New moons are the start of the lunar cycle. They represent the pure potential we hold inside of ourselves. A time to imagine, and reimagine, our inner and outer worlds. This new moon is in Sagittarius – wild, questing and free – and is the very last new moon of 2023. This moon feels like a homecoming and serves as a beautiful counterpoint – a salve – to the (slightly exhausting) deep-diving, underworld energy of Scorpio season and the analytical, hyper-focused Gemini energy of the last full moon. It is a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come; all we have achieved and how we have changed.
Read MoreFull moons are the culmination of the lunar cycle and offer us the opportunity to reflect and release. This is the last full moon before the solstice and offers us an opportunity for deep assessment before we move further into the darkness of the winter.
Read MoreThe new moon is the first phase of the lunar cycle, when the sun and earth are on opposite sides of the moon. This dynamic creates a shadow on the earth-facing side of the moon. This first, dark phase represents potent potential and what is yet unwritten. New moons – or dark moons – are a powerful time to connect deeply with ourselves and set intentions for what we want to call into our lives. They also represent what we cannot see; what is hidden. This new moon is in Scorpio; a sign that is all about (the) shadow, mystery and the hidden.
Read MoreEclipses are part of larger cosmic rhythm and, in this sense, are a staple part of our lives. They are nothing to fear, even though they can feel energetically charged and possibly overwhelming. Eclipses are a huge celestial check in point. And lunar eclipses (in particular) are a time for closure, completion and culmination.
Read MoreEclipses are all about out of the ordinary alignment and can only occur when the moon is perfectly lined-up to intersect the ‘ecliptic’: the sun’s path through our daytime sky and the plane of earth’s orbit of the sun. The reason eclipses don't happen every month is because the moon's orbit is tilted; it is 5º relative to the earth's orbit around the sun. This means that most of the time, the moon passes above or below the earth's shadow and the sun and does not cross the ecliptic plane.
Read MoreAries (I am!) is a cardinal fire sign ruled by the warrior god Mars. Masculine and yang (in a Traditional Chinese Medicine framework) this Arian/Martian energy is initiatory, and quest orientated. It not only wants us to start something; it wants us to complete it. Even if this involves endurance. This moon is a fiery call to action.
Read MoreVirgo is a mutable earth sign. Supremely grounded and in tune, this very feminine energy (Virgo is the only zodiac sign represented by a female archetype) speaks to our ancestral connection to the patterns, pulses and rhythms of the earth and how that relationship affects the shape and structure of our lives. It is very much to do with our earthly experience and how we show up day to day.
Read MoreThis full blue supermoon in Pisces is a rare convergence of three distinct lunar phenomena. Firstly, it is a supermoon which, as the name suggests, means that the moon will appear bigger and brighter to us on earth. A supermoon occurs near when the moon is closest to the earth (perigee). This supermoon will also be the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year (a superlative on a superlative). This is also a blue moon: the second full moon in a calendar month. However, this isn’t just the second full moon; it is also the second supermoon of the month. A super-super blue moon. Thirdly, Saturn – just a few days from being its closest and brightest of the year to us – will dance with the moon. The ringed planet will be at around 5 degrees of the moon, on its upper right, and will appear to move clockwise around it as the night progresses.
Read MoreA new moon is the first phase of the lunar cycle. A delicious new beginning that holds the promise of what is yet to come. Although invisible to the eye, the energy of a new moon is extremely potent. It is the ideal time to plant seeds and set intentions for what we want to bring into our lives. This is because during a new moon, both sun and moon inhabit the same zodiac sign, bringing our inner (moon) and outer (sun) worlds into alignment.
Read MoreA supermoon is a new or full moon that is at its closest orbital point to the earth. The moon travels in an elliptical path around our planet. In astronomical terms, this is described as an ‘eccentricity’: a measure of the amount the orbit deviates from a perfect circle. This closeness means that the usual effects of the moon are amplified: a bigger, brighter moon; heightened gravitational force – a force that causes much higher tides – and increased seismic activity. As the moon represents our internal world and inner landscape, we will experience these augmented forces as increased emotional and spiritual sensitivity.
Read MoreThis new moon is in the cardinal water sign of Cancer: the sign it rules. It is powerfully at home here. Whenever we have a new or full moon in Cancer, home, in a multidimensional sense, is the key theme. Home is not just our physical dwelling or the town we are from (a space and a place), it is also a feeling, practices, and an active state of state of being in the world. We have all probably experienced moments of feeling very at home, and very un-at home, in the world. Cancerian energy is all about tapping into this sense of home.
Read MoreThis full moon is in Capricorn, opposing the sun in Cancer, and is all about integration. Capricorn, represented by the mythical sea goat, possesses a unique and profound connection to the depths of understanding. With its fish tail and goat body, the sea goat symbolises a transformative journey from one state to another; a symbolism that holds the key to comprehending Capricorn's essence. While Capricorn is associated with the element of earth, the sea goat's representation encompasses both water and earth, signifying the emergence of profound emotional and material realms.
Read MoreThis new moon in Gemini, characterised by the air sign’s intellectual agility and curiosity, is an active and imaginative kind of energy. On the one hand, this is about logical reasoning and analysis. But it is also very much about daydreaming and fantasy, and the relationship these creative processes have with our external realities. When we daydream, the mind has the freedom to wander and create its own narratives, unbound by external constraints or immediate reality. This imaginative function taps into the realms of fantasy, creativity, and visualisation; enabling us to mentally construct and explore scenarios that go far beyond the confines of our current lived reality.
Read MoreSagittarius – a mutable fire sign represented by the centaur – rules the ninth house of the zodiac, and is often referred to as the house of philosophy and higher learning. There is a definitive quest energy here for the profound and meaningful. Sagittarius is the ultimate explorer; a nomad, journeying towards universal truth and ruled by expansive Jupiter (in both ancient and modern astrology). It is not so much concerned with ego but with the larger cosmic picture. There is something almost psychedelic about Sag energy; a desire to release oneself from the confines of an individuated self and melt into the collective.
Read MoreThe new moon is often referred to as the dark moon. A blank canvas of blackness onto which we paint our intentions, dreams and desires. This new moon in Taurus is a little different. For the days preceding and following it, we will be able to see “Da Vincis’s glow” or “earthshine” at its most intense. Earthshine is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the phase of the new moon when sunlight reflects off the earth's surface and illuminates the dark portion of the moon. Although Leonardo da Vinci didn’t discover earthshine, he was the first to decode its cause; providing one of the earliest recorded descriptions of earthshine in his notebooks.
Read MoreThe penumbral shadow is much fainter than the umbra - the innermost, dark, centre portion of the earth's shadow - so the effects of this type of eclipse are less obvious. There is a subtle but profound mystery to a penumbral eclipse, both visually and energetically. This is going to be potent and tender. Potent in terms of the opportunity it is giving us to cleanse (Scorpio is a fixed water sign) and tender in terms of how it could make us feel, and how we should treat ourselves during this time (with tenderness).
Read MoreEclipses are all about out of the ordinary alignment and can only occur when the moon is perfectly lined-up to intersect the ‘ecliptic’: the sun’s path through our daytime sky and the plane of earth’s orbit of the sun. The reason eclipses don't happen every month is because the moon's orbit is tilted; it is 5º relative to the earth's orbit around the sun. This means that most of the time, the moon passes above or below the earth's shadow and the sun and does not cross the ecliptic plane. The alignment necessary for an eclipse only happens during a narrow window of time, when the moon is close enough to one of its nodes (astronomical nodes are the two points in the moon's orbit where it crosses the ecliptic plan) and it is either a new moon or a full moon. This means that, for a solar eclipse to occur, the moon must be at the right position relative to the sun and the earth, and for a lunar eclipse to occur, the moon must be at the right position relative to the earth and the sun.
Read MoreThe Pink Moon is named after pink phlox wildflowers, which bloom around the time of April’s full moon in North America, in the early spring. Other Native North American names for this moon are the Breaking Ice Moon and The Moon of the Red Grass Appearing. These names refer to the spring thaw and the sprouting of new growth that happens at this time of year. The winter is over and new life – represented by the return of vibrant colours – is here.
Read MoreOur world is made up of different layers of multiform rhythms and pulses. From our heartbeat to sunrise and sunset to the shifting seasons, our lives on this planet depend on these temporal sequences. Our very existence is entwined within them. The cycle of the moon – starting with the new moon and culminating in the full – has always had significance for us. Many spiritual traditions and faiths use the lunisolar calendar, which measures time according to the phase of the moon and the time of the solar year. And, in terms of agriculture, biodynamic farming considers lunar and astrological influences on soil and plant development.
Read MoreFull moons are the climax of the lunar cycle. During a full moon we see the sun’s illumination of the entire day side of the moon. And on earth, we experience a peak moment of light and power. Our oceans swell and recede with more variation during the full and new moon – when the earth, moon, and sun are lined up or, put another way, when sun and moon are aligned on opposite sides of the earth – because lunar and solar tides reinforce each other (the sun's gravitational gradient across the earth is significant but less so than the moon’s). In astrology, we express this interaction between the sun and moon as an opposition (these celestial bodies oppose each other from either side of the earth). This is why a full moon is always in the opposite sign from the sun.
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