That Capricorn Full Moon When You Can’t Avoid The Change At Hand

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I recently had a dream where I was bitten by a bat. My hubby, the Aquarius, and I were sleeping and I noticed this little bat with bright red eyes perched in the corner of the room. He looked evil, intense, and I was sorta terrified. I knew I had to get it out of the house. But when I went to try and usher it out, it flew right at me and bit my hand. I could feel the pain of its bite, and there were two pinpricks of blood. It then landed on a wall nearby and just continued to stare at me, with those bright red eyes. I asked it, “Why did you do that?” It just glared. I woke up from the dream, and curiously still felt the numbness of its bite on my hand.

I thought about how the bat is a symbol of change and rebirth for me. It has shown up in various animal card readings, and it has appeared as a spirit animal when I have done some shamanic journeying work. So I figured its return had something to do with me needing to shift and evolve. Maybe I needed to do a new shamanic journey and reach out to it. However, I didn’t.

Weeks later, I was hiking with a good friend and fellow Aries, who’s also a fantastic reservoir of spiritual connection for me. We had been talking about all things life and love, and I brought up the bat dream to her. “I’m thinking maybe it was about me really needing to focus on making some changes in myself. And that I need to take another shamanic journey.” Just then, my friend’s mouth dropped and her eyes told me to turn around. I did and saw a jeep with a large bat symbol on its hood. I mean, literally covering half of the hood. I turned back to my friend, who still had the same look on her face. We laughed. “I guess I do need to do those things, huh?”

Later that week, I went to my hubby’s shamanic journey circle and had a wonderful meet up with my bat guide. He told me that I needed to change, and then he killed me, which I guess is pretty common in these types of meditative experiences (if you haven’t journeyed, definitely check it out!) That death was symbolic of the transition I’m currently in, from the outdated version of me into a new, more focused me. And I believe it was setting me up for this current astrological landscape.

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Today marks the Capricorn Full Moon, and it’s a doozy. It’s going to be conjunct Pluto, which means both the moon and Pluto will be in the sign of Capricorn, conjoining and amplifying each other’s energies. And together, they will oppose the Sun and Mars, who are conjunct in Cancer. So what the hell does all that mean?

Basically, it’s time to see how bat, or your own inner guide, has been trying to speak to you and nurture you toward some kind of personal shift. Full moons are all about release, so there is some area in your life that is ready for a purging. And with that connection to Pluto, it’s in a big way. This is some “My soul needs this right now” business. And your heart needs it. You’ve either been in the throes of learning how to love yourself better or have been avoiding that process altogether. Either way, it is time to commit to loving you and paying attention to what you need. Your life is offering you signs to help mark the path, but are you paying attention?

Gone are the days of just standing back and waiting for permission to move forward or for someone to come along and hand the answer to you.

You are the answer.

The Mars/Sun component is also lending you a sense of urgency, like “I need to figure this out now.” And well, you do. Gone are the days of just standing back and waiting for permission to move forward or for someone to come along and hand the answer to you. You are the answer. Spirit is here to help in the form of meditations, dreams, and omens. So if you’ve ever dabbled in having a connection to spirit, now’s the time to commit, in whatever way works for you. Take you and the things that interest you much more seriously. No one else is going to do so until you do the same. And you deserve to feel purposeful with your life.

Jupiter is also finally moving forward, bringing some movement to areas of our lives that may have felt a little slow to get going. But don’t worry if things aren’t manifesting right away, even when you’re focusing your energy toward the things you’re supposed to be doing. As Lana Del Rey sings, “It’s enough just to make you go crazy.” And it is, but try to be like a Lana song and take it slow. Trust that the momentum is building because you are working toward building the thing that feels authentic to you.

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Most importantly, take care of yourself. We are in Cancer season, so you got to love you. You got to enjoy life and not beat yourself up for it. You got to feel all the feels and be okay with it. Take a bath. Enjoy a walk in nature near water. Play your favorite jams and sing along. Be a lady who lunches. Life is what you make it, so make it gorgeous and fun.

Remember, you create the shift and change in your life. Sometimes, you may need a bat to come along and bite you, just to stun you into seeing that you’re veering slightly off task. But the bat, or the change it represents, isn’t there to hurt you. Change is there to push you toward expansion and growth on some level. So utilize this full moon to help you release the deep emotional intensity that has been building up inside of you so that you can fully transform and move forward as your most full, inner-loving self.

That Mercury Retrograde When You Decided Not to Be a Hot Mess

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A Mercury retrograde time can bring chaos into one’s life, but it’s ultimately here to show you a different path to action

Today marks the start of another Mercury Retrograde period (until January 8^th). Go ahead. Cheer now! What this means is that for the few next weeks, your greatest hot mess of a friend (and I’ve totally been him before) will be blaming it for every tardy meeting, every missed text, and every unreturned phone call. Sure, that technologically challenged shit will go down, especially for my Scorpio friends, but we can’t let what Mercury in retrograde traditionally represents rule all of our communication misgivings. In fact, we must take this time to hold up, slow our rolls, and take stock of the bigger picture we currently have for our lives. We must get real about whether everything we are doing is helping to manifest our greatest future goals.

Mercury is going retrograde in the sign of Capricorn, which is very concerned with the big picture for our lives and all the hard work that goes into achieving it. We all know that nothing is handed to us. Even for the overnight success, years were spent toiling away in the workshop, at a desk, in the studio, or at school. So when Mercury, the planet engaged in all things communication, halts itself for the retrograde, room should be made for a re-evaluation of one’s goals and what is being done to manifest them.

We should first narrow in on the specific area in life that keeps you up at night: career, a relationship, a health goal, or one’s view on spirituality. Then, if you’re hitting a wall of any kind, stop trying to PUSH forward and reconsider the path. Are you actually doing everything you could be doing to move ahead/break through or just going through some motions? Do you need to let go of something (a person, place, thing, or mentality) in a more profound way so that you can truly activate your next personal phase? The great thing is, you can stop looking around and blaming “xyz” for your problems. With some inward evaluation, you will see what is potentially keeping your goals at bay.

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Without a doubt, these next six weeks can be extremely transformative for all of us. With Pluto, the planet in charge of deep soul shifts, touching on this current Mercury phase, know that you’ll have a more focused understanding of your current intentions and goals by the end of January. But you have to be in the process of figuring your shit out. You can’t just get caught up in the day to day. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get a break in. In fact, you need one. I need one. I’ll be on a beach soon with a book in one hand and a cocktail in another. Yes, the start of this six-week process must include some legit down time. In numerology terms, we are at the end of a ‘9’ year, thus the ending of a major cycle. It’s a back to 1 moment. And with any conclusion to a great life period, we should get in a good ass nap. That’s part of the process too. But then, once revived, you must make time for a rethinking and reworking of those pieces in life that just aren’t taking shape.

It’s important to know that your problems aren’t all in your head and you aren’t the entire reason that you can’t see or think straight. The world is really fucked up right now. Cities are being ravaged without thought for humanity. Women’s rights are coming under fire in various U.S. states. LGBT individuals are continuing to feel like secondary humans to the rest of society. Governments are recalibrating to assert more power in the war for who has the biggest cock. And there is so much else with race and the environment and civil unrest and on and on. It’s disheartening and disillusioning and some of us are struggling to make sense of it – to find our footing.

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Take these next few weeks to better understand where in this world you want to make a difference

One only needs to look to these current times to see the lesson in this Mercury retrograde phase. Pause and reflect on the ways that you can be more of a citizen for the world you believe in. You must figure out how to take your personal unease and alchemize it into something of use. Perhaps you are already in that process. But don’t feel a complete loss if you’re feeling powerless. You’ve only just begun to understand your power and your community is just figuring out how to come together. So time will allow you to gather your resources and rally your ideas into fruition. Take these next few weeks to better understand where in the world you want to make a difference and how. A large part of that answer will be found by getting a greater understanding of yourself.

A Mercury retrograde time can bring chaos into one’s life, but it’s ultimately here to show you a different path to action. Are you going to get swirled up into life’s drama or will you choose this time to react differently? Can you keep on playing the victim to external circumstances or take pause to consider healthy ways to be a worthy agent of change? Will you allow yourself a clear mind or one filled with to-do lists and regrets and worries? If that email won’t send or your phone won’t make outgoing calls, will you build yourself up into a frustrated mess or just put the damn thing down and try to enjoy a phone-free afternoon of relaxation and contemplation? Right now, I say go for the latter on all counts. Your life will ultimately be more in tune, you’ll feel more purposeful, and you won’t be someone else’s hot mess of a friend when the next retrograde rolls around in the Spring.

That Cancer New Moon When Pluto Was All the Rage

The Cancer New Moon lands in the midst of all this Pluto business, asking us to begin again from a place of emotional stability and grounded sense of self

Did we all see that Pluto is back? Yes, after being demoted from planet to “dwarf planet” status, Pluto is in the news again thanks to the astonishing photos that have come back from NASA’s New Horizons probe. It has reinvigorated the discussion amongst astronomers and scientists around Pluto and its planetary classification. For me, Pluto never went away. In fact, as an astrologer, one of the first planetary placements I look at in a chart is Pluto. Pluto offers insight into what one’s greatest soul transformation will entail for this lifetime. That’s some heavy shit. We should all know in what area of our lives we are meant to change in the deepest way. It also gives us a sense of the role change will play for us in general. Are you good or bad at change? Will change affect you most in work, relationships, or home? How we relate to change allows us to see how we relate to the ebb and flow of life.

It’s no surprise to me that Pluto is taking center stage, since astrologically speaking, it is incredibly active right now. Pluto, which is currently transiting Capricorn, is directly opposing Mercury and Mars in Cancer. That means we are trying to take steps to actualize ideas that we’ve had brewing in our heads, but it’s a slower, more emotionally connected process. We aren’t just diving in. And that is partly because Cancer slows us down a bit. It wants us to make sure our heart is in every decision. The other part is that Pluto is challenging us to look at life’s bigger picture. Is everything we’re trying to make happen serving our soul’s purpose or are we just trying to appease some ego bullshit? Uranus is also activated in all of this, urging us to approach everything from our own unique perspective. We can’t just go along with whatever everyone else thinks is best, or even approach things from what has been our typical status quo style. Instead, we must make sure to assert our own soulful leanings in all of our actions and be certain that we are steering our own life’s ship.

Define your personal integrity and make sure that everything you do moving forward supports that definition

The Cancer New Moon lands in the midst of all this Pluto business, asking us to begin again from a place of emotional stability and grounded sense of self. Take a deep breath and ask yourself what really matters to you. Define your personal integrity and make sure that everything you do moving forward supports that definition. How have you been asleep in your life? What areas have you been ignoring because you just don’t want to put in the work to change them? Well, with Pluto here, you either need to use this new moon energy to create new habits and start a new cycle sans whatever you know is supposed to be dumped by the wayside right now, or be forced to make the change later. And the forced way is usually never the fun way. So what do you need to be doing to take better care of yourself, and to be making sure that everything you’re trying to make happen right now truly matters to you?

Let’s take a brief look at each of the signs for greater clarity:

Continue reading “That Cancer New Moon When Pluto Was All the Rage” →

The Madonna In You, Under a Full Moon

Release your inner Madonna and go beyond the sky

During a not too long ago therapy session, I was asked if I had any sort of power symbol for myself. Immediately, Madonna came to mind, but I felt like that was actually too silly or cliché to say out loud. But saying “lion” or some sort of gemstone felt a little forced. After pondering in silence for far too long, I apologetically mentioned to my therapist that all I could muster up was an image of the diva. He asked me not to judge my choice. “Madonna is a perfect power symbol for you”, he said. “For anyone.” We then got into a discussion about what she represented for me and why those qualities were ones that were of importance for me. Confidence. Perseverance. Creative bravery. These are all very valuable characteristics for anyone to aspire to and cherish in life. And I, like a number of primarily women and gay men, happen to adore a woman who encompasses all of these features.

This weekend, Madonna premieres the film of her latest concert tour on TV, and some early clips have been released online. In watching with a friend, I found myself completely mesmerized. But unlike my friend, who threw some side-eye, I was able to overlook the shaky vocals that were coming from her mouth. I mean, come on, she’s Madonna. She’s been doing this shit for thirty years. So for me, the sum of it all is flawless. She can do no wrong. And regardless of how good or bad she sounds, she is a 54 year-old woman who still finds new career mountains to climb and pushes herself beyond the limitations of what society and history has deemed appropriate for a woman of her age. You see, for her, there is no ceiling on the room of her life. Madonna goes directly through the invisible roof, though some may continue to criticize her for it. Because Madonna sees that the end goal is always evolving. For this, we should all have some sort of power symbol like her. We should all be brave enough to see life through the lens of unlimited potential. Thankfully, the Capricorn full moon is here to aid us in our own personal expansion.

Our goal must be to manifest the vision we have for our future

Capricorn is a grounded energy that is concerned with the future. Capricorn wants us to create long-term goals and be responsible for seeing them through. And most importantly, Capricorn is concerned with our life purpose or destiny. Its energy wants us to push past our fears and limitations so that we achieve our most optimal expression of self. We are not here to just dream about what we want until we die, leaving us in our last moments to wish we had achieved the great thing we knew was inside of us. Our goal must be to manifest the vision we have for our future, thus actualizing our dreams into reality. Sure, this all means we have to buckle down and do a hell of a lot of work. But when you’re working on something that your soul’s passion is connected to, it doesn’t feel so much like work. It feels like art. It feels like magic. It feels like fun. And shouldn’t you be having some damn fun?

This full moon is about your need to exhibit some expression of your long-term goals. All of us are currently thinking and feeling more passionately about something that reflects our greater ambitions, whether it is a creative project, our home, our children, or our career. But it isn’t enough to just have that going on in your internal world where only you can experience it. You must project it out in some way as an offering toward your future potential. Whether it’s talking about it, sharing what you’ve already done, or committing to it in a way that takes it from the dream to what you’re actually doing with your life, you must concede to its power and take it on. You may have been working on something great but have been apprehensive or slow to show it to others. Now would be the time to invite others in and take responsibility for what you’re building – own the destiny you want to have and plant your stake in the ground. Whatever the case, release your inner Madonna and go beyond the sky. From there, you can release your bigger dreams out into the world in a way that the entire Universe can see and take part in a round of applause for you. You deserve it.

For some additional clarity, let’s get into each of the signs more specifically. And if you know your rising sign, read that as well:

Continue reading “The Madonna In You, Under a Full Moon” →

It’s 2013! What the Hell Are You Doing With Your Life?

The universe has given us a shared language in astrology

I recently went to see a planetarium show at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. It was a show I had seen before, about the birth of the cosmos and the history of astronomy. In the past, I had found it to be visually lovely and rather entertaining. But this time, I was more so affected by the narrative content of the piece. In particular, I was struck by the fact that ancient civilizations like the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians saw astrology to be the same as astronomy. The zodiac was established and used to study the night sky but was also used as a tool for how to live one’s best life. It was all essentially a uniform science that we, over time, have created a separation for. Astronomy has become considered true science while astrology just a charming and, to some, silly ideology. And, it’s a shame really. Because something rooted in such human history, as well as in nature, shouldn’t be looked down upon because we have entered into a world ruled by technology. Our relationship with the natural world should be our most important. And if the universe has given us a shared language in astrology, then we should all take an interest in it so we can each better understand our own personal nature.

There is a powerful scent of “what is the bigger picture for my life” in the air for all of us right now

As I have spent the past few days deeply pondering all of this, I was intrigued to find that Pluto, the God of all things profound, and Mercury, the communicator, were meeting up for a conjunction in Capricorn, the sign of serious ambition and goal-attainment. That means, in astrological terms, that it all makes more sense that I would be immersed in grand thoughts about the cosmos and the meaning of it all. It would also make sense why I spent yesterday morning on a call with my Capricorn friend, who wanted to discuss the deeper meanings of his romantic life. And also why a group of my friends and I got together last night to start organizing an action plan on how we were going to accomplish our big goals for the year. This is some serious life realness we have going on right now! There is a powerful scent of “what is the bigger picture for my life” in the air for all of us right now, so we all must take a big ass inhale and breathe it in.

Continue reading “It’s 2013! What the Hell Are You Doing With Your Life?” →

Are You Walking with a Ghost?

Are you going to recognize the change and live it, or will you be a ghost in your own life?

Recently, I was at the gym, working on my fitness and pondering the various questions of my life. I was thinking about work, about my health, and about my need to make some important mentality shifts. I had already been in the headspace of change, as I had been thinking about Pluto and Saturn and the recent moves they had each made. And given that these planets are all about transformation in our lives, I knew that I was in the midst of metamorphosis. So as I finished up my tricep pushdowns and moved over to a back machine, all of my mental lingering led me to a sudden thought that I was compelled to jot down. I quickly pulled out my phone and used my ‘Notes’ feature to write out the following:

“It’s time to commit to the transformation. There is no turning back. Turning back doesn’t even equal death because the death has already occurred. The change is in place. Are you going to recognize the change and live it, or will you be a ghost in your own life?”

I was immediately struck by the idea of being “a ghost in your own life”. I thought of how so many of us refuse to meet a change, or death, in life. Whether it’s the end of a relationship or the loss of a loved one or even growing up into an adult, we can all find it hard to let go and move on at times. But still, life moves on without us. Yet we remain stuck in our outdated beliefs and mentalities. And like ghosts, we wander through our present day lives responding from a place, a feeling, of the past. The pain of long ago haunts our current relationships and work lives, making for weighted, poor decision making. And then we wonder why we’re unhappy. Why things won’t change and get better. Well, until we realize that we are producing our current reality from a place of pain – one that has been festering in our psyches for far too long – we won’t be able to fully and cleanly move into the next chapter of our lives. And right now, we are all feeling the ache to manifest change in a major way. That’s because Saturn is knocking at our door and Pluto is rumbling under our feet.

As Rupaul says, “The time has come for you to lip-sync. For your life.” So let’s get to it.

What does this new phase bring for you?

Continue reading “Are You Walking with a Ghost?” →

ASTROLOGY REALNESS

Giving you just that

Tag: Pluto