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Capricorn Full Moon
July 16, 2:38 pm PT
Partial Lunar Eclipse
11:55 am PT

"Inspired by goddess spirituality and abstract expressionists, Joan Mitchell and Per Kirkeby, Crabbe paints to unleash and free inner demons on a journey into divine feminine intimacy. This is a spiritual journey of healing and redemption with eyes, moons, circles and ancient spirals from goddess legend planted within each painting to seed hope in a future of empowered women."

Spring is easily my favorite time of year. Fall is a very close second and no one can deny the enchantment of the newly crisp autumn air and the turning and falling of the leaves. But for me it is the bursting color and rebirth of spring that enchants and excites me the most. Being born in April, perhaps I have something of a natural bias.

In my nearly thirty-three years on Earth, this spring is by far the one I have looked forward to the most. The past year of my life, and especially the fall and winter months, have been the heaviest, darkest and most anguished ever so my very soul has been absolutely parched for the spring rains and fresh, bright blossoms. The ice and snow have melted and are cascading in rivers of renewal and revitalization.

Tomorrow, March 20, is an especially powerful and charged Equinox as it coincides with the full Moon in Libra. Fire is very much the element of spring, being the element of Aries and aptly representing the sparking, igniting new life bursting out everywhere. The light and warmth begin to return and the Martian leader and initiator of the zodiac leaps eagerly into action, blazing the trail for the new year.

The winter solstice has its potential as a type of new-year marker, but the days are still cold and dark and the thaw is still a long way off. Yet in terms of both the seasons’ cycle and the zodiac, the spring equinox is arguably THE true, natural new year. This awakening time is far more ideal for setting goals and intentions, for clearing away those last cobwebs of winter and the heaviness of hibernation.

We don’t have the luxury of literally hibernating like bears, or even as our distant ancestors used to, but there are parts of us that we let sleep; goals, hobbies, intentions, and pursuits that are more likely to lay dormant during the colder half of the year. What in your life is stirring from its slumber?

The Sun is exalted in Aries, meaning its energy is best expressed and manifested through this sign. What better way to start the year? Where else would the Sun shine at its best than within that first spark of spring? And what could be even more perfect still, on this quarter day when the light and dark are again equal, than the fiery equinox Sun shining directly onto the airy, balancing Libra Moon?

The image of the bellows in a forge comes to mind. The Air, the breath, blows and arouses the coals within the firepot, where a balance must be maintained for the ideal conditions for various kinds of work. Is a high, hot flame required, or a lower, steadier burn? What is it that you want to create and cultivate this year? What do you want to forge? Look back over the past six months or even a full year. What kind of crucible have you endured to get here, or are you perhaps still enduring?

A crucible is defined literally as a heat-resistant container in which metals and/or other substances are melted down, as in smithing or in chemistry, and figuratively as a very challenging time or severe trial that acts as a refining or hardening process. In both definitions, it is a tool of creation.

So this year, between the opposition of the Aries Sun and Libra Moon – doubly fiery masculinity and harmonious emotional femininity - I see a potent, elemental forge of creation in which balanced emotions and life-supporting nurturing must work together with passion, action and the sparks of initiation. Inspiration and illumination are everywhere now! Both Aries and Libra are cardinal signs, so this is a time of beginnings in every way imaginable.

Aries is all about the Self and personal identity. Aries is “I Am”. It begins with you. Work on yourself, forge yourself, create and define yourself and then, and only then, can you fulfill whatever it is that you’re here to do and to help others with. This is a great time to be selfish! The healthy, necessary kind of selfish in which you make sure that you are taken care of so that you are able to help others.

The Tolkien nerd in me immediately thinks of Legolas urging a battered Aragorn to rest once he arrives Helm’s Deep, saying “You’re no good to us half-dead.” No one is good to anyone half-dead! Or half-broken, half-asleep, half-healed, half-true or half-assed.

So tend to your forge. Let your emotions fuel your creativity and your passion, but don’t let them flare those flames up beyond control. Be smart with your feelings and think about how others feel. The Moon is emotions and intuition but Libra is Air – intellect, thought, reasoning. So there is a double theme of balance. First the heart and the head must be weighed against each other, and then together against motivation and action.

If Aries is “I am” and Libra is “I balance”, then an ideal mantra, affirmation or helpful reminder for this equinox, and therefore moving on through the year, is simply – “I AM BALANCED”.

Read the full article, including the equinox/full moon water oracle reading, here

Call it Cold, call it the Long Nights Moon. It is here tomorrow, and if it’s not too cloudy where you are, you should get outdoors to try and appreciate it. This is because it will appear larger than normal, due to its proximity to earth. Referred to as the Cold Moon by Native American Indian cultures, this was due to its proximity to the Winter Solstice, marking the longer nights and the colder section of the year. Here are some notions to mark the occasion and keep the Solstice celebration going all weekend long!

Build a bonfire or make a firepit fire to moon gaze under. You may even catch a meteor shower this year, if you’re far away from the city lights. Toast marshmallows and make homemade Moon Pie cookies, putting the melty goodness between two small graham cracker-style cookies (see recipe below). This is always an ideal time of year for quiet reflection. Choose the scrying method of your choice (I prefer a detailed tarot read that I can note in my Book of Shadows) and meditate on what the signs have to tell you as guides for the coming year. Consider your immediate past, present, and future: are you focusing your energies on being your best self? Imagine how you can better align any areas of your life that are out of whack. Your relationships will suffer if not all is right with you. Plan a “me time” date with yourself once a week throughout the month of January and stick to it. This can be both a time of letting go and replacing the dark with more positive energies and activities in your life.

On this full moon I lie here in an empty bed. I'm not sad or lonely, just slightly anxious. Why? My husband is driving a four hour round trip for work and the weather is to turn nasty. 

So I take some time to enjoy this alone time. The kids are in bed as well. 

This post is mirrored from my Wordpress blog, Priestessing the Dream

March brings us not one by two Full Moons -- the second month in 2018 to offer us this phenomenon, known as a Blue Moon. The first of March's full moons occurs on March 1. Known as the Worm Moon, this moon asks us to focus on what we need to fertilize or prepare in order to get ready to plant our dreams, goals, and projects for the Spring. Occurring midway between the Imbolc Sabbat and the Spring Equinox (March 21), this moon is ideal for reflection on what it is we want to bring forth and what we need to do to prepare the soil to nourish those things we plant. This year's Worm Moon is in Virgo, which amplifies the focus on work, on practical and direction action, and on attention to detail.

I stand outside bathed in a warm glow of light and the Harvest Moon whispers to me…

I know your secrets
I know your joys
I know your sorrows
I know who you are.

From ancient times, humanity has named its surroundings.  Was this to create a connection, feel more in control or just a way to identify what could be at times an unfriendly environment?  We probably will never know for certain but one of the things we do have are remnants of their naming like the full moon names.  These names give us a hint into how ancient peoples identified with their surroundings and tracked their seasons.

For early agricultural communities, June began a slow trickle of early crops like strawberries.  Imagine going all winter with little to no fresh fruits or vegetables.  Perhaps the community even ran low enough on food that hunger was a part of daily life.  Then to work all spring to get crops in the ground so next winter you hoped not to fall short.  Then June comes and the creamy flowers of strawberry plants indicates soon the first red berries will be there.  Imagine how much sweeter these taste after struggling for enough food.  Naturally as this important fresh food became available, the people would logically name the full moon strawberry. This name comes from both Celtic and Algonquin lineage so perhaps it was a staple and a pleasure for both groups.  Was it because it was one of the first crops or because the flowers of this plant are the same milky white color as the moon?  Probably we will never know.