Both Sides Now - New Moon And Partial Solar Eclipse In Cancer

In Southern California, the partial solar eclipse at 7:47 pm can't be seen, but it sure will be felt! Are you ready? Combined with a New Moon in the sign of Cancer, with an opposition to retrograde Pluto, and blessed with a grand earth trine, this New Moon is poised dispense a dose of good cop/bad cop, astrologically speaking.

The bad news, other than the New Moon's nickname of "Hades Moon", is that the Solar Eclipse falls in the decan that contains the twin stars of Castor and Pollux. This translates to volatile moods, extreme passion, and bi-polar energies that make it hard to make a decision. A Solar Eclipse can bring an awakening or a shocking revelation that upsets you. Castor is known for prominence in occult matters, government work in foreign affairs, serious accidents, blows, stabs, shooting, evil disposition, rape, murder committed or suffered, imprisonment, banishment, and decapitation. Wow!  With the Eclipse's proximity to these stars, and the fact that it's in opposition to retrograde Pluto, it's a wonder we don't just skip July altogether, right?

Retrograde Pluto is kind of a dark horse because it represents a time of reflection about power and control in your life. Are you being manipulated or abused in some way, or are you trying to control someone? If the former, now is the time to make a stand up for your rights. Let go of the people who are controlling you (read on for more encouraging advice). If you're the controller, it's time you let go of that behavior. Surrender your power and control to a higher force, and trust your instincts and spirit guides.

It'll be very interesting to see how these darker forces of this lunation affect what's happening in our country's already bi-polar political scene, and on the world stage. Just know that there's another aspect to the New Moon/Solar Eclipse today - we have two lovely Grand Trines to help save us all!

A Grand Trine is a planetary pattern composed of three or more planets in a chart located at the vertices of an imaginary equilateral triangle. Usually all three planets are in the same element, and this time we've actually got two - one dominated by water signs involving the Sun and Neptune, and a Grand Earth Trine, involving Venus, Saturn and Uranus. This is auspicious, because although you may feel like you're drowning in watery feelings and emotions, it can provide stable yet flexible containment that helps you shape your watery energy into something constructive, productive or useful. This is the time to transform whatever's holding you back from happiness and success. Hard work and determination will unleash the potential held with the Grand Trines to help prevent a personal crises.

Pictured above is our altar in the store, decorated with items helpful for this New Moon/Solar Eclipse. You may notice, elevated in the center of the floral wreath, an antique carved soapstone  horse, which is a nod to this Moon's affinity to horses. Surrounding the wreath are crystals of Moonstone, Labradorite, Mookaite Jasper, Citrine, Selenite, Sunstone, and Smokey Quartz. We also have locally sourced altar salts from Violet Maven, a red candle from Coventry Candles, a bottle of Divine Protection essential oil blend, and a Sage & Lavender smudge stick from Wolf Spirit. All these items are available in store, along with other various sage combinations, Palo Santo, incense, and essential oils.

Our best advice to getting through this tumultuous New Moon and Solar Eclipse is use this period to break any bad habitual behavior and use it as a cosmic "reboot". Until the Full Moon, blessed be!

Jive Talking

Hang onto your hats, folks, this Full Moon, appearing tomorrow, Dec. 3, at 11 degrees Gemini, is not only a Supermoon, it comes just hours after Mercury stations retrograde conjunct Saturn! It makes almost exact aspects to Jupiter and Neptune, and is square to Neptune. The Sun is also square Neptune.

This means that mischief abounds - lies, deception, theft, loss, scandal, and possibly illness will mark this Moon phase. Overriding all will be Mercury's infamous influence on miscommunication. Holy moly - this is such a perfect backdrop to what's happening here on the political stage, and it'll be an interesting couple of weeks! You know that you'll need to be very careful when beginning any new projects, especially those dealing with contracts and negotiations. You'll also need to be aware that negative thinking like pessimism, or thoughts of doing bad things, does not mix well with the deceptive and treacherous influence of Neptune.

The saving grace of this Moon is Jupiter trine Neptune. Its direct aspects to the Full Moon make it easier to work with. You can use the benefits of this aspect to overcome the negative influences coming from elsewhere. This uplifting aspect encourages hope, generosity and community spirit. Use it to counter the pessimistic influence of Mercury retrograde. You may have fated encounters with priests, gurus, or psychics. Enlightenment can come through dreams, visions or meditation. Remember, when receiving spiritual guidance or using your intuition, also use your rational mind to filter out the nonsense.

This Full Moon will increase the level of suffering and injustice in the world. However, your personal value system and sense of justice can reach a higher standard. Use your moral compass to avoid the temptations to be sneaky or mean. You can draw on this aspect to be more generous towards people less fortunate than yourself. Your charitable nature may extend to environmental causes or animal welfare.

 While other factors in the Full Moon chart may cause disappointment, loss and suffering, Jupiter trine Neptune will focus attention on social justice and human rights issues like the plight of refugees and other innocent victims or war and greed. Your enthusiasm and belief can cause others to congregate around you for a common cause. In this time of political unrest, this could be a call to rally your friends to protest, have parties to write postcards to your elected officials, or lend your support to those feeling bereft. It's not all bad out there, just stay true to your highest and greatest good, just don't expect others to follow suit. Blessed be, and we'll see you soon!

Highly Strung

October's Full Moon is called the Harvest Moon due to the fact that this is the first Full Moon since the Fall Equinox on September 22. Did you know that we haven't had a Harvest Moon since 2009? It's true! The October Full Moon is also called the Hunter's Moon. Whatever you call it, be prepared, because this one's real interesting.

We suppose we can call this Full Moon the most aspected this year - here's a list of what's impacting this lunation:

Moon opposite Mercury
Mercury and Sun Quincux Neptune
Sun square Pluto
Moon square Pluto
Venus conjunct Mars
Venus square Saturn
Mars square Saturn
Venus trine Pluto
Mars trine Pluto
Jupiter opposite Uranus
The Full Moon falls on the fixed star Alderamin in Cepheus the King

That's quite a list, and it would take forever to run down each aspect with you. Leave it to say that due to all these conflicting influences, we should all pay attention to how we communicate. There's a huge push of Mercury energy coming with this Moon and Mercury is the communicator of the Zodiac. Because of the negative influence of Neptune, we may become susceptible to (I hate to say this) fake news. Possible scenarios include self-deception, paranoia, lies, manipulations, and lack of understanding. Try your best to avoid negative people and negative influence. Only trust people you really know so you do not fall victim to lies, deception, fraud or gossip. It is important to keep up positive self-esteem but there is always a balancing act with these quincunx aspects. Too much pride would lead to a fall, just as too much self-pity will lead to failure.

Sun square Pluto and Moon square Pluto make this a very intense Full Moon. Their square to Pluto can involve compulsive and destructive behaviors. Just remember, whether you are the instigator or the victim of jealousy, manipulation, bullying, or abuse, challenges can be turned into an opportunity to transform and evolve. Transformation and evolving, then, are the crux of this lunation, particularly for your close relationships. A carrot to get you through all this is the Venus/Mars conjunction, which will increase your charisma and popularity, and make socializing more enjoyable and exciting. This is also a great time for creativity, so feel free to start that next art project.

Our best advice is to take advantage of your opportunities and avoid the potential pitfalls, so you can enjoy the next two weeks and use the intense passion of this full moon to get motivated and work hard on your goals. We'll check in next month to see how you did!