Ideally, there should be no kindness in the role of either the man or the woman. Self-seeking, in one of the paradoxes with which love abounds, they find each other.
— Jessamyn West
When love walks in the room
Everybody stand up!
Oooooh, it’s good! good! good!
Say Iloveyou!Iloveyou!Iloveyou!Iloveyou!Iloveyou!!!
— Chryssie Hynde
Full Moon Aries Lunar Eclipse, Monday, October 17, 5:14 AM PST
Who really knows the alchemy of what our soul needs most? What is that magical spell that weaves around our experience? At best we are educated guessers, asking a question, performing an experiment, waiting for the Guide to step in and make our way smooth or direct us down a different course. Aries moon is the mirror to what is flowing and what holds us up. When we choose life goals and pursuits and meet resistance, we are out of support from the creator. This is a sign to choose a different direction. Yes, there are some forms of resistance intent on building us up by stripping us down- these are the choices in life that choose us, that seem to show up as fated experience. They are unexpected, and we are not in charge. But there are other challenges we have more room to move around and through. Just as we do not move more deeply into a relationship that shows resistance from the beginning, it is unnecessary to view life’s challenges as a battlefield for which we must constantly ‘suit up’.
Yet because we live in times of war, we are constantly ‘suiting up’. Born into this time & place, at birth we unconsciously don military fatigues like a second skin. This creates the neurosis of resistance. Just examine your typical response when caught off guard by the conflict between your present state and that which opposes it. We are trained to meet life’s challenges with resistance. We do this with our selves emotionally, getting worked up into internal states of agitation & distress over untrue assumptions. We do this with others when we close down to new information, jump to conclusions, assume the worst. When we ‘suit up’ we disrupt the Creator’s flow and so disrupt the inworking for this point of new integration. The idea behind ‘what we resist persists’ is born in a conversation between Aries and Libra, Mars and Venus.
In myth, these two were great lovers; they were also great fighters who approached conflict quite differently. Mars gets the bad rap as the heathen warrior, with a supernatural blood thirst: reckless and almost foolhardily courageous. Venus flitted around looking lovely, starting wars in the name of beauty, in search of her newest love-conquest, her intellectual ideal. Like relationship, Venus enters through the backdoor when we’re not looking, diamonds, sweet nothings and champagne kisses. When the drink runs out, late night fatigue sets in and she can’t decide who to go home with, war erupts. And yes, self-identified peace loving Librans, she starts the fight. Warmonger Mars steps in to ‘keep the peace’ of Venus. Venus wants it both ways and none: she wants everyone to be happy wanting what she wants, all in the name of ‘love’. Mars knows that her love seeking might be more self-seeking. Mars is more than brawn; he’s a brainiac, a cunning strategist who always shows up battle ready, clear headed for Venus’ clean up duty. In the view from our inner world, Mars’ weapons are psychologically astute intuitive flashes and en pointe questions: ‘truth to self, first and only!’ ‘Really, my dear, who are you and what do you stand for?’ Both Venus and Mars are warriors, conquerors. But with Venus and her relationships you’re in, you just don’t know it till you’ve stepped in it.
Strategy is Mars’ wisdom. In times of war & natural disaster we do well to think about disaster preparedness ahead of time. Likewise, before we rush into head locked battle, it’s wise to step back, survey the reality of anything that invites reactivity by asking truth to self questions. We have forgotten that the healthy gift of a war-based society is strategy. Reactivity is an immature Mars, a doomed defense system. Any good strategy is a game plan based on our essential survival needs, taking the needs of others into account while owning first, our personal truth. We can ask the Venus part of ourselves what our core values about this situation and relationship are before rushing headfirst into battle. Honoring one another, self-respect, both healthy self-assertion and healthy selflessness are all good answers. Truth to self is the antidote, Mars’ protective armor that ultimately returns Venus to him, her life love.
While we are not the master alchemists of certain fated life challenges, we are certainly capable of devising new strategies for loving others while loving our self. Martial Aries moon fights to feel her own fighting spirit, to feel the ground underneath her feet, to know who she is by speaking her piece. There’s an either/or quality we face at the full moon polarity, and we stand on core values that shed light on our own warrior strategy. Lunar eclipse full moon in Aries says: If you are truly loving another, your loving allows for them what they need, not your need for them.
Full Moon Day, 10/17. Lunar eclipses have been known to bring feelings of lack, needs unmet. Jupiter and the Sun are traveling close this full moon day so we feel the promise of reward and recognition, perhaps some dreams getting closer to fruition, although today perhaps not close enough. Jupiter squares Chiron today, so we have the opportunity to heal something that hurts. The moon is always hungry, and ruler Mars retrograde is in for the long haul. For the next 4 months we’re simultaneously putting an extraordinary amount of effort into a certain area of our lives, while we’re re-working that same area (feeling stuck and stymied at times) and it’s going so slowly! At the same time we may encounter insolence or intolerance from others–this is Mars not at his best. We want to kick back and get some emotional nurturance, but this is achieved not by warm fuzzies but by deliberate choices and strategies about how to move forward with the limited resources we have. This Venus means business, literally, as she travels with Saturn the serious, albeit in a nice way, they’re ‘doing lunch’ but the menu is lean. So we are full (moon) but we are still hungry. Lunar eclipses are reflective, culminating times; do not take action, rather meditate on what you realize, for a game plan 2 wks from now.
10/18 Mercury in Libra squares Neptune, Moon in Taurus. Keep it simple and try not to expect too much from your mental faculties today. Especially mid-morning, communication goes awry if it’s a literal translation. Check your head before you head out the door without your head. Sixth senses impressions are far more reliable, but keep them body and reality based. Wait until the evening of 10/19 when there’s less opportunity for misunderstanding, Moon enters Gemini, a better time for getting mundane details accomplished. The mind is more available to the practical.
10/20-21 Gemini Moon gives you room to move even while entertaining self-doubt, Sun square Chiron. Support for your accomplishments doesn’t come easy when we get a glimpse into our Achilles heel. The healer appears when you feel the heel. Sweet relief on 10/21, Venus in Sagittarius sextile Neptune and inspiration arrives in the nick of time. The mood lightens and becomes almost effervescent when the obscurations of yesterday lift to remind us of the big picture. Take the opportunity to build bridges of understanding and compassion; even if you don’t see the immediate result, know that one act of generosity of spirit makes the difference in another’s reality. ‘One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.’ Sophocles.
10/22-23 Moon enters Cancer, the place we go to replenish our reserves. With the Sun/Jupiter conjunction today, we are warmly received into the arms of meaningful connection and accomplishment. We are not satisfied with either/or: we want both inner and outer fulfillment. Success feels partial if our professional life shines as our emotional needs are lusterless and vice versa. As this aspect has culminated all week, we’re working on creating fulfilling relationships and they do deliver–partnerships bring benefits, rewards and recognition. Yet, the message is mixed as Mercury has also been opposing Mars, exact today, creating combativeness, accident prone-ness and criticism. The sharp tongued Mercury in Scorpio may get trigger happy. Do not run with scissors; walk mindfully, reminding yourself of the abundance in your life. 10/23 Sun enters Scorpio and we descend into the depths of our attachments. The next month we’ll feel our security needs press against us, asking us to give up what is not real and bring what is vital and true, closer. What is it that we want more than anything? We deepen all our relationship exchanges with Scorpio; no action or behavior is superficial, but a deliberate commitment toward soul level transaction. This month holds the possibility for letting go – of the energetic ties that bind you to an old, dead life- in order to move forward into the new. How do you move closer to what you want when your psychic space is full of yesterday’s news- resentments, grudges and traumas? Who or what are you holding onto for all the wrong reasons? You may feel that Mars retrograde issue begin to push back, what you’ve been patiently trying to resolve bears its fangs and asks for payment. Antagonizing yourself or another is a symptom of Scorpio’s holding on, so is dredging up old issues just to feel like you’re still in intimacy. Buh-bye! Scorpio’s power base is a resiliency that allows us to descend into the dark places of our attachment/release, which feels like a psychic death. We can allow the rush of energy to fill us with power, like trusting the force of a geyser. When we successfully do this, we get closer to our deepest desires, the heart of the Scorpion. Pluto opposes Juno highlighting what our committed relationships demand from us energetically, emotionally and what we’d like in return.
10/24, 25, 26 Last Quarter Moon in Leo. Moon light reflects the new Sun remarking on how deeply entrenched or compelling this or that situation is while wanting to take the reins into her hands. Passions are high, desires strong. We can bounce from one to another and feel caught up in the storm of a drama. We’re figuring out how not to overdo it. Leave the drama to the stage and self-express clearly, sans maelstrom. 10/25 Venus quincunx Mars is like asking Venus to dance the Charleston with one leg in a cast. There’s compromise and then there’s compromised-making room for pleasure, enjoyment requires fancy footwork. Moon passes over Saturn around lunchtime- no time for lunch, we’re working. The big event of the day is a longer shift- Jupiter’s entry into Scorpio, where he will stay for about a year. This past year, Jupiter in Libra, has opened the book of love, relationship possibilities and opportunities for meaningful connection. We can keep the book, but now go back to the library for some follow-up Scorpio titles like: Moving In & Merging Assets, Ancient Tantric Sex Secrets, Spells for Every Witch Way. Life or death thrillers, psychological self-help, tales of corruption, betrayal and power, and money management titles fly off the shelves. Expect longstanding, mired issues to be broadcast on the evening news. Covert behavior backfires. Get away with nothing when megaphone Jupiter descends into the Scorpionic underworld of sex, power, drugs, death, legacies, taxes, debts. 10/26 Sleep through early morning crankiness and sweetness appears. Neptune, the planet of dreams, intuition, illusion goes direct today. Forward motion for Neptune is a chance to tap into your inner mystic, a remedy for your weary back, Mars in Taurus Rx.
Mystics are experts in laziness. They rely on it,
because they continuously see God working all around them.
The harvest keeps coming in, yet they
never ever did the plowing!
-Rumi
10/27, 28 Moon in Virgo brings opportunity for grounding, earth activities. Retrograde Mars is the only earth in the sky now suggesting practical matters need some attention. Stuck? Balance your checkbook or do housework to find serendipitous solutions or just a sense of where you stand with practical matters. We kick off the weekend with Venus conjunct Pluto the Dark, on 10/28. We have strongly charged relationship and tastes, preferences. Venus with Pluto sunglasses has an eye for abuses of power, sexuality, intimacy needs. Heart matters cut deep, yet the dark side of the feminine lends her self to all you’re ready to transform. If you find yourself needy, know your potential for emotional blackmail, coercion to try and get what you want. Instead, turn your security needs toward you. It’s better to first find a safe place inside to own all those burning needs, and then share them with another. Mercury sextiling Chiron suggests if you own your own wounding you’re better able to soothe someone else’s.
10/29-30 Moon moves into Libra mid afternoon, bringing some mental objectivity- or at least conciliatory goodwill. Mercury in the last degree of Scorpio wants the final word but mutual appreciation works magic, opening the doors for Mercury’s entry into Sag, 10/30. A breath of fresh air! It’s just what we need after the last 3 weeks of intense mental focus. Now our minds can breathe. We’ve been involved in a research project or something equally demanding. Regain perspective. We step out of the cave into the world arena, thinking about dreams, aspirations and the big picture. Sun trine Uranus supports new plans, walking into the world with our ideas, boldly.
10/31 All Hallows Eve. This Halloween falls on the perfect day-the dark of the moon, in the moon cycle this is the day for letting go of what ails you. How best to make peace with your underworld nemesis? Feed the demon; invite him in for a cup of tea. El dia de los Muertos, 11/01, we make offerings to the spirit world *not out of superstition, to keep the demons away. What we resist persists, horror movies attest! Instead we offer the sweetness of life to death, our constant companion-and become richer for it. We are Groomsmen to the corpse Bride, a marriage we can only escape through surrendered acceptance. See Corpse Bride, an enchanted movie for Halloween time http://corpsebridemovie.warnerbros.com/
More Marx RX Juju: Earthquake preparedness. The very first astrologers connected disastrous events to the motions of planetary deities. Natural disasters were a sign that humanity was not paying attention. Appease the demon Mars retrograde! Mars in Taurus best defense is to be prepared, safe, and secure. Natural disasters have us question our own resource as we find self with a heightened sense of anxiety or helplessness. When we have the conversation with friends asking: What can I do? find that one person can make a difference. http://boxer.senate.gov/gettingready.cfm (thanks for the link, Jonathan) Sleuth your neighborhood for opportunities to be disaster preparedness trained, or renew your CPR license.
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