Renegotiating Power :: Full Moon in Scorpio - May 10th, 2017
Scorpio is intense, subterranean, powerful, sexy, mysterious. The moon here brings our emotional awareness towards the shadows. This is a week to notice reactivity and the ways we respond to threats of change or loss. Do we cling to the past and fear the future? Do we latch onto fantasies and forget what we’ve come from? Do we celebrate life by gripping to it or by relaxing into its cycles and seasons?
Scorpio is fixed water. It rules the kinds of emotions that pull you in and pull you down. The ones that are hard to let go of, and that ultimately transform you. Image by Janna Dorothy
The aspect this full moon makes to Pluto and Juno presents a choice as to whether we’ll grasp with fear and get co-opted by our own instincts to control, or whether we’ll choose instead to create new structures based on mutual respect and cooperation. Mars, Scorpio's classical ruling planet, is momentarily caught in a space of indecision. The pull towards habit and addiction now is becoming much more apparent. But just because we see something doesn't mean it's easy to make a change. The tendency to blur fact and fiction is strong – we need to watch for making more out of our feelings than they warrant. Let the full moon pass before you make the big decisions, but during these few days stay awake to who is acting with integrity. I talk about it all in this week’s podcast, listen here.
One of the most effective decisions any of us can make right now is to be mindful. Mindfulness is a quality to bring into all aspects of your life. It is a tool that helps you stay awake, aware and active as the author of your own life. It is not hard to practice mindfulness, but it is a practice, which means that you do it everyday. Learn how to practice basic mindfulness with the guided meditation for this week.
ONLY 5 SPACES LEFT! This coming Saturday, May 13th from 2-4pm please join me for Charting Your Course: How Your Birth Chart Can Help You Identify Your Purpose & Passion. More info here
(this image, yet another magical handmade collage by Janna)
If you’re hungry to learn more about how astrology uniquely affects you, what your current life era is about, or how to work in best alignment with the stars consider signing up for a personal reading. I regularly hear from clients and friends that astrology is better than therapy! We don’t need to get into the backstory or explain all the how’s and what’s… An astrology reading can get right to heart of the matter, reveal elements that have been obtuse or hiding, and affirm and strengthen your own intuition. Learn more about the kinds of readings I offer here.
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ARIES
This full moon is illuminating the spaces you share with others. It’s bringing up feelings. Deep, possibly mysterious, probably intense feelings. This full moon is highlighting themes which many of us would rather ignore. It’s sticking to the sticky places and suggesting that now is the time to bring them into full view. This is the time to have some talks. You know which ones. This is the time to bring it all to the table: sex, money, death and discomfort. Better not to pretend it’s not there. Better to be brave and be better off for it.
Listen to your intuition.
Listen to the ways in which you know even if you don’t know. Ask the questions. Give others the space to come clean and come clear. Listen to your hunches and inklings. If you feel like something is off then it probably is. This is not the time to disregard your feelings or play nice in order to protect someone else’s.
That said you can be curious in your communications rather than confrontational. You can present options rather than ultimatums. You can be a friend. That said, you want to stay on course in your conversations. Don’t let yourself get confused by vagueness or niceties (your own or anyone else’s.) Don’t let yourself get so caught up in playing a role that you fail to see what’s in front of you.
This is a moment to investigate the power of your perception and how it might lead you more fully into your work in the world. This is a moment to dive deep and trust that you’re ready to see what’s down there. This is a moment to experiment with transparency as well as negotiation. Remember that sometimes what is hidden from you might not have been intentional. Often, bringing something up for discussion is a gift for those who are too shy or ashamed to do themselves. So when you show that you’re not afraid to have the hard conversations, it might make all the difference in terms of how hard those conversations actually are. Your affirmation is, “My perception is worthy of my attention.”
TAURUS
The times we live in, are indeed interesting. One of the many fascinating phenomenon that we can currently observe is the rapidly shifting landscape of relational status quo and romantic expectations. Swiftly receding into a distant past are notions of nuclear families and defined gender roles. Arising rapidly are fluid interpretations of partnership and those who comprise them, and a sense of impermanence that gives way to celebration of now rather than planning for the future.
Your beliefs and ideals too are changing. The essence of your personal philosophy is transforming into something that has a different kind of commitment. You are no longer willing to be tethered to fears or scarcity mindsets. You are ready to revolutionize yourself and your relationships too.
Right now you may feeling of two minds however. There’s obvious benefit in sticking with the ways you’ve been working with discipline and self-care. You want to keep expanding your daily balance and incorporating more of what you know is good for you (like inspiration, adventure and generosity.) But at the same time there are some delicious fantasies and feelings of a world available to you, but just out of reach, which might become tangible if "the one" was traveling there with you.
The bottom line right now is not actually about your decisions with anyone else. It's all you. It's that you can’t be two-faced about your own self-value. You can’t continue to heal and then put yourself in a position of compromise. You have to keep making choices which serve your health. Keep it in perspective though, the world is a huge place and possibilities are infinite. It’s not entirely impossible that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. The trick will be in knowing, and maintaining, your sense of pride no matter what. Your affirmation is, “I travel with the right company. We are inspired together.”
GEMINI
You have a lot of energy, especially right now. Your creative capacity is magnified. Your drive for achievement is inspired. Your world, and the future you see for yourself in it, is being energized and activated by all kinds of new opportunities.
For the past two years and some change, you’ve been making real headway in your relationships. You’ve been determining (through some probably challenging and maybe painful experiences) what you want and what you don’t want. You’ve clarified some important personal belief structures, and you’ve probably gotten a lot better with boundaries.
The balance between your personal energy and drive, and the energy and drive of those whom you collaborate with is now a place that’s worth examining. Your collaborators are those individuals who have access to your energy. This means your schedule and attention. This also means your emotions, desires and vulnerability.
You don’t owe anyone your creativity or your future. You want to make sure that the projects and relationships you’re involved with support your authentic expression presently but will also support you in the future and whatever you’ll want to be expressing then. Having this kind of trust with people is what actually makes collaborations worth it, so it’s important right now that you keep the tone set for radical honesty and transparency of your intentions.
The ways you do (or don’t) maintain your own center of balance in the midst of your various relations has a lot to do with your health. The more you present yourself in alignment to what you know you want, the more you will be given energy to go after it. If you try to please your perceptions of other’s expectations you run the risk of draining your own reserves. Your affirmation is, “I easily perceive my own needs.”
CANCER
It’s hard for most people to listen to, and trust, their own intuition. Intuition isn’t the same as impulse, it’s not lust or instinct or craving. Intuition is the voice inside who knows. This voice is often the one that tells us what we don’t want to hear – like, that person isn’t good for you; that idea isn’t ready yet; this isn’t a good choice.
Intuition also sometimes clashes with beliefs and stories. Especially the stories and beliefs we hold dear, and which we base our identity on. Sometimes an intuitive feeling can sit stifled for a long, long time. You might know it’s there for years before you take action on it. You might never take action. This is what's called being closeted, and it's what happens when any important part of your personal expression or truth is held back in order to maintain the status quo (yours or anyone else's) or because you have reason to fear what would happen if you were "out" about how you really felt, and what you honestly wanted or needed.
Whether or not you listen to your intuition has everything to do with whether or not you’ll learn to trust it. Especially because our intuitions often tell us the opposite of what our instincts and cravings tell us – it can take a lot of grit to decide to listen. However, when we listen and align ourselves to what we know, there is most often a sense of profound relief and a reorientation away from doubt and towards joy. After a few experiences such as this, listening, and acting upon what we know becomes easier and less risky and painful.
Something to consider is how much energy it takes to ignore what you know intuitively. If you have a sense about something and you don’t act on it, it becomes a weight and a drain. If you go against what you know to be true it’s harmful to yourself and creates internal mistrust and misalignment. Alternately, when you listen and move from a place of listening, you might say, do or act in ways that surprise you. Ultimately the feeling you’ll have is that you are yourself and that is a wonderful person to be, because you know who you are and you know you’re accountable. This full moon and upcoming few weeks have something to teach you about listening to your intuition. Try it. Your affirmation is, “I am in alignment with myself.”
LEO
I think the adage is true. Home is where the heart is. It’s not necessarily a place, though place can certainly evoke familiarity, and sometimes that leads to feelings of heart-full-ness. It’s not necessarily a clan, though clan and kin can sometimes hold pieces of your heart too. Home might mean any number of places, things, people or pets. But home might also be a mysterious idea that takes a lifetime of searching to find.
As far as you might go in life, the archetypal sensation of coming home is irreplaceable. It is the basic human need for safety, recognition and belonging. It is knowing there will be moments when you can fully be yourself, with nothing to prove and nothing to gain. It is a being part of something that is made of other bodies who accept and love yours, of shared language and common custom. It is the feeling of ok-ness in a world that can so often feel not ok.
It is one of the biggest tragedies of our species that we have yet to recognize our home together. It is one of the most reprehensible acts of violence when we turn away those who have lost their homes. It is an assault to ourselves and our souls when our homes are violated or taken away.
This is a full moon to heal at home. It is a moment to reflect on deep memories of where you’ve come from, and to offer up those that are ready to be forgiven and released. This is a full moon to recognize the balance between home, work, and community. It is an invitation to let yourself rest, surrender and receive intimacy in whatever ways you can, while knowing that your ability to come home gives you energy to go out and keep doing all the things you do. This is a full moon to connect in your heart to the biggest and most expanded sensation of home you can imagine – to spread it into all your encounters and efforts, and to recognize its essence as the capacity for true leadership. Your affirmation is, “I create a safe and loving home for myself and others.”
VIRGO
You’ve heard it all about the Power of Mind right? Like “you create your own reality,” and “what you focus on is what you’ll grow.” It’s not The Secret, or even a secret, it’s just basic physics. The more momentum something has, the faster it will travel with more force. And even though thoughts aren’t what we typically think of as objects, they behave in pretty much the same way. If you pay attention to something it tends to grow. This goes for your efforts as well as your injuries.
Your thoughts are what’s up for this month’s full moon. It’s time for you to examine where you’ve been putting your mental attention and what has been growing (or deteriorating) as a result. First consider the relationship of your thoughts and your creative energy. Have the ways you’ve been using your mind been helping you be an even better artist of your own life? If yes, then I hope you can invest a bit more in what you’ve already been doing and make it a more permanent habit. If not, then what kinds of choices do you need to make so you have more space for inspiration and fun?
Second, what does your brain do with other people? Do your encounters give you more reason to feel valuable, energized and self-assured? Or do you find yourself spending a majority of your attention in confusion or fantasy? And what then does this have to do with how you feel joyful or interested in your life?
This is a full moon to notice what your mind does with sensation. It’s a time to watch your thoughts turn into feelings and see whether or not those feelings are something you want to live with. This is a full moon to get a bit more objective about what directions you’re heading and to consciously decide which thoughts to nurture in order to get there. This is a full moon to pay attention to how others inform your thinking process and to choose your friends and allies wisely. Your affirmation is, “My mind is strong and clear.”
LIBRA
This full moon offers a revelation, and perhaps a revolution, about wealth. It is a reflection of your attitudes, beliefs and fears in regards to finance and personal resource. It is a reminder that when you die, you won’t be taking your riches or debts with you. It is a question about what you want to leave for those who remain after you… not necessarily in terms of inheritance, but also in terms of moral fortitude, sustainability, inspiration and trust.
Confusion about wealth is an insidious dis-ease. The perception that wealth equals personal value is a tool for exploitation of all kinds. It creates suffering in those who have it and those who don’t. It blinds us to our actual resources and severs us from connection to each other and our planet. It places barriers between our hearts.
This full moon is a moment to pay attention to what really matters, and to see where and how the question of finance might be influencing what is most important to you.
The cycle you’ve been in for the past number of years has been one of recognizing spirit in the world around you. This means the mundane details, your chores and obligations. The more you value each breath, the less you need to worry about the resources you can’t breathe. The more you attend to your environment, the more you will see that your environment can easily attend to you. The more you invest in creating abundance that is shared, the more relaxed and supported you will feel in return.
This is a time to clear up any confusion you may have about your own value, and to disentwine your self-perception from your money, or lack of it. This is a time to let yourself receive what is available to you and to consciously choose gratitude over criticism. This is a time to see what impact you have on those whom you inherited from, and those whom you will leave inheritance for. Decide to be a lineage of love and generosity. Your affirmation is, “I see and celebrate value in myself and all that is around me.”
SCORPIO
Sometimes communication is better without words. Sometimes words are too awkward and messy to accurately describe sensation and desire. Sometimes they are too basic to satisfy complexity. In times like these it’s better to listen beyond the words – with your whole body and being – to the energy of someone rather than what they’re saying.
This is a full moon to connect to energy. This is a full moon to let yourself be the sensitive, intuitive being that you are and to trust what you perceive. This is a full moon to let your friends and partners just be, and perhaps to actually ask them not to explain themselves. This is a full moon to feel what exists in the spaces between, and let those spaces be all the explanation you need.
Sometimes the way to get right with yourself is to align energetically, rather than mentally. It’s the shift from using “I” as the starting point, to feeling instead that your identity and experience includes everything around you. You might start by noticing what you judge and how judgement separates. You might continue by feeling the sensation of separateness as a choice that is in contrast to the sensation of togetherness. You can explore togetherness with what and who is close by, and you can explore togetherness with what and who is far away. You might notice that the feeling of togetherness has a certain kind of easy peace when you let the words, stories and definitions slip away.
Now and the next few weeks bring you ample opportunity to expand your self-definition. Though it may feel challenging or painful to include in yourself those who have wounded you in the past, I would say that it is also necessary for any kind of resolution that allows you to move forward. At this point, holding anyone or anything outside of yourself is an act of internalized violence. Your affirmation is, “I am conscious of my own energy.”
SAGITTARIUS
This is a full moon that can illuminate the context of your current situation. This particular situation seems to be one that is centered around home and sensations of security and sustenance. The context in this moment is your dreams, your ancestors and all that is hidden from plain sight.
This is a full moon for seeing things you might have thought were there but weren’t sure of, and of uncovering new information, or remembering old information. This is a full moon to clean out your closets, ask some hard questions and get to the bottom of something. This is a full moon to investigate your biases and assumptions, and courageously search for your own blind spots.
Here are some tips… Stay centered in your creativity. Remember your own faith and don’t be shy to talk the angels, guides, ghosts or other invisible beings that you might imagine are around you. Give thanks for what you have been given, and ask for clear guidance as to how to use it most wisely. Make sure that any partners you’re working with are in the clear and have no hidden motivations. Make sure that any partners you’re working with share your goals and future intent, and that you have mutually-created agreements on how to move forward. Don’t mistrust your life, but do be awake to it.
There seems to be a current or quickly coming opportunity to do something that feels big, exciting and adventurous. There also seems to be the necessity to be well aware of the risks involved. It would serve you to take this time to be open to disillusionment. Because while you want to be optimistic, inspired and motivated by your big visions… you don’t want to be under illusions about them or those who might be involved. Your affirmation is, “I think practically and am well-planned for my future goals. I see what needs to be seen.”
CAPRICORN
Who were you when you were a kid? Who were you as a teen? What about five, or even two years ago? Who were you yesterday? Do you think you’ve been the same all this time? Sure – some basic traits and instincts have been continuous, but you’ve been changing and evolving since the day you were born. Remember that. It’s good for you, especially right now, to keep the present moment in context with all the moments which have come before and which will come in the future.
Notice how you change in different social situations and then choose to place yourself in the ones where you like yourself best. Notice the ways that your environments affect your expression and identity and then go be in the environments that feel honest for you to be in. Notice which friends and connections feel most resonant with your current incarnation, and then spend some quality time with them.
Letting ourselves change isn’t easy. Even when the changes are good, it’s natural to hold on to what we used to be or thought we were. It can also be oh-so-confusing in the moments of transition, and when you’re between the past and the future it’s sometimes impossible to tell who you are in the present. So give yourself a break. What you’re becoming is a work-in-progress. You are your own creation and art. Don’t rush to a finish line when you know that the process will never end. Your affirmation is, “I easily allow the future to happen and I trust who I am becoming.”
AQUARIUS
There’s a new notion of leadership that’s currently forming in you. It feels potent, magical, deep and laser-sharp. It’s rooted in resilient resistance, and insistence formed from the decision to stay. To stay with the process, to stay with sensation, to stay in the fullness of what is without trying to explain it away. This is leadership from the depth. This is leadership from the dark. This is leadership from the dreamtime.
Somewhere in a space which doesn’t want to be seen clearly yet, a transformation is taking place. A commitment to process is being strengthened. An old idea of power is being reborn. Your cells are remembering their ancestors, and the prayers they used to sing before there were rules on how prayers were sung.
This is a moment to wait and see. What’s arising is brilliant but not yet formed. The options are coming but not yet clear. You want to be careful not to jump the gun. Give yourself time to feel what this power is so you know how to use it. Give yourself time to make decisions you can stand behind. Give yourself time to be humbled and awed. Power is mighty and few know how to wield it well. Check in with your plans in one week’s time when the moon is in your sign and see what go ahead you get then. Your affirmation is, “The force is with me and I’m one with the force.”
PISCES
It might be of interest to you right now to consider the collective body. In what ways do you see cultures form and function as their own animal? And I don’t just mean nations, I mean the culture of your neighborhood, or your race, or your hobbies. What kind of beast is born from our accumulated desires, habits and instincts? How do we feed it and train it? When do we trust or fear it? How do our movements and actions alone become the movements and actions we make together?
It’s worth noting that right now you have access to this kind of information. Your perspective is sharp and your mind receptive to revelations and illumination in regards to how beliefs are formed and languages created. Additionally, you might have some insight into the nature of value, or valuing, and could currently be seeing the ways in which people click or crack when resources are in question.
In the coming weeks pay attention to how you set boundaries and stay grounded. Keep an eye on your own sense of security, especially when you’re confronted with big ideas about how or who you ought to be. You’re always somewhat sensitive to the vibes around you and right now especially so. It’s fine and good to be fluid and adaptive, but best when you also know where your own anchor is.
The lesson of letting ourselves be touched by the needs of others while maintaining a balanced sense of self is a lesson the world is struggling to learn right now. Please be our teacher in this. Please show us how we can train and tame the feral nature of our own fears of difference. Please set an example of ‘both/and’ rather than ‘either/or.’ Your affirmation is “I am integrated between mind, body and heart.”