Full Moon in Aquarius

the moon is full in aquarius at 27 degrees on august 19th, 2024. this is the third decan of aquarius which, coincidentally, also corresponds to the moon in aquarius and the 7 of swords in the rider waite smith tarot. and i've been thinking about fixed air. what does it take to sustain beliefs and ideas, to create sustainable communication? especially when it comes to the greater community good?

the first step is ensuring that we are communicating beliefs and ideas we actually believe in, in a way we feel aligns with who we are. and, as we live in a culture that prioritizes the status quo in the name of the most efficient production for the bottom line, most of us are not raised with values that feel good in our bodies. often, our bodies tell us, and we refuse to listen.

fortunately, there are many of us who have learned this. we have built a relationship with our intuition, with the subtle energetic parts of ourselves, with our bodies that operate on cycles and phases rather than constant assertion. and for many of us, this causes a disconnect and very obvious mismatch between us and the systems around us, be they governmental, educational, or familial. so we must go. but where?

our need to belong in a group is primal. the more relationships we have, the better chance for survival in the most basic sense. however, what are these relationships within the group worth if they force us to keep ash on our face? what are they worth if they demand our bodies stay contorted and ill? to require us to continually be in situations where we don't recognize the way we are speaking or acting, often not even recognizing the words coming out of our mouths?

we must take refuge in our intuitive pathways that have guided us to spiritual truths, or else find them if we haven't already. and allow ourselves to be moved forward by our intuition and emotion, even and especially as our minds stick on topics that make us feel not like ourselves. for, as we live in the stories of our programming, outdated cultural and familial narratives, we experience all we know we don't want to be. and so our steps towards who we do become sure. and we move closer towards communities bonded by faith, rather than communities tied together by ideas of yesterday. and that does sound like true sustainability to me.

Mercury Rx in Leo

deck: leonora carrington

Mercury RX → Leo

as we enter a conversation about a planet of conversation entering a sign and an aspect ruled by the sun, it only seems appropriate that the conversation should be lead by art. 

art: jillian adel

mercury, the planet of communication, pathways, the mind and intellect, learning and strategizing, retrogrades back into the sign of leo on august 14th. then, on august 18th, it will make a conjunction with the sun, called a cazimi. in tarot terms, we have mercury retrograde corresponding to the planetary card of the magician reversed within leo, the zodiacal card of strength. then the magician reversed with the sun within the card of strength (which is ruled by the sun). if you are guessing that it is a communication / expression special, i don't think you're off-base, but communication with who and of what and how?

the day mercury retrogrades back into leo is 8.14.2024, which reduces down to 21, and then again to 3. the gematria of 21 reveals a connection to the hebrew word "eheyey," which is the divine god name corresponding to the first sphere on the tree of life, keter (the crown). the magician card is the 1, and we see a correspondence to sphere 1. the gematria also reveals correspondence to the words "innocence" and "purity," which in my opinion, is very much an attribute of the number 1. when you are new, you are unmarred. you are pure.

with the 3, we see a correspondence to sphere 3 on the tree, binah (understanding). this sphere is ruled by saturn, the planet of limitation, restriction, rules, administration, time and karma. as a 3, and the last sphere before you travel to the other side of the veil, it is also a sphere and planetary energy of birth, creation, and manifestation.

so we see connections to the 1, the magician and keter. and we see connections to the 3, to binah, and, to birth, creation, the empress and venus. and if we look at what path on the tree the magician rules, path 12, what do we find? well, firstly, 12 is 21 reversed. but also it is the path that connects sphere 1 to sphere 3, keter to binah. and while there is no default directionality on the tree, let's assume that the magician upright channels keter down to binah. so as we are looking at the magician reversed, we are looking at information traveling up from binah to keter. understanding to the crown. saturn to spirit. creation through limitation to inspiration.

it's almost as if there as been a marring of our innocence, experience brought to our pure state, likely through limitation, boundary, rules or restriction that has born new ideas, beliefs or information pathways that are all in the effort of connecting us in a more aligned way. there is an inspiration, data coming to us through our most etheric bodies, our intuition, our subtle senses that needed new language to be created in order for us to bring that divine gift down into the manifested realms. words that needed to be found through the pressure of oppression. this is very much calling back to my new moon in leo post from a few weeks ago which offered an exercise to build out language through expression and find new vocabularies with ourselves. but, as virgo is the sign of getting to the root of issues through intellect and logic, i wonder if this data may have appeared for us between july 25th and today, when mercury was in virgo. and now we are bringing this information from the changes we experienced in our material world in that time to bring back into the heart space and express.

the images you see here have a sense of mercury's antennae tuned into saturn's perceived blockage or limit that it sets in order to send that information back up to spirit, all within the archetype of fixed fire, all for the purpose of a more sustainable initiative once this energy is released and trickles down the tree. the first sigil is just this. the second sigil is this energy in conjunction with the sun for the cazimi.

Mercury RX Cazimi in Leo

art: jillian adel

the day of the cazimi is 8.18.2024, which adds to 34, reducing to 7. the gematria of 34 reveals, well, the word "reveal." and, as the sun is the great illuminator, it comes as no surprise that some particularly potent revelations may come up around this time. and, as sphere 7 on the tree is netzach (victory) with the planetary ruler of venus, we see yet another connection to the empress, art, beauty, creation and expression.

these sigils can be used for scrying or meditation. or i would encourage you to explore these concepts and archetypes for yourself. when you sit and start toying with numbers, symbols and other imagery, they can lead you to connections about the ideas that you may not have found otherwise. please share and tag if you do!

Strength + Jupiter x Mars Conjunction

the last point i want to make about this set of sky weather is kind of a wild one to me. as both of these events are happening in the zodiacal sign of leo, and so looking to the tarot card of strength, we see that the strength card is path 19 on the tree. this path connects the spheres of gevurah (severity), ruled by mars, to chesed (mercy), ruled by jupiter. it just so happens that on the same day that mercury rx moves back into leo, jupiter and mars will make a conjunction in the sign of gemini, ruled by...you guessed it...mercury!!

as the strength card speaks to a flow between and balancing of the higher and lower selves, as mars represents our basic primal, sometimes reactive nature, as jupiter represents expansion and higher learning, in a sign ruled by a planet that will be experiencing all we have previously discussed, i am deeply interested see the ways in which we will all be balancing our gut urges with our higher knowing as we process all that is mentioned above. and, if this isn't enough, these two planets will be loosely squaring both saturn AND venus around this time (they make exact squares individually, not exactly together, but VERY close) on the pisces / virgo axis. the limitation of our dreams meets the birth of new systems that get to the root of our issues. it couldn't be more alchemical.

i am always a fan of consistent journaling as i always say:
i didn't learn about astrology.
i lived astrology and took great notes.
but, in the name of mercury, this is a particularly good time to do so for the purpose of later reflection.

LVX.

Venus in Virgo

deck: leonora carrington

as venus moves into virgo, we sit with the empress and the hermit. venus and virgo. the 3 and the 9. our sense of what we value and appreciate and desire to create with mutable earth, the finality of grounding. virgo's decans also correspond to the 8, 9 and 10 of pentacles, the last three cards of the minor arcana in the suit of earth, confirming fulfillment in the material world.

before the 8 of pentacles, we have the 7 of pentacles. an assessment of investments. when we look at what is in front of us, physically, do we like what we see in relation to the long term? maybe venus in leo, a place where our hearts had no issue expressing themselves and what they desired, we learned a bit about this for ourselves. and now, moving into the 8 of pentacles, and into the wrapping up of a cycle, we might ask: what have we learned about our morals and values, about what brings us pleasure and joy, about our relationships with ourselves and those around us, that allow us now to bring a renewed committment to what we are building and finish the job? when we know what is important to us (and therefore, naturally, what is not) we find easeful flow to put in the work and finally see the fruits of our labor embodied around us, bringing us both independence and abundance to our families and communities.

this ingress happens on a day that, when added together, equals 2. corresponding to the sphere of chokmah, or wisdom, on the tree of life, we see a connection to the hermit who carries the lamp of wisdom. and to an evolution of our venusian qualities and priorities.

i offer the spread below to reflect on what our venusian evolution is grounding in for the duration of this transit.

art: jillian adel

the VENUSIAN EVOLUTION spread

8 OF PENTACLES

what have i learned about what i value and am ready to commit to diligent work towards?

9 OF PENTACLES

how does this bring me independence and ultimate material fulfillment?

10 OF PENTACLES

how do these values and this work contribute to my ultimate vision of stability in family and community?

deck: klimt

New Moon in Leo

deck: leonora carrington

situations where the moon is ruled by the sun or visa versa always get me extra excited, but as a natal leo moon, there is no way i'm not biased. with this placement in my 8th house, the house of scorpio and the underworld, i get extra buzzed about a sun-ruled moon in a state of complete blackness. there is nothing more exhilirating to me than figuring out what it means to shine a light of raw self expression completely inwardly and intuitively. it's like the ultimate eroticism, the ultimate rebellion. i think this becomes clearer in a language beyond words in my leo season moodboard.

here, we work with the high priestess for team moon and strength for team leo, with it's head coach, the sun. the 2 and the 8. as mention in my venus in virgo post, the new moon happens on a date that adds down to 2, corresponding to the second sphere on the tree of life, chokmah or wisdom. drawing us directly back to the 2 of the high priestess and her reputation of carrying infinite wisdom in silence. she also represents duality with the pillars of severity and mercy on either side of her, a duality we also see represented in the strength card in the form of our higher and lower selves.

together, these cards and this moon moment speak to conversations we have with ourselves. they ask us to be honest and keep a line of communication open with ourselves, or otherwise risk what needs to be expressed finding its way outward in ways and means we may not be thrilled about or proud of. i find that many confine expression to words, verbal means. if we don't have language for it, even with ourselves, if we can't rationalize or logic our way through the situation, we invalidate it. but language is manmade, and we are so much more than flesh and bone and systems of glyphs and vibrations to go with those glyphs and systems of reasoning. we are spirit, energetic forces with accompanying vibrations called emotions that do just that, set us in motion. 

it's important that we take time to assess, honor, explore and expand the vocabulary with ourselves, verbally and beyond. so below, i offer a meditative exercise that i hope will assist in just that.

art: jillian adel

‘LIGHT IN THE DARK’ MEDITATIVE EXERCISE

this is part meditation, part creative exercise. and really, it’s a magical working. so let’s prepare accordingly.

sit in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed in a comfortable seat. have a journal and writing utensil handy, and look ahead to step 2 to consider how you might want to engage with it so you may have any items you need ready for you there.

step 1: somatic scan

enter a meditative state however you enjoy doing so. you may close your eyes or lower them halfway. you may take a few deep breaths or breathwork of your choice. whatever you need to calm your body and clear your mind. once you feel ready, start scanning your body slowly. you may start from your head and work your way to your feet, or the other way around, but make sure you go slowly and check in with each body part. as you go, notice if there are any parts of your body that feel like they have something they want to express. don't put any pressure on yourself to know what it is, or second guess it. simply follow how your body feels with your intuition and notice. pick a body part where this is true, and that will be your focus for this work. you may repeat this process for multiple body parts if you like, but only do one at a time.

step 2: non-verbal exploration

now that you've chosen an area of your body that feels like it wants to speak, choose a medium to allow it to do so that is non-verbal. you may draw or scribble in a sketchbook. you may collage, digitally or physically. you may want to explore songs and make a playlist, or more abstract sounds. an interesting idea might also be to take a walk and take photos of things you find. the goal of this is to observe and sort through non-verbal media (images, sounds, etc.) without judgement or logic, and just choose things that feel how your body feels in the area you chose. You may even ask it what it wants to say before beginning, inviting it to speak through you. Pretend it's in control completely. If you are curating, make sure to bring everything in one place. If you are creating, make sure to record everything and then put it in one place so you can assess it after. Take as much time as you need with this.

step 3: verbal observation

now, bringing words back but keeping our logical minds at bay, grab your journal and your collection exploration from step 2. look through the group of images or listen to the songs or sounds you chose, and observe with words. pretend that someone else made this collection. how would you describe it? what do you see? what do you hear? you may use keywords and a list or write in sentences, but don't make meaning out of any of it. just observe through words. 

step 4: reflection

now, take a look at what you've written in step 3. bring yourself back into the room and respond to the words and sentences written. how do you feel about them? do they spark any strong feelings in any direction? are there ways that you'd never describe yourself that have appeared? are there descriptions of things you'd always to be here that you felt you never were? make any notes about anything that arises. if anything has been clarified verbally, make a note.

Step 5: Comparison / Affirmation

finally, return to your meditative state in connection with your body. you may close your eyes and take a few deep breaths again if you wish. reconnect with the part of your body that you've chosen to speak in this exercise. you may simply sit in silence and contemplate what you found. or, if you've found some clarifying or affirmative words or statements about the emotion, say them out loud now however many times or in whatever way feels good to you. 

you have now found an evolution of honesty with yourself, revealing more of yourself to yourself, through your intuitive channels and personal expression, beyond language that will increase the flow of your dual nature in the beginnings of this new cycle.

so it is.

Mercury in Virgo

deck: leonora carrington + klimt

mercury moves into virgo today through august 15th, retrogrades back into leo, and then is back in virgo sept 10-26th.

the tarot correspondence to mercury is the magician and to virgo is the hermit. the magician is in the hermit, the 1 is in the 9. the singularity of all possibilities is within the spiritual evolution, and it has wisdom for us. funny enough, 10 of pentacles corresponds to mercury in virgo, and the second decan of virgo 10-19°. so the 1 plus the 9 equals the 10. the ouroboros. the beginning is quite literally embedded in the end.

similar to the sun in leo, mercury in virgo asks us, “what is the difference between a zodiacal and planetary expression of a sign?” in this case, what is the difference between the planetary archetype of flow, communication, intellect and the zodiacal archetype of systems, the root, surgery and healing, and tethering core truths to expand? what does it mean to find newness and learn within the transformation and finality of the earth element? and, when including the decan card, what does this all mean in relationship to what we are embodying within our lineage? what are our ancestors trying to tell us about abundance? what wisdom is being passed down through the inner knowing that we have developed in the privacy of our own selves and now seeks to be expressed?

today’s date adds up to 22, or reduced to 4. the gematria of 22 reveals a correspondence to the word “unity” in hebrew. 4 implies a correspondence to the sphere of chesed or mercy on the tree of life, with the planetary correspondence of jupiter. 4 is stability and foundations. jupiter is expansion and abundance through faith. so we can see more language speaking to us having faith in ourselves, finding the ground floor of our faith, in order to truly expand into greater abundance. to truly come into unity with ourselves and what our ancestors have been working towards. true stability, true completion, embodied here in the kingdoms we are building for ourselves.

art: jillian adel

the unity spread

on the left is the card that represents the hermit or virgo. he is shining a light of wisdom onto the magician who is using this wisdom to improve or increase his flow in order to embody his 10 of pentacles, his ultimate manifested abundance on the right, expanding his sense what is possible regarding stability and foundations.

below are some questions and suggestions for ways to use this spread, although if you are called to use it a particular way, your intuition is always correct.

left / the wisdom

what wisdom have i garnered that is now coming through to be embodied in my flow, communication, intellectual processes?

center / the flow

what seeks greater flow in my life? or what seeks to be communicated about?

right / the unity

what seeks to be materially fulfilled and finalized so that my greater sense of abundance may be expanded?

deck: klimt

Notes

first, i pulled the spread and took any initial intuitive notes from the cards.

next, i looked up the elemental and astrological correspondences for the cards, along with any correspondences with my natal chart. for example, we are working with mercury and virgo. so i noted that my mercury is in taurus in my 5th house and virgo rules my 9th house, where i have no placements. i found it interesting that the hermit which is card 9 in the tarot, corresponds to virgo which also rules my 9th house. 9 is the number of spirit. the 9th house is the house of teaching and learning, philosophy, and travel. not so dissimilar from the way the hermit teaches from all he has learned up on the mountain, or mercury is the planetary ruler and diety of learning and intellect.

then i sat and journaled about the reading through cards / intuition.

finally, i go back over everything and make as many connections as i can. if certain ideas, numbers, archetypes keep popping up, they start to shine brighter and feel like a core message. feel into it. synthesize.

this is a deep dive for those who work with decan correspondences, but i’m curious to see how this plays out:
i pulled 5 of wands, which corresponds to saturn in leo or the first decan of leo. i also pulled 9 of pentacles which corresponds to venus in virgo or the second decan of virgo. i noted any transits or natal placements in any of these decans, and then felt into what they might mean for this spread. this spread is active for the dates that mercury is in virgo, which are at the top of this post. within that time frame, there are dates that the sun, moon, venus and mercury will all transit through one of these decan fields. i made note of the dates and what i felt the planetary energy might bring to the read. this could be used either to reflect on those dates, but i tend to find going back retroactively to reflect shines a clearer light. with more time, i’ll have a better understanding of how to use this. so if you do, please let me know how it turns out for you or how you use it as it is a total experiment!

Sun in Leo

the sun is in leo, corresponding to the strength card. in this deck, their arcana numbers add to 3 corresponding to the 3rd sphere on the tree, binah / understanding, ruled by saturn.

the sun is the planetary ruler of tipharet / beauty, the 6th sphere. leo is ruled by the sun. what is the difference between the celestial body of the sun and its zodiacal expression of leo? the sun expands, expresses freely. it is the radius. leo is the infinity symbol. it is dualistic, flowing energy through polarities.

saturn has a relationship to 3 and therefore generation and creation and venus. it’s limitations of the womb allow for gestation. the sun is a generator. and related to the heart, the eternal generator of our spirit. when our heart is full, we can do anything and we are often creating.

so we begin to see a relationship between the dual nature of limitation, restriction, tension between our instincts and reactive mechanjsm and the part of ourselves that has a mind and uses it to cultivate awareness in alignment with spirit. the sun is the raw generating force whereas leo is mastering flow through tension alchemized through the center of us, the heart, our energetic sun.

we often think about the sun or spirit as coming in from above. but it comes through our center, our hearts, and radiates outward through our venusian sets of standards, what we consider beautiful in our lives, what’s desirable.

2 and 3 and 6. the sun and venus and saturn. oppositions, trines and sextiles. the line of spirit as it runs through us navigating through our standards and bouncing between lower and higher limits, alchemized through our heart. spirit spiraling outward.

happy leo season 🦁