New Moon Journal

Guardian of the South

Trees are sacred, their presence grounds me. Lack of trees is one of the reasons we are leaving the South Florida area. Most trees here were cut down for development, many were lost during the last hurricane. I need trees because I am a Jersey girl at heart, to feed the need we planted flowering trees that would remind me of the seasons.

Many of our trees go dormant in the winter and then roar into color in early June. When Hurricanes Katrina, Jeanne, Wilma hit South Florida in 2005 we thought this tree was a goner...especially when we found her stripped bear naked and limbs all askew (100 mph winds will do that) after Wilma. Our gardener Jerry said he could save her-thanks Jerry!. This week I started a nature journal for the new homeowners so they know what each tree looks like in full bloom. Hopefully they’ll be good stewards of the land!

This year our Guardian of the South is putting on a magnificent flower show, it started in late May and she just keeps getting better and better... my husband feels the tree is saying good-bye to us. **sigh**

I am busy packing up the house and scheduling things for the move. Mercury retrograde has been especially challenging in terms of paperwork, and getting information from both the Sellers and Buyers.

I'd have a good closing if it weren't for you....

As an astrologer I know Mercury is retrograde, but it’s the other people in my day-to-day life that don’t know. Realtors, bankers, sellers, buyers, home inspectors...

I can’t very well go up to the person and say (or shout) "you know Mercury, the god of communication, is out to lunch people...we need to be on top of this! So please lets double check the work and get back to me, sooner rather than later."

The Full moon in Sagittarius at 28 degrees on June 18th is aligned with Pluto and Venus, that means there’s a release of this pent up energy! A mind fart ready to happen?

Everything will even out. Mercury in Gemini goes direct on June 19th (just 24 hours after the full moon). Yeah! But let’s also remember that Mercury doesn’t leave it’s shadow until the 4th of July (at the time of fireworks on the east coast) when it reaches 22 degrees of Gemini.* This is the time things start to move forward that you felt were at a standstill.

Do you have any planets in your chart at 22 degrees? In the signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces? If so expect some aha’s. The key is to look back over the last three weeks and ponder this~

• How have I been challenged?
• Have I been heard?
• Did I ask the right question in a clear concise way or was I muddled?

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.- Anne Frank

Let’s all go outside with our journals and sit under a tree. Happy full moon!

_{* Mercury retrograde: Mercury Retrograde started on May 26, Memorial Day Monday, turns direct on June 19th and comes out of its shadow on July 4th 2008.}

More Flowers:

www.flickr.com

House sold in three days!

Thanks for the many kind comments regarding my extended absence from blogging. What’s been going on? Getting a house ready for sale in a market such as this is an event in itself. One caution...never ever walk into a Home Depot to order appliances right before Mercury goes retrograde. 3 refrigerators and 3 microwave deliveries later (five weeks without a refrigerator!!!) the house is ready for the big reveal.

Then there was the month we sat and debated whether to list the house or stay put, even though my inner guidance said it’s time- heck I was still waiting for the new refrigerator from Home Depot. This indecision after all my "Designed to Sell" efforts felt like I (the house) got all dressed up for the prom (the house being listed) and my date stood us up. (if you are selling a home or plan to sell read my Designed to Sell feedback here).

One evening Dear Husband comes in from walking the dog. He’s so excited..."You have to come see this!!" On the sidewalk in a fallen palm frond he’s found a bird’s nest woven from some wonderful things. A piece of string from the lawn trimmer, strapping tape, a twist tie. And there is the gate key from our wood fence...it’s threaded through the nest. This is a good omen for me, it’s time to move on. At the end of March and Dear Husband and I say "Let’s do this!"

We contact our Realtor to sign the papers, schedule pictures on Wednesday and the first open house is a week away. Within a few hours the house hits MLS. The next day I drive up to Tallahassee to help dear daughter move into her first apartment, thinking I’ll pull the living room in order when I get back. On the road I get a phone call from our agent-someone wants to see the house. That day two people come by, one husband and wife return a few hours later...by Monday we have a contract with solid buyers.

Our house sells in 3 days!

Yikes...Yes!!! No open house. No brokers open. Law of attraction in action. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am the house is listed and then taken off the market. It was a shock to my system. Yet hadn’t I been visioning this all along. What next? Now the guilt driving buy our neighbors house that’s been listed for over a year... we agree not to tell until the details were in order. Except when my sister calls from North Carolina to ask "what happened to your house on the MLS, did you sell?"

We have bought and sold four properties and it’s never felt like this. Now comes the nail biting waiting -dealing with the inspection report, mortgage approval, the Buyer walk-through’s and finally the appraisal.

As a couple we have gone through a myriad of emotions in the last two months and at this Gemini new moon the details are in place. Yesterday our realtor called to say the appraisal was good, start packing, it's a go.

In the process I lost my desire to write. It happened slowly as I removed my meditation room and healing space, my office from the house- packing up the pod, putting away "Me". Finally taking down my astrology calendar I lost track of time and Moon. I trust my desire to write will come back stronger after the move, when we get settled. My blogging here may be sporadic. It’s an exciting time.

So today we greet the New Moon in Gemini, and here’s the astrological aspect of one woman's journey...

Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces form a cross in your birth chart.

Saturn in Virgo

Saturn, ruled by earthy Capricorn is now moving through Virgo for the first time in 29 years. Saturn rules the structure. Capricorn represents your tribe and the social responsibility you bring to the table as a human being. Capricorn represents the archetypal force in the 10th house of work and career birthed from your creative passionate spirit. Work related to your divinity, anything else really are empty promises.

Capricorn represents the skeletal structure- the bones of who you are. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. In alchemy 1st chakra Saturn is the metal lead before it is transformed and transmuted into gold, bringing deeper meaning to the phrase “Get the lead out.”

In SoulCollage the card would read...I am the One who Builds.

If the 10th house represents our career, the public persona, then know when Saturn travels through that area of your life, expect your job to shift.

Saturn last transited my 10th house in '78-80 (college graduation). It's back again now. Virgo’s energy is asking me to take care of the details, get things in order.

Natal Saturn in Sagittarius in my 1st house represents self- The little ’me’.

Natal Mercury and Sun in the 4th house represents the deepest part of a person, their roots, the home, the ancestors, connection to the past.

Career (writing and blogging) Self, and Home. Do you see the energetic picture. I am building a new structure.

During the house sale transiting Saturn in Virgo (10th house) is opposing my natal Mercury in Pisces (4th house), while squaring my natal Saturn in Sag in the first house. Oppositions bring a release, squares offer up a challenge to the status quo. As things within me and around me shift I am open to the new possibilities of change. I am creating with a blank canvas.

Now may be the time to re-read the Saturn in Virgo information again, it may give you new insights into why and what is happening within you and around you now that Saturn’s been in Virgo since September of 2007.

At this new moon in Gemini now may be the time to look at where Gemini sits in your chart, how is Saturn in Virgo impacting your life and the decisions you are called to make? Gemini ruled by Mercury rules patterns of communication, how you think, how you talk. The black and white thinking of the mind’s chatter. If anything at this new moon in Gemini set your intentions clearly...

Expect change. Now where are we going to live?

Virgo Full Moon-the practical mystic

Last night we interviewed our second realtor in the Designed to Sell campaign to sell the house. Who gets the listing is all about relationship. Who liked our dog...who sees the warmth and charm of the home and the neighborhood. If the broker can’t make the emotional connection and relate how do they communicate that warmth to a buyer, down market or not?

With my background I connect naturally to the soul of a home, the soul of the person. While there hasn’t been much time for astrology or SoulCollage cards since everything home wise was in a state of transformation these last 45 days (or chaos depending on your perspective), the house feels like one gigantic SoulCollage card...and every room tells a story. Overall the place and space is energetically lighter, prettier- sound and solid- ready to show. And just like the people in the HGTV program Dear Husband and I are saying why didn’t we do this work sooner, it’s so nice we could stay.

Home and soul is all about balancing the Practical Mystic within; understanding your connection to place and space-earth and spirit. Earth is home. At this full moon look around your home-do you need to act as if you are moving...what would you do? Virgo is the sign of editing and sorting through the clutter to get to the heart of the matter. Pisces in your chart reflects your relationship to Spirit; we are embodied Spirits walking on earth. Heaven and earth can be one and the same expression, it's deep connection to everything we have  naturally as a child. Your Soul Call is to take the revolutionary ideas birthed in Aquarius, and create a new vision with the help of Pisces. Virgo helps us edit and sort it all out- to ground the energies- make our ideas real.

Today we have a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Virgo at 10:30 pm. This eclipse energy will be working and learning us collectively for many months. Full moons are a time of release, you get to see the results of your thinking and dreaming- those intentions made at the New Moon on February 6th as well as the New Moon in Virgo six month’s earlier.

In earthy Virgo we want things done ’just right’, it’s the sign of perfection. Martha Stewart and her relationship to home always comes to mind when I think of Virgo (that’s the logo from a Martha Stewart stock certificate- so very astrological).

But Virgo also demands that we have two feet firmly planted on the ground while being connected to our inner spirit (Pisces and the Muse) and a higher power. This is the first full moon in Virgo with Saturn present, and it may be triggering things within related to 28-29 years ago. I invite you to do some inward reflection- to connect with the practical mystic within. At this Full Moon you are called to come back into your body (home) in practical ways.

A full moon/lunar eclipse energy will be with us for six months. Mercury’s just come out of retrograde. Mercury rules Virgo and at the time of this full moon Saturn is also joining with the Moon in opposition to the Sun in Pisces. All of this energy is applying itself to my Mercury in Pisces at the doorway of the 4th house. The fourth house rules the mother, the home, the ancestors. Roots. Mercury rules the mind and how one thinks, communicates.

It’s the dark moon time before my birthday. Did you know the month before your birthday brings up your birthing energy...energy much like a new moon. One’s shadow is up and about; energetically this time of year can feel heavy and dark. It’s a time before your birth when you floated peacefully in your mother’s womb (spirit not yet human), when space was getting rather crowded. You were getting ready to make your move out into the world moving from spirit into matter (earth). Last year I went down the rabbit hole around this time and didn’t pop up until May. Interesting. Then this morning I read a description about the energies of transiting Uranus conjuncting my Pisces Sun in the 4th house:

"You are undergoing a dramatic change during which you may feel the urge to break out and embrace new and exciting pursuits. Life may start to feel like a roller coaster ride as new and exciting opportunities enter your life. Life will be exciting if you go with the flow. However, if you suppress your urge for change feelings of restlessness and rebelliousness will unexpectedly erupt prompting sudden and erratic lunges for freedom."

And that statement sums up where I am at. So what’s your story at this Full Moon in Virgo?

The New Possible of Aquarius

There’s banging at my office door together with a steady whine from the machine stripping our Mexican tile floors. Dear Husband and I are living in one room; the dog is boarded in the kennel. Just this morning Salvation Army arrived to take our appliances while I was still trying to empty out the food. We are in the home stretch of our home staging journey; there is light at the end of this tunnel. In the past three weeks I have used physical, mental and emotional muscles of my former interior designer self. It was fun, I know I can still do it, but I am very tired from the process.

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. - Paoblo Picasso

While we are in a state of chaos, the vision, the plan of action is coming together. Saturn retrograding in Virgo is demanding time to focus on the small details. To have faith, trust and patience that it is all coming together- even when the painter takes our $750 deposit and goes off to the Hard Rock Casino (yes, he did…but he told his truth and in the end did an excellent job).

All of this Aquarius energy is nestled into my 4th house of home, roots, family. Transiting Saturn in retrograde opposes my natal Mercury in Pisces, while squaring my natal Saturn in the first house. Oppositions bring a release, squares offer up a challenge to the status quo. Each and every piece that I touched or moved while decluttering and staging the house has offered up a challenge- keep, toss, or donate? Am I through with this? How am I still attached to the story of this item? Does this have heart and meaning for me? Now or in the past? What do I need to let go of in order to move forward?

And I am proud to share this Thursday will be the BIGGEST bulk garbage pick up in the Lessirard history...

Mars (action, the ability to lead) sits in Gemini, squaring my Sun in Pisces, trining my Neptune (faith, hope and trust). Mars retrograde is over and he now moves back again through Gemini and Cancer. He comes out of the shadow April 6th, so until then it’s a time of recapitulation - a do-over of the past three months, to see and move in a different direction. Energy of action and change that wasn’t available to us in the early fall.

Wednesday, February 6th at 10:44 pm we greet the New Moon Solar Eclipse at 18° Aquarius. There’s much on the net about this new moon/solar eclipse energy in Aquarius for there’s a stellium of planets lined up (Sun, Moon, Neptune, Chiron and Mercury) in Aquarius. Out in front leading the pack is Uranus in Pisces in the 5th house of creative solutions. Dance to the beat of your own drum.

Wake up, take a risk. Now is the time. It’s one of those moments. Did you catch Maria Shriver’s speech?

Uranus rules the sign Aquarius. Bringing up the rear of this long tail of planetary energies is Pluto in Capricorn waiting to see if you have the guts and courage to dismantle the known structure, to move forward with a new vision- for self, your family, in service. Aquarius Represents:

• Inventive Solutions- Understanding how things work.
• Seeing the Future- New trends and unconventional approaches.
• Humanitarian Attitudes- Operating from a larger world view.
• Revelation- Unexpected surprises or results.
• Humor- Objectivity, Tools of Divination
• Friends- Reciprocity, the giving and receiving, networking
• Excessive Attachment- Fear of involvement, inflexible opinions, cold aloofness
• more about Aquarius soulcollage here

Where is Aquarius in your chart? What house does it sit on?

That is the area that has been transformed these past 12 years (the last time we had the Year of the Rat). Aquarius and Leo work to balance each other. Leo is about heart and passion. Aquarius is a fixed air sign representative of the rebel or the individualist.

This is a person (YOU) who knows how to move off from the point and create the new path- the rugged individualist who is ready to shatter the old forms; one who is willing to create and birth the new. This new moon in Aquarius asks you to pay attention to the old ways and methods that are asking to fall away so that the new points may manifest in your life. Leo (Fire) and Aquarius (Air) work as a team. The sign Leo ruled by the Sun represents passion, creativity to manifest what has heart and meaning within you. These creative juices flow from inspiration- that spark or point of light within you. These inspiring points of light are working us as we enter the doorway of this Aquarius new moon. Aquarius is the sign of spiritual rebirth representing Humanity.

Uranus is an electrical force (the blue behind the point), representing freedom from the known. Uranus (Intuition) rules Aquarius (Air) and is the higher octave of Mercury (Mind).

Intuition, Air, Mind, spark of light. Mercury represents communication, logic and function of the rational mind. The way you think has radically changed over the past 12 years- hasn’t it? A person working with awakened Mercury is able to communicate from their heart with love and compassion. One teacher of mine called it a “thinking heart and a feeling mind.” Intellect (rather than ego) meets with Intuition and through right use of mind we are able to think in categories- the matrix of organizing and editing our thoughts into creative inspirational visions. This is the energy availed to us through this months Aquarius doorway.

Embody the New Possibility

Saturn in Virgo: Practical earthy Saturn is now in earthy Virgo for the first time since 1978.

"Earth is a balance of yin and yang, the feminine and masculine together. Its motion is inward and centering, and its energy is stabilizing and conserving. It is associated with the color yellow and the planet Saturn, and it lies at the center of the compass in the Chinese cosmos. It is associated with the turn of each of the four seasons and with damp. It is believed to govern the spleen, stomach, mouth and muscles. Its negative emotion is anxiety and its positive emotion is empathy. Its Primal Spirit is represented by the Yellow Phoenix.

In Chinese thought Earth is associated with the qualities of patience, thoughtfulness, practicality, hard work and stability. The earth element is also nurturing and seeks to draw all things together within the Essential Self, in order to bring harmony, rootedness and stability. Other attributes of the earth element include ambition, stubbornness, responsibility and long-term planning. In pathology, the earth can represent selfishness and self-centeredness. In the controlling cycle earth controls the water and is controlled by wood; while in the conducive cycle earth is produced by fire, and in turn produces metal." Wikipedia

This New Moon celebrates the Chinese New Year of the Earth Rat. Earth (Saturn) and Electricity (Uranus). “Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily.” Year of the Rat

Uranus is connected to intuition. In our bodies intuition sits in the 3rd (power) and 6th (intuition) chakras working in harmony and balance. Uranus wakes us up suddenly- like a lightening bolt, it transforms. Uranus is traveling through watery Pisces- the home of the Muse, the Dreamer within who created magic in this reality. A true transfigured Magician is able to enter the collective unconsciousness within her Greater Self, create a matrix from the points of light and birth new forms that serve humanity.

Are you ready? Where does Aquarius fall in your birth chart? Where is Uranus in Pisces transiting?

This month you are called to cross the threshold. Hey you have been standing at this doorway for a while, it’s time to move!Transfigure. Gather your points of light to you for change; in support of self and the community your serve. Humanitarian pursuits. Networking from a global and universal perspective.

Be open to the outcome. . . be the change you want to see. Shift.

24 hours before the New Moon start to plan out what you want to set into motion for the Aquarius energy within you. From your chart, look at what house is affected. What are you thinking about? What do you want to create?

24 hours after the new moon release those good intentions. Write them down and burn them over a fire (Air of Aquarius). Bury them (earth of Saturn). Dance them (fire of Mars). Release and trust that your prayers have been heard, that those intentions have the strength and will to manifest. Namaste.

Full Moon in Leo-Designed to Sell

This is short and sweet because there’s not much time for writing or soulcollaging at the present moment... you see I am getting our home Designed to Sell. The sooner I move, the sooner I can get back to doing what I love. Part of my studio and all of my healing room needed to be erased from the house. We converted an office back into a guest bedroom, and my healing room back into an office. Dear Husband loves his new space.

In the last four weeks I donated used goods (four truckloads to Salvation Army), sorted every closet and packed over a 100 boxes and moved furniture into the POD. After 15 years of life in this wonderful home, going through the memories of space and place is just intense, but depersonalizing our home is part of the letting go and moving on process.

Full Moons bring a release and at this Full Moon, like the HGTV show, I feel proud to share my task is 90% complete. Get ready for the big reveal in two weeks at the New Moon, Solar Eclipse in Leo. Leo sits at the doorway of my 10th house- career, public self; Aquarius sits at my 4th house doorway- home, roots and family, the timing of it all is just right. And bottom line, it’s all about trust.

Being occupied on home matters, I forgot about Mercury’s retrograde period; going backward to move forward in the sign of Aquarius, the Visionary. To complete interior projects prior to Mercury’s retrograde in Aquarius(1/28/08) means multiple installers arrive this week- bathroom tile painted, new granite counters, floor finishes, crown molding, painting and new appliances. Organized chaos. Dog tethered to my side, phone ringing, people knocking, selecting colors, problem solving, scheduling and coordination are all things my interior design self thrives on as we enter the final phase of a process that began 18 months ago for our family at the New Moon in Leo.

At a Full Moon there is a release. You may find yourself dealing with issues or intentions (conscious or unconscious) created at the new moon (January 8th) and six months prior (New Moon in Leo August 12). What did you intend or set into motion at the New Moon in Leo six months ago? You are seeing the results of that thinking and actions now at this full moon.

For more about this Leo Full Moon visit these sites:
Lynda Hill’s Blog
Astrological Musings by Lynn Hayes