Thanksgiving is upon us in the United States, and there are reasons to be grateful. There is also a lot of difficulty and pain in the world around us. So how do we balance what feels good with what most decidedly does not? This Moon cycle offers an easing of the pressure from the eclipse cycle we just experienced. In fact as my colleague shared, this New Moon offers a spectacular view of the promise of good things to come from the seeds planted during this eclipse cycle. Still, there are reasons to move ahead carefully.
Case in point, I was rushing to move something while I congratulated myself on how well the day was flowing. Hint, this means I was getting a lot of my ‘to do’ list done while also practicing presence. Then a heavy brass pot was dislodged in my move and did a spectacular swan dive to land on my unprotected baby toe. I howled and hopped as my busy day came to a screeching halt. The rest of the day required elevation, ice and it still looks like a giant blueberry. As you can imagine, it has slowed me down and kept me present, less I bump into anything else.
This New Moon has the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius in easy aspect with Jupiter. This dials up the energy of each of the planets Jupiter touches. Sagittarius is one of the more visionary signs, the Archer. It’s symbol includes the ‘arrows of desire’. Our unique expression comes from what we desire. Which means this New Moon cycle brings special emphasis to those longings in you. This is where the first evidence of growth from a difficult, yet fertile, eclipse season. Now there’s a bit of good news, right? It’s the magic season and who knows what can happen.
But just as you can’t continually breathe air into your lungs without popping, expansion requires some contraction as well. What comes in to your life will displace or reconfigure what is already present. Which presents us with the push/pull of old and new, security and risk. Which is why it is worth moving slowly through the current decisions you make. Remember, they are setting that foundation in cement for you to build upon. Not to mention the possibilities of accidents as the Universe’s way to slow you down or reroute you.
This brass pot incident made me stop long enough to look at how many choices are out of a wish to avoid pain, disappointment, loss. Stack up enough accomplishments and I thought I”m somehow safer in an unsafe world. I put a mountain of evidence to avoid feeling vulnerable. Yet that vulnerability is hard to escape. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to witness another’s pain without wanting it to go away or to get away ourselves? We try to fix, or distance ourselves and/or blame the victims. It can be deeply distressing to witness another’s pain. And it can be equally difficult to see unfeeling responses to it, yet the pain in the world is visible anywhere you look. So how do we hold growth, optimism and desire alongside the shadow?
As I nursed my blueberry toe, I gave my mind directions, look for information to balance the darkness. And so it flooded out like a jackpot strike of coins. There were moments from that morning, delicious memories of small events that cascaded into my flowing day. A cat seeking a kiss and rolling over with pleasure when he got it. Hard conversations that resolved better than expected with honesty and care. Oh yes, the smell of my favorite tea steeping in my antique teapot wrapped in a handmade tea cozy. There was a beautiful display of poinsettias put out across the street. The week earlier offered an array of magical connections, synchronistic texts and timing all there to be savored in hindsight.
Once I had this stunning assembly of delicious moments, those difficult headlines filled with hate, fear, violence and pain became like small black marbles in a giant golden bowl. It’s more proportional. The more I slow down and savor, even in hindsight, what pleases me, the more I can hold the darkness. Because delicious moments are everywhere, if I look. The very fact that there is so much pain creates a pressure to counter program. What emerges is more of the golden bowl moments out of necessity. That jackpot still flows if I can put my hands out to catch it.
So I savor all that brings me joy and harmony more in order to hold the pain that comes from a changing world. And bonus, it helps me really take in how many good things are happening all the time. The price of avoiding pain is to equally miss the pleasure that is there in far more abundance than we realize. Here’s to you finding the right balance to fill your world with a golden bowl of memories big enough to make those difficult moments a stunning accent piece of contrast instead of the whole view. The Cards and Stars will help.
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
P.S. I am grateful for you and a chance to share. As a friend once said, “I won’t live long enough to learn from every possible mistake I could make, so as much as possible I like to learn from the mistakes of others.” Thank you for letting me share what I’ve learned from my life, mistakes and all. Wishing you and yours a cozy day of gratitude blessed with love.
11/23 Sagittarius New Moon five of cups
What a card to open the Moon cycle with, right? This Five of Cups is typically a sign of heartache. Except there is a reminder here to count what you have instead of focusing solely on what you do not have. Our happiness rests on how big a frame we use to view any experience. Biologically we are wired to focus first on threats, which makes sense. It is up to us to go beyond a purely instinctive response. We can reprogram our brains to add in data which broadens our field of vision.
If we want to savor these expanding desires, we need to stretch into the unfolding promise that sits amidst the debris of the world we used to know. Why ever NOT include joy in that view? This New Moon dials UP our longings. It also highlights the obstacles to obtain those desires. There is reason to move ahead step by step. We aren’t well programmed to go beyond the survival mentality of the last couple years. Yet you are able to consciously do that. Not in spite of the difficulties, but including those difficulties!
So this way you can observe any challenges, delays or reroutes as an opportunity to bring your brain into a healthy balance with expansion, primed with what you love. It gives you an option to expand, that includes all your emotions instead of the tunnel vision fear serves up. Fear has you turning away from or against those in pain. And pain needs a witness if it is to heal.
Who wouldn’t benefit from a world where more people can heal, right? Jupiter is going direct, which picks up steam on both the suffering in the world (last degrees of Pisces) but moves through it into the fresh eyes and optimism of Aries. So as you practice retraining your brain to see the big picture, this Five calls on us to honor what’s ending while moving ever so slowly away from it. Don’t worry if you feel down, just balance it out with more that delights you to help you hold all your emotions.
11/24 three of swords (happy thanksgiving)
We have a couple aspects today to help poke the embers of old wounds into fire again. This Three of Swords, especially after yesterday’s Five of Cups usually brings tears. The difference is these can be cleansing tears. How well do you sit with your own pain? You probably didn’t have much education in how to do that. I don’t run across people often who do. So here’s a tip. The Gottman Institute on relationship offers a measurable gauge for their happiest couples. The people who do best together have a ration of 20 to 1 positive to negative interactions between them. What if you applied that ratio to yourself? How well do you turn towards yourself, connect with your feelings or needs just as they are?
The Gottman Institute explains that positive interaction is when you turn towards the person as opposed to turning away from (deny or ignore) or turn against (fighting). When you judge your feelings, shame or blame yourself, or blow up and act out with others, this damages connection. Instead, where can you ask yourself how old the version of you may be that feels whatever you feel? Then picture sitting as the wise, strong adult you are now with that younger you. You’ve learned and grown since then. See yourself more completely as you are now. Then kindly sit with the younger you.
Kind is a good word to keep on hand today. Because Mercury in tense aspect to Pluto and the God of War. Plus Mars opposes the Moon by evening, which means conversations can be tense. But Mercury is also in easy aspect with Chiron. So we especially benefit from talking to ourselves with more compassion and patience. Emotions take about ten minutes to travel our nervous system. So put ten minutes on the clock as a time out and take care of whatever you feel. When you do, you can face whatever conversations provoked the response from adult space. And that helps preserve connections, starting with the one you have with yourself.
11/25 five of wands
This is the second five in the cycle and speaks to our personal uncertainty. Because this Five also stands for ‘resistance in the beginning’ it is a good symbol for the Venus tension with Pluto we have today. The Moon also squares off with Jupiter so our conflict reminds me of a chick pecking its way out of a shell. What was once cozy territory is now cramped and almost airless. One challenging piece at a time you can remove resistance and brave the greater world beyond protective walls.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to great at it yet. Just practice being brave and present one irritating moment at a time. Give yourself credit for each effort. See how good you can be at doing that instead of pressuring yourself for results or perfection. In fact, you may even find it feels good to witness the process with a little enthusiasm to balance out the inner critic. I dare you to see how often you can cheerlead yourself, no matter how imperfectly you do today. Add up your positive interactions. It will definitely feel like progress when you do. If you can’t do it at all, give yourself a pass and know you can try it another day.
11/26 nine of cups
This is one of the sweetest cards in the Tarot Deck. It is the ‘make a wish’ card. It needs to be a heart wish, not a head wish. What better way to practice expanding your desire nature than to actually MAKE A WISH. With Chiron and the Moon in a tense stand off in the morning, you may have to work your way up to it. Observe what stories your fear serves up to keep you from risking ‘too much’. Where to you get so prescriptive and rigid about the wish that the Universe is boxed in about how you want to receive? Desire is an art. To feel a longing and then let it evolve, grow and take shape takes patience and courage. Play with how you can dial up that part of you today. Try some of these ingredients and see what gets served up for you.
11/27 wheel of fortune
This promise of good fortune and inevitable change is perfect for today’s aspects. The Moon meets up with Pluto. So our fears will show us the hell realms if we take a good look. Those desires, once you’ve dared to dream and offer up your wishes, expose and expand you to the torture of self doubt. When you can’t trust yourself, then you can’t trust the world either. Yet the landscape of those imagined pitfalls also expose your greatest strengths. Because our fear brain knows exactly where the biggest threat is, because it is where we are most powerful. Our weakness won’t expand us into the unknown, it’s our power that does that.
So fear has you question the very thing that is strongest about you. It will have you doubt what is most solid. Pay attention to what those fears point out. They pull back the curtain on exactly where you skills and gifts rest that can help make your dreams come true. Your willingness to go treasure hunting for them in hell is one that pays off handsomely. Pluto has untold riches when you visit the underbelly. The very act of courage it takes to go there already reveals more strength than you may have known you possessed. This Wheel encourages us to take the whole picture, the ups and downs, the good and bad and let it all bring you a richer, more dimensional world. Remember shadows are like outlines on a painting. They aren’t the whole story.
11/28 ace of pentacles
Mars and Saturn team up today to help get things done. This handy Ace in the pocket says from little acorns grow mighty oaks. When you pay attention to the details today, the results will gratify over the long haul. It’s a good day to ‘feel your way’. What that means is notice what lights up your nervous system in a good way versus what stresses it. Try this little hack. Breathe five slow deep breaths with you exhale a little longer than your inhale if you feel tense today. Sometimes a little oxygen helps prime your body to take on the challenge in front of you.
It turns out our brain doesn’t know the difference between fear and excitement until it gets external cues. So when you breathe into the discomfort, you give your own body the outside cue that says, ‘I am ready for this’. Not to mention it oxygenates your brain. This helps for any decision making. Since fear has us breathing in almost a pant, we get oxygen starved. This is not a great place to decide what to do. So breathe into the difficult feelings. Once you do, you may well find you tolerate better the emotions that shape the experience. Do that often enough and sculpt a life that is artfully pleasing to you.
11/29 six of swords
This six is a good picture of today’s celestial weather. We start the day with a few storm clouds, but over the day we sail out and into calmer waters. Today’s Mars/Mercury opposition means your head may prefer one direction while the body pulls in another. Rather than give in to the tug of war, try doing inventory on the different parts of you that create the whole. Let each side of you tell their reasons and perspectives. Then insist your wise self work out the best possible collaboration for you. Why not add that the collaboration be a good one for those around you, too? We are still working through the last of the Saturn/Uranus square that pits our individual needs against the collective needs. Indulge in a little research, the results may be quite fascinating.
11/30 Star
This hopeful promise of dreams come true does include the element of your work towards the goal. And work you will today. Venus, Mars and Moon are all in a tense tango to see who leads the dance. Does Venusian desire top your list? Or does the Moon’s drive for security get top honor. Then again maybe impulsive Mars rushes in from muscle memory to act immediately rather than hold uncertainty a little longer. When these three planets get together like this, they help us move beyond unwise emotional expressions. If we let them do that, of course.
The Star is here to lift our hopes, renew our energy and remind us that we, too are made of the same materials that a star is made out of. So go outside tonight and wish on YOU. See where you can bring commitment to the efforts on your own behalf. Remind yourself, over and over if needed, you are worth your own time. Not just to gain immediate validation. But in the power and joy possible when you do get those dreams come true, beyond what you thought was possible. Believe in you and watch what happens.
12/1 prince of swords
This card cautions against rushing to a decision, jumping to conclusions or otherwise shortchanging yourself with a quick read on any situation. Change is upon us and today is a sorting day. What stays, what goes? You want to be deliberate about the choices. They may apply to beliefs even more than actions. The swords are the realm of the mind, after all. We act on what we believe and over time it weaves our reality. Shift those beliefs and watch what changes. Trauma has us rigid and unyielding. Healing has more bend in it. Play with that contrast. Does the moment feel fluid or pressurized. Try a new perspective if you are tense. Hold a new thought for 30 seconds. Then a minute. You won’t explode. The world won’t melt. See what is there beyond the hard boundaries fear held in place.
12/2 four of swords
Rest, please. This four strongly encourages us to rest in order to keep thoughts on a firm foundation. If we won’t voluntarily take a break, this card hints that the body may take over to make you sick so you have to rest. The Sun and Moon are in sweet aspect together as is the Wounded Healer Chiron and the Moon. All this points to acknowledging the heavy mental lifting you’ve been doing so far. Acknowledge it and kindly give yourself something that requires nothing more than muscle memory. Or indulge in a nap, Netflix queue or something equally mindless. Pace yourself, you’re climbing a pretty big hill of change, whether you see it or not yet.
12/3 emperor
Oh it’s a good day for sure today. The Aries Moon is sextile with both Mars and Saturn. The Moon is all cozy with Venus and chatty Mercury too. The Emperor stands for putting any confusion to rest from an empowered place. No matter what happens, you are always the captain of your internal weather. While there may be a wind gust or two this evening, but these are mostly a chance to flex your mental muscles. You are in charge of what you think. You can adjust your actions to suit expanding perspectives. All these things open up new vistas, only to discover, gasp, new desires!
Here’s an important tip. In relationships, check in on what you think about the other person. How much of your own history is projected on to them, versus what is actually present. Ask questions, really listen. The goal is to hear the other person, not hunt for confirmation you are right. When you shift your focus today, big change can occur. Make it a goal to understand and know both yourself and them better. Allow new information in before you rush to defend or manage it. Try doing just that. Allow without anything else just yet. Today is about mastering the unknown with receptivity, curiosity. A sense of humor about it all is a big plus, too, if you can find it.
12/4 the tower
It is amazing how doing what you did last night can blow the doors off of reality. Today the skies are mostly quiet, letting all that shifted last night a chance to clear the debris of limiting beliefs. The best thing you can do is let your body take the lead. It is the slowest to register change and the most reactive to it. Which is why patiently giving it what it desires today is so helpful. As Mary Oliver said, ‘let the soft animal of your body want what it wants’. Keep giving those new perspectives, beliefs, actions a chance to come together cell by cell.
All they need is time. Rushing is a trauma response. This is less trauma and more abundance unfolding. Let your body adjust to the new normal. The Tower card with either the Chariot or the three of swords can caution against accidents. It encourages slow motion. If you aren’t willing or able to slow down the Universe may up the ante for you. Please, slow down. Let the wisdom of your body tune in and help you get where you are going safely.
12/5 judgement
The pairing of this card with today’s aspects are like a fine wine and the perfect gourmet meal. This Card represents Uranus, the shock change planet or Great Awakener. And surprise, surprise, the Moon meets up with Uranus to illuminate our fears so brilliantly that you may need to cover your eyes from the bolt of brightness. We understand something hidden behind a wall of shadow and can never again be unknown or unseen by you.
Those old fears won’t go without a little bit of patient attention though as the Moon squares Saturn by nightfall. But like the setting Sun, we cannot go back to ignorance again. Our understanding will rise again, day after day to inform our world with its light. So you don’t need to fear the moments of darkness, when feelings of powerlessness or trauma ruled the day. They have become the part of you that survived and made you who you are now. You have the ability to move out of mere survival and into thriving.
When you know you can do it then those difficult emotions become like marbles in a bigger understanding of the beautiful world that exists for you. Those shadows accent the gorgeous bowl of living light through contrast. Moments of connection, wonder, beauty and surprise all exist in you. All you have to do is let those memories rise and help carry the worst moments. Those worst moments can actually help make it necessary to call up all the beauty. Be brave and find yours. They are there, those exceptional moments. You can’t go back to not knowing that ever again.
12/6 Seven of cups
This Seven is both an invitation to dream and the reminder to not stop short of acting on your visions. The Moon gets support from both Pluto and Jupiter today to help scale up the creative chorus (and its low notes of fear) so you can practice playing with them again. As the Moon moves into Mercury’s sign of Gemini after lunch and Mercury moves into practical Capricorn shortly after, our flights of fancy can include a seating plan and take off schedule.
The important thing to do is to try on some of those visionary inspirations. Imagine yourself walking through what you desire. Pay attention to where you feel it in your body. Can you feel it in your body or do you go numb? As much as you long for something, your body may still be unprepared for it. When you take time to investigate where that may be true, you already make it feel safer for you. That is a simple skill and easily done, yet the rewards can be invaluable. How many impatient moments do we spend fretting for something when a simple act of preparing ourselves for it would grease the tracks. With an action-packed Full Moon tomorrow, a little prep time pays off well. Get ready because change is picking up steam.
