Not everything you can do is worth doing, this is one of the layers to this April Fool’s Full Moon, Mercury Retrograde. How much of your life do you spend doing what you know how to achieve because it feels like you get something done. Only to discover when you take a closer look that what you do isn’t all that important to you, other than to give you a vague sense of accomplishment. When people talk about being present, a popular buzz word these days, this is where this applies in my life. When I’m not present, I go through the motions to fulfill expectations without ever really checking to see if I value, really value, what it is I’m doing.
Mercury Retrograde turns us inward in Aries, the hard charging start up energy. However, through April 15th, we are meant to apply those leaping flames of inspired action to what matters to us, who matters to us, and how do we show up for those people and things. Time for a real review of your priorities, values and actions. Where do they line up? Do they line up together? When you take inventory of where you spend the bulk of your time, does what you love the most get the best or bulk of your energy? If not, time for a shake up. Which Uranus heading into Taurus in May is going to supercharge. If you do the work doing the retrograde, it can help bring down the pressure the following month.
Saturn factors into this Mercury Retrograde so there’s a theme of old promises or commitments that come back around for you to review. What promises did you make to yourself as you child or young adult? Are you living those out long past the original impulse that made them? Chances are there are one or two lurking in there… Time to mentally clean house, a spring cleaning if you will. Take as many old commitments as you can find and choose to honor them consciously or let them go. You are meant to replace them with ones that harmonize with who you are now.
This is what’s valuable about Mercury Retrograde. Three or four times a year the Earth moves ahead of Mercury, so we act without thinking. It’s what causes much of the chaos that Mercury gets blamed for doing. It’s meant to help catch those spots so we can drop back into our lives instead of living on Auto Pilot. The Aries Retrograde coupled with the Full Moon in Libra, says when you clean house on these mindless habits and old commitments, relationships benefit as well. So throw back the curtains, open the windows and do some Spring Cleaning on your mental real estate. It will serve you so well the next few months, you’ll be glad you did. The Cards and the Stars will help.
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
Card of the Week: Four of Stones
Four are what we have when there is a firm foundation underneath us. The shadow side to that solid four is the places where we box ourselves in with four walls rather than four corners and a floor. It’s the perfect card to illustrate this week’s theme as Mercury Retrograde gets underway ahead of this Libra Full Moon. The Wildwood Tarot calls this card protection. How often do we put habits in place to protect ourselves from past hurt only to find ourselves boxed in for our own safety. Some risks are worth taking, some pain is part of life. It’s time to inventory of where you’ve traded too much freedom for security and take a good look at what it costs you. Healthy boundaries are necessary and good for you. Walls isolate you from so much you were born to enjoy. Time to check in and see where you can adjust those guards and give them a healthier expression, one more in line with what is a good fit now. After all, you’ve grown and changed since those old hurts happened. See where those hurts had you settling for what was possible so you didn’t have to risk too much. Now your focus is on what is of real value in your life. Fear has you focused on what has hurt you and how to avoid that in the future. Just be sure you have a healthy perspective on you before you build those defenses further. After all, your brain stem will always over estimate a risk and underestimate you as a survival strategy. Hip check that first assessment of your risk and turn your attention back to what really matters to you. Life is about creating more of the best not simply avoiding the worst.
Monday: Six of Arrows
Sweet Six and sailing out of the storm – that’s the way to start the week. Arrows represent our minds and this six says it’s an easy day to transition out of the old and into the new. The ship literally sails out of the storm and into safer waters. The Moon moves into Leo and trines the Sun around 3pm today underlining the theme of transition. Today is such a good day to do some of the Spring Cleaning mentally, in fact the best day of the week. So try to be kind to you, kind enough to take some time to check back over old promises and commitments that have outlived their original packaging. Some may just need a make over, others have run their course. Give them a decent send off and let them go. Six always represents wholeness and so healing is part of that image. We heal our way back to the whole us with quality time and attention to our thoughts. Leo’s love to shine for an audience, so use this Leo Moon to be your own best spectator while you trot out the past. Have some fun with it and while you review what you’ve committed to, give it an applause meter. Only those with the best applause get to stay… explore what makes your heart leap to keep. You be the judge.
Tuesday: Page of Vessels
Sweet Page of Hearts, or in this deck Vessels. This continues the theme of leaping hearts. Pages are the internal state that precedes actions of the Knights. Heartfelt joy is on the menu. The Moon and Mercury dance nicely together early morning that pairs up with this sweet Page nicely. The Otter on this card is one of the most playful animals there is. Much of their life is devoted to goofing off. So be sure to find room for a romp today. What makes you laugh like a loon or dance for joy? Do that. In fact you may have so much fun doing this that it is hard to stop playing long enough to eat dinner thanks to a Moon/Jupiter aspect come early evening. Or you may run into a raincloud who forgot how to play and wants you to stop. It’s up to you… You get to decide whether you’ve had enough fun for the day or not. If you can’t get them to join, try to leave them laughing. Happy Tuesday…
Wednesday: Knight of Stones
After yesterday’s play day, today this solid Knight says take a step in the right direction for you. Don’t worry, you can’t get it wrong… Knights are always about movement and this earthy Horse is about steady progress, something the upcoming Saturn/Mars conjunction knows all about. Patient progress pays off when you harness all that drive to accomplish something. The Moon moves into Virgo and waltzes beautifully with Saturn and Mars in a magically practical magic. Venus and Uranus drop in to electrify what you do and suddenly it’s a Mary Poppins kind of day where a spoon full of sugar makes any medicine go down in the most delightful way. You turn work into play and play into productivity. That’s a recipe sure to delight. Especially since the Mars/Saturn pair up says you have to persist to reap the big rewards. When you need to press on, make it fun as you go.
Thursday: Five of Stone
Ah, this Five is the perfect follow up to yesterday’s Knight. Because today self doubt is likely to raise it’s hand and ask for attention. Sun squared of with the Great Timekeeper, Saturn sheds light on those pesky fears that your progress is not going to get you where you wish to go. The Moon opposite Neptune is likely to serve up those fears in the form of doubters around you. Others may question you, doubt you, throw some shade on your path making it tougher to stay the course. This Five highlights the scarcity mentality. It can have your gaze trained on what you don’t have, what you haven’t achieved yet and the fact that things move at a slower pace than you like. Don’t give up. Notice how far you’ve come before you get discouraged about how far is left to go. The card combination with yesterday’s Knight means that any scarcity you fear is in your head and not in the world around you. Your job is replace those old concerns with tangible proof of the ground you’ve covered. You are almost there.
Friday: Knight of Vessels
More movement, this one signals waves of emotion start to build ahead of the Full Moon tomorrow. Mercury touches the Moon’s nodes highlight a feeling of destiny entwined with this forward progress. Do remember that water travels in waves rather than in a straight line. It’s okay to feel drawn to something, then pull back. Over time you can determine whether the tide is rising or falling. What you do this month sets the tone for another two year cycle. ‘Begin as you mean to go on’ is the best practice. Don’t let this scare in you into analysis paralysis trying to pick the perfect thing to do. Instead you are meant to feel your way. Check in on what you feel emotionally and in your body before you act. Trust your intuition and move down the chosen path. If you find you don’t like what happens you can course correct from there using all the feedback you receive. You didn’t get it wrong, you needed a detour to pick up some valuable sights, experience or introductions. You can’t get this wrong. You can only box yourself into small space afraid to make a mistake. Today release those fears, practice. It’s the perfect way to use the energy to not only get you closer to your heart’s desire but to enjoy yourself a lot more along the way.
Saturday: The World (Full Libra Moon)
A hard working Full Moon plus a little dramatic tension from Saturn and Mars emphasizes the balances or imbalances in your relationships. Where have you gone through the motions rather than a deeper look at what you do and what it means to you. There is always give and take in healthy relationships. It’s time to revisit the giving and taking and update what is valuable versus what’s possible. Are you sacrificing too much of what matters most to you in order to do what can be done? Is your loved one doing that and you settle for a grudging ‘what you can get’ rather than risking the Truth? Now is the perfect time to make key adjustments that enrich relationships. Don’t be afraid of endings. Something has to end but let that be the superficial layer of connection, not necessarily the relationship itself. The form your connections occupies needs an upgrade or at the very least an update to make sure it fits both partners better. You are meant to have more than what you settle for out of habit or fear. The hard question is are you ready to be powerful? The Universe wants you to know you are powerful enough to face necessary painful truths in order to get to something far more valuable together. First you have to honestly evaluate the places where you’ve been stuck in protection versus creation mode. This safe status quo is a state of withering. Tap into the vibrancy of nature’s Spring to come clean with yourself and then with those capable of sharing that effort. Help each other do it. Move slowly… remember Mars and Saturn. Patterns change layer by layer as replace the old habits with ones that feel much better. This is a renewal, not a death and it brings with it the promise of a full harvest when you invest in change.
Sunday: Nine of Stones
Nines are the completion number and after yesterday’s Full Moon of endings and new beginnings it is the perfect card for what comes next. You are setting your own tradition. You are the authority and how you create your life right now sets up a whole new 27-28 year cycle. Which is why Mars/Saturn so close together puts the brakes on Mars headlong rush to action. Instead you are meant to thoughtfully clean out the old patterns, habits and limitations you’ve outgrown or discarded mentally but still drag around emotionally. (The mind almost always moves faster than the heart) The Sun and Mercury add some extra push to the effort as they join forces to give you a wider concept of how everything you do adds texture and color to your life. How you do one thing is how you do anythings. Pick some activity today and watch what goes into it, or what doesn’t go into it. The Lunar world highlights opposition as a great illumination force today. In other words contrast is here to help you. Disagreements give you a chance to flesh out a stronger connection to what matters and why it matters to you when you speak up for a different point of view. Obstacles show you where you won’t quit in the face of a detour and once again help you prioritize what matters to you and where you spend your time. If what you invest a lot of energy in isn’t what really counts as valuable time, good to know. New traditions are worth a little extra effort to get them tailored to the life you want to live.
