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Posts tagged "Capricorn"

Cancer New Moon Solar Eclipse July 12

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - July 12, 2018 - Blog post

The Mother & Child Reunion

The Sun in protective, sensitive, caring, nurturing, vulnerable, watery & emotional Cancer represents home, family, roots, tradition, mother, security, habit, memory, & the past. In a nutshell, it’s childhood.

Ruled by the Moon, Cancer is your inner child, your emotions, what I like to call your “soul.” It doesn’t reason, it FEELS. And in so doing, it tells us what we need to feel truly secure. But Cancer energy often hides her true feelings. Deemed too painfully fragile or confusingly emotional to reveal, Cancer subjugates her emotional needs to those of others.

So, while the Cancer archetype shines through the figure of a loving, sensitive, & nurturing mother, her darker archetypal side lies sometimes in coddling & over-protecting her children and, more importantly, herself.

Think of it this way: who wants to expose their most sensitive vulnerable parts to the world? Not Cancer! No! Archetypal Cancer energy is far more suited to deflect attention from its own emotional well-being and to distract people from worrying about her by focusing on taking care others.

Such behavior is often driven by FEAR–fear of exposure of one’s most vulnerable sensitive parts, one’s most fragile emotions–which often sends the Cancer archetype diving back into her shell for safety & the comforting reassurance that no harm will befall her there.

Compassion, understanding, mothering, & security fall into the category of “emotional needs,” at least for most of us. This Cancer New Moon opposite Pluto calls us to dig down to the bottom of our emotional depths to contemplate whether we’re getting what we need emotionally or not.

Do past memories and habits influence what we think we need to feel emotionally secure? Or does staying tied to the emotional past make us feel better? Do we mistakenly assuming that old habits & behaviors (relationship dynamics, for example) are better (read: less scary) than developing new habits and patterns?

That which is familiar is comfortable, but not necessarily the healthiest, as many of us know.

When the Cancer Moon meets up with the Cancer Sun and both luminaries oppose Pluto in Capricorn July 12 we will experience a showdown between our need to expose our true emotional needs and our desire to keep them hidden.

The question now becomes: what’s truly beneficial for your soul on an emotional level? How can you become your own best, nurturing, mother?

Heart & Soul Of The Matter

Pluto’s about transformation. He says: “kill or be killed.” Any death in our external world—be it literal or circumstantial (say, like the death of a relationship or job, for example)–is representative of an ending.

But death need not be literal, and in fact most often is not. Rather, often death is symbolic, metaphorical, figurative. Literal or symbolic, it’s of utmost importance to understand that death paves the way for new life, and that when something dies it creates space for something new to be born.

It’s simply that often we don’t recognize such symbols, synchronicities, or circumstances for what they really represent, and so we grieve endlessly, pine, whine, beg and cry, praying to go back to the future again though we know it’s impossible…

This Cancer New Moon takes on greater import because it’s also a solareclipse. Solar eclipses are like jump starts to a car battery. Often, they can give us a jolt. We may be shocked, surprised, taken aback, nonplussed, etc., but whether we deem such surprises “good” or “bad” remains to be seen.

An eclipse’s energy may take effect in our lives up to three weeks prior to the actual event, so think back. Certainly, this eclipse’s energy was in play at the June 27/28 Capricorn Full Moon, which aligned Saturn & the Moon in Capricorn and pitted them both against the sensitive, vulnerable, Cancer Sun.

At that time, the Capricorn Full Moon asked us to release unnecessary judgments, both self-judgments and those which condemn others. We could not ask for a clearer archetypal metaphor representing the split between our inner judgmental authority “father” figure and our internal unconditionally nurturing “mother.”

Now, however, as the two luminaries unite in Cancer & face-off with Pluto in Capricorn, we’ve got a repeat of similar energies—at least up to a point since it’s a Cancer/Capricorn kinda opposition still. It’s the two luminaries’ opposition to Pluto that provides us the opportunity to kill off old, outworn, obsolete internalized shadow parental figures of yesterday, yesteryear, or yester-life. Pluto, the king of “endings,” symbolizes quite clearly that it’s our own fear of becoming conscious of our shadows that needs to die now…

Eclipse energy can influence us for between six months to two years, in general, or longer depending on the duration of the actual eclipse. This is a partial solar eclipse, and so likely to be of shorter duration than past or future total eclipses of the Sun.

No, I Would Not Give You False Hope

Take heart, as the intensity ratchets up as we approach the July 12 Cancer New Moon solar eclipse @ 20-degrees 41-minutes @7:48 p.m. PT, 10:48 p.m. ET.

Jupiter, the planet of higher consciousness, stationed direct in Scorpio–the sign ruled by Pluto–July 10 @13 degrees, providing some context for our intensity and for that of those around us. Jupiter direct (expansion of consciousness) in Scorpio (shadow side, secrets, truth, transformation, etc.) provides the opportunity for us to more consciously confront our shadow side–both personal & collective.

And who’s the best protagonist to represent one’s shadow side? Right you are, it’s Pluto! That’s because Pluto’s evolutionary purpose lies with allowing us to transform from being scaredy-cats—you know, afraid of our own shadows!—into strong empowered individuals.

In essence, Jupiter’s station direct in Scorpio increases its expansive affect upon this Cancer New Moon solar eclipse, allowing us to better recognize the not so nice parts of ourselves and to realize they’re not so scary after all…

Meanwhile, Venus entered virtuous Virgo on July 9, proffering us additional background information leading up to the July 12 Cancer New Moon solar eclipse. Venus in Virgo offers us a way to better digest, cope with, & integrate our shadow through the incorporation of daily rituals and holistic (read: metaphysical & energetic) practices.

Don’t Let The Shadow Win!

As with all new Moons, this is an extremely fertile time. This Cancer New Moon solar eclipse invites us to plant seeds of unconditional self-love & self-nurturing so that we may stand strong and work in tandem with the evolutionary forces of Pluto rather than against them.

How do we do this?

Whenever Pluto’s concerned, it’s always better to go with the flow than against it! And any death—be it literal or metaphorical–clears the way for new birth.

We can start by bringing our unconscious thoughts & behavior patterns into consciousness. While we’ve got so much retrograde activity in the heavens currently, why not review (or look back at & acknowledge) unhealthy habits or behaviors, negative thinking, & harsh self-judgments in the cold hard light of day.

The more we need to learn empowerment, the greater our challenges will seem leading up to this Cancer New Moon solar eclipse. It’s now we may come face to face with that which we fear the most: our unconsciously driven behaviors, so often reflected back to us in the behavior of others.

Yes, that’s what I said: if we’re not conscious of our shadow side, we project that energy out and it’s mirrored back to us through others, particularly as this Cancer New Moon solar eclipse opposes the king of shadows, Pluto…

Only then can we determine whether to continue to repress these negative thought patterns & behaviors, or to plant seeds to begin integrating them into our consciousness so that we may become whole. At a certain point in each of our lives, we’re called to come out of hiding and practice being our own best mother.

Healthy mothers don’t make negative judgments about their children. They don’t treat them badly, cruelly, starve them of sustenance in the form of either food or love. And in that way, they nurture us into happy, healthy, emotionally mature adults who’ve learned how to nurture ourselves.

Try A Little Tenderness…

We may all plant seeds at this Cancer New Moon solar eclipse that can blossom into true internal emotional security & the knowledge that it’s ok to tend to your own emotional needs first.

When that happens, you’ll withdraw the projection onto others of your own needs, stop attracting needy partners, and come clean about what it takes you make you feel happy, healthy, and emotionally secure FIRST before you go out to nurture others…

As always, easier said than done, but Venus–now in virtuous, service & health-oriented Virgo–says we must practice. We all know Rome wasn’t built in a day, so take it slow, as every step forward represents progress toward greater consciousness…

Pluto as an archetypal energy likes to tear down or destroy that which is no longer necessary for us as we make our way along our evolutionary path. The more we resist moving forward, the harder we may fall, at least in our own minds and hearts. So, our mission revolves around getting to the heart of the matter in ways that don’t devastate us.

Now’s the time to discern what we need to feel truly nurtured through non-judgmental self-compassion. We might ask ourselves the following questions now:

· If I were a plant, how often would I need to be watered (or fed,or held, or listened to, or simply to cry without being judged a wuss or a softie or a pansy, or attacked?)

· What makes me feel secure at my core, makes my heart & soul sing–how can I do (or get) more of that?

· What can I do to nurture myself without having to rely on others to do it for me? (Be especially mindful of the smaller things you may incorporate into your life on a daily or other regular basis such as meditation, yoga/exercise, or the exchange of one habit for another—such as, say, smoking for juicing, or tv watching for walking!)

When we tend to our own hearts, we need not waste extraneous energy on others and thereby deplete our own emotional reserves. So, asking who or what drains you and/or makes you unhappy vs. who or what lights up your heart because they nurture you?Therein lies the secret of what makes people & all living things grow healthy, tall, and strong!

Here’s Paul Simon’s Mother & Child Reunion, which seems perfect for this Cancer New Moon Solar Eclipse energy!

Mother & Child Reunion

Paul Simon

“No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away

Oh, little darling of mine
I can’t for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don’t work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away

Oh, little darling of mine
I just can’t believe it’s so
Though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again…“

~ Paul Simon

#child, #NewMoon, #solar, Cancer, Capricorn, eclipse, Jupiter, mother, Pluto, Saturn, Scorpio, Venus, Virgo

Capricorn New Moon January 16, Venus & Sun Move Into Aquarius!

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - January 16, 2018 - Blog post

Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

Tonight’s Capricorn New Moon @26-degrees 54-minutes in the sign of the goat calls us to get serious about both what we KNOW and what we have still to learn.

Capricorn, ruled by authoritative serious taskmaster Saturn, is never in it for the kicks. Rather, this is an archetypal energy that’s old and rigid when it’s born and slowly relaxes to become more flexible as it ages.

What does that mean?

It means that right now we find the ruler of this perigee (closer to Earth than most full moons), blue (two full moons in the same month) Capricorn Full Moon large, in charge, & relentless in its goal to make us wiser…

This is particularly true now not only because the Moon & Sun, but also Saturn, Mercury, Venus, & Pluto are in the same sign—hoo boy, that’s a lotta Cappyenergy! In addition, and at least until March 8 when Jupiter stations retrograde— all planets are in forward motion now.

Most astrologers liken Capricorn energy to serious, success-oriented, and goal-driven behaviors, and all of this is true. Capricorn energy possesses a propensity for hard work, organization, upward mobility, and maintaining a positive reputation in a particular field, specific industry, or the wider world in general.

Astrologer & Jungian analyst Liz Greene tells us in her book “Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil” that Saturn’s placement in our birth chart informs us where we came into this lifetime feeling inadequate. Likewise, any house (or houses) ruled by Saturn’s Capricorn are likely to be areas where our personal inadequacies rear their ugly heads.

Where Saturn resides in our chart (by house & sign), and the house or houses ruled by this mentor figure, tells us where we’re likely to feel frustrated, thwarted in our self-expression, and/or to meet with difficulties.

However, here’s the good news: We come in with a road map—where Saturn lives in our chart (and the house or houses ruled by him) is where we’re CONSCIOUS of our self-perceived inadequacies. For this reason, many of us spend a large part of our early lives feeling flawed, but aware of our feelings, which eventually allows us to change them.

And how do we do that?

Simple: we learn!

“The frustrating experiences connected with Saturn are obviously necessary, as they are educational in a practical, as well as psychological, sense,” Greene states.

At this Capricorn New Moon, we’re all being asked to discover what we DON’T know, and how to best learn it. Likewise, we’re called to own what we DO know—what we’ve studied or worked hard to learn, whether it’s on an intellectual, emotional, physical, or spiritual basis.

Live & Learn From Fools & From Sages

In this day and age, I doubt there’s much dispute that different people learn best in a variety of different ways. So, some of us may have been handed our lessons from the harsher more subjective school of hard knocks as opposed to an objective, factual, logical, empirical, classroom & book-learned setting.

Capricorn is, after all, a practical earth sign, and it’s possible our lessons were learned through physical or mental repetition, whether in a classroom or out on the streets.

You know, repeating the same thing over and over until you finally “get” it…

Any way you slice it, Saturn-ruled Capricorn is about coming into this lifetime with a perceived deficit, and turning it—through hard work, dedication, and a desire to be the BEST you possible—into your metaphorical treasure chest.

Saturn represents lead. In the middle ages, alchemists attempted to change lead into gold. Little did they know this is impossible, and that what they were really attempting was to find external physical “proof” of the internal intangible metaphysical notion of transformation.

Whether we start out life thinking we possess a physical, emotional, mental or intellectual deficit doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that when we look back we recognize the slow, steady, determined, progress we’ve made to overcome being saddled with, or hampered by, this “deficit.”

This Capricorn New Moon’s exact message depends on the stage of your individual Saturnian journey, or where you’re at in the transformation of lead—or your perceived short-comings–into metaphorical gold.

However, whether we’re still young and working on it, middle-aged and more accomplished, or post-second Saturn return, it’s time for self-validation and to admit to ourselves that we have learned a thing or two from our painful past experiences.

If these experiences hurt us deeply enough, they likely propelled us into some level of self-awareness. If so, then Saturn’s done his job. However, what you dowith this newfound self-awareness ultimately makes the difference between “real” success and its mere outer trappings.

Sometimes it’s discerning between these two that presents the most serious Saturnian challenge.

Our lessons can come from anywhere—a parent, family member, teacher, friend, cleric, cop, lawyer/judge, colleague, boss, etc. Hell, we might even occasionally hear words of wisdom from our car mechanic or that dude on the checkout line in the grocery store…

It’s not where you hear it, it’s whether or not it applies…

You Got To Lose To Know How To Win

Pain is the mightiest teacher, as Liz Greene states, and it can teach us to become bitter, cold, and non-caring, or kind, appreciative, loving, and compassionate. Most of all, it teaches us self-compassion, something many of us may believe is unnecessary.

This Capricorn New Moon calls us to realign our thinking on this matter. First of all, where are you in your Saturnian journey? Do you use your self-perceived deficit to beat yourself up mentally or emotionally by thinking you’re not good enough and never will be?

For some, it’s time to continue to learn things for the first time, and this Capricorn New Moon asks you to commit to overcoming any personally-perceived inadequacies by moving forward and not giving up.
Giving up is not usually part of Capricorn’s lexicon, although initially this energy is capable of dragging us down farther than it is of lifting us up.

No matter how strong the downward pull toward negative thinking or depression becomes, it pays to remember that there’s another meaning to this energy. While negative past experiences may have hurt us deeply—partners leave, jobs end, possessions and/or money disappear—the message is often a deeply Saturnian one.
Initially, these painful losses most likely strengthened our conviction that we suck big time at something or other in life.

However, the truth is that those people, circumstances, or things are/were not instrumental to our future growth and that to achieve our highest goals we’re better off without them.

In fact, over time, you may understand how it was these external people or circumstances that dragged you down in the first place…

In fact, some of us may too often fast forward to feeling another’s pain, but lack the ability to acknowledge our own pain and learn self-sympathy as a result. This can seriously trip us up as we’re faced with learning life’s lessons.

It pays to remember there’s an alchemical process at work here.

This Capricorn New Moon may depress us, slow us down, or make us exceptionally cautious; however, it teaches us also that slow and steady wins the race.

While some of us may feel inert, depressed, or as if the world has turned an even darker shade of black at this time, we can remind ourselves that we’re in the middle of a transformative process…

Perhaps we can conceive that our thoughts have a grander purpose–one that can assist us to find a raison d’etre in the microcosm or macrocosm of our life at any given point, or help us recognize our true path forward…

…one that’s meant to lead us to our internal metaphorical gold.

We metaphysicians call this “soul growth.”

Dream On

For others, the impetus behind self-improvement initiatives resulted in the feeling that you’ve “arrived.” You’ve learned what there is to know in any particular area of life and now you’re ready to become a mentor.

Helping us out at this Capricorn New Moon, regardless of which pattern fits your life right now, is Jupiter in Scorpio’s sextile to Pluto in Capricorn providing us the opportunity to expand our own consciousness through self-empowerment.

Remember that Pluto, the slowest moving planet in our galaxy, set the Capricorn backbeat in 2008 when he first moved into this sign I like to call “business as usual.” At that time, we experienced here in the U.S. a great recession, as housing prices tumbled and many home owners fell into debt.

We’ve come back from that now, but Pluto’s journey through Capricorn has a few more years still to go. Last December he was joined by Saturn moving into its own sign, which strengthens this Capricorn theme even more for at least the next three years.

The other planets in Cap at this Capricorn New Moon are a definite statement that our chickens have come home to roost and that the piper must be paid…no longer can we run from our perceived inadequacies by sweeping them under the rug or pretending they don’t bother us.

Now is the time to plant seeds that will grow into greater self-empowerment, not despite our perceived inadequacies or flaws, but because of them!
Insecurity is insecurity whether you let it drag you down into the quicksand or you turn it inside out and mask it behind a facade of superiority. Either way, you’re burdened by not being true to yourself…

“If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in ife, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, cliches, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of very great story. Teh whole trick is keeping the trugh up front in daily consciousness.“ ~ David Foster Wallace

Outside The Box Structure

At this Capricorn New Moon, we also have Mars quincunx Uranus, the planet of unexpected change, reminding us not to move too carelessly or too fast.

Aquarius energy, when deemed to be ruled by Uranus, is conceived of as revelatory and revolutionary. When we consider Saturn to be the ruler of Aquarius, we find a recipe for building or rebuilding new structure from within.

A Capricorn New Moon would not call for revolution, even when followed so closely by the Sun’s ingress into Aquarius, the sign of humanity.

Rather, the signs seem to point–as Mars moves into a trine to wounded healer Chiron, that we use our own willpower to shift around some of our internal energies. If we bring them into greater alignment little by little, we can face our future boldly and without fear.

When Venus moves into Aquarius on January 17, our relationships become a bit more daring and less conventional. The Sun follows Venus into the sign of the water bearer on January 19, and it’s then we’ll be called to take this Capricorn New Moon’s commitment to build a stronger sense of internal security to heart.
How?

Through knowing that if we’re ever left totally on our own WE WILL SURVIVE!

And that, if the foundation under our feet crumbles away unexpectedly, we’ll soldier on, and rebuild it stronger and better than it was originally. It’s this kind of knowledge that helps us become a little less fearful day by day…

Remember the Capricorn backbeat–all else springs from, reverberates around, and resonates to this bass line. When we attribute Saturn’s rulership to forward-thinking, ahead of its time Aquarius, we can rest assured we’ll download how to rebuild or restructure any system by tapping into something greater than ourselves…

Steven Tyler‘s song/video Dream On seems to have the perfect lyrics to capture this Capricorn New Moon energy’s message that as time goes by, we live and we learn…

Dream On

“Every time when I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got the dues in life to pay

I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it’s everybody sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life’s in books, written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know it’s true, oh
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for a year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for my tear
Sing with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear
Sing it with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream on, Dream on, Dream on
Dream until the dream comes true…”

~ Steven Tyler

Namaste…

#astrology, #compassion, #depression, #empowerment, #insecurity, #NewMoon, Aquarius, Capricorn, Mercury, Pluto, Saturn, Sun, Venus

Cancer Full Moon January 1, Happy New Year!

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - January 2, 2018 - Astrology, Blog post

RESOLUTION TO BUILD A FIRM & LOVING FOUNDATION

The message emanating from today’s Cancer Full Moon is one that reminds us to relax and release any rigid thinking keeping us chained to a tough love mentality of the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and simply succeed, man!” kind…

What’s wrong with that way of thinking, you ask?

Nothing, as long as it’s NOT at the expense of one’s ability to feel and to exhibit compassion—especially self-compassion.

Since Saturn began his journey December 19 through his own sign of Capricorn—where he’ll reside for three years–he’s joined Pluto, the king of slow transformation, already in Capricorn since late 2008.

The Sun & Venus followed Saturn into Capricorn for their monthly stays on December 21 & 24, respectively, and we’ve seen a shift over the past two weeks since December 18’s fiery Sagittarius New Moon energy into staid Capricorn–a far more grounded, earthy, ambitious, practical, success-oriented archetype.

In short, we got a whole lotta Capricorn energy goin’ on right now…

This Cancer Full Moon is fine with that, but what she craves most is emotional safety and security. To her, achieving THAT defines success!

At this lunation, The Cancer Moon—the sign of family, security, the past & its memories, habitual behavior, nurturing mother, vulnerability, & deeply ingrained emotional psychological patterns—opposes the harsher less emotive Capricorn energy.

As she stands in opposition to not only the Capricorn Sun, but to Saturn, Pluto, & Venus in Capricorn as well, she tells us now’s the time to release any fears that prohibit the building, maintaining, or expanding of our foundation for future success.

And by foundation, I mean both the inner & outer structures upon which we may work toward a successful future…

NO LOVE WITHOUT COMPASSION!

The Cancer Full Moon highlights for us all the issue of fear, and asks that we initiate the process of non-attachment—from both our material and emotional worlds…

In its quest for success, Capricorn energy often forgets how rigid and cold (two archetypal traits of its ruler, the planet Saturn) it can appear when making judgments, signing cut and dried contracts, and myopically climbing the ladder of personal success.

We can almost hear the uber-sensitive, compassionate Cancer Full Moon beseeching this cluster of planets (stellium) in Capricorn to hear her plaintiff plea: “Yes, but what’s all of your success FOR? If it’s NOT about building a heartfelt connection to those we love for the purpose of emotional security & fulfillment, then WHAT?”

This Cappy stellium is likely to reply ingenuously, “what’s love got do to with it?”

Ah, yes, what indeed?

Capricorn, ruled by Saturn–Father Time & Lord of Karma–is always about structure.

And any foundational structure encompasses our fundamental belief system because it’s our beliefs which provide us a strong sense of external reality. Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign, represents taking initiative in the material physical world.

On the more metaphysical side, Capricorn the goat wasn’t always a dry land creature—he was once of the sea. This sea-goat, who climbed ambitiously out of the chaotic emotional waters of the ocean deep and onto terra firma, did so to adapt, evolve and, eventually, to thrive.

Think of the huge amount of motivation & ambition it took for this sea creature to drag himself from the ocean onto the shore, and the subsequent power he must have felt through accomplishing this goal. Such a feat was seconded only by his survival, adaptation to new terrain, and his ability to sidestep any potential environmental perils.

Despite the sea-goat’s metamorphosis—or more precisely because of it–the symbolism is clear: the Capricorn archetype originated from emotional beginnings. Its watery inception, however, was shed—like a snake sheds its skin—and replaced by earthy, practical, physical concerns.

The Cancer Moon in opposition to this strong Capricorn energy alerts us to remember that the Capricorn archetype contains within it the watery beginnings of the sea-goat. Ergo, it’s very existence is rooted in FEELING…

EVERY TIME I OPEN UP IT HURTS

Capricorn is uber-responsible; Cancer uber-sensitive…existential loneliness is the potential plight of the Capricorn archetype, while extreme emotional vulnerability through fear of abandonment is the Cancer archetype’s Achilles heel.

Cancer represents a more obviously emotionally vulnerable and compassionate archetypal energy rooted in early family life. However, her plight is the same: she’s driven not by fears of a dearth of physical resources, but rather by a lack of emotional ones.

Capricorn energy is more likely to take an uber-responsible stance and emotionally FEEL: “I’ll do it because I HAVE to—because nobody else will!” At his inner core, Capricorn is not convinced there are enough resources to go around, so he strives to achieve emotional security and satisfaction through the physical material plane.

It’s almost like saying the sea-goat realized intuitively that staying in the ocean forever wouldn’t ultimately provide enough boundaried security and safety. The sea is uncertain, amorphous, ever-moving. Capricorn’s archetypal energy isn’t comfortable with such uncertainty and inconstancy.

What’s was a Cap to do when he feels so ungrounded?

One possibility is that his deeply ingrained distrust of the finite nature of his world (read: current resources) led to his compulsive expansion onto land. Once there, however, his distrust that scarcity might leave him vulnerable again convinced him to keep pushing upward and onward…

Meanwhile, exposure of one’s soft white underbelly to the world at large frightens the heck out of the Cancerian archetype, causing her to fearfully run and hide from the world she deems to be too big, cold, and cruel to emotionally bear.

Fear can become the Cancerian manta and color everything in her world. Often this energy “hides” her extreme emotional vulnerability behind a mask of nurturing, compassionate mothering-type energy, and deflects attention away from her own deeply hidden emotional insecurities and fears of abandonment.

This Cancer Full Moon reminds us of the juxtaposition between these two archetypal energies, and that it’s integration that’s necessary.

We can’t go around being hard-asses our whole lives out of a desperate fear of losing our resources—a deeply hidden fear that simply perpetuates our need for more and more physical accoutrements.

Neither can we weep profusely, mire ourselves in fearful worry about emotional exposure and abandonment, or hide behind the guise of a “mothering” role forever…

YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART

Ah, but wait! It’s possible this Cancer Full Moon’s formation of a grand water trine to Neptune in Pisces and Mars/Jupiter in Scorpio can be of help!

While water equals emotion, a grand trine can work in one of two ways: it can cause us to tap into our emotional natures and have compassion for both ourselves and our fellow human beings, or it can create a kind of emotional closed circuit.

The latter means that our sensitivity at the Cancer Full Moon may flow inward ONLY and result in a kind of “why me?” mentality that sends us scuttling into our hard, protective shell. A shell from which we won’t emerge again until we feel completely, totally, unerringly SAFE.

What other defense does water energy have against such a seriously driven, boundaried, less emotional earth one like Capricorn?

The trick here is to recognize that, although Cancer & Capricorn are polar opposite energies, both have their origins in the watery emotional realm.

Helping us out is the sextile formed by Venus & the Sun to Neptune, providing us the opportunity to benefit from this a whole lotta feelin’ goin’ on now, too…

None of us survive on money alone. We can try, and many do, but when we recognize that our ambitious need to acquire is driven by our deeply hidden fears we see, if we are smart, the opportunity to better define and subsequently release these fears.

This Cancer Full Moon reminds such strong Capricorn energy—so likely to feel like the last man standing who develops an “I know this is gonna hurt, but it’s got to be done!” mentality—to remember that at heart it’s about HEART.

Capricorn may say “I’m doing it this way because this is the way it’s always been done!” Cancer reminds him that none of his knee-jerk rationales guarantee freedom from emotional hurt, and that lurking in the subconscious of Capricorn energy lies emotional depths about which this archetype is often unaware.

We know the Capricorn archetype seeks success but often perceives the universe as finite. So, it does not necessarily contemplate the emotional expansiveness that’s possible. Such expansiveness includes widening one’s definition of “success” out into the emotional realm. It’s here that safety and security for his soul might cause him to adjust his previous hard sought after goals…

If not, it’s too easy for the Capricorn archetype to continue to take his definition of success at face value, and to dismiss the more watery emotional realm that lies beneath.

The most obvious cliché stereotype is of the successful, rich, “I can have anything I want, long as I have money” business man who—although he owns a beautiful house in a desirable neighborhood, marries a beautiful wife, fathers beautiful children, and acquires many possessions—finds himself empty and unhappy. Charles Dickens’ Scrooge is a perfect example.

And so, this Cancer Full Moon reminds the Saturnian/Capricorn energy within each of us to be gentle with itself and to become aware of its vulnerabilities.

“Take down that mask of steely resignation and acknowledge from where such commitment to succeed comes!” this Moon cries. “Wo/man cannot live by reason and empirical success alone! WHY do you do what you do?”

Nor can one live by pure visceral gut-wrenching emotion alone.

This Cancer Full Moon asks us to get rid of anything that prevents us from integrating these two archetypal energies: the task master who wants to build the firmest boundaries possible through the material world, and the sensitive, vulnerable, frightened, hurt child within.

You know, the one who cries out in the night for love, acceptance, protection, solace, and healing…

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, URANUS STATIONS DIRECT

Almost exactly 12 hours after the Cancer Full Moon, Uranus, the planet of unexpected events, change, and revolutionary revelations, reverses course and will begin to pick up steam to travel full speed ahead.

What does this mean?

Well, within the context of the Cancer Full Moon, it’s going to be about not only tapping into your own capacity for self-compassion and forgiveness, but to then extend that out to loved ones and the world in general.

Uranus takes seven years transit through a sign, and usually a zodiacal house depending on the configuration of one’s individual birth chart. He retrogrades (appears to move backward) once annually for approximately five months each time.

Uranus last stationed retrograde on August 3, 2017 and now begins forward movement again on January 2, 2018.

The retrograde period for this planet, which rules the zodiacal sign Aquarius, is a time when we may reconnect to parts of ourselves that have been split off. If we think of Uranus/Aquarius as the harbinger of sudden unexpected events, we know that many times surprising events can be traumatic.

For this reason, sudden happenings can have long-term repercussions, both positive and negative in nature, depending.

What Uranus asks us most is to NOT stay eternally, perpetually, mind-numbingly the SAME forever! He’s anti-stagnation and for that reason seeks to shake us out of whatever rut we may have dug ourselves deeply into over the course of time.

Hence, his connotation with revelations, some of which may lead us to revolution in our personal lives or the wider world.

Erin Sullivan writes in “Retrograde Planets,” that “…the long-term process of the Uranus cycle is to gradually produce a new perspective.”

Aha! Eureka! Now we can ask ourselves as we begin the new year 2018 ahead, WHAT perspectives of ours need to be replaced? Where have our ways of thinking or our situations become outdated, no longer useful to us? And how can we replace the old with something new?

As we make our way into 2018, this theme will be prominent. It’s obvious in the politics of the world around us. Even if you’re not into national or global political happenings, one cannot fail to see that change is all around.

The external representation of internal changes? Methinks so…

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” ~ Lao Tzu

It’s up to us all to recognize the silver lining in any cloud of change we incur in our lives and to make lemons into lemonade!

And we can start—this Cancer Full Moon tells us—by examining the beliefs by which we live, upon which we’ve built our foundational security, and determine whether they still hold true for us or whether they actual hinder us more than they help…

Into the deep dark shell of Cancerian vulnerability and the vastly hidden iceberg-like nature of Capricorn’s darkest fears that finite resources will assure his demise—for who can outrun physical death–can we shine a light?

Can we acknowledge that change is good and that no matter what happens we can go with the flow instead of becoming more rigid and inflexible due to fear, or burrow our heads deeper in the sand believing that if we can’t see it we won’t have to deal with it?

Uranus says “no!” It’s time for forward thinking solutions to any problems. The grand water trine with Mars/Jupiter squaring the Nodes is another clue that a “skipped step” within the collective is ripe for a karmic replay.

Ceres in Leo, conjunct the North Node & squared by Mars/Jupiter, indicate that issues around “sustenance”—faith and/or literal food/resources—are in play right now. Let’s not forget that Ceres/Demeter is the mythological mother of Persephone, who was kidnapped, raped, and made queen of the underworld by Pluto/Hades.

Ceres is not only a mythical mother figure, she’s the goddess of the grain/harvest, the holder of the secret to fertility–from which both heavenly & earthly manna is made.

Mar/Jupiter is quick & easy action; as part of the grand water trine to the Cancer Moon & Neptune, it can cause us to act impulsively, or provide the spark we need to ignite our inner fire…

The universe is asking “where do you engage in angry nurturing” rather than allowing yourself to gain the necessary sustenance (both literal and metaphorical) in a loving compassionate way?

The answer to that question may lead you to discover that your self-talk isn’t so nice, and that you might better benefit from replacing the tape in your head with a new, more positive and affirming one.

So, plant the bravest smile on your face, and sally forth reminding yourself that you DO have faith in the universe’s infinite wisdom, that everything happens precisely as it should, and that’s it all meant neither to hurt nor harm, but to allow us to co-create our own futures in a world that’s ever-changing…

Happy new year!

Namaste..

Sign up to receive Astro News You Can Use “Conversations About Consciousness” newsletter every full & new moon here: https://www.facebook.com/KarmicEvolution…/…/166303603381066/

Sam Smith’s song/video, Too Good At Goodbyes provides a telling glimpse into what can happen when we defend ourselves too dearly against our emotions. Check it out here!

“You must think that I’m stupid
You must think that I’m a fool
You must think that I’m new to this
But I have seen this all before

I’m never gonna let you close to me
Even though you mean the most to me
‘Cause every time I open up, it hurts
So I’m never gonna get too close to you
Even when I mean the most to you
In case you go and leave me in the dirt

And every time you hurt me, the less that I cry
And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out, the less I love you
Baby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s true

I’m way too good at goodbyes
(I’m way too good at goodbyes)

I know you’re thinkin’ I’m heartless
I know you’re thinkin’ I’m cold
I’m just protectin’ my innocence
I‘m just protectin’ my soul

I’m way too good at goodbyes
(I’m way too good at goodbyes)

‘Cause every time you hurt me, the less that I cry
And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out, the less I love you
Baby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s true
I’m way too good at goodbyes…”

#astrology, #sea-goat, #surprise, #zodiac, Cancer, Capricorn, change, full moon, karma, Pluto, Saturn, success, Sun, Uranus, Venus

Sagittarius New Moon, Saturn Into Capricorn!

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - December 18, 2017 - Astrology, Blog post

Out With The Old, In With The New!

The Sagittarius New Moon brings together heart & mind—as do all new moons—allowing us to plant seeds around the Sagittarian archetype. At 26 degrees 31 minutes of the sign of the archer, this new moon occurs at 10:30 pm PT on December 17 & 1:30 am ET on December 18.

Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter–the planet of expansion of consciousness–is an adventurous, optimistic, glass is always half-full type of energy. This sign represents expansiveness in general, but particularly in relation to our ability to expand our way of thinking…

Why?

Because this is how we develop our general belief system, or philosophy about life…

The December 3 Gemini Full Moon asked us to look at where old beliefs may no longer serve us and to jettison those deemed to have outlived their usefulness or purpose. The upcoming Sadge New Moon says: “hey, now you can replace old ideas by planting seeds for new ideas, philosophies, and beliefs!”

The importance of getting rid of old, outworn, inflexible, no longer profitable philosophies & beliefs was paramount during the waning Gemini Full Moon because as we did, we created space for new ideas and beliefs!

This is the gift of the Sadge New Moon! It tells us that now we can envision what we want for our future that’s more in alignment with what our soul truly believes is right for us individually, instead of what we’ve been taught, told, or forced to believe in the past.

Supported by Mercury, Venus, and Saturn—all in Sagittarius—this Sagittarius New Moon is the perfect time to get fired up about the new year as it approaches! As Venus moves into a favorable trine aspect with change-maker Uranus, we can easily see how new ideas and ways of thinking may support positive change and growth around our value system…

Co-Create 2018!

Likewise, Mars waxing into a trine with Neptune at this Sagittarius New Moon sets the stage for us to dream ourselves into the altruistic kind of energy necessary to achieve success in the new year…

This Mars/Neptune aspect tells us that—whatever changes we conceive of making for 2018—we’ll benefit most by playing neither the victim nor the martyr, but rather by understanding we’re part of a greater “each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own” whole…

This is important to remember moving forward, not least because a more realistic and compassionate view of the world (and our role in it) will undoubtedly increase our chances of greater success over time…

When you spend time thinking about 2018 and how to move forward to co-create your own future, you may notice new ideas slowly replacing old ones as they become less and less useful to you now…

Lending us a hand with this process, we’ve got Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius until December 22, calling us still to review situations, projects, relationships, etc. We’ll find ourselves going over old ground to revisit what needs to be tweaked in any of these areas.

However, Mercury’s retrograde period assures us this is necessary so we may either continue forward on more solid footing, or end or abandon what’s not working. In this way, when Mercury stations direct on December 22, we can embark on our plan for a new course of action, if need be…one that espouses a different set of beliefs, perhaps more grounded in reality…

Meanwhile, Mars entrance into Scorpio on December 9 is still in effect until January 26, when the warrior god moves on into Sagittarius. For now, motivated Mars in the sign of secrets—especially those to do with taboo subjects such as sex & money—will likely continue to excavate and reveal additional information about those who’ve crossed the line and perpetrated crimes in these areas.

This Mars/Neptune aspect tells us that—whatever changes we conceive of making for 2018, we’ll benefit most by playing neither the victim nor the martyr. Rather, part of our success will be derived through understanding we’re part of a greater “each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own” whole…

This is important to remember moving forward, not least because a more realistic and compassionate view of the world (and our role in it) will undoubtedly increase our chances of success over time…

Saturn Enters Capricorn: Time To Get Real

In order to really discuss the “truth” about astrology, it’s important to understand that this metaphysical tool can lead us to greater insight and understanding–both about ourselves and the world around us.

This entails not only understanding the positive attributes of planets and signs and their configurations, both in the sky and our individual charts, but also the negative side of their archetypal meanings.

Why bring this up now?

Primarily because Saturn’s entrance into the sign of Capricorn, where it will be from December 19, 2017 until March 22, 2020, tells us two things: we can use this time period to get real and get down to business, or we can waste it by avoiding our responsibilities.

The penalty for avoidance is that nagging oppressive notion that we SHOULD be doing something, but we’re not. You know, the kind that hangs over your conscious mind like a cloud, that sits just behind you when you’re trying to be in the moment & keeps tapping you on the shoulder, constantly reminding you of your “duties” and your inability to adequately fulfill them…

This, over time, can cause a type of slow spiraling depression from which it often feels like we cannot extricate ourselves. We may feel crappy about ourselves, like we don’t deserve good things happening to us, or that life it hard—often simply too hard—to even make us want to try. In short, we may develop a defeatist attitude par excellence!

When this happens, we may sink further and further down, increasingly aware of all the things we meant to do that have now piled one on top of the other, and all the things we mean to do now and in the future, but that we’ve done none of…

The reward for getting down to business now, while Saturn transits through its own sign, is that, as a result of hard work—often VERY hard work—we can not only accomplish much, but after doing so, we’ll roll into bed each night exhausted but far more fulfilled.

Why?

As a result of having tackled what needed (and needs) to be done, even if we’ve procrastinated in the past, even if we’ve made a million excuses, come up with a thousand reasons why we can’t or won’t or don’t have to do it, we’ll feel good that we accomplished something…

And, if we build on this momentum without allowing ourselves to self-sabotage, if we stand up to Saturn in Cap’s inevitable self-judgmental attitude when this energy is at its worst, then we can feel successful in the end…

Success, mind you, doesn’t have to be BIG. Rather, it can be incremental, on a day by day basis…please keep this mind, as Rome wasn’t built in a day…

When The Lord Of Karma Comes A ‘Callin’

“Seven moons and seven suns, Heaven waits for those who run…” ~ Audioslave

Let’s talk about Saturn as the Lord of Karma, which is also how this planet’s archetypal energies are often interpreted. In this astrologer’s opinion, it’s not simply all that happened in the past (either in this lifetime or past lives) catching up with us in order to torture/punish us as we stand helplessly victim to any “crimes” of our past.

Rather, karma is something we create every moment of everyday moving forward.

Therefore, we have the opportunity to change up our karma as we move forward, not because we need to eradicate the past (which is impossible to do, as those of us who’ve tried well know!) but to change our future, a.k.a., our destiny…

A time of reckoning is upon us all, but this is not the grim reaper calling. Rather, it’s the Lord of Karma, as Saturn is known in mythology, attempting to teach us into greater levels of maturity.

The method of Saturn’s lessons?

To learn by experience! When we have the guts to face our perceived inadequacies—meaning those areas where we feel “less than,” or like stupid, inexperienced, scared, lazy, far-from-perfect, no good, rotten ne’er-do-wells–Saturn rewards us for our bravery.

However, often the trouble is this: We don’t like to learn Saturnian-type lessons if we don’t have to. We’d much rather drift, coast, lay back, procrastinate, or generally avoid, avoid, avoid doing the kind of hard work Saturn requires of us.

And this means that Saturn’s lessons are designed to wake us up to the notion that “karma” is a fluid, ongoing, living, breathing, energy. It’s NOT a static, gloom & doom, no-way-can-you-change-your-future-no-matter-how-hard-you-try.

However, Saturn’s lessons, at the time they are being administered, often seem harsh. They can leave us to bemoan our fate, wallow in our

misfortune, mire ourselves in the darkness of depression, don the cloak of victimhood, or react in any other negative ways to people and events around us–especially those we feel have abandoned us in our time of need…

“The frustrating experiences connected with Saturn are obviously necessary, as they are educational in a practical, as well as a psychological sense,” writes astrologer & Jungian psychologist Liz Greene in her book Saturn, A New Look at an Old Devil.

“The basic fact remains the same: human beings do not earn free will except through self-discovery, and they do not attempt self-discovery until things become so painful that they have no other choice.”

In short, Saturn’s a “no pain, no gain” type of guy.

Sun In Capricorn Joins Saturn At Winter Solstice

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” ~ Desmond Tutu

On December 21, the shortest day of the year is finally here! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, we can rejoice that our days will lengthen in light by about 2 minutes each until we reach the summer solstice in June when the opposite will become our reality…

For now, however, it’s good to remember the adage “it’s always darkest before the dawn,” and to hang in there, even as we feel the morphing of energy at the winter solstice away from a more happy-go-lucky Sagittarian nature into decidedly more serious Saturnian territory.

This serious message is enhanced by the Sun’s meet up with Saturn in Capricorn on this day, too. It reminds us now that if we let go of old ways of thinking we’ll begin slowly to solidify our future ideas, plans, beliefs, and philosophies, so that they’ll be given the respect they deserve going forward.

How’s that?

Because they’re rooted in a more expansive personal value system–one that contains increased self-compassion and the kind of love for others that generates true brotherly/sisterly love.

How can such self-honoring and recognition that “there but for the grace of God go I” fail to result in the planting of seeds now for a realistic & more successful future?

Answer: It can’t…

**Here’s my tribute to the end of the shortest days of the year via Audioslave’s video The Last Remaining Light…Remember, it’s a future of sunnier skies from here!:**

“Roll me on your frozen fields
Break my bones to watch them heal
Drown me in your thirsty veins
Where I’ll watch and I’ll wait
And pray for the rain

Curl like smoke and breath again
Down your throat inside your ribs
Through your spine in every nerve
Where I watch and I wait and yield to the hurt

And if you don’t believe
The sun will rise
Stand alone and greet the coming night
In the last remaining light

Seven moons and seven suns
Heaven waits for those who run
Down your winter and
Underneath your waves
Where you watch and you wait
And pray for the day

And if you don’t believe the sun will rise
Stand alone and greet the coming night
In the last remaining light…” ~ Audioslave

Namaste…

#astrology, #NewMoon, #wintersolstice, Capricorn, karma, Sagittarius, Saturn, Sun, Truth

Aries New Moon April 7

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - April 8, 2016 - Astrology

Aries New Moon: The Instinct For Survival

Another New Moon is upon us and it’s a biggie! This Aries New Moon is not only about new beginnings—which you should see the culmination of in about six months—but about the will to survive as well…

The Aries archetype is all about survival in the sense that one has to fight one’s way out his or her mother’s womb in order to be born. if you really think about it, the tremendous amount of energy it takes to burst forth out of the peaceful uroboric waters of the womb into the birth canal and out of your mother’s body, you’ll begin to get what I mean!

But what is it that tells us it’s the right time to go from our blissfully unaware state of pre-birth and propel ourselves out in the cold harshly lit outside world—a world in which, as humans, we are unable to fend for ourselves without our mother’s care?

Simple: It’s INSTINCT!

So Aries energy, particularly prevalent in the universe at this Aries New Moon—and in your life, depending on into what house of your natal chart it falls—is about proactive energy and about having the energy and will not only to survive but to thrive…

Pluto & Uranus: Still Doing Their Square Dance

New Moons are always times to set your intentions for the month. In this case, you may set them for the next six months in order to really be able to continue on your path, regardless of any bombardment of universal energies you may experience personally between now and then.

Because this Aries New Moon meets up with Uranus in Aries and squares Pluto in Capricorn, it’s likely effects will factor into how you’re handling the Pluto/Uranus energies that have dominated the heavens (and thus our lives here on Earth) since at least 2012…

This square’s energies are prevalent everywhere you look: from the Arab Spring uprising in the Middle East to Ferguson, Missouri (and the Black Lives Matter movement), from the Syrian refugee crisis to the breakdown in infrastructure worldwide (but particularly here in the U.S.), and more…

These are the forces of revolution vs. the status quo, anti-change, clinging to a “business as usual” mentality, at all costs.

So how to navigate such energies?

If you’ve been hit personally by the energies of the Pluto/Uranus square (meaning they’ve touched sensitive planetary or natal chart points as part of your energetic makeup) you probably know it by now…

Such energies may have included, but are not limited to: loss (or gain) of a job, money, and/or relationship (including loss through death.) Loss is usually about the need for transformation.

And when sudden events derail or propel us, often they are the result of our need for change that’s risen to such a point that a crisis occurs in order for the universe to get us in touch with our soul’s true desire for change.

When death (either literal or figurative in the form of endings) occurs in one’s life, this external manifestation reflects changes occurring in our own internal energies. Resistance to such changes usually makes it tougher to adjust and may simply delay the inevitable…

Changes—be they deemed negative or positive in our lives initially–are always about moving our soul forward for the purpose of living our lives to their highest potential in this lifetime.

So What Are Your Intentions?

If they’re about something new—bravo! Plant that seed and go for it! If they’re connected to an ongoing or already established project or work, then keep on keepin’ on–especially if you’ve already had a modicum of success and are attempting to build on that.

The important thing to know is that not only is this Aries New Moon conjoining Uranus in Aries and squaring Pluto in Capricorn, but it’s trining Saturn as well. A trine is what we astrologers call an “easy” aspect.

Saturn is the planet of hard work. Saturn helps us move slowly and cautiously, and think accurately with an eye toward manifestation. This trine is likely to make it easier for us to do some of the necessary work without experiencing undue hardship. Think of Saturn like a mentor, a teacher, or a guide, who says to you: “you can do it—slow and steady wins the race.”

However, with Saturn, there’s no free lunch. Under Saturn’s tutelage, you can’t have dessert until you eat your meat (as Pink Floyd liked to say), and you can’t go out to play until you eat your dinner…Saturn can help ground the planting of this new seed…

…even if it’s amidst any turmoil in your life connected to transformation or sudden unexpected change–and the resistance you may feel to such transformation or change.

But if you succumb to the fiery, impatient, impetuousness of this Aries New Moon energy—especially in its conjunction with the “leap before you look” rebelliousness of Uranus in Aries, you may find the foundation upon which you’ve attempted to set your intentions is less than firm.

Far better to allow yourself to believe in any aha! or eureka! moments this Aries New Moon energy brings to you now based on the Sun & Moon’s alignment with Uranus, but to proceed slowly.

Saturn is retrograde until August 13, making this an excellent time for you to be inspired, but remember to move cautiously enough to ensure you’ll ultimately be able to manifest any intentions set now.

When Saturn guides us in this fashion, who are we to ignore him or dispute his wise advice? And this advice shows up in our lives in the events and relationships around us. So if a project gets, waylaid, cut, postponed, or otherwise stuck in the mud, do not despair.

Likewise, if a job or relationship appears to falter or end, it means that it is no longer instrumental to your future growth. This departure will more than likely open up the necessary space for something new–something better!–to come into your life…

Acceptance of Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Always Up To You!

The Aries New Moon is a time to dig deeply into the earth (metaphoricallyspeaking) and plant a seed that you know, with the proper tender loving care, will take root. You want it to grow into a sturdy plant that matches your expectation.

So much of astrology is based on cycles. The New Moon and Full Moon cycles occur approximately every 14 days, so the universe provides us with the opportunity to set new intentions, or to reaffirm or reset older intentions, every lunar cycle of 29.5 days.

It’s not now or never, and it never will be, in terms of how the universe guides us toward our best and highest interest in this lifetime should we choose to become aware that our lives are always a matter of our choices.

When we choose to embrace that choice is our right as part of our human, incarnated experience, we leave behind the blame game, the he said/she said, the “but you told me to do it that way ergo I’m not responsible for the outcome.” Likewise, any tendencies to play the martyr and try to save everyone–which may or may not, in the end, be in your best interest–can fall by the wayside.

Embracing the kind of change inherent in this Aries New Moon energy includes having the courage to follow your instinct. Making a choice, even if it’s an instinctual one, can propel us out into the world and allow us to leave behind the security of the womb so that we may LIVE.

(And here is where this New Moon’s trine to Saturn has your back, assuring you it won’t be as hard as you might think.)

Once planted, the seed must be nurtured, and the intentions affirmed on an ongoing basis—utilizing the clarity of that trine to Saturn. This enables us to make any necessary changes, or to halt or amend, in the near term what you may be attempting to do in order to have a better, more prosperous and meaningful outcome in the long term.

More Retrogrades in April…

During these next few months–since Saturn’s station retrograde on March 25–we’ll be seeing and feeling more planetary retrogrades. On April 17 Mars begins his long retrograde period, while Saturn continues his retrograde motion untilAugust 13.

Pluto stations retrograde on April 18 until September 26, and in the shorter term, Mercury retrogrades in the sign of Taurus on April 28. Neptune and Chiron will both station retrograde in July.

Typical retrograde energy/behavior looks like this: time to review, re-analyze, rethink, re-plan, re-strategize, revisit (or just about any word you can put “re” in front of that you can think of, lol and that pertains to your specific situation.)

Get used to it, as we’ll experience a lot of it! However, during this period if your hopes, dreams, and wishes appear to be stagnating or moving in the wrong direction, hang tight…

When these planets begin to move direct, one by one, as well as at six months form this Aries New Moon, you’ll begin to feel yourself once again on terra firma, or solid ground.

So go forth and prosper, I say…don’t mistake all of this retrograde energy for true stagnation. Instead, utilize the energy of this Aries New Moon, especially the 48-hour period between now and 7:24 a.m. ET on April 9, to make a list of your intentions.

Then meditate on them, pray if you are so inclined, and get out the shovel and spade and plant that metaphorical seed.

When the Sun moves into Taurus on April 19, he may well help gestate that seed with tender loving care. And six months from now you may be singing a different tune–one that bursts forth from inside instinctually!

Life is a continuum, and so it goes…

Another little blast from the past that seemed fitting for this Aries New Moon (complete with retro roller disco dancing!)

“At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
Without you by my side…

Watch I WILL SURVIVE Here!

Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive

…Did you think I’d crumble
Did you think I’d lay down and die?
Oh no, not I
I will survive
As long as I know how to love
I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live
I’ve got all my love to give
And I’ll survive
I will survive…

More Astro News Your Can Use!

Click Here For Saturn Retro Video!

Aries New Moon, astrology, birth, Capricorn, change, choice, cycles, instinct, intentions, Mars, Pluto, proactive, revolution, Saturn Retrograde, status quo, survival, Uranus

Mercury Re-Enters Aquarius February 13

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - February 13, 2016 - Astrology

You may recall—as Mercury re-enters Aquarius on February 13–that the messenger of the gods already had a rather brief dalliance in Aquarius.

That was just after the New Year, from January 2 until Mercury stationed retrograde on January 5 and headed back into the sign of Capricorn on January 9 .

Well, he’s baaaaaaaack!

What happens when the archetypal representative of communication, siblings, local business, transportation, near neighborhood, extended family, and early childhood learning—flies into the forward-thinking, humanitarian sign of Aquarius?

Well, the combo of Mercury & Aquarius is one of the best for thoughts that move with the rapidity of an electric impulse through the brain and down the spinal cord. This neuro-electricity conducts messages from brain to mouth, or to other parts of the body, and the body responds.

How Can We Put This Energy To Best Use?

We’ve already discussed that Aquarius is an energy filled with the potential for aha! moments and revelations. When they come, they come quickly. How can we not lose them in the hurried pace of our everyday lives?

Hmm…well, here’s one trick I’ve recently discovered. I carry an mp3 recorder with me when I go out in order to capture my thoughts when I’m on the move, walking, in the car, etc. I find this to be extremely helpful because you know how it goes: you can write an entire novel in the shower but as soon as you step out to dry yourself off–poof!–the idea vanishes into the mist…

How can you capture these aha! moments best? In any way that fits into your schedule, I say. You can also keep a notebook or a pad by your bedside and jot down notes before going to sleep or immediately upon awakening. A recorder is even better but of course you have to transcribe it.

The good news? There’s software out there to help you do this–and it’s free! There’s Audacity and others–a quick google search–computers, after all, correlate with Aquarius energy–can prove useful in your research.

Which brings me to another point. Anyone notice the recent news about the discovery of gravitation waves in the universe? The ones that prove Einsteins’s 100 year-old theory of relativity is not just a theory?

Aquarius energy represents science, technology, computers, and also astrology. When Mercury transits through this sign perhaps it’s time for a computer upgrade?

Or maybe thinking about or searching for a new way to communicate through your technology, such as the one I just mentioned—finding a way to transcribe your tapes without having to do it yourself or pay someone else.

Or how about taking up the study of astrology? Stranger things have happened when Mercury flies through Aquarius!

Feel Free To Do Your Own Thing!

Aquarians prize above all else their freedom. The true Aquarius nature is in somebody who requires freedom to be able to think independently. And because so much of their thinking is often about the betterment of mankind, which is to say humanitarian, he or she needs to be able to roam freely in their mind in order to come up with new outside-the-box solutions to old problems.

Aquarius energy is also extremely innovative.

So go forth and innovate, I say. Those who are resistant to change won’t like it. And those who are in positions of power–who are resistant to change–definitely won’t like it.

Contemplate this: is it time to think about making a change where you’re not always bucking up against the powers that be, where you have the capability to be and do and think freely? Where you may implement what you want without the naysayers gathering around you in a circle, looking at you perplexed or confused–or worse yet, with disdain.

That’s what makes Aquarius feel like the outsider. When the group comes down hard on you because they simply can’t see the possibilities that you’ve envisioned so clearly in your mind’s eye as the light bulb went on.

And it’s the testing of these ideas, through our conviction about and/or commitment to them, that provides us the ability to put aside our concerns about what other people will think–i.e., that we’re crazy–that helps give form and shape to these concepts.

So from now until March 5–when Mercury moves on to the sign of Pisces–I wanna see you be brave and do your own thing!

Check out this funny Adobe ad with a rocket launch as its theme! (Oh, and a little fun with Pluto as well, hahaha…):

Namaste…

Aquarius, archetypal, business, Capricorn, communication, energy, freedom, gravitational, humanitarian, innovative, Mercury, outside the box, siblings, transportation

Capricorn New Moon January 9

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - January 10, 2016 - Astrology

When the Capricorn New Moon rolls around, it’s time to plant that seed, set that intention—oh how Capricorn loves to have a plan!

Not just any plan, though–one that will lead to success.

Time To Build Your Foundation For Success!

Accomplishing goals is something near and dear to the heart of anyone who carries Capricorn energy.

And, as anyone with such energy knows, it’s vitally important to establish a foundation upon which one can build toward their success. Without such a solid foundation one may flounder, or lack the ability to be responsible enough to help oneself accomplish these goals.

The Cap archetype, ruled by the planet Saturn, is about being one’s own best parent & one’s own best authority, but also about being able to manifest on the physical plane.

This New Moon brought the Moon & Sun together in the sky in the sign of Capricorn precisely so that we may establish an intention, an idea, a goal, that will bring us closer to the capability to either build a solid foundation, or to further fortify an already established foundation.

Without these foundations we have no structure. And without structure we have no parameters or containment. Capricorn is the sign of containment in the sense that it provides boundaries.

I always say that Capricorn energy is about the fact that you must have a solid foundation because once you do, you can erect walls. Once these walls are up, you can then put on a roof. Now you have a building, a home–someplace to keep yourself warm, dry, safe, & secure from the elements.

At its heart, the Capricorn archetype is about survival. How can one survive if one doesn’t have one’s basic needs–food, shelter, clothing—met?

Success Is Important–But At What Cost?

While Capricorn energy thinks a lot about safety & security as a necessity in order to assure success (a.k.a., survival), it’s a little less concerned about emotional security.

How many of us have heard stories about successful people being unhappy once they’ve achieved all they thought they desired?

Many work their way up the corporate ladder, become the CEO, or the manager, or the judge, or the top guy or gal, but when they add up all the accompanying entrapments–expensive cars, the finest schools for their children, the best house in the neighborhood, money in the bank, etc., etc.—they are left still feeling emotionally empty…

However, those with Capricorn prominent in their energetic makeup need love, just like the rest of us…so, in the end this archetype DOES seek emotional satisfaction, it simply loses sight of that fact sometimes.

December 25’s Full Moon in Cancer two weeks ago highlighted for us all the polar opposite of Capricorn, which is to say: Don’t lose sight of the fact that we must allow ourselves self-compassion & self-love in order to be whole.

Those who carry Capricorn energy sometimes need to be reminded that it’s not all about success for successes sake. It’s about success because what we achieve is what we believe will make us truly happy.

Set Your Intention Wisely

Those with Cap energy can both lose sight of the reason why they are building and climbing that ladder of success, and/or they may think that their goal will bring emotional fulfillment when, in fact, in the end it does not.

During this Capricorn New Moon period we are tasked with asking ourselves: what kind of foundation do I need to build to achieve ultimate success—success that includes emotional happiness?

You see, we are ahead of the game if we know from the beginning that our definition of “success” includes happiness as well as material gain. It doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves that it’s best for our heart and our mind to be in alignment.

During any New Moon, the Sun receives the kiss of the Moon as she passes quickly by. Thus this serves as a monthly reminder that in order to be happy, we must plant a seed that ultimately allows us to be whole.

No parts can be left out of that whole. During this Capricorn New Moon period, eschewing the emotional in favor of the ego is to be done at our own expense.

While Capricorn energy can fall into the trap of becoming fear based because it’s so focused on survival at all costs, this Capricorn New Moon says “fear not, I am with you. I love you, we are one, and you are not alone.”

Plant your seed with care, think about your best intention, make sure it involves both your mind and your heart. Then how can you fail when you take into consideration the whole and not just parts of the whole?

Don’t you stand a better chance of achieving not only your externally oriented goals, but your internally oriented ones as well?

Accomplishing your mind’s–or your ego’s–desire can be in alignment with accomplishing your heart’s desire. The key is to ensure that their goal is ultimately one and the same…

Namaste…

archetype, authority, boundaries, Cancer, Capricorn, emotions, foundation, goals, heart, intention, manifest, mind, moon, new, parent, Saturn, success

Cancer Full Moon December 25

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - December 25, 2015 - Astrology

The Cancer Full Moon, occurring as the Sun is in Capricorn (a Full Moon is always opposite the sign the Sun is currently passing through), highlights for us two archetpyally opposite energies and asks us to integrate them.

Capricorn energy, ruled by the planet Saturn, represents the more patriarchal authoritarian parent, or the father.

Cancer energy, on the other hand, ruled by the Moon, is the sign of the mother, and represents matriarchal energy.

Gender is unimportant, as these are archetypal energies that represent both the father & mother energies within us all.

When the Sun moved into the sign of Capricorn on December 21 in accordance with the Winter Solstice, it entered the sign most connected to responsibility & authority.

Becoming Your Own Best Parent

There is no greater responsibility (regardless of what many may think) than becoming one’s own best authority, a.k.a., one’s own best parent.

Carl Jung coined the terms “anima” & “animus” to represent the feminine & masculine energies present within the psyche of every individual.

Anima & animus energies exist within in us all, but the degree to which we each manifest our masculine and feminine energies out in the world can differ greatly–again, regardless of our actual gender.

In much of today’s society, masculine energy is associated with the empirical, concrete, manifest nature of the world around us. In other words, if we can see it then we can believe it.

The sign of Capricorn is derived from the myth of the sea goat who made his way onto land. This sea goat has the torso of a goat, but the tail of a fish.

It serves as a metaphor to remind us all that no matter how aligned we are with earth energy, no matter how ambitious, goal-oriented, or successful we seek to be, we must always be mindful of our more intuitive emotional nature.

This, in turn, allows us to become cognizant of why we are oriented toward any particular goal & what measure of emotional satisfaction achievement of this goal will actually bring…

Finding Capricorn Balance In The Cancer Full Moon

Capricorn energy is about going out into the world to SUCCEED!

Cancer energy is about staying home where it’s SAFE.

The Cancer archetype represents family, mother, roots, tradition, security, the past, and home…and one’s psychological roots may be traced back to home life in one’s formative years…

Often, what drives a Capricorn-oriented individual toward success in the outer world is her psychological roots.

This Cancer Full Moon highlights the difference between your inner world and your outer one, and calls you to reconcile the two so there is greater harmony within.

Was family life loving? Protective? Did it enhance your security or create insecurity?

It’s no secret that many of us carry the scars of early life forward into our later years. The question is whether or not we recognize this fact.

Freeing ourselves from the emotional pull of the past when the past no longer serves in our quest to move forward is tough…Maybe the toughest lesson we’ll ever have to learn…

Pink Floyd’s lyrics to the song “Mother” sum it up nicely:

“Hush now, baby, baby, don’t you cry
Mama’s gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Mama’s gonna put all of her fears into you
Mama’s gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won’t let you fly but she might let you sing
Mama’s gonna keep baby cozy and warm…

…Of course Mama’s gonna help build the wall…”

Here’s the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_yRvxy9HVs

What Beliefs Can You Release On The Full Moon?

Full Moons are about release, and today’s Cancer Full Moon casts light on the dichotomy between our ego and our emotions.

This Cancer Full Moon highlights also the polarity between becoming one’s own best adult parent or authority and that uber-sensitivity that can cause one to feel extremely emotionally vulnerable.

It asks us to contemplate where we might need to shed some of our current beliefs—originally based on our emotional past–in order to make room to let in new, modified thoughts centered on our ability to grow into our own best inner authority or parent.

When we cannot reveal our true selves to others, we lose the potential connection of emotional intimacy.

And when our goal is to protect ourselves emotionally or to need someone else to always take care of us, then we are clinging to Capricorn’s shadow side…

Why not release those thoughts and philosophies which no longer work toward your highest good and/or prevent your growth in consciousness?

This is what today’s Cancer Full Moon is calling to us to do!

Namaste…

anima, animus, authority, Cancer, Capricorn, energy, feminine, full moon, masculine, parent, responsibility, Saturn, Sun, winter solstice

Sun Moves Into Capricorn & Winter Solstice Dec 21

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - December 21, 2015 - Astrology

On December 21, as the Sun moves into Capricorn & the winter solstice arrives, we experience the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the day of least light.

Despite unseasonably warm weather here in the U.S. northeast, it IS winter.

That means December 21 is the longest night with the least light–the darkest darkness lasting the longest—of the whole year!

Accepting The Dying Of The Light

Many pagan rituals have become incorporated into our more modern religions and thus we celebrate the end of this season’s dying of the light with various different religious holidays, including Hanukkah & Christmas.

As the Sun moves into Capricorn & out of Scorpio, which has taught us the energy & power of the process of transformation–& the knowledge that something must die in order for something new to be born–its entrance into the sign of Capricorn asks us now to translate this knowledge into concrete matter.

Capricorn, ruled by the planet Saturn, is earth energy. It’s not only associated with responsibility, success, achievement, work, & business–but also with our conscious ego, or the part of us influenced by our strongest beliefs.

Often our foundation or recipe for success rests upon these beliefs.

Our conscious beliefs–the ones we often stick to or defend adamantly, especially when we smell doubt or fear creeping up from within–are most often comprised of what we’ve been told, taught, or forced to believe since birth.

As the Sun moves into Capricorn and the winter solstice arrives, it asks us to go deep within to rediscover whether or not our current conscious beliefs are ones that will best help us form the foundation upon which we may build our way to true future success.

And it’s this foundation upon which will rest our capability to transform our thoughts into the kind of tangible concrete matter that brings our soul true gratification and happiness…

“Let Us Love Winter, For It’s The Spring Of Genius.” ~ Pietro Aretino

On this shortest day of the year, we move inward in order to recognize our less conscious higher self & most authentic voice. It is this voice that speaks to us of our truest beliefs.

But we cannot hear this voice if we are not silent…

Capricorn, Oh Capricorn!

Capricorn, ah Capricorn, the sign of Scrooge, the sign most connected with the mantra “another day, another dollar.”

As the solstice hits, we are called to go deep about WHAT we’re doing it all for…where Capricorn energy can go astray is when it hardens into a more rigid judgmental thought process about the who, what, why, where, when, & how of our lives…

The solstice is a time when we go inward–and Saturn loves to go inward! Much of the time, as he transits our natal chart, he’s asking us to stop and pay attention to something important.

Capricorn energy can get a bad rep because it’s deemed to be all about deprivation, loneliness, misery, and other dire circumstances when people & things seem to disappear from our lives…and we mourn…

But by understanding that the depth of our mourning is meant for us to be able to appreciate that–even if we have no others in our lives who can feel compassionate toward us–we have it within ourselves to light this fire from within.

Now he’s saying pay attention to the shortest day of the year and go inward fortified by the light emanating from your own heart & soul. In this way you move forward more joyfully into the new year with the wisdom & flexibility to create a foundation more closely aligned with your soul’s true needs & beliefs.

In this way we may begin the process of transforming our true beliefs into concrete success. Thus, when we begin to see the external light grow once again, it represents the growth of our internal light, the light of our soul…

And this light gives birth not only to the miracle of new life in the spring, but also to our movement closer to allowing a new vision of self to take root…

Namaste…

belief system, Capricorn, conscious, dying, inward, light, Saturn, solstice, Sun, winter

Cancer New Moon July 15

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - July 15, 2015 - Astrology

Say What You NEED To Say & Be Your Own Best Mother!

This Cancer New Moon July 15 calls you to SAY WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY!

Give Voice To–& Express–The Nurturer Within!

There is no one stronger than a mother.

Yup, let me say that again, this time with the proper emphasis: “There is no one stronger than a mother!”

Sure, some of you will immediately wholeheartedly agree.

But what about those of you who experience(d) the “mother” archetype tied to energies other than sensitive, caring, nurturing, and intuitive? What about those who didn’t (don’t) find comfort in their mother’s arms in times of stress?

New Moons are always about planting a seed that eventually leads to a new birth. Full Moons are about release and the birthing process. We get the opportunity to plant new seeds of self-love every New Moon and to give birth to this self-nurturing energy every Full Moon…

This particular New Moon in Cancer resonates with the Sun & Mercury–already in this sign of the nurturing, sensitive, compassionate, intuitive mother archetype.

It provides us with the energy to plant the seed that will ultimately allow us to give birth to our own private mother…not a literal flesh and blood nurturer, but rather the nurturer inside…

The dark of this Cancer New Moon (New Moons are when the Sun & the Moon come together in the sky and light is obscured) gives us the opportunity to proactively plant that new seed so that it has its greatest opportunity to take root and grow.

What are our innermost thoughts and emotions? What is it we need to unburden ourselves of? Where do we need to turn our intuition into the action of putting pen to page, fingers to keyboard, brush to canvas, feet into dance shoes?

Eventually, this seed will lead to the birth–not only of what we really want to say, but what we need to express!

However, to do so, we are tasked with gathering together our most important thoughts, the ones closest to our true emotional message…

These thoughts may not make entire sense, may not gel coherently–yet–but no matter, one has to start somewhere!

The July 1 Capricorn Full Moon attempted to shed its light on where you may be too soft and overly sensitive, or where you may be too harsh in terms of playing your own best authoritarian parent.

The call at that time was to release what does not serve you, and to more successfully integrate these energies into your psyche and your life.

As this Cancer New Moon calls us to communicate that which we feel and intuit, it may be best not to keep it all inside, tightly controlled, and in lock down mode–but rather, as John Meyer reminds us in his song “Say What You Need To Say”:

“Walkin’ like a one man army
Fightin’ with the shadows in your head
Livin’ out the same old moment
Knowin’ you’d be better off instead
If you could only say what you need to say

Have no fear for givin’ in
Have no fear for givin’over
You better know that in the end
It’s better to say too much
Than never to say what you need to say again…”

If you keep it inside forever–in the hope of never having to be judged, or denounced as a fraud, fake, imposter or, worse yet, a plagiarist!–how will others know how you truly feel?

Cancer is the sign of the mother, but a mother cannot gestate her unborn forever–at some point she must give birth or both she and her offspring will die…

Use the energy of this Cancer New Moon to plant that new seed and commit to not only writing, singing, dancing, playing what you feel, but to expressing what you need to say…

Trust me, you’ll feel a whole lot lighter when you do…

Namaste…

Cancer, Capricorn, dancing, full moon, mother, new moon, self-nurture, singing, writing

The Mother & Child Reunion

Heart & Soul Of The Matter

No, I Would Not Give You False Hope

Don’t Let The Shadow Win!

Try A Little Tenderness…

Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

Live & Learn From Fools & From Sages

You Got To Lose To Know How To Win

Dream On

Outside The Box Structure

Dream On

RESOLUTION TO BUILD A FIRM & LOVING FOUNDATION

NO LOVE WITHOUT COMPASSION!

EVERY TIME I OPEN UP IT HURTS

YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, URANUS STATIONS DIRECT

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” ~ Lao Tzu

Out With The Old, In With The New!

Co-Create 2018!

Saturn Enters Capricorn: Time To Get Real

When The Lord Of Karma Comes A ‘Callin’

Sun In Capricorn Joins Saturn At Winter Solstice

Here’s my tribute to the end of the shortest days of the year via Audioslave’s video The Last Remaining Light…Remember, it’s a future of sunnier skies from here!:

Aries New Moon: The Instinct For Survival

Pluto & Uranus: Still Doing Their Square Dance

So What Are Your Intentions?

Acceptance of Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Always Up To You!

More Retrogrades in April…

Another little blast from the past that seemed fitting for this Aries New Moon (complete with retro roller disco dancing!)

More Astro News Your Can Use!

How Can We Put This Energy To Best Use?

Feel Free To Do Your Own Thing!

**Here’s my tribute to the end of the shortest days of the year via Audioslave’s video The Last Remaining Light…Remember, it’s a future of sunnier skies from here!:**

**Acceptance of Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Always Up To You!**