Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2009, a 2-year that will see us cooperating more and looking to find partners to collaborate with and bring more love into our lives.
We also welcome in the first of 5 SuperMoons on January 10-11, with the Cancer Full Moon. SuperMoons occur when the Moon is closest to the Earth as well as when the Sun, Earth and Moon align. Look for intense gravitational forces that pull in stronger tides, wilder weather and deeper psychic intuitions.
Full moons occur when the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs and this month those signs are Capricorn and Cancer, the 'parental' signs of the zodiac. Cancer/the Moon represents the Mother while Capricorn/Saturn represents the Father. At this full Moon, the Moon sextiles Saturn, so these two ruling planets are working well together like loving parents, provoking new insights into what needs to grow and change, both in our lives and in our society. Growth needs Love. Change takes Will and Discipline.
Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and we can see the full power of the Moon's ebb and flow. The sign that rules the feminine luminary of our heavens speaks to us of constant change that comes through the need for nurturing and the need to release. It is the living power of the cycle of birth, growth, decay and death, followed by rebirth. The moon rules our emotional, intellectual and spiritual responses to the circumstances of our lives.
Depending on what sign your Moon is in, it represents the unique needs that ground you in the world and make you feel secure. Cancer moon is a cardinal water sign, and you'll find it urging you to relax and take a bath, or it will have you cooking soup for your depressed friend. Cancer actively supports creativity – yours, mine or ours. She's the best mom in the world! Which means she sets up rules so you grow right.
With Pluto's entrance into Capricorn, we can finally be certain that the old King ... the rule of the 'fathers' ... the old corporate structures ... the deadening social corruption ... is dying. Will this old king hang onto his privileges as our world turns into a wasteland, or will he sacrifice himself (as is his duty) on the Summer Tree for his people and the land? Or will others come along willing to offer themselves for the renewal of the land, and in doing so, become a channel for spiritual evolution? The next 16 years will show us how we intend to evolve our vision of society and our responsibility to it. Will we create a more peaceful, just and loving world or will we continue to create war and death for the benefit of the few? This is Capricorn's spiritual purpose. Pluto wants to renew it.
The deep power of the Cancer Moon is needed this full Moon. The Moon in Cancer reaches out to Capricorn as a loving mother and says, do not be afraid! Death is nothing to fear. True freedom comes with change. That's the way life here on Earth is meant to be lived. The Seasons mark the basic rhythms and patterns of life. The Star Patterns tell us about the spiritual vision we are here to manifest through those life patterns. The Sun gives us the will, courage and strength to manifest our spiritual destiny. And the Moon gives us the ability to reflect on our lives and make choices based on our instincts, our intuitions and our feelings.
The Moon's values are just as important to life as are the Sun's. Perhaps more important, since we've been living in a culture that elevates solar consciousness – intellect, reason, facts – above lunar consciousness – feelings, intuitions and instincts. We need to balance this masculine consciousness with feminine wisdom if we're to solve our collective problems. Devaluing the Moon's consciousness has led us to the dead-end belief that death is the end of everything. And we're making it happen before our eyes.
So this Full Moon in Cancer is the Mother Moon, and it wants to love and nurture and feed our Capricorn structures. But here's the catch. Only if those structures are viable and vibrant. Our Capricorn culture needs new life, and the Cancer Moon Mother knows which children/new possibilities/ new ideas to nurture and which to gather back into her womb to be reborn at another time in another way. Life is never wasted in Nature. Only humans have invented a way to end life's cycles. We fear death so much that we create it all around us – our governments continue to go to war, our corporations kill the earth to get to resources, and our business practices poison our food, our water and our air.
The Capricorn New Moon on December 27th was conjunct (joined with) Pluto and Mars, stating very clearly that death and rebirth is on the agenda for this new year. Death is the demon we have to face and transform. We have become so cut off from our instinctual nature that we think of death as a negative, as something to fear. And we've created whole industries to foster that fear as we get older. But Death itself is just a release, an instinctual need to let go of what is no longer viable. Once we let die what is already dead, we have room in us for new life. (Like cleaning out your closets of 20-year-old clothes that you really will never wear again.)
Transforming this old collective attitude about Death takes on a deeper dimension when we see it played out in our social structures, because it is our fear of Death that keeps our society from moving forward into a different vision of life. Our government and corporate structures operate on the premise that they are 'immortal' – they might have to make accommodations for changing times, but they have no intention of really changing their policies or giving up their power.
Only an educated and enlightened citizenry can force the change. Educate yourself about the Feminine spirit of life, which calls us to come back to a basic understanding of life before we succeed in killing ourselves off.
This Cancer Full Moon lights us up so we can give our attention, our love and our energy to the dharma we are here for. Each of us has something that we can do to contribute to our world. This full Moon is the time to really find out what it is. And start to nurture it.
There's an interesting configuration in the sky this full Moon called a mystic rectangle: there are two oppositions - the Sun and the Moon, and Saturn and Uranus - whose ends form sextiles and trines to each other. It forms a rectangle in the sky with the two oppositions potentially bringing us awareness and illumination so we can combine our intelligence and creativity to resolve the problems facing us. Dane Rudhyar calls it 'practical mysticism'.
Saturn, the Sun and the Moon work together to make you aware of what you really want and what you need to do to get it. This is a very good aspect for getting in shape – body, mind and spirit. Or for figuring out how to make your business grow in these confusing times.
Meanwhile, Uranus, the Moon and the Sun are also working together. Uranus opens us to spiritual, imaginative ideas which support the new direction Capricorn senses is coming its way. What if our current 'reality' is only one of many? What happens when we get out of fear and look at the world through the lenses of love and creativity? What if peace is really more powerful than war and we all took steps to ensure that we have a peaceful world? We would be learning to think outside the box!
Instead of dieting, try to feel what really nurtures you – what foods, music, stories, people, work energize you. Instead of worrying about how to pay the bills, think about what talents you have and how to share them with the world. Ask spirit to provide what you need – it might only be 'just enough' but it will take you to the next stage. Take in what's healthy for you and give your gifts out to the world. Create a positive energy exchange between inner and outer, self and other, microcosm and macrocosm.
The Sabian symbols for these planets are:
Sun at 22 Capricorn: A general accepting defeat gracefully.
Moon at 22 Cancer: A young woman awaiting a sailboat.
Saturn at 22 Virgo: A royal coat of arms enriched with precious stones.
Uranus at 20 Pisces: A table set for an evening meal.
The Sun says to us: this General who accepts defeat gracefully is a proven warrior. He realizes that his plan of action did not work. But he still has his self-worth and his noble nature. What new thing has he learned?
The Moon says: Reflect on this defeat. Where do you have to go next? Perhaps like the young woman, you must wait for the sailboat and let the winds of fate take you to the next stage of your life. What are you longing for? It's a good time to dream big! When we feel defeated by life, it just means that one dream has died. Let another be born.
Saturn says: Our royal/spiritual nature demands that we live up to our values (precious stones). When we take ourselves seriously as spiritual beings, we have to put our values at the center of our consciousness to make the right choices for ourselves.
Uranus says: Come to the comic table and eat. Like the Grail table, if we are living our deepest values, we will be nurtured by the food we desire most.
These four energies work together to show us we can make new choices about our lives. That's a good story to start this year off right.
Jupiter moved into the sign of Aquarius yesterday, January 5th. On the 11th day of Christmas, Jupiter maked his appearance as the archetypal Santa Claus, bringing expansive possibilities and visions to the 11th sign of of the Zodiac, Aquarius.
After a year working with Capricorn's energies, Jupiter leaves behind the decay of our social structures. Our infrastructure is breaking down, our economic structures are tottering, and our national moral fabric is in shreds. Jupiter seems to have had a rare old time in Capricorn! Jupiter expands anything it touches, for good or ill.
Now Jupiter takes on Aquarius, the sign of high ideals, world unity and technological advances. Jung said that the age of the water bearer would be an age when the contents of the collective unconscious are poured out for humanity to see and deal with.
So what do we know about the biggest planet in our solar system? In mythology, Jupiter is curious, he constantly pushes his energy into unknown territory. He is the King of the Gods. Zeus, Jupiter's Greek counterpart, spends quite a bit of his time seducing maidens and goddesses. He is attracted to feelings and intuitions, to passion and love. His attributes are the thunderbolt and the aegis.
The aegis was Zeus' protective shield and was either borrowed from or given to his daughter Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Zeus is said to have used the skin of the goat Amalthea (aigis "goat-skin") which suckled him in Crete, as a shield when he went forth to do battle against the titans. This goat goddess was symbolized by 'Amalthea's horn' which is the cornucopia, the symbol of inexhaustible riches. So Zeus is protected by the source of inexhaustible riches. To be "under someone's aegis" means doing something under protection of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. So getting in touch with our 'inner Jupiter' this year might be a good idea for all of us. 'Ask and you shall receive' is sage advice from this planet, because it uses the energy of belief to guard and guide us.
Which takes us back to Jupiter in Aquarius. That curious, protective, lucky, expansive, all powerful energy is going to explore Aquarius from top to bottom this next year. Aquarius is the sign of humanity, of equality and diversity, of community as well as globalism, of innovation and societal reform. Look for all things quirky and original. It's time to find your special uniqueness. It's a good time to reform your life and rebel against constrictions. As a fixed air sign, Aquarius is the home of humanity's ideals and spiritual destiny. The possibilities are endless and the sky's the limit when Jupiter moves into Aquarius.
Jupiter came very close to being a second sun for our solar system, which accounts for its lucky nature. Jupiter has a 12 year cycle and I'm about to have my Jupiter return, the end of a 12-year cycle of expansion and the beginning of a new one. Who else has Jupiter in Aquarius? Obama for one. This bodes well for his first year in office. For anyone else, this is our year to expand our horizons. What will you discover?
We'll talk more about Jupiter in the months ahead, because Jupiter joins Chiron and Neptune as well as the North Node in Aquarius this year, and all three planets will meet up in May and June 2009 on America's Aquarian Moon around 27 Aquarius.
Mercury turns retrograde the morning after the Full Moon, double-checking that he has all the information he needs to move forward with his plans. Take time for yourself and finish up old business so you can be ready to rock once February roles in. Just in time for Candlemas.
Book a reading with Cathy and find out what 2009 will bring you. Go to www.wisdom-of-astrology.com for information and prices.
Or call for a session to clarify what your dreams are telling you. Go to www.imaginecoachingservices.com for information and prices.
Check out my Dream Blog at: http://www.astrology.com/
Cathy Pagano
310-741-7013