Full Mourning Moon in Taurus: Illuminating Honest Values and the Resourcefulness to Endure

Have a blessed Full Moon tonight...as the Scorpio Sun and Taurus Moon balance their opposition at 2:14 pm CST this afternoon.

At 12:54pm yesterday, Neptune (the dreamy planet of inspiration as well as confusion) went direct, as the Moon waxes full of light. This planet has been stationary at 29 degrees of Aquarius since Tuesday afternoon, in fact, and only starts moving forward again this afternoon. Though, it will be in this 29th degree until 1-4-12 (My daughter's 6th birthday).

I always say the 29th degree of Aquarius is one of my favorites...and it keeps coming up at important astrological times to remind me of its message and beauty. I've shared it before...but I'll share it again.

The Sabian Symbol for this degree of the zodiac is 'a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis'. Those who know me best know this very image flutters about my heart. This Autumn, one caterpillar in particular (though there were two we observed) messaged me along the way of her beautiful, unfolding transformation. Alyrica named her Caterina the Caterpillar...and she later became Belle, an exquisite Monarch Butterfly. She confirmed our connection when she chose her spot to transform into her chrysalis in the same place that 'Mabon the Monarch' occupied last year. Over and over, these gentle and resourceful creatures dissolve boundaries before our eyes...showing us the beauty in allowing for greater personal freedom and transformation. The butterfly emerging from its chrysalis affirms what we all eventually awaken to...that new life begins every day.

The Full Moon in the 19th degree of Taurus illuminates the symbol of 'a newly formed continent rising majestically from the ocean'. This degree of the zodiac promotes new opportunities and growth through raw energy and powerful decision-making that positively affects those around you. The key word for this degree is 'originality', and it is in necessary balance with the 'conventionality' of the Sun in 19 degrees of Scorpio at the opposite side of the zodiac. The symbol for the Sun's counterweight to this Full Moon is 'a parrot listening and then talking'. This degree is about accepting patterns of thought and action, and transferring these insights. Listen to the truth, process the facts and speak honestly, adding valuable insight to the natural realm. Relay the truths you know in original ways for positive growth and opportunities that lead you toward success.

The idea that all three of the above symbols describe is that something wonderful is emerging, transformed from patient dedication and attention to detail into a fully formed manifestation of truth. The Mourning Moon then takes on a decidedly joyous note in this light. It is so named as this is the month where we mourn the death around us...the deaths of our loved ones, the death of the green of summer, and the death of those parts of ourselves that are no longer serving our best intentions. Death is not an ending, it is an important part of a cycle of transformation that leads us to another beginning.

The Taurus Full Moon shows us our own resourcefulness in the face of adversity, what values we hold that support our growth as individuals, and the strength we possess to endure the hardships of winter...both literally and figuratively. As a whole, we are discovering the power of truth together as we emerge from a past concealed in confusion. May you all have a happy full moon, and may you all be true to yourselves as well as to others.

Show Your Words

"Acting is doing and being." I tell the students I guide. And I encourage them to show the words as well as tell them...and to show the words even without telling. An actor is a storyteller who puts everything they are, everything they have, everything they know, and everything they imagine...into creating an honest performance of character. This, in it's highest aspiration, is not an act of dishonesty whatsoever...the act rids itself from dishonesty just by doing and being it.

But there always lurks the shadow of the storyteller to fall into like a trap door. Watch your step; there is a thin line to walk between one spiked X to the next. We are all actors, after all, if you think of it on this clean slate...no pre-conceived notions of 'acting like' this or that.

Alyrica, for example, constantly brings what I teach to attention just by being and doing who she is and what she does. The difference between the way she acts here and in her kindergarten class has been demanding my attention...and the difference between what she tells us and what she actually does has lately widened its gap.

I have only had her at three hour-long classes of mine in the 2 and a half years I've been teaching acting in Omaha. And she's seen two recitals where my students performed...and seen Michael and I in two plays...and watched a few other plays as well.

I've realized this year that it's time I teach her the truths I've learned in life through acting. Like many of us, Alyrica's first impression of acting is something more like being someone other than who we are, playing pretend, and having people pay attention to that and then applaud you for it. Of course, this is only what the surface impression will give you of the art of theatre...that it's all a show, and no matter how willing to 'suspend your disbelief' the performances encourage you to be in their duration, you come back to your senses when the curtain closes...get up from your seat and go home to a seat you already know. But it's quite a ride, right? An escape of sorts...one good enough to pay for, usually.

Still, under the surface of the show, there is a variety of verity to inspire us to BE and inspire us to DO whatever it is in one's own life that needs inspiration. These are principals I teach...sometimes by telling, but always by doing and being...showing my words.