Yikes are we in the thick of it. Which is why I want to be sure to share with you the recipe for thriving the next few months as deep secrets come out and self righteous outrage can tip the balance in dangerous ways. This New Moon speaks to change in all capital letters ahead of a historic meet up between Mars, Uranus and the North Node on August 1st. We already feel it. The lowest expression of this is outrage, self righteous actions or violence justified by a young, wounded inner dialogue. With so many planets in fixed signs, it’s easy to dig in on a viewpoint and actions. Defensive thinking and actions can take center stage.
Before you point a finger at someone behaving in just this way, tempting as that may be, instead turn the lens inward. The historic meet up of our actions (Mars), our enlightenment (Uranus) and the North Node (Expansion and Hunger for more) are in a receptive place, not an active one. Change is needed. And it begins with listening well. It’s important to bring your courage with you, too. Because we have to face those dark places within us, before we rush to fix what we see around us.
The historic triple conjunction in (Gate 2 human design) has this to say:
“Beware of troublesome relationships or confusion over personal boundaries. Do not try to gain a position to which you are not truly entitled. When boundaries are not clearly defined, both dogs and nations quarrel. If you attempt to change your role now, a bloody battle may ensue. Slow down. Do not act until roles and responsibilities have been made clear.”
It’s easy right now to confuse others plus also being bruised and bewildered. Truth surfaces, whether we like it or not. Which is why you may want to rush into battle to escape the discomfort. Instead of fighting, you are best served investigating. Check out where things lines up well for you and what doesn’t. Be curious about the gaps. Some of these simply need updated information. Other places and spaces require clarity. It pays to know the filter you look through so you can clean off smudges and old dirt. From there, healthy boundaries help you know where to clearly draw a line for your own good. It is the opposite of defensiveness.
When we defend, we contract. However, when we define ourselves we can safely expand. It’s not necessary to battle. Rather you simply stop others from bringing their battles into your space. This adjustment helps update the map of you. So whatever presents itself is then a gift to find your yes, no, or not now.
We are well served to really grok how we see ourselves and what we want. Is it accurate or is it a wish? How well have you assembled a tribe of people who support your goals and encourage you to grow? People where you can safely say, ‘I blew that’ and have them offer a ‘do over’ are priceless. Both they and you know you can do better and want that for you. It’s not a shame and blame scenario. Are you creating that? Or are you simply reinforcing how right you are to defend yourselves and demand others change?
Instead of staking out a claim on something and fighting to keep it, look for where a new role emerges out of us. The natural evolution serves us creating what we are here to uniquely give to the world. It also keeps us from wasting precious resources on unneeded conflict. Take the long view. Are you here to win a string of small battles, only to lose the war as you waste precious time and resources fighting needlessly? The battle is within you. Start there. Honor all the parts of you and map your edges, your new boundaries, so you can grow. The Cards and the Stars will help.
Lisa Greenfield
7/28 leo new moon the emperor
This New Moon in early Leo is in easy aspect with a standstill Jupiter. It comes just ahead of the historic meet up between Mars/Uranus/North Node on August 1st. Then we add in the Emperor. I sat for a couple days pondering what my unique interpretation would be (Leo Moon is about individual gifts). Since Ceres, the Goddess of Harvest, is right there with this New Moon, it came back to the stories we feed ourselves. Then I remembered the ‘hive mind’. Group thinking allows us to free up more of our executive brain, so day to day life requires less individual processing when we are entrained in a community, family, company. The problem with that is everyone, and I do mean everyone, needs a check in on that automatic pilot.
For example, a friend told me a story where she sat at a table with loved ones and watched one of them triggered and reactive. She felt triggered to save them from social embarrassment. The dominoes kept falling as she then felt inadequate and paralyzed to speak at all to the other person’s verbal overload. Cue the default mode of Fixing It. I then proceeded to try to coach her on how I would fix it, jumping right in on the energy. Cue the screeching tires, right. It was a gut reaction and not the appropriate response, any more than her well meaning intention had been the night before. We were both more tense and no closer to evolving it.
After a nice distracting lunch I found myself spontaneously telling her the story of when I had my version of Tourettes about a colleague of mine. At a party and I saw a mutual friend. This friend shared an acquaintance I was ashamed to have supported in a business venture. I had introduced this wrecking ball of a man to a business he proceeded to demolish and wipe out six people’s jobs. The man at the party knew how it turned out and my part in it. Suddenly I found myself telling the story of how I tried to stop the demolition and our mutual acquaintance. It gushed out of my mouth on a river of guilt. My friend and his wife were polite for about five minutes of rant. But I couldn’t check the flow. It didn’t end well and limped to an awkward finish.
When I shared that story with my friend, her shoulders dropped and she got a little sweaty-eyed. More than anything, she needed to know we all have our human moments. I was vulnerable rather than fixated on fixing. This is the best example I can offer of what matters this Moon Cycle. The internal landscape has to be addressed. Shame is one of the most contagious emotions if you don’t own it and tame it. Sharing it with trusted friends can do just that. It may require active listening or it may benefit from shared vulnerability. Auto pilot robs you of the truest response. Find your automatic reactions and put a check on them.
Your mind is in service to you, not a dictator driving perfect results. Winston Churchill offered us this, “Perfection is the enemy of progress”. Start where you are, be your best self and that may mean letting trusted people see your imperfections so you can connect heart to heart, not hive mind to hive mind. Escaping group think for your individual contribution IS what this Moon Cycle invites you to do. Instead map your current edges. Keep them firm yet flexible and practice responding to what the world offers up. This way you strengthen your authentic self, which serves you well as you slowly expand into new worlds unfolding.
7/29 princess cups
The pages or princesses in Tarot represent the inner state that precedes the outer actions. As the Moon cozies up with Chiron in a sweet trine, we are blessed to see where old hurts may be dictating a present path. Rest assured, you may feel a bruise poke today. Consider it an opportunity to do things differently. A fresh perspective makes a big difference. When you turn your gaze on the inner dialogue, you may get a happy surprise. No not because you love your negative mind chatter. Rather it’s because you suddenly get why you do what you do. This way when you stumble over old scars and rotting stories, you can clean house and take good care of you. Doing this frees you up for true creation rather than survival, and that is a happy surprise indeed!
7/30 ace of cups
No doubt about it, you will require some stretch skills to take care of your inner dialogue today. Mercury is opposite Saturn, so it can be hard to tame the inner critic. Those pesky thoughts like “who do you think you are”. Mercury opposite Saturn can limit perceptions. We see what we want and refuse to look at a bigger picture. Notice where that happens with you. Is it the view of a situation, a person or yourself even, that needs adjustment. Aces are a fresh start and this one requires heart. The root of the word courage is the French word for heart. Be brave enough to acknowledge more of you today. Soothe your fears and pains with a little loving attention. Good, now take another look and be brave enough to know you can handle the truth.
7/31 the sun
This is the most positive card in the deck. It promises that no matter how dark the night, the Sun always rises. It’s also a reminder that change comes slowly. Days get longer or shorter by degrees. So allow things to be a little bit brighter a day at a time. Urgency and impatience are often a trauma response. Fear wants an immediate answer, results, resolution. Because holding the tension of the unknown feels threatening if you don’t know your own strength. You are always and forever the captain of your internal seas. IF it gets rough, steer into the wind and make your way. Or find a cozy harbor and tuck up for a while.
Know you can and will get through things. Find a way to bring your unique self to whatever you do, one that includes those tricky bits. Fear lies to us, all the time. It overestimates a threat and underestimates you. This was to keep you alive in dangerous times. If you are over-prepared for threats, you will live. But not everything you see as a threat is one. Living in constant defensiveness keeps you from engaging in the world around you and adding who you are to the mix. Fear cheats you of life. Instead find healthy boundaries. Know your edges and say no or not now to what isn’t a match. Then learn to expand a step at a time. The world is waiting for your light.
8/1 seven of swords
Today is the meetup of Mars/Uranus/North Node that hasn’t happened in about 2,500 years. Interesting that this card popped up for today. The shadow side of this historic meetup is the where people double down on their view of things regardless of what the facts may be. This seven is the hallmark of lies and deception. There is a great deal of break through available for those willing to look their own lies in the eye. We can lie about what actually motivates us to do something. Or we can tell ourselves something is fine when it really isn’t. There are a million ways to lie to ourselves.
Which is why you want to give your mind a job to do today. Tell it to catch the places where you lie to yourself. When the Moon is opposite Neptune, it’s easy to fool ourselves and with planetary help today, you spot the lies. Then notice your actions. Mars is what we do, how we physically show up in the world. With a sharp eye you can catch the places you act on auto pilot that isn’t in alignment with what is real right now.
The North Node expands what it sits close to and today it’s cozied up toe Uranus, the Great Awakener and Mars, our actions. Where can you bring yourself into integrity with what is true for you now, as you are, and act upon it from this place? Remember change takes place a day at a time. So do it, one adjustment at a time and watch what happens when you do.
8/2 prince of wands
Add some healthy impulse control into your day. With this impatient prince, things can roll rapidly right out from under you. It is worth repeating, when you rush, you pull from muscle memory. Instead be selective about what you do. Be curious about why you are doing it. Not everything requires an immediate answer or reaction. Deliberately look at what you feel and what that feeling needs before you do anything. It can throw water on careless sparks when you do a simple inventory. I’ve already started doing it.
Someone on Facebook posted a comment I knew was what she wished was true, not what was actually true. It’s something she has a habit of doing. I seriously thought about going on and clearing up the matter. Then I asked what did I want to accomplish. After personal inventory I realized I feel safer to think others could see the lies too. Except no one asked me to clarify things. Nobody even noticed her comment. So who made me the Truth Police. No one was in any recognizable danger. So I sent an energetic email (also called prayers to some) that no harm be done and the matter be cleared up in its own way. Oddly enough, I felt better for looking at it and letting it go. Feel your way. Slowly but surely your guidance gets better.
8/3 ten of wands
Tens are an empowered one and a new beginning one level up. You are hitting the big leagues today and the challenges feel like it. No you aren’t out of your league and yes you have to bring your best to the table. You will likely feel or meet resistance, defensiveness, experience a tug of war between what feels good versus what feels safe. The goal is to trade defensiveness for healthy boundaries. The key to this is to NOT try to exert your will on others or drive an outcome.
Instead be receptive and use discernment. What is a match for you and what isn’t. Be as thorough as you want a pilot to be checking the plane before you take off. Any hint of conflict, step back and get that checklist out first. You can save a lot of unnecessary suffering if you do. Remember this is about finding healthy boundaries in any and all collaborations. Even discovering what is not a match for you, or what is unfinished is good to know. Trust what is unfolding.
8/4 the star
The aspects today encourage seeing, hearing and speaking the Truth. However it pays to speak kindly. For that matter, it also pays to listen and see kindly as well. Sensitivity is present with touchy Chiron in the mix. Yet the ability to dig deep and acknowledge where we hurt ourselves is bigger than lingering wounds. The Star is the promise of dreams come true when we plant our feet in reality and reach for the stars. Do mind the long emotional toes everywhere. That includes your own. It’s easy to get stepped on, even by the most well meaning of friends or loved ones. Go slowly, tread lightly and have an excuse me handy, just in case.
8/5 prince of cups
This sweetheart rides in with the best and worst of heart today. The shadow side of this Prince is emotional immaturity. It has us grabbing all the toys without a care for equitable distribution or blaming others for problems we had a hand in creating. The young part of us wants to be cared for without equal giving in return. Like a child, we can expect those around us to make it right, do it right, give us what we want. Except we aren’t children and we live in time where what we put out there comes back to us rather quickly.
The light side of this is the invitation for equal partnership. In some Tarot decks this signals the marriage proposal. While that may not be the case here, it stands for putting your heart out there. Take a risk, say what you feel and stand behind it as an invitation. The real gift of this is when you invite someone to share what you love and create with it and they want to join you. Given all the celestial stir, it is going to be unusual. It cannot be a repeat of the past because you are no longer that same person. So feel your way into creating the new, especially when the heart calls you to it.
8/6 the hanged man
Ah, time to exhale and take a little rest. There’s been a lot going on again and you’ve earned some downtime. One of the meanings for this card is ‘life in transition’. Perfect for this pause in the Moon Cycle. There is a little tension here or there, but mostly it’s about an internal weather report. What requires some attention; where do you need to kiss a sore spot or indulge a momentary mental outburst? The important thing is remember that the Hanged Man is positioned so that his heart is above his head. You can’t think your way through today, only feel it. Feelings are like tides, they rise and fall. Learn your highs and lows today, why don’t you?
8/7 the high priestess
Good thing you had a rest yesterday, because today you are going to thread a needle, so to speak. Throughout the day you have to choose between your empowered adult and your adaptive child. It helps to remember others will be doing this, too. What lens will we look out of today? The wounded young place will definitely have opportunity to dig in and feel victimized or triggered and justified in lashing out. The wise adult in you can discover that no matter how sticky a situation looks, there is fertile ground to create something unique with it, when you are willing to approach it that way.
The High Priestess is one of the best possible receivers. Like a 5G Cell tower it can pick up extraordinary amounts of data and redirect and connect it. You’ve got your own inner edition of this skill. Your skin, even your hair picks up vibration. Emotions have molecules and they inform the waves of energy that make up your body. When you focus on defending yourself against threats and conflict, you apply all that data in less useful ways. When you put it to work helping sculpt your edges and focus on what you want to create, you are lit up. Feel what you are a match for and what you aren’t. Some places may be a ‘not now’ rather than a ‘no’. Learn to tell the difference. You can do this… you have superpowers, start playing.
8/8 two of cups
This two of cups offers the reminder to be kind. It’s always a good idea, but especially today. Deep emotions and power struggles may poke their hands up for recognition. By all means, acknowledge all of you. Just don’t give them the wheel. They can share, they just have to do it from the back seat. Two’s point to interactions with others. Sadly, they may not offer kindness. You still can. A smart woman once told me ‘you want to be as generous with other people’s flaws as you’d like them to be with yours.’ It’s an update on the golden rule, but I liked it.
If all you can do is hold your tongue and go take care of your own inner emotional storm today, do that. These little changes in how you take care of yourself signals that what you feel matters to YOU. It demonstrates that you are worth your own time. When you do that, the wounded child in you is less likely to act out, lash out or implode helplessly. Pairing up kindness and self command (not a fan of control) leaves so many more options on the table for you. The more options you have, the more creative you can be. The more creative you can be, the more your world starts to look like what you dreamed was possible. And you help make it happen with these little choices that add up over time.
8/9 five of cups
Today we face the place where too much of even a good thing can still be too much. It’s time to rein in the talking and rushing as Jupiter makes a couple of hard aspects. This Five of Cups is the break up card in traditional Tarot. What you break up with is the key thing. Can you replace getting results with creative uncertainty and patience? When we rush to do something, often it is scarcity mentality or fear of competition that prompts the speed. We jump to all the wrong conclusions in the absence of immediate proof of success.
The promise in this card is that all the cups are not spilled. When we are willing to work with what’s at hand and take responsibility for where we’ve squandered good chances, all is not lost. Five is Venus’ number and highlights creativity. There is promise in the situation, if we accept what is and understand how it got that way. In other words, learn from your mistakes. Do better because you stopped long enough to know better. Then adjust how and what you do, practice patience and let time help what’s coming unfold naturally.
8/10 ten of swords
This is one of the hardest cards in the deck. It signals defeat, loss and even betrayal. However, when you pair this with the first card in the Moon Cycle, the Emperor, there is a different message. You and you alone can stop the mind from becoming a tyrant that ruins expansive fun and growth. Remember the mind is your servant, not the master. In this case it says, your mind is not the dictator, no matter how tempting it is to let the tough guy make you feel safe. You give up way to much quality of life for the safety that can be traded in for inner security.
This secure insider helps you choose what you want, play where you are a match and learn from whatever goes wrong. There’s no punishment for failure, it becomes a rich learning experience and can sometimes even lead to something better than you knew was possible. The yellow sticky note came out of an attempt to make glue that wouldn’t leave residue. They found it wasn’t sticky enough to work as a good adhesive, but Arthur Fry put it to another use altogether. The failed experiment was repurposed and became a huge hit. It takes courage to risk failure. It takes strength to manage the conflict inside of us so we don’t keep experiencing it outside of us. Don’t let the tyrant in your head rob you of a rich present where all kinds of things are possible, even if they don’t look at all like what you expect. End that cycle and let change bring you gifts.
