Greetings!

I’m putting this blog (and its companion website) on hiatus to devote myself to my fiction writing. If you need your Moon Magic fix, the website (www.telp.com) has write-ups for full moons and dark moons through Beltane.

If you’re curious about my fiction writing, you’re welcome to drop in at www.TomLWaters.com.

Blessings, Tom

Moon Goddess - Virgo

Best evening for ritual: March 10 (Tuesday)

Theme: Carve out your goals

The energy of this Moon is dominated by the close proximity of Saturn. Together in Virgo, the Moon and Saturn seek to crystallize our creative intentions, giving them focus and character. Venus has lost touch with Mars, but now has a new sextile partner, Jupiter. They fuel our attraction for grand ideas and life-changing projects. The Sun in Pisces is unable to contribute any focusing or narrowing of these visions, but the passage of the Moon near Saturn tonight is an opportunity to tie things down. (The actual time of the Saturn-Moon conjuction is 4:26 pm.)

Use the Full Moon tonight to select one or two things to focus on from out of the cornucopia of hopes, visions, and ideals. Find the symbolic center of your intentions and let it be your guide and frame for the coming month.

Affirmations for this Moon:

I can see the next step.
I take my goals in hand.
I know what to create this day.
Out of many, comes the one.

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.

Dark Moon Goddess - Pisces

Best evening for ritual: February 24 (Tuesday)

Theme: Pssions in Perspective

The Mars-Venus sextile from the last full Moon remains in force, and is now augmented by both Mercury and Jupiter, in close conjunction with Venus in Aquarius. The Sun and Moon are in Pisces now, so we are viewing this bonfire through a dark watery veil.

Although desires remain intense and focused, their relevance and endpoint may not be as clear as they were two weeks ago. It’s time to return to the source and find a place for those passions in the larger picture of the cosmos and our role in it.

This may be an unsettling, confusing time, so ask the Moon for guidance through divination, and open yourself to receive the answer without preconditions.

Questions for this Moon:

What is the larger meaning in this moment’s activities?
What is the source of the life that moves me?
What remains unchanged?
What is it like to step outside of time?

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.

Moon Goddess - Leo

Best evening for ritual: February 8 (Sunday)

Theme: Light my fire

This is an intense Moon, where our larger ideals become transformed into very personal, very immediate, and very active realities.

There is a strong sextile between Mars in Aquarius and Venus in Pisces, which could manifest as a strong surge of sexual energy, perhaps focused on someone sharing your vision or ideas, or as a sudden, intense attraction to a new activity or undertaking. Jupiter and the Sun are also in Aquarius, amplifying both the force and the relevance of the upwelling desires.

With the Moon in Leo, there can be a need to receive attention before one can return it. The energy of this Moon can be put to good use if you can find an open channel for reciprocal generosity and reciprocal appreciation. If you focus on a relationship where the flow is one-way, you’ll likely be burned in this heat.

Affirmations for this Moon:

I revel in love and attraction.
I energize my desires.
A bright new light shines in my vision.
I am filled with living flame.

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.

The Imbolc issue of Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky is now available on the web at http://www.telp.com/.

Contents of this Issue:

The Sixth Door: We are Co-Creators

Moon Magic for February, March, and April

Rune Lore: Ingwaz

From the Hearth: Vegetarian Green Chile Stew

The Imaginarium: Ozetrofol

A new issue of Gems from Earth and Sky is published eight times a year.

Dark Moon Goddess - Aquarius

Best evening for ritual: January 25 (Sunday)

Theme: The Reality Playground

There’s a lot of interesting energy at work for this Dark Moon. Sun and Moon are closely conjunct with Jupiter, offering an ebullient boost to everything we learn or sense at this time.

The other planets are all having a lovefest now too, with Mars and Mercury teaming up in Capricorn to support Saturn, and a dreamy and sentimental Venus in Pisces serving as their muse. This all makes it a natural time for reinventing your personal reality in a novel and creative way: the daydreams might actually take root and sprout!

To top it off, this dark moon is also a solar eclipse, visible from the Indian Ocean.

Divination tonight can be grand and fanciful. Shoot for the stars! Ask for a brand new picture of the world and your place in it. Ask for several. Let them bubble around inside for the next two weeks, and see how it feels to see in new and different ways.

Questions for this Moon:
If the gods invited me to help make a new world, what would I suggest?
What is my version of Utopia?
I move to a parallel universe; who is there and what are they up to?
If I could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.

With inauguration day around the corner, I thought I would post my own take on the president-elect’s birth chart. I know this has been done a lot (by astrologers more competent than myself), but maybe my “earthy” approach to chart interpretation (I look only at the seven classical planets, and prefer emphasizing basic concepts over esoteric elaborations) will be of interest to some.

The driving energy behind Obama’s personality is the tension between his Leo Sun (reinforced by Mercury) and his Aquarius ascendant, with a powerful contribution from Jupiter. These two signs both deal with the relationship between the individual and the community, but they do so in contrasting ways.

Obama presents an Aquarian face to the world: idealistic, compassionate, socially aware. Jupiter has given him many gifts in this regard, and his interactions with others convey a promise of reinventing and revitalizing society. It is easy for others to project their hopes on him, because his Aquarian face is so bright and expansive.

His Leo Sun, however, takes a much more personal approach to the relationship of self to society, one focused on personal identity and the gratification that comes from others’ approval. He is driven by more than abstract plans for social reform; there is a strong desire for personal success, to lead, not just to philosophize. No politician is without ambition, of course, but Obama’s drive to succeed and lead is particularly strong, perhaps coming as a surprise to those of us focusing on his idealistic outer persona.

Obama could not have enjoyed the success he has had without integrating these two faces of his personality. He has made his ideals and his ambition serve each other, rather than striving against each other.

Saturn plays an important role in this. As the classical ruler of Aquarius, Saturn is his chart ruler. Jupiter in Aquarius also answers to Saturn. And finally, Saturn is in its own sign of Capricorn. Saturn in Capricorn implies serious issues surrounding success and status. It is about discipline, about the climb to the top and the need for perfection in his accomplishments. Obama’s Aquarian ideals are deployed to serve a practical program of achievement. The danger of Aquarian energy is the tendency to lose track of reality, to drift off into pleasant possibilities. Obama has clearly come to terms with his Saturn – he does not embrace ideals that he cannot make to work in the real world. Everything must be achievable, and every achievement must advance his stature and influence. This pragmatic thrust has already surprised ideological absolutists on both sides of the political spectrum.

Saturn receives striking support in this from both Mars and the Moon. Mars in Virgo gives Obama a very measured, restrained approach to conflict. He is careful in confrontation, organized and methodical in asserting his own point of view. The Gemini Moon (in easy collaboration with Mercury) gives him the extraordinary quality of actually deriving comfort and satisfaction from learning all sides of a question. Research gives him pleasure, and friendly dialog and debate are his lifeblood.

Mercury in Leo makes him an energetic and engaging communicator, which might seem to be at odds with the careful, pragmatic achiever of consensus represented by his Saturn, which opposes Mercury in his chart. It’s another tension that Obama has turned to his advantage, by articulating his vision with fire and charisma, but leaving the practical details for Saturn to work out in more quiet collaboration with others.

Six of the seven planets in his chart thus contribute directly to his political ambitions and social vision. The remaining planet, Venus, relates instead to his personal relationships. Venus in Cancer implies a great deal of sensitivity, and a need for security and emotional safety. His family is his retreat and sanctuary. I expect that when he finds hours to spend with his wife and children, out of the limelight, he becomes quite gentle and innocent.

To wrap up, I see the incoming president as a careful, intelligent, stable but highly motivated individual, who will seek out an optimal path between idealism and pragmatism, focused on concrete achievement.

Birth chart produced by Astrolog

Moon Goddess – Cancer

Best evening for ritual: January 10 (Saturday)

Theme: Lining the nest

Saturn comes into play again this Moon, but now the focus has shifted from the pragmatic to the emotional. This is a good time to work for peace of mind and emotional comfort in your immediate environment.

This is a good time for focusing on family or domestic relationships, and perhaps making changes in routines or the physical arrangement of your home to make it more comfortable and easier for everyone to live in.

It’s also a time to be thankful for the safety and security you do have in your home and your close relationships. Show others that you appreciate them by taking little steps to make their places and activities more pleasant.

Affirmations for this Moon:

My home is a place of love.
I care about the small moments of my life.
I make life easier and more pleasant for those around me.
I live in a bright, warm, bubble of light.

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.

Dark Moon Goddess - Capricorn

Best evening for ritual: December 26 (Friday)

Theme: Finding Your Discipline

Mercury and Saturn (and, less intensely, Jupiter) are collaborating now to develop a clear recipe for making things work and getting things done.

The Sun and Moon are united now in seeking to make a difference, and Mars is enlisted to help, although his influence is on the wane now. There is an opportunity now, however, to settle into useful habits and basically “get your act together”.

This requires some self-examination and some insight into our own style of working and organizing time. Divination tonight can be helpful if you need a clearer picture of what your daily routine should look like, or what steps you need to chart out on your way to your goal.

Questions for this Moon:

How do I keep myself on track?
What old habit do I need to drop?
What new habit do I need to acquire?
What is the relationship between process and goal?

For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.