Moving Toward the Cold Moon

This full moon in Gemini certainly carries the metaphorical fullness of culmination that attends each cycle, perhaps because it is the final full moon not only of this year, but also of the decade. It reaches peak fullness on Dec. 12 at 12:13 a.m. EST, however it will rise around 4:18 pm. on Dec. 11 for observers on the U.S. East Coast.

Kay Nielsen

The fullness of this moon may feel overwhelming, with a particular kind of stop and start energy. As the momentous decade comes to a close, there have been many revelations and moments of reckoning making sure we close out this period in full awareness of the patterns and stories we will not be taking into the future. This feeling of revelation is matched by an inability to yet synthesize it’s full meaning. There has been space created by our broken patterns, this can be a terrain of fear, aka the unknown. It is also a space of mystery. The attitude best suited to this time is one of curiosity and adventure. The synthesis of meaning is a creative act requiring all of our restored and healed capacities that this year has prepared us for. It is a kind of story telling created in practice and commitment and 2020 will bring that next chapter. In the meantime, we can become comfortable with this twilight between past and future. This is a characteristic the airy and dual Gemini spirit.

Shannon Berberich @moonowlholllow

The divination for this final full moon of the year recognizes this twilight of the unknown and asks us to reclaim our strength and the conviction of our own true voice, last month’s discernment, in order to manifest our authority in 2020.

What characterizes the transition from last month’s Beaver Moon to this Cold Moon?

The tower reversed is the card of inner transformation and upheaval. In other words, this transition is characterized by transition itself. We have awakened spiritually and that is not always a comfortable place because it means an overthrow of the ego, or of our identity. The ego desperately grasps for the familiar and resists the unknown with it’s whole being, because the unknown can mark a kind of ego death.

What are we leaving behind?

In order to face our own mysteries, we are given Strength reversed. We are asked to leave self-doubt in the past. This includes the setbacks, injuries, and narratives that support and nurture feelings of lack or unworthiness. We are called instead to nurture our history of resilience. We must nurture our ongoing commitment to ourselves and focus on our triumphant stories in order to continue to heal those aspects of ourselves and in so doing, to live in our confidence.

Approach the mystery of your life with the curiosity it deserves. You are your own wonder, or in the words of @Undakova, “Perhaps You are the miracle.”

What are we moving toward?

Christmas Eve  –  L.Birge Harrison

As a symbol of intellectual power and authority The King of Swords implies the new clarity you will both discover and create as you courageously move into the new year. The Kind of Swords marshals the discernment of last month and elevates it. His confidence allows for authority and instills confidence in others so that he may make his discernment manifest. This is the card of truth. The ingredients are courage of conviction, inner knowing or discernment which requires the spiritual health to be in alignment, and finally the confidence and intellect required to manifest that inner energy into the world.

The Kind of Swords is the card of speaking your truth, a complex spiritual journey which 2019, and indeed this entire decade, has prepared you for.

Sometimes the dark is the light. You are ready! XO

Moving Toward the Beaver Moon

Caldwell Higgins

Last month’s Hunter’s Moon moved us towards equanimity as a means of achieving our aims. In order to accomplish our goals, we learned to take a strategic view, leave behind damaging patterns, and cultivate an attitude of patience.

This month’s Beaver’s Moon in Taurus peaks on November 12, 8:34 AM EST. It is a time when Beavers begin to take shelter for the winter, having stored up ample supplies. It was also a time for trapping beavers for their fur. The beaver signifies industriousness, patience, diligence, teamwork, family, and home. These are also themes that resonate with the earthy qualities of Taurus.

What defines this month’s transition from the Hunter’s Moon to the Beaver Moon?

Beaver Moon Divination

The Fool takes lasts month’s direction to it’s next logical conclusion. Last month we were guided towards patience and equanimity in service of further alignment with our purpose and the flow of our unique life’s path. The Fool signifies the unlimited potential of being in that flow and asks us to commit to that faith. The Fool encourages us to let go of self-doubt and to take advantage of new beginnings in a spirit of play, experimentation, and creativity.

What are we leaving behind?

The Chariot reversed behaves almost like Mercury Retrograde in that it is a stalled or backward movement. It suggests a time of re-evaluation and possibly external challenges. However, it also suggests a time of inner work or preparatory work. This work means self-discipline and the alignment of our values with our body, mind, and spirit through activities like meditation and visualization. It requires focusing on what is within our control and relinquishing control or asking for help when needed. With this work behind us, we can embrace the energy of new beginnings signified by the Fool.

Queen of the Night by Marjorie Miller

What are we moving towards?

The Judgement card is calling you to rise up and embrace a higher level of consciousness for the service of your Highest Good. Let go of your old self and step into this newest version of who you really are. Another word for Judgement is discernment. In Christianity, it may have several meanings. Discernment can describe the process of determining God’s desire in a situation or for one’s life or identifying the true nature of a thing. It can also describe the interior search for an answer to the question of one’s vocation.

The Judgement card often indicates that you need to make a life-changing decision. Combining values, using both the head and heart and taking sufficient time when making decision are the main steps for a successful discernment process. Tune in to your Higher Self, trust your judgement and know you are on the right path. If you still need clarity on the situation, look to your past and life lessons to guide you.

The Judgement card suggests we are close to reaching a milestone in a journey. A unified vision and narrative of purpose are beginning to crystallize. There has been deep healing and an ability to treat the past with equanimity and grace. This letting go is a characteristic of the discernment moving forward. Our vision and self worth will no longer be clouded by the grief and trauma of the past.

Discernment is the evolution of this year’s process that moved from Solidarity to Boundaries to Kindred Spirits and finally here. What we once considered pain we now know to honor as a boundary and what we once interpreted as rejection we now view as our own discernment. We no longer focus on what another’s disposition towards us may be, but instead on the feelings in our own body and on our own clear boundaries. All of these themes moved us towards a profound integrity and self-worthiness that moves us to the quick release of those things and those people that would compromise us.

Moving Toward the Hunter’s Moon

Last month, we reaped the fruits of the year’s labor. We were graced with new awareness from another year of experience. We learned to identify and honor our boundaries and in so doing, we refined our intimate contacts no longer distracted by diversions and acquaintances, but rather focused on kindred spirits. We now are choosing to spend time with those people who share our values and help to inspire and energize our personal path towards alignment and our highest good.

What defines this month’s transition from the Harvest Moon to the Hunter’s Moon?

The Seven of Pentacles governs this movement from last month’s moon toward this month’s Hunter’s moon in Aries on October 13th. This card is the perfect way to receive last’s month’s harvest. It is about sitting back to take in the big picture. It reminds us to assess the harvest. What should we consume? What should we discard? What should we invest? What should we save? This card reminds us to take a long term view and in so doing, we should be strategic about where to invest our energy going forward. We have to honor our boundaries not just in relationships, but in all work. Where are we encountering discomfort? How can we work more efficiently to ensure we continue moving in an intentional direction.

What are we leaving behind?

The reversed Three of Swords directs us to let go of negative thought patterns that keep us from moving out of harmful cycles of behavior and relationships. We are called to become aware of the negative thoughts we inflict upon ourselves so that we can remove, or soften their influence as we invest energy going forward. In order to honor the boundaries we encounter, we must let go of the negative thoughts that would have us give way to activities or people that don’t serve that big picture view we’ve seen for ourselves. In order to best invest our energy, we need discernment. Discernment is only clouded when we self-sabotage through unconscious, negative self-talk. Sometimes this card indicates an external negativity, grief, or sadness. This card calls us to let that go as well. Letting go can be a complicated process, but likely involves shifting the narratives that keep that pain alive and trading them for more complex versions where we can bring peace to ourselves and forgiveness to others.

What are we moving towards?

Temperance is the card of equanimity. It tells us not to push or pull, but simply to be in the flow of our own lives by choosing faith in our path and purpose. It asks us to use patience and calm as our tools for remaining steadfast on the path we have seen for ourselves. Taking the long view requires commitment and this card shows us what will enable us to make that commitment. It encourages us to seek peace and moderation as we take our time to reach the goals and implement the vision we are now defining.

The Hunter knows what he is after and is defined by the focused act of going after that object. He is methodical and strategic. This full moon falls in the sign of Aries, bringing exuberance and energy to our purposeful work.

Moving Towards the Harvest Moon

This year’s Harvest Moon falls in Pisces on September 14th. It is apropos that both the Harvest and the sign of Pisces mark a culmination, a reaping and a fulfillment.

The Bay Of Naples At Moonlit Night Vesuvius by Aivazovsky Ivan

What defines this month’s transition from the Sturgeon Moon to the Harvest Moon?

All full moons mark a culmination revealing what to let go of and what to moves towards. Last month, we were called to honor our boundaries. This new language of “honor” allowed a shift of perspective, a gentler, less arbitrary application of our values enabled by a true listening. This enabled us to move into a period of kindred spirits. Kindred spirits, unlike simple friendships, are not for our diversion or entertainment. Kindred spirits suggest the mutualism of highest goods because the ground for unity is shared values and shared, potentially co-created, narratives.

The Knight of Cups signifies the essence of the movement from boundaries and kindred spirits into the season of the harvest. This card marks this transition with the energy of intuition, emotion, imagination, a feminine energy. It even goes so far as suggesting a “calling.” In building upon the notion of kindred spirits, this calling has features of humanitarianism, altruism, compassion, and beauty. These ideas call on the notion of solidarity or shared vision for their full manifestation.

The energy of this card is one of peace, or more specifically the drive towards peace, which is a state that reverberates from the individual to the communal and vice versa. Much like the astrological evolution from Aries to Pisces, it is the individual’s evolution into the universal. This evolution does not leave behind the full incorporation of the body, just as Pisces is often associated with the Christ figure, this evolution depends on the humanity still present. Pisces also signifies death, arguably the essence of humanity.

What are we leaving behind?

It is interesting that last month we were moving away from patriarchal values and this month we moved into the feminine energy of the Knight of Cups. (This feminine energy also highlights communal insight, tapping into the energy of the whole as opposed to the energy of the individual. It is an energy that rejects the desires of the ego in favor of the collective; it recognizes the interconnection between personal peace and communal peace.)

The reversed World card signifies either personal closure and the completion of a goal or project, or that such closure or completion is near. This personal ending is necessary for spiritual evolution. The World is a card about incarnate cycles and calls us to look on what we’ve learned. This ties directly back to the harvest. In it’s reversed state, the World card is about taking stock of what the phase has yielded with the perspective of where you’ve come from. Just like Pisces is the evolution from Aries through the other astrological signs, the World reversed can only be fulfillment or closure through a full spectrum of experience.

What are we moving towards?

Harvest represents an awareness gleaned from a year of experience. This awareness doesn’t need to be characterized as positive or negative, it is simply, as it is. This harvest, or awareness, point in the cycle of moons allows us to come up against limiting patterns and therefore enables the release of those behaviors and beliefs that no longer serve us. This card is the light at the end of the tunnel.

Moving Towards the Sturgeon Moon

Every month I research the moon. I keep expecting to “arrive” at some point, but the overall message is one of transition. Although we think of the Full Moon as a state of being, it is just part of all movement. Despite this, I was a bit frustrated when I drew the Six of Swords this month to describe the movement to the Sturgeon Moon on August 15th. It is the card of transition, of moving away from patterns, behaviors, and people that no longer serve our best interest. The transition signified by this card is more than just simple change, it often rises to the status of a rite of passage. It marks the end of a chapter, even a death, and the beginning of something new. Isn’t this in some way, the nature of all full moons?

What are we leaving behind this month?

We are leaving behind father figures and masculine authority: The Emperor. We are leaving behind patriarchy and it’s corresponding values. The patriarchy is a system of values more than it is men in power. The Emperor represents status, power, and recognition. These are all signposts of the Ego. These values exist internally to varying degrees in each of us, which enables them to manifest in larger cultural and political spheres.

These values often play out in the most intimate arenas of our lives: our relationships. The appearance of this card calls on us to examine they ways that patriarchal values operate in our relationships with other people.

What are we moving towards?

The reversed King of Cups suggests it’s not an easy road ahead. It is time to move towards balance in the emotions and unconscious. It is time to heal these elements in ourselves in order to move into a new system of values. This healing requires honoring of one’s boundaries. Boundaries reveal themselves in the form of turbulent emotion. When we lose our equilibrium or the ability to be our best selves in any given situation or relationship, that is a gift from our unconscious. It is the gift of revelation: here is a boundary. Honor it. This is not something that must be created, willed, or justified to others. Honoring boundaries is a path to spiritual health. This is the path to honoring the others’ boundaries and to regaining emotional equilibrium.

The reversed King of Cups warns us against repressing emotions and against withdrawal. It also warns agains abusive influences. Perhaps these are people who are vindictive, or who leave you with self-doubt or emotional instability. This card paves the way forward by releasing from these kinds of controlling influences. The answer is boundaries.

Kindred Spirits

Last month’s Thunder Moon introduced the notion of boundaries as a refinement of solidarity (the concept from January’s corresponding full Wolf Moon.) This month pushes forward with this movement, replacing the idea of simple friendship in favor of the kindred spirit. The difference between the friend and the kindred spirit is one of values. Values is what creates unity in solidarity. When two are bound in relation because of their faith and love for a third thing. That third thing must be value, a structure, a God. (Read more on limits, boundaries, and commitments from Wendell Berry. This interview came out for last month’s Thunder moon, as part of the confluence of energy around these concepts.)