This Sagittarius New Moon slides a few home truths in the back door when you aren’t looking. We have a couple week window to recognize and adjust where our feelings, words and actions don’t match. This Moon Cycle illuminates where our beliefs haven’t made it into our daily lives, too. In other words, the hypocrisy factor confronts us. True to form, it will be so much easier to see in others. Be prepared to see where you overpromise and underdeliver if you are brave enough to face it. The ultimate goals is to move us off self limiting behavior that says one thing and does another. Imagine what’s possible when you know how to bring more of you to what you want to be and do in the world?
Don’t be shocked to find tectonic anger unleashed. It may even pour out of your mouth. The adjustment we require is to lance the boil of childhood hurts, festering in habitual responses, before Pluto moves into Aquarius to stay. Our learned response is still rooted in where we didn’t have or know how to use our power. These old wounds often unfairly demand the current circumstances pay the bill for past wrongs. It’s a mismatch where we metaphorically slap a $100 fine on a ten buck crime, because resentments built up over time. These undercurrents are a tangled web of emotions that keep us from speaking and acting our Truth in a way that benefits more than harms.
For example, I caught myself telling a little white lie about something as ridiculous as taking a shower that day. It rolled out of my mouth, and a part of me recoiled. What the hell was I saying? The conversation moved on before I addressed it. It shocked me because speaking Truth is so important I included it in my company name. Yet suddenly a little lie rolls out, for no logical reason, in current conversation. When I examined it, I discovered very old fears of being imperfect, which of course makes me unacceptable.
Now my logical mind knows that’s not true, I know I’m flawed and human. There was no risk in the situation, the person posed no threat. Yet that sticky little lie reared up to show me where to dig deeper and find what’s underneath the impulse. If we can examine what happens and why, there is gold there. This Moon Cycle helps find where responses are out of alignment with what’s in front of us. We are wired to belong and for individual wants/needs. Yet we learned how to achieve belonging and achieving when we had far less ability to influence the outcome than we do now.
What we feel, what we need and how we shape our world with our actions still has another five month reconstruction period ahead of us. The next few Moon cycles feature an invisible Mars strategically placed. Which means our words and actions reveal what’s under the surface and out of sight. What we get to do is face the gaps and make our own adjustments. You literally take your power back from conditioned responses. As Pluto leaves Capricorn next year, old conditioning crumbles. Which means we can’t rely on inherited structures to map our way ahead. What worked in the past doesn’t fit in the present. Yet we stubbornly or blindly do what’s familiar, because discomfort accompanies change. So there is the discomfort in change but also frustration in not changing. One opens you up, the other closes you off. Which will you choose?
Mercury is about to go retrograde in Capricorn, like a walk down memory lane. This is so you can start deconstructing coping skills that limit you now. When you don’t you’re liable to punish in the present what went unaddressed in the past. So, when those tender spots show up, they are to benefit you, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Mismatched ‘response and event’ is where the work is, like my lie when there was no need. It almost always reveals where you protect against old threats instead of create with your new opportunities and partners. I had to own it, make amends and move forward. Not easy but worthwhile discomfort on my behalf.
By all means, let the past inform you. Just be sure you see where you learned, grew and got stronger because of all of it. Micro changes are in order now. Small steps won’t add to the triggers in your nervous system. This is why you hear me caution to go slowly. The more patient you are with your progress, the kinder the change is on your nervous system. Incorporate a little adjustment each day. Be on guard against rationalization. The smarter you are the more you can rationalize the distance between your dream and your actions, your image of yourself and your actual behavior. There is always a learning curve between when we acquire knowledge and before we master living it.
What makes us hypocrites is when we stop trying and justify the space between what actually is and what we prefer to believe. Self care means you are mature enough and strong enough to gently but persistently make necessary changes. It’s not a straight line. Perfection is another self limiting side road to slow or stop change. The brainstem prefers the uncomfortable known to the uncomfortable unknown. Which is why so many of us justify the gap between what we want in our life and what’s hear now. It’s survival thinking. And it doesn’t serve you. So mind the details, make small adjustments so you learn to tolerate the discomfort of change in bite size. The Cards and Stars will help.
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
12/12 Sagittarius New Moon queen of swords
When this Queen shows up, the word is caution. Watch your words, because they may cut deeper than you know. Keep in mind how we speak to others is just a little better than we speak about or to ourselves. Whatever happens today, stop long enough to really see with kinder eyes and mind. The goal is to discover where your inner hypocrite or judge wants to bully you and others for mostly past mistakes. It’s easy to justify bad behavior because of wounds. If you’re tempted to police those around you, bring it back to your own responses. That’s not helpful. Accept the conditions as they are but don’t settle for a poor expression of tangled emotions. Especially your own.
Important to accept mistakes with grace, yes indeed. Then be accountable and take action to correct it. The best apologies are changed behavior. An apology with justification for why it happened is not a true amends. Find out what keeps you from being accountable. Get to the root behind the poor choice of words or actions. Attend your wounds. This way you show others how to do it and invite support from a clear space that welcomes and benefits from it. If you overpromise, come clean. Take a portion of what you want to see happen and commit to the bite size. Not everything can or needs to change at once.
This Queen is one who stands alone. The message she offers is both encouragement and caution. You are responsible in this moment for the world you create. No matter what happens to you, it’s your power to respond that decides what it ultimately can and will be. Others can impact you, but the outcome of what you do with the raw material is yours to shape. You are learning, right now, how to do this with the biggest and best possible view for you.
This card in combination with two others this Moon Cycle caution us to learn from our past. Don’t ignore the lessons there. Don’t use it to excuse present performance. As long as you’re alive you can learn from anything that happened and make something good come from it. Uproot any part of you that doesn’t want to see your power and take responsibility. Because that part will keep you small and dependent in the least healthy of ways. There is a whole world waiting for you to add yourself to it in the ways the best serve you. What delights you can and will uplift others, even if the contribution needs polishing along the way.
12/13 The Emperor
The ability to take command of your internal weather is tested right out of the gate this morning. Watch for where you are convinced you are right and others are wrong. Sharp words still hover as Mercury begins its two and a half week back trek in Capricorn. It’s stewing in a vat of untrue powerlessness and inefficient ways to get our power back. Pause long enough to investigate where you don’t accurately understand your impact on your surroundings. The goal, when we see the Emperor appear, is to take charge of your world. That doesn’t mean running roughshod over the peasants who piss you off.
Instead it’s about using anger to hold a boundary. That’s not a punishment or barbed wire fence. It’s the means by which you show others how to connect with you in a manner you welcome. When and where they push in unwelcome, use that anger as consolidation to hold firm and say no. Show them where the doors are and put a lock on what feels intrusive. No entry allowed that way. Let anger be the iron fist in a velvet glove. The best use of power is rarely showy. It is courage when we need to move forward in difficult circumstances and strength when another wants to cross a line that matters to us.
Whether you fight, flee or freeze in conflict doesn’t matter. It’s what you do next does. Your response is part of an ingrained way you learned to take your power back when triggered. But there is more than that available now. Take yourself off auto pilot. Feel the emotion, ground yourself in the present. See the detail around you. Smell the scents. Sip water. Redirect the automatic response and make yourself feel safe in a new way. Micro-changes can and do work. They are within your abilities. Before you engage with anyone else, get command of your body first. Curiosity and breath are two good tools to help you center before you do anything. Good. Now practice…
12/14 Three of Cups
This three in combination with the Queen of Swords reminds us to learn from our past mistakes. That doesn’t mean wallow in them. Or use them to shame our past self. Also, not a good idea to use them to justify poor choices in the present. That only gives power away to the past and others. This three brings good news. And, discovering your present day superpower over challenges is definitely handy today.
The Capricorn Moon squares sensitive Chiron. So it’s tempting to have a pity party. Any time we feel sorry for ourself it’s an emotional call for our own attention. Quality time seeing and sitting with the pain from the past is valuable. You don’t need to ‘do’ something about it except witness and accept that troubled part of you. When we don’t acknowledge it with our own attention, it shows up in sticky ways outside of us.
Thanks to a little momentum from a Moon/Uranus trine later today, we can turn a big corner when genuinely find a way to be present with what hurts. It just needs a witness and today the best witness is ultimately YOU. Do find a way to honor the hurt in your body. Rocking helps. Breathing helps. Hands on heart and belly while you breathe helps. Find your way. If it’s kind and acknowledges the uniqueness of your experience, good, bad and ugly, that’s the golden ticket. The rest will flow from that starting point with strength and integrity. That’s more than enough to be good news…
12/15 Prince of Cups
We see advances in creativity and love when this Prince shows up. We also see responses that are less than our full adult self. Which fits nicely with the transits today. Triggers come from deep down as Moon conjoins Pluto at daybreak. Those buried impulses, make their appearance so that as the day unfolds we can use the Mars/Chiron trine to change with more ease. Remember, small adjustments serve you best. Big changes are another tactic for self limiting behavior. Because when you overcommit you are likely to fail, so you can justify staying in familiar space.
In fact the Moon squares Jupiter by evening with a theme of ‘too much of anything is still too much’. Yet the hunger to do more, be more, eat more or anything more can demand center stage. How well can you sit with those feelings without judging or acting on them? This is a good practice today. Observe what is actually going on inside of you. The more you engage with what you feel without acting on it in the moment, the more you retrieve power you’ve given to excuses, other people and the past. Deliberately choose what you will do, not because of some old story or viewpoint. See it today, with fresh eyes.
12/16 The Fool
The Fool invites us to take a leap of faith, something the transits echo today. However, we need to measure the risk we take first. You will be tempted to take the easy way out of any risk. In fact you may find yourself stuffing big emotions or eating them as the day unspools. Notice what comes up for you when it comes to doing the next step in your life. Time to be clear on whether you over function or under function when you have these choices to make. This Sun/Mars reset we are in process on teams up with all these pesky little triggers to show us where our fears reside. Then it’s time to choose one small action to correct imbalances. Staying stuck won’t feel good if you won’t voluntarily address this.
The Moon and Mars team up to ensure what needs change is big enough so we can’t miss seeing the issue. Or it helps us move into a better expression of what we feel and need today. With a square to Uranus, the change can feel a bit shocking either way. When we choose the new direction, prepare to feel odd at first. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good choice. It’s simply unfamiliar and requires an adjustment period. If you don’t willingly make adjustments you could feel backlash by evening. The Universe requires a new direction and won’t hesitate to dial up discomfort when we refuse. Make it a bite size change, make it meaningful and go.
12/17 Temperance
Watch the inner chatter today. It’s too easy to pick at the discomfort we feel in new space and use it to justify shrinking back into the familiar. This is where you want to muscle test, tune in to your body. It may feel better about the changes than your mind does. That’s when you know you are on course. The mind races ahead, catastrophizes outcomes when it’s in unknown territory. Temperance points to deep and profound healing. Part of that process is the ability to sit with the tension in the unfamiliar and not let the mind run away with the story about it. Breathe and feel your body. Notice your surroundings. The more you tune in to what’s around you instead of spinning worst case scenarios, the more your body can learn it is safe in unfamiliar space.
12/18 Nine of Wands
Retrograde Mercury trines Jupiter first thing this morning to give us a much needed sense of accomplishment. The Moon in Pisces and Venus in Scorpio make it easier to know what we feel and want and sets up the next challenge. Are you hooked on wanting something more than actually having it? The Moon square Mars, which means we need to make an adjustment between what we love and how we respond to it. If you only love the longing for something, you may subconsciously delay ever closing the deal. This way you effectively keep yourself in safe space, always wanting what is just out of reach.
Time to confront the fears and stories you have around success. Do you fear envy, competition? What keeps you in the place of wishing for instead of having? This Nine is the number of intuitive mastery. The answers may not be a logical or linear path. What matters is that you look at what’s at the root of you not having more of what you want. The answer to closing the gap is inside of you. Any place you blame, you haven’t owned your power. Instead, you let something around you be the excuse. There is an adjustment needed, start with acknowledging you have a choice. At the end of the day, do you want your reasons for not having things more than you want to do what’s in service of those being in your life?
12/19 six of pentacles
Okay, this Six speaks to good fortune as the result of your own actions. However, there is a fly in the ointment. Mercury and Uranus are in a tense dialogue. The part of us that wants one big breakthrough that ushers in blinding clarity doesn’t want to acknowledge that most change does not take place this way. It happens in subtle shifts. When we think, feel and then act on things in a new way at least 21 times, we’ve started a new neural pathway. It’s the combination of thoughts, feelings and actions that anchors change. Plus it’s repetitious. And it’s mostly gradual.
Yet there is a human part that wants the one brilliant stroke of genius that organizes and changes all that follows. Which is possible only when you persistently act on the insight and build positive feelings around it. Like the tide, emotions can give you feelings of closeness followed by pull backs. This doesn’t mean the tide is not coming in because a wave rolls back. Rather it is a building momentum and swell that signals advances. Adjust for impatience. This is one more way to derail meaningful growth. Keep checking yourself for alignment of thoughts, feelings and actions. Small adjustments here are the perfect way to ensure steady changes that last without blow back.
12/20 Ten of Cups
The aspects today echo last month’s Full Moon. Prepare for opportunity disguised as loss. We have to give up what doesn’t really work in order to get to what does. This Ten of Cups is the promise of Happy Ever After. Yet tens are an empowered one that still starts out all over again on a much bigger playing field. This field is the world of relationships and creativity. What we have today is relationships show us what doesn’t work, so we can get busy creating what does. If you get stuck on the first part, you can’t get to the second part. Tens signal a powerful new beginning, but the key word is BEGIN, not complete.
We are evolving beyond cookie cutter conditioning we inherited and added to in order to emerge as a current us. The more you uncover the rich fabric of what makes up the constellation that is you, the better you can partner up happily. Stay with those micro changes. When relationships are at stake there is an added layer of stress around vulnerability. Which is why getting to know yourself requires establishing the kind of relationship you want to bring out into the world. It’s easy to slip into control mode today. Self control, controlling others, seems a good reaction to triggers. Hint, they aren’t. Patience, please. Tomorrow brings help, so see and release what isn’t working. You’ll get to what does before too long.
12/21 Six of Cups
The Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) rolls in, not quite like a wrecking ball, but with some kick behind it. This Six highlights the past and childhood. Retrograde Mercury sextiles Saturn, to those very themes to the front. We have to own up to the power imbalance at the core of most coping skills. We weren’t in power as a youngster. But we are now. Moon meets up with Eris to insist we examine where our unmet needs inform key spaces in our adult relationships. The Moon square to Pluto speaks loudly to the responsibility we have now for our actions and reactions. No matter how valid family wounds are, you can’t use them as an excuse for poor behavior in the present.
Incredibly talented and happy people take the darkest childhoods and used them as fertile ground for creative and loving partnerships. It IS work. And it takes deliberate effort. Which usually starts by moving past blame. As long as we make the past our problem in the present, we aren’t in our power. We can always do something constructive with childhood wounds. Sometimes all that is required is to fully feel it and be a present, loving witness to how awful it was and how much it scared you. Master sitting with your own big emotions. They call it reparenting at a core level. Use what you didn’t like and didn’t get to help map what you want to adjust for yourself now. No excuses, you are worth the effort.
12/22 The Sun
The Moon meets up with Jupiter, retrograde Mercury meets up with the Sun after the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. We now start the trek towards more light filled days. How perfect the Sun cards shows up. It offers renewed confidence as we head out of the darkness and slowly, minute by minute head into more light. Confidence builds when we do the hard things. It happens when we postpone immediate gratification for a bigger win later down the road. Those micro changes build your ability to be strong and resilient. No matter how small, see what you’ve already accomplished. There is power in small steps. See and savor yours now, why don’t you.
12/23 Eight of Wands
It’s Christmas Eve, Eve for those who celebrate. The Moon meets up with Uranus to give us a push towards freedom from old conditioning. Just remember small adjustments. Before you throw over all the traditions, expectations and obligations pause. Be deliberate. What do you want to do and then how can you do it in a way that respects what you don’t wish to do? Eights are always a sign of connection. What you put out to the world comes back to you. This one is about an intuitive signal that gets positive results. So before you do battle in words, why not imagine your wise self and anyone else’s wise self in dialogue first.
Don’t underestimate the power of a good intuitive connection. Our gut brain picks up on signals in the present moment about other people’s energy and state of mind. If you are a ‘no’ for something, offer an energetic compliment sandwich. Acknowledge the invitation or offer even if it doesn’t match what’s best for you today. Then say no thank you. Finally, wish them all the best with what you won’t be doing with them. Put your heart into it. By the time you get to an actual conversation, you may well defuse a lot of unnecessary tension. This eight can mean applause and appreciation. It’s worth a try, right.
12/24 The Wheel of Fortune
This card reminds us that we reap what we sow and when you get something you don’t like is a chance to correct what you put out there. That’s not to blame ourselves for disappointment. Perhaps what needs adjustment is a clearer message of what does and doesn’t work for you. Be careful. The wounded parts may try to jump in with a big fine for a small crime. The aspects are like removing a bandaid so air can help it heal. There is a mixture of what stings and what helps.
Keep your eye and energy on your lane. Expectations put the power to make you happy in someone else’s hands. As my friend says, expectations are just premeditated resentments. So take the wheel. How clear are you on where you can and do make yourself happy? Remember, the Dalai Lama said “anyone who thinks they’re enlightened, go spend a week with their family”. So wether you are with them or without them, how do you make your life work better for you? Micro changes, small adjustments all make a difference. Feel your feelings then use them like modeling clay and shape what you truly want in your life. It’s in your power!
12/25 Ace of Cups Merry Christmas with love
Venus Trine Neptune today gives us a chance to feel the love. This Ace says to start with YOU. What you want from others, be sure to give to yourself in some form, please. Do keep in mind that when you raise the bar on how you care for yourself, you show others how to treat you. It may rock the boat, however. Long held patterns can be sticky when challenged. You treat yourself well and something outside of you wants to go back to where you didn’t have healthy boundaries. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself challenged on your yes and no by evening. The goal is to map back to the loving place for yourself, no matter what occurs. Remember growth is uncomfortable until it becomes the new normal.
So accept what you feel, right size it before you say or do anything. Make sure what you feel is an actual match to what’s in front of you. Then and only then choose a new way to express yourself. Even a slight change is good. Small steps allow your nervous system to hold the unfamiliar without short circuiting. So be kind to yourself. Make a wish that you can do something about to make come true. Then enjoy feeling into what the next right step might be. You can’t get it wrong, any fresh step is good. Let you be more you and see about loving the process. Then it will ultimately connect you with more loving people. That’s the best present, right?
