April 2017 Libra Full Moon

©2017 ML Monroe

This month's Full Wind Moon is accompanied by the steady little light of Jupiter (bright dot on the right side of the image higher than the Moon). Considering this in mythic terms: Jupiter always watched the beautiful and powerful women around him ~ mostly in order to capture them and get them with child. The salient point to remember is that he watched those who were significant and powerful in some manner. That makes this a time to be aware of being observed as well as of the nature of the observer. Dance in the fullness of that attention and be awake to what's bearing fruit. [True for every person, regardless of gender.]

There is also a continuing Grand Square in the cardinal signs [Libra, Capricorn, Aries, Cancer] keeping us on our toes and calling forth the necessity of connecting with our spiritual source. It creates a dance of crisis leading to opportunity. Since the interaction with this Full Moon is in Libra, a mental air sign, it will partner with both emotional analysis and emotional objectivity. An overriding energy in the collective continues with expansive, fortunate Jupiter opposite changeable, original Uranus and evolutionary, hidden Pluto squares them both. Working with this energy, we have the opportunity to change our story.

This Libra Full Moon is about relationships ~ ALL relationships. Strengthening them. Living life fully within them. Sharing ourselves honestly. Respecting the Earth and all Her creatures and resources. Recognizing we are in relationship with all that is around us. It's the time and space where we are called to heal our woundedness concerning the Divine Feminine. Bringing all to wholeness.

Another pattern is also happening: a Yod with Mars, Ceres, Vesta and Saturn ~ known as a 'Finger of God' ~ helping heal sorrows we carry from our past and allow to get between us and others. For the time it is with this configuration, action-oriented Mars can focus and assist us to move more fully and directly into that healing.

What are you called to do in this lifetime? How do you allow others to be themselves? How do you release judgments you have of yourself? of others? Can you be fully yourself with others? What masks do you wear that you can release at this time? How can you be of benefit to others? How can you best be your truest and most authentic self? Who do you most influence? Who most influences you?

Aries Full Moon

This weekend's full moon has many aspects to it. It's called a Hunter's Moon ~ having the potential to be colored orange-red. It is also a perigee moon, a supermoon, at its closest point to Earth.

In astrological terms, it rises in the sign of Aries, making it about taking action and declaring what you stand for as well as what you choose to leave behind.

This full moon conjuncts Uranus ~ the rebel, awakener and liberator bringing often unsettling change ~ and Eris ~ the feminine warrior kicking serious wake-it-up butt in the social justice arena. This moon is about taking courageous stands, not blasting anger or even blame. Move through the fiery energy fully awake, taking responsibility and being creative as you go.

The asteroid Ceres is at 29 degrees Aries, the karmic completion degree. The Great Mother brings up family, environment, safety and security. These are deeply emotional places to visit. Feel the deepest emotions, those generally repressed like anger, grief, pain. Allowing them to be exposed and felt helps them to heal.

Although sometimes difficult to consider, people and events in your life teaches you more about yourself and the journey of your life. This Aries Full Moon may bring all that and more, perhaps unexpectedly, to the surface in order to teach and heal you.

 Besides personal life events, do you notice anything in the news lately reflecting these motifs? This energy is bubbling up through our entire culture.

Dawn Reaches Ceres

From the NASA site:
"NASA's Dawn spacecraft slipped into orbit around Ceres on Friday morning. Dawn's job is to tell all about the mini-planet, discovered more than 200 years ago. The biggest question is, of course, could Ceres harbor life?"

In my research, I discovered that Ceres has been considered an asteroid as well as a dwarf planet (or mini-planet, depending on the source). It was 'discovered' on January 1, 1801 by the Italian monk Giuseppe Piazzi, who also named it. He observed it for 41 days, fell ill, then lost it in the halo of the Sun.

The dwarf planet was named after the Roman goddess Ceres. Ceres is a goddess of agriculture, fertility, grain, midwifery. Ceres also supports death ~ the growth and intensity that occurs as death comes ever nearer. The soul grows and blossoms as that unknown, unknowable time approaches. She is the midwife at the gate between the worlds.  Yet in that research, there is no reason given why an astronomer and monk would name an object in the night sky after a Roman goddess.

Another fascinating tidbit, from a 2008 report in New Scientist magazine, alleges that Ceres and Pluto were originally from the same place because they are comprised of the same compounds, which doesn't happen anywhere else in the Solar System, even though they are four billion kilometers apart (approximately). What makes this fascinating is that this corresponds to the mythology: Pluto and Ceres are siblings and part of the Olympian pantheon. Pluto takes Ceres daughter Proserpine away from the world of light and into the Underworld ~ difficult to reach and a significant distance away.

All of this information wrapped up together makes the news of the NASA spacecraft Dawn orbiting Ceres a more complex story than at first blush. I love how the science, astrological information and mythology come together. I believe in the veracity of the Chinese proverb: May you live in interesting times. I certainly do!

What do you think of the news about the NASA spacecraft Dawn? Are there other points you've learned about Ceres? What more would you want to learn? What do you think of the interweaving of science and myth?