Sagittarius Full Moon June 2017

©2017 ML Monroe

This month's Full Moon in Sagittarius opposes the Sun in Gemini. This particular duality reveals Gemini's logical mind juxtaposed with Sagittarius's intuitive mind. This lunation invites us to find a balance between the two.

It's also about communication and attitude. If we look at our lives, private and public, over the past two weeks, we discover something has been building inside us. The cosmos demands we find ways to express those feelings.

Sagittarius is spontaneous and adventurous so that is also at play during the influence of this Full Moon. As we approach the solar eclipse, this Full Moon gives us another chance to explore and deepen our understanding of ourselves.

The 9th House, where the Moon sits, is all about beliefs, spirituality, philosophy, travel and communication. It is the place where we seek understanding and expanded experience where we envision possibilities. At the same time, the Sagittarius Moon requires that we sort through all the incoming information in order to deepen our practices and to assess where we're headed in that depth. Whatever it may be, it is ours and ours alone. We are in the process of defining our individual purpose. With Jupiter in Libra, we even have the opportunity to work together with others to outline a larger, group direction as well.

What emotions are tugging at you? How do you moderate their expression? What are you feeling at the gut level? What do you believe? What are your spiritual practices? What activities are calling you? Have you written any of these down? begun practicing them? Who in your life calls you to join a larger group purpose? What is your next step?

Energies for Travel

Starting out on a month of travel, I chose a couple of cards from the Mythical Goddess Tarot by Sage Holloway and Katherine Skaggs. My focus as I shuffled and drew: What Energy/Energies go with me as I head out on this journey?

The first card was the 8 of Seas with the title Depletion. My initial reaction was that I'd somehow made a mistake. I hadn't been concentrating on the 'right' thing. We all know the truth of those kinds of reactions. Sometimes what we fear, what we draw away from, is precisely what we need to understand.

I grabbed the guide and read:
Saturn in Pisces
Beached whales lie ashore on gray sands under dull skies. There is no vitality, no light, ... in this landscape. This card is a caution against burnout and emotional depletion.
Your heart must have the nourishment and attention it needs, ... It is a top priority for you to nurture yourself and pay attention to your feelings ....

My jaw nearly dropped in amazement. Then I began to chuckle. Obviously, there was more to this draw than I'd appreciated on first glance. I'm growing past an experience that left me with a degree of PTSD. Even though I've been feeling better and life is going more smoothly, there is some residual angst. My journey is to visit friends who have always been supportive and uplifting. This card reassures that I am going to the right place for my continued healing.

The second draw was Uzume on the Fool. She looks exuberant dancing on the drum head. I love the Fool.

From the guide:
Air
Uzume is the whirling Japanese Goddess who lured the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, from her dark cave. ...
The Goddess Uzume dances to the whirling cosmos, without regard to the rules and restrictions of the physical world. Like the air element she represents, she has no agenda and no baggage. Uzume draws forth the child-like innocence in everyone she meets. She is the essence of Spirit. She embodies nonconformity and the transcendence of the earthly realm. Uzume is the archetypal Wild Woman. ...
Uzume as the Fool reminds you to be free in your expression and the way you view the world. .... Be like Uzume and free your inner radiance into expression, by being true to your genuine essence, released from the restricted limitations of your genetics and the world around you.

This brought home to me the other reason for my trip: to fully embrace the wildness and wonder of life. I have the opportunity to dance in a way that I haven't for awhile. I've felt this urge growing in recent weeks: the desire to move more freely, and with more joy, in my journey through the world. What an incredible pair of cards to draw!

How are you moving through the world? What saps your vitality? How does depletion show up in your life? What do you do when you feel the urge to dance, in whatever way that shows up? How does it show up in your life? When was the last time you opted to do something that had an element of the wild? What did you do? If it hasn't been recent, what can you do to encourage your own joyful nature?

Power and Love

I could live on Rumi poems..... then again, I could live on many poets' writing. Something about the brevity and clarity of their words.

Personally, I have total belief in Rumi's commentary. I've experienced the power of travel over and over again throughout the course of my life.

Most recently, I took a three-day journey to another part of my state. Another person traveled with me; we met another at our destination. It was a very low-key time. We did simple things: shopping, walking around, a hike through a local park, a play, shared meals. In the context of travel and being together in a shared environment, we did these things with more consciousness than if we were at home, even performing the same acts. We noticed the beauty of our surroundings. We left the mundane behind. We enjoyed the rain, the chill, the sun, each and all in immediate and different ways. We talked about mundane as well as significantly important topics. At various times, I breathed deeply and spoke about how enjoyable and wonderful our shared time was. All of us agreed. It felt refreshing, invigorating, empowering. As we shared time together, we also felt the gentle spirit of our love.

Could we have experienced that together at home? Perhaps. Yet the effort it often takes to be fully conscious, fully present can feel heavy and interfere with the uplifting power when in a place where our responsibilities are reduced and shifted. Travel is a gift we give to ourselves and that, too, is loving and powerful.

How do you feel when you travel? Where have you traveled most recently? How are your interactions with others different when you travel? How does travel empower you?

Journey Time

Having a drink with a recently retired friend, we were discussing the possibility of travel. She and her partner were invited by Uncle Joe (An alias to protect the innocent and guilty!) on a trip to Greece. Uncle Joe planned to rent a house on one of the islands and wanted his favorite niece to come along. Housing would be his treat.

As I listened to the story unfold, I thought, "Wow! What an incredible opportunity! If I were retired, I'd go in a heartbeat!" I said something like that as well.

My friend, on the other hand, was appalled at Uncle Joe's offer. Not because she didn't want to go to Greece, but because she was unclear about her personal money situation. I thought, but did not say, that this was an incredible opportunity and what the hell was she waiting for?          
 
MY reactions vs. HER reactions. At the core sat the opportunity to accept a gift or to reject it with full understanding. She wanted to travel. Her partner wanted to travel. They liked Uncle Joe and the cousins who were also going. The newness of a freed up schedule, the timing of the offer, and the fear of the expenses all play a part in the decision-making.

When we parted company, I asked her to keep me posted on the trip. She laughed. "You mean the one I'm not sure I want to take? Why?" I told her, "It's the story. I want to see where this particular ride takes you. No matter what, you're on a journey!"

How do you react to an offer of an overwhelming gift? What would you do in my friend's position? Have you ever had an opportunity to do something like this? How do you react to someone else's good fortune? What's the journey you are on right now?

Reading the World

Think about it ~ reading the world like you read a book! Travel provides the diversity of stories. Every place I go as I travel is a new chapter overflowing with information about people, places, culture and history. Travel is exciting as well as educational. It has opened doors on cultures in ways that I never could see from only my little corner of the world.


Some places I'd love to 'read' that I haven't yet: Malta, Poland, Scotland, Croatia, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Nova Scotia. So many adventures ahead! So much to explore and discover! Travel is one of my top five activities.

Also akin to reading books, sometimes there is not enough time or energy or resource to get through them all. I believe the desire brings me closer to the accomplishment ~ and keeps me seeking ~ than if I were to give up.

Augustine was broadly traveled. Born in what is now Algeria in 354 A.D., he was a Roman citizen and traveled to Carthage (in modern Tunis) at 17 to attend school. Later he moved to Milan as well. In 391, he was ordained a priest back in his native Algeria, where he remained until his death in 430. When I think about what travel must have been like at that time, he certainly was quite the adventurer!

Sometimes, too, travel through the world is an internal affair. Not that one doesn't want to go beyond the home base, but there are often reasons for not leaving. In our modern day, much exploration can be done through words and images in both print books and online resources. Though not quite the same, it's nevertheless an adventure in its own right.

Where would you like to travel? Why? What do you see to 'read' in that place? What have you 'read' or discovered in your travels, in the world at large or in your community? Look around you. Read what's there. Learn from it.

Heading Out

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Like so many of my friends and co-workers, I love to travel. Being on the move lends an element of adventure to my life. It also keeps me connected with the people I have had the great fortune of meeting over the years. I see new sights and learn previously unknown facts each and every time, no matter how many times I've visited a place.

Tomorrow morning, I once again leave home for the wilds of Seattle. I've been there many times, visiting with the same friends annually, occasionally seeing other friends who live in the area as well. Each trip is a new and renewed adventure. Sometimes we go to the same places: Pike Street Market, St. Mark's Cathedral, UW campus, downtown, the Seattle Art Museum. Even trips to Goodwill and Costco are adventures because these are not my home territory. We walk the streets, hills and parks. I see the sunset over a different landscape. All of these things, small and large, renew and refresh my spirit. I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to go as well as the friends to visit.

Do you like to travel? What is your favorite destination? How do you feel prior to heading out?

A Suitcase Heart

They should tell you when you're born: have a suitcase heart, be ready to travel.

~  Gabrielle Zevin

As a lover, reader, writer and dreamer of myths, the concept of a 'suitcase heart' strikes a chord. Whether my physical body moves from one place to another or my etheric body flies in the dreamtime or my psychic body journeys when I write, my heart is ever ready to travel. The gypsy call has sounded ever since I was a child. In the fifth grade, we had an assignment to write about our lives. Mine was titled "My Travels through Life" even though I was only ten at the time! My family went on a two-week traveling vacation every year. It was from these adventures that my childhood biography was written.

Through the years, some of my adventures have been simple day trips ~ to the Coast to wander the small towns, skiing on the Mountain, visiting a friend living in the woods, windsurfing on the River. Others have been longer and farther afield ~ a week in California, three weeks on the East Coast, ten days in Ireland, then days in China, ten days in Israel and the Occupied Territories. One, longer still, a year living in Egypt ~ with side trips to Turkey, Jordan and Palestine. I continue to look for places to go ~ waiting for the right timing and the movement of my heart in the direction of travel.

Many of my journeys have also been in the dreamtime as well as in shamanic practice. These journeys often leave me slightly off balance as I discover and uncover a new, deeper center. I remain open to the continuing adventures!

Where have you traveled? How have you gone? What is your favorite trip? Do you want to continue to travel? Where are three places you would visit? Do you have a 'suitcase heart'?

I cannot rest from travel

From Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson:

I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees.
All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea.
I am become a name....

Much of the poem Ulysses relates directly to the warring, searching nature of his travels. These few lines ring with a sense of truth for me and a sense of description of the lives and love of several friends.

I cannot rest from travel ~ I have always been a traveler of some sort; a gypsy in the midst of the city. I marvel at so much in the world, even in places familiar.

I will drink life to the lees ~ My goal, though not always realized, is to be fully alive. I want to be awake and aware of all that is around me. There is so much that I miss on a daily basis, yet I feel full and enriched by all that's around me.

I am become a name ~ What power there is to that phrase! For me, it means that through all this, I have earned my title, my name. I have passed through whatever elemental there may be and come out the other side, recognized, acknowledged, named.

What do the lines of this poem mean to you? Do you have a poem that speaks powerfully to you?

Latest Lesson in Motherhood

Time of Departure from US: 10:25 a.m. Tuesday
Arrival Airport: London Heathrow Airport
Time of Arrival: 11:40 a.m. Wednesday
Transportation to International Hall, University of London, from Airport: Staying with a family friend and taking the Tube on Thursday
Departure Back to US: 7:50 a.m. Tuesday (5 weeks later)
Time of Arrival Back in US: 6:01 p.m. Tuesday
Travel to Other Countries AFTER Program: Yes, Latvia and Poland

One of the most difficult lessons of motherhood is letting go. From the first step to the first day of school to the first overnight away to the first solo drive in the car to going away to college, motherhood is a series of deeper and more significant moments of letting go.

My 'little one', a 20-year-old college senior, is off to study abroad for a month and spend a week with a friend in Latvia and Poland. Traveling solo. Another first. There have been previous out-of-country trips, but always planned and guided by others. *sigh* I am so incredibly proud AND still learning to let go.

Do you remember your first long distance trip solo? What happened? How was the adventure for you? Parents: How do, did or will you handle your child's first trip a long distance away?