New Moon Journal

Fall-time to harvest, Mercury goes direct

Yesterday the Sun moved into Libra signifying the shift from summer to fall, it's harvest time. Following the cycles and rhythm astrology offers during the fall months [Libra/Scorpio/Sagittarius] now is the time to gather seed thoughts for planting next spring.

• Libra-In Libra we seek a balance in our relationships-who am I in relationship to you? Do I merge too much, do I keep a distance? Look for the why? out of fear, lack of trust?
• Scorpio- After seeing what is out of whack in the way you relate there is an opportunity in Scorpio to face the death of the old way, let go and surrender what no longer works.
• Sagittarius- After the clearing- hopefully you did let go- by mid-November when the Sun moves through Sag we find new courage to expand into new territory-You are ready to take a risk. Fall is a time of dismemberment, of letting go and trusting the outcome as we head into the dark of winter.

Mercury Goes Direct Tuesday, September 29th:

To forge a new path [now and certainly next spring at the planting] we need clear thinking and focus. Mercury retrograding through Libra and Virgo [September 7-29] is spotlighting our fixed rigid beliefs that hold us back from living the dream.

When Mercury moved into it's shadow on August 17th my 'yes but thinking' came up for clearing. Angeles Arien in the Tarot Handbook talks about "the state of mind that produces futility, or a sense of helplessness, hopelessness or "what's the use". As Mercury moves through his final ta-dah I offer up her version of the six excuses or ways we self-sabotage related to the planetary signs:

• Saturn- look for "yes but" thinking- focusing on too much red tape or too many details.
• Mercury- "I can't...if only...someday I'll...wish I'd a..."
• Jupiter- "I'm not lucky...it's too constricted...too limiting for me."
• Mars- "I don't have enough energy, vitality and assertiveness." "I'm too tired, poor, unworthy."
• Venus- "I really don't care...it doesn't mean anything to me anyway."
• Sun/Moon- consciously and subconsciously sabotaging yourself out of doing what it is you long to do."

From mid-August to the New Moon in Virgo we encountered Mercury's do-over- maybe you encountered your own 'yes-but' thinking along the way.

If not, why not? If you're living and breathing you have a shadow... if you are acting as if every thing's okay- well it's either "good for you" or maybe you missed a fine opportunity to be rubbed raw to become real.

Next Tuesday September 29th Mercury turns direct at 22° Virgo and returns to 7° Libra on October 14th. Think of it this way- I go grocery shopping, drove home and then remembered I forgot a key ingredient at the store ...I put my car in reverse and drove backward. When Mercury goes direct next Tuesday I get to see all the sights again with a new attitude and fresh eyes. I arrive back home on the October 14th.

Mercury's spotlights the way we self-sabotage so we can move forward with a better mind-set.

Angeles also shares the remedy- The next seven weeks [fall harvest] you are no longer willing to sabotage what it is that you want to manifest. Seven is the number of movement.

The self-sabotage energy may be related to the thinking set into motion at age seven, that may have surfaced seven months and even seven years ago. So I offer the from Chaos to Consciousness SoulCollage® card.

Make the Libra journey sacred:

• Move- get outside, take walks and look for acorns to place on your altar at home.
• Create a ritual to let go of prior relationships [look for chaos] that still holds you back- write or draw the energy and then release it in a fire ceremony.
• Take a business approach to the energy- Pam Slim has suggestions here.
• As you place the acorns (any seed will do) on your altar- what do these seeds do they represent? Hold them on you heart and invoke that intention.
• Create your Libra SoulCollage® card for this month's energy. Listen for how the number seven shows up in your life...

References: The Tarot Handbook: practical applications of ancient visual symbols by Angeles Arien pages 158-159

Saturn and Uranus Opposition

This is a time of grand expansion, a opportunity to reconnect with the fragmented self and perform your own soul retrieval. Call back your power. Saturn entered Virgo in September 2007 and dances in opposition to Uranus in Pisces over the next year. This could be fun! (hey my Sun in Pisces is getting direct hits from this energy...)

We have one more New Moon in Virgo September 18th, 2009, next year at this time Saturn leaves and doesn’t return again until 2038.

Connect the dots and embody the Practical Mystic within, especially during the 2009-2010 New/Full Moons in Virgo, Sagittarius, Gemini and Pisces. Take the teachings deeper as Saturn finishes up the journey through Virgo...expect aha’s and shape-shifting.

Jupiter enters Aquarius-Yeah!

What's my prediction for 2009? Those who plan now while actively working with their fears will reap the benefits by June. This morning I listened to financial advisers talk about the severe contraction in the money markets. Saturn rules the energy of contraction in astrology; Jupiter rules the energy of expansion. They work together as a planetary pair governing the 1st and 2nd chakras in the body. Why pay attention to this astrology stuff?

What goes on within me, goes on around me. Saturn moves into retrograde this week until May 2009. Saturn brings your dreams into form, so there is a time out to gather up the energy needed to move forward. Re-organize. Saturn and Jupiter work in tandem, Saturn contracts and Jupiter expands- in breath- out breath.

Fear can cause you to hold your breath in, trust allows you to release the breath out. If I get in balance and manage my energy, then I can ride the waves of contraction and expansion. Manifest my intentions. That requires planning and focus.

Plan now for clarity later. Everything is Aquarius.

Sun enters Libra-moving to get it

Autumnal Equinox. For those living in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun enters Libra at 5:52 am on September 23 2007 and we collectively begin the fall harvest- of letting go and surrendering. Death of the past to manifest the future. It’s time to give your creative life new form, to disintegrate, purify and regenerate.

During the summer months we may have been imbrued with new direction, a creative project was revealed in the inner world that now seeks attention in our outer world.

Here’s a quick scenario of what happens energetically when you seek to build.

I am inspired with a new idea or project (last spring, New Moon in Aries).

I start to create from that seed thought. The idea is manifesting within my psyche. I plan it, I speak it. [5th chakra] I love it. [4th chakra] I edit and sort my inner and outer worlds to make it real. [Virgo] My dream begins to build power within me and around me. [Mars,3rd chakra] I move to get it.

How good are you at moving it???

To get it, I have to move. I have to stand in my power, be authentic. In order to move I’ll meet others along the way-my partner, my friends, my family [Libra] and as I share my precious idea, those people might not see my vision or understand what I am about.

• How do you meet with naysayers and doubters?
• Do you abandon your creative projects?
• Do you rear up?
• Do you push through it? Again...

How do you move to get it?

It’s now time to temper my response..do I expand and take a risk- feel it and drive it home, or do I contract, retreat- to feel it and drive it home. Each task is a death. Each task is sacred.

The Fall Season- Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius

In the Fall we harvest the seeds for planting next spring. What you planted in March 2007 is now ready for harvesting. If I planted weeds then I am harvesting weeds. If you planted corn you are harvesting corn. Cycles and rhythm and balance are what this astrology stuff is about. Bringing the sky and the earth together and honoring the rhythm of the seasons and the rhythms of the day and night forces is mirrored back, within you, around you. In that regard issues I may be dealing with issues that are ready to be taken to the next level, released and surrendered too (Scorpio) based on the way I think (Mercury). Plus at the Autumnal Equinox there is a Mars/Pluto opposition (see Lynn Hayes post here) at play taking the intensity up a notch. Mars goes retrograde in November 14th and jabs back and forth at Pluto until Spring 2008.

What did you wish and dream of back in late March? Harvest it now. Here are some themes for the Libra energy and your SoulCollage® cards for the next new moon. In Libra I am the One who....

• I am the One who Partners. I am the One who is a Wife. My energy relates to healthy agreements, sharing and interdependence.
• I am the One who Balances. My energy relates to issues of fairness including balance, equality, appreciation of opposite views, negotiation and counseling.
• I am the One who Counsels.
• I am the One who is Beautiful. I seek harmony representing peace, beauty and art. Refinement- luxury, elegance, pampering, good taste, grace are things that attract me.
• I am the One who builds Teamwork- giving and receiving, collaborating, supportive relationships, cooperation.
• I am on the One who is the Diplomat. I love being social- being companionable, tact, getting along with others, one-on-one interactions, diplomacy, affinity for others. On the world-wide web think of MySpace and Facebook.
• I am the One who is Co-dependent. I feel lost in my relationships- loss of self-identity, appeasing behaviors, indecision, aimless discussion. I represent entanglements that bind.
• I am the One who Harvests. Restoring health- adrenal glands, buttocks, diabetes, kidneys.

Michele’s SoulCollage® card for the Fall Harvest
Death Stalking...

I am the One
who is Death.
You walked
and stalked with me
as a child
learning much.

I bring changes
to the inner and
outer worlds.

To render
to release,
what no longer serves.
To renew.

Walk with me now
see what I hold,
where I go
there are lessons.

-----------

Fall catalogs arrived in record numbers this month, and this One wanted attention. Jennifer Louden’s blogs about resisting her own inward retreat. The death of mommyhood I faced this summer and the renewed energies I have found in letting go reminds me once again how we are collectively called to face the little deaths to be reborn anew.

You may now find yourself dealing with issues that are ready to be taken to the next level, released and surrendered too (Scorpio) based on the way you think (Mercury). Who and how are you going to partner with another to make your creative dream happen?

Thus, as we turn the wheel from summer into fall, Libra’s energies call us to bring our creative life back into balance- in all our relationships. To ask what has heart and meaning for me now? How do I hold myself back? Am I supported? What needs to be let go of so I can move freely into the future?

Saturn’s now in Virgo, demanding change, attention to details and the structure of health and work.

You’ll see pretty quickly what needs attention, what needs to be let go. The archetype of Pluto, the Transformer as death [also Saturn] is often depicted as a dark form holding a sickle. Saturn represents the structure, the status quo, the ego. Fear. Pluto is the cosmic garbage collector, he takes away in order to transform. Something needs to change or be surrendered in order to go to the next place. Restructure.

Harvesting your seed thoughts means that Death is stalking. Fall is a time of disintegration, we surrender and let go to move to the next place. Expect resistance, expect disintegration and then renewal. The Moon and the seasons reflect this cycle of birth, death and renewal. Our own birth chart mirrors this dance with death (8th house, Scorpio) and at the turn of the wheel we begin the Fall. Namaste.

Some resources to share:

A retreat Discovering your Authentic Self, November 1-4, 2007 in Delray Beach, Florida is a four day psycho-spiritual retreat with both integrative breathwork and SoulCollage® offered by my friend, Noreen Donahue, LCSW.
Jennifer Louden’s September Newsletter is full of insights.
The Alchemy of Social Transformation by Lenore Norrgard. Visit Lenore’s website for more about her ritual Dreaming the Dark Solstice Ritual.

About: Rev. Michele Lessirard, C.Ht. is an astrologer, SoulCollage Facilitator and shamanic practitioner providing healing, counseling and instruction since 1993. She writes, shares her thoughts and art online at The New Moon Journal®.

Don’t judge yourself in the here and now.

This year Rich and I went to see the musical play – Moving Out.  We dated, married and matured listening and dancing to the music of Billy Joel. What I am struck by is the body of work and what this man created in the last four decades. Each song linked with each song, in-sync with the times…the story unfolds and weaves an artist’s journey. The play and his music is just remarkable.

This week we move through a lot of cosmic energy as it clears the way for the new cycle to begin at the Aries new moon next week on March 29th. Let go of what isn’t working…to find what is…What do you want to create? What project is knocking at your door? Stay aware…

Aries is fiery and passionate, and he needs the dreamer within you and I to set the pace, to create the intent. Pisces into Aries. Many times, through many cycles we create a body of extraordinary work. Don’t judge yourself in the here and now. In the end it will be, not in the here and now, but the long road traveled…through your river of dreams…

The River Of Dreams by Billy Joel released in 1993:

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To a river so deep
I must be looking for something
Something sacred I lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross

And even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and I stand on the shore
And try to cross to the opposite side
So I can finally find out what I've been looking for

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To a river so deep
And I've been searching for something
Taken out of my soul
Something I would never lose
Something somebody stole

I don't know why I go walking at night
But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore
I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life
Until I find what it is that I've been looking for

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To a river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night

I'm not sure about a life after this
God knows I've never been a spiritual man
Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river
That runs to the promised land
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams
In the middle of the night

 

Spring Equinox- honor your intuitive self by building spiritual muscle

Spring is the time of new beginnings. “Our homes are living portrayals of everything you are and what is happening in your life.” - Karen Kingston, Creating sacred space.

I am so aware of the new beginnings this year thanks to Hurricane Wilma. Right after the Wilma the plants in our yard went into hyper drive and started blooming as a way to compensate for the wind damage. Now we are seeing the results of the trauma… trees and plants dying back from the shock, root damage that was hidden right after the storm can now be seen. In my own yard plants have been cut back so new growth can begin again.  I honor that dismembering. I see the new growth all around. We in South Florida are having two Springs!

Finding your creative muse before Mercury goes retrograde.

Mercury is going retrograde in Pisces from March 2nd through March 25th. When Mercury goes retrograde we need to know our conscious mind is out to lunch, we are operating in a fog. That’s one reason why they say don’t sign contracts when Mercury retrogrades. Pisces represents your relationship to Spirit. Translating spirit into matter. How you navigate the spiritual waters in your own life. Mercury is the communicator, how you speak your own inner truth. Mercury is a great teacher.

Saturn has great significance for the Fifty-Something crowd.

If you are between the ages of 50–59 we are heading towards our Saturn Return. I thought I would share this article I found online at Meta Arts.

Saturn has great significance for the Fifty-Something crowd. According to astrologers, it has to do with the wisdom gained of experience.

Sometimes that wisdom comes from repeatedly bumping up against reality, and sometimes we learn our lessons more gracefully. Still, the Saturn times of our lives--like the ages of 50 and 57 and every seven years thereafter--are eras when we grow and mature, even when that isn't exactly what we had in mind. Saturn's orbit is divided into seven-year fractions, leading to the familiar observations about the seven-year itch. To read the rest of this story by astrologer Donna Cunningham, go online to The Meta Arts.

Explore the world behind your eyes. Our circle begins again on Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Our weekly circle begins again Wednesday nights starting January 11, 2006 at 7:00 pm. The cost is $15 per week. If paid in advance $70 for seven weeks. This circle is open for two sessions and then closes to new members. We close the circle to build power within the community allowing us to go deeper into the Work.

Each seasonal cycle works with a particular theme given to Michele by her Spirit Allies, based on the time of season and current energies at play. Winter is now here and we are preparing the ground for our spring planting. Working with shamanism as a daily practice and  We’ll be working with Jacquelyn Small’s book -the Sacred purpose of being human. During the 7 weeks you will learn how to:

• Release stuck emotions through "inner work" designed to heal your past.
• Identify pseudo-personalities that masquerade as your true self.
• Create the inner space required for a spiritual awakening to occur naturally.

The Winter Solstice ~ the Sun enters Capricorn

The Winter Solstice on December 21, 2005 at 1:35 pm est the Sun enters Capricorn

It is just before sunrise on a cold December day some three thousand years before the coming of Christ. For those crouched at the heart of the mound it must seem as though light has been banished forever. Then suddenly a tiny sliver of sunlight strikes the stone slab at the back of the chamber. Slowly it widens, climbs upward, illuminating a number of mysterious carvings- circles and spirals, zigzag patterns. For people crouched in the center of the great mound every symbol has meaning. But by far the greatest significance is the return of the Sun itself. The light that enters the dark womb of the earth brings with it the promise of warmth and life to come. -John Mathews from The Winter Solstice

Click here for a pdf of this text with pictures to print.

The 12 Days of Christmas is a template to review this past year’s actions and intentions. Recapitulation ~ a creative time to seize the coming year. Wednesday, December 21, 2005 we celebrate the Winter Solstice of moving from darkness (shadow) to light (divinity). Cross culturally this time heralds the Sun's return as it enters Capricorn. "Capricorn- admits the soul into life and then allows it to return to its former god-like state [the child of wonder and grace]." (Mathews, p. 40) At the time of the new moon in Capricorn we at the midpoint of the twelve days of Christmas ~ the days between Christmas Eve to Epiphany on the 6th of January that "really exist outside of linear time. [These days] are in a sense, the fruit of the past year, and one day for each month that has past." (Mathews, p. 173).

January 6th is Epiphany a celebration in the Christian faith as the day the three wise men arrived to see the Christ child after their long journey. The Wise Men represented the shaman’s and priests of their tribe coming to honor the new King.