This second Full Moon in Aquarius is a rare treat. It’s a Blue Full Moon because we have two of them in one month, both in the sign of Aquarius. Twice in one sign, let alone one month, makes it more unusual than the occasional Blue Moon. On top of that, let’s throw in that it lands in the final degree of the sign, something called an Anoretic (Intense) Degree. What does this mean for you?
Let me explain it to you with an example. Someone called earlier this week and confessed she was frightened that she was becoming numb to the pain she sees in the world. After recommending she go on a news diet through month’s end, I explained how the brain works. Numb is rarely a sign that you aren’t feeling anything in the neurobiology of emotions. It is more likely a sign that the breaker switch has been thrown because you are on overload.
Our brains are wired for belonging. Once we safely belong, then we are wired to want to stand out. This is why sibling rivalry is normal. When we feel helplessness in the face of others’ pain our brain goes into overfunctioning or underfunctioning. Numbness is underfunctioning, rage shows up more on the overfunctioning side.
People look for a scapegoat, like the man with a bomb at the Capitol building in DC this week. Or the woman convicted of mowing down two children of a different race. One side blames ‘the other’ as a way to deal with the helpless feelings. Or people shut down and numb up. You see both extremes operating in the news. These behaviors highlight the brain’s breaker switch capacity. Both reactions involve learned indifference. Not feeling is a relief from the staggering feeling of helplessness or hopelessness. You simply stop seeing other people as relatable. It’s a distancing technique.
Yet there are other choices available. Bring it down to bite size. We are living in times of extreme change. Which can feel overwhelming when you look at it on ‘big screen’. So pull it down to small frame. You can make small, heart-centered decisions day by day, beginning with compassion for your wounded or indifferent eyes. You are most likely on overload also. Compassionate complaining is an actual tool to help discharge spikes in emotion. That involves a set time to vent about what you feel to someone who can just hear and validate that you feel the way you do. Be sure to take turns.
Normalize what you feel so you can shape it, rather than hardening into one extreme or the other. When you approach your feelings kindly, you actually send an energetic signal into the world similar to the emails through your phone or computer. The anoretic degree always highlights the shadow first. When it’s exaggerated, you can’t miss it. The astrology at this moment is a ‘break down to break through’ signal. So a more extreme response than the usual is likely. Once you see it in all capital letters, you can own it so it doesn’t own you.
It helps to practice small acts of kindness, organization, outreach in chunks that are manageable. Can you offer a compassionate nod to another who behaves badly? Help them soften so they can shift it and change as well. Try it first with someone you love, it may make it easier. Or for you it may be easier to try it first on a total stranger with no baggage.
Start where you will. Each person who sends an energetic message of kindness adds to the bottom up flow. Whatever change comes will be anchored in a kinder signal. This radical act of compassion changes all the actions that come after it. It’s a kind way to add to the revolutionary world we inhabit today. The Cards and Stars will help.
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
august 22nd Aquarius Full Blue moon ace of wands
Today the breakthrough is more internal than external. Outside of us we may be more aware of what is breaking down. Like a chick pecking it’s way out of a shell, you can’t see what’s waiting beyond the fragments just yet. So the focus is on the light of inner knowing. Aces are the very beginning of things. Wands highlight the spiritual side of our being. We begin to follow the bread crumbs of our knowing in order to turn left when habit would have us turn right.
As we move out of conditioned response and into fresh starts on an individual level, there aren’t a lot of rules or guideposts outside of you. It is uncharted territory, which means you are the architect of your unfolding world. It’s more a way of how it feels inside of you. It can feel frightening and thrilling at the same time. We live in a hugely interconnected world (hello world wide web) and haven’t quite found a healthy balance with all that information outside of us and how we want to work with it from inside of us.
It’s easy to reduce things to black and white, good and bad, us or them because of the overwhelm. That overwhelm comes when we try to see too far ahead of ourselves. When you bring it back to right here, right now it’s right sized. What does this moment, this choice include? We thrive best when we can hold our own interests along side of what is also manageable for the world around us. The challenge is to not over or under compromise. Find out what that just right is to you. There is power in your decisions as you collaborate with the world. One choice at a time, what fits you as you are now and then explore how to integrate that into your world in a functional way. Mistakes are part of the learning curve, why not make friends with them. They won’t go away.
Nothing fresh is going to feel as easy as the muscle memory of old conditioning, old patterns. We didn’t have to think things through then, we just did it. Except that smaller space is not going to feel as comfortable any longer. So if you are going feel awkward, isn’t it better to be awkward in the direction of an expansive you now? Make friends with your impatience to feel normal again. It may take a while but it will arrive. Practice, practice, practice being okay with all you feel right now and then stretch a little bit into the new normal in your own unique way.
August 23rd two of cups
Gentle is the watch word for this sweet two of cups. The aspects today make it easier to be kind and soft with ourselves. Let that be part of any message you energetically send out today. It’s also a good day to share your visions or dreams of the kind of future you want to help create with a friend. Pooled, heart felt goals make the world feel safer. Play your part whether you are the one to reach out of are the one invited to hear. It’s not the best day to jump into action. Put pause on that just now, since it’s too easy to slip back into old habits. You’ll hear that from me again between now and December. The new normal needs patient reinforcement before it feels natural. Let that be part of your kindness project today.
August 24th The chariot
The Moon moves into Aries today and with it rides the reminder to be patient. It’s a frustrating refrain to hear again, I know. Yet it adds to the success of any and all efforts when the Chariot is on the loose. Instead of forcing your will, finesse your way forward. By evening Mercury and Neptune are in a stand off. This means that logic and dreams feel like sparring partners rather than friends. The best approach is to apply bite-sized logic to how to make those big imaginings part of your real life. Bite by bite you can digest an elephant size dream with a little help from the sky’s light. Add patience and you can reap rewards that exceed what you picture now.
August 25th Eight of cups
The theme of patience carries over to today. Watch for a rush to judge – either yourself or any situation. Judgement is a self limiting tactic when the fear brain wants to shut down the expansion you are undergoing. It’s a good day to pay attention to which is a want and which is a need. A need for security can stop you from reaching for a new skill, conversation, responsibility or connection. Or the longing to go beyond where you’ve been stuck may force certain risks.
Calculated risks are worth taking today. It helps to see where your inner critic wants to spoil the party before it gets off the ground. Manage that voice, without shame or blame. It wants to keep your ship safely in the harbor. Except that’s not what your ship is made for, right? Be cautious in attachment to results, especially right away, in whatever you do. That’s ego and fear boxing you in to safe space. Instead focus on being brave in a healthy way. The tide will take your insecurities with it as you focus on credit for each brave step you make in an uncharted direction.
August 26th Princess of cups
Surprise! There is creativity bubbling inside of you when this young lady appears. The stars highlight that it’s a risk to be too visible. Often we feel less confident and so your inner critic needs an invitation to tea and charm school. While self improvement is a worthy past time, serve it up with a softer side why don’t you. When you do that for yourself, you are able to extend it to another. Creativity and mistake making is acceptable as a learning curve extends your field of play. Can you hear fear in the criticism before just reacting to it.
Yes our creativity is vulnerable when we share it with the world. So anchor yourself first, get on solid ground for that trial run. You can then slowly expand on that over time when you stand firmly first with trust that what you offer will be a fit for some, not for all. You are here to share yourself with the world and enjoy others who do the same.
August 27th prince of cups
Ah, today offers the next level of growth. Are you flattered by invitations to create but aren’t sure of the people extending the offer? Part of our expansion is learning who is a good fit and who isn’t. Who doesn’t feel a warm glow feels when someone wants what you offer. Can you enjoy the compliment without falling into the trap of automatically returning it? Do you know how to appreciate what collaborators offer for raw material and still practice discernment and selectivity?
It is a process to figure out what’s important, how to see that in its raw form and engage with it from there. Take your time. Let the exploration help you establish new priorities. Can they admit they are wrong or share credit when they are right? Do they like to brainstorm or is it overwhelming. The assessment of their possibilities helps you know your own strengths and shadows. When you know yourself better, you choose better projects and playmates. Let is be a discovery…
August 28th king of swords
Today brims over with lightning bolts of insight. Some may be strong enough to wake you from a sound sleep – literally and metaphorically. This King is right on track with wise guidance. It’s time to navigate the big picture without getting triggered into future freak out. Who or what do you consider a trusted authority and is that authority one that serves you as you are now? This kind of expansive review can trigger a landslide of compulsive habits your unconscious serves up to help reign in the uncertainty and unknown. It’s okay, everyone has those quirky little fall-back reactions. Make friends with yours then calmly move them to the back seat. This is part of your big picture, to see where your fear wants to squeeze you back down into safe space. Good to remember, the fears don’t get to drive, they don’t know the new destination.
August 29th the devil
There is a spill over from yesterday and it’s full of pesky little habits we can’t quite master. Like whack a mole they pop up through out the day. Give your mind a job to do – have it track where you reroute back to safe space, even if it that route pinches. By night’s fall your busy brain will have collected a pictorial list of when you revert to old habits that die hard. Grab your conductor’s baton and give your brain direction on how to make those old patterns sing a new tune. They can stick around but can’t keep doing what they’ve been doing. They have to change with you. It’s easier to redirect them than to try to stamp them out. Hint, you can make it fun if you wish to do so…
August 30th eight of swords
Oh what a lot we have to do to day, but what a pay off when we do it! As a rule, the inner critic is responsible for some of the worst behavior we see in the world. Today your inner critic can learn how to play well with others. What an achievement that is. Contrast is a wonderful way to know what is what and our inner critic loves separating things and labeling them. The problem is those labels are usually unkind. So, time find better labels, right?
Perhaps your brain is savaging your contribution or someone’s performance on your creative stretch begun this month. Reroute it with the instructions to find both what works and what doesn’t work about you and anyone else your fear brain targets with cannonballs of criticism. Review both the good and the bad and decide if the bad is capable of being shaped into something better. Balance what’s wrong with some pats on the back for risks taken and efforts that paid off. Well done… there’s a new skill set worth taking out regularly.
August 31st king of pentacles
Today is a day to practice the art of the ‘long haul’. One of the sneaky ways our fear brains limit us is to have us measuring too soon. It will also slide measuring the wrong thing in there, too, but today it’s more about not measuring at the wrong time. This King is the manifesting master and it does so through commitment. Can you, will you, trust the process you are in is nothing less than transformational? Like a caterpillar into a butterfly, there are stages. You do best when you take each stage for what it is. Wholeheartedly be present for this stage and the next one slides in with more ease and grace. This is how you take flight from whatever earth bound state you may feel yourself in at present.
September 1st Prince of wands
This Prince rides in with courage to face the tasks at hand today. While the suit of wands highlights our intuitive self as the navigator, the work is in the mental and physical realm. The stories we feed ourselves about what happens matter. If we see things through our wounded eyes, the results bring more disharmony and often pain to go with that clash. If you eat the stories of helplessness or hopelessness you will get sick.
Watch for the tribal sense of belonging that has us stoking each other’s fears. This is where the old saying ‘misery loves company’ comes from and applies. If we feel powerless and numb out or lash out and gather others who feel as we do, we feed the unhealthy path forward. When we trust that small, conscious acts you do for yourself and encourage in others make a big difference over time, you help build a kinder, safer world to live in for you and your loved ones. Courage to not fit in when that means joining a hopeless or polarized viewpoint is needed and available today. Trust you are the difference, and that makes a difference.
September 2nd four of cups
It’s a soup of change that can stir up defenses. Watch for your guard to snap into place like an anemone closes up when touched. You may feel provoked to fire back when long emotional toes get stepped on with Mars opposite Neptune. Watch for the place in us convinced someone behaves as they do to hurt or bother us. It has us assigning motives and elaborate stories for the actions encountered today. This helps to reveal old wounds. It shows your sore points rather than accurately helping you assess what is in anyone else’s mind. Things are just not that clear – and you may feel prickly as this unfolds. Watch for wounded, indifferent eyes trying to tell an old story. Mindfulness of this tendency helps.
The goal is a healthy defense system, one that is sustainable. You may not have it yet, and it’s a work in progress. You benefit the process when you keep it focused on that intention. What do you feel and what does that feeling want or need from YOU? Sometimes all it requires is your attention to it. Or you may need to ask for what you want or need. You get traction when you ground yourself first before you fire a verbal cannonball over someone’s head. This is a good day to take a breath, or two, or three before you speak or react. You may well have heard wrong, or interpreted things from your wound. Take care of your feelings first and the situation will be the better for it. Let today be a practice day, not a perfection day and you’ll feel much better tonight.
September 3rd nine of pentacles
You are always and forever the master of your internal weather. Today you get both help and challenge so you can feel the truth in that statement. If things don’t look promising, assess carefully before you throw in the towel too soon. Results are less important than how you arrive at any decision and action.
This nine promises mastery when you do your work and let the world work with you. Like a gardener, you have your specific things to be responsible for and then it’s time to let the earth do its job, the Sun do its work, the plants to do what they know how to do. Finally, you have to let time take care of the rest. If you try to pull blooms open before they are ready you destroy what’s unfolding.
Master yourself and you are golden. To do find your own measurements, balance healthy, shared responsibility in tasks, be patient while it all comes together. Then you enjoy the full bloom of all your hard work over time.
September 4th ten of pentacles
This ten signals you’ve seen the top of the mountain and there is no unseeing it. Now you know what you are capable of accomplishing, you can’t bully yourself quite so easily into space that no longer fits you today. Sure there are mistakes. This is where wisdom comes from in life. The Moon trines Chiron today, a promising balm for the old wounds. You see what works and what doesn’t. When results don’t match your expectations, you learn to incorporate that into what you do next. It becomes education and can even feel like an adventure, when you let it. Don’t let indifferent or wounded eyes tell your story.
If you stop and feel into it today, you own your power to impact whatever you do. You make yourself happy or unhappy, stronger or weaker, fearful or brave with the stories you feed yourself. Right here, today, can you leave behind second-guessing yourself? If things didn’t turn out as expected, that doesn’t mean you made the wrong choice. What if every choice you made was perfect for your life? Then all that remains when you don’t like and outcome is to apply creativity to what you do with those results. Where can those outcomes be turned to your advantage? How much lighter, more fun does that sound? Try it… you may never go back to second guessing. After all, what did it ever offer you but unhappiness and doubt.
September 5th king of wands
We wrap up this electrifying moon cycle with the third of four Kings. When you get three of these giants together, it promises that matters are taken in hand with the best results. Which comes in handy because emotions that have been left out of the party may surface today. Feelings aren’t right or wrong. They just are. Emotions are when we attach a big story to those feelings and unleash it on any and all. Doubt your doubts. Again, watch out for assigning motives, story or meaning to what other people say or do.
Those stories reveal YOU and your hidden fears more than they describe those you engage with, especially this month. Apply valuable curiosity to what’s at the bottom of those stories. What’s the fear or the need driving them. When you can give these sore spots your quality time they stop charging you extra in added pain and frustration. Energy is best applied to constructing a healthy outlet for them, not for tamping them down or aiming them at another. When you can feel with depth or breadth and still not compulsively act out on the emotion, you are indeed Master of your world. And what a fine world it is to live in, too.
