Moon Magick (Part 1)

XXXII. To Selene
(ll. 1-13) “And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.” Homeric Hymn to Selene, translated by Evelyn-White

Mother Moon. From the beginning of human life, we have lived by her rhythms. Each month, she ebbs and flows like the waters of the ocean and, like our emotions, her influence surges and subsides. Astrologers watch the cycles of the moon and predict events based on when she triggers sensitive points in the horoscope. Revered for her influence on magick, shamans and magicians have for eons watched her cycles and used her phases and placements in the signs to work their enchantments. As she travels through the 12 signs of the zodiac each month and completes her cycle around the earth in about 30 days, life changes flavors.

In this two-part article, I will take a look at our Moon and her influence on us, both by the sign she’s transiting and by looking at her eight phases. Today, I’ll be discussing her monthly circuit through the signs of the zodiac. If you don’t have an astrological calendar or other way to know which sign the Moon is in each day, I suggest going to the Cafe Astrology site at http://www.cafeastrology.com/monthlycalendar.html. Click on the link below the calendar for the Moon’s sign and planetary aspects for each day of that month.

When the Moon enters Aries, life speeds up. It increases our energy, and it is a good time to begin new projects and seek new avenues of expression. Take some time for yourself and attempt to be aware of your effect on those around you. This is also a fine time to exercise because you can feel energetic under Aries. Infections may flare up under this influence.

The Taurus Moon is a time of practicality. Aries begins new projects, but Taurus brings stability to them. Anything you don’t find practical will be discarded, and the rhythm of life slows down. Values are important during this 2-½ day period, and the need to be productive is the overriding drive. Taurus is also stubborn, so people will tend to stand their ground during this moon.

Gemini brings a lot of conversation and communication. If you’ve been putting off running a lot of errands, this is the time of month to get it over with. It’s also the time of month to respond to that list of e-mails staring at you that you keep putting off. Check in with the neighbors or contact your extended family. People are in the mood to communicate. Find a good book to read.

Home and those we consider family become the focus under the Cancer Moon. This is a productive time to do some housework or make a special dish that’s usually too much work. You may feel like sticking close to home and spending time with those you’re close with rather than seeking the company of strangers. Cancer retreats to the familiar for comfort.

Under the Leo Moon, find something creative to do. Leo needs to be appreciated, and one way to be appreciated is to put energy into a project that others can enjoy. This is also an excellent time to have some fun, and you may feel like doing a little gambling now. Tell someone how much you care and make a little love during this time.

Virgo is the hangover after the Leo party. All that work you put off the last couple of days is staring you in the face and you need to get it done. This is an excellent period for deciding what needs to be done around the house and clearing that pile of papers off your desk. Efficiency, analysis and discrimination are keywords for this lunar period. Health issues should be paid attention to now.

Relationships need some attention during the Libra transit, and not just your marriage or love partner. Libra is about compromise and creating harmony and balance. Find the middle ground, create a win-win situation and make any ongoing disagreement go away. This is also a nice time to get to know new people because you’ll be feeling sociable and will find others interesting.

Deep emotions are stirred during the Scorpio moon. Secrets come out and sexual urges may be strong. You won’t want any superficial relating now – you want to feel something and will seek out intense people or situations. Shared resources can also become a focus of attention now, so be careful of disagreements regarding money.

Restlessness is the key word under the Sagittarius moon, physical as well as mental. Seek out new ideas or someone to discuss your ideas with. Religion and philosophy may occupy your thoughts today. This is also a good time to start a trip, or plan one. Find something different to do. The downside to this energy is that you may get lost in what you’re doing and forget where you’re supposed to be or what you’re supposed to be doing.

Capricorn is about taking care of business. This is an excellent timeframe in which to start creating structure in your life and to work on the discipline you think you’re lacking. Virgo analyzes, but Capricorn actually gets down to the business of physically organizing things and people. Delegate responsibility by deciding what you must personally handle and what someone else can take care of, which is especially important for those of us who think if we don’t do it, it won’t get done.

Get out and interact with groups and organizations during the Aquarius moon. You will feel sociable in a detached way, and will find the company of others enjoyable. The need for a change is the keyword for this moon, which can easily slip into rebelliousness. Tackling computer issues will come easily now, and science fiction and fantasy can pass the time and ease the restlessness of your mind. You may find yourself exposed to those kinds of things now, even if they normally don’t interest you.

On Wednesday, February 25, the flavor of this month began with the New Moon in Pisces. When the Moon is in Pisces, life gets softer around the edges. This can also be a time when people tend to use their own personal means of escape to shut out the ills of the world, whether that is through an artistic pursuit, meditation, helping others or shutting out the world through the use of alcohol or drugs. This is a good time to visualize your dreams.

Next time, I will write about the eight phases of the Moon (rather than just the four you are probably used to) and discuss how you can consciously use each to your best advantage. Combining the meanings of the Moon in the signs and the Moon in her phases can be employed to manifest what you desire in your life, magickally!

Pisces in 2009

“I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.” Thomas Aquinas

Pisces, the final sign before the cycle begins again, is the mutable water sign of the zodiac. She is a being of feeling that is like the water that spills over a damn and fills all the cracks and crevices of the ground or the water that ripples and moves with the wind. All of the universal love of Aquarius is combined with emotional caring, creating the desire in Pisces to help people or animals who are in pain or in need. They are so sensitive that their emotional body changes with the emotional atmosphere of their environment. The greatest lesson for Pisces is to learn the discrimination of her opposite sign, Virgo, and be cautious about extending help so that she doesn’t lose herself in the process of rescuing others. Sometimes Pisces is so sensitive to the needs of others that she shuts down and isolates herself as a self-protective measure. It is important for her to learn at an early age to block out negativity from the people around her, which can make Pisces physically ill. There are several good books on the market about psychic self-defense, and it would be helpful for any Pisces who finds she is having problems when around negative people to learn some of those techniques. One technique for blocking the effects of negativity from others is to just place a piece of plastic wrap over the belly button area under your clothes. Another is to visualize your aura filled with white light, or to visualize yourself surrounded by mirrors and reflect the energy away from you. However, since knowingly causing others ill is bad for your karma, it would probably be best to visualize the negative energy returning to the earth rather than to the person who sent it, as most people who are radiating negative energy are unconscious of that fact. Some Pisces turn to alcohol or drugs to numb themselves to the emotional effects of the negativity around them, but the above techniques are cheaper and easier on the body.

Pisces, like the other mutable signs, now has to deal with the prolonged Saturn/Uranus opposition. People born from approximately March 5 to March 21 will feel this difficult aspect more intensely until Saturn finally leaves Virgo, and the seriousness it brings to Pisces’ lives will taper off at the end of October. For those being affected by the Saturn/Uranus opposition, life is a combination of restriction and rebellion. Duties and health problems can make life seem like it’s slowed down to a crawl with little or no laughter or joy. On the other hand, adding to the stress, situations that Pisces have taken for granted keep changing unexpectedly. Life will begin to lighten up at the end of October, but Uranus will continue to transit Pisces until 2011, moving back and forth between Aries and Pisces beginning this July. The best way to handle Uranian energy is to go with the flow and follow your heart. Pisces is the most psychic of all the signs and is at her best when she trusts herself. You have to realize that the changes are freeing you from stagnant situations and the harder you attempt to hold onto your old ways of doing things, the more stressed out you will become.

On March 16, Mars goes into Pisces until April 22, making a conjunction to Uranus on April 15. This will be a critical period for people born around March 15, with the potential for explosive or rebellious events (arguments, sudden separations from people or jobs, infections, or the sudden desire for freedom from humdrum routine). This conjunction will be felt by everyone in some way, but for Pisces, it will be more intense and more personal.

In the Tarot deck, The Moon is the card associated with Pisces. This card (in the Rider-Waite deck) contains a mysterious pool from which a crayfish is struggling, torn between staying in his comfortable environment or moving into unknown realms of dry land. Two wolves, symbols of instinct, guard the pool of our deepest emotions, and both are looking at the full moon above. Two towers are in the background, guarding the outside world from the unknown. This card is about allowing the mysterious into our lives, but not allowing it to take us over. The element Earth, with its every day duties and realities, and the element Water, the emotional life that we all have within us, join forces in this card, and it is the lesson of Pisces to ground deep emotion so that life isn’t a desert devoid of the profound connections people can only experience when they join together emotionally. To accomplish this, Pisces must move out of her place of comfort and act on her need to be compassionate without causing harm to herself. She is a creature of the water and her symbol is the Fishes, a symbol for the soul. Without emotional connection, the soul of each of us never experiences firsthand that it’s not alone, which, if we let her, is what Pisces will show us. The pool of Pisces’ compassion is limitless, but her ability to protect herself from the disillusionment wrought by those that prey on the feelings of others is not. If you are a Pisces, jump into that mysterious well of emotion and share it with those you love and trust. Your gift to others is through unconditional emotional love, and your lesson is to discriminate so that you do not lose yourself in the process.