Know to Flow

For thousands of years, people have followed the moon's phases and transits each month closely, using it as a guide to day to day living.  Even today you will still references to the moons phases in the Farmer's Almanac.

Many of us however have lost our connection to nature in general, including the movements of the sun and moon.  With all of our advancements in technology, we are less dependent on the cycles of nature.  Being less affected by them has lessened the need to pay such close attention to them.  Over generations, we have gradually lost the connection to the cycles of nature on earth as well as looking to the skies as a map that gives us great insight to what energies we will be working with at what times.

Consequently, we have forgotten something important our ancestors knew and honored - we are very much affected by the cycles of the celestial bodies that surround our planet.  Taking the time to connect with the earth and the sun and moon and planetary movements allows us to understand what forces are at play at any given time, and that allows us to plan our lives to use days that are favorable for whatever task we are wanting to accomplish.  

Reconnecting to the solar and lunar cycles and bringing our lives into harmony with them as our ancestors did brings us into alignment with natural rhythms and helps us to feel more connected to the earth and the life it supports.

In astrology, the sun is seen as the light of consciousness.  The sun generates its own light - it is the source of life and vitality, and our charisma and the person we are becoming. 

The moon is the secondary luminary; unlike the sun, the moon cannot generate light of its own - it reflects the light of the sun.  It requires the light of the sun shining on the moon in order for the moon to be illuminated.  The moon in astrology represents our subconscious which includes our emotions and moods.

As the moon orbits the earth every 28 days, it spends about 2 to 2 1/2 days in each sign.  The moon, held in its orbit around the earth by the earth's gravitational pull on it, as we know is associated with certain phenomena on earth such as the tides of our oceans.  Being the closest celestial body to the earth, the moon acts as an amplifier or magnifier of whatever energy it is touching.  It then broadcasts the intensified energy down to us.  There are 12 signs of the zodiac that form a circle around the earth the earth, and each sign is 30 degrees, all then totaling 360 degrees.  As the planets orbit the earth, they will move from sign to sign just as the moon, but not as fast. The farther the planets are from the earth, the bigger their orbit is, which means that a planet farther away from the earth would take a longer time to complete one full transit of the entire zodiac. This means at any given time the planets will be scattered across the zodiac in different signs.  For the same reason, several planets can end up all in the same sign for a period of time.   

A planet in astrology is representative of an archetype.  Each planet carries the name of a Roman god.  Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the planets that can be seen by humans on earth without the aid of technology, and therefore for centuries were what astrologers worked with, along with the luminaries, the sun and the moon.  When the planets are interpreted in the chart, they are personified as the deity they represent, with all of the positive and negative traits, and all of the potential to move from a lower expression of the energy to the highest expression that one achieves once they have mastered the particular energy that planet represents.  

For example, Saturn is the most distant planet we can see from earth with our eyes - it is no coincidence that the traits and characteristics we use when interpreting Saturn in astrology reflect this.  Saturn is the teacher and the taskmaster and wants us to learn the benefits of discipline, boundaries, rules, procedures, hierarchies, foundations and structures.  When we are young, this influence can feel restrictive, like strict authority, and the lessons can feel quite harsh and cruel.  However when Saturn's lessons are mastered, we can claim our own authority and we will have earned the right to it.  Saturn's harvest can bring great gifts if the work has been done tending the crops.  In the body Saturn represents the structure and boundaries of the body itself - bones, teeth and skin.  Traditional astrologers today continue to only work with these planets.  The "outer planets", Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, have been only discovered with advancements in human technology.  "Modern astrology" incorporates these planets, which represent larger generational influences and cycles, along with the thousands of asteroids that have also been discovered.  The asteroids are less influential, but can add nuance to give more information about a dynamic shown in a chart between planets.  

When interpreting astrology, planets represent the "what" and the sign represents the "how."  As a planet transits (moves through) the signs of the zodiac, the energy we experience is the "personality" of the planet filtered through the specific energetic signature of the sign it happens to be in at that time.  Whatever connections that planet is making to other planets at that time also influence the energy we experience.  As planets move at their own paces through the zodiac, they can be together, across from each other, or make a variety of geometric angles to each other called "aspects".  Sixty degree angles and one hundred and twenty degree angles are when the planets are supporting each other and working together, and ninety degree angles and one hundred and eighty degree angles are challenging aspects that require effort on our part to balance the conflicting energies in our lives.  Challenging aspects typically force us to grow in some way or bring a lesson for us - while they can be tough, challenging aspects carry the potential to bring us big rewards.  The more gentle aspects although supportive can be taken for granted and because they demand our attention, they may go unnoticed and taken for granted and their potential not fully utilized. 

Since the moon represents our feelings, moods, and emotions - the inner workings of our subconscious mind - following its journey through the zodiac as it changes signs every few days can be very helpful to us. 

Because the moon as a luminary is a reflector of the light of the sun, and does not generate light of its own, the moon is always in direct relationship to the sun.  This gives us the lunar phases - new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter.  The three days leading to the new moon are known as the "dark moon", and when we are deepest in the subconscious, releasing what no longer serves before the new moon.  The three days leading to the full moon are usually charged with extra intensity, and many people find it difficult to sleep.  The new moon is when the sun and moon sit together and its a time of planting the seed of revised intentions and fresh starts.  From the new moon to the full moon is the waxing moon - this is a time of creating, growth and action towards our goal.  The full moon is when the moon is completely lit by the sun opposing it.  There may be a realization or illumination.  Something we didn't know or had missed before is revealed.  Or maybe we reach a culmination or completion.  From full moon to new moon, the moon wanes.  This is period of decrease and release.  With the illumination at the full moon, we now work with what came to light and adjust by releasing what no longer serves or is not in alignment with our truest values, intentions and goals.  The dark moon, the final three days prior to the new moon are the deepest purge days, where we turn inward and allow space for things to emerge from the deepest parts of ourselves for release, before we begin the next lunar cycle at the new moon.

Each month as the moon journeys around the earth, its relationship with the sun create the lunar phases.  At the same time, it is traveling through the signs of the zodiac, and making aspects to the planets depending on where they happen to be in their cycles.  As the moon travels through each sign and makes contact in different ways with different planets, it is broadcasting those energies down to earth, and we feel these energies as they shift and flow.

By understanding the energies that will be dominant each day we can use the energy at play to our benefit and go with the flow with the current, much like planning according to the "astrological weather."  This is why lunar transit calendars can be so helpful in our daily lives.  Using the lunar calendar to schedule the tasks and events of our life when the energy is most supportive of them can help us to handle day to day life more efficiently.  It is like having access to magical insider information that allows us to work WITH the flow of day to day energies rather than exhausting ourselves and making little progress fighting against them.

One of my favorite things about astrology is that it is a reminder that forces larger than us are always at play.  It expands our perspective of our lives.  A higher perspective allows us to step out of focusing so intently on ourselves and our lives and remember it isn't all about ourselves and we are not responsible for or in control of everything we feel or experience.  We ARE responsible for how we react and handle what comes up.  It isn't our job, or even within our ability, to "control" what is happening in our lives.  It is up to us to have conscious awareness of how to work with energies as they shift and change and go with the flow of the cycles of life. Astrology helps us be more aware of the energetic flow of life and to become more connected to the earth that supports us and the stars above and everything in between.

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Sometimes we have to know to be in the flow.  Just like watching the weather and planning outside fun for sunny days, we can watch the energetic weather and plan accordingly, so that we are working with it rather than fighting against it.  And when the opportunity arises, we can even harness it to our benefit.   

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