Powerful New Moon

We are about to experience a powerful new moon (that's when the moon and sun are conjunct in the sky - the sun's light is blocked and the moon becomes "invisible"). What makes it so powerful is that this new moon is also conjunct one mind-blower of a planet party at the same spot in the sky (Aquarius) with Neptune, planet of fantasy, imagination, illusion and denial right there with Chiron, planet of awareness of wounds both personal and societal. In case anyone's been noticing, our society is currently struggling through the death throes brought on by our own fantasy and delusions, fed by the corporate media conglomerate, the military-industrial complex and each and every one of us. It's getting time to wake up from our collective nightmare and start making it look more like a lovely dream.

I'm not an astrologer, nor do I wish to be, but I'm sure I read the most relevant, important astrologer working today. His name is Eric Francis and he's captain of a small team of highly intelligent and creative activists/writers/journalists/artists/astrologers/meaning-makers and I would even venture to say, spiritual pioneers. I always intuited there was something to astrology, but until my own studies coincided with Eric's writing, I couldn't quite make it all fit together in a coherent fashion. Maybe it was all that alcohol?? Go figure.

Eric's website, Planet Waves, operates on subscriptions. You will not be bombarded with any kind of advertising when you visit and the daily blog is always avaiable for free with fascinating stories, chart delineation and sometimes just good entertainment. Eric has been kind enough to extend several subscriptions to me either at a lowered rate or free of charge since I've been having job and home troubles and the only way I have to give back is to direct people to his fabulous work, which I am honored to do. I'm pretty sure someday I'll be able to pay him back, but at this moment, I don't have a clue what that will look like and it doesn't really matter.

Following are some excerpts from this week's subscriber edition which I found to be great examples of the work being done there. If you want to ride the cutting edge of a brand new business model, observe stunning photography, read excellent writing and support a growing venture on the forefront of the changes that need to be made, visit Eric and the gang. And don't forget to let him know I sent you so maybe he won't cut me off!!

Lunar events such as the New Moon tend to precipitate the energy of slower-moving patterns, and once again this lunation qualifies. The Sun and Moon are gathering for a sendoff to the conjunction. And as the Sun and Moon light up the inner sky with their mix of yang and yin energies, what do we see? With any luck, the incredible potential for choice, for movement, and in particular, to direct our awareness anywhere we want.

Yet looking around, it's clear that we're alive in a moment of extreme polarization, and for many, deep and even unspeakable personal fear. Looking at what we're up against at this time in history, I see a world society in crisis and many people struggling to adjust. Though many deny this fact, others are aware that our postindustrial, postmodern, post-rational civilization is approaching a critical turning point. This may be something in the physical environment, and it's clearly something in the psychic/psychological environment: in truth it's about where the two intersect, but we keep missing the point; we keep projecting it outside ourselves.

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Then we're up against ourselves: our own need to grow, seemingly against all these odds, and with not enough time; and our resistance, and our lack of skills to adapt to an environment changing so fast it would make an astronaut nauseous. We've been subjected to numerous shutdown campaigns and often many find themselves in states of anxiety and even panic. After being deskilled, numbed out and trained to say no to sex, work in cubicles and to eat plastic food, we wonder why it's hard to get in a good mood and wage revolution. And time keeps going faster. I propose at least half a day be inserted between Monday and Tuesday to help us stay on top of things.

Finally, we're coping with having limited relationship skills, including leadership skills, in a time when we need them dearly. Some say it's men, some say it's women, bisexuals know it's both. There are a lot of people for whom this whole communication thing, relationship as awareness and growth, focus on the purpose of existence, is as ordinary as a UFO landing in their backyard. The little critter comes out chirping and, well it must be meaningful.

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The fact that you would choose to improve your life, to make a difficult decision or to wake up from a long spell of personal despair can and likely will have significant influence on the human environment that surrounds you. And by the same principle, the environment with which you surround yourself has a significant influence on the ease or difficulty of your improving your own existence.

We are now experiencing the peak energy of Chiron conjunct Neptune. Chiron's primary role is to raise awareness, almost always with the intention of healing oneself. Often it is awareness alone that sets the energy of change and progress in motion. Reminded of this, we have some great motivation to pay attention, and take to heart such ideas as, "When I am healed, I am not healed alone," or, "Become the change you want to see."

As a special treat at this new moon, Jupiter and Venus will be visible in the western sky just after sunset. The diagram above is from the Sky and Telescope website.

I'll be back tomorrow with my new moon intentions for this month. Thanks for visiting. Go see Eric and the gang and happy skywatching.

Magic

This is my treatment altar. Every piece on this altar has deeply personal meaning, from the










three sisters figure to the driftwood that represents my Uncle Ronald, who died 10 years ago this Thanksgiving. Ronald dealt with a lot of the same things I do, but he couldn't see a way out.





My great-grandmother's linen hankie and pieces from my folks and sisters complete the offering to the ancestors, both living and dead.


My homies from Georgia are represented: Celeste, Wendy, Joni, Melinda and Steve. Pam House.


The people I know from Montana, friends both past and present are represented. Claudia, Julie, Jan, Ben, Shawn, Marsha, Barbara, Bill, Robert, Roberta, Lynn, Bob Mc., Phyllis, Judith, Karen, Bobbi, Peggy, Tracy, Brent.


My power animal - a giant midnight panther with vivid green eyes is represented. He comes to me in the night and assures me that all is well; all is as it should be; all is actually quite perfect.



My very best blogging friends are represented: Olivia, Chani, Mary Louise, VR, Anybeth, Julie, Gabriella, Dorothy, AngelP. (See side bar for links)

My LSR friends.


I could write an entire very long post (and I tried to) about the astrology we're experiencing. Strong personally for me. Strong collectively for us as a society. But, nobody does it like Eric Frances and his excellent team at Planet Waves so if you're interested, visit him there.


My tarot cards have been freaky in their accuracy. I read several people's cards in detox and they were all pretty surprised with how well they fit their circumstances. I just do either a five card spread on a situation or a 3 Major, 5 Minor spread. I find it much more effective than some of the longer spreads.



I'm leaving for the Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte, MT, USA at 9 am sharp. The rest of the evening for me is about self-care, ritual, prayer and connection. Packing, cleaning and last-minute phone calls. I feel pretty overwhelmed but I know I'm going to a good place and I believe they can help me get over the experiences of the past few year and provide a good foundation for the sobriety to follow. I know without a doubt this is what I need to do and I'm ready and I'm taking lots of love and support with me. Good ancestry. Good friends.



The address where I will be is: MCDC, 2500 Continental Drive, Butte, MT 59701 Attn: Angela Nolan. I would appreciate any communication by mail, especially as I am going to be there through the holidays.

I love you all.

The Medicine Wheel

The Medicine Wheel is an ancient healing/living modality created by Native American and other indigenous peoples throughout the world. It's a way of moving through life which is closely infromed by our connection to the earth; earth as mother, nurturer, healer. Earth as home and hearth. Earth now as victim who requires our assistance and cooperation to help her return to balance. I believe recovery is dependent on this connection and on our willingness to begin to treat the Earth, and ourselves, with respect.

Our physical bodies are part of earth, part of this dense matter, but our spirit - through our consciousness - is not, and exploring that frontier is also part of the Medicine Wheel. Freedom of consciousness is encouraged through intention, ritual and celebration. Acquiring even a small amount of freedom of consciousness requires some level of purification and so purification is also part of the Medicine Wheel.

The Medicine Wheel is a circular and organic process wherein each direction offers specific lessons that bring about balance, joy in living, respect for self and others, understanding and growth. Many of the processes I've previously explored and continue to explore: archetypes, meditation, ritual, mindfulness, self-examination, tarot, astrology and writing have their place within the wheel. The Medicine Wheel is a framework with tremendous room for individual expression and the freedom to customize what is chosen to place within that framework.

Of course, the most important thing about the Medicine Wheel for me is that I'm attracted to it. One of the principles of AA is that it is based on attraction rather than promotion, but in my experience AA was, and continues to be, promoted as the best if not the only way to recover from addiction. It wasn't intended to be that way, but the treatment industry (I think especially here in the west, but I'm not sure about that) basically grabbed onto the 12 steps and for years made it the only available option. When other programs began to spring up, they were mostly secular in nature, touting the rational road to recovery and these programs work well for many people. But the spiritual aspect of AA is not what bothers me at all. I want my recovery to inform my spirituality and vice versa so the secular programs left me feeling like something was missing as well.

I'm excited about exploring this framework here at Eclectic Recovery.

You Don't Say?

This is my horoscope for this week from one of my favorite astrologists, D. K. Brainard. You can check him out at Words for the People.

Scorpio - Mars, your ruling planet, moves into your 4th House Wednesday for a six-week stay. The 4th House symbolizes the roots of your being, your foundation. On the level of samsara, or the illusion of the world, the 4th House symbolizes home, family, and the emotional patterns that grew out of your experiences of these. As you'll recall, last week's solar eclipse landed in this same area of your chart. This was an exceptionally beneficial eclipse, indicating you're now in the process of fundamentally reframing these experiences. Ideally, the outcome of this process of reinterpretation is that you are free to relate to life as a mature, powerful adult, rather than unconsciously reacting with the same fears and expectations that were burned into your mind in childhood. Mars wants to help you accelerate this process of self-exploration and release; any time you feel stuck, you can move the energy by doing something in the home. Now would be an exceptionally good time to start a home-based project such as painting the walls, refinishing the floors, or systematically going through your stuff and getting rid of anything you no longer need.

This astrology perfectly describes the position I now find myself in - one of rehashing some key things that happened in my life and becoming more aware of the ways I unconsciously continue to act on these ancient happenings. For most people, me included, that means looking back at my childhood and the people who were important in my childhood, my immediate family being first and foremost. Anyone who has ever attempted a journey such as this knows it's not an easy thing. I suppose a majority of people never really understand the ways in which they have been shaped by their family, their society, their religion and their own mind. I think I know why. It's mind-blowing!

It's also very freeing. I've known these "facts" about my life for so long, but have never examined them in the thoughtful, nonjudgmental way that I find myself doing now. Don't get me wrong; I've taken a hard look at these events before, but there was always still too much judgmentalism in my own mind to be clear about them. I had to reach a point of complete willingness to forgive - to forgive myself first of all and then everyone who I felt had hurt me in some way. That's what the depression was about and it is lifting as each day I feel the freedom of finding out who I really am.

This feels like a foundation to me; a foundation for a happier, healthier, more productive life.

100th Blog Post

Well, this is my 100th blog post and it seems as good a time as any to review where we've been for the past few months. I began this blog as an exploration into recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. I had been trying many different recovery modalities, but had yet to find one that seemed to fit me personally. You may have noticed that not every post, maybe not even half of them, are actually about addiction or recovery. There's a reason for that.

What I hope I show here is that there is a lot more to me than the drinking problem I defined myself by for so long. A whole helluva lot more. What I hope others with similar problems may realize is that they, too, can make the choice to define themselves differently.

One of the first decisions I made was to stop attending AA. There was a time in my life, which I've written about, when AA was a catalyst for positive change, but that time had long passed and I was only hurting myself by continuing to try and find something appropriate for me there. When I would go to AA and attempt to stay sober indefinitely, and then fail in that attempt, I would beat myself unmercifully and the deep and intense guilt I would experience was much worse on me than the actual drinking. Plus, some folks in and out of AA seemed all too eager to assist me in the lashing. So I decided to quit doing that to myself. When I stopped doing it to myself, I stopped letting anyone else do it either. I think that's called empowerment.

Some of my best friends are members of AA. In keeping with their 12th tradition, I would like to say thank you to two very special women - you know who you are.

I gave myself permission to explore the things I was really interested in and the things that I felt could lead me out of alcoholism. I had this idea that a life lived with deep passion and joy would leave little room for addiction. So I deepened my inquiry into astrology and how it could help me make sense of life. I also began work with a woman who had identified as alcoholic for many years, but who had transcended that label. She introduced me to Caroline Myss' work on archetypes which was a perfect accompaniment to astrology as astrology is really all about archetypes. I decided to explore the relationship between sex, guilt and addiction - specifically how feelings of guilt around early sexual experiences could morph into addiction disorders. Eric Frances over at Planet Waves provided a space for this exploration. I intended to write more about that here, but I haven't gotten comfortable enough to be quite that open. I maintained my spiritual practices - yoga, meditation and writing. Writing is a spiritual practice for me because I cannot hide from myself when I write. I can still hide from you if I want to, but not myself. None of these explorations have turned out like I thought they would; mostly they've turned out better than I could've imagined.

The first and most wonderful change came when I noticed that I could drink without guilt. I could enjoy drinking in a social fashion. This doesn't mean that there was an instantaneous switch to moderate drinking. I sometimes still drink too much, but I no longer beat the crap out of myself for doing it. I've observed that when I am in a difficult situation or having a hard time emotionally, I can still go into heavy drinking as a coping mechanism. And I've observed that I can stop it.

As long as I believed in powerlessness as the 1st of the 12 steps requires, I really was powerless. When I would drink under that premise, I literally felt that I couldn't stop drinking and the binges could last for days or even weeks. These binges were exacerbated by an addiction to a drug called ativan which I finally broke in September of 2006. What it feels like now is that I'm backing out of alcoholism. I like to drink. I practice harm reduction by not driving when I drink, not letting it interfere with my work, and not adding anything else to the mix. I believe as long as I am responsible to my fellow human beings, I can maintain my private life as I please. No harm, no foul. This is not a popular notion these days. At the same time, I have become much too aware of where my real joy lies to get too far away from that, which is where excess drinking takes me.

I have gained more confidence, more joy and more fulfillment from following my own path, however crooked it may look to someone else, than I ever did by trying to maintain abstinence from alcohol. Anyone will tell you that abstinence from alcohol does not equal recovery. Very few, if any, people will tell you that recovery is possible while continuing to drink. But I know there are others out there like me, who believe it is possible and who will follow that belief. Some may consider us stupid, a little crazy and even hopeless. Others may consider us courageous and ground-breaking, while most of you could probably care less one way or the other. Which leads me to the second wonderful thing that's happened for me. I don't base my decisions anymore on what someone else thinks is a good idea for me. I think they call that liberation.

A few weeks ago the woman I was working with had me make a list of the positive changes I'd seen since we began working together. Here is that list:

I've had more instances of drinking and enjoying it than I have of overdoing it and regretting it.

I've felt my confidence soar.

I've done some excellent writing.

I've felt the Universe filling me up from the inside out.

I've drawn lines in the sand with people and been utterly prepared for whatever response I got.

I've spent a lot of time letting myself move through grief.

I've created a sex life for myself that doesn't require a partner and I've also enjoyed great partner sex.

I have redefined some relationships in my life to be on a more equal basis.

I'd like to add these to that list:

I've been true to myself.

I've moved out of blaming anyone, most especially myself.

I still feel the naysayer's judgment. I still wonder if they will be right in the end - if I will ultimately move back into full blown alcoholism and possibly lose my life. And then I remember: none of us gets out of here alive. Today is the day, baby. What are you going to do with it?

And on that note, this will probably be my last post before surgery. I've added some great new people to my blogroll, so please check out: Crazed and Confused, Frankiecon, Lee's River, Rae's Confessions, and The Electric Orchid Hunter.

And oh yeah, that picture? I took it with the cowboy on top of that snow-covered moutain, on a very sweet and sacred Sunday afternoon. Peace, ya'll.

Eclipsing Personal Myths or Advanced Truth Seeking

There is a partial solar eclipse tonight at 10:44 EST. In the language of astrology, eclipses are opportunities to either make or break patterns, or if you will, personal myths, we've set up in our lives.

All of us have personal myths that we live with and by whether we're aware of them or not. We come by these myths in a number of ways and from a number of different sources: parents, friends, teachers, our culture, and yes, we even come up with some of them all by ourselves. I've noticed that alcoholism treatment websites like to report myths about alcoholism. The most interesting thing is that there are very few real facts about alcoholism so the "myths" these sites report usually coincide with whatever treatment option they are trying to sell. On one site you'll find that they consider the "disease concept" a myth and on another you'll find that the myth is that alcoholism is a behavioral disorder.

When I went through treatment in 1988 I was told that I had a medical disease (alcoholism) that was incurable, progressive and eventually fatal. I had no reason at the time not to believe these well-meaning professionals and I accepted the diagnosis, followed the protocol (12-Steps) and stayed sober for six years. Obviously, that concept worked for me for quite awhile. At the time, I never questioned whether I actually believed any of it for myself.

But later in my life, when those concepts were no longer working so well, I was literally forced to question the validity of what I had learned . . . against my own experience. And here's what I'm finding - the more gray area the subject has, the more people become attached to their myths around it. It only makes sense that in the absence of few hard facts, myths will tend to abound. Alcoholism, eating disorders, gambling addiction, sexual addiction - all fertile ground for Facts and Myths. And here's what I'm coming to believe - your facts about your problem may be different from mine. My myths may be your facts. Your myth may be solid fact to me. It doesn't mean that I am right and you are wrong or vice versa.

In my study of archetypes, I've seen these personal myths come to life in the form of archetypal patterns of behavior. Addict. Victim. Goddess. Pioneer. Storyteller. Hedonist. When I view my behavior archetypally (which is exactly what astrology does by the way), I'm able to detach from the simmering emotions that surround the issue. Not only that, when I'm aware of other archetypal patterns I can substitute for the one causing me trouble, I'm offered a solution that doesn't require me to blame myself for anything, blame anyone else for anything, or even declare myself right and someone else wrong.

I'm beginning to form a theory about this called Advanced Truth Seeking. An Advanced Truth Seeker seeks out as much hard truth is available about any given situation (which is usually not a lot) and then decides what myth to make her truth. I think this is what most of us try to do in our lives, but we're usually not very conscious of it. That's where the Advanced part comes in. When we become conscious of it, we can decide with eyes wide open that we're going to make a particular myth our truth. I think this is the power of intention, the power of story, and the power of co-creation. I figure we're all just a myth in the eyes of the Goddess anyway.

I'm deciding on a few very empowering personal myths at this eclipse, how about you?

Addiction and Recovery in the Natal Chart

The first thing noticeable about my natal chart is that I have a 1st House stellium in Scorpio. A stellium is four or more planets very close together, usually in the same sign or house. It's not that common an occurrence and most of us that have one wish the hell we didn't! What a stellium does is up the amps about 10 times for the house and sign in which the planets fall. A stellium suggests a challenge in the life of the individual to learn to fully integrate the energies involved.

Scorpio - a fixed water sign, is the sign of sex, hidden agendas, extremes and intensity. Also, deep loyalty, passion and commitment. How would you like to have five planets in that sign! My Scorpio stellium falls in the first house - the house of self - the most personal and powerful house in the Zodiac. In astrology, the first house is thought of as a giant lens through which the rest of the chart is interpreted.

The five planets in my stellium? The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Neptune - in order of their transit time around the sun. Knowing that both Venus and Mars reside in that Scorpio stellium will go a long way towards explaining the "sex" process of my recovery models. But that's for later reading.

Within the stellium is a Sun/Neptune conjunction. A conjunction occurs between two planets when they are within 0-9 degrees of each other. This means they're so close together that their particular energies seem to merge.

Neptune is the planet of illusion, self-deception and "smoke & mirrors." And oh yeah, addictions! Neptune conjunct my Sun has always presented a challenge to my perception of reality. Neptune is the master distractor and I've fallen directly under his spell for a lot of my life. But the higher side of Neptune is all about communing with the divine, tapping into Universal Source and achieving enlightened states of consciousness. Neptune says, "Follow me, my sweet, into the land of oneness with god and egoless love for all beings." Neptune wants to take you there though practices like yoga, meditation, chanting - any spiritual practice that gives your mind a break. But if you're not very careful and aware, he will take you there however he can - through drugs, alcohol, sex and obsession.

Neptune is a slow mover and for the past three years, his current transit has formed an exact square to my natal sun. Squares indicate tension, a sort of battle between the planets with both determined to come out on top. I've gotten used to these energies (can you tell!) and am just riding it out until 2009 when Neptune will finally move on. It's my belief that this square and my learning to work with the energies of it was the beginning of Eclectic Recovery.

There's another key placement in my natal chart related to Eclectic Recovery which I'll discuss in a later post.

Alcoholism, Astrology, Archetypes, and Sex?

My four primary healing modalities in moving away from alcoholism are astrology, archetypes, writing and sex. That may seem like a strange combination to some people, but they're perfect for me. If you're attempting to leave an alcohol or drug problem behind, your three or five or four processes may be quite different from mine. Yours could be golf and religion, or Reiki, Gestalt therapy and getting in touch with your inner child, or maybe AA, creating art and volunteering in your community. Whatever they turn out to be the important thing is to discover them for yourself and intentionally begin applying them to create a life that will be much too passionate, fulfilled and large to have time for an addiction problem.

Now, I didn't sit down one day and say, "Ok, these are going to be my healing venues." It's taken years of exploring different things that came into view and caught my enthusiasm and interest. I studied a lot of different pagan religions and went to a few circles, but that didn't turn out to be one of my key processes, even though I thought it would be. I explored every alternative recovery program I could find, but none of them are a main ingredient in my alchemical pot. The important thing is that I never stopped searching. I was stuck in the "abstinence is the only way" mode for so long it probably took me a little longer than it needed to. One of my hopes for writing all of this out here is that others for whom abstinence may not be the answer will save themselves some time.

I began an in-depth exploration into astrology a few years ago. I'd always been interested in it, but now I really dove in and did a lot of reading and research. I also retained a personal astrologer, Anita Doyle, with whom I meet about once a year. My work with Anita has proven more helpful to me than all the many years of therapy I did. Astrology was my initial foray into reframing my experiences on a cosmic scale. I don't approach astrology on a predictive basis but as a language of the psyche, a poetry for the human soul and a magical way to explore what has made me who I am today. You might even say, if you wanted, that the planets, stars and myths of astrology became my higher power because it's freaky how accurate they are. I discovered that my heart much preferred to view my addiction problem as a manifestation of Neptune conjunct my Sun and realize that there is a higher side of that aspect I can move into. Framing it that way is much more palatable to me than determining that I have a life-long sentence that I can never overcome and that will either kill me, send me to jail or land me in an institution. For all its "out there" reputation, astrology has proven to be one of the most practical tools in my arsenal.

More later on archetypes, writing and sex. Have I got your attention?

Virgo New Moon

Virgo is the get-it-in-order, clean-it-out and put-it-away sign. Virgo rules the 6th house, the House of Service and Health. This new moon was accompanied by a partial solar eclipse which always packs an extra punch. Eclipses set events in motion that will continue to play out until the next eclipse season - six months away. This is an especially important new moon for me as I'm starting a business. It's a service business, a way I hope to use the special talents and skills I possess to connect people and products that otherwise wouldn't connect. I can't think of a better moon to begin this particular undertaking. New moons are always auspicious for beginnings and for a service-oriented business, this one is ideal. I didn't plan it that way. I love astrology, but you won't see me planning my life around it. It's always interesting, though, when the astrology fits the circumstances so well and it adds to the already heady sense of optimism I feel about the project. If it crosses your mind, please include Village Connections in your prayers and meditation.

Full Moon in Pisces

The full moon is at 4 degree of Pisces tomorrow morning and the lunar eclipse makes it an especially potent one. Pisces is the most mystical, spiritual sign of the zodiac and its ruler is Neptune, god of the sea. Pisces and/or Neptune often play a big role in the charts of alcoholics and addicts because the shadow side of not connecting with your soul can all too often lead to self-destructive and addictive behavior. The questions I'll be asking myself at this moon will be: Am I living out my soul's purpose the best I can at this time in my life? Do I need to re-evaluate my spiritual practices and be sure I'm putting them to practical use in the world? Am I exercising compassion, understanding and commitment with the people in my life? I'll also make sure that I stay aware of the Pisces/Neptune shadow by being honest with myself and those around me and by staying sober one day at a time. Pisces is the ruler of the natural 12th house of the zodiac - sometimes called the House of Secrets, Sorrows and Self-Undoing. Sounds like the house of addictions to me. But, the 12th house is also about discovering the meaning of life through those very same secrets, sorrows and self-undoing. When we finally discover a meaning in life, whatever it is for us, we can stop creating secrets and sorrows for ourselves and work on self-doing instead of un-doing. The eclipse is visible in the wee hours before dawn across North America. Some portion of this eclipse is visible everywhere in North America, the farther to the West the better. California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, Alaska, Hawaii and the western parts of Nevada will see the eclipse in its totality. The partial phase begins at 4:51 a.m. EDT, totality begins at 5:52 a.m., totality ends at 7:22 a.m., and the partial phase ends at 8:24 a.m.

Which means two hours earlier than that for me here in Montana - crap, I've got to get to bed. Happy Sky Watching.

New Moon in Leo

Tonight's new moon is in the 19th degree of Leo at 6:02 p.m. EST. Leo is all about shining brightly. Leos are enthusiastic, warm, engaging and magnetic. Like their ruling planet, the sun, when Leos come out everyone wants to join in the fun. When you go to a party, the first person you will notice is probably a Leo. Leo is the ruler of the 5th house, the house of creative self-expression as well as sex, children, joy and the arts. The 5th house is the place where we instinctively give affection, from our heart and not from any sense of obligation.

This new moon asks us to examine how we encourage our own life force. Are we seeking our personal sun by engaging with people and activities that bring out the light in us? Do we have ways of expressing ourselves that make us feel happy to be alive on this planet and participating in the dance of life? Are there obstacles we allow to block our way that we could replace with something more life-affirming? Whatever makes you feel your inner lioness, take it out and work on it. Give it your unique personal expression and then send it out into the world.

Full Moon in Aquarius

Astrology is one of the passions I've discovered in my sobriety. I like to use astrology to ask myself the big questions. What is life about? What are we all doing here? How can I utilize the energies available to awaken and encourage the best parts of me? Astrology brings life to the mysterious language of the universe, giving us archetypes, gods, goddesses and tools to work with, if we wish, to not only integrate, but expand our vision of the world, what it is and what it can be. It provides a framework for discovering our unique contribution and a pathway to the manifestation of that contribution.

Each month I'll write a post on the new and full moons. At the new moon I set intentions I hope to bring to fruition during the cycle that peaks with the full moon and culminates at the next new moon. I find this to be an invaluable and absolutely fun recovery tool. It helps me stay focused on what's important and what I really want to be pursuing in my life. It's so easy to get sidetracked.

The full moon shines her light from the sign of Aquarius tonight at 7:47 p.m. EST. Aquarius is the sign of the innvoator and the rebel. Aquarians tend to light the way for the rest of us and use their imagination and resourcefulness for the good of the community. Uranus, planet of disruption, lightining-quick change and all manner of delightful and not-so-delightful surprises, rules this sign. Aquarius' natural home in the zodiac is the 11th house, house of friends and allies, hopes and wishes. You will recognize your 11th house friends by their ability to be a catalyst for change in your life, whether you welcome it or not.

The Full Moon in Aquarius asks us to examine how we offer our special gifts to the world. Are we generous and open with our talents? Do we hold back knowledge that would benefit the rest of the community? How can we say thank you to the universe for the gift of life and express our gratitude with action? Can we pay homage to Uranus by surprising ourselves today? Can we thank our 11th house friends by courageously standing in our own power and offering it back with to them?

My favorite astrology resources on the web are:

http://www.planetwaves.net
Eric Frances is an incomparable astrologer, journalist, writer, photographer and human being. This site is subscriber supported (NO ADVERTISING - YAHH!! ERIC!) but there's plenty of free stuff to intice you away from your money. Not only is the site rich with information, political and personal, but it's just damned beautiful.


http://www.freewillastrology.com
Rob Bresny will fire your imagination with his horoscopes and his dead-on, in-your-face, get-real-with-it, intuition. This is astrology at its most playfully serious.


http://www.astro.com
Talk about resources. Put in your birth data and see how all the planets line up with your natal chart, enter your lover's data and see where your strengths and challenges are as a couple, put in your mother's data and see her as a person and not just your mother.

http://www.integralbeing.org
Anita Doyle, my personal astrologer and angel.