” 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.

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/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/2008/11/27/unwavering-belief/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/27/unwavering-belief/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=451 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

A Sagittarius new Moon heralds a golden dawn challenging each of us to break free from the  bondage of our tribal rhetoric so that we can dance in naked splendor with the universe falling blissfully into the open arms of the cosmos. When we are under the influence of Sagittarius we have an unshakable faith in our future and in our trust of life. What matters most to us is our unwavering belief that life is so much more than the sum of its parts. Sagittarius is that aspect in each of us expanding beyond the contours of what is familiar, shattering the prosaic realities of our daily life, disregarding our sentimental attachment with the past, and insisting that life be a mythic adventure riding gloriously off into the sunset of our future. Unfortunately, for those of us with a healthy dose of Sagittarius in our natal chart, I have Sagittarius on the cusp of my first house, we can be susceptible to Jupiterian inflation and defying the gravitational pull of Earth can be a major obstacle to achieving our goals in life; so too can be the believing that what is right for “me” is right for “thee”.

Every month, when the Sun and Moon kiss they share an intimate secret which then takes us on Earth the entire month to comprehend. This month the Sun and Moon are not alone in their shared secret, Mercury and Mars are nearby sharing in the intimacy of the moment. When the personal planets, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, involve themselves in a lunar transit the theme of “the personal” is accentuated. However, this offers a quandary to the Sagittarius new Moon considering first, that Jupiter ruling Sagittarius is a social planet, and second, the Sagittarius thirst for universal wisdom tends to be rejecting of the personal.  So then, what exactly is the cosmic message we are about to receive?

In my last post, Epimetheus Mercury, I wrote about the underpinnings of the celestial cycles governing human experiencing which leads me to think that the Sagittarius new Moon is working in tandem with the Epimetheus cycle of Mercury to underscore the importance to personally break free from self- imposed didactic rules and regulations governing our worldly perspective. In the coming month we will be challenged to let go of our cherished beliefs especially those that chime a self-righteous note or two. Sagittarius can be our teacher and our healer if we allow our self to grow in tolerance of difference in the world, and in acceptance that perception, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Questioning why we believe what we believe is not an easy task. We need to be willing to break free from the dogma of our past and look at the present with new eyes. Sagittarius is a universal principal in human consciousness and without conscious awareness of the unity of humanity what we believe can segregate and isolate especially when we think that  our belief is more righteous or sacred than another.

The shadow faces of Sagittarius are fundamentalism and fanaticism which when left  unattended become the poisoned faces of fascism. This is not the month for pointing fingers, on the contrary, the Sagittarius new Moon is suggesting that we stop blaming others for the difficulties we perceive in the world. We have a golden opportunity this month to claim ownership of our behavior and to stop projecting our beliefs onto the beliefs of others. Under the guidance of Sagittarius we can break free of the limited view of human potential that we have internalized as truth by broadening our perception of what is humanly possible, and with a little luck we may experience Sagittarian wisdom trusting in life knowing that it is so much more than the sum of its parts.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/11/27/unwavering-belief/feed/ 3 laurenlesko The Astronomer http://laurenlesko.com/2008/07/29/go-beyond-the-familiar/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/07/29/go-beyond-the-familiar/#comments Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:48:57 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=297 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

Eclipses are major events in astrology, and no wonder, they are the intimate aligning, the celestial “ménage á trois”, of the three most significant players of the zodiac; the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. Our ancestors considered eclipses to be “harbingers of calamity” for the simple reason that human consciousness experiences change with fear and foreboding. But this is not the only reason. Our ancestors worshiped the Sun and the Moon as God and Goddess who created, nourished, and sustained life on Earth, and witnessing the bright face of either deity suddenly blacken or turn blood red must have seemed tantamount to witnessing the wrath of the Universe. Today, most western cultures pride themselves on a mechanistic ordering of life, the Sun and Moon benign within the physical comprehending of phenomenology, and yet, observing an eclipse can still fill the human heart with awe and wonder at the numinous power of the same Universe of our ancestors of which we are a living part.

Astrology is the charting of the eternal cycles of change, the same cycles that govern the ebb and flow of our individual lives, navigating three distinct cycles of time: the annual cycle of the Earth through the zodiac, the monthly cycle of the Moon through the zodiac, and the daily cycle of the Earth rotating upon it’s axis through the zodiac. If we consider the significance that interweaving all three cycles adds to the meaning of our life experiences then we can appreciate the cosmic forces of change presented to us with every Eclipse.

In astrology the Sun represents our life force, the core of our essence, our unique individuality; the Moon our instinctual need to survive, our intuitive sense of security, and our emotional seeking to belong; and the Ascendant our window onto the world through which we see our perceptions and expectations of life reflected back to us. When we experience a Solar Eclipse the Moon has moved between the Sun and the Earth and our life force is momentarily consumed by our instinctual need to survive and disrupting our view of the world we are offered the opportunity to set new agendas and patterns in our life. When we experience a Lunar Eclipse the Earth has moved between the Sun and the Moon and our perception and expectations in life are casting a long shadow on our emotional need to belong stimulating us to break old habits or eliminate past conditioning in ways that will enhance our self-awareness and unique individuality.

On August 1 we will experience a Solar Eclipse at 9 Leo 32 and on August 16 a Lunar Eclipse at 24 Aquarius 21. The theme of Leo and Aquarius eclipses is the conflict between the creative expression of the individual verses the ideology of the group. Two fruitful questions we can ask ourselves are: how can we integrate the creative expression of our unique individuality with the hopes, wishes, and aspirations of our community; and, are the communities that we have created successfully honoring and respecting the ideas and opinions of each individual? Astrologer Marielle Croft recently wrote that the greatest theme for this New Moon is global peace and I absolutely agree, in fact, the August Eclipses are harbingers of hope not calamity if we can truly open our hearts and minds, the realm of Leo and Aquarius, and enthusiastically embrace working together in global consciousness to improve the quality of life for our collective community, Earth.

A Solar Eclipse sweeps away the old offering the possibility for something new to rise in conscious light at the Full Moon Eclipse. The Leo- Aquarius Eclipse axis is directing our attention to the necessity for individuals to step up and challenge corporate decisions dictating global policies which foster the interests of a “royal few”. Now is the time for a social revolution which requires the full participation of every individual united together as world citizens regardless of gender, race, and religion. When we are under the influence of Leo the core of our essence, our radiant light, our unique individuality generously shines forth for the well being of all others. We can use the coming months observing when we act from insecurities and self-doubts which we have unconsciously projected onto the behavior of others. We can use this time to observe within ourself when we mentally scapegoat, bully or intimidate anyone who does not agree with our thoughts, wishes, or ideals.

When we are under the influence of Aquarius we are keenly aware of our individual participation within a group of our choosing preferring to focus on the interests of the group rather than the interests of the individual. However, it is worth remembering, as the deeper expressing of Aquarius understands, the interests of the group reflects the individual interests of the members, without which there would be no group. Aquarius is that aspect in our self which can be open minded and inclusive of all points of view if we are willing to let go of our intellectual attachments to what we believe. We cannot afford to continue as before overwhelmed by the complexities of contemporary life allowing a hand full of individuals to determine policies for the majority. Many of us have allowed ourselves to be lulled into complacency considering the material comforts of ourselves and our families more important than the quality of life on Earth, and in so doing, we have unwittingly undermined the very thing that we were seeking. Leo and Aquarius working hand in hand understands that the strength of any group is dependent upon the heart of the individuals within that group. The August Eclipses are offering us the courage to open our hearts and minds to the unknown and risk going beyond the familiar.

I highly recommend reading Julie Demboski’s insights into the August Eclipses especially if you are interested in knowing about the contribution of the asteroids.

Another insightful inquiry into the August Eclipses is found at Cafe Astrology which includes excellent information on the meaning of the Eclipse axis in each zodiac house.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/07/29/go-beyond-the-familiar/feed/ 0 laurenlesko An Eclipse http://laurenlesko.com/2008/06/03/paradoxical-paradise/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/06/03/paradoxical-paradise/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:48:33 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=196 ]]>

Every New Moon is a conjuctio of Sol and Luna, the union of opposites; yin & yang, light & dark, masculine & feminine, conscious & unconscious. Every New Moon brings each of us the possibility of uniting opposing aspects of our self and when the New Moon is in Gemini our attention is directed at the disparate aspects seemingly in defiance of logical union. The annual appearing of the Gemini New Moon heralds a month in paradoxical paradise with time to ponder the conundrum that is our life. It is our time to toss aside our illusions of who we think we are and embrace our multifaceted experiences of being human.

When under the influence of Gemini we tend to think with two minds, one having the skeptical face of logic, the other, the youthful face of curiosity, and each the others shadow blind one to the other. Gemini is the sign of our twin expressed most often as a lost aspect of our self which we carelessly tossed aside on our journey to maturity not having yet seen the incongruent faces of our self. The Gemini New Moon is offering us the possibility of retrieving what we tossed away. Gemini makes us aware of how easily our mind can suffocate from lack of mental breath and circulation which is one reason Gemini is the butterfly of the zodiac insisting on an unencumbered journey of mental exploration. Mercury, the ruling planet of Gemini, is that aspect of our self inhaling and exhaling our life experiences beginning with our first breath, setting in motion our perception and expectation of life, and ending with our last. It is possible that this lunar cycle is teaching us to breath more deeply and exhale more slowly.

This Gemini New Moon is offering us mental freedom but we have to be willing to fearlessly keep our minds open to fresh experiences. In order for that to happen we need to become conscious of those experiences in our life where we are feeling powerless to achieve our goals and may have unwittingly shut off the flow of communication out of fear. To understand where this is effecting you personally look at the houses Pluto and Saturn are currently transiting in your natal chart. The Gemini New Moon is translating the light of Venus to the Sun and infusing our individuality with an appreciative curiosity for the things we value in life. Granted Mercury in retrograde is taking us deeper into the darkness than Gemini cares to go but Venus as morning star and Mercury as evening star are moving “into the heart of the Sun” and all we need do is take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and let our minds roam freely connecting with the multiplicity of our life. Our time for discernment is reflected in the face of the waxing Virgo Moon.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/06/03/paradoxical-paradise/feed/ 0 laurenlesko Conjuctio of Sol and Luna http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/01/the-first-of-may/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/01/the-first-of-may/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 15:41:43 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=161 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

Welcome to this very bustling month of May heralding a time of creative re – productivity with Venus enthroned in Taurus, Saturn stationing direct, Jupiter, Mercury and Neptune stationing retrograde, and Mars ending many months under the influence of Cancer and entering a simpatico relationship with fiery Leo. As if all this activity were not enough for one month, the Moon will recycle in an unusual re-occurrence and we on earth will experience a second Scorpio Full Moon under the gaze of this Blue Moon. I will have more to say about what all this activity could mean as the month of May unfolds and the different energies are expressed in turn. Yesterday, the planet Venus entered Taurus and today the first aspects made are a harmonious trine to Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Virgo. Because Saturn is stationary ready to move direct in the morrow, the trine with Venus foretells of our ability to successfully give form to something we have been working on since September 16 2007.

The planet Saturn is our celestial protector guiding us on our path to self awareness which is unfortunately experienced, more often than not, as unwarranted limitations preventing us from enjoying our lives. When we enter the Saturn dimension in ourselves we come face to face with our deepest fear usually in the shape of a grotesquely deformed shadowed self verbally legislating our behavior, laying down the law, why all the while, desperately attempting to protect our vulnerability from ridicule and rejection. As you can well imagine this is not a comforting, nourishing relationship that we share with Saturn; on the contrary, we learn to develop a punitive, judging self prohibiting our ability to achieve success in our lives.

One gift of Saturn is learning to face our fears. Another is accepting responsibility for our lives. Saturn is the aspect in ourselves that is seeking self mastery which is achieved as we mature and develop self discipline. Saturn in Virgo is teaching us to discern the finer details in our lives and separate what has importance from what is superficial. Saturn’s rewards are bestowed after arduous work, and after many months of diligently working under the influence of Virgo, today, the voluptuous hand of Venus offers us the ripened fruit of our labor, reminding us that Saturn’s gift of self knowledge demands that we accept full responsibility for our choices in life and the myriad of forms that they take.

Least this all sound overly sobering on this lovely May Day, our waning Pisces Moon is spreading celestial harmony to Uranus, Jupiter and Mars insuring our emotional comfort to grow and change with the coming tides. Keep in mind that a waning Moon is a time of introspective self investigation as we await the beginning cycle offered with the coming New Moon. The promised action of Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars, none of whom are happy sitting still, is alive and well in our unconscious and working toward emotional change after the New Moon on the fifth of May. At the moment our time is best spent in contemplation aware of this cycle ending and observing how we manifests change in our lives.

If you are interested in reading an astrological sneak preview for the month of May I highly recommend Terry Lamb’s May Forecast.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/01/the-first-of-may/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Primavera