The Eclipse Season – July and August 2018

The total lunar eclipse on 27th July 2018 marks the beginning of a rollercoaster of change and intensity.

Since 27th June this year we have been in a Mars Retrograde period which has forced us all to slow down, look within and deal with unresolved issues from the past. Whereas a Mercury retrograde period will affect technology, communication, transport (and traffic) and force to revise our thoughts and ideas, Mars is quite different.

During Mars retrograde we have to look at the make up of our egos. In a sense you could bring it down to the basics by saying love vs fear. We all need our ego to remind us to have boundaries and a sense of self in the modern world, but when the ego takes control in any area of the personality it often loses touch with the true soul purpose.

We can always get back to our inner truths by focusing on being love centred and working on our self love, but this requires regular mindfulness and meditation. In reality most of us start to attach with certain elements of fear/ego driven behaviours and focal points through habit and influence.

The lunar eclipse on 27th July 2018 marks the almost exact midpoint of the Mars retrograde period (which completes on 28th August at 28 Capricorn) and it also falls within one degree of Mars which will be at 4 Aquarius at this point. Those of you born between 21st and 27th January will feel this eclipse very personally, along with those of you who have a birthday around this time (meaning your Leo Sun is affected personally also).

As this Moon-Mars opposite Sun configuration is also very close to an exact square from Uranus in Taurus there could be some very surprise events occur at this point. Whenever Uranus comes into the mix we have to allow for the unexpected as it rules; revolution, rebellion, change and the unexpected. There is always a spark of genius and humour with Uranus though, this doesn't bring foreboding change, rather changes which uplift. It's those who follow routine and order who are upset by Uranus, but on a higher level it naturally brings about its own sense of order. For those of you who have worked with Cosmic ordering, you will be aware that Uranus is the ignition that you can use to help you bring about big changes in focal areas of manifestation.

So, whilst this eclipse may bring about change that appears to be unwarranted, it can also be used as an impetus to help create what you really want in your lives. Mars retrograde has being showing us where our egos have been holding us back, tripping us up and clouding our inspiration. Meditating on this full moon can help hone this energy to clear out old behavioural patterns, fears and other blockages in a ~conscious~ manner, to begin to prepare for a very exciting and productive Autumn.

Mercury will turn retrograde the day before this eclipse, so looking inward will continue to be the theme for the coming weeks. Introspection is key, try not to have too many distinct plans at this time, they will fall through. With the Uranus aspect to this full moon and both Mercury and Mars retrograde, going with the flow and learning to surrender control will definitely make life a lot easier. Trying to control anything (or anyone!) at this time will create arguments, anger, conflict and further delays.

Anyone with planets around 2 degrees of any of the signs will feel the complications in early August. With Chiron at 2 Aries, Saturn moving back from 3 to 2 Capricorn, Mars passing 2 Aquarius and Uranus at 2 Taurus, and stationing retrograde here for almost 3 months, there is a lot of activity. This is personal, there are big changes to any planets at this position, all will be in the crossfire of complicated and supportive aspects.

Do you have any planets at 2 degrees of the signs? Would you like me to take a look at how the current planetary positions can be used for growth, rather than angst? Contact me at: waxlobster@hotmail.com 

The next Eclipse is a solar eclipse and will take place on 11th August 2018 at 18'41 Leo, so this will affect those with a birthday around this time and also those born from around 4th to 8th February, 9th to 13th November and 7th to 12th May the most.

Mercury is in on the act here, and sat close to the new Moon (conjunction of Sun and Moon) Eclipse point, as if to reiterate the reminder that Mars made during the previous eclipse. Mercury isn't quite at the middle point of its retrograde cycle, but it seems to want to affirm the messenger's messages to us by highlighting its journey backwards through Leo. An edgy aspect to Pluto shows again that trying to rise above controlling behaviour is one of this Summer's underlying growth points.

Whether we are looking at the hierarchical societal structures which trap and confine us, or the oppressive hand to mouth existence of living in debt that so many find ourselves in; these kinds of themes may loom over us oppressively at this point. Or perhaps we are being shown our own fear-based behaviours which cause us to stay stuck in patterns which do not suit us, or interactions with others which have gotten into loops of control drama and stagnation.

All of these themes will be poignantly exposed during the middle of August. Where the eclipse falls in your own personal chart will show more about how/what and where. The chances are you will already have a fairly good idea of what makes you feel suppressed and confined in your life at the moment. Things only reach a head when we have out grown them, or have ignored their negative influence for long enough for intervention to become necessary.

It's important to try to look at these times as growth periods, rather that resisting and fighting the patterns of nature, it is better to yield and allow change. Often the difficult times are where we clear out all the blockages so that the magic and joy can follow.

The heaviness of these themes does indicate some political and social flux too, things will seems unsettled overall during August. The weak spot at 2 degrees of the signs will impact wherever it falls. I'm not an astrologer who works with the charts of countries but if I was I would mention that the great instability of the UK at the moment is due to Pluto being opposite the Moon of the UK chart and having recently crossed the Sun in the chart also chart!

{For details: http://www.astro.com/nat/natuk2_e.htm}

By the end of August things will look very different for us all. This is going to be a complicated month, but it is also an adventure, a learning curve and a great opportunity to grow. Those who have had ideas and projects that have been neglected recently may well suddenly find the time to go back to these. The great thing about retrograde periods, is that it's excellent for study, revising previous projects and completing them properly and it's also an opportunity to have a rest and really catch up on leisure time.

It may be a complex period emotionally, but it will also be one that can be regenerative and restorative. For some this will be a very healing experience, others will need to go through and unblock a fair few areas in order to allow the healing, but it's worth doing so.

September will feel like a new year, enjoy the hot Summer of growth in the meantime.

Shalom and blessings~~~ WaxyJo https://www.facebook.com/waxyjo/

Lunar Eclipse 16th September ~~ love your vulnerabilities~~ 24° Pisces

This lunar eclipse is the final of the season and is exact on Friday 16^th September at 8:05pm in the UK at 24’19 Pisces.

It will be visible from the UK, and reaches its closest point at 19:54.  However, this is a penumbral lunar eclipse; meaning the earth’s shadow falls on only a small portion of the Moon and so the change in light will be barely noticeable.

Although only a partial and therefore less potent eclipse; astrologically we have quite a powerful and emotional chart, with the Moon in Pisces sat next to Chiron the wounded healer.  Whilst Chiron is only regarded astronomically as an asteroid, it has a very powerful affect in an astrological chart.

I regard Chiron to be the ruler of Virgo as it correlates with the perfectionist, hygienic and self-deprecating traits of the sign; along with showing the triumphs of conscientiousness, kindness, service to others and innate patience which come from the taking ones owns own needs out of the equation. 

Where Chiron falls in a chart will tell you a lot about your deepest vulnerabilities and fears and I will always look to this area of the chart to understand how best to empathise and understand somebody’s true needs.  By connecting with somebody’s Chiron, you will be able to develop a truly deep bond, so long as your intentions are entirely genuine. 

Chiron is exalted in Gemini, as by expressing and sharing your wounds you can connect with others on a deep level and encourage them to share their own.  Chiron is connected with anorexia, OCD and self-purging kinds of behaviours when at its most difficult and suppressed positions.  Facing the fear of others’ judgement and acknowledging your weaknesses in this area is where this energy triumphs into connectivity, and healing begins.  Hence, many of the best healers, carers, nurses and nurturers have a strong Chiron position and have learned how to recognise the wounds in others, by understanding and having already integrated these within themselves.  We’ve all heard that the best counsellors are those with personal expertise in the applicable area. 

The main focus of this lunar eclipse is upon accepting ourselves, acknowledging our deepest fears and in turn being sensitive to those of others.  With Mars closely square the Moon-Chiron eclipse point, there may be fallouts and disagreements triggering these weak spots.  For those of you who find yourselves in an argument with somebody you care about around this time, do try to breathe, step back and recognise that many of us become angry when we at our most scared.  By looking at the source of behaviour, rather than reacting the behaviour itself we have the opportunity to become closer and create a bridge between those who may have formed chasms of self-preservation.

As always the key to the best possible outcome is to consider, “what would love do now.”  When in an ego state the tendency is to defend one’s position and fight to win an argument, or cover up a part of the self that we fear others seeing.  Love on the other hand has nothing to hide, and knows that where it exists then more love will manifest.  We always end up a reflection of what we project, and this isn’t only the case on a conscious level, but on all levels of energy.  Spending time chanting mantras every day will eventually re-programme the subconscious into positive patterns, but this needs to be corroborated with good intent at other times too.  It is not what we say to others, it is what we think to others that matters the most.

Words can help and with Chiron they can create a form of connection between people which breaks down the most inpenetrable barriers, but sending love is just as powerful, often more so.

Is there anybody in your life who you feel anger for?  Are you seething, or festering an energy which has the effect of draining your core spirit?  Is there an impasse which causes you distress or upset?  Are you holding on to a scenario from the past and replaying it in your mind?

I read an article this week about how the neurons in the brain work as muscles and become stronger and more able to perform wherever they are exercised the most.  Which areas of thought do you over-emphasise?  Do these thoughts serve you and help you create the next stage of the life you wish for, or do they hold you back and reinforce a negative view? 

We can re-programme anything we wish if we believe so.  Amends can be made with any person we want, there are no boundaries, only those which we create for ourselves.  Sometimes those which have been created for us by others in our childhood and we have replayed through habit, rather than choice.  Chiron often reflects early programming which has been passed by parents and peers to us through our formative years.  Often those who fear ‘ending up like their parents’ are the ones who end up exactly as their parents. 

The key is choice.  We cannot change our wounds, we cannot discount our vulnerabilities but we can turn them into strengths and connectivity.  We can look at our own defensive, or angry, or subversive responses to weakness and recognise these same mechanisms in those around us.

Chiron is the key; the key to understanding that we all suffer the same wounds, the same fears but we are also all capable of expressing the same love. 

If you’d like me to have a look at how Chiron functions in your chart and which areas this eclipse will emphasise in your life, then contact me at: waxlobster@hotmail.com and I can provide a reading by email, skype or in person for just £20.

With love and connectivity~~~~~ x

Full Moon in Libra ~23rd March 2016~ "illuminate your true self"

The sign of Libra is ruled by Venus, the charm, charisma and beauty bestowed on those with prominent Libra chart placements is; discernible, notable and characteristically Venusian. To me Libra is unquestionally Venus ruled (some disagree) and Aries is unquestionable (by all) ruled by Mars.

This is the only axis in the chart which embodies the polarity of Venus vs Mars; female archetype vs male archetype; giving vs receiving; yin vs yang. This is the axis of smoothing the waters vs expressing the true self and this, is the message of this full moon. What is more important to you; how you appear to others (Libra), or how you actually wish to express yourself (Mars)?

The Sun is now traversing through Aries, announcing loudly that the Spring has Sprung and the Moon becomes full when perfectly opposite to the Sun, in this case at 4º Libra. On this occasion however, there is a partial lunar eclipse at the same time. The beautification which the full moon in Libra wishes to sing out to the world is obfuscated by the shadow of the earth. Expression is halted, beauty is obscured, light is shadowed.

So the question needs to be asked on this Full Moon – what IS beauty? Is beauty the glow of expensive make-up on your skin, or the muscles bulging from your arms? Is it the perfectly coiffed hair and the waxed moustache? Or is it something deeper and more profound? Do all these things appear beautiful when cast into shadow, or does the visual translate into more meaningful depths?

Of course visceral appearances aren't only about beauty; but also about acceptance. I watch the world around me and people trying to please, wanting to be liked, wishing to impress, desperately trying to fit in. I sometimes ask them why, I sometimes find myself doing the same, but most of the time I know why. They're scared. You're scared, I'm scared, we are scared. Afraid that we will be alone if people don't like us, worried that we will lose our jobs if we don't agree with everything, concerned that if we stand out we will be ostracised and treated like we still live in a century where uniqueness was treated with burning or drowning.

We're controlled by fear, dictated to, set into regimes of nicely presented suits and shiny cars. Politely queuing behind lines and lines of others doing just the same. Most bristling with anger, frustration, obscenities on the tip of the tongue and sometimes tripping off it.

These same people spend time reading about extending their lives whilst not actually living at all.

This full moon chart; interestingly brings in all the elements which add up to us creating and maintaining façades. The 27º Cancer Ascendant brings the family dynamic to the mix and the Moon is ruled by Cancer. In the chart the Full Moon itself lands in it's home, the 4^th House also. Asking the question, who are you when you are at home with yourself?

If you spend some time considering the elements you most like and admire about yourself and then match up these qualities with the ones which are encouraged by others, how do they match up? Are you surrounded by people who love the you that you love, or do you feel that you have to adapt to be more like they imagine you to be? Do you ever apologise for sharing your feelings, or talking about yourself? Do you feel that cannot be outspoken without evoking conflict?

And if you do evoke conflict, is it your conflict anyway? When you do choose to strip away the pretences and the niceties, you can be sure there will people who resist this shift in you and wish you to revert to what they expect. There will conflict from them, there will be those whose egos are threatened by truth, and others who simply become angry when witnessing freedom as they wish to live a life where they no longer have to tie themselves in knots. 

 None of these are reasons to respond however, think mirrors and recognise projection. Fear speaks in tongues and can be invoked by the most surprising of folk at times, but once recognised as it is; fear is powerless and easily assuaged.

There is a transcendental element to all this; echoed beautifully by a Venus-Neptune conjunction, already propagating spiritual love, and transcendence and enhanced further by occurring in the sign of Pisces. A sign ruled by Neptune, so elevated in its own wisdom at times, Pisces can command the upper echelons of true love and revere Venus into exaltation in this sign. Venus rules the Full Moon of this chart and cannot be iterated enough when considering the essence of this Full Moon being about beauty and the over-shadowing of such. When Venus links up with Neptune it tells us stories of love being an effervescent, uplifting and magical connection which has no need for the visual, or even the physical. Physical, masculine, energising Mars is almost thrown out of the picture by this over-emphasised Venus position, but just manages to bring itself back into the picture by forming a sextile to the full Moon position, from Sagittarius.

Again we must bring expression of ones truth back into the picture, and also remember that the axis of this Full Moon is Libra to Aries. A full moon cannot exist without it's opposite, just as light cannot be discerned without the shadows cast.

In just the same way beauty cannot be conceived without the absence of such and so the shadows cast by the eclipse of this full moon will be as revealing as they are diverting.

I invite you to ask yourself during this full moon what it is that you love about yourself the most and how true to this you are. For the closer we appreciating our own beauty, the more those around us will be allowed to see us shine and start to see us as we really are. Beauty isn't in the eye of the beholder, beauty is behind the eyes of the subject and exists most vividly within the inner world of the subject.

Let the shadow cast by the earth over this full moon, reveal to you how to "illuminate you true self"~~

~~if you would like a reading please contact me at: waxlobster@hotmail.com I am currently running an offer on solar return charts which begin on your birthday and tell you about the coming year.  I combine this with complete natal chart information pack for just £50.  It' s a perfect gift.  ♥