Full Moons always set the stage for the next couple of weeks, and in upcoming Full Moon chart (June 2, 12:20 PM ET) Mercury, the planet of the Trickster God, rules from a throne sitting right at the top of the chart cast for Washington DC (predictive for the entire US) Yes, Mercury is retrograde, too, making the Trickster even trickier to handle, bringing out his sense of slapstick humor (we don’t always find it funny) and offering us some clever puzzles to work on in the first half of June.

Looking Within

The first puzzle that we are presented with is the enigma of ego. As individual nodes of creative life force currently functioning from the home base of a body, we develop an ego as part of the maturation process. We identify with something we call me, myself or I. It’s a necessary and — if properly nurtured and balanced — healthy part of the human psyche. But many religions and spiritual philosophies tell us to renounce, or at least keep a tight rein on our egos — and their definitions of just what the ego is vary.

"Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." Max Ehrmann

This month’s New Moon features some intense aspects and planetary placements, including a station of Mercury as it prepares to go retrograde. It occurs just a few minutes after midnight on Monday, May 18th (all times EDT, find the chart here) at 27 degrees of Taurus, so anyone with placements in 23-30 degrees of the fixed signs will  have some extra energy to play with this month. Opportunities and pitfalls both abound — let’s take a look at how we might chart a course towards the former and avoid the latter.

It’s an  oft-repeated truism in the literature on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that it never goes away. I’m a big believer in the plasticity of the brain and the strength of the human spirit, so I’ve always felt that it was possible to fully heal, just damned difficult. Part of the problem is that trauma affects everyone differently, depending on a number of factors — genetics, environment, parenting, the ages at which trauma occurs, etc. — which means everyone’s path to healing is different. Sometimes it can be hard to see where the next step is, much less where the path leads.

I’ve had plenty of people tell me over the years about their special one-size-fits-all “cure” for PTSD.  Along with various psycho-therapeutic methods and magical and shamanic techniques, I’ve been urged to try EFT or acupuncture or any of a gazillion other different treatment modalities — and I probably have worked with most of them. But in my experience and that of many people I’ve spoken to in my work as an astrologer and tarot reader, you pick up some healing here, and some there, and a bit more over there, and pretty soon you’re talking real healing. But it takes time, it takes support, and it takes a willing heart.

"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." – E.B. White

Full Moon charts are generally said to be in effect only for the two weeks until the next New Moon. But a chart is a single moment in time on the restless sea of planetary movements - a moment that lets us get a reading on where we’re heading, and make any necessary course corrections Used wisely, the course that is set in that moment can influence our lives far beyond the next couple of weeks.

As we look around and assess the changes sponsored by the Uranus-Pluto square, we can start to dream of a better future, both in our personal lives and on a larger scale. But those dreams must be firmly based in the reality of time, space and Earth if they are to become anything more than escapist fantasies. We'll want to look around to see what structures have been brought down by Tower Time, begin to sort through the rubble, then decide what we will use to rebuild and what is no longer useful. The landscapes of our lives have been irrevocably changed, and we now look to discover the paths through our new world. Cue the Aries New Moon, which brings courage, determination and a bit of sheer bloody-mindedness to help us find our way in unfamiliar territory. But this chart also brings an interesting combination of planets (Venus and Neptune, with Saturn keeping a rather judgmental eye on things) that gives us an opportunity to dream well and truly, but also suggests taking great care in some areas.

The Full Moon in Libra is one of the year’s lunar eclipses, occurring on Saturday, April 4 at 8:07am. This moment in space is brought to you by the Aries/Libra axis of the Zodiac, and I want you to go and gather all your hats together now, because you’ll probably be feeling the need to change them frequently as you try to keep up with the action over the next few months. It’s a dynamic chart, full of changes and interactions, opportunities for leadership, relationship, and compassion, accompanied by plenty of new ideas and inspirations. The chart also has the Uranus-Pluto square locked in tight, so all that work you’ve been doing around stripping down to the essentials and making profound changes in some area(s) of your life will continue to demand your attention, and all your skills at life-navigation.

One of the first things that jumps out from this chart is an emphasis on the Fire element. Fire is flowing freely in a Grand Trine among Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn, and a there are trines between the Sun-Uranus conjunction and Jupiter as well. This configuration highlights impassioned communication about broader social issues, and indicates possible sudden awakenings and breakthroughs in awareness.  We’ve already seen the fiery energy of the Spring Equinox chart expressed in wildfires, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and multiple airplane crashes (I’m not even going to link there are so many over the past couple of weeks — just google it. And yes, as you may have guessed, Uranus, now in Fire sign Aries and still tightly square destructive Pluto, rules air travel.) Now, with this lunar eclipse chart, we are getting even more Fire energy coming in. Those of us who work magically with the Elements have our work cut out for us.

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. ~ Winston Churchill

We have two significant events happening on March 20th — first, a New Moon in Pisces at 5:36 am EDT, followed immediately by a solar eclipse. Then, that evening at 6:46, the Sun moves into Aries for the Spring Equinox. Both these charts will be in effect for at least 3 to 6 months, and I have cast them for Washington, DC, so they are predictive for the country. Find the charts here and here.

This planetary combination is a recipe for change and new beginnings in this season of the balance between light and dark. We’ll want to get very clear about our intentions for our lives and our world, because the energy we set in motion on this day is likely to be powerful and long lasting. Should you work magic during this time? Of course! It could be argued that a magician is always working magic. But it is definitely a good idea to carefully consider where and how you are directing your magic, and also to know that with volatile energies like these, you may not get the results you expected, particularly if you work at the eclipse. Magic done at an eclipse tends to always have a wild card somewhere in the mix. I’d advise working with the eclipse energy only if your personal magical practice is relatively disciplined, you are well-tuned-in to the flow of energy in your life, and you can be flexible about the results. If this isn’t you, then you might want to work in the evening, at or after the equinox, when the Moon and Sun are trine Saturn, and the Moon is trine Jupiter.