A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of a bucket —

And you listening.
A spider’s web, tense for the dew’s touch.
A pail lifted, still and brimming — mirror
To tempt a first star to a tremor.

‘Moon!’ you cry suddenly, ‘Moon! Moon!’

The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work
That points at him amazed.

-Ted Hughes

Pisces Full Harvest Moon, Saturday, September 17, 2005 7: 01 PM PST

Autumn is coming, the spider webs are everywhere shimmering like gossamer webs, some ancient silvery thread spun blankets covered with morning dew. The blankets collect autumn sunlight in droplets of water, turning light and water into illusions of shimmering diamonds. The weave is symmetrical & luminous, a design from a master beyond the here and now-certainly beyond the small nervous system of the weaving artist-arachnid. Does the truly talented weaver ever really need to know the grand design? Harvest Moon in Pisces illumines the unfathomable question behind the small details of our weave working. We see this blazingly full orange moon for 5 days. As full moons forever bring us into polarity, we’re also illuminated in the reflective light of a problem solving Mercury in Virgo, now in the ‘heart of the sun’. How is it possible? we ask. Of this placement, master astrologer William Lilly says our minds are ‘wondrously strong’. Mind works busily, weaving content into context. Pisces tells us that what we don’t understand, we must turn over to faith. We are told to believe, and that faith is enough.

This full moon allows us to enjoy some of the fruits of our labors. Not everything that we planted this spring grew. And some unexpected seeds blew in with the nor easterly winds, a mystery seed we didn’t see coming. Dahlias bloomed where we planted cosmos. A strange & delightful surprise flower moved in unexpectedly, took root and ripened in the fertile soil of our hearts. The foxglove plant revived and sprung a new flower for the first time in years; people and situations we ‘left for dead’ miraculously regenerated and bloomed anew. That was unexpected! We’re able to see what’s ‘gone to seed’, perhaps what never took root in the face of neglect, too many commitments, a change of priorities or new awareness. Under the light of the moon we now see what is ‘dead on the vine’, we’re ready to cut.

A Virgo harvest is never only about reaping rewards; she is the chaste virgin, barren. Greek Demeter, Roman Ceres, she is the earth mother who always provides, with a staff of corn in one hand, the other yielding a sharp sickle blade. The plentiful, barren virgin first appears contradictory, yet this moon holds water. You’re holding both the bounty and the blade. The Virgin clearly sees everything she reaps as a result of her careful attention, skill and hard work. Discrimination is wise; we don’t need to plant seeds where the soil is malnourished, overused or full of clay. Energy is not given freely, you are a unique individual, your life giving powers require nutrients specific to you and you only. Abundance is now the result of a well-calculated plan.

These 5 days of full moon light connect directly to our ancestors need to gather the herbs, grains, vegetables- the extra days of moonlight guarantees there is enough light to do so. Although we may be removed from the hands that pick our food harvest, we can see the internal time clock reminding us of our soul food-that which feeds and sustains our being humanness-our complex emotional, relational, psychological and physical needs. We notice a part of our life is ‘out of balance’ when physical and emotional breakdowns occur. Virgo energy always provides a few breakdown crises to break into the new. This is the preparation work we’ve been performing the past few weeks. Necessity is the order we seek. We feel doubly challenged by necessity’s demands: the energy devoted to clean-up work continues as the push for integrating our lives more productively, efficiently stretches like a challenging yoga posture. How it will ever fit together? This is the Virgo axis. Yet we’re blessed with increased light during this full moon, allowing reflection time for the careful planning into the change of season. Let the next couple of weeks mellow you. Fortify yourself by looking toward the future from the perspective of gratitude and bounty- it’ll be easier to then decide what must be canned, stored, saved and discarded to blessedly survive and thrive through the fall and winter.

Full Moon Day, 9/17. Exciting developments of the past month bring subsequent life demands, stretching all parts of us so it’s important when looking at a new recipe to measure the ingredients for rightness of taste. A Saturn Venus square suggests cutting the recipe to ‘just right’ means paring down or feeling pinched in matters of love, finances or pleasures. Maybe we’re just worn out from running around. An ace up her sleeve, Venus has a twinkle in her eye as she adds an unusual twist, totally changing the flavor from ‘worn out’ to ‘new and improved’. Hidden reserves are revealed as a Jupiter/Pluto sextile perfect. New moon question: where or what is my hidden reservoir of strength? Work with your reserves and replenish what supports. http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2005/582.html

9/18-19 Moon in Aries gives impulse to yesterday’s thoughts. Early morning surprises are welcome because they’re good ones. Enlist flirtatious and adventuresome partners in crime. Later afternoon, taking care of business just feels right. 9/19 if you’re looking for answers, a dialogue with your inner Achilles heel will really heal. Visiting your healer or therapist will lead into relief on Tuesday, too.

9/20-21 brings more earth energy to the final Sun in Virgo days, creating a sweet trine between Sun, Chiron and Moon. This is soothing, grounding energy to give your sacred irritant some healing balm. Take a walk in nature; take advantage of the respite you’re offered now. As the mind turns, Mercury moves into Libra 9/20-10/07. Mercury is where the mind is and so we’re thinking about relationship, relationship, and relationship. How to get one, balance one or be in one– working as a team turns into a mercurial task of intellect. Venus in Scorpio has been the stick, stirring the waters cloudy, unclear and not a little murky. We’re seeing strange art forms, like watching oil move on water. Mercury helps out with much needed objectivity; we detach a little and find that we’re really not on this train ride alone. 9/21 remember that experience we’ve been having the past few weeks, of pushing our luck and somehow things just working out? The mantra has been ‘I’m a plucking lucky genius!’…As we leave the kids at the drycleaners and drop the dry-cleaning off at school. Today is reckoning day; we can’t have our cake and eat it too. If we are making a choice, it seems like a compromise. Restore self-power by saying: ‘this is what I choose’.

9/22-9/23 Moon in Gemini ushers in Autumn Equinox, the first day of fall. Will it be a Gemini fall, the weather forecast full of blustery gusts of information, communication, comings, goings and conversational exchanges of trivial proportions? Sun moves from earthy Virgo into Airy Libra (till 10/22) and we’re back in the fire/air paradigm again, a hot air balloon. Energy picks up; ideas get wind underneath. Libra is a pleasure-oriented sign; perhaps we’re relieved of Virgo’s duty. Partnerships of all forms take center stage, yet also concern for beauty, aesthetics and pleasures. Libra isn’t typically the artist, but the art appreciator. Who & what will we appreciate? Will they/it reciprocate with what we need? Expect debates to begin; relationships are based on mutual agreements. If you don’t agree, things don’t move forward. It’s a great time to clarify exactly what those agreements are.

This is the sign of the scales, and so we’re as dead set on getting across our point of view as we are on having balanced interactions. Sounds like makings for an argument, but Libra always adds sugar and spice first. Even though Libra will offer a body organ (with pleasure) to a loved one who needs it, what if we need it later? It’s a logical question.

9/24-25 Moon is out of phase until the evening. Last Quarter Moon in Cancer brings the sum total emotional consequences of being in relationship. What sensitivities to explore-where can we find more clarity in mind and heart? But a Neptune Venus square suggests a purple haze; a mild confusion around what we really feel. Drugs, escapism or subtle power drains are possible as is heightened sensitivity. However, Neptune is the cosmic lure, seemingly innocuous beautiful & seductive with Venus. We can turn this into a great dream date, soft and flowing yet we easily lose touch with reality and end up losing a glass slipper as we jump into the pumpkin before witching hour. Or stay in from the ball, safely space out in the safety of your own home movie theater as your fantasies spill and blend. While we may feel temporarily suspended, unable to name what’s going on right now, into late evening to early morning 9/25 clarity chirps like a morning bird. Information bursts onto the scene as level-headedness as we gain confidence in conversation.

Monday morning, 9/26 initiates a mellow week of low-key energy. There are not a lot of major planetary aspects; we can sense the subtle shifts, the ebb and flow of our moods and energy, less distracted by the peanut gallery. Use this time to do emotional settling. This evening a push of energy leads into a general satisfaction, whatever we’re doing we feel a little fuller for it.

9/27-28 Moon in Leo is fun loving and playful at best. This is the time to let off a little steam. With Saturn is close by, we can learn how to seriously play, or perhaps take our playtime seriously. Morning to midday 9/28 is good for taking care of business. Do it now, because by afternoon into evening we start to lose focus as our consciousness moves first toward discontent, then the pursuit of pleasure.

9/29-30 Imagination is the rule, not the exception. The way we perceive the world alters softly, like a shape shifter, what we once thought we knew to be certain and true now moves like putty in our minds. This is the esoteric problem solver; seek answers in the ethers. Moon waits until the evening of 9/29 to choose her sign of Virgo. 9/30 Moon in Virgo is the tee-totaller when Uranus toggles with Sun disrupting someone’s delicate idea of give and take. Uranus throws diplomacy out the window for truthfulness. An uneasy paradigm shift reminds us of the compromises we must continually choose to make in life- for which we are all under the contract of grace.

10/01-02 Several happenings on 10/01 make this day an unusually active dark of the moon phase. Are we feeling the rumblings of the new moon eclipse to come on 10/03? Todays activity stabilizes suggesting that the eclipse brings situations long overdue to a head. Sun sextiles Saturn and so sense efficiency, productivity, and purposefulness. If pragmatic, we aren’t far off course. But Venus opposes Mars the day Mars goes retrograde in Taurus. He will appear to move backwards thru 12/09, which means we’re off center in some area of our life and balance will somewhat return by 12/09. (But not off the hook yet, because the job won’t finish until he completely re-traces his steps by 02/06/06.) Imagine a face off between the goddess of ‘we belong together’ and the god of ‘where’s the I in we?’ How will this play out as Mars makes his long journey? It’s probably not to Venus’ taste. We feel our sensibilities, and preferences challenged. Add fuel to the fire, Mars stations on the fixed star, Algol, a star that has a reputation for being nasty. Like the Perseus & Medusa myth after which it was named, this is the star of beheadings. Mars is keenly intellectual, so we lose an ability to be clearheaded somewhere in our lives largely because someone or something needs a good look in the mirror of Athena’s shield of self reflective wisdom. Old resentments flare, what you’ve been sitting on- you already know what that is!- is about to blow its top. Yet we feel more introspective during retrograde, so imagine a kettle on the back burner, simmering, simmering. Eventually it blows or burns, right? So use this time to reflect on how you will handle this situation before it handles you. We’re also thinking about money and resources during this period, cars and maintenance, self-defense and accumulating security. The rule of retrograde is anything ‘re-‘ re-evaluate, re-pair, re-work. Use this time wisely and you’ll be singing ‘-after that dreaded beheading I tied that sucker back on with a string, I guess I’m pretty different now, considering’. (Ani diFranco)

P.S.- YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL GENIUS. YOU ARE A GORGEOUS MYSTERY.
(Pronoia RX)

*more about Mars Rx:

http://www.astrologycom.com/marsret.html

A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of a bucket —

And you listening.
A spider’s web, tense for the dew’s touch.
A pail lifted, still and brimming — mirror
To tempt a first star to a tremor.

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the hedges with their warm
wreaths of breath —
A dark river of blood, many boulders,
Balancing unspilled milk.

‘Moon!’ you cry suddenly, ‘Moon! Moon!’

The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work
That points at him amazed.

— Ted Hughes, Full Moon and Little Frieda