Hello From Rhode Island!
With Mercury slowing down, about to turn retrograde on January 28th at 24
Aquarius, and Mars slowing down, about to go direct on January 30th at
25 Gemini, is it any wonder that I can't get online with my wireless
connection while I'm here in Rhode Island? Both Gemini and Aquarius
are Air signs, concerned with communication, socializing, networking
and technology. And it really made the Patriots play-off game touch and go!
This
Tuesday, January 22, the Full Moon in Leo is opposite the Sun in
Aquarius. Leo and Aquarius are the signs most concerned with our
individual consciousness and group consciousness - more specifically,
our creativity and how it affects the group consciousness.
This Full Moon calls us to see our special gifts and talents and how we
use our creativity for the betterment of our society or our group.
Think 'outside the box' about how your talents and gifts can be used to
educate and energize our fearful society.
The Sun enters Aquarius on Sunday, January 20th, shining its
light through the sign of group consciousness, higher ideals and
inventive, revolutionary ideas. Are you still looking for a group to
work with? Or are you thinking of volunteering your time? What are
your creative gifts? The Moon in Leo will let you know instinctively
what it is you love. Now combine what you love with what you believe
in and see how your gifts can help someone else. We are in the last
few days of Pluto's stay in Sagittarius (well, except for when it
retrogrades back this summer) and it's time to stand up for our beliefs
and trust that Spirit has a plan for all of us. We just have to listen
inside and then go out into the world and spread the Light.
Speaking of Light, we are almost at the cross-quarter holiday
of Candlemas/Imbolc - better know to us as Groundhog Day. 6 weeks
after the Winter Solstice, we can see the change in the amount of light
that is available to us. We begin to feel that Spring and Summer,
growth and consciousness, is returning to the Northern Hemisphere. We
also catch a glimpse of what we are going to manifest in our lives this
year - a new consciousness, a new creativity, a sense of purpose and
direction. If you'd like to read a Candlemas story that speaks to this
aspect of the Wheel of the Year, please check out: www.starofthebards.com, then click on Fairy Tales, and then click on the Candlemas story.
The
Sun, the giver of Light, in Aquarius is joined by Mercury, Neptune and
the North Node (our collective destiny path which just moved out of its
year-long stay in Pisces) as well as the asteroids Chiron and Vesta.
This combination of energies tells us the ability to focus on accessing
higher wisdom to help heal our problems is our collective destiny. The
Leo Moon reflects back this Light through the filter of its qualities
of generosity, warmth, leadership and individuation - individual
consciousness and creativity.
We need new ideas, new energies, new vision. And each of us must do our part and contribute.
The Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon:
Sun at 2 Aquarius: An unexpected thunderstorm. The need to develop the inner security which will enable us to meet unexpected crises.
Moon at 2 Leo: An epidemic of mumps.
The spreading power of individual crises through a collectivity.
This
full moon speaks to our times. The collective atmosphere is full of
uncertainty, worry, fear, anger. And yet, there is also the hope of change. People are
losing their homes, can't pay their bills; some are facing unspeakable
illnesses. Everyone is catching the flu. People are losing their
jobs. Americans want change but do they have a vision of what that
change will entail - both personally and collectively? Is anyone speaking of personal responsibility,
sacrifice, creative vision and working together?
That just might be
our job as this full moon's energy enters our collective energetic
field. To help people develop their own sense of security as our
culture enters into a time of crisis. Of course, that means that you
have to develop that inner sense of security yourself. That's Pluto's
last gift to us from Sagittarius - to set us firmly in our truth, and
our belief, that there is a higher order of consciousness that has more
power than our collective belief in materialism and consumerism and
individualism (which is totally different from being a conscious human
being!).
On January 22, 12 hours after the Full Moon, Mercury joins
Neptune at 21 Aquarius, opening up our intuition and heightening our
idealism. With Mercury going retrograde on January 28th, it will
conjunct Neptune three times this Winter (retrograding on February 2
and moving direct on March 9) and keep us open to higher Wisdom,
encourage thinking outside the box and keep us committed to finding
alliances that are mutually beneficial.
On January 23, Venus joins Pluto at the last degree of
Sagittarius, deepening our commitment to our values - truth, beauty,
love - helping us to deeply listen to what we believe in. We will take
this truth with us through the coming year as Venus goes around the
Zodiac and meets up with other planets - both the ones in the sky and
the ones in our birth charts.
And now for the BIG news. Pluto, which has been in the sign
of Sagittarius since 1995, will change signs on January 25th. It will
begin its journey through the sign of Capricorn this year - (going back
into Sagittarius from the end of June to the end of November) - where
it will stay until 2024. As mentioned in past newsletters, Pluto is
the evolutionary energy that gets rid of what is no longer needed or
useful. If something has outlived its purpose, Pluto brings it up into
consciousness so we can let it go. In Sagittarius, Pluto brought up
the dirt on religion, government, the Law - any of the big systems of
thought and belief. We now know how badly in need of rebirth are our
religious beliefs, our laws, our educational philosophy. Many of us
have realized that we need to strengthen our belief in our Spiritual
path, and practice the spiritual disciplines which help us unite body,
mind and spirit. (Saturn in Virgo will help here!)
With Pluto in Capricorn, we'll get a chance to change the structure of
these systems. But first, Pluto brings up the Shadow of the sign it
transits through. The Shadow of Capricorn is the Tyrant and the Victim
archetypes. Will we continue to allow our government to act the tyrant
in the world and in America? Are we helpless victims of corporations
and governments? We always have a choice - perhaps we need to exercise
our free will and stop being the consumers that we are expected to be. We need to create a better system ourselves by turning off our
TVs, shutting off our cell phones, and talking with 'real' people about
working together and stopping America's slide into corporate
mindlessness.
But first, we'll run into resistance, since the
powers-that-be won't want to give up their control. Capricorn is an
earth sign that deals with collective resources and corporations,
institutions and governments. It governs society as a whole and how we
contribute to it. Pluto in Capricorn will transform, reform, and
reassess these institutions, as well as our sense of borders and
boundaries, our ideas of property and resource rights. We will also be
reassessing societal norms - types of marriage, the empowerment of
blacks and women and minorities, immigration issues, mindless
consumerism and our sense of work. Perhaps we will soon see a black or
a woman president? We will reconsider the issues of wealth
distribution, the environment, civil rights, aging, corporate rights,
and our sense of social responsibility. These next 16 years will
continue the dialogue of the two energies that were in play on 9/11 -
Saturn opposite Pluto. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn - an energy that fosters fear,
limitations, structures, patriarchy, as well as responsibility and
discipline - and Pluto will continue to dig up the dirt on the secrets
our government wants us to ignore. Our job as engaged citizens will be
to demand the changes that are needed to get America to live up to its
own ideals.
Pluto has an orbit of 248 years - it takes that long to get
back to the same place. Pluto has not been in Capricorn since November
1762 - December 1778. This is the time that saw the Boston Tea Party
(rebelling against Corporations) and the American Revolution; the
confiscation of church lands in Russia, the abolition of the
Inquisition in France, the first circumnavigation of the Earth and the
beginning of the industrial revolution. Since Pluto was not discovered
until 1930, this will be the first time that we are conscious of
Pluto's energy in Capricorn. We need another American Revolution - one
that will go back to the original intentions of our Founding Fathers
(who turned to the Founding Mothers of the Iroquois nation for many of
our concepts of government.) This time we have to do it right!
And so we need to pay attention while Mercury and Neptune interact in
Aquarius so that we have a vision to offer people about the changes
that are possible.
There will be much more to say about Pluto in Capricorn, but I'll leave
that for another day. I just want to end by saying that the first
degree of Capricorn corresponds to the Winter Solstice - the rebirth of
the Divine Sun. The most important relationship we need to develop is
the relationship to our spiritual Self. During these next years, if
we're to complete the work of transforming the world, we must first
commit ourselves to a deep relationship to our souls. After that,
anything is possible.
As always, pay attention to your dreams, especially for the next few
months while Mercury and Neptune dance together. Write them down as
soon as you wake up - keep a journal just for dreams by your bedside! -
and try to think about their meaning during the day. If they're too
complicated, call me and set up an appointment. Your dreams will tell
you more about your life and goals than you will ever know.
An astrology reading is also a good way to see your self from another perspective. The heavens do echo our inner life!
Enjoy yourself this full moon. It's a good time to socialize and have fun.
Cathy Pagano
310-741-7013