Your Daily Influences
April 22nd, 2016

The Empress Reversed
This card represents infertility, instability and the loss of material possessions.

Jera
Jera denotes positive, recurring cycles, fertility and a time to harvest rewards from your hard work.

The Menat
You will find focusing on this aspect difficult, because truths will be obscured by dreaminess and illusion. You will not accomplish much here in the next several weeks, and therefore should focuss your attention elsewhere

Your Daily Influences represent events and challenges the current day will present for you. They may represent opportunities you should be ready to seize. Or they may forewarn you of problems you may be able to avoid or lessen. Generally it is best to use them as tips to help you manage your day and nothing more.

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

The Tree

The Tree symbolizes spiritual health and growth. The healthy tree is rooted in a rich, nurturing medium, has a strong trunk from which leaf laden branches fan out to capture the sun’s energy. The Tree represents a healthy spirit entrenched in experience and strengthened by wisdom. It is a spirit that is happy with itself, but continues reaching to become even wiser, more complete, happier, stronger. While The Tree represents a strong and independent spirit, it is also a life-force that owes much of its strength and growth to being surrounded by other healthy spirits.

As a daily card, The Tree denotes a time when your spiritual self is especially powerful and open for further growth. Now is a time for you to seek out streams of wisdom and knowledge that you can not only draw from but contribute to as well. Don’t disregard sources that seem improbable, as they often produce the most profound revelations and spiritual expansion.

Daily Witches Rune

The Birds

Keywords: Unexpected news, change.

Meanings: The Birds Rune means some unexpected news that may alter your life completely, especially if this is the leading rune. Generally, the news will lead to a positive change but pay close attention to the nearest runes to determine its nature. It can also mean news of friends or family that you haven’t had contact with in quite a while. Letters and documents should be watched for as they may well bring happiness.

Get A Jump on Tomorrow….

Your Daily Horoscopes for Saturday, April 23rd

Aries

Flowing, easy energy is with you on a social level today, dear Aries. You could be feeling quite lucky these days. It may not be reliable luck so don’t count your chickens before they hatch or completely throw caution to the wind, but do enjoy more spontaneity than usual now. Keep a positive frame of mind, but also peace of mind by using common sense as well as drawing upon your intuition. Physical outlets for some of the deep desires for freedom and excitement you are experiencing now can be especially rewarding. Activities that allow you more creative, spontaneous, and freeform expression can help you to channel the tremendous creative energy you are experiencing in constructive ways.

Taurus

Forward-looking and positive energy is with you today, dear Taurus, even if you’re looking to the past more than usual these days. In fact, you may be feeling quite optimistic about putting something burdensome behind you. You could be receiving prophetic glimpses into your future through your dreams, gut feelings, or via ideas you are picking up from the atmosphere and people around you. Deep inner changes are brewing, and today you may not know exactly what they are, but you are definitely feeling that change is necessary. Love feelings are intense and stimulating. You might enjoy performing a generous act behind the scenes or anonymously today, or find joy in a secret.

Gemini

Today, opportunities for cooperation, loving and personal gestures, and shared happiness emerge, dear Gemini. You can feel especially hopeful about friendships and your future in general. Others might extend kindnesses to you now, and some of you can enjoy new or renewed friendships. The warmth you generate today is likely to be a benefit to you right now and long into the future – little gestures have impact. You feel particularly friendly and sociable, but you are also highly motivated to work and produce. Helping out a friend or acquaintance can give you a real boost now. A person or group association that is more creative, visionary, unusual, or unconventional can figure strongly in your life.

Cancer

New insights into your career or life path are coming now, dear Cancer, and it’s important to listen not only to what your intuition is telling you, but also to what seems to be coming from out of the blue – synchronicity and other chance events. You are feeling especially in sync right now as things seem to be falling into place, even if there is no overt plan. Your approach is visionary, original, and confident right now. You might benefit from word of mouth or positive word on what you’re doing. You can also be feeling quite optimistic about your career or social standing today, and you may find that a progressive and innovative approach is rewarded most right now.

Leo

It’s an excellent day for feeling strong, motivated, and optimistic for the future, dear Leo. Something can come out of left field now that boosts your spirits, and this can be as simple as a compliment received. Your ability to react positively to circumstances gives your personality an especially lively quality today. The desire to explore the world beyond your usual daily routines is strong, and you could be enjoying dreams of, or opportunities for, travel and new learning experiences. You can be meeting people who truly contribute to your vision, and you quickly lose interest in any lifeless, dry interactions that might occur now. Your powers of attraction are good. Freedom of movement is especially important to you right now, as any feeling of being tied to a particular place or routine can leave you feeling stifled.

Virgo

You have a generous and expansive approach to the world today, dear Virgo. Love relationships can be exciting, or self-discovery profound. There may be a twist of sorts – an enjoyable surprise – that keeps you on your toes, or you are discovering or rediscovering desires and interests. Insight into your finances or something in your intimate, inner life can come now. This is a period of freeing yourself from compulsive behavior that has been holding you back. You might experience a moment of truth, as well as motivation to kick a bad habit and to live a freer, more joyful life as a result. This evening, there can be a tendency to make more of a disagreement than necessary. Otherwise, there is forward-looking energy that stimulates a strong desire to innovate and make changes and improvements to your life.

Libra

You stand to gain tremendous insight into your close partnerships or into your relationship needs today and tomorrow, dear Libra, as your ruler, loving Venus, awakener Uranus, and growth-oriented Jupiter align in declination. Changes in relationships in recent times seem to have been thrust upon you, as if you had no say in the matter. However, you might come to an enlightening realization now that the changes were something that you needed in order to grow. Freeing yourself from the role of passive bystander in your own life is what this is all about, and it’s empowering indeed. You are embracing new people or new ways of interacting with others. You are expressing real confidence and you have a strong desire to move forward.

Scorpio

Adapting to a changeable working environments or conditions can be stressful at times, dear Scorpio, but also more rewarding when you realize you can meet the challenges, and especially if it prompts new, improved, and innovative approaches. You are learning new skills that will benefit you for years to come. Perhaps more importantly, you are recognizing your ability to adapt while maintaining your own personal style. Today is a creative one in which you welcome spontaneous expression and feel confident enough to truly enjoy yourself without feeling the weight of worldly responsibilities. Good humor can be healing.

Sagittarius

Today’s energies are exciting, dear Sagittarius. A moment of truth in a love relationship or about your relationship needs can occur now. A changing attitude towards love can emerge. This is a time of creative inspiration, unusual events that alter your thought patterns, and fruitful, exciting connections. You are likely to be seen in an especially positive light right now. As the center of attention today, you may be tempted to turn up the charm, but aim instead for sincerity – it will be appreciated most! You don’t need to strain right now, just relax and be yourself. The Moon in your privacy sector all day suggests some need for withdrawal, time alone, and reflection.

Capricorn

There can be some excitement in the air today, dear Capricorn, and a real sense that you can make positive changes and improvements to your life. It’s a potentially strong day for warmth with family and close loved ones. Changes occurring in your life in recent years may have been dizzying at times, as you may have felt that you were not quite ready for them. However, you may be recognizing that you have been freeing yourself from past conditioning, automatic behaviors that have not served you well, and relationships that were unhealthy. You are looking forward now and feeling positive about your “new” life. A meeting with a friend today can be inspiring, although some misunderstandings are possible if we are not seeing the intention behind the words communicated.

Aquarius

There is good energy for discovery and optimism today, dear Aquarius. You can enjoy wonderful conversations of hear something now that truly benefits you and boosts your understanding. You are exposed to ideas that open new worlds for you. There can be an epiphany of sorts, or you might find a solution to a problem that has previously left you stumped. You might surprise yourself by opening up and sharing something that you have kept to yourself in the past. Your appeal is strong, particularly when it comes to your optimism, perspective, humor, and moral character. There can be new insights and developments in learning areas, studies, in your neighborhood or with siblings, or in activity surrounding communication. You might read something that inspires you to change your learning focus, to write about a topic you hadn’t considered before, or through channels that you have never tried, for example.

Pisces

The more positive energy you radiate, the more opportunities open up today, dear Pisces, with Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus in strong aspect. There is more willingness to experience life to its fullest, and you are ready to make positive changes and improvements. You attract the right people and the right resources, and encounters with others are more likely to work to your advantage. Opportunities to make more money could emerge now. There could be a cool find or a happy purchase/gift. Positive energy for making money or business dealings can be with you, and the more innovative the method the better at the moment. Your enterprising spirit is strong this week.

If You Were Born Today, April 22

You are a perfectionist with an unusual perspective on the world. Both imaginative and conservative,  you have a knack for bringing both worlds to whatever you do. While you are charming and witty, you can be impatient with others when they are not following quickly enough or they are otherwise in your way!

Famous people born today: Jack Nicholson, Glen Campbell, Peter Frampton, Amber Heard, Francis Capra, Aaron Spelling.

Your Birthday Year Forecast

A Full Moon in your Solar Return chart marks this as a year of great personal significance, when major new beginnings, endings, and activities occur. This period is the culmination of a stage of personal growth and development. Events occurring this year may bring various developments in your emotional, psychological, or spiritual life over the past several years to a head. Relationships are especially important. There can be increased activity in your professional and public life, causing a conflict with your domestic and personal goals. There is little moderation in your life this year. Connections are made or ended; or your job focus may change as one focus fades to make way for a new direction. The year ahead is certain to be a very busy, dynamic, and significant period in your life.

This is an excellent year in which to advance projects revolving around communications – writing, speaking, selling, and so forth. Your reputation may be enhanced through word of mouth. Making new contacts through learning and mental pursuits figures strongly as well.

This is an excellent period for opening up communications with others, as you are more sensitive than usual and more willing to listen. Getting your point across is easier, as it’s not only about what specific words you choose to communicate, you intuitively express the meaning and intention behind the words. You can effectively use words to soothe, heal, and teach this year. You are also especially open to new ways of looking at problems, thus it’s considerably easier to find solutions. You may be gaining respect for your ideas and intelligence.

There may be a project, idea, or person that demands much of your attention or occupies much of your thoughts. It’s a strong time for any project or studies that require concentrated effort. You are especially resourceful.

You can be especially persuasive and convincing in your communications, whether written or oral, and your perceptions are especially acute. You are inclined to do a lot of “digging”, researching, analyzing, investigating, and getting to the bottom of things. Increased psychological awareness of yourself and others can benefit you greatly, and employing strategy in your decision making is easier than usual this year. Relationships with younger people may be especially rewarding and meaningful.

This is a good year, generally speaking, for motivation levels regarding work or projects and personal interests. There can be opportunities to pursue absorbing topics and projects of interest. More joy and meaning can be found in your work or obligations.

However, you need to be aware of a tendency to be attracted to impractical ventures at times this year. As well, your energy can vary greatly from one period to the next, so take advantage of the “high” periods in order to offset the possible loss in productivity during the low-energy stages.

You may be dealing with some power struggles in your relationships or regarding possessions and finances. Persistence will pay off in the end, and the need to remove yourself from overly stressful situations can become obvious. Changes in your love life and/or financial state are likely this year with Venus conjunct Uranus in your Solar Return chart. It may be that you experience sudden changes or breakups with a friend or lover. However, the chance of a sudden new friendship is just as likely.

This is a potentially excellent year for communications, learning, and connecting. You may be making good contacts with others, particularly through shared interests or schooling. Positive plans and lifestyle changes can be made at this time in your life. There will be times when you battle with varying energy levels, so take advantage of the periods of high motivation. There can be a need to reorganize finances.

2016 is a Number Eight year for you. Ruled by Saturn. This is a year of power and accomplishment. Actively seeking to expand, taking educated risks, and moving forward are highlighted. This is a year of opportunity, particularly in the material and business world, and opportunities need to be seized. It’s generally not a year to find a new love partner, simply because the focus is on the material world and your place in the world. This is a problem-solving year in which you can expect real, tangible results. Advice – take action, plan ahead, seize opportunities.

2017 will be a Number Nine year for you. Ruled by Mars. This is a year of completion and transition. It is a time when we need to let go of things that no longer serve their purpose, and hold on to things that have a future. It is a time of cleaning out dead wood, not necessarily for new beginnings. It can be a time when a burden has been taken off your shoulders, and it can be a year of giving of yourself. Advice – let go of things that are holding you back, give of yourself and express your sympathetic, compassionate side.

Courtesy of Cafe Astrology

Your Daily Horoscopes for Friday, April 22nd

Aries

The Full Moon that occurs early into the day can stimulate new thinking or activity about financial, sharing, and ownership matters for you, dear Aries. It can also stir up buried desires and emotions. With Venus and Uranus in alignment in your sign today as well, this can be a powerful day for self-discovery. Your appetite today is for more than the usual fare, and a desire for change can bring interesting circumstances into your life. You’re likely to feel fresh and invigorated, and love or financial matters can be surprising now. Your personal appeal is strong, particularly when it comes to matters of the heart. Somebody is thinking of you, wanting you back, or back on your side. You are excitable today, and perhaps a little impatient, particularly with rules or impositions. Limitations and restrictions are not tolerated, but you’re charming about it.

Taurus

Relationship needs are awakened today with a Full Moon occurring in your partnership sector early into the day, dear Taurus. Epiphanies about a relationship or your own feelings can lead to important changes. This is a time for getting real about a relationship, and can mark a turning point. Your ruler, Venus, aligns with Uranus today, which reinforces a theme of awakening. The tendency today is to talk easily and naturally about matters that previously were hidden or too private to discuss. Your sensitivity to the more hidden elements of any given situation is strong now. You might experience some strange coincidences or serendipity today – your intuition is trying to tell you something. You might uncover something that has been missing, lost, or hidden; or delight in a sudden, private attraction. There is a strong desire to break the routine underneath the surface. You are likely to stir the pot now, and the results can be truly interesting. You might feel inspired and motivated by a shared secret or special moment. Past love can resurface quite suddenly.

Gemini

The Full Moon early into the day awakens buried emotions from deep within, dear Gemini. As the day advances, a Venus-Uranus alignment also serves to awaken your senses, but the energy is a little more detached and less focused. There can be easy conversations and a spirit of openness that lifts your spirits. Debates or differences in opinion can be enjoyed more fully this way. Today is also strong for easy and pleasing relations with friends and lovers. You are attracting others through your originality, your ideas, and your intelligence. Friendships can bring surprises today, or could see a friend in an entirely different light, which can be disruptive or exciting (or possibly a little of both). This can be an excellent day for making connections and for unusual or unexpected experiences with current and past friends. You are less interested in conservative or conventional friendships now, and very eager to reach out into new social “territory”.

Cancer

Today’s Full Moon can illuminate matters revolving around a romantic affair, creative project, or children, dear Cancer. There could be some tests involved, but the path is being cleared for more honesty and respect in the future. Another stimulating influence occurs today on social levels. Authority figures or parents might hold you in better favor right now. Exciting experiences on the job or a sudden change in your reputation can occur for some of you. Love may be easier to attract through your professional connections, and a strong element of surprise can be in play. Your thinking is more creative than usual today as your perspective is new and fresh. There can be a sudden impulse to contact someone, or you can be the recipient of surprising contact. Be sure to break the routine even just a little in order to make the most of the day. Don’t be afraid to show your more original qualities.

Leo

The Full Moon that occurs early into the day serves to bring buried feelings to the surface or new information to light, dear Leo, and these can ultimately clear the way towards important improvements in your life, particularly related to living conditions, family, and home. A Venus-Uranus alignment tends to open up and facilitate self-expression, particularly as it is in harmony with your sign. There is good energy for social events and developing strong rapport with others. Put yourself out there, ask for what you want, and enjoy yourself today. You more readily take a few “risks” emotionally, and the rewards are good. You have been discovering your own unique set of truths and beliefs recently, and today you’re especially eager to share them. You can feel very hopeful about the future now. You might have a mind-opening experience as you are exposed to unusual and different perspectives. You attract unusual people to you. Communication defines your friendships right now, and lack of it will be glaring, so stay connected with those who matter.

Virgo

There can be an epiphany regarding your relationships now, dear Virgo, and you are particularly interested in sharing, teaching, and learning. There is some excitement in the air as you can have a sense of awakening to ideas and feelings, not only because a Full Moon occurs early today in passionate Scorpio, but also due to a Venus-Uranus alignment in your intimacy sector. You might experience very unusual desires and attractions today, whether it involves people, objects, or situations. You can be especially intrigued with breaking taboos or pushing your boundaries, even if there is some discomfort involved at first. Your intimate life can heat up quickly right now. You might address an issue with someone that is usually tricky to discuss with good chances of success and possibly a breakthrough moment. You are inclined to surprise others and you feel exceptionally open and generous. You are awakening to buried needs and desires, which can be eye-opening.

Libra

Heightened emotions surrounding money and possessions, as well as personal values and talents, can  be a theme today with a Full Moonoccurring in your solar second house, dear Libra. There can be an important revelation about money or business, but there might instead be a situation in which you need to stand up for your values and your worth. Venus, your ruler, aligns with Uranus, the awakener, in your partnership sector today, and it can be a strong day for connecting with others, and especially on one-to-one levels and romantically as well. A feeling of camaraderie with a special someone can lift your spirits and make you feel that you’re moving forward. Even so, inner restlessness can stimulate you to push boundaries. If you are unhappy with some aspect of your life, work on making it better. You may be more daring today than usual, and you attract others who bring change into your life. Personal magnetism is strong today, and a sudden attraction can occur now as well. You are especially cooperative and open with a partner.

Scorpio

A Full Moon occurs in your sign early today, dear Scorpio, and you might have an important revelation or an important culmination or turning point can occur now. You are awakening to feelings that you may have ignored or brushed aside. As well, a Venus-Uranus alignment that occurs today is also an influence that has the effect of opening our eyes. Unexpected developments at or with work can figure strongly. You can have powerful intuition regarding work methods, as well as health matters, and possibly even breakthroughs. An unusual meeting or friendship can occur today, particularly through daily routines, work, or the pursuit of health goals. A partner might also surprise you. Romantically, there can be a subtle feeling of moving forward and growing, as well as surprises and possible a sense of turning a corner. Originality is favored and valued right now.

Sagittarius

The Full Moon early today awakens a need to attend to your inner world and to get extra time for rest and reflection, dear Sagittarius, and this goes double with Mars retrograde in your sign. A secret may be brought to light. A Venus-Uranus alignment occurring today, however, suggests that you don’t hide your light away in the process, as others are appreciating your progressive, original qualities more than usual. This influence further emphasizes the discovery of desires that have been buried or neglected. Romantic excitement is very possible today. Plans seem to change at the very last minute, allowing for experiences that are more spontaneous, freeform, and inspirational. You can be eager to start a new creative project, or possibly a new romantic affair or experience. There is good energy for activities revolving around children, creative projects, and romance.

Capricorn

The energy of this morning’s Full Moon is best harnessed and channeled into goal-setting, dear Capricorn, as you may be awakened to your needs to follow special dreams and causes. Children, love affairs, group associations, and friends are areas of life that are also in strong focus. A Venus-Uranus alignment in your sector of roots, home, and family today can point to sudden desires to make spirited changes and improvements in your personal life. You may be redecorating or opening up to loved ones and sharing ideas, activities, and excitement. Alternatives can be introduced now that lead you to rethink old problems and concerns, particularly regarding living arrangements or conditions and close relationships with family and loved ones. Love can bring surprises today. Buried feelings are awakened.

Aquarius

You are awakening to exciting feelings today, dear Aquarius, not only with aFull Moon in passionate Scorpio occurring early into the day, but also an alignment of Uranus, your ruler, with Venus, which stimulates unusual, exciting desires and a need for making progressive changes. You want to move forward, and the day’s energies help you out. The need to put your past behind you is strong so that you can make necessary changes in both your personal and professional lives. A project can come to fruition, or a decision may need to be made. You are enthusiastic about ideas, learning, and making connections. Your personal magnetism is especially strong today. There is a nice feeling of camaraderie around you, and you feel more at ease expressing both your ideas and feelings.You are magnetizing good things to you quite naturally now, and short trips, errands, and learning pursuits can lead to pleasant surprises. You can take special pleasure in expressing your more unorthodox ideas, and fortunately, others are listening.

Pisces

The Full Moon early today continues to stimulate much mental energy and emotional excitement for you, dear Pisces. This is a time for entertaining your more adventurous side and for looking for different ways to express yourself and connect with a higher purpose. With Venus and Uranus coming together in your resources sector today as well, your more unusual and exotic tastes and desires emerge, and these can have you acting on a whim. This can involve people and objects of desire as well! Impulsive spending can be an issue now, but some of you could stumble upon a great find. You can make interesting discoveries today, particularly along intimate and financial lines. You might seek out alternative methods to the usual way of doing things, and can be quite satisfied as a result. Being flexible and open-minded is your best bet now, as spontaneity tends to be rewarded today.

Weekend Love Horoscope
April 22-24: Deep, crazy love

Astrology of Today – April 22, 2016

Summary:

• The Moon is in Scorpio all day (until Sunday, April 24th, at 8:46 AM).
• The Moon is waxing and in its Waxing Gibbous phase until 1:23 AM / the Moon is waningand in its Full Moon phase from 1:23 AM forward.
• A Full Moon occurs at 1:23 AM today.
• Mercury is in its pre-retrograde shadow (Mercury will retrograde from April 28-May 22).
• Mars is retrograde (Mars is retrograde from April 17-June 29).

Cosmic Weather – Full Moon Report for 4/22/16

a message from Rev. Irma Kaye Sawyer

To view more of Rev. Sawyer’s insight, please visit her site, Irma Kaye Sawyer

Full Moon in Scorpio: Truths, Deaths and the Total Blam Blam

Hello friends. As you may know, I like to tune into the actual energy of the Full and New Moon themselves. I don’t spend a lot of time on the other aspects traveling with it, as there are other talented astrologer colleagues of mine who do a great job with that. The “total blam blam” is from a Bowie lyric (Suffragette City, to be exact.) He had such a great way of inventing words that although we didn’t exactly know what they meant, they effectively conveyed the vibe of what he wanted to get across. Mysterious, intense and packing a punch of double-entendre meaning, just like this Full Moon that lies ahead. Thinking on the cosmic tunes for this moon they were changing faster than the weather here in the desert this week. Early this morning I heard “Into the Void” by Black Sabbath in my head and was thinking about the great cosmic void. I was hoping it didn’t mean a major death, but I was feeling it. Little did I know another artistic genius of such profound influence (Prince) would be heading back in.

Dear ones, one of the greatest things you can do for yourself spiritually is to break out of the 3D prison of mind and into the greater cosmic reality. Earth life can be so deadly serious, while Spirit is lighter and free. Once you get a glimpse past the barriers, your view does not remain the same. There is a lesser need for competition and judgment and a greater manifestation of love, compassion and service. – The Keepers, Full Moon Message, 4.21.16

We have a Scorpio Full Moon opposed to the Taurus Sun every year, but we don’t always have Mars and Pluto in Retrograde at the same time. This gives this Full Moon some exceptional depth and revelatory potential. Also for some, it may be exceedingly nasty and dour. If any Full Moon energy was dependent on your predominant vibration (Love vs. Fear) to create experience, it would be this one. Both Taurus and Scorpio are interested in resources; Taurus with the more physical aspect while Scorpio can be overly attached to “thoughts as things,” and also people. What persistent (non-productive) thoughts need to be shown the door? Now’s a perfect time to escort them out. For those who are of a mind, this would be a very good Full Moon period to hold loving space for the Collective.

Thinking on the mantra for this Full Moon I received,“I AM Safe (Taurus) to Transform (Scorpio.)”

The theme of getting “unhooked” from illusions both ourselves and other people’s; has been a major cosmic theme in our lives, going all the way back to beginning of the Uranus/Pluto Square energies starting in 2010. It has gone beyond being a little uncomfortable to a major fire under our asses, as we are no longer equipped to pay the ultimate price of selling our own souls down the river. There’s been quite enough of that. It’s not the same world and we are not the same people in it. While Scorpio is associated with actual death or physical transition, it’s also associated with all kinds of “little deaths” that are a part of human existence and some are definitely more sexy than others.

Scorpio also rules poisons, toxins and healing. This Full Moon interestingly falls on Earth Day with the reminder that we can no longer use Mother Gaia as a toxic waste dump for our own projection or laziness. This is an excellent time to rededicate our love and service to the Earth in whatever ways that we can. Even the small things such as recycling, or no longer using single serve water bottles add up.

I want something good to die for, to make it beautiful to live. – Joshua Homme

Thank you, good travels and all blessings Prince.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Electric word life, it means forever and that’s a mighty long time, but I’m here to tell you there’s something else: The after world. A world of never ending happiness, you can always see the sun, day or night. So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills, you know the one, “Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright.” Instead of asking him how much of your time is left, ask him how much of your mind, baby. ‘Cause in this life things are much harder than in the after world. In this life, you’re on your own. – Prince Rogers Nelson, 1984 (1958-2016)

Happy Transforming dear readers and remember to keep it Cosmic!

NOTE: The Full Moon in Scorpio is 4/21/16 at 10:24 PDT – 4/22/16 at 1:24 EDT.

21st/22nd April 2016: Full Moon in Scorpio

a message from Sarah Varcas

To read more of Sarah’s insight, please visit her site, Awakenings, Intuitive Astrology for Heart & Soul

Not the Love of Fairy Tales

The Moon is full in the 3^rd degree of Scorpio at 5:25 UT. Occurring while Venus, Uranus and Eris form a conjunction in Aries, it reminds us of the power of love to see us through darkness and its iconoclastic role in these changing times. Traditional, often religious, teachings are challenged by this Moon. It can be all too easy to churn out claims of forgiveness with little substance to back them up, or to profess love whilst turning away in secret. With Saturn now in Sagittarius we are bound to live what we profess, not just verbalise spiritual mores whilst living our own watered-down version of them! If we truly believe that love is the way out of fear, separation and conflict then we must be that love, not just pay lip-service to it.

Which raises questions as to the nature of love. What is it really? And why is it so important in our world today? It may seem strange to ask. Of course love is vital in a world riddled with conflict! But how do we open our hearts to the war-monger and those who perpetuate suffering, inequality and oppression for their own ends? It’s easy to love the underdog, to fight for a cause, but how do we love those who make that cause necessary in the first place? And, perhaps most important of all, how do we love ourselves when we know so intimately our own flaws and failings? Much religious discourse has stifled such discussion for fear of having to admit we don’t know what love is and even when we do we struggle to embody it! It’s easy to say ‘I love you’ when everything’s hunky dory, but when it’s all hitting the fan what does it even mean to love, and how do we ‘do’ love then?

This Moon raises these questions not to provide convenient answers but to highlight the complexities of living in a world on the brink. A world in which religious and spiritual teaching has been used as a weapon to judge, condemn and destroy (often in the name of love…). Where difference has become a reason to fear and reject not explore and connect. In the light of this Moon we are first asked to reflect upon our own emotional well-being, for love begins at home, with us and our feelings towards ourselves. If we recoil from our own inner pain it becomes all the harder to recognise and embrace the pain of others. We may condemn the violence of war and the oppression of poverty. We may fight to free those who live in bondage. But if we do so whilst committing repeated acts of emotional violence upon ourselves – judging and condemning our own pain, denying our vulnerabilities or simply refusing to acknowledge the sadness, anger or fear that lurks within – the incongruence of our lives will rise up to thwart us in the long run. This inner violence, hidden from the world but powerfully destructive, lies at the root of much that needs healing today. Without addressing it in our own lives nothing that we do ‘out there’ will hold for the long haul.

This Full Moon reminds us that love is a rectifying force which brings things back into a state of balance. As such it may not be the fluffy pink sparkly thing we thought it was! It can require great might and power to rectify a situation gravely out of kilter. Love may come with hurricane force sweeping away obstacles to its dominion. It may break us apart before it reforms us whole, for only then can it reach those places we have strived so hard to protect from even our own inner gaze.

In the light of this Moon we are invited to embrace our own darkness and know it not as a personal failing or a cause of shame, but as a collective experience in which we all play a part. No one is without fear, anger or shame given the circumstances to trigger it. We all carry our part of the shadow self as much as we each contain the love that keeps this world forever made anew. It’s okay to be all of these things. It is who we are. The key is to accept that fact and acknowledge those things we’d prefer were not the case: our anger, hatred, depression, anxiety. These are human experiences that can connect us with each other, not foster the need for ever higher walls to keep each other out.

So if you need support at the time of this Moon, seek it. If you see someone else struggling to hold it together, let them know it may just be okay to fall apart instead. Emotions are powerful things, a formidable force that assails us apparently from nowhere! But they are all us, our own internal world blowing up a storm. Knowing that storm and charting its course takes honesty, openness and loving acceptance of all that we are. The more we can embrace our internal storms the better we can manage external ones. This Moon illuminates the need to do both and the power of authentic love to forge a healing path ahead. It may not look like the love of fairy tales, but it will certainly work some magic!

Calendar of the Moon

Willow Tree Month

Colors: Yellow, silver, and pale willow-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of yellow, silver, and pale willow-green place three white candles, wreaths of willow-branches, a large clay bowl of water, flowers if they are available, and a silver moon.
Offerings: Contemplate an emotion, and how you use it, and how it uses you.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian, preferably cold food. Fruits. Only spring water to drink.

Saille Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the Willow Goddess.
Response: Now is the time of the Green Man’s courting.
Call: Now is the time when leaves are full.
Response: Now is the time when gold gives way to silver.
Call: Now is the time when Sun gives way to Moon.
Response: Now is the time when Lord gives way to Lady.
Call: Now is the time of the search and the quest.
Response: Now is the time of magic dew on the fields.
Call: Now is the time of the phallus rising.
Response: He seeks the doorway that is wet with spring rains.
Call: He seeks the moon in the river.
Response: He seeks the fishes in the winnowing basket.
Call: He seeks the fruit of Persephone.
Response: He seeks the mountain of the Muses.
Call: We crown his head with flowers….
Response: That he may reach the sky.
Call: We crown his head with ribbons….
Response: That he may touch the earth.
Call: We bring forth the pole from earth to sky.
Response: We lay the line from earth to sky.
Call: We blow like the wind from earth to sky.
Response: We fall like the rain from sky to earth.
Call: We descend like the sunlight from sky to earth.
Response: We climb like the trees from sky to earth.
Call: We are the children of earth and sky.
Response: We are beloved of sky and earth.

Chant:
We all come from the Goddess, and to Her we shall return,
Like a drop of rain, flowing to the ocean.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun
22 Eostremonath

Day of Aradia

Colors: White and silver
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a cloth of white and silver place many silver paper stars and a silver paper moon, a glass bowl of water with a silver metal star immersed in it, two white candles, and a spray of white blossom.
Offerings: Silver paper stars with wishes written on them. Give unselfishly of yourself to someone.
Daily Meal: Light, cold food.

Invocation to Aradia

Daughter of Diana the Mother of All,
Daughter of Lucifer the Bright,
Child of Light who glows with the power
Of all the stars in the sky,
Promised one who aids those
Of your mother’s children
Who cry out in great need,
Hear us, Aradia, daughter of the sky,
Whose song is borne on the west winds
And whose touch is the twinkle of a star
As it glimmers at midnight,
Time of the witching hour.
We call upon you, child who was promised
To us as our savior and helpmate,
To remember us in our time of need
And to give us aid in times of hardship.
Your merciful hands extend over us
Like a shower of midnight stars.

Chant:
Moon, moon, shining bright,
Midnight on the water,
Oh, Aradia,
Diana’s silver daughter.
Hope, hope, shining bright,
Bring us through the dark night,
Oh, Aradia,
Child of moon and starlight.
(All place their stars upon the altar and then douse the candles.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]