We end October with a significant shift in our method of communicating with one another. Mercury takes leave of Libra the day before Saturn enters Libra, and while neither planet is in direct aspect to one another they both, each in their unique way, direct our attention to securing a deeper commitment to our relationships. While Mercury sojourned through Libra our attention to our relationships was filtered through our ability to negotiation and compromise which allowed us to share our ideas with one another. Today, standing at the threshold of change,  we are asked to examine our emotional commitment to those shared ideas. In the early hours of October 28 Mercury entered Scorpio adding an intensity to our communication that encourages us to listen to one another before speaking our truth.

When we are under the influence of Scorpio we have an inner resolve, an iron will, ready to be used with forceful determination if necessary. For this reason, when Mercury is in Scorpio it is important that we clearly understand our motives in communicating our thoughts and feelings to others. Scorpio is that aspect in each of us intuitively aware of the necessity for  a regeneration that often accompanies upheaval, destruction, and the ruin of what has been built in the past. This may sound ominous but it need not be if our actions, Mars is the ancient ruler of Scorpio, are mindful of the creative potential of building something new from what is destroyed. This is the celestial key offered the next three weeks and we are well advised to open a portal in our mind to allow for a creative change in our thinking.

For the next three weeks our mind will be razor sharp cutting through concealed information, hidden agendas, and false accusations in our personal and public life. Mercury in Scorpio gives us the mental stamina to penetrate the murky waters of our motives and the motives of others. When Mercury entered Scorpio the Sun and Mars were square warning us against brash, impulsive actions that could darken our bright light. Mercury in Scorpio can bring healing with our words if our motives are clear and honest. Venus in Libra approaching a trine with Jupiter  in Aquarius heralds good fortune in our relationship with the larger community of humanity, and the approaching Venus- Chiron trine guarantees that a wound to humanity can be healed if we take the higher mind offered Mercury in Scorpio and give value to our emotional commitment to the greater good.

I am running a day late with my commentary. I know Saturn entered Libra today illuminating our relationships with rays of personal and social responsibility. This is the threshold for the first Saturn return for those of us born between September 22, 1980 – November 29, 1982, and the second Saturn return for those of us born November 21, 1950 – October 22, 1953……… I will have more to say in the coming days.

Following on the heels of a week of stellar activity with Jupiter in Aquarius stationing direct, Venus entering Libra, and Mars entering Leo preparing for a retrograde station near the end of the year, our Sun and Moon conjoined in Libra birthing a New Moon cycle under the guiding grace of peace, harmony, justice, and the sweet taste of self-honesty. At the risk of over simplifying: Jupiter stationing direct in Aquarius expanded our heart and mind to open and receive the ideas of others; Venus entering Libra accelerated our love of beauty and harmony seeking tranquility in our relationships; and Mars entering Leo ignited our willful passion to share our personal warmth and unique vitality with others. Every month the Sun and Moon meet one another by sign and degree promising  us the conscious awakening of a hidden aspect of ourself. This New Moon provides a celestial key for creating the beauty and harmony we are seeking in our relationship with one another.

Libra is the quintessential sign of relationships running the gamut from intimacy to superficiality sandwiched between our unique style of relating to ourself and to the world of others. Libra is one of the four cardinal points of the zodiac punctuating the seasonal changing of summer to fall when the equal weighing of day and night balance the opposing forces of light and dark. One of the first cultural manifestations of the archetypal principle of Libra is found in the ancient Egyptian worship of Ma’at, the goddess of death personified as truth, order, balance, and justice …….“the dead person’s heart was placed on a scale, balanced by Ma’at, or by the Feather of Ma’at”……and if the scale tipped even slightly the soul was sent back to earth with the responsibility of releasing the extra weight.  When we are under the influence of Libra we understand our unspoken responsibility to balance our actions while alive.

The planet Venus is the archetypal principle of love, beauty, and value.  Venus as goddess of idealized beauty and the ruling deity of Libra embodies much of the ancient wisdom of Ma’at. At the birth of the Libra New Moon Venus had already entered Libra and unabashedly holding power as ruling deity made a square with Pluto in Capricorn intensifying an atmosphere of restrained decay under the watchful eye of social mores….well almost……for while it is true that Libra is that aspect in each of us with a healthy respect for social decorum, Libra is also that aspect in each of us after smelling the soured stench of falsity and dishonesty acts without hesitation to balance the scales of truth and justice.

Our goddess of love never faint of heart in matters of the heart  is emboldened this lunar cycle by the transforming intensity of Pluto in Capricorn riveting our attention to the rotting carcass of fallen relationships. We may feel squeamish forced to look at the coarseness of corporal reality and our unsavory contributing to such a reality but this is a first step toward balancing our actions and accepting responsibility for the quality of our relationships.  When we are under the influence of Libra our challenge is to discover an unflinching self-honesty as we judiciously balance our  interests and the interests of others. This is not an easy path and one that is all too often sacrificed for the sake of superficial peace masking our true thoughts and concealing our vulnerability. If we genuinely want to improve the quality of our relationships, both personal and social, the Libra New Moon is offering, amongst other things, mutual respect and consideration for one another. All we need do is lighten our heart with honesty.

For a rich and multifaceted interpretation of the Libra New Moon I recommend listening to the New Moon podcast at Sky Bear Astrology

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/10/18/weighing-our-heart-2/feed/ 0 laurenlesko Ma'at http://laurenlesko.com/2009/07/16/as-the-moon-wanes/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/07/16/as-the-moon-wanes/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:00:54 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=6752 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

“As the Moon wanes in the sky, so the illumined individual vanishes into spiritual progeny. The civilizer’s light is being absorbed into the fabric of the new civilization – the new earth.” *

The waning phase of every New Moon reflects our conscious participation in the greater whole of humanity. This phase of the lunar cycle provides a passageway to taking action that sows the seeds for a future flowering, which is why the waning phase of the Moon heralds the time when we  can contemplate and integrate what we experienced during the New Moon cycle intuitively understanding that our individual actions nourish the whole of humanity. Yesterday gave birth to the waning phase of a New Moon cycle that has been focused on our capacity to nurture the creative life force within ourself and others.

The waning Moon in Aries illuminates our emotional courage to stand on our own and “be” uniquely ourself. How? By challenging us to think independently and separate our thoughts and actions from cultural habits and tribal prejudices that foster defensive self-protectionism and stifle global unity; after making a square to the Sun the Moon squared Mercury in Cancer and made a sextile  to Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius. The first aspect the Moon in Aries made was a square to Pluto in Capricorn staining this waning Moon with our collective struggle against tyrannical forces blocking our creative life force from shinning forth. In order for us to grasp the fullness of our life potential and our contribution to humanity we need to carefully examine both our inner and our outer tyrants. The Moon in Aries always sparks our passion to change our past by bringing freshness and spontaneity to our present. When we are under the influence of Aries our  impulsive actions can undermine the best of our intentions, and rather than willfully rushing blind into the light this is a good week to stand still in stoic splendor mindful of our courageous heart beating as one with humanity.

* Dane Rudhyar

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/07/16/as-the-moon-wanes/feed/ 3 laurenlesko Ares http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/07/perceptual-tone/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/07/perceptual-tone/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:22:21 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=5930 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

“Almost wholly unappreciated is the magnitude of the force that will be generated by the achievement of unity, an influence “so powerful,” in Bahá’u'lláh’s words, “that it can illuminate the whole Earth.”*

For many of us on Earth last Friday was a bit rough and tumble as those aspects of ourself that we have invested with consolidating our emotional security, Moon in Scorpio, and distributing our wealth of ideas, Mercury in Taurus, opposed one another challenging the fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, to negotiate a harmonious balance between differences of opinion, which a discerning eye might readily discover as a mere shading of perceptual tone. What complicated matters even more was that the Sun in Gemini and Saturn in Virgo made an exact square in tandem with the Moon and Mercury opposition, challenging the mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces to take notice of crystallized thought patterns and stagnant boundaries of conditioned thinking that are preventing a fresh perspective of our  view of reality. Gathering a fresh perspective seems very much in the mind and heart of the current celestial transits noting that the last aspect the Scorpio Moon made before engendering the lush ripening of the Full Moon was a square to Jupiter in Aquarius amplifying the possibility of a radical shift in our perception requiring objectivity coupled with self-honesty.

Today, the Gemini Full Moon illuminates our potential awakening in a new self-awareness which reflecting in the sign of Sagittarius suggests to me an enthusiastic embracing of a broader perspective of our world. When we are under the influence of Sagittarius we are seeking to know the significance of our life and the deeper meaning of the kaleidoscopic patterns of perception which we continually project onto the world. That aspect in each of us expressed through Sagittarius is intuitively integrating our body with our mind through our spiritual journey in unity with something greater than our conscious self. We are certain to experience the best that Sagittarius has to offer when we allow ourself the freedom to travel unencumbered by fear or apprehension into the future unknown.

This Full Moon delivers a powerful punch as the Moon in Sagittarius translates a square to Saturn to an opposition with the Sun culminating with a grand finale square to Uranus. It is worth noting that both the Moon and Uranus are under the beneficent tutelage of Jupiter in Aquarius hinting at the humanitarian scope of potentialities awaiting our conscious awakening if we are willing to revolutionize our perception of the institutions that structured our social traditions and contoured many of the beliefs we hold near and dear to our heart. We have the week ahead of us to pay closer attention to our beliefs and a precious opportunity of airing out the staleness of our thinking by allowing the sweet freshness of our enthusiasm for venturing into the unknown to perfume our perception of the world.

* “The Prosperity of Humankind”, Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/07/perceptual-tone/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Sagittarius http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/27/a-cycle-within-a-cycle/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/27/a-cycle-within-a-cycle/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 21:54:58 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=5482 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

“Since the dawn of time itself, Man has measured his life by the cycles of the planets – from sunrise to sunrise and from one new Moon to the next he has reckoned his existence by the heavens.”*

Cycles, within cycles, within cycles, the pulse of our beloved astrology, plumbing the life blood of our universe; circulating Earth, Moon, planets and asteroids, named and unnamed; transfusing human experience with a profane and sacred significance. The celestial cycles most familiar to us are the daily rising and setting of the Sun charting the axial rotation of the Earth gliding through the entire zodiac in one day, the changing faces of the Moon gathering and dispersing the light of the Sun enfolding the entire zodiac in one month, and the annual changing of season from spring to summer to fall to winter mirroring the faithful marriage of Earth and Sun dancing cheek-to-cheek round the zodiac in one year. Each of these cycles observable with our naked eye delivers a new birth in the processes of life on Earth and in particular within the individual.

Every known planetary body whether observable or not with the naked eye engages in a cyclical unfolding of time with every other planetary body lasting hours, days, weeks, months, or years depending upon the distance of the Sun. These interlacing cycles weave the diverse complexity of  human experience that unfolds within a universe infused with a living intelligence refusing to be reduced to a mechanistic and meaningless experience. Today, for the first time since 1843 Jupiter and Neptune conjoin in Aquarius heralding a new birth in humanitarian awareness accompanying a spiritual vision that includes the whole of humanity replacing individual privilege with individual participation and collective ostracism with collective co-habitation.

Jupiter journeys through every sign of the zodiac in twelve years while Neptune journeys through one sign of the zodiac in thirteen years with the two conjoining in a different sign every thirteen years and the same sign every 169 years. In other words, orbiting Jupiter and Neptune entwine two  distinct cycles simultaneously giving birth to a thirteen year cycle of individual awakening  and a 169 year cycle of collective awakening suggesting that one is dependent upon the other.

When we are under the influence of Aquarius the events in our life remind us that our individual self-expression is on behalf of the whole of humanity and that the evolution of human consciousness requires that each of us accept personal responsibility for contributing the best of our creative potential to the whole of life. With the birth of a new Jupiter-Neptune cycle in Aquarius we on Earth are given a golden opportunity to do just that. Is there any more altruistic sign of the zodiac than Aquarius, a more benevolent teacher than Jupiter, or a better spiritual guardian of the collective unconscious than Neptune, acting as celestial guides helping us navigate the stormy waters of our individual and collective evolving in consciousness?

I began this post speaking of cycles within cycles within cycles and the new Jupiter-Neptune cycle has some unexpected turns. The asteroid Chiron in Aquarius is at the exact degree as the two and embracing them both may offer healing insight into a wounding of the collective unconscious that every individual suffers, being a part of the collective whole, in recognizing, albeit unconsciously so, a lopsided evolving of human consciousness that resists envisioning the unity of Life.

The other significant cycles at this time are the retrograde station of all three planetary bodies within three weeks of today’s conjoining; Neptune stations retrograde May 28, Chiron June 2, and Jupiter June 15. Each Rx cycle is imprinting a highly personalized experiencing of the Jupiter-Neptune cycle, and if we consider the archetype resonating within our experience of Jupiter, Neptune, and Chiron then it seems possible that each of us may internalize external events and challenge the norm by expanding our conscious awareness beyond what we know and entering the unknown dissolve thought and feeling forms that are contributing to humanitarian discord. We are well advised to spend the coming months fine tuning our unique understanding and appreciation of our individual participation in the  evolution of humanity by re-examining, re-evaluating, re-considering our personal belief and vision for the future of humanity.

In the spirit of re-examining, re-evaluating, and re-considering I direct your attention to an astrology blog using a wide humanitarian aperture, Astrological Repair Manuel, and encourage you to read astrologer, Alexander Zoltai’s, evocative post A Positive Interpretation of Hitler’s Chart.

* Cycles of Becoming, Alexander Ruperti

Today is Memorial Day in the United States of America and while I was writing an innocuous post on planetary cycles and the unfolding of human consciousness I received a message announcing a new post on Our Evolution delivering a sobering reminding of the ennoble honoring of all war inhabiting the destruction, mutilation, and death of life. In 1904-1905 Jupiter was in Aries squared Neptune in Cancer and  the United States under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt was at war with the Philippines.  Mark Twain offering a dissenting opinion of this popular war wrote War Prayer which was never published in his life time. In two days Jupiter and Neptune will conjoin in Aquarius and giving birth to a 13 year cycle of individual awakening in consciousness and a 169 year cycle of collective awakening in consciousness plant a seed of potentiality for the scared preserving of All Life on Earth. To better understand  the potential gift offered humanity when the god of expansion, Jupiter, fuses forces with the god of  spiritual vision, Neptune, I encourage you to read War Prayer and the Spiritual Quote following.

This month we are ending the annual journey of the Earth around the Sun; a journey that began at the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring, when day and night were of equal portion and new life delicately pushing forth in self determination sprouted from the fertile womb of the Earth. The following eleven months ushered a time of tremendous growing throughout spring and summer, followed by decaying throughout the fall, and a winter dying preparing for the resurrecting of new life in the coming spring. When the Earth is passing through Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, those of us living on Earth experience the ending of an old cycle preparing us for a new birth in consciousness. Pisces is one of the earliest signs recorded with two fishes appearing on an Egyptian coffin lid c. 2,300 BC.; apparently, the Nile reached its peak under the influence of a Full Moon in Pisces at which time Egypt became a veritable ocean. The association of Pisces with the unfathomable depths of the ocean resonates deep within our collective unconscious and even today our human experiencing of Pisces is that aspect in each of us that feels itself swimming blindly in the depths of the primordial waters of the source and succor of our creation.

When we are under the influence of Pisces we can be painfully aware of our incompleteness and struggle to gather the disparate parts of our self into a cohesive whole only to realize that we are apart of something much greater than the solitary sum of our parts. As the Earth passes through Pisces we pass through a process of surrendering all that we have physically, mentally, and spiritually achieved during the last year and placing our life achievements upon a sacrificial alter, some of us gleefully others of us with hesitation, we metaphorically dive into the wild seas of undifferentiated union. It is worth noticing in the constellation of Pisces one fish is swimming along the ocean bed while the other swims up toward the light. This gives us an essential clue in understanding that the true nature of our unconscious rather than willfully hiding in the depths of our collective past is forever seeking wholeness by reaching toward our conscious light.

Today, the Sun leaves the nested community of celestial bodies in Aquarius to enter Pisces, and we on Earth can expect a definite shift in consciousness. In Aquarius we were made aware that our individuality is contributing something valuable to the collective while in Pisces we are made aware of surrendering our individuality to the collective. When we are under the influence of Pisces our separateness feels awkwardly isolated in an ill fitting skin and we struggle to dispel the inherent loneliness of physical manifestation by merging our separateness with another. Pisces is that aspect in each of us intimately connected with the collective unconscious speaking the universal language of love through the voices of poetry, film, and song. It  has been said that Neptune, co-ruling  Pisces with Jupiter, is that aspect in each of us that loves because it is the nature of love to love. Neptune and Jupiter are walking side by side this year in Aquarius suggesting a time for sharing unconditional love with all of humanity in an outpouring of empathy and genuine concern for the well being of Life on Earth. As the Sun journey’s through Pisces we are made consciously aware that unconditional love lives in the heart of every individual.

This New Year begins in the true spirit of diversity challenging us to open our mind to new ideas and experiences in 2009. We ended the old year with Saturn stationing Rx and began the new with  Mercury entering Aquarius. Yesterday Venus entered Pisces, today the waxing Moon is in Aries, and tomorrow Jupiter enters Aquarius. We are just five days into the new year and in another week Mercury stations Rx. The cosmos is unfolding with lightening speed before we have time to catch our breath, which is one reason why we are learning this month  to breath with the universe and inhale and exhale information and ideas with a deep and measured rhythm.

The Capricorn New Moon is not particularly accustomed to the world of ideas, preferring concrete realities to abstract ideals. Today, the new Moon enters the waxing phase  of the monthly cycle and our unconscious motives are ready to take action if only our conscious realizations would lighten up! The impulsive Aries waxing Moon has had enough of the heaviness of our spirit and today has decreed that it is time for that old man within each of us to move over and make room for something new to live. This week we need to pay attention and listen to the voice of something within us wanting to be born. To fully enjoy the fresh breath of new possibilities looming bright we need to remember that without honoring and respecting the wisdom of the past we may find ourself mindlessly following the herd. We can use the best of Aries impulse to “be” by asserting our independence in thought and deed.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/04/move-over-old-man/feed/ 4 laurenlesko Aries http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/02/awakening-in-consciousness/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/02/awakening-in-consciousness/#comments Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:52:10 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=1270 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

We entered 2009 with an electrical charge in the air; a crisp, crackling  current that awakened our mind from a heavy stupor. Our perception of  what our future can be has been infused with innovation and originality and now is the time to break down the walls of our conventional thinking. The planet Mercury has  boldly entered Aquarius and if we inhale the fresh cosmic breath being offered we may find ourself thinking more freely than we have in many years. On January 5 Jupiter follows Mercury into the arms of Aquarius and for the first time in twelve years our celestial good fortune is companion in arms with our celestial communicator promising us fortunate communication if we resist the temptation to lock dismissive horns with ideas different  than our own. When ever Mercury and Jupiter entwine in the sky  above we on the ground below are guaranteed that some event in our life will expand our conscious awareness.

When we are under the influence of Aquarius our thoughts turn toward the needs of humanity and preferring an extended world view we tend to shun our cloistered tribal concerns. Aquarius is that aspect in each of us giving birth to something holy unexpected and unknown within ourself that we want to give in benefit to humanity, which is why Aquarius insists upon individual freedom supporting the welfare of the group. It is not surprising that Aquarius is our cosmic wake-up call  reminding us that while we are one -of -a -kind originals we are also each one made from the same celestial dust.

Mercury is slowing in the sky preparing to station retrograde on January 11 reminding us that we need to reassess our thinking. In Aquarius it is more than possible that we will be challenged to reconsider our attachment to what we believe and the best advice I can give to those of us who want to  expand our  perception of what the future can be is to remain mindful of those times when we get prickly listening to what others are saying. Mercury has some unfinished business with Saturn before conjoining Jupiter,the North Node, Chiron, and Neptune, suggesting that before we can expand our consciosness and step into a future full of possibility we need additional self-discipline in our communication skills especially in learning how to separate fact from fiction, fantasy from reality.