New Moon in Leo: Emanating the Sacred Fire into Conscious Creation

New Moon in Leo:  Emanating the Sacred Fire into Conscious Creation

Moon conjunct Sun @ 4:46am CDT, 7-23-17

Coming in like a lion, this New Moon begins in conjunction with Mars, planet of action and desire, at the beginning of Leo.  Leo is the sign of solar energy, generously generating life on Earth through its warmth and illumination.  The Sacred Masculine is spotlighting where we, as a collective, need to focus our healing fire.  Mars is the Warrior aspect of the Divine Masculine, and this archetype can range from the Peaceful Warrior to the Destroyer.  With this energy ushering us into a new lunar month (The Green Corn Moon), it may start off with a bang in many ways.  To begin this phase, issues may arise that illuminate our expressions of anger, where we draw the line with our boundaries, and how we conquer whatever seeks to destroy us.

It is becoming more and more prevalent in modern spiritual communities to polarize anger into the ‘negative’ or ‘dark’ category of energies.  This is misguided, as it leads only to repression and eventual, unconscious eruption.  Let me be clear, feeling angry does not make you less spiritual.  What you do with anger is important.  Anger is not meant to be the action, but the inspiration.  Whatever pushes our rage buttons or triggers an angry outburst, look closer.  It is the key in the ignition of positive action.  Channel that fire into an inner drive to create better outcomes, and you’ve got the solar power to get to your next destination. 

With such fiery energy guiding us into this new phase, we must remember that there is as much creative energy to this element as there is destructive energy…and that, as the story of life and death goes, creativity and destruction are a symbiotic partnership.  Tap into what you can now create, and consciously put your inner fire to work.  Channel the Sun’s projective power into creative outlets and projects.  Rather than react to distractions, act on attraction.

Sun/Moon in Leo 1:  “Blood rushes to a man’s head as his vital energies are mobilized under the spur of ambition”

In this first degree of Leo, the Sabian Symbol refers to the individual experience of energy rising from the heart to the head.  Essentially, in a creative sense, our heart’s desire comes to mind and seeks conscious manifestation.  Or, in a destructive sense, the wrath that arises from a wounded heart starts a wildfire within…and the heat rises to the mind, creating a chain reaction of destructive thoughts.  The original wording of this symbol gives more clues into the destructive aspect of this energy:  “a case of apoplexy”.  Apoplexy is unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from cerebral hemorrhage or stroke.  But apoplexy also has a more informal definition as an incapacity or speechlessness caused by extreme anger.  In either definition, the result is incapacity in some form if we’re not careful with this energy.  The different descriptions of this symbol present a choice.  Will we intentionally focus this trailblazing force of bio-psychic energy into ambitious creative pursuits, or will we leave it unattended…resulting in a conflagration of disastrous effects?

The way this New Moon energy manifests in our individual lives will largely depend on what energy we are currently holding in our hearts before it rushes to our heads.  Are we holding space for love and gratitude in our heart center?  Or are we holding onto damaging feelings of fear, lack, jealousy, rage, revenge, or hatred?  Let the healing fire within purify your heart center during this dark moon transition...and release.  No matter how broken you may feel, that sacred flame is eternal.  Whatever you hold in your heart right now (be it radiant love or a towering inferno)…it is bound to spread…first to the mind, then out into the world around us.  As within, so without.

Mars in Leo 2:  “An epidemic of mumps”

And so along comes Mars, named after the God of War, to spread the individual experience to the collective.  Interestingly, there quite literally has been (in the past couple of years) an epidemic of mumps resurfacing.  The vast majority of those individuals infected were vaccinated with the live attenuated virus vaccine (which can both mutate and shed to others)…raising the question of the MMR vaccine’s effectiveness, and reigniting the fight over whether it does more harm than good.  And in that question, there is a war…and it is likely that each of you reading this is on one side or the other…though there are many who have little idea there is a battle going on at all.  Paul “For Profit” Offit, one of the people most feverishly promoting mandatory vaccinations in the U.S., told FOX Business this year, “Could you make a better mumps vaccine which has no side effects and has better protection? I think that you could, but it would probably be a two-decade long effort and it would mean a company like Merck, which is the sole manufacturer in the United States, will essentially be competing against themselves -- so I don’t see that happening. I think the more likely scenario is that you give out a third dose of the current vaccine at 11 or 13 years of age.”  Of course, that third dose has been tried and failed…so the unanswered questions continue to fly.

Timely as this decades-old symbol is in our modern age, it would be missing the point to take it literally (though we can’t rule out another epidemic of mumps occurring this year, since it was still going on throughout the beginning of 2017).  What this symbol means to bring to our attention is the spreading of panic fear (and, with Mars’s influence, the spreading of heated emotions, vitriol, and war-like behavior as a reaction).   Fear is what is underlying it all…fear that we, too, might succumb to the worst of the potentially harmful effects of the ‘apoplexy’ degree our luminaries are bringing to light.  Those acting (or reacting) unconsciously to perceived threats are quick to point the finger of blame at any easy target, unwittingly pointing three more fingers back at themselves.  Those who are conscious of these energetic undertones have a better chance of ‘immunity’ to the disease of fear that might seem to run rampant in their environment (or, at least, they will be asymptomatic or only mildly put out by it).  This becoming conscious of what’s spreading is the key…and it starts with inner examination.  Examining it in the light of consciousness allows us to create our ‘antibodies’ of resistance. 

Since my own medicine has much to do with finding the gifts within our wounds, this symbol draws me into the nature of viruses to recognize their strengths…so that we may recognize the mirror they hold to our own.  Little is scientifically known about the evolution of viruses, but we can recognize a co-evolutionary relationship between viruses and their living hosts.  We can easily understand that viral microbes cannot multiply on their own, but need to inject their genetic material into living cells in order to replicate and mutate.  But it is less recognized in the general population that viruses both build our immune systems and contribute to our own evolutionary change.  What can we learn from them besides fear? 

During epidemics, viruses evolve.  So must we. 

The epidemic is fear (I know, many of us are so fed up with the “idiocracy” that it would seem the epidemic is stupidity…but whoever truly benefitted from riding the high horse?  It goes deeper than ignorance…though it does mutate through many forms).  Fear seeks to evolve through replication and mutation throughout multiple hosts.  Try watching/reading mainstream news (or any current events) without feeling affected by this or that scary thing mentioned.  It’s hard to do…no matter how desensitized you’ve become.  Something will likely evoke anger in you, at least.  For many who try not to appear emotional, anger disguises itself as acceptable…it is too forceful to be ‘delicate’, so it can look like strength (and it can be, as long as it’s used properly).   I tend to see all well-directed emotions as strengths, but I might just be a ‘snowflake’.  Side note:  I really love snowflakes, so I don’t mind being called that.

Anyway, so the fear epidemic spreads in rapid fire mutations through all these other emotions, and seems to shed longest through anger because it is often well-disguised there to many.  Going back to the beginning of what I mentioned about anger though…”it is the key in the ignition of positive action”.  Anger forces us to make necessary changes.  Like the viral infection changes and adapts, so should we with regards to our various strains of fear.  Examine your own anger, and you can better fight off the inflammatory nature of the epidemic it feeds.

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi


P.S. While finishing up and posting this, I found that friends were posting things along the same theme.  Two in particular (Martha and Clive) posted writings that specifically examine the nature of anger and panic, respectively.  I decided to provide links, with their permission, so that anyone who needs more help diving into those feelings has some solid guidelines.

First, in examining anger, Martha Dunlop asked psychotherapist Judith Leary-Joyce for her advice in her post "Anger- The Key to Power and Drive".

And in examining panic, Clive Treadwell wrote of his own experience in both exploring and managing his panic attacks in his article for Rebelle Society called "In Praise of Panic Attacks".

Full Moon in Capricorn: Cycles of Covering and Uncovering

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Full Moon in Capricorn:  Cycles of Covering and Uncovering

Moon opposite Sun @ 11:06pm CDT, 7-8-17

The Blessing Moon this year may be bringing its blessings in disguise.  Chiron brought out the wounds of separation in our world last weekend after stationing retrograde.  He teaches the healing journey, and often times that means that old wounds must be uncovered, addressed, and redressed.  The deeper the wounds, the deeper we must dive within those depths to discover the root of what is slowing the healing process.  Accompanying this Pandora’s Box of Healing, shadows break loose from the restraints where once we kept them.

Enter the Full Moon, squared by Jupiter and conjunct the opposition from Mars in Cancer to Pluto in Capricorn.  This is a theme of covering and uncovering…and a call for the balance between, best as we can manage.  But seek perfection during this full moon, and you are likely to be faced with limitations.  A better use of the energy is to stay humble, and accept that what ever covers your back and whatever truth you can uncover is more than enough to sustain you through hard times.  Looking through the lens of lack is ill advised, though may be sharply unavoidable for many.  Be patient with your fellow humans.  Healing takes its own time.  I’m naturally a glass half full guide, so I always hope that writing about the astrological energies arising better prepares us for dealing with them as each test comes up. 

Jupiter is similarly an optimistic teacher.  But even still, he is feeling the brunt of the T-Square of this Full Moon…absorbing some heavy hits from the apex of this stressful configuration.  Even in an agitated state, he still means to impart blessings of social harmony and a balanced perspective from his position in Libra, sign of partnership.  Jupiter in Libra is the energy of the Diplomat, and when trying to find balance between oppositions…we are lucky to have those negotiation skills to draw upon.  However, Jupiter has a way of expanding things and increasing them.  So be careful of the tendency, under this combination of energies, to exacerbate wounds or create mountains from molehills.

This theme of coverage and discovery brought up by our luminaries on this specific Cancer-Capricorn axis happens to be one that also plays out in my own life.  The Sun and Moon are exacting their Full Moon opposition on the same degrees of my natal North and South Nodal axis (Soul’s Growth and Soul’s Knowledge).  Since I love to teach, I feel it’s important to show the best way I know to learn astrology:  Get to know your natal chart.  Following the transits to your own natal chart is the easiest way to understanding how these energies can play out.  You are your most available case study, after all.

So, check out your natal chart and see where the luminaries of this full moon are transiting (as well as the other major players mentioned below).  What houses are they in and are they making any aspects to anything in your natal chart?  This full moon is activating my nodal axis in the 3^rd and 9^th Houses (Houses of Communication and Higher Learning) while Jupiter at the Apex of the T-Square is in my 6^th House (House of Health and Daily Service) conjunct my natal Saturn Retrograde.  And since my Aries Sun-Mercury conjunction in my 12^th House (House of the Unconscious) is opposite this Jupiter transit to my natal Saturn, this Full Moon is activating my own Cardinal Grand Cross…which pushes me to find my center between double oppositions. 

None of that really makes much difference to you (and for many, it’s probably a confusing paragraph)…but I bring these things up to highlight how knowing your own natal chart is a useful skill to learn when you want to work more consciously with the cosmic energies that are guiding us along our Earth Walk.  Believe it or not, these energies play out in our lives anyway.  Understanding more about them goes a long way in aiding the choices we make as well as in bringing us to the best possible outcomes.

So here is more detail on what the Full Moon is bringing us to work with…

Moon in the 18^th Degree of Capricorn:  The Union Jack Flag Flies from a British Warship

This symbol refers to times in the past when Great Britain’s fleet was policing the seas under the international principal of 'the freedom of the seas'.  It is symbolic of any sense of protection one seeks from belonging to a powerful political or social group, patrolling borders and defining boundaries (guarding your territory), the necessity of responsibility and reliability when overseeing an ‘empire’, nationalism, the ruling elite, and/or war games.  Issues with the government often come up when this degree is highlighted.  Be aware that there may be artificial shows of strength and strong-arm tactics involved.  It is likely that people will be pitted against each other.  The deeper symbolism behind this degree is an issue of coverage…in such oppositional times, are you covered? 

Here in the states, the healthcare issue has many people uneasy as more and more millions of people are projected to be uninsured if Trumpcare goes into effect.  Here’s an example of where people are pitted against each other…in Obamacare vs. Trumpcare debates.  While there are some major differences (especially in how the poor, elderly, female, or those with pre-existing conditions are cast aside…and on the flip side, how prescription drug costs become more affordable)…the real problem is actually inherent in both systems since it’s the same template…both are corporate-care, both are written by an insurance company executive, and both completely revolve around insurance company profits.  Meanwhile, those of us presenting the solution of single-payer healthcare are left having to wait for the realities of this current system to get so bad that we can all finally admit that actual progressive ideas are in the people’s best interests.  Okay, there’s my South Lunar Node being transited…going off on a political rant while I’m trying to clarify a point. 

The point is, this Full Moon may take us to extremes of emotions on what we think we need in order to be safe, protected, and covered…so be sure you’re not just flying a flag for those that don’t actually care what happens to you.  In a more personal sense, consider the ways in which you cover yourself…are you hiding vulnerability behind an outward show of strength?  If so, are you conscious of your reasoning?  Where does your real power reside?  Are you using it with compassion…or is it being repressed and expressed in ways that revolve around control?  Issues of power, control, group identity, and social disintegration are likely to come into play. 

Of course, keep in mind that I have a natal tie to this degree which inclines me to ‘move away from’ a sort of “soul crutch” in this symbol…so the interpretation is somewhat colored in an ‘I’m over it’ light.  Bright side of this degree, then?  Belonging.  Camaraderie.  Being prepared for battle.  Political Power.  Authority.  Law and Order.  Supervision.  Running a ‘tight ship’. 

Additionally, keep in mind that Pluto is conjunct the Moon, just one degree away…so their energies combine in powerful ways.  Slow moving as the outer planets are, Pluto is still in the same degree it was in during the full moon last month:  Capricorn 19, “A child carrying a huge shopping bag”.  This is what I already wrote about that energy (which now applies in an even bigger way at this full moon):  “In this degree of Capricorn, Pluto carries a heavy load of transformative energy…This is an energy of accelerated growth…where the child is carrying out responsibilities even before fully developing in effort to help out.  Essentially, you may not feel ready to be of service in the way that you want to…but situations will still arise to prove to you that you are ready to grow quickly into whatever role is calling you.  Don’t hold yourself back because you don’t have degrees and experience…take on the experience as it comes.  Maybe it’s that you’re afraid to do something on your own.  The truth is, you can.  This is not a time to stay comfortably where we’ve always been operating…it’s a time to break out of routine and try something new.”  Last month, this energy was more subtle, but applied most to primary partnerships.  This time, the energy is dynamic, and applies more to social obligations and responsibilities within group dynamics.

Sun in the 18^th Degree of Cancer:  A Hen Scratching the Ground to Find Nourishment for Her Chicks

For those of you that know me well, how ironic is it that the degree of my North Lunar Node (which represents my soul’s growth, or what I’m moving toward) has chicken imagery?  Interestingly, out of all the sabian symbols of all 360 degrees…there are only four degrees described by symbols with chickens in them...and I have two in my natal chart.  The other one is Libra 7, “a woman feeding chickens and protecting them from hawks” which is the degree that Mars was retrograde in when I was born.  For those of you who don’t know me well, I had a traumatic experience with a rooster at a young age…and am still working through an irrational fear of chickens to this day.  It’s my shadow totem, and I’m working on embracing it.  I have already embraced my obvious ‘Mother Hen’ side…it’s the flashy projection of the Rooster I’m still trying to discover in positive ways.

Side note:  It is no accident that I’m not editing out these personal tangents (even though I keep wanting to).  In an astrological climate revolving around themes of covering and uncovering…I figure I may as well reveal more of the weirdness behind the writer.  My “soul’s growth” points me in the direction of this degree of ‘uncovering’, after all.  It's my south node, what my soul has already mastered and what I no longer need to focus on, that makes me want to edit out what's personal to me so that I can stream-line things and 'keep a tight ship'.  That orderliness is not really who I am in this life...so, you get a bunch of rough draft chicken scratch thrown in the mix. 

So, back to the Mother Hen symbol…it’s more about familial responsibilities than the Moon-Pluto focus on socio-political obligations.  Here we have Mama showing her babies how to uncover what will nourish and sustain them as they grow.  She is both Detective and Teacher here, not only Provider and Caregiver.  It’s a nod to the ‘Teach a man to fish” adage, where we take on the role of Guide as our gift to others…so they may learn the survival skills that will be self-sustaining later.

The difference between these two degrees highlighted by our luminaries is obvious…one is a statement of global authority upon a heavily armed, impressively constructed ship of the line for the Royal Navy.  The other is a pasture hen teaching her chicks to forage off the land.  One is elite, the other is rustic.  One is backed by plenty of money, the other is surviving by making ends meet.  One commands the seas, the other commands…maybe a few chicks, at most.  Even more revealing though is that one is impersonal and the other is personal.  But the similarity is that they are both symbols of responsibility and survival, and some degree of protection…and that is where we find the balance between the opposing energies.  How are we balancing our responsibilities between our private lives and our public lives?  What survival skills are we learning and teaching in each of these areas?  Are they sustainable?  How are we protecting those that are under our care?

The Sun is also conjunct Mars (though not as close a conjunction as Moon and Pluto, it is still within the orb of conjunction at 5 degrees apart).  Cancer 23 is one of my favorite degrees for its symbol of “the meeting of a literary society”.  It suggests the coming together of ideas, and the consideration of other people’s viewpoints in discussion.  Like the Moon’s degree, it refers to belonging to a group with shared goals.  And like the Sun’s degree, it has a similar feel of revealing and uncovering deeper meaning and nourishment (of the mind, in this case).  Mars inspires our passions, desires, and actions…and points us, during this Full Moon, toward the sharing of information and ideas.  Linked to the Mother Hen degree, we must be conscious of what we’re teaching our children…and, similarly, writers are just as responsible for feeding the minds of future generations of readers.  In our modern age, this symbol extends to other forms of information exchange as well…including mainstream and social media, podcasts, talk radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.  In a heavy astrological climate, we may feel censored, either by holding back to keep the peace or by societal standards.  Things may also get overly critical in heated discussion (Mars likes to bring the heat, and in a water sign…things can reach a boiling point if we’re not careful). Similarly, we need to be aware of divisive propaganda in the media.  We also don’t want to fall into the lower expression of being ‘all talk, no action’…or of excluding others who may not meet a certain intellectual criteria.  However, I like to consider that the symbol of the literary society meeting brings together great, creative minds that both move in unison with society as well as help to shape it into more meaningful form and content.  With these two Cancer degrees combined…I think to one of my favorite movies, “Dead Poet’s Society”.  Robin Williams’ character would be like the Mother Hen, and his students are the chicks.  He’s guiding them to find their courage and passion for life so that they reach beyond their struggles and reveal their own unique potential within the human race. 

Jupiter in the 15^th Degree of Libra:  Circular Paths

Jupiter squares the Moon-Sun opposition to create a dynamic aspect pattern called a T-Square.  Jupiter is the apex planet, meaning that the stress of the opposition gets focused here.  This symbol of ‘circular paths’ may manifest in feelings of traveling in circles and coming right back to where we’ve been before.  There may be a Déjà vu element present this weekend.  These could be cycles of growth or of stagnation.  If we’re falling into addictive patterns, we may just be spinning in circles and getting nowhere.  However, if we’re learning and growing along these circular paths, we’re coming back to where we began with a whole new set of tools and skills we didn’t have before…allowing us to break free of certain cycles we’ve outgrown.  Try not to get lost in the details of life’s labyrinth…there is a bigger picture here that Jupiter is highlighting.  Allow the cosmic rhythms to guide you back to your center.  Each of us is on our path, precisely where we need to be.  Where ever you find yourself this weekend will provide the experience you need to learn something new about your journey.  

Blessings to you on this Blessing Moon!

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi