A New Moon in Gemini…Taking Sides

                            photo: Mona Thaler

A New Moon is a time of great delicacy! An old Moon releases all she gathered during the last cycle, and rests in darkness, before joining the brilliant light of the Sun to begin anew! The last bit of crescent Moon rises at dawn and is lost in daylight. She does not belong to us, but to the process of her cycle!

                     photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Here the two luminaries, Sun and Moon peruse an ancient volume! Interesting that the Sun is a woman in this seal, the Moon is male. Are they Beatrice and Dante pouring over the Divine Comedy?   Dante had a Gemini Sun, and wrote a masterpiece of heaven and hell, which follows no orthodox doctrine of good or evil. And so it is with Gemini. Polarities are always of interest for this sign, which loves to follow the path of curiosity. Gemini enjoys trying out one side and then the other, bi-sexual energy.

But the chart of this new Moon suggests there may be a certain amount of danger in this playful attitude towards opposites. The Sabian Symbol for Sun and Moon as they begin a new cycle suggests the human desire for easy solutions, taken with no thought for those who are the target. ‘A revolutionary magazine asking for action.  The explosive tendency of repressed feelings and root emotions.’ Today three men arrested in Kansas planned to attack an apartment building of Somali refugees. Tonight nineteen people died from an explosion at a concert in Manchester. Where is the imagination to feel the pain of the ‘enemy.’

Astrologically this theme continues in the opposition between Ceres, the Earth Mother who is traveling with the Moon and Sun, and Black Moon Lilith, the rebellious first wife of Adam. These are two indicators of angry feminine energy poised on opposite sides of the chart. The energy of their anger is directed at each other. Frustration mounts until they become allies to solve mutual problems.

And what of Mars in Gemini? He makes a perfect sextile to Eris, Lady Chaos, in Aries, the logic of violence as a way to win an argument. Yet a Gemini Mars would rather make friends than win battles. He quickly loses sight of his own anger and is on to the next way he can release his abundant energy.

Saturn is opposite Mars, in Sagittarius, and in trine to Eris. This has potential for fundamentalist violence, cloaked in high minded beliefs. His Sabian Symbol: ‘A flag bearer in battle.’

                                  photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Sometimes it can feel as if the machine of anger and violence is already constructed and is always ready to spring into action.

                                photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Gemini is a mental sign ruled by Mercury. The mind wanders like the wind. It uses words to sooth and to give pain. Gemini rules the hands, so full of craft and cunning, compassion and harm.  Finally it must be something within us, which chooses to use the power of thought, and the works of our hands for kindness or cruelty.

                              photo: Bruce Lhuillier

In the days before the New Moon occurs on Thursday, May 25 at 3:44 pm, we could release the blind fury of anger, of the misunderstanding that arises from polarity.

“When we embrace anger and take good care of our anger, we obtain relief. We can look deeply into it and gain many insights.’   Thich Nhat Hanh   Anger: Wisdon for Cooling the Flames

Anger, the energy of Mars is one expression of the life force. It is the same energy we feel in creativity, enthusiasm, joy, the growth of the plants and animals around us in the spring.

                    photo: Sarah Fuhro

 

Sarah Fuhro             sarahfuhro@gmail.com

Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present.  To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

 

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The Horned God: A Full Moon in Scorpio

                                                 photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Is it possible the three horned animals who parade around the zodiac each year are telling us something about light? about transformation? about horned gods?

The astrological year begins with Aries the Ram, at the moment of the Spring Equinox, moves with expanding daylight into Taurus the Bull and celebrates the return of the Sun to the Northern Hemisphere with Capricorn the Goat. There is a definite sense of horned light in this parade of the animals. The first horned beast, Aries the ram is sacred to the Sun and Mars. The second Taurus the Bull is sacred to Moon and Venus. Sun and Moon are the two ‘luminaries’ of the chart. The astrological year begins, as do our lives with the light of Father and Mother, Sun and Moon.

Taurus the Bull marks the celebration of the festival of Beltane. The Pleiades, the stellium which decorates the Bull’s neck make this constellation especially important to those who live under the sky. At the season of Taurus the Seven Sisters arise with the Sun. This was the beginning of the sailing season on the Mediterranean. In Northern countries, Taurus marks the arrival of the Green Man, bursting with greenery and light where green has been absent for the winter months!

                                                            Bruce Lhuillier

If you look at the picture on the krater below, you see the image of Taurus the Bull on the right, and a strange looking man? god? on the left.   The man or god has horns, and a light and a dark side. The decorations on one side are straight, on the other side wavy. Is he the dark and light side of the year, an ancestor, a shaman who can traverse dark and light places?

             Krater from Hala Sultan Tekke featuring a “horned god”, c. 1200 BCE.  Thank you: Catriona McDonald!

The strange horned figure on the krater, the Green Man, Pan, Satyrs, Cernunnos,  and Dionysius are all clues to the potential for radiance. These are creatures integrated into the natural world. Are the horns simply a way of saying that light streams from those who are connected to the spirit of the woods and their own wildness? And how is it that Christianity reflects back the image of Satan, the Devil, a horned angel with the desire to drag us into evil, even though he was once Lucifer, the light bringer?

                                                 photo: Bruce Lhuillier

This human embraces his horned companions. He knows his animal nature, and allows the natural rhythm of life to be his teacher.  We have lost a tradition of continued transformation beyond physical maturity.  The horned gods and godesses remind us of the potential for continued growth.

                                                 photo: Bruce Lhuillier

The satyrs wear the crescent of the Moon goddess.   The Moon in Taurus is in her ‘exaltation’. Animals with crescent horns are often considered sacred because they remind us of the Moon in her myriad forms.

                                        photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Scorpio Moon belongs to people who are intensely emotional; yet find it difficult to share their emotions.   There is often a lack of trust they will be understood.   They must learn over time how to communicate the intensity of their thoughts and feelings and not shut them down. A creative form must be found for this Moon sign to release the dark light of what it knows and feels. The Sabian Symbol for this full Moon gives a picture of the ‘inner freedom’ of an evolved Scorpion Moon. ‘Obeying his conscience, a soldier refuses to obey orders.’

                                       photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Each year at this time, Scorpio rises in full Moon to shine upon the beauty of the spring. This is a time of great sexual energy as animals start new families and plants blossom to invite pollinators. Taurus and Scorpio opposite one another in the wheel of the year are both involved in sexuality. Taurus is about fertility, birth and new life. Scorpio is about the power of sexuality to touch our emotional and spiritual centers.

                                      photo: Bruce Lhuillier

In the chart of this full Moon for Wednesday, it is Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld with his companion Juno, who celebrate both ends of the Taurus/Scorpio axis. The Sun visits Taurus at a season of peak fertility and life. Scorpio is the sign of change; sexuality, death, the transformation of the fields and woods, when the harvest is over; the hunt is on. Taurus is ruled by the Lady Venus, warrior Mars rules Scorpio.   These energies can be pitted against each other or they can combine to wholeness. Dark and light dance together

                                    photo: Robert Fuhro

Sarah Fuhro       sarahfuhro@gmail.com     Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present.  To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

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