the full moon at 20’24 scorpio is exact on wednesday may 10th 2017 at 2:42pm PDT. this marks the midway point of the lunar cycle we are in that began with the new moon in taurus on april 26th. that was a powerful new moon that made few aspects and was very focused in it’s energy. the focus was on being here now, being present to what is, caring for our bodies and the earth, and committing to the path of inner work that is needed in order for us to get to a healthier, happier place of thriving- not just surviving.
this full moon is in the opposite sign of taurus- and the taurus/scorpio axis speaks to what we hold on to versus what we let go of, what we own and posses versus what we share or owe to others. taurus is about material reality and enjoying life! while scorpio is the sign of death with leads to rebirth. taurus is form and scorpio is trans-form-ation. this lunar cycle has us looking at our place on the spectrum of holding on and letting go, life and death, what is mine to possess and what is mine to share, give or let go of.
incidentally this full moon is lunar beltane (the full moon in scorpio is the lunar beltane date which changes each year). beltane is a fire festival focused on fertility, conception, passion, sex, sensuality and enjoying life! this full moon is a time to engage with our passions and our deepest love of life!
scorpio is a powerful sign. it is the sign of all the taboo topcis of society: sex, death, money, power and control. the things people are obsessed with or afraid of- scorpio (and pluto) rules them! this full moon can bring into focus our greatest fears, deepest desires and also the shadows that lurk beneath them both. did you know that our Unconscious conditioning runs most of our consciousness? we think we desire a certain kind of partner or food or we think we are choosing to have an aversion to a certain kind of person or a situation- but underneath those desires and aversions are actually Unconscious reactions to things and people that actually go back to situations we experienced in childhood (and even past lifetimes). so this full moon in deep, smoldering scorpio can bring a lot up. it can bring us face to face with our jealousy, anger, rage, desire to be in control, tendency to manipulate, to try to dominate another’s will. scorpio is like a cauldron of emotion- or better yet a swamp. we don’t know what under those murky waters- do we dare to go in?
this full moon is trine pluto- the ruler of the full moon- who is closely aligned with juno. just a day before the full moon juno stationed retrograde- a degree shy of her exact conjunction with pluto (which will be exact on 11/11). pluto is the Lord of the Underworld and he drags us down and in. he demands that we face our own shadows and inner demons and that we do the work to relate to power not from a place of victim or tyrant- but from a place of empowerment and knowing our own worth. with the full moon trine pluto- the depths we can access at this full moon are DEEP. and with juno involved the transformative potential in relationships in our lives can be profound. the key is being wiling to question traditions, obligations and expectations we put upon ourselves and others. we don’t want to be doing something because we should be, or it makes us look good. that is the shadow of capricorn. this is a time to question what we are doing, who we are relating to, why we are relating the way we are. what are our relationship patterns? if you look back over the last 5-10 partnerships in your life- there is a thread there. can you see it? the lowest common denominator is yourself- so if you got cheated on by the last 5 partners (or if you did the cheating), it’s YOUR pattern. you have created this and there is a deeper excavation that needs to happen to understand why.
the full moon is also widely trine chiron the Wounded Healer- bringing deep potential for healing, awakening, full emotional expression and shifting our relationship to our wounds so that we are relating TO them rather than from them. and it is also square the nodes who just moved into their new home signs of leo and aquarius. when planets square the nodes we are brought to a pivotal point of choice on our journeys. we can keep on doing the same old karmic patterns or we can grow and move into new territory. with the leo/aquarius axis highlighted we want to move away from spiritual bypassing, analyzing things but not actually feeling them, and from a tendency to detach from our hearts. the leo north node demands that we come more into our hearts, more into our Light and authenticity. yet the brighter the Light the darker the shadow- so the path to more Light (more embodiment of it) is to move through/face/make peace with the shadows. as my shadow work teacher robert masters says ‘ we need to get intimate with all we are’. integration requires this deep dive into the shadows, not just being blinded by our own Light!
the ruler of this full moon is pluto and he is making a ton of aspects- he trines the sun, sextile the moon, squares mercury/uranus/eris, squares jupiter and cojoins juno! his intense, penetrating, real and raw energy is getting full expression at this full moon! the key is to work with the energy consciously so that we don’t default to domination and control OR playing the victim and instead take full responsibility for our energy and what is going on in our lives. when we can see things very clearly, including our piece in creating it, then we are empowered to change things!
the ancient ruler of scorpio is mars. before pluto was discovered mars ruled aries and scorpio. mars is in gemini and interestingly of all the personal planets he is the only one moving at a fast speed. both the sun and moon are slow as are mercury and venus- who just came out of their retrograde journeys in the last month. the symbolize of mars being the only fast planet made rethink to myself ‘we better slow down and not act in haste!’ mars wants what he wants and he wants it NOW. yet this desire, will and ego energy can get him into trouble. with mars in gemini we want to be aware of how we communicate and what we communicate. non-violent communication would be a great course to listen to right about now (for all of us and especially for the people running countries!). mars is in mutual reception with mercury (they are in each other’s signs) so the information is coming in FAST and people can shoot from the hip so-to-speak. staying open to aha moments, revealing information coming in and unexpected communications happening is key. just make sure you think before you speak and that you contemplate the long term consequences of words said or actions taken rather than short term reward.
mars is about to trine jupiter (on the 12th) but he is also about to square neptune (on the 11th)- so he will trigger the jupiter/neptune quincunx that is exact for the 2nd of 3 times mid may. these are the two spiritual planets- and they are also the two planets that like to see the glass as half full and look through rose colored glasses. with a tense aspect between mars and neptune we need to be very aware of how we communicate and the actions we take. any tendencies to be dishonest, slippery and/or intentionally misleading needs to steered clear from (there are karmic consequences that can ensue). we want to take our will and drive and elevate it’s desires- not check out, spiritually bypass and lie to ourselves and others about our intentions behind the scenes.
one asteroid to take note of is phaethon on the sun and opposite the moon. phaethon is a very mars-like energy. martha wolcott says this asteroid symbolizes recklessness, feeling out of control, taking on more than we can handle and having trouble keeping to the middle of the road. that is pretty much the shadow of mars in a nutshell! with this potent asteroid involved with the full moon we would all do well to reign in our impulsivity and reactivity and count to 10 and breathe deeply before we speak or act. this can be a recipe for disaster if we allow the shadow of our emotions to take hold of us and if we engage in power/control dynamics with others. because phaethon has associations with cars, transportation and driving please take care as you drive and travel during this full moon (this is not to freak you out- i feel accidents mostly happen when people are not being present. so your willingness to be very present and to tune into your intuition and listen to it will do a lot to keep you safe and sound).
interestingly the Dark Goddess has her energy all over the chart. back moon lilith is opposite mars (this opposition was exact on may 4th), asteroid moon lilith is in aries almost exactly quincunx the full moon in scorpio, and dark moon lilith is in gemini conjunct mars! YIKES! the Dark Goddess is fierce and a force to be reckoned with. she calls out the shadow and shit and does not care if she is called a witch, bitch, whore or hag. she has the gift of owl medicine- she can see into the shadows. yet she has a shadow side- which erupts in the form of her anger and rage. if she represses this it can come out in depression or illness. if she overly expresses it she can take it out on the people around her. this is an important full moon to be working with our anger and rage consciously. if we are not it can eat us up, drag us down, and create war and division within, without and in the world around us.
i leave you with ellias lonsdale’s star sparks meditation for the 21st degree of scorpio (we always round up to the nearest whole number when looking at the meditations on the degrees). i love the image of a pair of glasses with no lenses in them. it is time to see clearly- not through rose colored glasses, or through a glass darkly- but clear and spot on. in a world where people live their personas so much and are not truly living from their Soul- to look through a pair of glasses with no lenses in them is kind of like stripping away the persona and living/seeing/acting from the Soul. and i love the last line “we risk everything for the change to be crazy enough to see through every disguise and wakeup right on time”.
ellias has 2 versions of his meditations- typically i use his star sparks. but i happened to look at his inside degrees write up- which is similar but distinctly different and it felt even more spot on. so i am sharing them both below. i love how he eloquently states that the intense shadows we see without are mirroring shadows within. he speaks to self righteousness and rage- and how coming to a place of Love is the only way to make the karmic shadows disperse. when we can love our own shadows we can find compassion and love for other’s shadows. as within, so without.
full moon blessings sent your way…
~divine harmony
Scorpio 21 A pair of glasses with no lenses in them.
~Ellias Lonsdale, Star Sparks
We can see whatever we need to see without any help from anybody else or any secondhand opinions, points of view, rumors going around. We don’t want to be influenced by apparent and seductive ways to impose models, ideals, standards. We want life rough, direct, strictly our way.
Because we are so utterly intent upon carrying through with this uncharted perception, this unmediated awareness, we will do exactly what we set out to do. Instead of making peace with the broader collective versions of what goes on around here, we will stick to our guns and face the consequences of being so adamant and relentless.
The strength we gather from being so authentic to ourselves is tremendous. We get to see straight and to be so on fire with our truth that our inward soul can manifest in action and in life the way we feel it and know it to be. There are no filters, no go-betweens at all. Few can be this starkly on with core awareness in these times.
The dilemma we face arises whenever we need to see how others view life or somebody else needs to see as we do through us. There is no verbal and no ready made tool to convey or translate between this interior gaze and anybody else’s version. Usually, we become isolated, set apart to such an extent that we become a law unto ourselves.
Yet in balance this is the way it has to be. Even if we get swept away with ourselves that is the path we must follow, in order to break through to original, innovative discoveries which arise in this fashion and not in any usual tracks. We have our priorities clear. The only thing to do is keep on with our intense obsessional track and let it become either a failed mutation, as most are, or one of those rare openings into a whole new way of seeing, understanding, and being with the truth, the bare stark reality. We risk everything for the chance to be crazy enough to see through every disguise and wakeup right on time.
SCORPIO 21
Ellias Lonsdale, Inside Degrees
A pair of glasses with no lenses in them.
Brutally direct vision and will focused straight down the middle. An outrageously maverick sensibility, convinced that seeing it all just like it is, is the only way to go. Defiant of roles, masks, and secondary references. Hugely unimpressed by any form of privilege or specialness. Desperate to break through all barriers, to go for the jugular vein. Neither temperate nor balanced in any sense. In the path of bluntly insisting upon your right of way you encounter huge shadows, and you are sorely tempted to assume that they come from the others. But eventually, the hard way, the truth makes itself known that ornery self-righteousness casts its own formidable shadows, and each and every one of these lays a claim upon you, you cannot refuse. Only when the rage has turned to love do the karmic shadows disperse and bare existence then become a true place to be.