Libra Full Moon, Friday, March 25, 2005 12:58 PM PST

Spring is here! The promise of Aries is eager to get on with things, yet we face the challenge of renewal. To do so, we must clear out our winter cupboards of the past, a space bigger than a bread box, to make room for new. Both forward and backward thinking are required-‘huh? Your overwrought mind asks, ‘how can I look backward to correct the future?’ Clear some mental clutter: what do I need to drop off before I can spring ahead?

Here’s mind teaser to warm you up, in honor of Spring re-newal. The Catholic Church claimed Easter holiday as the resurrection day of Christ. Wait a second, Easter is exactly 9 months before the ‘virgin’ birth-what was Mary doing? The eggs and bunnies, eggs, bunnies, eggs-hmmm. BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) was engaged in some Goddess festivities! But of course we know that all Christian holidays are displaced lunar holidays, what other explanation is there for the strange rituals of pine trees, eggs and such accompanying each Christian holiday. All started by those sex-crazed pagan goddess worshippers who evilly picked flowers, made mad love and decorated wishing eggs, probably with pentagrams, hiding them in secret dark and mysterious locations. And so the recycled story goes. Certainly a very special place is reserved for the person or group that bears the shadow of all we can’t own.

Case in point, the sad story of Ms. Schiavo of Florida, whose anorexia damaged body, is ironically kept alive on a liquid diet for the past 13 years. The pope has issued a statement, from his sick bed nonetheless, that only God decides when it’s time to go. Maybe this was true before medical science decided to play God, keeping people around longer than their natural shelf life. In his statement, Pope says ‘God, not politicians or scientists, decide when it’s time to die’. Really?

Our inheritance of half-truths constantly dialogues with the past, into the future and back, like a Spielberg special effect. It’s as though we have a liquid Technicolor well linking our personal and cultural histories. This well contains, among secrets to our success and demise, those mysteries as revealed by how we treat our self and others. In the physical world it’s easy to see where ‘others’ do wrong, where ‘they’ blame and disown instead of including and forgiving. How we do this in our inner emotional landscape may be harder to discern. Gaze deeply into the pool of your whys and wherefores.

Saturn’s move from retrograde suggests boundaries have shifted; some emotionally bound situation, in process of re-evaluation since November, has moved. Libra moon wants proper accountability. Do your values hold water like the Libra moon, swaying to and fro, changeable to circumstance, consensus or another persons opinion? Can you hold your own? The shadow of Aries sun asks: If you take a stand- is the call to battle stronger than the pursuit of understanding what is right and true for another? Is this war cry camouflaged by shadows of past injuries and fears?

Relationships are eager for new life as Venus, Sun face off Moon and Asteroid Goddess Pallas Athene. Pallas Athene suggests a strong urge toward justice and parity, possibly a contest of intellect. If you feel an inner struggle or engage in one, know that you will not be heard if you are motivated by right or might. In the history of conflict resolution, I’m positive no one ever changed an opinion with these tactics. By nature, force creates its opposite, resistance. True wisdom doesn’t rely on over intellectualized value systems. Wisdom doesn’t rely on justification, a veiled war tactic. The proof of wisdom is in the spontaneous and warm self-knowing it creates. In true Libran fashion, this requires a capacity to receive with an open heart. It is not always available, but when it happens it is wonderful to be received from this place.

Libra full moon sees both sides of an issue, the Goddess and the Patriarchy. The resurrection of Christ is a lovely theme, so startlingly alive that it moves masses of worshippers to a spiritual passion of devotion and longing. Those who have witnessed the last moments before death have been known to say ‘there’s no one so alive as a person on his death bed’. During winter we may’ve seen people die or get ill. Spring tests of spirit are built on our ability to cross the threshold into change. Goddess Persephone is intimate with this life impulse, spending ½ of her life with her husband, Hades, in the world of the dead, the other ½ above ground during Spring and Summer.

As she rises, filled with the freshness of both death and life so does the Goddess of Easter, Oestre. The Goddesses lovingly drops off those who have finished, and blow vibrant, playful Aries wind at the backs of the brave souls ready to begin again.

The winds of change are here. Make room for new life: bring your imperfect self and graciously forgive others imperfections along the way. Remember that we’re here to understand, not be understood. Then celebrate your ability to move forward by planting your spring eggs of ideas, visions & intuitive impulses into good earth. Do as the Goddesses, procreate and play!

BONUS: the superior conjunction of Venus.

The full moon illuminates relationship values-what we’ve learned over the past 9 months and how that’s changed what we’re doing now. Venus and the Sun meet in Aries for a superior conjunction which renews all things Venusian-relationships, our emotional make-up, value-system, preferences and how we make sense of life experience. During the past nine months our approach to relationship has been spontaneous, eager and impulsive- act now, think later. We may’ve had resiliency from emotions of fear and loss, less encumbered by the past. The next nine months Venus enters the second half of her cycle, where, like the full moon, she will reflect. Relationship values are now scrutinized in a more introverted, private way. This is the face of Venus that internalizes; we may more easily ruminate over hurts or disappointments in matters of the heart, carefully aligning steps forward with a tender spring-shoot value system, thinking deeply about what we say or do ahead of time. You’ve reached a threshold in matters of the heart-what has resulted from the past 9 months is a combination of failures and successes, only you can decide where you’ve grown and what still needs work. Think back to March 2001 for recurring themes.

Pallas Athene contributes to a woman’s relationship to her father; Venus symbolizes a man’s relationship to his mother. For both, this is a potent time to look at these relationships. Women: In myth, Pallas Athene is ruled by her intellect, having sprung from the head of her father. She adopted the ideology of the father, of patriarchy, in order to assume equality with the men. What looked ‘feminist’ was actually subordination of her feminine side. Men: Venus in Aries, this is the aspect of your mother who may not have wanted to be the mother. This Venus is independent, with goals and ambitions for herself-these weren’t easy or acceptable pursuits for women of earlier generations. Maybe this Venus wanted to be playing with her lover Mars, not tied down by the myriad demands of a family.

3/26 Early morning optimism with a dash of sensitivity lightens everyone up. Midday the energy changes (did you overdo it?) as early evening starts with a temporal physical symptom or limitation that dives right into thoughts of longstanding core blockages. Pluto goes down under until beginning of September. This is the planet of the subconscious, over these months seek and ye shall find dark stirrings from the bowels of your psychic dustbin. Pay attention to your trigger spot and work inward.

3/27 Moon is in Scorpio on Easter Sunday, the day of dark chocolate bunnies. Rich, deep and intensely sweet sensations are all possible. Watch for sugar low this evening, when irritation can spoil the spoils of warm fuzzies that need to last through Monday.

3/29 -3/30 the need for re-evaluation is apparent as Mercury redux joins the Sun and brings awareness and mental activity to a situation. As the mind circles itself with possibilities and options, Venus is eager to share these with others, especially new insights into relationship. Venus is moving at her maximum velocity, meeting with Sun at 7:30 PM PST, 3/30. Your relationship awareness on speed? Maybe. This Venus is feisty. If it’s already in the works, a culmination is likely- and likely to be quite good with some energy from the Sagittarius Moon stoking the passion fires. Moon throws logs into this fire dance as we celebrate our hard won truths about relationship, and contemplate where they will next lead.

3/31. Get busy and accomplish but all before 10:30 AM. Early morning optimism wanes as Moon joins Pluto late morning and things get heavier.

4/01 begins with a last quarter moon. Like the Fool, we step into April with several backward moving planets and impetus to somehow pull it all together. This is a good day to re-prioritize projects and examine plans for any errors.

4/02, 4/03 it may seem right to put pressure on someone else, or we are the recipient, feeling stretched as someone’s self-indulgent behavior is questionable. The demands of a situation may be unrealistic or expansionary, depending on your point of view. Find it useful to question outcomes before making promises or asking for too much. By examining expectations, wishful thinking is clarified like butter. Just as the process of making Indian ghee skims the fat for the rich golden essence-what you think you’re giving up is actually a gain, clarified into buttery gold.

4/05, 4/06 Put life on cruise control, kick back and listen to words on the wind or patterns in cloud skies. If you can find the motivation, during late afternoon of 4/05, inspiration is tuned toward spontaneous activity.

4/06 is a better day for measuring feet on the ground goals to head in the clouds vision as accomplishment peaks midday and wanes into evening shift.

4/07 begins the energy of a powerful new moon eclipse 4/08. Get ready to plant your new wishes for this passionate, fiery lunation.