Up Close and Personal

Full Moon - November 2016 

On 14^th November at 13h53 (GMT/UT) the moon’s surface is fully covered with the sun’s light just two hours after making her closest pass to the earth since 1948. She won’t come this close again until 2034. The effect of a perigee (when close to the earth) full moon is evident in the rise and fall of the spring tides and will probably intensify storms at sea.

The spring high tide will jump a little higher and the low tide will fall a little lower. I can’t help but think of the full moon’s effect on the human body, a body made up of between 50 – 75% of water (75% in infants dropping to 50% in old age). The older we get the dryer we become. I quickly reach for my bottle and take a giant swig of that moisturizing life-giving stuff that falls from the sky.

Surely this up-close and personal full moon will tug on all that human liquid. It is thought that emotional consciousness is immersed in the watery content of the brain and the heart (73% of these organs is water). Perhaps during the weeks prior to the full moon and also the weeks following it, our feelings will jump a little higher and fall a little lower than usual.

Inevitably the emotions that leap to an extraordinary height must fall to its equal and opposite point, that is, according to the laws that govern the swing of the pendulum. It may be that in the phase of influence of the super-duper full moon, feelings will soar, only to fall in later months. Perhaps during this time they will plummet and only soar later on. It is dependent on the choices of the individual.

The good news is that whilst so close, the full moon moves through Taurus on the zodiacal belt encircling us. She is exalted and does so love visiting this part of the belt.  Here she finds joy, pure bliss. She loves the Taurus qualities of stability and strength, the uncluttered responses and appreciation for life. She finds lost happiness, forgotten gaiety and abandoned pleasures.

She encourages us to appreciate nature and those simple delights experienced when in nature. We notice the scent of flowers, the softness of moss, rainbows of colour in a dew droplet and we remember to really listen to the wind in the trees.  She prompts a memory of the sensual pleasures in delicious food and music and making love. She helps us draw on inner strength and resilience to tackle the tough stuff.

We are reminded of emotional commitments and how to build on those commitments. We strive for financial and emotional security. Without effort we empathise with the unbearable pain of loss (financial or human) and have sympathy for those suffering misfortune. It is a time of sharing heartache and happiness.

In ourselves we sense the root cause of unhappiness and a lightning strike of understanding exposes answers to problems. We find the patience and determination to heal the damage they have caused. We see how emotional hang-ups make it impossible to trust – ourselves and others. It is only by stepping into the shoes of another to experience the situation from their perspective (built from their past experiences and understanding) that we have any hope of rebuilding broken trust.

Then out of the blue we have moments of feeling terribly clever and discover ingenious means to achieve emotional and material stability. A shock or sudden change of the status quo opens our thinking to unimaginable possibilities.

It is with images of the water inside my cells swishing back and forth in time to the rise and fall of the ocean’s spring tides that I end this blog.

Sharron.

Ring of Fire Eclipse

September 2016

Nothing like a Venus/Jupiter conjunction, a Mars/Saturn conjunction and a solar eclipse to get me out of blog hibernation. On Saturday evening, all I could do was gaze and gaze some more at the sky after sunset. Jupiter above Venus, close enough to touch and Mercury over on the left took my breath away. Here are a few of the thoughts that ran through my mind while I sat on my deck, darkness creeping close and starlight falling down.

As there is lots to tell, I thought I’d pace myself (a little out of practice) and split the blog into two parts:

1.     The Eclipse and its partners in influence, the Mars/Saturn conjunction and Mercury Retrograde (get all the tough stuff out of the way first).

2.     Venus/Jupiter conjunction.

Part One

The Annular Solar Eclipse, otherwise known as the Ring of Fire Eclipse at 09h08 (GMT/UT) on 1^st September 2016 was visible over equatorial Africa. I shall not dwell on the technicalities of an Annular Eclipse because it is easier enough to Google, I’d rather dive straight into my interpretation of its astrological symbolism.

All eclipses, lunar and solar, as I have said many times before, perform two major functions:

·       Dunk us in the shadowland to confront our dark behaviour and harmful subconscious patterns.

·       Offer an opportunity to realign ourselves - with our choices, relationships, goals and life path. It is achieved by addressing the misalignments.

The September eclipse helps us to recognise specialist skills and abilities. We are to use them when confronting the shadow, or solving problems or getting back on track. These expert skills are particularly useful when pursuing personal goals and dreams. Fine attention to detail leads to the discovery of rare and obscure talent. Under the eclipse we are blessed temporarily with the super-power of observation, singling out mistakes or factors that are the root cause of efforts that fail repeatedly. These mistakes, once acknowledged are easily converted to success.

This super-power is immensely helpful for spotting opportunities that at other times may be missed. It helps to perceive improved ways of running our lives, our jobs or our businesses. The super-duper power of observation puts our daily lives under the microscope and we instantly see how to improve it with diet, exercise, better work habits, amended timetables and all that goes on in a day.

Or we slip around to the dark side of the moon where we find mean-spiritedness, ugly judgements and a lack of fairness due to getting stuck in one part of the story. Nerve endings scream and do nothing to help the distractions, chaos and lack of objectivity.

If I were to put the influence of this eclipse in a nutshell, I would have to say roll up your sleeves and get stuck into a thorough spring-clean. Sort out, fix up, make improvements, get systems up to date, chuck out unnecessary clutter and make space for new growth.

There is nothing complicated about a spring-clean but this eclipse has the Mars/Saturn conjunction making some tough demands. During the big cleanse emotions explode. Especially angry ones that have been harboured inside, ones that have slowly festered and become acrid with resentment.

There is a struggle to understand the difference between aggression and assertion and when repressed emotions untether with an unrestrained force, it gets messy. But after the purge there is a chance to regroup and find a controlled and effective way to express feelings and make intelligent decisions.

Neptune also tugs on the eclipse, wanting a say. It shies away from Mars-type explosions and we retreat into doubt and confusion. Misunderstandings and misgivings abound. Self-doubt invites the addictive parts of our personalities into the mix. Addiction to substances, to emotions, to chaos, to self-sabotage all prefer the route of avoidance. Pretending hard realities do not exist is a survival tool of sorts, I suppose, so good old fashioned denial is likely to be the shield against disappointments and betrayals or stuff that is unbearable.

The best way to navigate the Neptune territory is to sit still in the mist of doubt and confusion. In stillness we need not be inert, we can choose, if we wish to engage in creative activity. We ought to make something, build something, paint something or perhaps write something, all the while fantasizing about the ultimate outcome. Eventually the mist will clear and we’ll be left with something special.

Should fantasizing not come naturally, Mercury retrograde offers a different way to spend the quiet time. This little fellow says the next three weeks are best spent reassessing plans, re-reading contracts or reworking ideas. Take the mind back over past conversations. Observe errors and misjudgments. Think or discuss possible improvements. Get advice. Work out the details carefully and conservatively. Think now, act later.

So that concludes Part One. I shall be back in a week or two to chat about the pretty Venus/Jupiter conjunction.

With respect for the shadow, 

Sharron.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

March 2016 

Eclipse month is never an easy one, often leaving us feeling jittery or out of sorts while subconscious thoughts and odd feelings percolate into consciousness.

The lunar eclipse on the 23^rd March 2016 at 12h02 (GMT) is a penumbral and not a total eclipse. Only the outer shadow of the earth falls upon the moon and is barely visible.

There is not too much digging about in the dark shadowy regions of ourselves with this particular eclipse. However, we may be expected to confront reasons why we made choices to impress or please another (at personal expense) or why we gave up a position, yielded and gave in to the persuasions of another. We may reflect on how exactly we were too influenced by relationships and or surroundings. Restlessness is a sure indicator that we have been pulled off track by such influences. We could observe that we have been over-adaptable or changed something that should not have been changed. We observe over-eagerness that led to compromise, the bad kind.

We see how inner conflict transfers into an external circumstance as a problem demanding to be resolved. We observe how inner turmoil plays out in relationships because of compromises made in the past and exactly how much imbalance resulted. It is good to see though, that current planetary configurations inspire courage and confidence to overcome obstacles and rectify imbalance. We carefully and ever so slowly reposition ourselves in a personal situation or in a relationship. We move out of the line of fire and away from a polarized position.

Thoughts on the Sun’s Influence
 

The golden rays of sunlight shine on ways to improve a personal position, to build self-esteem and greater confidence. There is a strong need to prove ourselves through action. After a period of feeling uncertain or afraid (typical influence of the solar eclipse of two weeks ago), we feel bold and daring and take definite steps out of the muddle and confusion of the recent past. Self-assurance replaces reticence. Curiosity drives us towards the things we most desire. Ambition stirs.

Thoughts on the Moon’s Influence
 

Take a moment to gaze up at the enchanting full moon. You may well hear a whisper upon those silvery moonbeams encouraging a wish to take action, to move something along, to get something done. It pushes us out of inertia or a quagmire of procrastination. We break out of a reverie, we move out of paralysis or perhaps simply find direction after a period of drifting.

We make peace with what has gone wrong, simply through acceptance. We shall have to adjust to a different set of circumstance and fairly quickly as there is not much time for contemplating options.

The strongest message from this full moon is to keep trying, no matter what, to just keep trying. If we fail, we are not to give up but to try harder, again and yet again. We are to persevere, to push through doubt and fear. This kind of effort is sure to be rewarded not only with the achievement of goals but also with a feeling of peace and serenity and happiness. Well worth it.

With love for eclipses,

Sharron.

Total Eclipse of the Sun

By the March Super New Moon

 Blog-break is over. And there is nothing better than an eclipse to get me out of hiding. The total eclipse of the Sun in Pisces on the 9^th March at 01h54 (GMT) draws attention to particular feelings; an indefinable yearning for meaning, an ache for more than what we do every day, a longing to be greater than what is etched out by our personalities.

You know that feeling when you are perfectly in sync with everything and everyone in your world, when opportunities appear out of nowhere, when there are no glitches and everything runs smoothly? Well this eclipse marks a route to exactly that, to harmony and a creative way of living. It maps out a road of adventure and discovery. Understanding how to grow into more than we have ever been is possible during this grand celestial event. We look beyond the limitations previously set by our fears and insecurities.

This generous and big-hearted eclipse endorses heightened happiness and confidence and that kind of sheer delight we feel when we are on track or perfectly poised for the best possible outcome imaginable.

But first it has the tedious job of exposing the problems, patterns, habits and ways of behaving that sabotage the above-mentioned bliss. The very nature of an eclipse is to reveal the stuff in the shadows for the sole purpose of regaining balance and getting back on track. It is probably easier to view the various problems and behavioural patterns in a list format:  

·       addiction problems

·       self-delusion

·       deceit

·       extreme self-indulgence

·       self-undoing (own worst enemy)

·       absorption of negativity in environment

·       stuck in disappointment

·       self-sacrifice

·       falling into victim mode

·       allowing others to take advantage of personal talent

·       avoidance of harsh reality

·       denial

·       imbalance within relationships

·       choices made out of a need to please

·       choices made out of a need for acceptance

·       choices made out of a fear of rejection

·       choices made so as to be loved 

Feelings and actions of which we are ashamed, ones we have buried deep, will threaten to break surface. The bitter taste of disappointment for not meeting expectations, is vile. Should we attempt to further repress emotions and needs or continue to hide our shame, they could very well break out in illness or injury in the physical body.

The home is a sanctuary for the duration of time needed to cleanse and dissolve sabotaging behaviour. In this inner sanctity insights flourish and it is safe for the imagination to probe for solutions to the problems tossed in our way by the eclipse.

Once the problems on the bulleted list have been addressed, newfound strength emerges (obviously they won’t all apply but there is sure to be at least one that is personally relevant). Clear vision of exceptional personal talent is possible. Opportunities to master techniques necessary to make the most of these talents, abound. Some meaning is found and it is with trust and a smattering of serenity that we accept the vast mysterious unknown.

With love for eclipses,

Sharron.