are limitless, an essential sea circulating through all of nature. These waters are the beginning and end of all existence, the ever-moving matrix that nurtures and preserves life. The World Tree, expressing its milky golden sap, denotes ‘absolute reality’, a return to the center and place of origin, the home of wisdom that heals.”*

Under the influence of Pisces I am having trouble giving form to my thoughts and  I am still sorting my impressions of this New Moon as it approaches the waxing phase of the cycle. Two days after the New Moon I saw a delicate sliver of light rising in the night sky, a budding crescent open to the cosmos to receive the light of the Sun, and I felt the haunting beauty and tender vulnerability experienced with every new birth. The birthing of this New Moon is the last New Moon of winter and it is illuminating a deepening empathy for all of life.

When the Sun and Moon, luminous lights of spirit and soul, conjoin in Pisces the collective feelings of humanity are emerging from the primal flow of life, and tasting the golden sap of immortality we on Earth understand the precious giving back of our mortality. When we are under the influence of Pisces ridged boundaries dissolve allowing the numinous light of the source of our origin to filter into conscious awareness.  We feel what others are feeling and we suffer what others are suffering.  In the wake of this new born consciousness our usual indifference to the eternal flow of nature subsides and our joyful participation in the totality of life bestows a deepening  gratitude for the rich nourishing we receive in kind.

This New Moon foretold of a healing to that aspect of our soul deprived of the spontaneous and joyful celebrating of life. At the time of the New Moon the transiting Nodes changed signs ** and immediately bumped into the rebellious nature of Uranus.  Radical change is in the air demanding that we break free from collective thoughts, feelings, and actions that, however well intended, have censured our efforts to creatively express our unique self.

For those of us with a world weary cynicism or a tyrannical mistrusting of realities beyond the pale of our rational mind this New Moon may surprise us. We are promised the opportunity to release our attachment to ideas we inherited from our past that are not reflecting our individual experiencing of life.  The waxing phase of the New Moon has activated our emotional defenses and challenged us to break free from our patterned behavior in order that a new aspect of our consciousness come to light.  The cosmos is asking us to honor our contribution to the ebb and flow of our daily life and to witness with conscious light the life that we created in the past,  are creating in the present, and hope to create in the future.

The approaching Jupiter-Saturn opposition will rock the ocean waters of our collective feelings turning our individuality upside down and inside out. This is not going to be an easy month for many of us feeling at times that our individuality is being overwhelmed by external forces beyond our control. When this happens it may bring comfort remembering that we alone have woven the illusory web separating our inner realty from our outer reality. Under the watchful guiding of Pisces we can remove the illusory veiling of our separateness and feel our interconnection with all of life.

The influencing of the element air, the waxing Moon in Gemini and transiting Saturn in Libra, adds perspective and emotional distance from the sorrows and sadness reflecting the shadow face of Pisces. We are warned not to drown the light of our life vitality with emotional withdrawal or to become a victim to our external circumstances.  It is worth reminding our self that while we cannot control the actions of others we can control our responses to those actions, and in so doing, accept responsibility for what our actions manifest in the world. One healing offered by Pisces is the gift of  acceptance, and the grace given when we accept what is at the deepest level of our self.

* Joan Halifax, Shaman : The Wounded Healer

** The North Node is Sagittarius and the South Node is Gemini

Mindfulness is certainly one theme of the Gemini New Moon. The Moon is the fastest moving celestial body in our solar system making it the translator of the zodiac inscribing our psyche with every planetary archetype. For this reason each New Moon is seeking to nourish new growth in self-awareness.  A Gemini New Moon promises to nurture our curiosity and feed our appetite for new experiences.The luminous face of Gemini reflects our open mind poised in wonderment of all that life has to offer. The dark face of Gemini reflects a world-weariness that comes from having done and seen it all. Gemini is that mischievous aspect in each of us that conjures chaos and instigates instability for the sheer pleasure of being a provocateur. Under a strong influence of Gemini our right hand never seems to know, nor rarely cares, what our left is doing, consequently there is often a laissez- faire quality to Gemini that belies a deep vein of cynicism.

The numinous glow of this Gemini New Moon is reflecting individual and collective boundaries that must be recognized and honored before we can heal a wounding to our common humanity. The first aspect Mercury made after entering Gemini was a square to Chiron in Pisces highlighting a wounding to our collective feelings; quickly followed by a square to Mars in Virgo challenging us to act with modesty and in humble recognition that our actions are in service to the needs of others. The last aspect Mercury will make before leaving Gemini is a square to Saturn in Virgo, which may well trigger our discomfort at having to take personal responsibility for improving the problems that structure our life.  Saturn in Virgo delivers a sober reminding that the buck stops with us.

Last Saturday morning awaking adrift without my beloved internet connection  to anchor me in the oceanic oneness of humanity I pondered the guileful mischief of Mercury Rx in Taurus preparing to station direct. I asked myself if my feeling separate and isolated was more a reflection of the Moon traveling through Pisces stirring the turbulent waters of the collective feelings of humanity, or perhaps  the Sun transiting in Taurus square my natal Venus challenging my individual values was forcing me to pay closer attention to the depth of my addictions and dependencies. Taurus is that aspect deep in our psyche shaping our comfort by defining our pleasure, and I have heard said by a wise Buddhist nun, if you want to understand addiction take a hot bath for a month and then stop. Giving form to our values, merit to our possessions, and a stubborn attachment to our pleasures are the delft  fingers of Taurus soothing, caressing, and exciting our senses.

It is rare when a single celestial event influences our perception of reality. Usually our understanding of our experience of the events unfolding in our life are influenced by a number of planetary cycles each interconnecting one with the other.  Yesterday, May 11, Mercury Rx in Taurus stationed direct, and Venus fluttering in the sign of Gemini and ruling deity of Taurus is in mutual exchange with Mercury. Translating into a practical application Taurus is stimulating our sensuality and Gemini is pricking our curiosity while Mercury and Venus are integrating our mind and body as one.

Mercury is the cosmic messenger transporting our thoughts and feelings from one realm of perception to another without which we would be clueless as to how to communicate our unique experience of being human. When we are under the influence of Taurus we instinctively celebrate the tactile, palpable, voluptuous world of our senses unabashedly hugging a tree in communion with our oneness in life. Mercury in Taurus offers us a robust mind spilling forth a  cornucopia of thoughts and feelings rooted in the fertile soils of the Earth nourishing, sustaining, and preserving life.

When Mercury stationed retrograde in Taurus our conscious awareness changed direction and so did our perception of our resources. Mercury Rx gave us precious time to re-evaluate our attachment to what we individually and collectively own and value in life. Mercury Rx in Taurus concentrated our awareness of the Earth’s resources and heightened our appreciation of the indelible beauty of nature’s infinite shapes, colors, lines, and textures. When we are under the influence of Taurus we stand erect amidst the artful creations of Nature encouraging the roots of our individuality to grow to the center of the Earth. Taurus is the aspect in each of us that feels thick, solid, and stable. It is the aspect in each of us that is patient, persistent, and enduring.

Shortly after Mercury stationed direct the Moon in Aries formed the waxing arm of a Yod making a quincunx with Saturn and a sextile with Neptune.  The Yod aspect has been euphemistically named the “Finger of God”, pointing in the direction of fate tainted with the rich hue of a destined new perception of reality; a turning point in one’s life path forcing a change in direction without a secured destination.

“For all the boring interpretations which have been allotted the sixth house, in reality it is the single most important area of the chart, where one can materialize one’s inner worth.” * Virgo, the natural sign of the sixth house is that aspect in each of us striving for a completeness, an inner wholeness that no one else can possibly fulfill for us. The first six houses, Aries through Virgo, are houses of personal self- discovery where our impulse to “be” in Aries takes form through our possessions in Taurus, our communication in Gemini, our emotional security in Cancer, our creative self expression in Leo, and our becoming that which only we can “be” in Virgo. In the words of Jodie and Steven Forrest, “Virgo looks inward, finding some aspect of herself that can be polished brightly and offered to the world.” When we are under the influence of Virgo we are the “worker bees” of the zodiac attaining the highest, most perfected levels of our potential in service with others. The bright face of Virgo awakens our mind to the value of our inner worth, while the dark face of Virgo, our ruthless self-criticism, cripples our capacity to appreciate our inner worth and stifles our ability to creatively participate in making the life that we want.

The Moon in Virgo opposing the Sun in Pisces illuminates the time of year, the last Full Moon before the Vernal Equinox, when we can give that aspect of ourself which we have polished brightly back to the collective feelings of humanity.  It is time for us to acknowledge what we  accomplished the last eleven months and then let it go, a supreme challenge for Virgo, knowing that everything we did for our personal benefit was done in benefit for others. Pisces is that aspect in each of us intuitively knowing that all of life is interconnected, and when the Sun is in Pisces we drop our veil of autonomy and see our individuality and the individuality of others unfold together in union.

The Sun in Pisces garners a time when our creative vitality can penetrate the illusive membrane separating our rational and irrational realities. Pisces heightens our awareness of our non-material reality nourishing our yearning for the ephemeral without ever relinquishing our exquisite appreciation for the sensuality of the material world. Our heart melts under the radiant rays of the Sun in Pisces as we reach for the unspoken and the unseen. Our tendency under the influence of Pisces is too sacrifice our needs for the needs of others until we realize that the care we give to ourself mirrors the care we give to  others. Anything less  breeds illusions and self-deception. The Sun in Pisces assures us that our solar vitality needs compassionate nourishing from the inside out. To manifest  compassion in the world we must first allow our compassion to seep into the most guarded and protected aspects of ourself.

The bright face of this Full Moon reflected our inner worth, and opposing the Sun-Jupiter conjunction guaranteed that our conscious awareness is expanding beyond the familiar and known.  The work this week is to materialize our inner worth in some meaningful way that reflects our true self,  our creative self, rather than the self that we have been told by others is ours. The Full Moon in Pisces is helping us heal the subtle undermining of our inner worth wrought by self-doubting and self-negating attitudes learned long ago. We all have an inner critic ever eager to let us know exactly what we have failed to accomplish in our life, and why. We may gain great insight this week if while observing our inner critic sabotage our creativity we hear the calling to make visible the inner mystery of our Self.

The Moon 09 Virgo 58 opposing the Sun 09 Pisces 58 ::  Febraury 28, 2010

*Erin Sullivan, Saturn In Transit

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/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:05:35 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=5454 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

The current New Moon cycle is reflecting the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces; and as we follow the unfolding of the Sun and Moon relationship, keeping in mind that every lunation cycle heralds a potential conscious awakening of an unfamiliar aspect of our self, our attention is drawn to the inter-playing between this New Moon cycle and the approaching Saturn and Uranus opposition; an opposition that always delivers a challenge to the precarious balancing between tradition and innovation, restricting and liberating, the status quo and the unorthodox. With Saturn in Virgo opposing Uranus in Pisces we are asked to improve society by breaking apart stagnant social structures and traditional ideologies that are preventing us from a more inclusive engaging with the diversity offered in life. Yesterday, the Moon in Virgo squared the Sun in Gemini creating tension accompanying the green light to embrace the rich diversity of life as we search for a safer and more secure belonging in our global community. Today, the Moon cautiously joined forces with Saturn and reflecting  our emotional maturity we acquired the opportunity to spend the coming week working on practical solutions that  will nourish the health and well being of our society. This is a good time to avoid emotional retreating or withdrawing because we feel insecure and fearful. Tomorrow, the Moon discreetly opposes Uranus and reflecting our emotional independence and originality  we have the  unique opportunity to invent unusual ways of improving the quality of daily life. It is important this week to resist the temptation of becoming  frustrated by any imperfection we may experience that unexpectedly appears with a defiant stance manifesting as a hyper-critical viewing of our self and the world surrounding us.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Prognostication 1502 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.

Mercury is that aspect within each of us ordering our perception of reality so that we can  comprehend and communicate what we are experiencing inside and outside ourself. Mercury is our mind breathing inhaling and exhaling our experiences, circulating our understanding of what is being translated between our unconscious motives and our conscious realizations. Every time Mercury stations retrograde we are given a second chance to evaluate  what exactly is going on inside and outside ourself.

Today, Mercury stations retrograde in Libra urging us to look back over our shoulder and re-evaluate our relationships. We recently entered fall, the season of decay, and Mercury in Libra stationing retrograde is challenging us to dissolve what we have worked so hard to create; nothing less than our perception of who we think we are in the world. When we are under the influence of Libra we are primarily seeking balance within ourself and if we remain consciously unaware we fall into unconsciously using our relationships as mirrors reflecting our experiencing of ourself to ourself. If this sounds complicated it can be if we refuse to give up our illusion of separateness thinking that what we experience outside ourself has nothing to do with what we experience inside ourself. It may be helpful remembering that Libra is that aspect in each of us acutely aware of  our incompleteness, knowing that we are seeking our missing self, and that the people in our life are exquisite reflections of that which we are seeking.

When Mercury stations retrograde in one of the three air signs, Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius, there is a double emphasis placed upon our thinking mode, by which I mean, our preference to communicate utilizing an underlying structure of logic, something proven from our past, leading us to an inevitable judgment of the present. The danger with this mode of understanding is that we allow our past to shadow our present and we risk missing our experiencing of “what is” in the moment. Mercury in Libra is riveting our attention on the quality of our relationships; past, present, and future.  It is not uncommon that past relationships  will briefly re- appear or that we suddenly realize the similarities between a present relationship and a relationship from our past. Remember this is a time for self- Rx-flection, and the more aware we are of our unconscious motives in our relating with others the more aware we become of our conscious realizations of the quality of our relationships.

Mercury, as mischief maker, can topple the best of our intentions and I believe that one area worth considering, at this time, is the depth of our honesty in our relationships. There can be a fine line, barely visible at times, between diplomacy and deceit and we need to honestly answer to ourself what is behind our motives for “keeping peace at all cost”.  I am not suggesting that we will find a prescripted answer, our motives change depending on each situation, but I am suggesting that lurking behind the curtain of our willingness to compromise may be our fear to stand alone. It  is a cruel irony that protecting the harmony in our relationships, when it requires being dishonest about what we are thinking or feeling, actually prevents people from knowing who we are which inevitably keeps us isolated and alone in our relationships.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/09/24/honesty-within-and-without/feed/ 3 laurenlesko Hermes http://laurenlesko.com/2008/07/10/the-kind-communicator/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/07/10/the-kind-communicator/#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:34:29 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=259 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

Today, Mercury leaves a two month sojourn through Gemini, a time of accelerated mental activity when we enthusiastically communicated a cornucopia of ideas to others, to enter Cancer, a time of emotional sensitivity when we cautiously, tentatively communicate our feelings to others for fear of them being misunderstood or worst rejected. It is important not to emotionally retreat behind a mental fortress protecting ourselves from the thoughts and feelings of others even if their ideas seem harsh or unkind. When we are under the influence of Cancer we are more intuitive than usual and more in touch with our instinctual nature. Issues of security, safety, belonging are of tantamount concern and we are prone to personalizing every thing we experience in life. When Mercury enters Cancer we may spend most of our time defending what we think and feel, if only to ourselves, when we are better served defending the thoughts and feelings of others and keeping the flow of communication open. It is important to remember that Mercury in Cancer is seeking communion not isolation.

Mercury in Cancer has an intuitive understanding of how to communicate our feelings and this month can be a wonderfully cathartic time releasing attachment to our past and deepening our emotional understanding of ourselves and those closest to us. Hours before entering the sign Cancer, Mercury still in Gemini, opposed Pluto in Sagittarius challenging our ideals and encouraging us to eliminate certain long held beliefs. Mars conjoined Saturn in Virgo setting the stage for Mercury’s entrance in Cancer accentuating the necessity for us to improve our communication skills especially when expressing our emotions. Mercury in Cancer can drown our rational mind with too much self-pity, which in the final analysis alienates people through emotional manipulation. The greatest gift of Mercury in Cancer is understanding how to communicate our feelings with more care, consideration, and kindness to our self and to others.